Comments on: Your thoughts on a Save Brijit campaign? http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/ Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:41:11 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: I feel sorry that Brijit (human-written extracts) went under « Andy’s Ministry of Cool Stuff http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-186 I feel sorry that Brijit (human-written extracts) went under « Andy’s Ministry of Cool Stuff Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:32:35 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-186 [...] I feel sorry that Brijit (human-written extracts) went under http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/ [...] [...] I feel sorry that Brijit (human-written extracts) went under http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/ [...]

]]> By: Amar Ventris http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-155 Amar Ventris Wed, 28 May 2008 06:22:39 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-155 re: Laura Dixon post: People would NOT likely take less per abstract if there was a higher percentage (?)chance they’d be published. So, writing uality defers to lowballing? Nice. If someone want to publish, they CAN DO THEIR OWN WEBSITE. And probably afford better web hosting, it sounds like. re: Laura Dixon post:
People would NOT likely take less per abstract if there was a higher percentage (?)chance they’d be published. So, writing uality defers to lowballing? Nice. If someone want to publish, they CAN DO THEIR OWN WEBSITE. And probably afford better web hosting, it sounds like.

]]> By: Amar Ventris http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-154 Amar Ventris Wed, 28 May 2008 06:06:25 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-154 Remember the ads for editors at the outset of Brijit? How many startups run on bare bones can afford Dupont Circle addresses? Remember the ads for editors at the outset of Brijit? How many startups run on bare bones can afford Dupont Circle addresses?

]]> By: Amar Ventris http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-153 Amar Ventris Wed, 28 May 2008 05:51:15 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-153 The whiny and self pitying tone of most of Brijit's communications reflect the "gotta get paid" mentality of the people running brijit. Join the real world. A lot of Internet ventures don't work out, the high skool version of what Brijit has been doing was good for their ego, which is a 24/7 ticker that never stops running. Shut up already. The Internet has sharp corners, fend for yourself and quit whining. I'm astonished the flash page at brijit is a landing message whining and complaining they're out of money. Waaah poor baby. What the hell makes you better than a lot of content rich sites that fail? A more pathetic message from a website i have never ever seen. The internal flaws in the business model from inside the model aren't exposed because those people who saw them didn't hang around. The ceaselessly self promotional and blindingly myopic Kool Aid view of Brijit toward itself has gotten it where it is now, literally blogging from website hell and calling it news and content. if you were reading the saccharine precious emails from Brijit these past 6 months, you wouldn;t hav wrested the eyes of the "team" from their own mirror. But since the Brijit was run on some guy's backend of his sevrer, all this whining about co lo sevrer sbeing down is a fraud. Hosting a CMS like Brijit costs 3.99 a month. If you can't pocket that, stop the self piteous blogging and get a real job.But since the Brijit was run on some guy's backend of his sevrer, all this whining about co lo sevrer sbeing down is a fraud. Hosting a CMS like Brijit costs 3.99 a month. If you can't pocket that, stop the self piteous blogging and get a real job. I actually got so angry at the college intern skills shown editing my summaries i made my own website in 5 minutes and posted all my original submissions for viewers to compare side by side with what brijit "edited". And I didn't send out self congratulatory emails with self referential love-me emotions either. The whiny and self pitying tone of most of Brijit’s communications reflect the “gotta get paid” mentality of the people running brijit. Join the real world. A lot of Internet ventures don’t work out, the high skool version of what Brijit has been doing was good for their ego, which is a 24/7 ticker that never stops running. Shut up already. The Internet has sharp corners, fend for yourself and quit whining. I’m astonished the flash page at brijit is a landing message whining and complaining they’re out of money. Waaah poor baby. What the hell makes you better than a lot of content rich sites that fail? A more pathetic message from a website i have never ever seen. The internal flaws in the business model from inside the model aren’t exposed because those people who saw them didn’t hang around. The ceaselessly self promotional and blindingly myopic Kool Aid view of Brijit toward itself has gotten it where it is now, literally blogging from website hell and calling it news and content. if you were reading the saccharine precious emails from Brijit these past 6 months, you wouldn;t hav wrested the eyes of the “team” from their own mirror. But since the Brijit was run on some guy’s backend of his sevrer, all this whining about co lo sevrer sbeing down is a fraud. Hosting a CMS like Brijit costs 3.99 a month. If you can’t pocket that, stop the self piteous blogging and get a real job.But since the Brijit was run on some guy’s backend of his sevrer, all this whining about co lo sevrer sbeing down is a fraud. Hosting a CMS like Brijit costs 3.99 a month. If you can’t pocket that, stop the self piteous blogging and get a real job. I actually got so angry at the college intern skills shown editing my summaries i made my own website in 5 minutes and posted all my original submissions for viewers to compare side by side with what brijit “edited”. And I didn’t send out self congratulatory emails with self referential love-me emotions either.

]]> By: sparkle333 http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-149 sparkle333 Fri, 23 May 2008 19:31:58 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-149 As a Brijit writer, I can tell you that the money does matter. It takes longer than you might imagine to abstract articles, and to do it in a competitive way. Often, less than a third of my abstracts were chosen, so I had to turn out a lot of work to get a reasonable amount of money. Freelance writers are worthy of their wages, as not everyone can turn out the required "Brijit tone." Brijit was a great company to work for, as they seemed to value their writers and communicated with them freely. I would love to see a return of the pay model, as I gave a great deal of my life and time to write for Brijit. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned so much! As a Brijit writer, I can tell you that the money does matter. It takes longer than you might imagine to abstract articles, and to do it in a competitive way. Often, less than a third of my abstracts were chosen, so I had to turn out a lot of work to get a reasonable amount of money. Freelance writers are worthy of their wages, as not everyone can turn out the required “Brijit tone.” Brijit was a great company to work for, as they seemed to value their writers and communicated with them freely. I would love to see a return of the pay model, as I gave a great deal of my life and time to write for Brijit. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned so much!

]]> By: Laura Dixon http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-147 Laura Dixon Fri, 23 May 2008 17:44:30 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-147 And not to take away from the fun of being part of a new venture, but I disagree with Adam Saunders -- I do think the cash is a motivating factor for some folks (and not just traditionally cash-strapped students). Disposable income is getting eaten up by rising gas, heating oil, and food prices and it's way cool to be able to fund your Amazon.com or iTunes habit with an enjoyable sideline like Brijit. And not to take away from the fun of being part of a new venture, but I disagree with Adam Saunders — I do think the cash is a motivating factor for some folks (and not just traditionally cash-strapped students). Disposable income is getting eaten up by rising gas, heating oil, and food prices and it’s way cool to be able to fund your Amazon.com or iTunes habit with an enjoyable sideline like Brijit.

]]> By: Laura Dixon http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-146 Laura Dixon Fri, 23 May 2008 17:33:05 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-146 People would likely take less per abstract if there was a higher percentage chance they'd be published. Veteran Brijiteers with a good track record could agree to abstract every article of interest from a particular publication each month for a set fee. This could be on a month-by-month basis. Obviously the Brijit community thrives on the competition and benefits from a large variety of voices. You'd still want to have a large pool of work up for grabs. Maybe the free online sources could be competed for, as before, and the sources that are primarily off-line and/or behind a firewall could be assigned. People would likely take less per abstract if there was a higher percentage chance they’d be published. Veteran Brijiteers with a good track record could agree to abstract every article of interest from a particular publication each month for a set fee. This could be on a month-by-month basis.

Obviously the Brijit community thrives on the competition and benefits from a large variety of voices. You’d still want to have a large pool of work up for grabs.

Maybe the free online sources could be competed for, as before, and the sources that are primarily off-line and/or behind a firewall could be assigned.

]]> By: Joy Schwabach http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-140 Joy Schwabach Tue, 20 May 2008 17:09:33 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-140 My Best Idea Yet -- The Amazon Kindle Solution Brijit needs to go to where the readers are: Amazon Kindle owners! Right now, owners of the wildly-popular e-book can subscribe to digital versions of several magazines. What if they could subscribe to Brijit abstracts? Kindle owners are always searching the store for something new, and this would be it. The charge could be $5 per month for a subscription to the abstracts. Amazon could share that 50-50 with Brijit.com. Think of all those Kindle owners, stuck on a plane, wishing they had something interesting to read. The abstracts would fit the bill perfectly. Amazon would like it because it would encourage more magazine subscriptions. I think you could get by with paying writers $1 - $3 per abstract. There's something about being a paid writer. It's magic. No matter how low the amount, the payment elevates the writer into the ranks of gainfully employed. Just talk to any syndicated newspaper columnist if you doubt this. My Best Idea Yet — The Amazon Kindle Solution

Brijit needs to go to where the readers are: Amazon Kindle owners!

Right now, owners of the wildly-popular e-book can subscribe to digital versions of several magazines. What if they could subscribe to Brijit abstracts?

Kindle owners are always searching the store for something new, and this would be it. The charge could be $5 per month for a subscription to the abstracts. Amazon could share that 50-50 with Brijit.com.

Think of all those Kindle owners, stuck on a plane, wishing they had something interesting to read. The abstracts would fit the bill perfectly. Amazon would like it because it would encourage more magazine subscriptions.

I think you could get by with paying writers $1 – $3 per abstract. There’s something about being a paid writer. It’s magic. No matter how low the amount, the payment elevates the writer into the ranks of gainfully employed.
Just talk to any syndicated newspaper columnist if you doubt this.

]]> By: Joy Schwabach http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-124 Joy Schwabach Mon, 19 May 2008 01:54:00 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-124 Every day Brijit brought me something worth sharing, worth getting excited about, and even worth subscribing to a magazine for. I added three magazine subscriptions after becoming a Brijit regular. There have been a lot of great suggestions. Here's mine: 1. Pay top writers with profile pages, including a bio and photo, instead of money. 1a. Pay top readers with profile pages as well. 1b. Consider a brijit dating service, if only to get more subscribers and ads. It needn't be the focus of the site at all. 2. Let readers choose a "channel" and get daily emails which would contain the latest abstracts from a particular magazine, or writer, or topic. 3. Sell merchandise in a Brijit store -magazine subscriptions, t-shirts, coffee cups, bumper stickers. 4. As other writers have suggested, charge a membership fee for access to full-length articles. 5. Do a daily or weekly YouTube video, where someone talks about the most popular magazine, radio or TV item for that day or week. Could be an interview format, like a talk show. Every day Brijit brought me something worth sharing, worth getting excited about, and even worth subscribing to a magazine for. I added three magazine subscriptions after becoming a Brijit regular.

There have been a lot of great suggestions. Here’s mine:

1. Pay top writers with profile pages, including a bio and photo, instead of money.
1a. Pay top readers with profile pages as well.
1b. Consider a brijit dating service, if only to get more subscribers and ads. It needn’t be the focus of the site at all.

2. Let readers choose a “channel” and get daily emails which would contain the latest abstracts from a particular magazine, or writer, or topic.

3. Sell merchandise in a Brijit store -magazine subscriptions, t-shirts, coffee cups, bumper stickers.

4. As other writers have suggested, charge a membership fee for access to full-length articles.

5. Do a daily or weekly YouTube video, where someone talks about the most popular magazine, radio or TV item for that day or week. Could be an interview format, like a talk show.

]]> By: GD http://brijit.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/your-thoughts-on-a-save-brijit-campaign/#comment-123 GD Sun, 18 May 2008 22:14:51 +0000 http://brijit.wordpress.com/?p=118#comment-123 Although I can see where some of the people on here are coming from, I don't agree that it would be a good idea to drop the $5 per summary. You've really hit upon a good idea with that for several reasons. -Many of your writers are (often young) people with time on their hands and an interest in what they're reading/summarizing. For those people, $5 a summary isn't small potatoes; if I get 20 summaries accepted a month, I can pay off my cable/internet bill. Pretty sweet if you're a college student or after college poor non-student. -The competition to keep the summaries good by only giving it to the best out of every 2 or 3 summarizers per job keeps people interested in doing well, and always doing more summaries, so they can get a certain amount published. -All told, you're getting all of your writing done for your site for about $150,000 a year. Not a bad price for all of the writing of a massive website. And certainly you could scale that back by trimming a little fat from the articles you choose. I'm certainly summarizing for the $5, and I think it's pretty unrelated to the name recognition or to be a featured writer, although those things are fine. Sure the economy's down right now, and it might be hard to find a good deal with a partner or with an advertising agency, but that's the way to go I think. I do a lot of reading on the web and there just isn't anything else like Brijit. If you can just get over that hump any way you can, I think this site will do very well in the long run. I guess my primary suggestion for right now is to scale back the amount of articles that you cover. What if you pair with an ad agency, cover 25% to 50% of the sources that you previously did, and refuse to increase the number of sources you use until you're back in black and trending in the right direction? Although I can see where some of the people on here are coming from, I don’t agree that it would be a good idea to drop the $5 per summary. You’ve really hit upon a good idea with that for several reasons.

-Many of your writers are (often young) people with time on their hands and an interest in what they’re reading/summarizing. For those people, $5 a summary isn’t small potatoes; if I get 20 summaries accepted a month, I can pay off my cable/internet bill. Pretty sweet if you’re a college student or after college poor non-student.
-The competition to keep the summaries good by only giving it to the best out of every 2 or 3 summarizers per job keeps people interested in doing well, and always doing more summaries, so they can get a certain amount published.
-All told, you’re getting all of your writing done for your site for about $150,000 a year. Not a bad price for all of the writing of a massive website. And certainly you could scale that back by trimming a little fat from the articles you choose.

I’m certainly summarizing for the $5, and I think it’s pretty unrelated to the name recognition or to be a featured writer, although those things are fine.

Sure the economy’s down right now, and it might be hard to find a good deal with a partner or with an advertising agency, but that’s the way to go I think. I do a lot of reading on the web and there just isn’t anything else like Brijit. If you can just get over that hump any way you can, I think this site will do very well in the long run.

I guess my primary suggestion for right now is to scale back the amount of articles that you cover. What if you pair with an ad agency, cover 25% to 50% of the sources that you previously did, and refuse to increase the number of sources you use until you’re back in black and trending in the right direction?

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