My Failures
You have to respect any person that is passionate about what they do. It could be the greatest thing in the world or the dumbest, but if they are passionate about what they do and it shows then you have to give them some type of respect in my opinion. That’s the case with Jeremy Wright and his company b5media. If you are going to say something about them they are going to come back with the passion that you would expect anyone to have when it comes to their company.
This discussion brought out the passion in people who wanted to continuously remind me of my “failure” known as the Fine Fools Network. Fine Fools was my side project. It was my version of how a blog network should run. The idea was simple, you come up with a decent idea for a site and I would host it and you would earn all the ad revenue for the pages that you write. So essentially what I got was frontpage ad revenue while the writers got internal page revenue. My thinking was that if I am not going to pay them straight up for the work they put in, I might as well give them the opportunity to earn what they put in.
Things started off smooth, but some of the bloggers got hungry. Real hungry. The could taste success and they wanted more, which is exactly what you should want. That’s passion and I loved it (and hated it). Unfortunately I couldn’t keep up with what they wanted, albeit how simple their requests were because 9rules was/is my baby. That’s where my focus goes. If Fine Fools was my only focus and I could cater to the wants and needs of its writers I have no doubt that it would still be around today wreaking havoc. Instead I got rid of it to keep my focus.
And how exactly did I get rid of it? I gave the sites away to the people who wrote on them because they earned it. Again, giving away means not asking them to pay me for it. Let’s look at some of these people and you might have heard of some of their names.
- David Krug. I had the domain, he had the idea. If you want to know how much trouble you can cause in a two month span just with a blog then you should go find the history of JOAB. Now what does he do? He bounces around from site to site with his latest being 901am, which from what I read is doing well and in another twist of fate has Duncan Riley as a writer who used to work for b5.
- Melissa Petri. She writes on Escape Blog, which was one of the most interesting and well-written b5 sites around, but she apparently left due to the requirements that were being asked of her. Now there are a ton of things I can say about this entry, but I’ll leave it up to you to read.
- Liz Strauss. Successful Blog. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it is one of the most popular blogs within the b5media Network. I’m going to be honest here and say that Liz is a pain in the ass to work with…and that’s because she knows what she wants and she’ll be damned if anything stops her from achieving it. Nothing wrong with that and in all honesty you want writers with that drive
Now I have no doubt these three individuals could have done it without me, but I gave them a platform to take that jump. What they have done since them is all to their credit. However, they got their “big break” on my failure. How much of a failure is that?
Let’s move on…
Back in mid-2005 we had an idea to bring on a little blog network to 9rules and help it grow. That network was About Weblogs and our offer was denied due to complications with revenue sharing. Completely understandable giving how we were working back then. A couple months later Shai Coggins wrote about the potential merger (scroll to bottom entry) and not too long afterwards b5media merged with them. Let’s just say that isn’t a coincidence.
So where is all of this coming from? It started with this comment from Jeremy Wright, CEO of b5media:
We bought a site that Scrivs failed on so that selling was the only way to make a buck. And that makes Scrivs right about everything.
You see they bought Work Boxers which back in the day when I was flowing on it was a damn good read for making money on the web. I stopped writing on it because again 9rules became my time so what did I do? I gave it (away) to a guy named Jamsi, who sold it to David Krug (yes the one above), who then sold it to b5.
Makes me kind of wish that on some of b5media’s sites they said “Powered by b5media and Scrivs” at the bottom. Now don’t get me wrong, I do have some real legitimate failures where I lost money, time, friends, etc., but in some way they always turn out well for the sole reason that I learned from them. I’m just never going to see starting a Network for $0 and making thousands in return and helping people get their start in this blog world or watching non-failing companies buy up sites that I give away as falling into the failure category.
Technological advancements are taking over the ways of business we are using today. Groundbreaking inventions of internet are clearly evident all over the world. Now web hosting companies can operate their web servers through wireless internet connections where as one can manage its ppc account just utilizing the services of credit card processors or order web hosting package with just logging on to internet.
*/
I love it. Nicely written, and *wink* on sooo many levels.
By Paul Short on February 26, 2007 4:10 pm
Thanks Paul, I found it funny when I sat down to think about things as well.
By Scrivs on February 26, 2007 4:15 pm
In a few days I will throw in a towel and consider my methods failures too. But I don’t. I’ve personally thanked you for getting a start. It was easier although I’m glad Im done with JOAB.
901am is a long term venture that’s doing well. One of my other sites I sold is pulling in millions of pageviews a month. Yet another is pulling in tons of revenue.
So methodology works. I just found my place as the starter of great sites. And when it comes time to throw in the towel. I’m the first to do it.
By David Krug on February 26, 2007 4:18 pm
The “failure” was tongue-in-cheek. I think the site was a success. You guys had said that anything that doesn’t grow or loses money or gets sold is a failure. I was just playing on that.
Personally, I can’t remember anything I believe you failed at. Fine Fools wasn’t a success because you let it go so in some ways it’s a “failure”, but in others you did what you set out to do: try a different payment model and make bloggers the stars.
By Jeremy Wright on February 26, 2007 4:22 pm
Oh shit are we stars?
By David Krug on February 26, 2007 4:25 pm
It is common knowledge that if you own a blog you are a superstar.
By Scrivs on February 26, 2007 4:28 pm
Hi Paul,
I’m sorry that’s how you remember me. I guess I didn’t do such a good job letting you know who I really am. You stood up for me once, I’ll never forget that. It meant a lot then. It still means a lot now.
I wish could tell you the number of people — it’a a lot — I’ve told how grateful I am that you gave me Successful Blog.
I’m sure I understand what this is about, or why I’m part of it, but it seemed right I should tell you thanks and that I remember what you did.
By Liz Strauss on February 26, 2007 4:48 pm
Sorry that should say “I’m not sure I understand.”
By Liz Strauss on February 26, 2007 4:49 pm
I meant it all as a compliment Liz. You were a pain in the ass because I didn’t have the time to help you fulfill all your goals, that doesn’t make you a true pain in the ass ;).
By Scrivs on February 26, 2007 4:52 pm
Thanks Paul. You know I’m clueless. :)
By Liz Strauss on February 26, 2007 6:01 pm
When it’s your fault admitting it and when it’s not you have a right to point it out. Just like every cloud has a silver lining I like the notion from every ‘failure’ comes a success and life is just a case of learning and taking that onward.
By karmatosed on February 26, 2007 8:27 pm
Hey Scrivs. I just wanted to let you know as a former Fine Fools writer, that part of my success in the blogging game has been thanks to learning more than a thing or two from you.
You have always been honest, and freely giving of your time when problems arose. I wish it could have been more time and money, but you were smart to really focus on 9rules.
Thanks again for everything you have done for me, and never let your failures get you down, as they helped breed tons of success.
By David Peralty on February 27, 2007 5:28 pm
I guess, the bottomline here is that we can’t call something a “failure” just because things don’t work out in a way that was originally planned. Your earlier blog entry obviously triggered all the talk about FF and such. But yeah, things change. Things evolve. And, I believe that’s what’s happening in the world of weblogs and networks.
Anyway, not sure what you meant by: “Let’s just say that isn’t a coincidence.” I guess I wanted to clarify because I never expected an actual merger to happen based on that post. In fact, to me, the b5-AW merger was not expected at all.
By Shai Coggins on February 28, 2007 8:46 am
Paul, do you think you help out your 9rules the same way you did with your aforementioned Fine Foolers?
By Devin on February 28, 2007 1:09 pm
No, I help them out more. Considering there are about 100x more of you as well I quite happy with that.
By Scrivs on February 28, 2007 4:01 pm
Scrivs,
How would you describe courting a deal, then backing off when your bloggers prejudices (over sexual content) intervined and then simply refusing to respond to email?
Certainly a failure. Not as cool as the ones you mentioned though.
I’m far from perfect myself but that was pretty weak. I’m still curious.
By Sam Sugar on February 28, 2007 8:29 pm
Sam,
That’s an easy one. It simply came down to listening to the people I trust (my partners) versus someone I never met. I loved the idea and still do like the idea, but if I expect them to trust me on my decisions I have to show that I trust them on their decisions and that’s what it came down to.
Would it have worked or failed if we pushed through with it? Who knows. Looking at what I do now though and my happiness with it I see no failure. I burned ya and I apologize, but burning them would probably rank up there as my biggest failure of all time and I can’t let that happen.
By Scrivs on February 28, 2007 11:56 pm
Paul,
I’m very pleased to see your response. It’s nice not to get burned but I guess that’s what happens when you play with… Scrivs?
As you’ll note, it’s taken me some time to recover. I don’t want to get burned again and I’m wondering if the idea’s worth the effort in 2007 (it’s not the only iron I have in the fire).
I’m sure in future you’ll again meet cirumstances where a mass of vvocal opinion will run counter to your own desires. A clear stand on core beliefs will become increasingly hard to avoid.
This time the ‘sex is good’ crowd lost out. I hope you’re still of that view even if your bloggers are a bit more ‘fundi’.
By Sam Sugar on March 1, 2007 6:27 am
[...] Paul Scrivens writes about his so-called “failures” in the blog network industry, citing in particular Fine Fools. [...]
By Blog Network Failures » Blog Network Watch on March 1, 2007 9:52 am
Sam, why didn’t you continue on with it? I know what it’s like to be “burned” but that didn’t stop me from continuing on with things I’m passionate about. Scrivs wasn’t the end all for that project to happen: continue on without him.
You seem to have the opinion that Scrivs caved to outside pressure which is definitely not the case. Scrivs, Mike and I made the promise to never sacrifice our principals and morals. We kept that promise. Through ST we pushed boundaries CEOs were not supposed to push, received our share of criticism, remarks about lack of professionalism, etc. 130+ podcasts we accomplished our goal: we’ll talk about what we want, when we want, how we want. The end result? Less than a year later sex is openly discussed on my.9rules and ST is moving to 9rules. Scrivs stayed true to his beliefs (we all did) and the path he picked had more risk because his words talking about the “taboo topics” have a stronger impression on the listener/reader.
I will be forever grateful that Scrivs even considered my thoughts on SNW because back then, I was a stranger as well. Looking back at all we went through and what we are doing now, I have no regrets (and I’m relieved Scrivs has none). I look forward to the boundaries Scrivs, Mike and I will push next.
By Tyme White on March 1, 2007 12:09 pm
Tyme.
I was left in the lurch. No email. No explination. No contact. At that point it seemed fairly plausible that the idea might have been to proceed without me in a similar direction and I had many other things on my plate.
I’ve not given up on the idea, but the project I would have built with you would have been very different from the kind of thing I would have created independantly.
Morals are all well and good but without ethics the boast rings hollow. Claiming to make ethical choices in response to pressure is what politicians do and is called the path of least resistance. Has 9 rules published a clear (and that precludes vague pablum) statement of what it will, and won’t, include? Would you risk offending a ‘star’ blogger to support an unpopular viewpoint.
I hope so.
What’s ST? I don’t follow 9 rules (no offense intended – just fact) and Googling 9 rules ST draws a blank…
Sam.
By Sam Sugar on March 1, 2007 5:39 pm
I will always be grateful to you for letting Escape Blog go live after 3 other networks refused the idea. And now, I am (again) grateful to you for giving the domain to me and allowing me to continue (independently) the blog I love the most.
By Melissa Petri on March 2, 2007 2:48 pm
[...] On days I am my head, I make my life about the work. I can perfectly clear my desk. I can venture forth with the most elegant strategic plan. Be ready to think quickly, if you take me on. I’m not as one-dimensional as some folks might have you think. After all, not everyone gets complimented quite this way by a friend. [...]
By Head, Heart, and Sailboats - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. on June 29, 2007 6:00 am
We all “fail” at times, many times, and it just opens up new doors and avenues to us if we just keep open to receive and a willingness to take a risk. The universe is filled with abundance.
By Eugene on July 6, 2007 10:50 am