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Originally Posted by CDSmith
It does go both ways. But to your second point, newbs who are smart will also throw some of that "respect" and a good part of their learning curve to those who aren't only successful currently but those who have been successful for a long time, like 5-10+ years.
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I agree. Within a couple months or so after starting, I sought out advice from a few handpicked people, each of whom had 10-15 years of experience. I pretty much just kept emailing until they either began to respond or told me told me to stop bugging them. lol. In one particular email, after 3 or 4 previous ones had been ignored, I literally opened with the following paragraph before asking a bunch of questions.
"Sorry to bother you again, but I'd honestly rather ask advice from and be ignored by someone who definitely knows what they're talking about rather than posting on a board and receiving a bunch of feedback from people who quite possibly don't know what they're talking about! I know I can be a handful, so I totally understand if you don't respond."
Quote:
Originally Posted by CDSmith
Some here have been at this (whatever they do in this industry) for nearly 15 years. Trust me, if you've made a living in online adult for that long and you're still around you are doing something right. (those who retired rich not withstanding)
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There is certainly something to be said for consistency and longevity, but it doesn't necessarily equate to greatness.
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Originally Posted by CDSmith
That is so not even close to what I mean by "understanding the history of our business". You're way way off.
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What's funny is that I intentionally added the "I know they only represent the results of one company, but..." caveat because I knew that if I didn't, somebody would respond in such a way. I find it annoying that I have to clarify my reasoning for taking the time to do such research when most people have not done the same and therefore cannot tell me definitively what is and what isn't in the reports. They don't detail what went on in the 'trenches', but reading them in sequence can definitely help someone gain a better understanding of the past decade from a macro standpoint and to say otherwise is recklessly ignorant.
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Originally Posted by CDSmith
Yes, the respect can definitely run both ways, but I've seen many posts in recent years of people who a year ago, 2-5 years ago even, didn't exist on the boards or on the web with whatever websites they now run, who have made some pretty idiotic comments to long-timers. Tells me they simply have zero clue as to what brought us all to where we are with online Adult.
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Not all long-timers are cut from the same cloth and it's a mistake to use join dates and post counts to assess knowledge and/or intelligence. ESPECIALLY post count. Case in point.
Person A - May 2001 - 7,149
Person B - June 2001 - 28,048
Person C - July 2003 - 2,420
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Originally Posted by CDSmith
It's different if you're coming in with a new idea and without any advice or help you pull it off and make it fly, and profit from it. Most don't though. Most come in thinking they might start a TGP or get into the content game or maybe build a tube site, some are even still into gallery building/submitting. It's those people who come in without a solid business plan that my comments are most directed at, and there are a lot of them here.
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I pretty much agree with all of that. I had a rock solid plan when I started but did not have the funds to outsource anything and I ended up having to spend a ridiculous amount of time on some of the most trivial of tasks. I'm glad I was able to learn much of what I learned, and am still learning, but having to do so much was a bit overwhelming, I lost site of my original plan, jumbled the message, ultimately had to scrap it, and am still in the midst of the time consuming process of switching to Plan B. I've probably made 100s of mistakes. Seriously. It's ridiculous. But,even though I can't help myself sometimes, I try to not ever make the same ones twice.
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Originally Posted by CDSmith
Seriously, there are people here who don't know who PK is. There are plenty who run their keyboards at 12clicks yet obviously by their comments know ziltch about what the guy has actually done in this business. If you're asking who the hell is Marc D then I'm shaking my head at you. To me it means that person is a know-nothing NEWB who should yap less and learn more.
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I'm sure that these are great people. You seem to be not too shabby yourself, which is why I'm taking the time to respond, but isn't it more important to be familiar with whatever concepts they helped advance ? Throughout history, whenever industries have successfully emerged from recessions and/or periods of upheaval, it's usually been because of their willingness to embrace new, fresh ideas. Ideas which usually don't come from glorifying the past.