I Ditched My Buy Me a Coffee Link—Here's What I'm Doing Instead

07 Jul 2025 #misc

I’ve never liked being asked for money on the street.

When someone asks me for money, I ask why they don’t sell something instead.

But I realized I was doing the same thing: holding up a digital sign next to a rusty can in the internet streets. That hit hard.

Instead of asking for coffee, I now invite readers to join Friday Links, where I share 4 curated resources about programming and promote my books and courses.

I get it! When we’re starting, we don’t want to sound salesy, so we go with a “support me” as a call-to-action. We think we shouldn’t monetize creativity, as if artists or writers should starve.

After binge-reading Tim Denning, a digital writer with billions of views, I learned to ditch the “Buy Me a Coffee” link and offer something of value, like a newsletter. Turns out, that’s the strategy millionaire creators swear byr. And now, I do too.