take a look around you, it's easy not to see

Clearing out email this morning, and I find I still cannot get over this one, so...I'm putting it on the blog.

Out of the blue on November 16th, I got this:

Hey there,

My Name is Jack Foster and I blog over at VPN Geeks (we review and compare VPN providers).

I really like your blog and noticed that you accept guest posts and wondered if you’d be open to accepting one from me.

If so please let me know and I will send you several suggested topics that you may like. (If you have a topic you'd really like me to cover just let me know)

You can see an example of the type of content I publish at https://www.vpngeeks.com/21-terrifying-cyber-crime-statistics-in-2018

We'd also share it across our social channels :)

Regards,

Jack

At the time, for reasons I go into in my answer, I didn't reply. I don't always respond to completely unsolicited offers that seem to have no relation to my blog. Life moved on. Then I got this November 20th:

Hey there,

One week ago I sent you an email regarding guest post opportunity (copy of email below) and I haven’t yet heard back from anyone.

I would still love to write a guest article for your website.

You can see an example of the type of content I publish at https://www.vpngeeks.com/21-terrifying-cyber-crime-statistics-in-2018

Regards,

Jack

By my account that's four days, not a week, but that may be me being overly picky? I'm not sure. But I decided to respond:

Jack, it's been kind of a rough week. Our bathroom is being remodeled, because we could not longer use it in its current state, and considering it's management deciding what to do and not us, it's gone about as well as you might expect. Compound that with the fact that on both emails to me, you seemed to acknowledge that I do guest posts, and in the second one, said you hadn't heard back from 'anyone'.

I'm the anyone. It's just me. I'm the only writer on my blog. I do not allow guest posts.

But, because you asked, I did look. The article you linked is about 50% graphics only, and mostly easily findable, recyclable information. Your name wasn't linked at the top of the article, so, after I finished reading it, and found it at the bottom, I checked out the other posts you'd written for VPN. I found...three other articles.

Since sending that, he's apparently now written more than those three, which is good, but still doesn't break him out of that very narrow scope of writing only about data privacy and VPNs in general.

Dude, I get you're hungry, but have you read *anything* on my blog? At all? Anything. One article, even. For the past year (because I don't think you have), I've mostly covered conversations from Second Life, which is pretty much my MMO of choice. I do cover a little bit on emergent technology, some on virtual fashon, and every October, I do huge coverage on virtual haunts in SL.

So, while I do have a slight interest in cybercrime, bitchain technology, and electronic privacy and freedoms...which blog entry gave you the idea that this is my sole focus?

Just to tie this up, in case you're thinking along these lines, I do not allow advertising either. The few square banners I carry in the sidebar *I* choose to put there. I don't get paid a dime. I do have my Ko-Fi banner up on the blog, and on my Twitter--that hasn't netted me a single dime, either. Would I love to be paid for what I do? Sure, because I'm disabled and unemployed. But *do* I get paid? No, and I don't solicit for ads, either.

So, after reading through *this*, if you still think a guest post from you would fit on my blog, I'll be tolerant towards considering it, but it would be the *only* guest post for probably the *next* ten years, because...it's my blog. I do the writing.

Cheers,

Em

I don't think it's necessary to mention that Jack hasn't written back, but just for completion's sake, he hasn't written back. Guess he figured out my blog is not really keyed in to his limited and narrow scope. I mean, good luck to him, but it was just a strange exchange to begin with. And I still don't know what gave him the idea that I'm VPN and bitchain central. I think I've mentioned VIPNs all of twice, and bitchain tech, in particular Bitcoin, maybe...once? So it's just completely baffling.

I wish him the best, but I won't be at all surprised if I never hear from him again.