Once upon a time there will little, stocky bald guy whom it seemed couldn't get enough attention.
(No, I'm not talking about George Costanza, I'm talking about me, of course! But I digress.)
This guy ... OK, I ... bounced from one online venture to the next willy-nilly; never settling in one place too long and often leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
First there was the defunct Sports Central, the online sports arm of the St. Albans Messenger. I wrote the business plan for that baby and it would have worked if it had been properly funded and staffed. SC lasted about two months before it was abandoned to die a slow, but nearly invisible death.
Next up was neksports.net
I worked there as a stringer for most of the fall of 2008. Great work, great people (especially Chris Preston and Eric Berry), but alas it wasn't to last. OK, to be fair, the website lasted, but I didn't. The budget was slashed and I was shown the door, but in a nice way. The website continues to exist, although with less emphasis on written game coverage and more on broadcasting over the web.
In February of 2009, I started onthesidelinesvt.com
I neglected it much of the year, but in December I began using it as a medium to share updates on my photo business and to rant and rave.
Then I moved on to Examiner.com
One of the reasons why OTS took a back seat was this good-looking website that provided a lot of flexibility, the ability for me to promote my photo biz and a promising business model. What it couldn't deliver was a lot of buck for my bang, if you get my unintentionally PG-13-rated drift. Still, my couple of months working for the site were well-recieved, if not profitable.
Next up on my online sojourn was a stop at coachesaid.com
This one was going to be the real deal. A great-looking site, tons of support, a great business model. They said within a year I'd be working full-time and hiring helpers. Less than two months later, I was laid off, but I was not alone. Vermont's site was dumped along with 37 others to cut costs. CA.com still exists and my articles are still posted, but the site has been in suspended animation since mid-May. When the plug was pulled, Vermont ranked 12th in hits out of the 50 state sites.
So at this point, what I have learned?
1. That I can draw readers to a site.
2. I can't make any money doing this.
3. Most online ventures I align myself with either close, scale back or kick me out within two months.
(In my own defense, I was one of the architects of vermontsportsimages.com - Vermont's top sports photo site - and my own photo site coldhollowphoto.com is profitable and growing, but these are different types of sites - in other words, sites that can and have made money!)
So why am writing about this?
Because I'm doing something Mamma told you never to do ... making the same mistake twice.
Yep, I've signed back on with Examiner.com
I know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
But this time I think I'm a little wiser and can take some of what I learned at my other online forays to improve my chances of success. (Of course, the first thing I'm doing is altering my definition of success to "satisfies my urge to be in print [or is it pixels] somewhere at all times.)
At any rate, OTS will continue to be updated. I'll still post my latest photo assignments, deliver the occasional rant and non-sports poll. And I'll also continue to use it share links to my Examiner work which will consist of columns, features, lists, polls and occasional game stories and slideshows.
Furthermore, if you (for God knows what reason?) want to know when I have posted something on any of my websites, you can follow me on Facebook or on Twitter (scorrow).
Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 10:52AM 