To Those Who Hate Or Do Not Understand: Some Thoughts On Why I Started Yakezie | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

It seems to me that some people in life have a "limited pie" mentality. I have to protect mine and I'm jealous of yours.

I prefer an unlimited pie mentality. Be good at what you do, treat others like you want to be treated, and there'll be enough for everyone.

Hey Sam,

I think that while some of the content had merit, some of it went over the top, and the bashing against the Yakezie was most certainly uncalled for.

Is it possible that some join the Yakezie just to grab some links? Sure.

Is it possible that people are starting sites left and right to grab PR and capture some of that ad revenue? I don't deny it.

But… is this all that the Yakezie is? Is that all that we stand for? I really don't think so. I can't speak for everyone, but I joined long before I had a PR or even thought that much about SEO, and I didn't do it because of the promise of revenue in the future. It is most certainly nice to make some income online, and I see nothing wrong with leveraging our relationships to make more of it, but the Yakezie is so much more than that to me. 

I don't know if I would have even left my job if it wasn't for the Yakezie. I have learned so much from being within this group and from the relationships that I have built here over time, and Sam, you have been a real great push here. I don't regret joining the Yakezie for a second.

As for the Karl Marx analogy of his, that doesn't even make sense. If he understood more about how we work here, he would see that it is in fact the exact opposite: A voluntary meritocracy, where decisions are discussed, agreed upon, and where members are free to decide their own level of participation.

I do have my concerns, since I do fear that if we expand without limit we will lose that sense of community. I don't know where things will go from there, but it is something that we need to discuss.

I would also be very happy if you are able to focus fully on the Yakezie someday and if you also take the leap. I have never felt that I was being taken advantage of or that I am participating in a ponzi or pyramid scheme. I don't know why some bloggers seem to have a problem with you or the Yakezie, but for the bloggers that do have a problem, can I ask: What have they done to make the web or the world a better place? If the Yakezie has made a positive difference in my life, I am sure it has helped others, too, and that is more than I can say of some other sites out there.

Don't let this bring you down, Sam. Everyone has haters, and some people are just too cynical. I have your back, and while there are some valid issues raised in his post, the hate and insulting language is completely uncalled for.

Invest It Wisely said:

As for the Karl Marx analogy of his, that doesn't even make sense. If he understood more about how we work here, he would see that it is in fact the exact opposite: A voluntary meritocracy, where decisions are discussed, agreed upon, and where members are free to decide their own level of participation.

My impression that the Marxism analogy was about the motto. Because, apparently, helping others makes you a socialist. It is humorous to think of somebody being likened to Bernie Madoff and Karl Marx in the same paragraph.

I've started sites in a few niches and I have to say that when I came across Yakezie it was like a breath of fresh air.  No where else on the web (that I know of) do you find your potential competitors willing to help you in any way, let alone as selflessly as those in this community do.  While the Alexa boost is nice, it is really secondary and exists mostly as a metric to gauge progress and a bit of an ego boost

Negativity is never the right way to approach anything and eventually it will come back to haunt those who dwell on the negative and try to put themselves forward by pushing others down.

Sam,

It seems that this is an opportune time to give you a personal thank you for starting the Yakezie network. I've been attempting to be a challenger for over a year now. You actually invited me after reading an article I wrote on Moolanomy about my upcoming job loss. As a naturally cynical person I was suspicious about any networking opportunity, sure I was in for the Amway of blogging, but after reading more about it, I was happy to join in.

Yakezie hasn't been about rankings for me at all. When I became very ill, it was mainly Yakezie bloggers that helped me with guest posts and encouragement. When I decided to sell my first blog (my baby), it was to a Yakezie blogger, because I knew they would take care of it, and make it wonderful.

Yakezie has helped me clarify the writer I want to be, take on projects that make me happy, and hopefully will help me to become a full-time independent writer one day soon. I'm glad you recognize that you can't make everyone happy, but I hope every once in a while, you take the time to revel in the wonderful group you started, and how much it's helped so many of us.

Andi

Being on Yakezie has done wonders to me professionally and personally. I have had the good fortune of knowing some good people who happen to be bloggers as well.

When you have something nice going, there will always be people who are jealous and frustrated with their own misfortunes.

Lets all put this behind us and move on to bigger and better things!

Cheers Yakezie!

While we're all feeling the love, I just want to reiterate how much I love everyone here, the community, and the good spirits. I love reading my forum emails each morning to see what is going on with the blogging world, people's lives, and the future of our great community.

Thank you to all!

Modest Money said:

In my opinion Nelson made a lot of good points in his post.  The whole system is setup to benefit the established bloggers much more than the newbies.  It is funny that so many people deny the focus on alexa yet there are threads with people offering to specifically help inflate those numbers.  I enjoy interacting with the people on here, but I have no intention of joining the actual challenge.  I don't know Sam very well, but I do see him doing comment spam on various blogs.  So I don't know how much he personally follows the 'selfless' motto.  That kind of hypocrisy doesn't make me respect him very much.  I do respect all the helpful members on here though.  It is the people on here who make yakezie what it is, not some guy at the top who is benefiting the most.  If he hadn't set up this forum we would be directly connecting or meeting on some other forum.

Actually… the system is setup to help the newbies more than the established bloggers.  I was able to do in 1 year what would have taken me 5 years, because of these forums and these people, including Sam.  Let's not forget that it costs money to start this forum, and to keep it operating each month, and he isn't out there demanding money from any of us…has he emailed you asking for any "donation"? I dont think so.  It amazes me that after a month of blogging you think you have any sort of understanding to make these statements.

Nobody denies that Alexa is part of the challenge, but Alexa isn't doing anything huge to benefit any of us (as was stated in that article)…there's nothing to hide here.  It's not a particular metric that advertisers care that much about anymore…but it does decline (in a good way) with blogger participation…do you see the correlation???  It's a way to encourage interaction with each other.

If we met or interacted on another forum, there would be another guy at the top of that as well.  So that comment seems irrelevant to me.

Also, if you aren't part of the challenge, why do you care about your Alexa ranking so much? As noted in your signature.

Post edited 4:16 pm – February 22, 2012 by Sustainable PF

MM, no offense, but you too, do not get it.

Alexa is a metric – nothing more.  It is used as ONE bench mark for membership.  Sure, the public forums have endless commentary about it.  Why?  This ONE (of a number of) criteria for membership is measurable.  Those who are members rarely discuss Alexa ranking.  I can't recall the last time I saw it mentioned in the member forums.

Sam hardly runs this like a cult or mafia, to quote you.  Sam doesn't tell us to do anything other than support each other – whether it be via comments, visits, advice, personal support, advertising opportunities or other such things.  And even then numerous "members" don't do any of these things, yet, they remain members.  Sam doesn't kick them out b/c they don't visit the forums nor does he penalize them in any way. 

What Sam does do is bring some darn good advice to the forums.  He knows a shit-wack about blogging and advertising.  Just because you are not privy to his knowledge/advice/opportunities (and won't be if you don't plan to become a member) does not mean he does not dispense it, freely.  I doubt anyone has brought more advertising to Yakezie members than has Sam.  

Sam spends more than a "bit" of money – sorry to burst your bubble, bub.  He also spents countless hours behind the scenes.  Just because there are unfortunately, only 24 hours in a day, and he isn't replying to every post in these public forums doesn't mean he isn't reading and sure doesn't mean he isn't posting in member forums.

Have you tried to reach out to Sam – I mean, prior to bashing him?  Getting to know him a bit, say, via email?  Every heard "don't judge a book by its cover"?

For the record, advertisers DO look @ traffic statistics.  Again, just because you are unaware of how (Compete, QuanCast and others) they do so does not mean it does not occur.

Now all this being said … I tend to be one of the more surly Yakezie bloggers (it seems – tho Sandy would likely kick my ass to (try to) prove me wrong ;) ) and I don't always agree with Sam's approach to things.  And I tell him as such.  I then go do my own thing as planned.  No repercussions, no penalties, no lectures or rants from Sam do I receive.  I also don't put up with BS from challengers, or anyone for that matter.  This is not Sam's philosophy – we agree to disagree.

What do I get from this network then?  

Community.  

Support.  

Technical assistance.  

Advertising opportunities.

A friendly ear to hear me bitch about shit. Others to bounce ideas off of.  

A quick way to find some quality sites I may not have discovered otherwise.

Friendship.  

<— if these sorts of things aren't your (or anyone elses) cup of tea so be it.  Chances are we won't see eye to eye on much and if these sorts of things disgust you so, why continue to participate?

(nothing personal here MM – just my take on this entire discussion – you just happened to be the last respondent)