Leaderboard

That quote sums up the whole point very well. I don't have anything else to add except this, the visitors who stay 5 minutes or more are the customers that can be monetized. The goal is to reach those customers with content that can generate into potential revenue. The goal is to keep creating content and then when the long tail becomes the method of generating visits over the lifetime of the site. What I found this morning through analysis is that focusing on social leads to the less than 5 seconds crowd. We know this and as long as we continue to explain this to people then they will begin to see the value in visiting the websites vs sitting on Facebook. Great stuff Troy!

Damn that GoFundme is pretty damn depressing. I will say this and I think it holds true for a lot of people, I have to be asked directly to donate, fund, or give to a project, or it has to strike some personal note in me where I feel that I owe. Take for instance Spike Lee. I initially funded his Kickstarter and then I realized I hadn't backed any indie films and pulled my support. He didn't need it. Last month though I did back the De La Soul project and this is why: Last year they released their entire catalog of music for free on Valentine's Day. I was able to download every album I was missing. They had to do this because they couldn't get the samples cleared on those old albums digitally so they couldn't sell those albums as mp3s. Since they gave all of that music away I felt compelled to give back. In my new book I talk about relationships and reciprocity. I talk about how a business agreement is the same as personal relationship. It requires a transaction that is either financial, social or emotional. For example, if Troy posts a link, I share it because I have a social responsibility to share vital and important information. While I haven't done enough financial transactions with aalbc, the social transactions are supportive and just as important as the financial because the next person who sees the information may sign up or spend money. What we have in the Black community is a lack of understanding how relationships are built. We hold on to information because we think we lose if we give it away. We also want to be paid for everything, but that's not how it works. There has to be reciprocity for a relationship to work. While I don't expect it, I see a benefit from writing on aalbc and therefore I respond by sharing the site as much as possible. While the traffic to the site is about 1.8%, that 1.8 could be the reason something sells. It could be the reason someone gets some information that they need, so I continue to share. I also share because writing here sparks ideas for the blog and for potential books. There has to be something that can be done to get the financial aspect on par with the work being done. I can see the financial aspect growing in my sneaker business, so I just have to figure out how to translate it to different platforms. I definitely think AALBC is missing a Store component. AALBC as a brand has the ability to create downloadable content, shirts with sayings, hats, bags and things that can be sold, but there isn't a link anywhere on the site that says STORE. I think it may be time to look at that and actually have us writers who visit the site send books in on consignment or I can help you create apparel and writers bags to be sold. At least you are not like the guy above. You have teaching to supplement and a very good mind that has yet to be featured in a book (hint, hint). It seems this guy was privileged and didn't adjust with the times. Had he started a Video Blog show as well as run his site, he probably could have turned all of the traffic his dad had into something more.