Overcoming imposter syndrome: promoting yourself and your open source

Bites & Bytes meetup in Lisbon
Developers mostly don’t like promotion. It’s not just about devs’ busy schedules and everlasting antagonism between accurate tech content and “promotional b.s.”—they do have reasons. But there are formats that can bring benefits to engineers—like recognition and commercialization of your open source and other real-life values.

Transcript

1. Overcoming 

   imposter syndrome:
   promoting yourself and your
   open source
   Olga Rusakova
   Bites & Bytes
   

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2. OKLCH: blog posts
   

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3. OKLCH: OSS projects
   

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4. OKLCH: events
   

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5. OKLCH: events
   

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6. View Slide

7. Open source promotion:
   steps
   Step 1: Organize your docs
   Step 2: Use small iterations to maintain consistency
   Step 3: Help your users
   fi
   nd you online
   Step 4: Help your users
   fi
   nd you of
   fl
   ine
   

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8. Step 1: Organize your docs
   

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9. README.md structure
   Clear description
   Why it’s useful
   Why it’s important
   The difference from other products
   

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10. How people read online
    Nielsen Norman group research: 

    https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-people-
    read-online/
    

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11. PostCSS
    

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12. The most annoying buzzwords in
    tech?
    

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13. - Lighting-fast
    - Unprecedented
    - «Smart» everything
    - Ninja/wizard/rockstar
    - Innovative
    The most annoying buzzwords in
    tech?
    - Ecosystem
    - Optimize
    - Thought Leader
    - Agile
    - Pivot
    

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14. Annoying buzzwords:
    continued
    

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15. «Lightning-fast»
    

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16. «Innovative»
    

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17. Proofs, please!
    

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18. Proofs, please!
    

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19. Pictures, please!
    

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20. Pictures, please!
    

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21. Martian Mono
    Download on GitHub
    evilmartians/mono
    Download on Google Fonts
    fonts.google.com/specimen/Martian+Mono
    

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22. Lists and bold type, please!
    

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23. Lists and bold type, please!
    

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24. OSS project Thread in Twitter
    twitter.com/anti
    fl
    asher/status/1699024652213854233
    Your guide can become a thread
    

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25. Step 1: Organize your docs
    

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26. Step 2: Use small iterations
    to maintain consistency
    

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27. Do it via small iterations
    Each iteration contains:
    - Action (feature, tweet, article, etc)
    - Getting feedback
    - Fixing the project according to feedback
    

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28. Establish a routine
    

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29. Hey, I’m not dead!
    

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30. Hey, I’m not dead!
    

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31. Step 3: Help your users
    fi
    nd you online
    

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32. Help your users
    fi
    nd you online:
    continued
    

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33. Help your users
    fi
    nd you online:
    continued
    

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34. Help your users
    fi
    nd you
    online
    - Search engines are your friends
    - Leave online imprints
    - Don’t forget to mention people and companies
    

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35. Tagging is useful
    

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36. Step 4: Help your users
    fi
    nd you of
    fl
    ine
    

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38. Help your users
    fi
    nd you of
    fl
    ine
    - Get to know people of
    fl
    ine
    - If you use someone’s OSS and meet them: approach to say
    thanks (or complain)
    

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39. Open source promotion:
    steps
    Step 1: Organize your docs
    Step 2: Use small iterations to maintain consistency
    Step 3: Help your users
    fi
    nd you online
    Step 4: Help your users
    fi
    nd you of
    fl
    ine
    

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40. Problems
    

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41. People can hate my OSS
    - Fail fast
    - Work with negative feedback
    

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42. Is Hacker News toxic?
    

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43. Fail fast
    

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44. Rules to work with
    negative comments
    - No need to rush to respond.
    - Don’t respond to purely insulting comments. But don’t delete
    them.
    - If you are told about something as a fact, and this fact is wrong,
    you cannot leave this statement without an answer.
    - If it’s sane, reasonable critics, start asking questions. People just
    need to talk.
    

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45. I cannot write, 

    I’m bad at writing!!
    - Conduct an interview with yourself
    - Get your friends to help you
    - F-words
    - Start writing from any part, not from the title or the very beginning
    

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46. Scienti
    fi
    c research about
    swearing
    - Swearing arouses the emotions (and this can be measured!)
    - Swearing might activate parts of the “limbic system” that takes part in aspects of memory
    and emotion processing (that’s why people who have suffered brain damage and struggle to speak
    as a result, still can swear).
    - Cognitive effects because swear words command more attention and are better remembered.
    - Produces pain relief: vocalising a swear word leads to higher pain tolerance.
    Source: https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-swearing-how-obscene-words-in
    fl
    uence-your-mind-body-and-
    relationships-192104
    

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48. Summary: How to promote
    your OSS
    Step 1: Organize your docs
    — Rethink your READme
    — Create a really good description
    — Use more pics, lists, bolds and guides
    — Avoid «marketing b.s.»
    Step 2: Use small iterations to maintain consistency
    — Make your iterations bigger every time
    — Plan several pieces of content
    — Establish your routine
    — Show that your project is not dead
    Step 3: Help your users
    fi
    nd you online
    — Create more keywords combinations in different types of content
    — Always leave your imprints online
    — Mention people and companies
    Step 4: Help your users
    fi
    nd you of
    fl
    ine
    — Get to know your audience personally
    — Help other OSS creators
    

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49. Summary: Any problems?
    Haters?
    — Fail fast: make your audience bigger every time
    — Work with negative comments
    Doubts in your writing style?
    — Try different approaches (interview, recording and transcribing, start from
    any part, describe it with F-words)
    — Add emotions!!!
    Imposter syndrome?
    — Welcome to the Evil Martians’ world!
    

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50. Evil Martians
    

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51. Thank you!
    holymay@evilmartians.com
    evilmartians evilmartians.com
    

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