Looks like Sam Sethi is having a little trouble with BlogNation.com. Promising payments to bloggers for content and then not paying them can usually do that. This just makes me think of all the “blog networks” out there that have tried similar models and not succeeded. Usually, it starts with an “ideas guy” who is great at selling the idea to other bloggers, but then never contributes to the actual development of the site. This kind of “bait and switch” usually never works because the passion for the project is hard to transfer 100% from the “ideas guy” to the rest of the team.
Personally, I think when it comes to forming a team with other bloggers from around the world, each member of the team must have earned their stripes first before trying to benefit from being part of the team. By earning stripes (and this is for bloggers only), I’m talking about stuff like:
- - Going through the late nights of installing your wordpress software 5 or more times because you didn’t quite understand .htaccess
- - Going through hundreds of pages of Wordpress themes to finally find the one you like
- - Spending hours pressing Control+Z or Apple+Z because that piece of code is being a pain in the ass
- - Signing up for every social bookmarking tool out there and submitting your own articles
- - Chatting for hours with people in norway and turkey to develop relationships and exchange ideas
- - Paying it forward and helping out other new bloggers
- - Proving your worth by writing great posts
There are so many more things I could say, but I’m sure you know what I’m getting at. The biggest reason people need to earn their stripes is that it makes it easier to relate to others from around the world. Now that the world has gotten so much smaller, it seems to me that along with the language of science, there is the language of blogging. If you can laugh over some similar experiences, then you’re taking the first steps to earing your stripes!
P.S. Anyone want to admit to watching “Gung Ho” featuring Michael Keaton? That movie was great . . . . it’s all about “GOOD TEAM!”
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Ok let’s see, the only ones I’ve not accomplished would be. I’ve never talked to anyone in Turkey or Norway (that I know of ) and proving my worth by writing great articles. I think I write some pretty good articles but I suppose I’m biased. As for “Gung Ho”, I ain’t admitting to nothing.. Good post Gary.
The post title said it well.
Teamwork is the key ingredient in a successful web or blog network. Without which, the network dies even before it started.
IMO, sam failed to put his money where his mouth is. And failing to pay on time, worst not being paid at all, is a very serious setback, and I doubt if he could recover with that.
I buy content quite a lot, at a cash rate per article… when I have written stuff it has always been on the same basis.
I have considered offering authors cuts of sites instead of imediate cash payment but decided against it… way too messy….