Comments on: Why Transparency is NOT the Key to Content Marketing Success

By: Richardson Giordani

Richardson Giordani — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 14:59:15 +0000

I am interning for a small business that builds websites for the home industry and I believe our approach would be considered transparent. I can see how being transparent would affect business negatively but with a solid message and target it can really serve you well. When I launch my own business I’d like to think I will find a balance between the two(transparency, non transparent) to be most effective. Thanks Alex!

By: Octavian Naicu

Octavian Naicu — Fri, 29 May 2015 14:16:46 +0000

The 1st example I’ve seen of “transparent” posting is balsamiq’s “10.000$ in their 1st 6 weeks” from 2008 http://blogs.balsamiq.com/product/2008/07/30/10000-in-revenue-in-the-first-6-weeks/ followed by the 100k soon thereafer https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=364254

By: Louis

Louis — Fri, 22 May 2015 09:56:53 +0000

Been following your blog for a while and love the journey so far. I do feel however there is a big blank hole. You started blogging when your revenue was already 30k. I’d love to learn more about your early days – how long it took to get first BETA out and a rough idea about growth those first few months. Keep up the good work!

By: Kristiina

Kristiina — Thu, 21 May 2015 23:00:09 +0000

Hi Alex–I’m new around here, but wanted to drop you a note after reading this article. The transparency/revenue posts are definitely trending….To your point, I care less about the actual numbers and more about the strategies that are working for a particular business. And I care about transparency, in general (I’m so suspicious of blog posts and IG feeds…it feels like everyone is sponsored these days!).

That said, I don’t think readers should expect to know every single detail/secret of an online blogger or business. While I generally feel that the more you share/give, the more you will receive, there is a time and place for everything. 🙂

By: Alex Flom

Alex Flom — Thu, 21 May 2015 21:42:54 +0000

Great post Alex!
We started our second startup latelly – Kilometer.io , inspired by your and other blogs, we decided to make it a transparent startup and share the process in our blog.
My motivation was to share the journey in order to help other founders learn from our experience and build better startups.
I think the “transparent movement” will continue to grow, since entrepreneurs understand that sharing their experience can add great value to others.

By: Yakov Karda

Yakov Karda — Thu, 21 May 2015 18:51:30 +0000

One of these posts I value Groove for. Nothing to add to discussion, though 🙂

By: Adform Donatas Stirbys

Adform Donatas Stirbys — Thu, 21 May 2015 18:00:24 +0000

Here is transparency at a whole new level: http://startuplabs.com/blog/

By: Scott Welch

Scott Welch — Thu, 21 May 2015 17:25:56 +0000

Love it! That is all. : – )

By: Owen McGab Enaohwo

Owen McGab Enaohwo — Thu, 21 May 2015 15:45:45 +0000

@alex_turnbull:disqus honestly transparency on a lot of startup blogs this days seems more like Entreporn and me too content more than anything else! (<<<--- such blog post have more to do with their need to stroke their ego than to solve a problem for their potential customers) If the content does not help your ideal potential customer solve a real burning problem that they have and are willing to pay to solve (<<<--- most likely a solution that you provide) then don't blog about, keep it to yourself. Every content should attract your ideal potential customer, solve their problem, make you a resource in their minds and move them one more step towards becoming your customer or if they are already your customer your content should give them more success with your solution and possibly even transform their lives. (<<<--- anything other than this is waste of time. Just my 3 cents)

By: Raj Sidhu

Raj Sidhu — Thu, 21 May 2015 15:31:30 +0000

Your right Alex, being transparent about your business and blog are a great way to go, but it has to have substance.

Don’t just report the numbers, tell us where they came from, what you went through to achieve them etc..

Blogs that do this, like Smartpassiveincome.com tell a much richer story of their journey and by doing so they help their readers 10x.

Great post.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 21 May 2015 15:06:49 +0000

For me, writing a “transparent blog” provided an outlet for the things I was learning, feeling, and thinking about, that I couldn’t express anywhere else.