I mention Independent Lady Magazine a little too frequently lately. Last night, (I still haven’t slept… though not just because of this) in the middle of the night, I decided that I’d set up a MySpace page for Independent Lady Magazine and then I went and designed a few mock covers… no false article text or anything.. just the words. I suppose since I made a MySpace page, I had to keep going, to make it look good. And, while initially it was supposed to be a spoof, the more I wrote, the more I realized that I can actually turn this into a real magazine! The reasons are plenty:
- Show clients a sample of a rich content site I created.
- Use the site as a test-lab for experimenting with high-end SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques, to see how many words I can get on the front page of Google for… not to mention to show clients that I can do the same for them.
- Generate a revenue model based on Google Ad-Sense, as well as actual advertising.
- Having a wonderful outlet for expressing myself through my journalistic skills. Writing articles, and performing interviews would be fun!
- It’s a platform for my photography. I currently have 14 images, each with an image credit, as mock-covers, with (what I think are) hilarious titles.
- One of my mentors says that if you have a resource or service that you can provide your clients (in this case, the readers) that can benefit them, then it is your responsibility to provide it. I think this magazine, the way I am putting it together, would really benefit people… both as a place to vent and relax, but also I’ve recruited a few excellent content providers. I’ve got Jaime providing wedding planning advice, stories, pictures, etc…. she’s amazing at it, and her existing blog http://justjaime28.wordpress.com/ already looks like a magazine and contains better content than many magazines. She’s passionate about what she does, and she’s really good at it. So, there’s her, and then there’s Cymonne, who is simply one of the best Hair and Makeup artists that I’ve ever worked with. Recently, someone did a poor job on her website, and then took the money and ran without making any of the corrections they promised. I told her I would create her a website that looked great, and that she could update easily. I called her up today, and asked if in exchange for that website, she’d be willing to do a Hair & Makeup VIDEO column for the readers! Not only is that unique and exciting content, but this girl is TALENTED! This would really provide much needed content for people out there.
So… what’s the problem? I have a nice MySpace site, I own the domains, I have a bunch of great things that can happen from it. Well… my reasoning was that the guy who approached me with the idea of Independent Lady Magazine was going about everything all wrong. He has bad credit, wants to get everything for free, does not care about violating copyright infringement, has no qualms about using up hours and hours and hours of as many people’s time as he can for free, needs a lot of hand-holding, was initially going to try to create a mock-up to impress investors - which wouldn’t've worked with his atrocious spelling and grammar. I guess it was the old “I’ll teach him a lesson!” kind of thing. I thought I’d buy the domain names, since he didn’t do that- despite being warned about that by myself and the other fellow who’s time he tried to leech before he dealt with me. He had shown me a web site he tried to do many years ago, and it was hideous layout, and he couldn’t update it. He showed me his magazine covers, and they did not look professional at all… definitely not on the level that he was describing his magazine, “We’re going to outsell Vogue, and Redbook! People just love our magazine!” I’m the one who told him to go the on-line route, and explained what a CMS (Content Management System) is, and was even willing to give him a huge break in price, and make the payments flexible. I was warned about him… that he would not pay a cent, and would try to waste my time. And yet…..
I got a text today saying I took things too far. It was from the same person that had warned me that this guy wastes people’s time, tries to get free work, and doesn’t have the money to pay. The same guy who had had his time wasted, and was angered by this guy, and had even warned the guy to purchase the domain, before someone else does. I called the guy to follow up on the text, and he pointed out that regardless of the guy’s ability to (ever) create the product or not, it was his idea. It doesn’t matter what I say, regarding how he’d never be able to deliver what I’m creating…. about him being unprofessional, cheap, and to a degree, a thief. It does not matter that the guy has no idea what he’s doing. The bottom line, as far as this (very good) friend of mine was concerned is that I really took this too far. That it seems to be a personal vendetta, and I should just drop it. I explained that he doesn’t understand, that I’m actually making something of this, and that the guy can see what a real magazine should look like, and that unlike that guy, I can actually make this happen, and even make it popular, and revenue generating. I explained how I did not steal the guy’s idea, but rather spoofed it, and was doing an exact opposite of what he was trying to achieve. I was not arguing, but was rather appreciating that a friend could be honest with me, and let me know what they thought.
There are 3 sides to every story. Your side, my side, and the truth. This guy may be a scam artist and a terrible speller… but he did talk to me about wanting to create “Independent Lady Magazine” - which is now being built by me. The guy did not buy his own domain name, despite being warned… and it only costs like $10 per domain name. ALSO, when I explained to him how great an online magazine would be, and why (majorly reduced cost, increased distribution, interactivity, stats tracking, ad words, paid advertising, interactivity, ease of changing, multimedia, and much more), he kept asking for what kind of a break I could give him, since we’re in a recession…. and when I offered to not only give him a great price, but also to break the payments into 3, instead of 2, he asked if I could just build the website, and control it until I was paid. In that respect, I am totally in the right, as I did what I was instructed to do. Also, this is America, the land of opportunity. He didn’t register the domain, that’s his fault. He’s not the 1st, nor the last to think of a women’s magazine, and the content that I am creating is much different than the content he was talking about. He treated people poorly, and there are consequences to everything. Have you ever had an idea, but not taken action on it, and then someone else did it and made a ton off of it? Well.. this is sort of the same thing.
I guess it all depends on my mood, and how I write the story. In my original 3 posts, I sort of bashed the guy, displayed his poor English skills, and laughed at buying his domain name, and using my SEO Superpowers to place my story about him as the 1st & 2nd thing on Google when you look up Independent Lady Magazine. When I wrote the 1st few entries, it was funny, and he seemed like the asshole. Now, after seeing this other guy’s viewpoint, I feel like the asshole - regardless of justification.
What do you think I should do?
- The person who brought this viewpoint to my attention says I should just drop the whole thing, and maybe charge the guy for the cost of the domain names. Basically… drop the whole thing.
- I’ve invested a bunch of time into improving the guy’s idea, and executing it… not to mention all the hours of mine that were wasted getting relevant and irrelevant information from me, without any consideration for my time. This is America, I built it, he didn’t, he didn’t even think of a website, let alone a CMS. I built it, I should be able to do what I want with it.
- I can complete the site, drive traffic to it, get content going on it, and turn it into what it can be… let the guy know about it, and sell it to him for what I would charge for the amount of work that was completed, and perhaps a percent of the site’s future revenue.
- I can complete the site, and partner with him on it.
- I can take my contributing authors, my images, my content, and create an online magazine by a different name on a different site, and run it for the reasons I mentioned at the start of this.
- I can call the guy, show him this blog entry, and ask him what he thinks.
- _________________
I don’t know what route to take. I can take any or all. Like I said, 3 sides to every story. What do you think I should do?
Maybe coming up with a different name wouldn’t be a bad idea? You’ve already made it YOURS…so make it YOURS officially by getting creative with your own mag title and URL/domain name. We could brain-storm together, and come up with some fantastic titles.
The fact is that it’s YOUR content, YOUR hard work, YOUR time, YOUR talent… why waste all that effort & time spent by partnering up? It’s up to you, of course, but I personally think & KNOW you could rock this site with a different name. And without this dude. So rock it. And then rest easy, my friend.
Hakuna Matata.
dude, to be totally honest, i thought you went too far the first time you made a post about that guy. I know your threading the line between being a professional designer and a full time blogger, but I don’t think it’s ever cool to stomp a client, whether he pays, is a leach, thief, whatever.
As a business man your going to run into more than a few difficult and just plain shitty clients. You aren’t accomplishing anything except building petty drama by advertising your grief.
If I have a shitty client, I politely (key word) thank them, apologize that we won’t be able to work together, and get on with business.
Your a creative and talented guy. The energy you used “spoofing” him could have been invested in a dozen different things that could make money or at least some laughs. As it is, you invested a bunch of time in a silly spat that made you look pretty adolescent and unprofessional….
I’m only saying this because you asked, and i’m saying it one friend and business man to another…
-miah
This is yet another example of someone taking a negative experience, and turning it into a positive. You took a small revenge by purchasing the domain name(s). As far as I am aware, you haven’t had any emails or phones regarding a “stolen name,” which leads me to believe this former POTENTIAL CLIENT(Since he never paid you for any discussed services) hasn’t gone any further with this project idea. You can’t steal something that was never owned by anyone. I.e. No one owned “Independent Lady,” or “Independent Lady Mag”… myspace, ect.
Ben Franklin was a big fan of anyone making improvements on an idea of his. (he was also a big fan of the ladies ;P)
So I say, ‘Good on you(mew).”
<3
I have followd your three part blog thingy about that guy. I think its entertainin! His spellin is worse than mine, but I don’t claim to be a great editor! That guy sounds like an asshole! I say keep the site. you put all this work into it and he couldn’t even get a print magazine or a website done, and you gave him all the info free!! he was askin you about payin his friend to fix his credit like thats your job? didn’t he want u to photoshop stuff?? what’s his bank credit have to do w/ photoshop?? u wrote that stuff a while ago, and got #1 on google like angela said u would heard from him because you have his name. sound like hes dumb enuff that he wouldnt even know its your site. even though u had it send to couchsurfing.
he prolly pissed off another few designers and didnt pay and so he doesn’t know his sites been taken. i say keep it, and by the time he figures it out he’ll cry cause he sees that you made it happen, and he’ll come back to you for double the money like you told him in the letter. he told you to build it and give it after you got paid! you didnt get paid, so dont give it back.
Upon competition, innovation, and improvement, our whole world revolves (especially Japan). “All’s fair in love and war” but I’m not trying to declare war. The Japanese are well known for their technical savvy, however, pre 1950’s, any electronics that came from there would fall apart. William Edwards Deming, a statistician from the USA, went over their and taught the Japanese to optimize (everything) their manufacturing. What are we doing good? What can be improved? Great, now that that’s improved, how can we improve it further. Now they are leaders in the world, based on taking something, and making it better, and better, and better. I do the same to my own work. This guy didn’t have a product, so I didn’t even rip his product off. I took an idea, that is a copy of an idea (he’s going after the Vogue readers), and changed it. I’m not even going after Vogue readers.
I think I agree and disagree with everyone. Not that I’m trying to please everyone… I definitely have my own opinions (”I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: Try to please everybody all the time.” - Herbert B. Swope). But, I think I’m agreeing with Miah on the bashing part being immature. That’s not something that should be done as a business.
At the same time though, it’s also meant as a warning to those that are on Craigslist answering the man’s ad. I found him through Craigslist, and would never have dealt with him in the 1st place, if I had been warned about him before investing all that time into him. I never did mention his name (nor will I), but it’s not professional to bash anyone. Lincoln had learned to never speak ill of ANYONE… although it took him some publishing (pre blog, of course) to get into the altercation that got him into a duel, which he would have totally won (having gotten to choose the weapons- cavalry swords– with which he had a much longer reach)… however, he realized that his words have angered someone, which could have led to a death.
I don’t want a duel, and technology and business wise, it seems that I outqualify this other person. I agree with Angela that this guy has (as I predicted) fumbled the project to an untimely demise. Any web developer - at any price - would start by checking that the domain is available, or googling it. I find it odd that I haven’t heard from him. I basically offered him $5,000-$8,000 worth of work for $1,500. That would include videos on how to use his new CMS to add and change content, design, programming, etc… this guy needed a lot of hand-holding. I’d love to see him try to call a lawyer and chat their ear off about how great his magazine is, when they bill him by the hour just to talk.
To the guy that pointed out to me that my behavior (the original spoof was fine, but now this “taking it, developing it, and making it my own product) disturbing… I concur, and feel bad about it. He said that there was a concern that if he were to send me clients in the future, he’d have to be concerned that I’d bash them, and take their product. I’m usually very professional. My clients are my close friends. Not because we were friends before, but because I treat my clients like gold. I educate my clients, and people who want to work with me, and don’t know what they’re doing. I offer a lot of time for free, before getting paid. I often under promise and over deliver. I’ve even done work pro-bono many times because I felt bad for the people, or liked their cause, or just ’cause it’s the nice thing to do. Sometimes they come back and hire me, sometimes they don’t. It’s a gamble. But there’s a difference here, and I’m not looking to do $1,000 of work for $100 anymore. I’ve paid my dues, I’ve even kept in contact with a company that screwed me out of $13,500. It really hurt then too!
I’m studying a lot of marketing and business consultants, and they have great things to say. If you have a seminar (since I teach seminars on occasion), and charge $500 a person, the people expect that you provide lunch, and that you provide pens and paper. If you charge $5,000 they don’t even expect you to feed them, they bring their own notebooks and pens. At $5,000 they respect what you say, and they pay attention. But if you charge $50, they complain if you feed them and the food is cold. They complain that they didn’t get a goody bag with their ticket. What’s the point of that paragraph? By cutting out the bottom 10% (Goldman Sachs had a policy of firing the bottom 5% every year). By raising your prices, you get rid of the riff-raff at the bottom. You get rid of the ones that whine, and require all the hand-holding, and you retain the people that respect what you offer, and treat you like a professional.
I think I agree with Lance. I gave this guy a bunch of my time, a bunch of free consulting that wasn’t even relevant to what I had signed on for. He came to me with the name of a magazine, and I educated him and coached it into a real product…. followed by a lot of hard work to actually develop a real product. I’ve started on the site, and am excited by having a publication. I’ve already called to recruit writers, speakers, and even a few interviews. If done right, this can become a great product, which will attract advertisers, and eventually could be bought out. If the original guy wants to pay what the work is worth, he can buy it. Otherwise, I’d love to see what someone will offer him
I still haven’t slept (I’ll blog about it tomorrow, but I went and shot (camera) the Ring Leader for the Ringling Bros. Circus). Bottom line (other than that I get long winded, and forget my points when I haven’t slept) is that I’m keeping the site, and finishing what I started. I feel a bit bad that I used a name that this guy mentioned, but he told me to set it up and hold it till I’m paid. He definitely burnt the bridge as well… not that that excuses my bashing of him. That’s the only part I have remorse over– although, as I said, it’s a warning to others, and as a blogger, I was just relaying my experiences.
IN CONCLUSION he DID end his last e-mail by telling me that he forgives me, so it’s all good!
Bro,
It is precisely what I would do. This is what I would call “cut throat” and whether you are upfront about it, sugar coat it, hide it as best as possible…it happens every day and is precisely how the rich get richer and the idiots try to “clear up their bad credit”.
More power to you. Go for it. No need to further humiliate the moron, but I say keep going with the idea.
How many woman’s magazines are out there? Makes/models of cars that look exactly the same? Chairs? TV’s?
Blah to anyone else who can’t see the capitalism right under their noses.
-Me
i like 5. and 6. and sell him the domain name if he wants it & make some money off it.
No.5 is the right option.
I’m all for changing the name. First, you did not create it and I’m sure you can come up with something more creative. Second, Independent Lady Magazine sounds like a publication for elderly women who have finally let go of their walkers.