Sorry, But You’re Probably Not Going To Make Money With Pajamas Media (Happy Anniversary To Me)

As those brave few who read this blog closely already know, I’ve made reference more than once to the fact that I was, at one time, 25% of what is now Pajamas Media. In fact, I was a part of that business before Charles Johnson was. The brave few will also note that I’ve made reference more than once to the fact that I’m not a part of Pajamas Media because Roger L. Simon (and his poodle, Charles J.) decided it to be worth their while to cut myself and another Central Ohio businessman out of the company and dole out our percentages to folks they deemed more likely to aid in the noble cause of lining their own pockets.

As Roger told me after I called him on it, “That’s business.”

Well, OK then, let’s talk business...

The last time I wrote about the whole sleazy affair (here), Roger actually had the gall to call me on the telephone and claim he was “deeply hurt” that my anger over Pajamas Media had “destroyed our friendship” and that he didn’t understand why “we couldn’t still be friends”. It was quite a performance, in a repulsively transparent sort of way. Overlooking the fact that we had never been ‘friends’ in the first place, I simply told him to fuck off – on the rather obvious principle that one who cheats you, humiliates you with your business associates (I had several of them working on Tulip-related projects on my word they’d be compensated at a later date by the company) and then sticks you with thousands of dollars of unpaid expenses is not really your friend, even if they want to be.

Anyway, after Roger’s attempt to bullshit his way out of trouble I basically swore off the idea of writing anything else about Pajamas Media simply because I really didn’t want any further contact with that loser. Not that I really thought he was going to make another effort at salvaging our deep and long-standing friendship, mind you. No, not that. What I’d written had terrified him because he knew just how badly I could hurt Pajamas Media, and his reputation, with what I could disclose. For him, this was about minding the store (which for him was far more important, anyway), so there was always the possibility he’d call me again. And while I must admit I really liked (and continue to like) the idea of him squirming over what I might do, the idea of further intimacies with my old pal Roger ain’t cutting it. If by some chance Pajamas makes serious money, we’ll renew acquaintances via my lawyers over the pound of flesh that is mine by right. It’s the least I can do to an old friend. But until then...

What has made me go back on my No Ragging on Roger Resolution was the realization that last weekend was the first anniversary of my business trip to L.A. to meet Roger and Charles. It was the weekend when, using a spark supplied by Roger’s wife on Saturday morning, Roger and I formed the basic idea of how to execute internet advertising on blogs in a manner more sophisticated and profitable than the BlogAds approach. That idea started as Tulip Advertising and has now morphed into the advertising component of Pajamas Media. In fact, if Roger hasn’t deleted the post, you can find a photo of Charles Johnson and I at Roger’s dining room table from later that very Saturday afternoon (Charles wasn’t present at the birth of Tulip... he was out riding his bike around L.A.). I didn’t really even remember that it had been one year until yesterday, but when I did, I guess it would be fair to say that it brought up some unresolved feelings on my part.

But you’ve probably already noticed that.

I’m sure you’re finding all of this fascinating in a National Enquirer sort of way, but it’s not really the focus of this post. The focus of this post is to give those of you wanting to make money via Pajamas Media some reasons why you probably won’t. Understand that my take on Pajamas Media is completely biased, so if you want to, mix it with however many grains of salt as are required. But also remember that I was the one who spent months researching the feasibility of the idea, talking to advertising professionals, talking to Roger L. Simon himself, and drafting the business plan we were to use (and not the piece of shit Pajamas Media used during the blogger recruitment phase). I know what they’re trying to accomplish, and how they are trying to accomplish it.

Here is a selection of the reasons why I think Pajamas Media’s advertising venture will crash and burn:

Reason the First: Lack of Focus

The primary reason you’re probably not going to make any money with Pajamas Media advertising is because Pajamas Media is trying to do several things at once, and only one of them is advertising. I suppose all the Junior Journalistic Cadets are slavering over the idea of getting published through the New Media that is going to destroy the Old Media, but those of you motivated by advertising revenues aren’t going to reap any benefits from Pajamas taking over for the New York Times and the Washington Post, right?. So what you have to ask yourself is which of these two business efforts are going to be the top priority with management and ownership? Is it going to be journalism or advertising?

Well, I can’t say I’ve examined everything in great detail, but most of what I’ve been hearing has centered on the journalistic end of the business. According to the Pajamas Media web site, phase one testing of the advertising component was to begin in September and broadened to all of the signed bloggers sometime in October. Now I haven’t checked every site out there, but I’ll be damned if I’ve been able to find any advertising, testing or otherwise, at any Pajamas-affiliated site as of this date. There have been press releases about the editorial staff Pajamas Media has put together, though.

Draw your own conclusion.

Reason the Second: Lack of Assets, Therefore Effort

Understand that Pajamas Media is a part-time effort for all of ownership and management. I was to be the person who was going to work full-time on Tulip Advertising during the start-up phase. Roger and Charles were not then, and are not now, willing to give up their existing careers to devote their talents or energies wholly to Pajamas Media. Pajamas Media is what comes at the end of the day... After writing scripts and novels and articles (or in Charles’ case, code) and blogging, then comes Pajamas Media. And understand something I think neither Roger nor Charles has ever grasped; making the advertising portion of Pajamas Media work – really work, that is – will require an enormous amount of both time and energy doing the sort of spade work necessary to attract the attention of media buyers, advertising agencies and corporations themselves.

One of the things that became very apparent to me very early in the life of Tulip Advertising was that there was going to be no shortcut to attracting advertisers. The two of us who actually had business experience (myself and our other Central Ohio partner) knew it was going to be months of telephone calls, meetings and presentations – one ‘dog and pony’ show after another – to nail down a handful of high-quality advertising clients. We also knew that we could only grow that client base using a methodical and continuous sales process. My impression from Day One was that Roger truly believed that the sheer brilliance of our idea would have advertisers knocking at our door sans much effort. You tell me which vision sounds realistic, and which one doesn’t.

So, at this point, my guess as to why we’re not seeing much advertising testing on Pajamas Media sites has more to do with lack of advertisers than ‘technical’ issues or what not. Given how much time Roger and Charles have spent fucking around with the journalism side of things, as well as the whole (abortive) portal project with Marc Danzinger, I can’t see that they’ve had the time to expend on acquiring much of a client list.

Reason the Third: Lack of Expertise

Roger Simon and Charles Johnson don’t know shit about advertising or the advertising industry. And I sincerely doubt that they’ve made a systematic and concerted effort to remedy that situation since elbowing me out of the picture. Not that I knew anything about either item myself. But the difference was that I launched myself into learning as much as I could about both. I had started to develop a series of contacts, both in the industry and in academia, which we could have used to educate ourselves about what we needed to do to convince the professionals that we had a good idea that we were capable of executing. In other words, we needed to learn enough about how advertising professionals approached their profession so as not to appear to be the Beverly Hillbillies when we walked in the door. I wonder if anyone with Pajamas Media has really done the sort of work necessary to avoid getting tagged as a Clampett by those who control the almighty advertising dollar.

Beyond that, there’s the matter of simple, basic expertise (if you want to call it that) in business itself. The documents Pajamas Media sent to those wishing to sign up were beyond dreadful. Their business plan, such that it was, would have been laughed at by any venture capitalist or businessman worth his salt. It was amateur hour. And that would be what you’d expect from two guys with absolutely no business experience who ditched two guys with professional training in business who had each started and developed their own (successful) businesses.

Lets put it this way: Lots of you have read The Westerville Chronicles, right? Well, if Roger runs Pajamas Media as well as I write fiction, do you think they’re going to make money? Is there any reason a professional writer with no meaningful business training or experience is going to do better at running a business than a professional businessman with no meaningful training or experience in writing fiction will do at attempting the next War and Peace?

Now reread a few Chronicles and tell me what I’ve just said doesn’t send a shiver up your spine.

All this means, at least to me, is that Pajamas Media doesn’t really have any sort of working document that actually lays out the strategy of the company in any sort of meaningful way. That means no time lines, no task lists, no structure and no accountability. I think it safe to say this assumption is bolstered by such things as the steady stream of missed deadlines, lack of meaningful communication, and the general sloppiness of the contracts tendered. Let’s face it; they announced Pajamas Media back on April 29th. Check your calendar for today’s date. Think about that for a second. It’s been half a year and nothing’s really happened. Could it be these guys are winging it? If there ain’t a strategy or a plan, how can there be any sort of truly organized, systematic effort to attract advertisers?

Based on what you’ve seen to date in terms of results (not hype), does it look like Pajamas Media is being run well?

Reason the Fourth: Lack of Interest

Bottom line? Roger L. Simon and Charles Johnson want to be media stars. And (pay attention, this is the important part), they want to use the profits from the advertising business to do it. The first time Roger mentioned the media idea I tried to get him to drop it. I wanted Tulip Advertising to make money. I wanted to grow it into something big. And I wanted to run it for a long time. As our efforts progressed, Roger became more and more focused on the idea of getting the company running and using it to either finance his journalistic activities or to make a quick buck via selling it. That was the problem I saw looming on the horizon (not realizing the real problem was looming behind my back). I see no reason to believe Roger’s focus has changed one iota since then. Given that, I don’t see the advertising business succeeding – primarily because I don’t see the level of real interest necessary to make it succeed. Oh sure, there are people out there who are so damn good that they can make businesses work without much effort, but that isn’t the issue. The issue is this: Are Roger and Charles two of those people?

There are other reasons to doubt, but I think I’ve supplied enough of them for one sitting, so we’ll leave it at that.

To those of you who are now under contract with Pajamas Media, all I can say is that if you have expectations, lower them, because I don’t think it is going to work. The idea was fine, and with some expertise (which isn’t there) and some dedication (which isn’t there), there was a good chance it could have made money for everyone. But as it stands, the people who are running this business are doing it for all of the wrong reasons and, I’ll warrant, in all the wrong ways. And it shows in Pajamas Media’s dearth of achievement to date.

Update: Hi, Roger! I saw your hits. Having a nice day?

Update The Second: Welcome Althouse readers! Spread the word...

Update The Third: Oh my! I'm now on the second page of Punditdrome. With Marc Cooper. Side by side. That's got to be a blow to his career...

Update The Fourth: Welcome viewers from The Poor Man Institute, Random Fate and Memeorandum. Spread the word...

Update The Fifth: I have a new post with some further thoughts on why Pajamas Media will never make a dime.

Update The Sixth: Welcome viewers from Chizumatic, News From The Fridge and Anechoic Room. Spread the word...

Update The Seventh: Further thoughts, based on comments by Steven Den Beste and Scott Ferguson, here.

Update-The Sequel: More incoming links, but I'm tired of listing them. I never imagined TBogg would ever link to this site; Right Wing News, yes... but TBogg? Oh yeah, spread the word...

Update-The Final Gasp: Another screed from yours truly.

Comments

[wxjames]

Roger seems to think he is Bill Gates skating among the corporate giants, fast and loose.
I found Dennis the Peasant through R.L.Simon, but now I visit Atlas Shrugs to stay up on Israel and it's fun filled neighborhood. Roger doesn't mask his air of superiority well.
Why don't you compete with EBAY ? I have some junk I'd like to unload.

[DennisThePeasant]

And give up being a media giant?

[Greybeard]

Sounds like an opportunity....for someone with a clue, and the necessary motivation.
Quit licking your wounds.
Get started!

[Alan]

I never understood what they were trying to do...recreate Huffington Post but with new media personalities laced with old media personalities...then push advertising as a side business? Personally, all these advertisements all over people's personal weblogs doesn't quite sit well with me.

[PeterUK]

The words that depress me are Editorial Board,the attraction of blogs is the free and easy quality of the individual.

[DennisThePeasant]

Quite true, PeterUK.

What makes it all the more depressing is seeing names such as Marc Cooper and David Corn attached to the words 'Editorial Board'.

Also, note that the only pure blogger on the 'Board' is Belmont Club. The rest all have at least one foot in "Old Media". Some revolution.

[J. Ken Waltrip, former editor of Tax Dodge Monthly]

But I've been touting Pajamas Media as an investment! You're spoiling my game!

[PeterUK]

The strength of blogs is the corrective it provides on old media,but the truth is that most blogs rely on information from that same old media,blogs cannot for the forseeable future replace old media.
A further danger is that the big collectives will sell out to the highest bidder when old media decides to buy into the bloggosphere.
This happened with,what was known as "Pirate Radio" offshore pop music stations,the BBC simply hired the lot,Pirate Radio sank!
That is how big business works.

[DennisThePeasant]

Peter-

The key to making PJM advertising really work is to lock up the bloggers into long-term contracts. That's PJM's sole asset, and the only thing they would have to sell to another company.

[Guesst]

The right has been taken over by celebrity-wannabes. They all believe they can achieve the same kind of success Sean Vannity has---but he had Rush's tails to hang on to and a ten-year head start.

Let's face it-conservatism has been turned into a get-rich-quick pyramid scheme that isn't working because as Alan says, the snakeoil salesmen just want to repackage the same old elixir and sell it as something new.

DtP: I am glad to hear what happened, because there was too much left to speculation. I like that you're sticking it to The Man (Roger and Charles being The Man's representatives), because 9/10 times those of us who have too much class to be a'holes, end up regretting it and getting screwed worse by the same people.

They mistake silence for weakness and ignorance.

[PeterUK]

Styles soon go out of fashion,I can think of one prominent blogger who has recently shut up shop.The real key is in spotting new talent and tying them down early,nothing worse than a portfolio of old hat!
What happens when a blogger is put on the transfer list and ends up having his contract bought out by Acme Suppositories.
I still think there is more money in penis enlargement.

[Guesst]

HuffPo didn't advertise for the first Xmany months, but their business model was always aimed at luring in the big spenders (HuffPo's partners are part of an ad agency which also makes a diff too).

Bloggy pots of gold just don't fall into one's lap unless that lap belongs to Andrew Sullivan.

[wxjames]

This is about art anyway. Dennis is supposed to be tortured and starving. If you're hungry, cut off an ear.

[jgm]

Mmmmm, peasant ear.

[richard mcenroe]

jgm -- a bit waxy if you don't boil 'em first.

[Terrye]

Dennis:

I am so sorry to hear what happened with you and Pajamas Media.

BTW, I still have the lime jello and feather boa.

Or was it the lime boa and feather jello? I can't recall now.

We will just let the rest of them wonder.

[PeterUK]

Bloody 'ell,it's turned into a recipe blog!

[PeterUK]

....and don't forget to remove the pencil! He is an accountant.

[DennisThePeasant]

Terrye, my love! I'll bring the cattle prod!

[richard mcenroe]

PeterUK -- You can swap it out for a licorice stick, if you want to go caramelized...

[Daniel]

I applaud your decision to disclose.

[Luther McLeod]

DtP

Damn, another bubble burst. You'd think I'd know better by now. I take you at your word Dennis, unless and until I hear otherwise from those concerned. I don't remember the exact comment I made over at RLS's re: PJ. But it was along the lines of money corrupts and absolute money corrupts absolutely. Little did I know. One could say the same about ego's I suppose.

IMO, when blogs become mostly about money, I'll finally be freed from my addiction to them. I'm not a closet commie (I'm damn sure) but what the hell, is that what it all comes down to? Maybe so. Besides, for me, its always been the commenter's.

I appreciate your frankness.

[Guesst]

You bloggers are struggling with all the lying, greed, betrayal issues and related personality conflicts that your ancestors the chat sites, dealt with years ago.

In two years time, those left will be split up into warring factions with splinter blogs devoted to insulting and bickering with particular groups of nonconformists, hypocrites, liars and frauds.

[Rick Ballard]

DtP,

Forgot to read the rulebook?

[PeterUK]

"In two years time, those left will be split up into warring factions with splinter blogs devoted to insulting and bickering with particular groups of nonconformists, hypocrites, liars and frauds."

No all that will happen is bloggers will die and new bloggers will take their place,just like the human race,because it is part of the human race.