Today is a sad day for me. I’ve made the tough decision to shutdown BlogRush. There’s just something that stinks about seeing one of your babies (i.e. ideas) end up failing.
While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t see things improving for our users. The click-rates across the network are dreadfully low (and getting worse) as so many Internet users now ‘tune out’ links and other ads on sites.
Because of this, and many other issues, I’ve made the tough decision to shutdown the service. During the next 24 hours we’ll be shutting things down. If you’re running the widget on your blog you’ll want to remove the widget code.
I expect that there will be many BlogRush critics that will rejoice in hearing this news and relish in saying, “I told you so” and that’s fine. At least I had the guts to take a risk and to at least give the idea a try. I’ve become a successful entrepreneur (online since 1990) because I am not afraid to fail. I’ve had many ideas that didn’t work, and this one certainly won’t be the last.
I know that my overall success is a direct result from taking action and trying a lot of things. THAT is the real secret to building wealth.
In regards to BlogRush, many of my blog readers might remember when I came up with the idea at 4AM and even made a blog post about it. You never know when a great idea might come to you. So always be prepared to be ‘ready’ for it.
But most importantly, be ready to TAKE ACTION and at least TRY, or nothing will change in your life.
Here’s the letter that’s going out to all BlogRush users and will be posted on the site shortly:
—-
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
To: All BlogRush Users
After careful consideration, we have decided to shutdown the BlogRush service. If you have the widget code on your blog you will need to remove it.
When BlogRush launched in late-2007 it spread like wildfire all over the Web. Thousands of bloggers were talking about it and the service exploded to become one of the fastest growing free services in the history of the Web. During the first year of the service it successfully served 3.4 Billion blog post headlines and the BlogRush widget could be found on blogs all over the world; even up until the moment we closed down the service.
BlogRush didn’t grow without its fair share of problems — from security issues to abusive users trying to ‘game’ the system to much lower click-rates than expected. We also had some problems with trying to fairly control the quality of the network, and in the process made many mistakes in deciding what blogs should stay or go. All of these issues, ultimately, limited the service’s full potential.
Our team worked very hard to try and build a service that would truly help bloggers of all sizes get free traffic to their blogs. This was our primary focus. Not once did we ever try to monetize the service with ads or anything else. BlogRush never made a single penny in revenue. We wanted to be able to help our users FIRST and then worry about monetizing the service later.
Unfortunately, the service didn’t work out like we had hoped. (It happens.)
I want to say “Thank You” to all of the great bloggers that at least gave BlogRush a test to see if it would work for them. We sincerely appreciate you giving the service a try.
We have received several offers & inquiries about acquiring BlogRush, but we are choosing not to go that route. While many might think this is crazy, we truly feel it’s the ‘right’ thing to do for our users. Believe it or not, it’s not always about the money. In fact, BlogRush will have lost a small fortune when it’s all said and done, and it was by choice.
There were many things we could have done to monetize the service but we wanted to make sure it was going to benefit our users first.
Last but not least I want to say that I hope the failure of this service doesn’t in any way discourage other entrepreneurs from coming up with crazy ideas at 4AM (like I did with this one) and from “going for it” to just try and see if something will work.
Without trying there can be no success. And as we all know, ideas are worthless without action. The Web wouldn’t be what it is today without entrepreneurs trying all sorts of crazy ideas.
On behalf of the entire BlogRush team, we wish the best of luck to everyone with their own blogs, ideas, and crazy ventures.
Sincerely,
John Reese
http://twitter.com/johnreese
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October 29th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
It was a great concept dude … but sometimes the best ideas don’t always go as planned.
I totally understand where you are coming from though, and look forward to whatever you have planned in the future.
Talk with you soon,
Ryan
October 29th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
You created a great service and generated a lot of loyal users. I don’t think anyone can fault you for that.
If I had a dollar for every failed idea I’ve had I would be a billionaire
All the best,
Jeremy
October 29th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Way to give it a shot man! And way to man up in public and admit that not everything you do is a uber success.
Heck, I think I failed one time. Or at least someone said I did.
I think I may have been wrong about something once too.
Nah, that’s just a fib.
I’ve been wrong twice!
J-Mo
October 29th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Bummer, John! I really liked the service, and promoted it like crazy. Came up with a decent bunch of followers.
But you’re right. I don’t see much action coming from BlogRush, and it’s taking up valuable sidebar RE. I’m sorry it didn’t work out like we thought it would.
Hey, you’ll come up with something even better. I have no doubt.
–Pat
October 29th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Too bad it didn’t work out John. It’s only a failure if you didn’t learn anything from it.
I’m sure you were able to gain a lot of insights from the data to build yourself something more successful in the future.
Best,
Gary
October 29th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Like Ryan said it was a great idea…
Think of it this way you’ve had 1000 success’ and 1 slight failure(if you can call it that)
By the way if you wanna sell the domian shoot me a e-mail
Zach
October 29th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I know sometimes there’s that time that you just have to let go of your ‘baby venture’. Like you said, you gave it a try. There’s no ‘what if’s’ etc.
You still have TS2 rocking. So I believe there is still something that you’ll come up with.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
John,
It’s upsetting that this didn’t work out for others because I still get traffic to my site very month through BlogRush.
I know the decision was a hard one but I give you a TON of credit for putting it out there and making a go of it.
All the best.
Stu
October 29th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Hey John,
Know what? I cannot for my life understand why anyone would GRIPE about getting whatever free traffic they got. I received a few thousand eyeballs I didn’t pay for in exchange for what? 5 seconds to paste some widget code into a few sidebars?
I’ll gladly enjoy your future “failures” as long as you keep coming up with them.
Best,
Brian McLeod
Miami, Florida
October 29th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
You took it like a true Winner. Well done. I appreciate you trying something new and smart enough to know it didn’t work out. Thanks for sharing.
Also it shows you are a real human not a cybernetic internet marketing android supercomputer
October 29th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
John,
You stepped up to the plate and swung at the ball but missed. Just by doing that you did more than 99% of the people out there. I’m sure though that you’ve managed to learn from the experience and grow with it. Keep going and keep trying. You’re an inspiration to us all.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Just wanted to say thanks for posting this detailed analysis of a failure. It lends authenticity and in some ways is more interesting than reading about a success.
Best of luck with all your other projects!
October 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Your post made me think of “The Dip” by Seth Godin, who talks about quitting at the right time.
You did it and I’m sure this experience will contribute to you being more successful in your future projects. Very often we experience “tacit knowledge”, bits and pieces, ideas triggered by something we can’t specify. Next time it happens to you, it may be triggered by your BlogRush experience.
Anna
October 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
“I expect that there will be many BlogRush critics that will rejoice in hearing this news and relish in saying, “I told you so” and that’s fine.”
Yep, they will, and they did. I was there.
I was arguing back, hearing them rant and whine while
hiding safely behind their computers with balls the size of grape seeds,
ripping you on Warrior and elsewhere.
The initial negative hysteria is the catch 22 though.
Those are the dismal asses who will never have the guts or thoughts to truly succeed! Think about: guys with a couple $17 clickbank products,
were hammering a plan that’s serving MILLIONS of impressions a day
on it’s death bed!!! Hello?
“At least I had the guts to take a risk and to at least give the idea a try.”
Yes, and it’s while you’ll succeed over and over again.
Shutting down Blogrush isn’t a fail.
It would have been great if it turned out to be a homerun,
but the landscape has changed beyond any vision, especially
the widgetizing of web 2.1.
At least you saw it coming. Those same armchair entrepreneurs were
saying widgets are dead. Hehe.
They are the sinew of web 2.1.
Companies are (were, and will again) spending HUGE money
having widgets-just like BlogRush- developed for them after the launch
of blogrush. I was privy to one of Facebook’s finalist demo’s Zuck almost
used, and it was a dead ripoff of BR!
You know John, I became President of the family business I built
at 26 or 27. I had one secret rule on hiring;
If the candidate lies beginning to end;
“Oh yes I can do that” “Oh that’s easy” “I can learn that in 5 minutes”
with a hungry, gutsy voice (not a fool), I hired them every time.
I never regretted it.
The Ivy league kids who were too cool to NOT be careful?
Didn’t get a second look.
Looking forward what you’ll crush next.
I enjoy watching guys kill it!
And here’s a hint to the clients that were good shets:
I was the only guy in my niche. Only. I owned every click
in my category till killing the blog. (experimental)
October 29th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
John, very hard call, but in the credibility stakes you just made a KILLER decision.
If your cred was at ceiling height before it’s somewhere above the stratosphere now. Phew… congratulations on such guts. (Same guts as releasing TS2 as a REAL DVD product not just virtual.)
Still precociously cool: http://tinyurl.com/6dfhtd
Jonathan
October 29th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
John, there is no failure… just practice!
Looking forward to your next efforts.
- Bryan
October 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
You continue to prove that you are one of the real Internet Masters - taking action when you have a great idea, but also knowing when to change tack if its not working!
Thanks John you are a great example to us all.. So everyone get out there and start failing fast! (me included ;-))
Michelle
October 29th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I just fell on my own sword with a business and blogged about it today, too. Raise a glass!
John, you’ve been a great inspiration and teacher for me for several years now and I’m sure you’ll be wowing us again very soon.
October 29th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Good for you John, for being courageous enough to give it a go, and for being courageous enough to call it quits if necessary.
Regards,
Peter.
October 29th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Kudos dude for going for it and giving your vision a shot!
That’s what being an entrepreneur is all about!
I celebrate you and your efforts for that man!
On to the next idea…
Todd Brown
October 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Hey John,
Sorry to hear that. I must confess that I never used BlogRush, but I can relate to you on online endeavors that have failed, it happens to the best of us, from time to time. I admire your courage, most people won’t admit when they fail at something, especially in front of so many people. Failure is just a learning experience, in my opinion.
A loser is someone that doesn’t learn from their failures, a winner is someone that does. We all know that you’re a winner. So, keep doing what you do! I look forward to seeing your new ideas and working with you!
Warmest Regards, Nathan Johnson
October 29th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I think it is a great idea….I honestly think it could still work…
My feeling is that the problem is the look of the actual widget. If the widget were a less obvious widget, it may attract clicks.
For instance, if it was just a section in the sidebar that said “Featured Reading” and the titles just showed up as links under it, like the “most popular posts” section of a traditional blog….kind of like optimizing an Adsense site….make the ads not seem like ads.
Does anyone agree…or am I just crazy???
- Andrew Sieloff -
October 29th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I for one thought it was a great idea and used it on all of my blogs. I have the upmost faith in your ideas, John, and will gladly try out the many more ideas I’m sure you’ll be sharing with us over the years. You’re an inspiration to this Internet Marketing “newbie” and I wish you every success in the future.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
It really was a nice idea, and it’s too bad it didn’t take off the way you’d have liked it to; heck, the way we all would have liked it to.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
[…] Breaking news, so this is one of the shortest posts you’ll ever see from me. From John Reese himself, BlogRush Shuts Down. […]
October 29th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
John. You didn’t follow one of your own rules. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Find what works and find out how to get some of that money flowing your way.
J/p Obviously you need to innovate sometimes. Looking forward to your next crazy idea at 4am.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
You live and you learn.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
It was slowly on its way down the first couple months after it launched. Too bad it couldn’t have been better.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
[…] Down By Stephanie I don’t think this will surprise many people. John Reese has decided to shut down BlogRush. It just didn’t work out the way he […]
October 29th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
It was a good journey dude!
October 29th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Sorry to hear about BlogRush. No worries, though. You have 9,999,999 other ways to make your next million. Thanks for trying it.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Upwards and Onwards
October 29th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I’m very sorry to hear about this.
It was a wonderful idea.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
You gave it an honest shot. Most people will understand. I appreciate you being upfront about it and keeping us in the loop. To many more future successes (and failures).
RoD
October 29th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
like you said…we can’t be afraid to fail. That is something my dad has always taught my brothers and I. Sorry to see BlogRush go.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
It could be it was ahead of its time. Remember, The Woz invented a universal remote (Cloud 9), and within 15 years, everyone made one. But he was the visionary.
You have a vision of blogs and advertising and links. The next generation of this will be better for having stood on your shoulders.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction. - Douglas MacArthur
October 29th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
My “condolences” John. Like you said, you had the guts to take action and I agree. Few people do that, and even fewer admit they “fail”. But it’s not a failure at all, it’s a test and lesson learnt. Keep doing what you do.
On a different note, I’m going through TS 2 and I think it’s great!
October 29th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
BlogRush is closing down — Its official…
I was a part of this service for sometime and did not any benefit from it for a while.This is what John Reese had to write :
Today is a sad day for me. I’ve made the tough decision to shutdown BlogRush. There’s just something that stinks about …
October 29th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I was seriously pretty bummed out when I read this.
Stay up John.
When you do things to benefit others it usually works out in the end.
Use the spare time and energy to open that next “door” and step through.
Best Wishes
Dr. Ben
October 29th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Nothing to be ashamed of. The haters may say “I told you so” but at least you have the guts to put your ideas into action which is clearly one of the reasons you are so successful.
Continued success!
Tim
October 29th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
You might not have come up with the perfect solution, but I’ll bet, you have learned a whole bunch of information to be extremely useful in the future.
Thomas Edison, who conducted more than a thousand experiments on filaments before he produced a practical light bulb, was once asked, “How did you keep going after you had failed more than a thousand times?” Edison replied, “I did not fail a thousand times; I learned a thousand ways that didn’t work.”
Success Strategies Online
Keep on, keeping on John.
Best regards,
Jim W.
PS How about posting an email address (at least in graphic form) for those of us that have some ideas and or suggestions for a new resurrection of the service.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Hey John!
Can’t let it slide by without saying a big ‘Thank You’ for your shot at it - it helped us out while it was up - sorry to see it go. The idea was right, there’s just too many blogs out there with zero traffic, even from some of those wh sell ‘how to blog’ products! LOL
This frees you up for the next big project - can’t wait to get involved there too - keep the faith, buddy!
Later,
DC.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Dear John,
I want to say Thank You! for Blog Rush while it was there. I discovered a lot of good blogs thanks to it and I’m sorry to see the end of it. I wish you good luck in your future endeavours.
Sincerely,
Rinchen
October 29th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
[…] : If you want to write something to John Reese (BlogRush owner), Then you can visit >> Death of BlogRush. Share With Others and […]
October 29th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
John,
Although BlogRush is saying goodbye… it is nonetheless a great idea and concept and many young people that eying for tech startup should learn from.
We learn from our failure and mistake.
all the best!
matt
October 30th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I just signed up with Blog Rush in the last month and I got my first few hits in the last few days so I am disappointed that you are shutting down. I can’t help but wonder if some tweaking would have helped.
i way a great idea, sorry it didn;t work out best wishes,
Ned Carey
October 30th, 2008 at 12:37 am
[…] Reese Explains in his web site “I expect that there will be many BlogRush critics that will rejoice in hearing this news and relish in saying, “I told you so” and that’s fine. At least I had the guts to take a risk and to at least give the idea a try. I’ve become a successful entrepreneur (online since 1990) because I am not afraid to fail. I’ve had many ideas that didn’t work, and this one certainly won’t be the last.”. […]
October 30th, 2008 at 12:47 am
[…] John Reese of Blog Rush writes about it on his Income.com blog […]
October 30th, 2008 at 1:11 am
[…] Link al comunicato sul blog di Income. Ti è pioaciuto? Vota questo articolo: (Vota!) Loading … Ti è piaciuto l’articolo?Segui Nel Web via Feed RSS e stai sempre aggiornato sulle ultime novità Taggato con: [ blogrush, blogrush chiude, blogrush closed, blogrush shutdown, promozione feed rss, visibilità feed rss ] Puoi seguire i commenti a questo articolo RSS 2.0 feed. Puoi lasciare un commento, o generare un trackback dal tuo sito web/blog. […]
October 30th, 2008 at 2:41 am
[…] The death of BlogRush […]
October 30th, 2008 at 4:46 am
[…] Reese announced Death of Blogrush. This one was a long coming and even though it was created with best intentions - it didn’t […]
October 30th, 2008 at 5:24 am
John!
I am so sorry you had to make this tough call!
I really liked blogrush! a great idea! I think it was the first widget I added to my blog when I started.
I’m sure you’ll have new ideas which will be even better.
as some have said on their comments, as long as you learn something it will never be a failure.
Again sorry to hear it!
but, here’s the good thing, trough your email I ended up on your blog and love it. So you’ve gained at least one more follower!
hope to see more great things and ideas from you!
Best wishes
Flor
October 30th, 2008 at 5:44 am
While I can’t say that I was blasted with traffic from BR, or that I was very impressed. I will say that you are a class act John.
This took guts and showed incredible integrity. Rare commodities these days.
I also agree with many of the other comments here. You will continue to create and succeed where others fail because of what you are made of. Let the critics criticize. They’ll still be sitting on those perches the next time you are blasting traffic, spouting nonsense to cover their jealousy once again.
Because you have something they don’t.
At either rate. I wish you well and look forward to seeing your future ventures.
Next time you’re in south Texas, give me a ring, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee. (really cheap way to get an inside track on “the next big thing”….)
October 30th, 2008 at 5:48 am
Praise to you, John!
Although this project doesn’t work out, you are most respected to put in the money and effort for an idea!
Hope more great things from you soon…!
To all the best
Kok Choon
October 30th, 2008 at 6:25 am
John. Thanks for keeping it real. Truth is, most ventures fail…and their failures are private. You are an example of failing with your chin up. Way to go.
October 30th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Sorry to see this John.
I have met you a few times (you won’t remember or have been defined by those meetings and, in truth, you won’t be even reading this entry) and I have witnessed your calm determination and faith in yourself and others. You have given so much even without Blogrush (including a $64,000 car that I **nearly** had!).
What is more, your entry abouve could spark a thousand millionaires if ONLY they listen to what you are saying.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:53 am
[…] I gotta give props to my buddy John Reese on his decision to shut down BlogRush. […]
October 30th, 2008 at 8:16 am
I respect your honesty. Something rare in the internet these days.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I totally get it… “moving on” is just one of the many cool behaviors we as entrepreneurs must be able to do.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Wow… sorry to hear it! Good luck on your next venture. I’m surprised you guys didn’t sell- I probably would have!
October 30th, 2008 at 8:20 am
John you came up with something to help other marketers. Many blog owners didn’t
place the code high on their blogs to give it prominent exposure. Others tried to cheat
you and the system in various ways making the whole concept suffer as a result. Yet
in the end you had the courage to create it and try it, and now you have the courage
to pull the plug when it isn’t working. As a blog owner who tried it along with you, I’m
glad to have had it and will surely be part of your future endeavors as well.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Hi John,
It’s always better to try and fail than not try at all.
Wishing you all the very best,
Francois
October 30th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Hi John,
Sorry to hear that. Blog rush idea and interface was great. I am sure you have been spending lot of money in this baby of yours.
I am sure you will make a come back with a even better idea!
All the best.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Thanks John for sharing this lesson. Shows me that sometimes it’s better to finish and project and let go of it, if it doesn’t take off.
The fact that you did this in the public eye is even better. I’m concerned what “people will think about me” with my micro-projects that noone notices anyway - you got millions of eyeballs on yours.
And quiet frankly… I hate to say this, because I really wish you all the success in the world. But there’s a part of me that is happy to see that “even the guy who’s got the magic” can still fail sometime. It shows me - hey, if John Reese failed on such a big project… well… then he’s just like me, with a bit more experience and resources. And the fact that I have lots of failures under my belt just show me I’m on the right track.
Wishing you the biggest of success with your next project!
October 30th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Sorry to hear about this.
It just goes to show that no matter who you are, you never get a home
run every time. It’s a lesson in reality for us all to learn from.
The fact is that some projects just don’t work out. No matter how good
the team, idea or plan.
At least you had the guts to go out there and try something.
It reminds me of the Theodore Roosevelt quote:
[i]”It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who neither know victory nor defeat.”
[/i]
[b]Theodore Roosevelt[/b]
It’s also a lesson that sometimes - you do have to quit a project and
move on to something better.
Read Seth Godin’s The Dip for learning when it’s OK to quit.
Best wishes,
Shaun
October 30th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Sad to hear that BlogRush is shut down
Anyway, i love your word “I’ve become a successful entrepreneur (online since 1990) because I am not afraid to fail.”
Wish you all the best …
October 30th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Well said.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Well sad to see it go - agree on lower traffic numbers but it as a cool idea. But as they say- onward and upward. I am sure a new idea is coming.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:26 am
btw. the fact that you own opportunity.com and do NOTHING with it blows my mind.
Just look at all the comments you got from people you helped to succeed online. I know you got rich from that too, but that doesn’t dimish it at all. You’re the ultimate INTERNET MARKETING HERO, John
October 30th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Wow, not that i am surprised… but well ya, ok i am surprised.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:30 am
John,
We learn so much more from our failures than our successes. You are smart enough to use this as a catalyst to go on to something bigger and better. People associate your name with quality and you have proved today that putting out a quality product is more important to you tahn preserving your ego. Rock on.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am
John,
Thanks for all the hard work put up for blogrush..i have tried blogrush and although you decided you decided to take it down….i still think that’s a great idea.
Great to see you make a BOLD move and can’t wait for your next big idea.
Success is about taking action and decision, kudos!
Thomas
October 30th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Thanks for being there. I know that the traffic to my site was so much higher due to blog rush! You will be missed.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:36 am
This might be a dumb question, but how do I know if I’ve got the code on my site? I’ve signed up for so many different blogging income related things that I tend to forget. Was yours one of those ones with hidden code or was it a visible widget?
I’m sorry that your baby didn’t grow like you wanted to, but you’re always full of ideas. I’m sure you’ll come up with that home run soon.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Damn, you got balls of steel!
I own several websites that work, some generate cash, some don’t, some work, some don’t. But I keep all of them, even the non performers.
You’ve given me the insight to just cut some of my losses and focus on other areas and move on.
I thought it takes alot of courage to go out there and do things while people criticise you but it takes a greater person to stand there publicly, say it didn’t work and move on to the next project.
I’ve saved this page and added it to my inspirational library.
There’s not an absolute doubt in my mind that you’ll loose the war.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Hey John,
You rock my man… I am sure you could have taken BlogRush to the next level but understand why you made the decision to pull the plug.
Can’t wait to see what you do next
~Brett
http://www.FreeTrafficBigProfits.com
October 30th, 2008 at 8:38 am
While I am sorry to see it shut down - kudos to you for doing it. Success doesn’t happen without risks - and I cannot applaud you enough for putting aside your own ego to truly view the venture in an unbiased light.
That’s a tough thing for ANY entrepreneur to do - but when every action you take is in the spotlight as yours is - to be hashed over and dissected by everyone as this will be - such an action takes guts.
Once again - John Reese shows WHY he is a success!
October 30th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Did you consult your user group before shutting this down?
There were ways to monetize this idea for everyone’s benefit.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:45 am
John,
The projects I focus on don’t involve blogs, so therefore, I had no use for BlogRush during it’s 1-year run.
HOWEVER…
I decided to post here to express my appreciation and gratitude for the way you’re handling this situation. You’re taking ownership of a “failed” project (I use that term loosely here, because you DID have some great success with it at first), and genuinely providing the explanation behind your decision to all your BlogRush users.
Most folks would “duck and cover”, so I commend you for your transparency.
Thanks John, and I wish you well with your next endeavor. Go get ‘em!
Marty
October 30th, 2008 at 8:51 am
John you’re a class act…everything you come out with adds so much value to folks lives. I have followed you for sometime now. There is a reason for your success. You give so much.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:51 am
There will be other great ideas, and it looks like there is plenty of optimism to support whatever comes next. We all know that every venture isn’t a home run but if you don’t swing the bat you won’t hit the ball.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:55 am
This is why we all like keeping up with you, John. You try things and you’re transparent. There is a very important lesson here for other and that is - don’t sit on your butt and do nothing for fear of failure. Otherwise, nothing happens.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:02 am
John,
It was fun while it lasted. At least you have given others the courage they need to give things a try and not worry about “failing.” I put it in quotes, because the site might not have been a success, but I bet you learned a lot from it. Learning from the experience is where you find true wealth. I look forward to your next endeavor.
Dan
October 30th, 2008 at 9:10 am
John, from what I am seeing - you haven’t failed at all.
Take a good loook at the many of the comments here. You did what what many forget about especially business, and those who really want to generate quality traffic:
“people and being loyal to them.”
So no, you didn’t fail at all. Actually, you, your team, has just made it bigger than you could ever imagine.
So much so. that if you were to come out with a product now, it be sold out in an instant because you built a strong foundation of loyal fans.
Something that many find difficult to do and don’t do because they are not tranparent enough, or give like the servant heart leaders do.
So, I will say, “to your SUCCESS” because blogrush, is not was, but is that. It’s a success and now, you can take what you do to greater heights.
Because for me, you just made it big and I mean BIG TIME!
All the best and enjoy your amazing future with your amazing team, and loyal followers.
Adam
October 30th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Has anyone talked to you yet about the amazing Amway biz opportunity?
Hey, Just Kidding ….
Wishing you all Best Success in your future business.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Hi John,
It was a fantastic idea and service, it’s just a shame it couldn’t be a bigger winner for you and all its users.
It’s always good putting your money where your mouth is too, and Im sure the lessons you’ve learned from this experience will help you in all your future products and services.
Best wishes on your next 4am idea!
I truly believe…
Brilliance is rare, but action is rarer!
Fortunately for you, you have both
Cheers,
Andrew
October 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for” - John A. Shedd
And you clearly live by this John. Congratulations on giving it a shot and trying something new. You done a fantastic job getting it out there. It was a great idea and I’m sure you have many more great ideas still to come.
Dan
October 30th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I’ve bought everything you’ve ever sold to the IM niche. It’s made me and my family a NICE living.
Thanks for having the guts to try stuff.
Thanks for choosing to teach the never-tired-of-complaining IM niche.
Me and my entire family thank you for your decision to “open-up” and show us how to dramatically change our lives with an online biz.
I applaud you.
PLEASE do not in any way be discouraged.
Keep going.
You have LOTS of “raving fans” out here who are quietly making a great living because you are a GENEROUS person.
And if it weren’t for all your tests, we’d still be pushing a pencil at a dead-end job.
THANK YOU.
God bless and keep going, John!
Dan Denley
October 30th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Hello John,
I am sorry to know about Blogrush..But its great to know that you decided to close it to cut your losses..
Thanks.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Better to have tried and failed, than to have failed for not trying at all. Hats off to you for a great idea.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:31 am
[…] of 3 or 4 high profile bloggers. I won’t name names but it was clear that those who knew John Reese personally gave the network a much different review from those who didn’t. These bloggers […]
October 30th, 2008 at 9:32 am
The light bulb wasn’t invented on the first try. It is better to try and fail then to not try at all.
I know that this isn’t a true failure as I am sure you learned a few things from the experience.
Best of luck on future ideas.
Michael
October 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
[…] website. There was a letter posted about the shutdown already. Then I visited the Income.com blog. John Reese explains in his post on why he decides to shutdown the service. He also informed […]
October 30th, 2008 at 9:36 am
“There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.” - Elbert Hubbard
John has just showed to the entrepreneurial community what success is all about: failure.
You can’t succeed if you are not willing to fail, but most of all, the ability to learn from what works and what doesn’t, that’s what convert John Reese and other successful role models into real-life heros.
Of course, we can expect the anti-heros to start copulating across the net saying that John Reese is a failure.
HaHa: Bring it on cowards! (aka losers), we already know we are different from them, those who will never have the guts to let their own music play, those who sadly will sell themselves short.
Every single product John has created has been to help people and make our community better; now I am pretty sure John will use this experience to teach us all a lesson we can take home.
Hopefully John can share this invaluable experience (and when I say share I don’t mean for free. Keep reading, I have a proposal to make).
So what went wrong with BlogRush? (personally I am still shocked) aparently, this online venture had all the right elements into place to be a smashing success, and yet, today I learned from Ryan that BlogRush is death.
I am more than eager to hear what lesson John can teach us. Don’t you?
Today’s Mission: Let John Reese Know Our Support
Ryan, if you’re reading this post, can you pass John an important message? (or better yet, are you reading this post John?) He should really consider to dissect the whole process behind BlogRush, from its inception to it’s finale and package it into the form of a free Report (first) and let us know about the general aspects of what worked and what didn’t.
Then let us get our hands into an eBook supported with a nice up-sell in the form of a multimedia Course using “The Death Of BlogRush” as a real-life study case on what to look for whenever you plan to produce a product online.
Who knows, we might just support John Reese financially, making this experiment a ‘community experiment’ where we all benefit from.
So count me in as your first thirsty client looking for a glass of water and willing to by a second and third one…is there anyone else? Then let Mr. John Reese know.
Sincerely,
Peter Palatnik
P.S. John, you should really give it a though on this dude. I think you have the creativity to use this knowledge and teach one of the greatest lessons on how to turn a “failure” into a smashing success.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I was a loyal BlogRush user too and believed it was a great idea.
I admire your decision to admit publicly it wasn’t
working out for the good of all and to cut your
losses and move on.
Something greater always comes from failures (life’s teachers).
Yisel
October 30th, 2008 at 9:38 am
RIP…A great idea, that obviously didn’t work out - Next!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Hey John,
You had a great idea…and more will come. You have had more things stick than fail and that should spur you on to even greater ventures. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next!
Stewart
October 30th, 2008 at 9:44 am
John,
It was a good run, and it did supply many, many good references.
I await the next project without hesitation, as I am fully aware of what you are capable of.
BLOGRUSH
10/29/2008
RIP
From dust to dust.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Would you share the experience with us in order not to make the same mistakes? Maybe, just maybe there are some of us interested in paying for your experience and that could be a very good way for you to NOT lose that small fortune. Why don’t you talk to Ryan about it? My wild guess is that it could fairly be a part of his coaching program with a live example af a good girl gone bad.
Hope you get over it soon
Greetings
Victor.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Hey John. Here’s one of my favorites.
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Now with that said, I bet it was, at minimum, one hell of a learning experience. I can’t wait to see what you share next.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:46 am
It was a well designed and ingenius concept, I really liked having it on my blog and interacting through the network. Sorry to see it go, but await more great innovations from the designer.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:48 am
John, you have my uttermost respect.
A man with true entrepreneurial blood.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Blog Rush is Officialy Closed…
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I’ve just read read an email from Ryan Deiss told me about his post The Death of BlogRush. Blog Rush is own by John Reese. John Reese is top internet marketing wit…
October 30th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I think we’ve all had a few of these types of projects. Normally, if I hold onto them for emotional reasons I regret it more when I finally end up letting them go. Then, I kick myself for letting them suck my energy even longer than I should have.
It’s smart business to constantly adjust and redefine, based upon what works. I tell hubby that several parts of my business are little Petri dishes — just seeing whether or not they’ll grow. If they take off, then great! — if not, then they get tossed (even if I loved the little guys).
Congrats on making a smart business decision.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Todays Lesson: Burying BlogRush Syndicate…
Hype About BlogRush It started out with a big, big rush around September 15th 2007, when legendary Internet marketer, guru, self-made multi-millionaire John Reese, fired up his revolutionary BlogRush network. Everybody and their mother was blogging, tw…
October 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
“At least I had the guts to take a risk and to at least give the idea a try.”
Amen to that.
Keith
October 30th, 2008 at 9:57 am
It takes a big man to admit defeat, but at least you made the attempt. Most people don’t even try. You’re a success in my eyes and I look forward to your next project.
Steve
October 30th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Dear John
you are a wonderful person and a brilliant marketer.
You have shared a lot with so many people, and you have added so much value to our way of thinking and conducting business, that word “death” doesn’t describe any of your projects.
I wish you the best in all your endeavors.
Thank You
Sophia Stavropoulou
October 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am
John - I admire you coming out in the open market and admitting when something “YOU” think didn’t work. Who cares what the idiots out there say. I used BR and it drove thousands of leads to my sites. Thank you for that.
Before you close this out and take it offline, have you considered SELLING this technology to someone who could potentially invest and try something different with it?
Mike
October 30th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Hey John,
A failure is going half @ss at something and stopping before you give it your best try… what you did was go balls to the wall from the start and got some of the best “buzz” I’ve ever seen around a product.
In my opinion… if anything, Blogrush just showed how strong of a marketer you are and I’m sure you learned a lot in the process…
Great work bud… and keep up the good work.
Cheers,
- Trevor
October 30th, 2008 at 10:25 am
John,
In these days of utter worldwide turmoil and rapid surprise changes, the news of your balsy decision is sad, not as terminal as it may appear to some.
For your show of great character and integrity transcends the cessation of your excellent service. Surely it will have left a worthy imprint upon all who came in contact with it.
Congratulations! Many deserved Thanks! Best of success in your future endeavors!
Cordially,
Jacques
October 30th, 2008 at 10:52 am
[…] But most importantly, be ready to TAKE ACTION and at least TRY, or nothing will change in your life. John Reese […]
October 30th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Heaven Hi! John,
There are no failures only outcomes and feed back, “not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Albert Einstein. You are a STAR, enjoy the role. I applaud you.
Be Bop!
Thom McFadden
October 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
What a pity… no more blogrush, it sort of grew on me. Anyway, it was a great idea and i admire your honesty to admit it did not produce enough benefit to it’s users to justify its further existence.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Well done John for once again showing the rest of the big guys and the smaller ones the truth about business.
Yes it takes risk and sometimes it pays off and sometimes it does not.
Respect for taking the action and for trying with something new.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Its a failure? Naaah..
It done many good things than bad to most of us, at least for me.
Thanks John.
AshJeff.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:58 am
You should’ve sold it. Let someone else run it into the ground and at least you get paid and you can fund your next failure.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Anyone who doesn’t have at least one stinking failure on their CV is living waaaay too far inside their comfort zone.
As Seth Godin would say, tribes need leaders who are not afraid challenge the status quo and push boundaries. If you’re not doing that, you’re not leading.
I know you’ve something cool planned soon enough anyway, mate!
Matt Bisogno
October 30th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
John,
As far as I’m concerned this was far from a failure and here is why.
You succeeded in taking action and because of that you know now the over all results. Just because something doesn’t take off the way that we would like doesn’t mean there weren’t very valuable data extracted from the test and experience.
I bet if you sat down and analyzed everything that you learned from doing this, you would come away with not only a pretty big list but more importantly, some very valuable data that you couldn’t have received any other way.
This my friend gives you insight that no one else (who hasn’t built the same kind of tool) would have data on and you can now take that data and capitalize on it in some way. I imagine that if you did this (which I’m sure you are) it will help you build something else in the future using this data as the catalyst for profits.
Heck I can think of some of the data I would want to extract from this tool of yours right off the top of my head. Statistical data alone would be very valuable in this case.
At any rate, I for one appreciated the tool and regardless how it’s ending now, I know that it brought traffic to my sites.
Thank you very much and I look forward to seeing what becomes of the data you have gained from the experience.
Michael
October 30th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I am truly sorry for this having to end for you and The Blogrush users. It was a great service and helped many people. I was turned down by Blogrush but it did not make me angry. It helped me see the poor quality of my blog and made me strive to do better. For that I thank you and wish you well in your future projects. You are an honorable marketer and I look forward to see what quality programs you will be working on.
Frank
October 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I was certainly glad to give BlogRush a try and thought it was a fine idea. However, it does seem that people are tuning out banners and such.
Thanks for giving it a try and thanks for letting us be part of it.
You are still on the bleeding edge as far as I am concerned.
Rex
October 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
October 30th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Well, I hate to see businesses die, but quite frankly I’ve never heard of your enterprise…
October 30th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
[…] can read the entire letter to users here. Share and […]
October 30th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
It’s easy to grin,
When your ship’s come in,
And you’ve got the internet market beat.
But the man worthwhile,
Is the man who can smile,
When his widget goes down in defeat!
October 30th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Thanks for the warning.
Ok, BlogRush failed. But this wasn’t a decision that just happened yesterday. It would have been nice to have some warning rather than have to have however-many blogs suddenly have a ‘hole’ in them.
BlogRush users supported you. You should have given us a smoother transition to replace the widget.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
[…] far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still […]
October 30th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
John,
Thanks mate for the service. You did your best and am sure the experience you
got out of it will spur you to another successful multimillion dollar idea. I know this
will happen because you gave your all, you must get much more in return. It’s not
the death of blog rush, it’s “The Rebirth of John Reese”
Ethan
October 30th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
BlogRush Syndication Network Shutting Down…
One of the famous blog syndication network - BlogRush is shutting down. If you still remember, my blog has been banned from BlogRush on last year October.
I’m still new blogger (1 month old) at that time. They decline my account due to too much p…
October 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
October 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
John - If you’re not making mistakes - you’re not living!
October 30th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
October 30th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
The Wright brothers ‘failed’ many times before their first successful flight. It was the knowledge from these so called ‘failures’ that gave them the knowledge that led to success; now we fly to the moon.
With the benefit of hindsight these so called failures were actually the building blocks of success. Now we fly to the moon and beyond with such frequency that we take it for granted.
For your many years of success, the closure of Blog Rush only makes you a bigger man. Those who celebrate failure a nothing more than lilly livered pansies and are simply not worth your acknowledgement.
I salute you as a pioneer and respect you as a giant amongst men.
Best of luck with your future endeavours.
Mister Economist.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
John, for every naysayer there are a thousand people who think you are bloody brilliant. I’m one of those people. Don’t go changing.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Boy, would I love to fail like that. To create something like that - way ahead of its time is sure no failure in my book, even if you have to shut it down.
In the revised words of Andy Capp - You can get anywhere by getting up one more time than you fall down.
Good luck for the future, but I’m sure you make your own luck.
Frans
October 30th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Even though the software didn’t work for me, I was cancelled, had no way to get back in to the account, had my Blogs criticized by the BlogRush Staff, I am sad to see this system fail.
Marketers need something besides the “Take action and buy my product or you are a looser” mentality.
Sharing and helping one another is that missing something that is needed.
Thanks for trying to help others.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
John, I’ve always thought you’ve added a touch of class and swagger to the IM scene. Innovation and Risk might be your middle names. Going after a BIG picture is inspiring! Nothing wrong with shooting for the stars and landing on the moon. A wise man told me: “The only reward for a job well done is …. another BIGGER job.” That and a couple-a-hundred blog posts!
Thanks and looking forward to your next venture. Neal-Lohse
October 30th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
John that must suck to have to kill something you had such high hopes for. But what you said in your post really makes so much sense about having the guts to actually try it in the first place. I think there are so many people who’ve been paralyzed by the possibility of failure (myself too) that it just holds you back from doing so many things.
Anyway, I did up a little video reply to your post.
Thanks for trying!
Angela Wills
October 30th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Sory to hear about this. I did get some traffic from this great idea and made sre to do the favor for others on blogrush. Best wishes in your future endeavours.
October 30th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
interesting. never did get to try this service. but i’m a big fan of taking action to reach for a dream so your attempt here is admirable.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
John,
You’ve got a lot of guts.
When I’ve failed, many times the lessons learned are what generates the next home run.
Care to share any lessons learned’ here?
Muchas Gracias Amigo,
Retired in Ajijic, Mexico,
Joel Smith
Casa Preciosa, Ajijic, Mexico
http://www.CasaPreciosaAjijic.com
October 30th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
[…] John’s latest blog post, The Death Of BlogRush, he said, “I’ve become a successful entrepreneur (online since 1990) because I am not […]
October 30th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
That sucks. I just now took it off of my blog… it was one of the few widgets I actually used, but I also had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before it would be gone.
Looking forward to more Marketing tools in the future!
October 30th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Hi John,
Only the ones that do nothing don’t fail…
Failing is part of doing…
Regards, Pete
(off to take my widget down…)
October 30th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
John,
Half of us wish that we could even try what you dare to try. You are an encouragement to me. I hope that the plans you have for the future will be as innovative as all the other you have crerated.
Never look back, but onward without any reserves.
Godspeed
October 30th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
After so many months of enjoyed linkbacks and traffic…. A farewell and parting glance…
John Reese gives his BlogRush service the boot. His reasons are plainly stated. Although some would balk at them. But then again. Who are we to say? If it didn’t turn a profit without comprimising client value? Then it only makes sense.
So with that, thanks for the excellent service John.
See ya BlogRush.
As Seen on MY blog:
Thanks John, “NEVER QUIT RIGHT?”
October 30th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I’m sure you’ll have more failures. But that’s a good thing. It means you’re still swinging for the fences. All the cliches are true: No risk, no reward.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Talk about preaching to the converted! Jons butt will soon be red raw with all this butt kissing going on!
Blogrush always looked like “MLM meets IM”, and as it’s turned out, it was, and it’s finally gone the same way as most MLM offers too. After all the initial hype died down there wasn’t much there for anyone except those that were in on day one and promoted it like crazy. Just like MLM, the spin was to promote it, and the leverage will make your rich, or in this case make you rich with traffic.
Obviously the “guru clique” that flogged it in the beginning have seen there returns diminish to the point of being not worth the traffic it’s generating. So it’s being shut down.
Take your rose tinted glasses off for a minute guy, and see Blogrush for what it was. It was doomed from the beginning, and always had a very limited life expectancy. But hey, who cares? John and his mates probably milked it for a few billion clicks before it crashed and burned.
Yes John is a brilliant marketer, but his marketing is designed to make him rich. Not all the disciples that follow him like sheep into flawed programs like Blogrush.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Hey John,
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but thanks for sharing your heart with us & thanks for leading by example.
No one should relish in your effors to make a success from an idea.
Kudos to you for giving it your best shot. At least you took Action!
October 30th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
John,
I can honestly say that I have even more respect for you now than ever - you are showing that you are not immune to the risk of failing with a project or idea any more than the rest of us.
You took a chance, which is more than most people do - but at least you took that chance.
The only difference you faced with this particular project was the fact that you had the entire online marketing world watching your every move and scrutinizing every decision. The rest of us make mistakes and have business or idea failures without anyone else ever knowing about them - so anyone who says that they have never made a bad business decision is lying.
Too bad too many people only want to focus on the one that went wrong, instead of the hundreds of other incredible marketing lessons you have shown the world.
Anyway - just wanted to offer my support.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:05 am
Hey!, I know you for past some months…
I know little it about you. I am sorry for this incident.
You said it Right, Nothing will change your life until you do something. Looking forward for your next big Idea.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:29 am
Hi John So Sorry to hear you shut it down I love your service and hoping someone else at least try’s to make something close like it.
I can say I have failed many times myself and related to what your saying I wishing you the best in all your ventures.
Robert Phillips
October 31st, 2008 at 2:51 am
I’m very sad to hear about the demise of BlogRush, and TrafficJam. Although it didn’t generate huge amounts of traffic for me, over the time I was running BlogRush on my blog it must have brought me around extra 1000 clicks, many from people who wouldn’t otherwise have found me.
I also regularly clicked through the links I saw on the widget and on TrafficJam, and found some great blogs that I now visit regularly (and have made new friends and colleagues as a result).
So really, I don’t think it was a failure at all.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:42 am
Sorry to hear about BlogRush, but I still think you made a mistake by not selling it (i.e., the idea) to another person who is willing to take a step further with the service. After all, that person might just be able to introduce a new concept or idea into your “baby”.
- MENJ
October 31st, 2008 at 6:03 am
Face it Reese, you suffer from IMOD.
IMOD: Internet Marketing Obsessive Disorder
same as the rest of us
October 31st, 2008 at 7:20 am
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
October 31st, 2008 at 7:37 am
[…] morning, I received a notice that John Reese is shutting down his Blog Rush project as it’s just not living up to his […]
October 31st, 2008 at 7:55 am
That was the most inspirational bow-out I’ve ever read. I’m now a fan.
October 31st, 2008 at 8:53 am
[…] ?????? ??? ?????? ????????? ? ???, ??? ???????????? ?????? ????????? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????? ???? ???? BlogRush.com. […]
October 31st, 2008 at 9:10 am
Sorry to hear about the sad news, and I’m sure you will come out with a great idea soon. And most of all, many of us do in fact, admired your success. So keep up the good work and idea, and I’m sure you will not give up on new ideas.
Best of luck.
Thanks
David Cheong
October 31st, 2008 at 9:44 am
[…] like some social network service, are closing down. He posted the news on his blogs with a title The Death of BlogRush. Which I think its a sad thing that the well success service website are closing down. Many among […]
October 31st, 2008 at 9:55 am
I am new to this whole game and industry. i don’t understand why a blog with over a million hits is not cutting the mustard, and warrants shutting down. If a blog or site millions of clicks can’t be viable, profitable, then I wonder if we are kidding ourselves as online marketers… since we probably have way lower click through rate. I don’t understand the dynamics. Does this mean we are all wasting our time and energy?
October 31st, 2008 at 10:46 am
Thanks for another great lesson John !
October 31st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I am shocked and disappointed, but I certainly respect your decision. Blog Rush was great, for me. I didn’t receive a notice, but just have a blank space in my side bar. So, I did a search for Blog Rush and found the information about shutting down. I can’t blame you for shutting it down if it was costing you so much money, and you were not satisfied with it. But I certainly will miss it.
Thanks for all you have done.
I hope that something similar will develop. I don’t think I would have had readers from so many places without it-or been able to find other blogs of interest to me.
All the best to you, John!
October 31st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
November 1st, 2008 at 3:59 am
[…] http://www.income.com/blog/2008/10/29/the-death-of-blogrush/ […]
November 1st, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hi John
Sorry to read you made the decision. I had the widget on my site and it brought in some traffic. Sorry it did not work out the way you envision it.
One thing I will miss, is the quality check that BlogRush had. Even so your quality check kicked out one of my blogs from BlogRush it was hard to take, but it was good feedback that made the quality of that blog better.
As of my other site, I made sure to have good unique content before I got BlogRush and it was a breeze to pass the quality check.
Thanks for all the impression I got from BlogRush.
Thanks for the hard work, time and effort.
Wishing you will get some value out of this
Take care until next time
Anja
November 1st, 2008 at 10:44 am
Learn form Pro see my blog…………Regards,
November 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
[…] The Death Of BlogRush […]
November 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I used the widget till it got shut down. Even though click rates were lower than desired for the network, it still received some traffic from it. Thanks for the assistance. I can’t wait to see what you have next for us.
Stealth
November 1st, 2008 at 8:19 pm
[…] the Closing Post: After careful consideration, we have decided to shutdown the BlogRush service. If you have the […]
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 am
[…] and will not continue its services. In the last message as I read on the BlogRush official site and John Reese Blog, its good to know one is admitting and sharing where it went wrong and perhaps just perhaps another […]
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:11 am
Well John -
Only a baby in the world of business would think starting and finishing a business is a failure.
What did Micheal Jordan say? I failed over and over …..
Thanks for being an innovator and an inspiration to us all.
Best Regards
Phil Eugene
November 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 am
[…] is what John Reese said 2 days ago. I had some success (i.e. some post syndicated very well with BlogRush) with my blog. It’s […]
November 2nd, 2008 at 5:20 am
John,
I chanced upon blogrush and its the first time in my life to read a shut-down message upon hitting the site on the first time. I felt very sad reading it. I’ve had a painful shutdown like this before that burned millions of investment. Hope to get to know you and we could encourage each other. Right now, I’m running my startup on passion and starbucks vanilla latte.
Ciao now,
Samuel Koh
Singapore
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:10 am
Oh well!
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 am
[…] I was still sorry to hear that due to “dreadfully low” click-rates across the network, John announced on October 29th that the BlogRush site and widget would be shut […]
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 am
Blogrush is excellent it increase my traffic. Sorry to hear your shutting down blogrush! Go to your future plan John!
November 2nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
It never hurts to try and fail, you only lose out if you fail to try.
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Disappointing news. Even though others may disagree, BlogRush was a valuable service for bloggers looking to get a kickstart. As the owner of Publicity Wheel, I’ll do my best to avoid the same issues so we don’t suffer the same fate.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:58 am
[…] not sure if you’ve heard about it already: According to a post on John Reese’s Income.com blog, Blogrush is […]
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:39 am
[…] http://www.income.com/blog/2008/10/29/the-death-of-blogrush/ […]
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:12 am
[…] On The Death Of BlogRush […]
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:16 am
For those saddened by this loss, it helps to sing goodbye to BlogRush.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:57 am
John - shutting down a startup which you have put much energy into is a really tough decision. I am sure things will work in your favor going forward and am sure you have plenty of great ideas that will blow us all away! Keep up the good work!
“Success is the ability to move from one failure to the next with enthusiasm.”
- Winston Churchhill
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Hey John,
Man, I just found out about this from Ryan Deiss’ newsletter, as I was sick and away from my PC for a few days, and I’m very sorry to hear it. In fact, I was planning on joining BlogRush soon, once I had filled my new blog with enough posts to meet the minimum requirements, because I thought it was a great idea / tool. But I understand your reasons and wish you only the best in all of your future endeavors.
Regards,
Michael Brock
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
[…] creator, has good reasons for shutting it down, which you can read about on his blog post entitled The Death Of BlogRush. addthis_url = […]
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Failure is the best lesson one can learn from. I read about people complaining that they don’t make money on the internet and it is all scams, It’s because they are afraid to try new thing because they may fail. At least you are not afraid to try something new. I’ve failed on a few project and before I start a new one, I recap on my last project to make sure I do not make the same mistakes and I’ve then succeeded at my new project. You just keep moving forward.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
[…] traffic generator/link pyramid scheme BlogRush has shut down as John Reese explains in his post, The Death of BlogRush. (from BOS) An interesting […]
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I knew BlogRush would not last. The problem: too many blogs run by amateurs who posted hideous and questionable content. I stuck with BlogRush for at least 5 months, but then pulled the plug in August, 2008. The widget delivered questionable article matches despite the very specific and clear genre of my blog. Too many people tried to scam this system, leaving the real content creators out in the cold. Goodbye BlogRush.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Mr. Reese,
Thank you for a valiant and self-less effort. For concepts like this to work (and my site, quite frankly) the sites you are on have to realize that this requires co-operation and can’t be viewed as competition.
But, as you pointed out: taking action IS the important thing.
And, the businesses you end are STILL more successful than the businesses most of us newbies keep plugging away at!
We will all be waiting for your next Big Idea!
Rick Carter
The Father’s Rights Library
http://FathersRightsLibrary.bravehost.com
November 4th, 2008 at 10:37 am
THANK GOODNESS. I am glad to hear this. I have tried numerous times to be able to have that on a number of sites and blogs and was denied every time. My content was good and I feel blogrush had become an “elitist” organization full of snobs and judgmental, irrational administrators. They can all go find a job with Skull and Bones, Lion’s Paw or Parmi Nous where they can elite themselves to their hearts content! Next time create something for those of us starting out who are struggling and can use help not unsubstantiated judgment.
That’s all I got to say about that.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I agree with the point that too many people tried to scam the system. Once you get a prepondearnce of questionable content in, it’s hard to get it out and by then your brand has already suffered calamitous damage.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Hi John-
Sorry to hear of BlogRush closing. I posted about this on my
Free Advertising blog recently:
http://www.freeadvertisinggallery.com/2008/10/death-of-blogrushrip.html
Best of luck to you in future endeavors!
November 6th, 2008 at 7:30 am
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
November 6th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
[…] Read more about it here. […]
November 6th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
[…] Read more about it here. […]
November 7th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I loved the BlogRush concept. Though I’ve never had it on my affiliate marketing blog (Masterlesssamurai.com), I used it on many blogs before and enjoyed the readership I got, plus the other cool blogs I was able to find because of it.
Certainly glad we have people like you willing to try and experiment with 4AM ideas. Those are often the best, but once in a while a few slip though the cracks.
- Wes
November 8th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
This community dada.net, which is the only reward its partners, precisely what you already doing in other communities friendships adding blogs, videos etc. most do not win anything just friendship. In dada.net is different you earn money when you sign up, the system generates a code for you publish on the Google adsense, and begin to win, so start inviting friends, adding videos, blogs precisely what we do in other communities understand, this community dada.net is all for free or you do not pay anything on google adsense ready is very simple hope their resposta.Visite the site http://www.dada.net/jcj
November 9th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
That comment by jokeuim is another spam! Maggot.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
John -
I am saddened to hear about the closure of Blog Rush, but certainly understand and respect your decision. It would have been great if there were some way of correcting the problems you cited. In any event, look forward to your next step.
Best,
Alan
http://www.ObamaCollectors.com
November 10th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Sorry to hear about BlogRush, it was a really good site. It was a really good concept, and it was nice to see a 4 AM idea have such success. Best of luck in your future endeavors!
November 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
though blog rush will end, it does not mean you actually failed. if you learned a lesson or 2 from the experience , it was a success at least as far as education. so yeah, taking action , even if it means it does not have the success you expected is always the best thing . many successful people failed at many tasks before they became successful in the first place.
November 11th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
[…] The fourth issue of FeedFront, the official magazine of Affiliate Summit, will feature Heather Paulson in a feature story on “The Women of Affiliate Marketing.” Heather is a seasoned veteran in the industry, founder of Paulson Management Group, Inc., and a consulting faculty member in PPC Classroom. Blog Rush Shuts Down […]
November 12th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Shame but I am sure you already have 100s of other ideas that are probably even better than BlogRush.
November 14th, 2008 at 5:57 am
[…] work. All the hard work reaped good results. It was brought down because some people tried to game the system. Over all, the system was perfect and all credits to the hard work of John Reese and co. Believe in […]
November 15th, 2008 at 3:00 am
John,
Failure? You probably thinking that gurus are not supposed to fail and that you let thousands of fans down in some way, right John?
Oyeme hombre, forget that! While you don’t need it I bet you can remember guys in forums comparing with guys like Jordan of the internet as I even see here on the comment section too, the guy has failed many times too in front of millions of people and you’ve notified it publicly for the first time with a passionate project you have started.
But still, did blogrush had millions of page views, perhaps billions of page views? Failure…I can’t call it that.
I had to call it quits on my own baby too on December 2007 after starting my first PLR biz project for 6 months, I was making $1,000’s at the moment but I had to call it quits as it was going nowhere the way I was scaling the business from the beginning after many other successful attempts from other start-ups. The lesson the greedy guy inside me got the best of me, but I learned ten fold!
Little story that you may know, if not let me tell you the story…
RemindersofBobbyFischerTacticsForum (edited name of course) The fun part. I emailed 2 guru IM speakers of what I was going to do. I was frustrated a little at the time as the big opportunity I had again I messed it up again in the last two seminars, last one being in November 07, the cranky right now guy got into me + I was cleaning planes and even pooh in order to fly the world for free and give my mom and dad my thank you’s and having them fly the world for free too while I was still having fun with the latest PLR biz scaling it like a loco would do when he lives la vida loca. La VIDA LOCA for all of us for around 2 fascinating years…Amsterdam, San Francisco, (wedding in Paris), Brazil, Argentina, China, Thailand, Costa Rica, Panama all under 2 years at least for me and my wife.
Then I bought my very first home in my own name, big time apartment with the type of commodity I wanted and with what I wanted…BOOM! I scaled, scaled, scaled the PLR biz with money and not my gift…the brain. Silly me…December 07 it was quits and time to let it go even if it was my first attempts to help marketers make money through PLR.
Many people saw it, my confidence got a little hit business wise and got a little frustrated to tell you the truth…sure…than the mocking and childish idiot comments in forums and even the “major” of the so-called forum started TRYING to put me down with idiotic remarks and join the party everytime I posted with messages that had to do with my particular situation/biz failure trying t ogive me a lecture…just for one PLR failure with lectures in the wrong way even while I was still earning probably more than the “major” of the forum…but then it was resolved with ONLY ME, little tricks with proxy servers for I.P ID and help of NOS to prevent sleep(lol!)
…brains always work better than money…Chuck Norris got his lesson with studying, planning, strategy and a repertoire of tactics. I reminded myself of a few things and confirmed everything those days that I need to…PLAN and STRATEGIZE…from now on and forget intuition. And even if I lose when the entire world appears to be watching…I still learn something new. Everyone told me I was crazy to start the little game, especially the major or whatever they call him now. I was told to be a nerd since I was a kid and never had the good girls in elementary, then I became the charlatan geek in high school and college and everything change. Mom and Dad told me I was crazy and that I was going to fail with the internet since I started the Kiyosaki concept of working smart and not hard…
John, I still own my two beautiful homes, all being paid now with IM, my wife and I love each other and I lam happy even if things have gone a little rough in the last months with this economic crisis and big fish JV rejections in the last months/seminars. You, me and many, many others win big in the majority of life offerings and perhaps lose in others. I lost big time college opportunities, but learned a new way to earn a smart living at the end John…
You are the MJ of Internet marketing John…and you don’t need nobody to make millions online…(yes, i know your sites as my go to guy ran a check on your stuff) I follow a lot of your teachings my friend…don’t turn sour because you think you failed with BR! You did not, I would probably teach how to get billions of page impressions in an update of traffic secrets later (lol?) Haters will appear, they always do, but remmeber those are the guys that are either trying to get laid with a beautiful woman in their 30’s and 40’s and even pay their hosting fees at the end of the day. Don’t dissapear and do keep your blog lessons every month, I read them and others too…so I guess this is the long story and not the short. Look at this!
P.S- By the way, just in case I went to far with the Michael Jordan parts. John Reese rocks, but I will only bow down or become the groupie for at least a day for one guy and the massion…Hugh Heffner (if I spelled it correctly) guy has like 20 bunnies and sleep likes with 5 or 6 a day beautiful woman and still I don’t see Hugh being called a Polygamist on CNN…that I bow down. Still J. Reese…YOU ROCK BABY!
A Friend!
November 15th, 2008 at 3:39 am
John
As you’ve said yourself, this isn’t a failure, it was an eperiment which has given you valuable data and I’m sure you have learnt a lot from the process. Giving it a go was the main thing which is much better than wondering “what might have been”.
So good on you and we will look forward to your next project.
Phil
November 16th, 2008 at 2:08 am
[…] what happened there, so feel free to check out the post John Reese (owner) wrote up entitled “The Death of BlogRush.” It’s definitely a great case study on how to effectively run (and end) a website or […]
November 16th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Thank you for offering the service as long as you did. I undersand also though. My husband and I had a great site that just never took off…had too many glitches that we couldn’t figure out.
I will be tuning in to income.com to see what else you have created! You have excellent ideas and have a great internet presence. Best wishes.
November 16th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Hi John..
Something worked, although I missed out on ever seeing Blog Rush alive I can see with all the commits you have something worked.
Hats off to the one that lifts his hat first.
Sending Smiles
Margie D
November 17th, 2008 at 1:49 am
this is certainly a hard decision to make, but do things sharply according to your mind which you think is correct is terrific!
November 17th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I’m so sorry to hear about Blogrush but I believe success comes from failing. We learn and then grow. I believe you’ve had so much success in your life already - your strategies and techniques are invaluable. Thanks for the teachings!
November 19th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Much appreciated John! It takes courage to get what you want, and it takes courage to take these decisions too. Well done.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:33 am
even more bigger things will come from u anyway john ,
thanks for the service it helped plenty of blogs
thanks
http://hubpages.com/hub/AustralianSchoolofMeditationandYoga
November 24th, 2008 at 10:00 am
[…] nature of blogs and the pyramid scheme helped it spread far and wide, but in spite of great growth it failed: While the service is still going strong (serving a few million impressions a day) I just don’t […]
November 25th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
John,
Thanks for the great site and the great attitude. We need more people like you in marketing. Waiting for your next “failure…”
November 27th, 2008 at 6:33 am
[…] ?????? ??? ?????? ????????? ? ???, ??? ???????????? ?????? ????????? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????? ???? ???? BlogRush.com. […]
December 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 am
??? ???? ??? ?? ????????? ???????? ??????
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
It’s so sad it had fallen.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:55 pm
John,
as you say you are only a failure if you did not even try, and those knockers out there, well you not what category they all fit into.
Keep up the good fight John.
As the late Sir Edmond Hillary once said ” Knock the Bar$#%sds off
December 4th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Hey John, I admire you for what you do, and what you have done in this post and to take the decision you needed to take. Truly professional.
December 7th, 2008 at 9:36 am
At least you had the nerve to try!
Many failures yield huge benefits…If you produced an indepth course on just viral marketing (eg how to create a site that either users built for you or make it’s traffic multiply)..& REALLY covered the topic in depth…Man, I’d buy it right now for $397 b/c I know you know what you are talking about… I’m being serious. There is demand for such a product & no one has ever made one. At least that I’ve seen.
Milton
December 12th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Keep up the good work John.
I’ve learned a lot of stuff from you, and Blog Rush was a good try.
All the best,
Franck.
December 13th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
[…] you want more info about it you can read what John Reese had to say on his blog, here. His post is dated the end of October, shows how much attention I paid to my own sidebar … […]
December 21st, 2008 at 11:20 am
??????? ??? ????????? ?? DRUGREVENUE ? ???????? ?????? ? 3000 ????????, ???????
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 am
John,
Sorry to hear Blog Rush didn’t work out for you. It was a good idea and maybe one day, there will be a way to bring it back bigger and better. You never know. Blog Rush didn’t work for me either as when you first went live I was approved. After a few weeks one of your reviewers pulled my plug because they claimed I didn’t have enough content to continue using the Blog Rush Widget. I never appealed to try to reinstate since I felt I had enough content. Anyway enough said it didn’t work for me either if that’s any consolation.
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for the ride.
Keep your head up and get on with the next job at hand.
Best Wishes,
Sam England
January 5th, 2009 at 6:01 am
Hey John,
Sorry to hear, but it is as you say, succesfull people are not afraid to fail on something.
They learn from it!
Politicians can learn from you here, admit and move on!
Regards Marcel
January 5th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Hi John
As a therapist I am always encouraging my clients not to be afraid of failure otherwise they would never attempt anything outside of their comfort zone. Used in the right way anything that doesn’t quite work out still provides a great learning experience for the next time. It’s great that you were also able to admit that this didn’t turn out the way you had hoped. It helps the rest of us who are trying to follow in your footsteps and gives us the knowledge that attempting something and not quite getting there is better than never finding out what we were capable of.
Thanks
Steve
January 19th, 2009 at 8:53 am
You’re an honest man! Well done for “not fearing” failure.
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:49 am
The blogrush idea was flawed from the start. People like to hear from people and blogrush was just a machine…a bill board. And what billboards are profitable or even add value? Pretty rare.
March 8th, 2009 at 3:13 am
Hey John,
It takes guts and honesty to admit publicly when a project did not work. You are a true inspiration!
it also encourages me to see that even the big internet minds can experience fall backs and keep going.
I also am a person cursed or blessed by continuing ideas. My latest was to build a school for the poor in mexico: http://www.mymedicalmissions.com It will see the day but not without challenges.
I think a big part of blog rush not functionning came from the spamming and people who abused the system. I remember your company offering money for reviewing applications. As a doctor I known when to stop an hemorrage too!
best of luck in your future projects.
Nathalie Fiset, M.D.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:15 am
I think that is really a sad thing. Well people must respect blog quarters as it is precious for the online business. They should stop spamming! If you really want to succeed, ask me.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Well said.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:49 am
John,
Have fun moving on mate, you have guts. Anything you want to share from what you’ve learnt?
July 7th, 2009 at 12:51 am
So John what’s next on the agenda?
August 14th, 2009 at 1:11 am
you have guts. is too great
August 24th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Hi John,
Sorry to hear about Blog Rush, but we all know some that ideas will work out well and some won’t and that the lifespan of sites varies massively.
It’s the people who have never tried anything that have really failed, not those of us take action.
Thanks
Keith
August 24th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Hi John,
Sorry to hear about Blog Rush, but we all know some that ideas will work out well and some won’t and that the lifespan of sites varies massively.
It’s the people who have never tried anything that have really failed, not those of us take action.
Thanks
Keith