Before you guys continue reading this post, please make sure you read “PART 1” first. If you have read part 1, the following post should continue your reading with some surprises.
The first thing I would like to discuss is the surprise and it also surprised me because Million Dollar Wiki is now under new ownership. Now I have been planning this post for a while now and because MDW has a new owner, there might be changes, but I’m going to stick with my reason for posting this. The man I’m going to focus on is Graham Langdon and how he just gave up on such a wonderful creation.
What the heck is Million Dollar Wiki?
If you don’t know what Million Dollar Wiki is, you’ve probably been hiding in the caves for quite some time because just a few months ago, this was one of the biggest crazes on the net. Why do I say this? Well, I’m sure all of you have heard of Wikipedia, a site where anyone may edit a certain page for free. Million Dollar Wiki changed that concept by allowing people to purchase a full page (http://milliondollarwiki.com/*page*) for the cost of $100. For such a steep price many wouldn’t bother dropping such an high amount of money on this site, but John Chow and Darren Rowse changed that, which doesn’t surprise me one bit because of their high viewers count.
With the help of 2 “BIG GUNS”, Graham received over 500 pages sold in just a couple of days, which brought him a net of about $50,000 USD. With every page purchased, Mr. Langdon left a promise that the site will be up for a least 15 years and he’ll market the site as much as possible to gain more viewers. In the Interview I made with him, Graham also promised that he will market the site more, but this never happened…
Please take a look of the Interview I conducted with Mr. Graham Langdon before you move on.
So what happened to the “PROMISE” ?
I regret not taking screenshots of Million Dollar Wiki when I had the idea of this post in my mind. If you guys visited it a least once a week, you would notice that there are about 2-25 pages sold a month and that is horrible for a site with such huge publicity. About a little more than a month ago I did a review for Max on his One Buck Wiki site and I linked to Million Dollar Wiki. You could take a look at the review I did here and please do visit Max’s network too. Anyways, going back on topic here I would like to point out that a couple hours after I posted the review for Max, Graham posted a message. I don’t have a screenshot of that message though because he deleted the post and his SitePoint link, but take a look at this:
“So sit back everyone, and relax. My guess is that the new promotion I am referring to will begin in January, and by February, we will be at 2000 pages. From there, it is a climb to the top until my story becomes compelling enough that my publicist can successfully pitch it to some mainstream media. And after that, we hit 10,000 pages easy.”
Now did he fulfill that promise or break it? The answer is only obvious that he broke this promise. Although his SitePoint auction (click here) got bids up to $10,000, he did not sell it due to the huge price of $30,000 that he wanted. You guys could take a look at the auction site and you’ll be able to see the messages he typed. The site never sold on SitePoint, but just yesterday, there was a new message on the MDW blog. Just take a look at it and you’ll be shocked at what happened.
Point of this post
First of all, take a look at the Alexa stats below:
If you can see, Million Dollar Wiki was never really marketed by Graham Langdon. The only times he received traffic was when he purchased the review from John Chow and a ad spot on ProBlogger.net . Then as it got to November, Entrecard appeared (which was at the same time as Bloggin-Ads) and as Entrecard rose, MDW continued to fall, but with a little spike here and there. As you can see with the latest stats, I’m basically head to head with MDW.
My point is will Graham do this to Entrecard too? or will he only sacrifice his first project for the sake for his new one? Promising the page buyers on Million Dollar Wiki and the result was him selling the project to Ron James, the new owner. If I were him, I would continue working on both projects as both Entrecard and MDW are great ideas worth thousands and may even hit the million mark. Time will tell what Entrecard will show us and maybe Ron will do something about MDW and we might enjoy it.
pagepeel by webpicasso.de
I’m disappointed in Graham for not going through with the MDW.
As great as Entrecard is, I would have to say that I would not put any money into it should they offer premium accounts given Graham’s track record of broken promises. That’s what MDW owners will remember as I have been in contact with other page owners and they have a grudge - working on Entrecard where it hasn’t been monetized but dumping MDW which had been making him money.
Oh well, Graham’s reputation is something he has to live with and revive but I guarantee you, people remember because of the “hype”.
mariam’s last blog post..Concerns for the BRIC - Growth and returns - Part 3
Oh, I didn’t realise it was the same person. That is a little off putting. Then again, he may have learned from his past mistakes and hopefully he’ll market the Entrecard more.
CatherineL’s last blog post..Are These Superhumans Demotivating You?
Okay, I have been living under a rock. -_-
Looks like Graham failed Million Dollar Wiki aye?
Hopefully, Entrecard would succeed!
Deimos Tel`Arin’s last blog post..By: Deimos Tel`Arin
Deimos Tel`Arin » No worries, a lot of people don’t know about this and that’s why I needed to make this go public!
CatherineL » yea…hopefully Entrecard will succeed..
mariam » we’re ALL disappointed in him..
MDW needs intensive marketing and needs constant baby-ing and promotion. Entrecard, on the otherhand, is a bit self-sufficient, if you get what I mean. Graham did not enlist the services of the multitudes of bloggers who took initiative to blog and provide link backs to the Entrecard site, whether or not the posts were positive. They all volunteered!
Entrecard in my opinion is easier to maintain than MDW. He got a techie to do damage control of the cheaters and stuff, and the rest of the satisfied customers (bloggers) did the rest, which was marketing and stuff. MDW cannot thrive by word of mouth alone, while Entrecard can. Unless they do something to mess the system up… pardon my French.
evilwoobie’s last blog post..Mind Games 101
You know, i complete forgot that I had purchased 2 or 3 of those during the Chow contest. Hmmm, I wonder what they were. I though that they were good words at the time. I will have to go back and check my records. Good article Mike. You’re right, I would hope that he doesn’t do that to Entrecard too. However, isn’t that the American way? Leave on a high note. Build it up right away and peddle it to some unsuspecting sucker. The new owner has a long row to hoe for sure.
Andy’s last blog post..Myspace or Yours.
I didn’t realize he was behind MDW at first, but now that I do, it doesn’t worry me. One cost money, one is ‘you get what you put in.’ If that changes, I’ll reevaluate. And I do agree with Woobie on time management to maintain.
StanHayes’s last blog post..Top Twenty 2nd Basemen For 2008
I agree with Woobie.
Mike White’s last blog post..I Just P***ed Myself
My problem with Entrecard, at least at this point in time is that it appears to be geared toward blogs about online marketing. I find this to be the case with many of the online marketing ideas - they’re great if that’s your stock and trade, but promoting a niche blog be it entertainment, gardening, parenting or whatever - there doesn’t seem to be much in it for us.
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Hi Mike, Ron James here, new owner of the Million Dollar Wiki. Just wanted to touch on a couple points.
As a page owner myself, I was also disappointed to see a drop off in promotion of MDW, and the “Million Dollar Idea” downgrade to a “$100k Idea” when there’s so much more potential behind it.
To Graham’s credit, he recognized that he was not able to dedicate himself fully to both MDW and Entrecard simultaneously and sought out someone who could care for it. He made it clear to me that he would only sell the site to someone who was committed to making it a success.
I’ve taken the reigns and will be working hard to provide good value and service to all MDW customers, past and present. So in a roundabout way, all of Graham’s promises will be kept. Perhaps not by him directly, but definitely because of the decision he made to find someone who could. He’s gotten some bad feedback from the community for his decision to sell, but IMHO it was a more respectable choice than simply abandoning the project or continuing to give it only half-attention.
With that said, I hope MDW page owners can see the ownership change in a positive light. Check out the blog for the most recent updates. Good things are in store.
Ron
Hey Mike,
A lot of people would say that I kept my promise the only way I could. I did not intend to get “swept up” with the Entrecard idea, but once I had the idea, and visualized it gaining momentum, I couldn’t think about anything else.
So I did the only thing with MDW I could do: I found the best person to take it over. I had higher offers for the site, but sold it to Ron because he was the man for the job. Namepros.com has the potential to bring tons of traffic to MDW, and that is just one ace up Ron’s sleeve. After talking to Ron it became very clear that he would be dedicated and motivated to MDW in the same way I had become towards Entrecard. So I acted in the best interest of the MDW page owners, and sold it to the absolute best man for the job.
As for the fate of Entrecard… this is the real deal. I’m in talks with angel investors and VCs, trying to get in touch with more, and I am convinced that I will secure significant funding for the project by the end of 2008. It’s a project that’s vast enough to completely captures my passion as an entrepreneur and lets my imagination run away with itself in terms of the possibilities.
Btw, I love the new design Mike!
All the best…
Graham Langdon » Thanks for bringing out the real answer to this problem. The true reason behind my posts hitting MDW this hard is because I’ve sent you many e-mails, but I received no replies…
Anyways, thanks for having me on your feed list
-Mike
no matter what you says, but you broke the prmose you made to mike and to all MDW page owners, You just trying here to justify your point , but beleive me you are not seems to me a smart guy in making politically correct answers.
am talking to Graham in my comment
I didn’t know that Graham was behind the MDW and Entrecard. I hope you don’t mess it up, Graham