The other morning, as I woke up after my usual 6 naked Taylor Swift dreams, I found the following email*:
Hi Uproar:
How would you like a few hundred bucks, just for putting a link on your blog?
Signed,
Some Advertiser
*Note, some details of this email have been changed, mostly because I’m too lazy to go find the real one**.
**Literally as I typed that last sentence, I got ANOTHER email about advertising on my blog.
I don’t take blogging that seriously. Basically, I try to take 7 penis jokes and turn them into a serious point about finance. Sometimes I succeed, most of the time I fail. I continue to be impressed that my readership continues to creep up. My Mom must be hitting refresh A LOT. I totally don’t pay her either. Anymore.
When it comes to my lax blogging attitude, I’m definitely in the minority. Most bloggers take the medium really seriously. They’re serious about making a sideline income online, dammit. With advertising offers literally falling out of the sky, I can’t say I blame them. For me, in about the last 8 months, blogging has gone from a fun hobby to a serious sideline business. I’m not going to tell you how much I’ve made or anything, but it’s enough money that it’s actually a lucrative activity. I’ve always dreamed of getting paid to make sex jokes, and you people have made it happen. Give yourselves a pat on the groin or something.
But yet, as I watch the medium evolve, I’m wondering if the boom we’re witnessing is sustainable. I do absolutely nothing to attract advertisers, yet they still contact me, increasingly more lately. Bloggers with more readers are experiencing an even bigger boom. Bloggers are increasingly using their expertise to leverage into more traditional media, doing things like writing books and appearing on radio and tv. Others choose to keep their work strictly online, writing for other bloggers or other internet based publications. The point? The market for blogging and blogging related services has exploded, and at least one blogger is concerned it isn’t sustainable.
As most of you know, Mike from The Financial Blogger is all over buying other financial blogs. Him and his silent partner own probably around half a dozen different sites at this point, with no intention of slowing down. He’s all about expanding his empire, even if he has to take on a lot of debt to do so. The guy has borrowed at almost credit card like rates (10%) in order to continue to expand his business.
Mike isn’t alone in this blog buying business though. This forum over at Yakezie has half a dozen bloggers who are interested in buying sites and milking that sweet, sweet PR teet. They range from the incredibly unrealistic (only willing to pay 2 times monthly revenue) to people who are willing to pay a much more generous figure of 18 to 24 times monthly revenue. This is increasingly becoming the industry norm, replacing 12 times monthly revenue as the norm. Not to be outdone, Mike has raised the stakes, indicating he’s now willing to pay up to 48 times monthly revenue, at least sometimes.
We have a market with rapidly rising valuations. Is that the sign of a bubble? Could be.
Meanwhile, we have all sorts of new competition. I can’t find the info on the Yakezie site, but there are approximately 3.2 million new blogs who are just jonesing to get into the club. Their favorite traffic metric is the Alexa rank, which ranks your site’s visitors who have downloaded Alexa’s toolbar.
I have absolutely no interest in joining Yakezie. After I type the next paragraphs, I’m sure I’ll be banned from ever applying to join, which is just fine by me.
Yakezie is nothing but a ponzi scheme, mixed with a dash of communism for good measure. It’s designed to benefit its benevolent ruler at the expense of the peons making up the bottom of the pyramid. There are so many problems with the business model that this humble blogger barely knows where to begin.
Exclusively using Alexa ranking to determine a site’s popularity is like using a dividend yield to exclusively determine an investment’s potential. Everybody in Yakezie visits each other’s sites, sometimes exclusively. Naturally, they all have the Alexa toolbar installed, meaning they’re artificially increasing each other’s rankings. I know of a certain few sites in the network that get considerably less traffic than I do, yet they kill me in Alexa ranking. You guys aren’t fooling everyone.
Do you know how many non-bloggers have the Alexa toolbar installed? I’ll tell you. ZERO.
Meanwhile, they all hang together. They link to each other exclusively, visit each other exclusively, and probably meet for circle jerks in real life. It’s really quite easy for a relatively new blog to get to a respectable level of traffic, all they need to do is have a pulse, join the Yakezie challenge, get linked to by all the other Yakezie blogs, and they get noticed.
How does this relate to a ponzi scheme? Well, like Bernie Madoff can attest, you need new suckers entrants in order to keep the whole thing going. If the network doesn’t grow, Google eventually figures out that only a few blogs are consistently linking to each other, hence reducing the effectiveness of the network. Plus, the benevolent ruler can continue to profit from the network, since it keeps getting bigger. He’s sure trying hard convince the challengers the network is for their benefit. Why do you think the slogan sounds like it came straight from Karl Marx?
And then, the ruler will write posts that do their best to discourage people from trying to make a living online.
I think we can add herd behavior to our bubble list.
Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the underlying industry. All the buzz these days is around the high tech names. Facebook is planning it’s IPO. Google is continuing to chug along. Everyone and their dog has an iPhone. Even companies like Amazon and Netflix are flying high. The whole sector is booming like it’s 1999 again.
To review, let’s take one last look at our bubble list. We have:
1) Easy money
2) Increasing valuations
3) Herd mentality
4) The entire sector is sizzling
So, yeah. 1929 just called. It wants its shtick back.
Nelson,
I don’t know who offended you, or what happened to cause you to lash out, but I’m disappointed in your choice of words. You compare us to Bernie Madoff, a man who bilked his clients out of $50 billion and who is serving a life sentence?
The Yakezie is about gathering with a group of friends who like to blog, hang out and support each other. I went through a difficult time when I first started out, and figured there must be other blogs out there experiencing the same difficulties as me who might want to join forces.
Like what you’ve experienced on your own site, advertisers come without even asking, and that is a side benefit. Several Members have literally managed to quit their jobs over the past 12 months thanks to their blogging initiatives. That, to me is incredible, and the power of the Network.
Do you really think I wrote this post more than 2 years ago for the sake of money? Read it a couple times. There’s been only additions & updates to the post as things have progressed.
http://www.financialsamurai.com/2010/01/20/creating-powerful-friends-the-alexa-ranking-challenge/
I really am sorry you feel this way. And if you are having troubles with your site, or the online world, let me know, and my I can help you out.
Regards,
Sam
Thank you for being willing to speak out so bluntly about Yakezie. When I started PF blogging I drank the koolaid about how I had to raise my Alexa ranking and had to join Yakezie and all that garbage. This is exactly the truth:
Exclusively using Alexa ranking to determine a site’s popularity is like using a dividend yield to exclusively determine an investment’s potential. Everybody in Yakezie visits each other’s sites, sometimes exclusively. Naturally, they all have the Alexa toolbar installed, meaning they’re artificially increasing each other’s rankings. I know of a certain few sites in the network that get considerably less traffic than I do, yet they kill me in Alexa ranking. You guys aren’t fooling everyone.
Do you know how many non-bloggers have the Alexa toolbar installed? I’ll tell you. ZERO.
Meanwhile, they all hang together. They link to each other exclusively, visit each other exclusively, and probably meet for circle jerks in real life. It’s really quite easy for a relatively new blog to get to a respectable level of traffic, all they need to do is have a pulse, join the Yakezie challenge, get linked to by all the other Yakezie blogs, and they get noticed.
It’s ludicrious
Kara – You are saying that us meeting for circle jerks is exactly the truth?
I’ve noticed that you didn’t include your blog on here… you can talk, but you can’t back it up with letting us know who you are? So cowardly.
Hey, the last one was such fun; circle whatever I mean.
WTF…nobody told me about the circle jerk sessions! Oh, I guess I have to be a challenge member to qualify for that part. I don’t see what Kara’s identity has to do with anything. I agree with the part that she quoted too and my name is here if you want to personally bash me. Yakezie may be open to anyone, but they encourage participation exclusively between other yakezie members. It is not a natural forum setup by any means. They are setup like a mafia or a cult.
You speak truth of Yakezie, but it’s not necessarily their fault. It’s more Sam that I have an issue with. He’s deceptive and I learned some pretty interesting things about him from MULTIPLE other bloggers at the conference last year. Seems like bloggers outside of his empire aren’t too pleased with him, nor does he give a rats ass about bloggers that don’t join the Yakezie. He’s a sneaky one. I’ve got some pretty interesting emails from him that would only further substantiate the points you’ve made today. You’re not alone in your feelings, just the only one with big enough balls to say it. +1
Not that I really care one way or another to be honest, but in the interest of full disclosure, why wouldn’t you make these accusations public if you were so certain about them? Sam has been pretty good to me, and I actually hired Nelson as a writer because I think so much of him! I got no beef with either dude, but this comment is pretty defamatory considering you didn’t back it up with anything. What do you have to lose by stating your problems with Sam? I highly doubt your on each other’s Christmas Card lists at this point.
I agree Teacher Man – at least Nelson has the balls to put his name and site to his comments.
I heart everything you said about the Yakezie. Sam’s reign wont be around much longer. He plays the nice guy, but I personally and many other PF bloggers have been rubbed the wrong way by him. Kudos to you for having the balls to say it
If you express an opinion that goes counter to Yakezie groupthink, whether on Yakezie.com or elsewhere, you get shamed and/or ostracized: there’s plenty of Lenin mixed in with the Marx. I speak from experience. Hey, Nelson got off easy. Some of us get asked to write apologies after offending the more delicate members of the Yakezie community (which, judging from the below response, include the founder himself.)
Count me as one of the
delicate” people offended by ”Retard of the Week” posts. I stopped reading when you used that title. I have mentally underdeveloped family members and that was a turn off. Circle-jerk, fine. Making light of something that sad, not fine.
You see, Betty? I told you your idea to soften it to “Financial Retard of the Month” was too little, too late!
This is where I’d point out that it should be obvious that we’re not making fun of retarded people, but rather making fun of mentally capable people who make dumb (can I say “dumb”?) financial decisions, but whatever.
Yeah, I got the point. I also don’t support tearing people down as part of your blog growth strategy.
Greg, your toupe is ridiculous. You aren’t fooling anyone. You’re an idiot.
I have never understood the appeal of Yakezie but I do track my Alexa rating somewhat guiltily each month.
PS: If you want a good, short book on bubbles, try Galbraith’s Short History of Financial Euphoria. Amazing and only about 100 pages
I am not sure I follow the “logic” between a blogging bubble and yakezie? It seems like you wanted to write 2 separate posts and tied them together because neither were long enough.
Notwithstanding the poor logical leap, you have the wrong idea about yakezie – no one is more or less popular because of their alexa ranking….With thousands of personal finance blogs it is just a way to find new people and help those getting started.
Easy Money – I’ve had my site for years now and I’ll tell you it’s not ‘easy money.’ Running a site well takes a lot of work.
Increasing Valuations – Actually, valuations have scaled back in the last year. Search engines are constantly changing their measurements which is making it harder to effectively evaluate what a site is really worth. And remember, a site is only worth what someone actually paid for it, not what people say they would sell it for.
Her Mentality/Hot sector – We’re seeing a lot of people look to the internet to make money. It’s not quite ’99 yet though. Far from it. There’s ridiculous hype about Facebook but let’s face it, most sites aren’t Facebook and really, who’s to say what Facebook will be worth in a few years?
As for blogging in general, you are talking about one niche – personal finance – and one group within that niche in particular. That hardly represents all blogging. And to compare Yakezie with Madoff is a little sensationalist, no? We’re talking a person that stole and destroyed many lives. Hardly the same in any way. If you don’t like the group that’s fine, but I think you have you facts wrong.
I am proud to be a member of Yakezie. To me, it is no different than any other professional association where professionals with similar interests form a group to share knowledge, industry trends, support, and contacts. I care little about my Alexa ranking. I do, however, care about the great support group I have encountered through Yakezie. These are people I would have never crossed paths with had I not gotten involved with the group. How is this any different from a local Rotary’s members supporting each others businesses, a group of professional doctors referring patients to fellow members who they personally know and can vouch for their abilities, or a group of HR professionals gathering to discuss the latest industry trends? Stop looking at Yakezie as an exclusive club and instead think of it as a professional association that helps us all grow as personal finance bloggers.
And for the record, I like to all sorts of blogs, not just Yakezie Members. I do not follow a herd mentality. Few people that I know do.
“Yakezie is nothing but a ponzi scheme, mixed with a dash of communism for good measure” OMG! you really made me laugh this morning Nelson. I bet you will have a lot of “hate comments”
.
Besides the good laugh, I must say that I disagree with you in regards to the blog bubble. Bubbles are created when something increases in value while not providing revenues (or not enough). Personally, I see websites as rental properties. If you are willing to pay up to 15 times the yearly gross income for a rental property, why would you not pay 1, 2, 3 or even 4 times the yearly income for a web property? For the record I currently borrow at a 10% rate (which is quite normal when you are borrowing under a business) to make 30%+ investment returns. I think it’s a pretty good deal if I compare to real estate (where you borrow at 4% but you are making under 10% investment return).
As for the Yakezie, it is true that some of their traffic and alexa ranking are bogus. I’m part of the group more to exchange with other members and rise group project. However, I don’t comments on 50 blogs a day (vs I don’t get 50 comments a day either! lol!).
Anyway, you made me laugh, thx man!
I had the exact same reaction Mike. As usual, Nelson provides an extremely original view (mixed with penis jokes). I disagree with some of what he says, but hey, it’s a free world and I have thoroughly enjoyed the S***storm that he stirred up over at the mothership (Yakezie forum).
Interesting comparison to rental income btw. I never thought about that evaluation outlook.
Wait, I have a whole post about that coming next week (not about Nelson, but about rental properties
).
Cheers,
As a Yakezie member, I just want to say that I do NOT link to Yakezie blogs exclusively. My blogroll is enormous and so is the list of blogs I subscribe to and read. Financial Uproar is included in my blogroll, as are many other non-Yakezie blogs.
I didn’t join the challenge (or become a full member) because of some obsession with my Alexa ranking. I joined because I wanted to learn from more experienced bloggers and share what little I know with new ones. I committed to posting regularly and promoting fellow challengers/members. Both of those things have helped my blog, yes. More important than that, though, are the relationships I’ve formed and the number of people I can go to when I have an “Oh shit, I broke my blog” moment.
Personally, I judge my site’s success by the number of non-bloggers who read, comment, and email. Anyone can get other bloggers to read, but finding people who aren’t in it for the reciprocal benefits is a little tougher. I’m glad fellow bloggers come hang out, too, but I really don’t view my blog through the lens of what Yakezie has done for it. Instead, I look at Yakezie like any other organization – my membership allows networking opportunities and benefits, which are great, but my blog still has to stand on its own.
I like your sense of humor and laughed at certain points but don’t agree with what you wrote about Yakezie. Mainly because I have many different bloggers reading my content and my site was doing better and better before I joined. Yes Yakezie made the numbers drop FAST but I still have to bust my ass. I have made some pretty nice connections on Yakezie and work has opened up for me because I am a photographer/videographer and not a PF blogger. I like Sam from what I know of him and we have exchanged emails from time to time. I don’t see Bernie Madoff in him. You see I come from the dancer/actor world and there are many people who pull some foul shit to get a job in that field. I am sure if I encounter one or two along the way either in Yakezie or in the blogging world I won’t be surprised. However as of today that hasn’t happened. Even your harsh words to Sam and Yakezie don’t compare to the cut throat crap that I have seen.
On a side note I did enjoy your humor and I did give myself a pat on the balls but that had nothing to do with reading this. In fact I had patted them a few times 3 hours before reading.
You, and some of the previous comments, seem to have something personal against Sam. That’s cool. He’s not exactly my best friend either. But one thing I’ve discovered is that he is actually only a very small part of Yakezie. It may be his baby originally, but in the two weeks I’ve been visiting the forum, I’ve seen him post ONCE.
Most Yakezie members will tell you that it’s not about alexa. It’s about the community. It’s why I joined. Alexa ranking, pagerank, DA/PA, etc. are fun to look at, but not important. They are just numbers to make advertisers interested. And for me, even the money isn’t that interesting. If I make money writing, that’s fantastic. If not, I’m simply wasting my time blogging instead of wasting my time watching tv. The reason I joined Yakezie was to have people to talk to. A new way of wasting time. If that makes me a Marxist, I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do at my next Republican meeting.
Hold on…you’re not Yakezie? Why am I reading this…
Seriously though, I visit to and link to all of my favorite bloggers, not just Yakezie members. I would think many Yakezie members do the same. Or they wouldn’t have found this post, right?
And since I am not humble, I do not mind saying that my site is awesome – not just Alexa awesome, but “OMG-YOU’VE-ONLY-BEEN-BLOGGING-FOR-TWO-YEARS?!” – that kind of awesome. My supporters, all of them, Yakezie and everyone else, help keep it that way.
Yakezie is just a group of bloggers hoping to grow together. Some are in it for the money, some aren’t – just like all bloggers. I enjoy having a forum to ask and answer blogging questions – especially when I was newer and trying to figure out the ropes.
But if the Yakezie or Sam isn’t your schtick, I would still suggest finding another forum or group. It’s just great to have somewhere to bounce ideas off of each other.
Now excuse me, I need to go to our next circle-jerk…
The circle jerks are the best part. I get so lonely sometimes.
Sam was following me on twitter up until I opted out of the Yakezie. He stopped following me shortly after. That’s indicates something to me.
Why all the hate, bud? Oh yeah, I forgot. You’re controversial with a capital C.
As someone who joined the Yakezie group when it first started, I am thankful to be able to meet a bunch of like-minded PF bloggers. I do agree that it has gotten quite large, to the point that I don’ t recognize blog names anymore, but I can attest that I don’t exclusively link to the Yakezie. I link to whoever’s blog piques my interest that week, especially if they came and visited and commented 
Some of the PF blogger friends (including you lol) have some great reads! Unfortunately i haven’t been as active a “yakezie” as I used to be just cus I haven’t got the time to check out the forums, but I do enjoy the friendliness and willingness to help from others.
I’m sure there are lots of cliques in the PF blogger world, the Yakezie being one of them, and the Canadian PF bloggers. Hey, some Canadian PF bloggers only exclusively link to other Canadian PF bloggers, is there a crime in that
You and Sam need to go hash it out and have a few pints (or Lays chips). I’m sure you have a lot in common considering both of you write some controversial posts
Ahem (that’s a Canadian Ahem)… there are no Canadian secret group… yet
In fact, 90% of Canadian blogs are owned by ME… or Canadian Personal Finance `;-) lol!
lol
Hahah so true! 
*slow clap* This is one of your best blog posts ever.
Really? He just equated a group of more than 150 bloggers to a bunch of sheep because we communicate in a forum…that’s really his best post ever? That’s actually pretty sad. As someone that works with you and most of the commenters here, I am actually blown away that this post is getting any positive reactions at all. I responded tongue-in-cheek below to keep things light, but really? No one likes being called names for no reason and equating us all with a Ponzi scheme was just extra special. I have never done anything to Nelson to earn backlash and I am willing to bet 99% of the Yakezie haven’t annoyed him in any way. So no, I’m sorry, but this is far from his best post ever. It’s name calling for the sake of name calling. That just sucks.
Nelson is a great personal finance blogger because he has the guts to say whatever is on his mind. Sure, he calls people names and he might exaggerate a little – but that’s his style. Just like my style is to appreciate someone who is willing to take a stand against a popular idea. I may not agree with everything that he says (like his last post about no-spend days), but his writing is refreshing, entertaining, and I really appreciate it. That’s why I think this is one of his best blog posts ever.
I fail to see anything refreshing or entertaining about libelous statements. Nelson published a lot of inaccurate information under the guise of “humor.” As writers, we all have an obligation to research our stories for truth and accuracy. Nelson didn’t do that. Nothing refreshing there, in my opinion.
There’s no problem with taking a stand against a popular idea if you think the idea is wrong. But it sounds like you just like the fact that he argued against something popular, which isn’t so impressive, especially when it’s clear he made up facts and attacked people without any real basis.
Krystal, no wonder why everybody makes fun of you behind your back for quitting your job to go to Germany and live in a 200sqft apartment with another guy who is just using you like a used towel!
Jeff – All I did was applaud Nelson for being brave enough to write something different. Grow up. There’s no need to personally attack me and say things that have nothing to do with Yakezie or this article.
Well that was an even more personal shot than Nelson’s. Pretty unnecessary in my opinion. Almost seems like Jeff is Nelson’s alter ego here to stir up trouble.
Oh wow- let’s resort to playground tactics, shall we? Now what part of you thought such a personal attack was in any way necessary?
Surely we should all be adults here and have a balanced debate about this? Can’t the die-hard proponents of the Yakezie Network see see that you’re supporting the ‘clique’ accusations through such belligerence? What’s more, surely your animosity goes against everything that the Yakezie Network is supposed to stand for (mutual support and collaboration)?
I may not agree with everything that has been said here, but I admire Nelson for making his feelings heard. I don’t think anyone should be vilified for that.
And for what it’s worth, Krystal, I admire you equally for both expressing your opinion and for upping sticks to move to Germany. Good for you on both accounts.
This is why I thoroughly enjoy your blog.
This post is high-larious.
Are you going to take Sam up on his offer to help you with your site?
I’ll just continue to trudge on alone. Oh the humanity.
Nelson, have you ever talked to anyone who is in Yakezie? If you did, you would have known that Alexa is just a tiny tiny measure just to keep track of the progress. Any one who have read about Alexa would know that all it means is I am getting other bloggers visiting me. I know for a fact that I get way more traffic than some bloggers whose Alexa ranking is much lower than mine.
You completely missed the networking part. If you are part of a professional network related to your field of work and talk about the current trends, is that wrong? I have communication issues and I am part of Toastmasters (don’t know if they are in Canada), they correct me if I am wrong and encourage me along the way, is that wrong? A lot of people join hobby clubs, investment clubs to bounce ideas off each other, is that wrong? If not, how is yakezie different from any of these?
If you have any problem with individual bloggers or don’t like the approach of any particular blogger, shouldn’t you be talking it out with them? Why name call a whole network when you have not interacted with any of them. I have been reading you ever since you started staff writing for CFB and I don’t comment much at all, yakezie or not, according to you for these reason, I shouldn’t belong to Yakezie. Yakezie is a simple concept, networking for bloggers. According to me that is no different than the Toastmasters, Association of women in Science, American Association of Advancement in Science and the BIOCOM.
All I have to say is thank you for entertaining discussion generated by your post. Let’s face it though. NO ONE reads personal finance blogs except for personal finance bloggers. Well, that accounts for the majority of readers anyway. Overall, people that read blogs are people that have their own blogs. None of my friends have blogs and they all think I’m a huge weirdo for having one. Sooo…I kind of forget my point…. I guess it’s that we’re all in our little blog world over here and no one else really cares.
This is probably the best comment of the whole thread. Well done Amber.
Okay, now I write about personal finance too, so maybe now nobody reads personal finance blogs except for personal finance bloggers. But when I first started reading Budgets Are Sexy, Studenomics, Consumerism Commentary, and Get Rich Slowly, two years ago, I wasn’t a PF blogger. Heck, I wasn’t a blogger at all.
I guess Huffington Post became the largest blog on the planet because only bloggers read blogs.
I read PF blogs for nearly 3 years before I started my own. To be completely honest I blogged for 15 months and then closed my blog down because I just wasn’t comfortable revealing so much personal info … even on a semi-anonymous blog … for those who accuse me of cowardice for not listing my (now non existant) blog. That said, I still read PF blogs, just a limited set of them.
I agree that non-bloggers don’t care about stuff like blogosphere drama. But to say that only pf bloggers read pf blogs has not at all been my experience. With regard to my readership at least, I’d be surprised if 1/50 had their own blogs.
Let’s be real here, if you were as ugly and poor as Nelson, who got rejected from an ad campaign, wouldn’t you be angry?
Stay classy Jeff.
Ouch! But at least Nelson still has his hands right? I don’t care about money and looks so much if I had someone. Unfortunately, it looks like Nelson has no body either
This is a great thread on the Yakezie Forums that has been generating some good traffic for the site. Have to sign up to comment though. http://yakezie.com/forums/bloggers-lair/to-those-who-hate-or-do-not-understand-some-thoughts-on-why-i-started-yakezie/
I’m going to respond to the rest of the comments in one big-ass comment, because I don’t have time to type the same thing 14 different times, unlike some of you.
First, the obsession with Alexa. Apparently, nobody in Yakezie gives a rats ass about Alexa. Really? THEN WHY IS ALEXA THE ONLY METRIC THAT DETERMINES WHETHER YOU MOVE ON IN THE DAMN CHALLENGE?
I spent some time browsing the forums, and it’s pretty obvious you guys talk about Alexa far, far more often than you talk about any of the other traffic metrics many of you mentioned. The obsession with Alexa is obvious. Not sure why no one will admit it.
As for my apparent beef with Sam, I only have one criticism: he consistently understates his financial benefit from being the guy in charge of the network. Yakezie is a PR4 and the homepage is stuffed with ads. In his gigantically long comment defending the network, he never once mentions his financial gain from being the guy who owns it. Everybody who joins the challenge links back to Yakezie, meaning the owner of said network benefits from the network continuing to increase in size. If the network stagnates, so do the benefits for the owner. Hence the ponzi scheme comparison.
I’m a believer that humans are generally a selfish group. We do things for our own benefit. Ask yourself, did you really join Yakezie to help people? Or did you do it to get more readers/get noticed by other bloggers/better networking or advertising opportunities/whatever? If there weren’t advantages to joining, none of you would do so. This is why I find the slogan laughable. Saying that, there’s still little doubt in my mind that Yakezie is a clique, and your responses to anyone who has the audacity to question Yakezie has further solidified my position.
Now, let’s speak of the so called “cowards” who won’t reveal their identities when bashing Yakezie. Krystal thinks this post is great because it stirs the pot, and in response Crystal basically tells her to watch her back and not to screw with Yakezie. I completely understand why those who agree with me did so anonymously. And, just so you Yakeziers know, I got many private comments agreeing with me. It’s pretty obvious why most people didn’t respond publicly.
So that’s about it. I don’t think I’m going to respond to any more comments after this, so feel free to argue among yourselves.
One last thing… Are you guys accepting new Yakezie applicants?
“Everybody who joins the challenge links back to Yakezie, meaning the owner of said network benefits from the network continuing to increase in size. If the network stagnates, so do the benefits for the owner. Hence the ponzi scheme comparison. ”
I believe the relationship is interdependance, so not it’s not a ponzi scheme. Both parties are getting something out of it.
I didn’t threaten Krystal. I just questioned why she would think your meanest post was your best post. That is still my main question – why is this post being considered so much better than the ones that you have written that don’t bad mouth a whole group of people?
I agree that Alexa ratings are garbage. And I agree that Alexa ratings can be gamed and often are gamed. Further, I agree with some of the comments here that Sam can be a bit, well, prickly at times.
And I agree that the blogging gravy train is unlikely to last forever — at least not in its current form.
But having a group of other bloggers to provide advice, encouragement, and links is no joke. That’s valuable stuff. From what I gather, that’s what the yakezie is for many members.
(From a non-yakezie — not even an ex-one.)
First comes the financing and then comes the blog foreclosures!
Here’s how the money dries up overnight: Google removes the punch bowl. Don’t Quit Your Day Jobs, heh.
I love how much attention the Network is getting! Pretty cool actually, since I was wondering some stuff myself and Sam’s comment clarified a lot. I plan on joining the Challenge!
With all of these blogger visits your Alexa rating must be plummeting Nelson! Mission accomplished!
For any other folks who didn’t catch that this was a tongue-in-cheek comment … at least leave a real email address so I can respond to your comments. Thanks.
Nelson,
I think your valuation of personal finance blogs and Yakezie are a little extreme. While I think it’s silly to valuate a blog at 4x annual revenue in most cases, 1 or 2 annual earnings for any small business is very typical. So to state it’s a bubble is silly, even if you don’t believe in the revenue model.
There are many successful businesses that rely on advertising as a sole source of revenue. Yes as I’ve stated on my own blog Google can be a PITA with their SEO changes, but that’s one of the risks in this area. With any business you must identify the risks and minimize them. As the buyer of a web site you must understand these risks otherwise you are the “greater fool” and deserve exactly what you get.
For example, there was recently a blog sold on flippa.com for $5500 related to Lending Club:
https://flippa.com/2698026-764-last-30-days-adsense-affiliate-site-passive-income-1-no-reserve
I personally would never buy this blog as the income period was too short, and the web site IMHO qualifies as “spammy” Eventually the site will get hit by Google in their SEO updates. Even though this blog is ranked higher than mine in some keywords. So the site really adds little value to a vistor, and the buyer is taking a big risk recouping his money. This is unlike many of the other PF bloggers who focus purely on the content.
It is possible to make a living out a blog and actually be very good at it IMHO. I won’t state my exact income from my own blog, but I can assure you most individuals could live off the profit alone.
Though like writing in general, you won’t make much money writing your heart out. A blog is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Meaning in the end your blog should be selling some service or product. I see many bloggers without a purpose to their site, or talk about anything on their blog. It’s fine if you are doing it as an open journal and hobby; awful as a business model.
So you have two extreme sides of blogging. Ones who are really SEO driven generate decent income but content is poor, and then others who focus on content but generate little income. A successful blog IMHO is a mixture of the two, though most PF blogs fall into the the latter category.
Many blogs I see are really just that – hobbies. Keep in mind most never owned a business and it’s a learning process for them. I commend anyone who’s taken the time and effort to really keep working at their blog and have started from nothing. They need guidance, and I do think Yakezie does help in this respect. It’s others helping others learn the ropes about how to great an online presence.
The eventual goal for a blog though is you should be selling a product or service. Maybe not at first, someone else’s eventually or your own product/service. If you aren’t selling your own product, then you are doing arbitrage via the affiliate links and ad banners. Just like in investing, arbitrage can be very profitable if you know what you are doing. You are still adding value to your web site visitors.
In looking around in Yakezie and other non Yakezie PF blogs I think many are under very monetized. Hell Sam himself has stated his own blog, which gets a lot of hits, gets only $2/CPM! In the PF blogosphere you should be doing at LEAST $10/CPM. I believe Mike from the Financial Blogger sees it this way and why he’s buying other blogs for such high multiples. Meaning if it generates little income to it’s full potential sure he’ll offer 48 x monthly revenue, because the revenue is small! It can be said Mike is a value investor buying companies with unreasonably low Earnings.
Finally, Sam and I disagree on a lot of things and without question can rub people the wrong way. My main beef with him is the secretiveness of his life (ie like what exactly does he do for a living) and at times makes me wonder if he’s full of BS.
This is because he’ll reveal or boast about some aspects in his life and then be removed in other areas. Then will privately ask questions to me or other PF bloggers and expecting to get a direct answer (ie how much money do you make?) Bottom line, if you are asking personal questions about me, then I expect you to “show yours” also. Otherwise buzz off!
Some of it might be puffing himself up, while some of it might be true. There is an old cartoon that once said “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you're_a_dog
Meaning people can make up all sorts of crazy shit about themselves. You have to always look at the source, their overall trustworthiness, and possible motive. A perfect example of this is Internet Marketer John Chow who lied on his monthly income statements.
So always take what anyone says with a grain of salt, unless you know their overall history how much they reveal about themselves. Everyone is trying to one up someone else and make themselves appear to be better than others. This isn’t just in the PF space but life in general.
Do I think Yakezie is a ponzi scheme no. Do I think it adds value to others yes, in some cases. Is it perfect model of an online community? No but no community with as many people can have unity.
Let me add in the end I don’t really care if other Yakezie members link to me or not, or my ranking within Yakezie.
If I do link or mention other Yakezie members in my posts or tweets it’s because I liked their content, nothing to do with their affiliation.
I’m focusing on the valued added and monetization of my blog. If other members like and comment in my blog, then I’ve achieved my purpose. Being in Yakezie isn’t my purpose, nor do I think for most of the other members.
Yeah, I don’t understand the obsession with Alexa, either. Alexa is dumb. I think my Alexa rating is in the 400k’s at the moment. For reference, it used to be close to 150k. I have three times the traffic now and earn enough to do this full-time if I really wanted (admittedly the income comes from multiple sites). Go figure.
That said, I don’t have a problem with Yakezie. They help each other out. What’s wrong with that? I wouldn’t be where I am today without a lot of similar help from others. To each his own.
Oh, and where do I go to sign up for the circle jerks?
Live and let live.
I’ve never been shy about saying what I feel about certain ideas and thoughts. I openly share my opinions and put my face and name out there for all to associate with my words, and I also take any criticism that comes my way. But there is a line that I don’t cross and I draw that line at taking personal shots at people or a group even if it would mean garnering additional attention, and I think there was a bit of that line crossing happening here.
It’s true that Alexa isn’t the best model for determining the true status of a blog, and I’ve mentioned in the Yakezie forum on a number of occasions that I don’t really believe in it as being the ultimate indicator of anything. Rather, I look for interactions both on and off of my blog. To me that is the true measure of success more so than the number of twitter followers, subscribers, and rank. I say this quite a bit–what is the point of having those metrics if nobody ever responds to my ideas or thoughts? There really is none as it would be the equivalent of speaking just because I like the sound of my own voice (which I don’t by the way).
I disagree with the clique comment wholeheartedly. Cliques exclude others at every turn, which Yakezie members don’t. I’ve tweeted with people about non-money stuff like Amber about brussels sprout and with Krystal about hockey. I’ve had email conversations with J$ from Budgets are Sexy. I’ve commented on numerous non-Yakezie blogs (even this very one). Maybe some people are Yakezie-centric, but to group everyone under that blanket comment would be like saying everyone of a particular race or religion is the same, or that no one from the same are is any different from their neighbor.
This is really a narrow-minded view of the Yakezie as a whole, as the biggest benefit is completely ignored-the helping aspect involved. How many industries do you know of where “competitors” can come together and share ideas for making their products better? None. But that is exactly what happens in the Yakezie forums. People who are essentially competitors (since they are all vying for the short attentions spans of readers) freely asking each other for ideas on how to make their sites better, how to solve technical problems with their installations or other server issues, or ways to be more engaging in their writing. I haven’t seen any instance where it has been all about money or anything similar. It’s been about encouraging others more than anything in the 6 months that I’ve been involved.
I’ve never seen people react so harshly to “filler text” in my life
You had two points: blog bubble and Yakezie sucks. One has some well thought out points – the other attacks the members of a group to satisfy some grudge you have with Sam.
Smart move to attract reads and comments, though.
I always stop in the grocery store and listen, at least for a second, when a kid is laying on the ground kicking and screaming.
“A dash of communism” and “Karl Marx”? I don’t get the reference (or the intent of this post, for that matter). Yakezie is a voluntary association, not a coercive one.
The writing on this site is quite good most times (penis and boobie jokes and all), but posts like this just generate bad karma, and personal attacks just cloud the message. Best to stick with the facts.
Well….your site is aptly named. I hope nobody got too upset with Nelson’s post. He writes to entertain, after all. And when you look at humor itself, as my dad says, it usually comes at somebody expense. There’s a fine line sometimes when determining the appropriateness of humor, and drawing the distinction can be tough. But Nelson is certainly his own man. I’ll give him that.
[...] Is blogging a bubble @ Financial Uproar [...]
[...] a top in this boom we’ve seen in the business of blogging, at the same time taking a steaming dump on the Yakezie network. As you probably remember, the backlash was immediate and strident. My comment section filled with [...]
[...] can be difficult if your niche is over-populated with writers. And, what happens if your niche is in a bubble, and suddenly it [...]