Why Is ProBlogger Still With b5media?
Why is Darren Rowse still with b5media after all that has happened there. Darren Rowse who is also know as the Problogger co-founded b5media. I have been wondering after all the job cuts and changes over at b5media, why Darren Rowse is still with the company and is his part in the companies future.
Problogger is one of the most popular blogs in the world and is the cornerstone of b5media which is a network of over 300 blogs. Darren doesn’t see to have a huge active role within the company, but why does he sit by and watch when it is slowly going down the toilet in a tough advertising economic environment.
Darren doesn’t need to be at b5media any more, because his site is still growing and im sure he will always have his equity stake in the company, so what is his motivation?
11 Comments
Because b5Media needs Darren more than Darren needs b5? b5Media only has one famous blog/blogger and that’s Darren Rowse. They can’t get rid of him, he’s their meal ticket.
Shai, who was a full time employee and co-founder of b5media, was recently fired from her position. Everybody was shocked because between Shai and Darren, Shai was the one who was doing a lot of work inside the organization.
Dropping Shai over Darren is an evidence of what Sarah said — b5 needs Darren and his popularity and is willing to pay him his salary for that alone.
I’m not going to go into internal dealings of the company but will simply say that I do not work for and am not an employee of b5media.
I am a cofounder, a shareholder, a fan/supporter and a blogger whose blogs are a part of the network – but I do not draw a wage or salary of any kind from b5media at this point (and have not done so for a while now).
My main focus in terms of my work are my blogs – which are in the b5network and adding to the revenue and profile of the company.
In terms of me ’sitting back’ while b5 ‘goes down the toilet’ – I’m afraid that’s an uneducated statement.
If you think me developing two of the biggest blogs in the network is sitting back and doing nothing then you don’t really have a grasp on how much work it takes to build successful blogs. I work my butt off on my blogs and in doing so am helping to grow b5.
Sorry to come off as defensive but I get a little frustrated when people write posts like this – particularly when they’re about me and they didn’t do me the courtesy to ask for a comment. I’m always open to taking an email/call/tweet/skype about what I do and there are plenty of ways to contact me on my blogs.
Anyway – enough said. Hope something in this jumble of thoughts makes sense (it’s been a long day).
Additionally, I know it takes a huge amount of effort to build successful blogs, but building a blog is not going to save b5media and your equity stake!!
Also when it comes to a comment, I have emailed you several times in which only ever getting one response which was off topic. Sometimes a post like this is the only way to stir things up and get a correct response.
I think you misunderstand (or perhaps I am not communicating clearly).
My blogs (problogger and digital photography school) are in the b5 network. This means that b5 host my blogs, sell ads for my blogs and help with some of the tech back end of my blogs – in return they earn income from the ads that they sell (and I earn some too).
They bring enormous value to me as a blogger (their infrastructure is amazing) and I like to think I bring something back in terms of profile and income.
In terms of helping to build b5 through building my blogs. I guess it comes down to skill sets and releasing people to do what they do best. I’m good at building blogs – I also live in another part of the world to the bulk of our team – so as a result the best thing I can offer b5 is to do what I’m good at (building blogs, traffic as well as building profile, being an ambassador/evangelist etc). In doing so I’ve added value and will continue to do so to the network.
In terms of your emails to me – I’m sorry but the only one I see from Steven Finch since I switched to Gmail (must be 18 months ago) is a facebook friend request. I hope the email didn’t go astray. I do get a lot of them so perhaps I missed it.
in terms of posting to ’stir things up’ – I guess all I’d ask is that you consider the fact that the company you write about employs quite a few people and contracts with hundreds of bloggers – many of whom rely upon it for their livelihood. ‘Stiring things up’ has consequences for companies and individuals. You have every right to write things up as you do but as a CEO of a company I guess I’d ask you to consider your actions and what impact they might have upon others.
Happy to talk more via email if you need to chat more. Signing off.
Finally, when I talked about ’stiring up things’ I think you over dramatised this. I know b5 has a lot of employee who have a livelihood through the company, but a post like this tries to open up discussions and I know doesnt have a drastic effect on the company itself.
With regards to ad sales (which you doubt they’ve generated much of on my blogs) – take a look at the sidebar and header of problogger – all ads sold by b5. Keep an eye on DPS in Feb and you’ll see a fairly major ad partner coming on for 3 months (the biggest ad campaign I’ve ever run on a blog). Times are tough in ad sales but while ad spend in advertising seems to be decreasing across all mediums I’m actually seeing more and more advertisers coming online. You’d have to talk to our ad sales team for more specifics than that but our team has done great at selling ads on many of our properties.
With regards to the staffing changes at b5 and the positions of founders – sorry – but as I said above – I’m not willing to talk about the internal workings of b5.
Like I said above – I’m going to sign off now – getting late here in Aus and I’ve been on this computer almost 14 hours straight and need to crash. Happy to take further questions via email but not sure that I can add much more to this discussion.
Great discussion happening here.
Steve, it’s most likely that Darren missed your email, cos Darren is very quick in replying to emails, or so is my exp.
Okay coming to the main topic, Darren, honestly it’s a bit surprising to hear that you are not paid to be with b5. As I understand (i could be mistaken), b5 manages all the ad revenue from two of your blogs. And there’s nothing given back except for technical and hosting assistance ?
I see it as an unbalanced revenue model. With Problogger and DPS, which has huge revenue potentials, why wouldn’t there be a ashared revenue? I’ve known other blogging networks work that way.
Confused.
I’ve seen Darren on Twitter telling people he has some ad space for sale so I don’t think sales are all b5Media. I suspect Darren would be more profitable selling his own ads and cutting out the middle man. He wouldn’t have any problems selling his own ad space. He knows it and b5Media knows it.
That’s the last thing b5 wants. Imagine how much revenue they would lose if they cut loose their only six figure blogger? ProBlogger and DPS are the ONLY famous blogs with a famous blogger in the entire networks. Darren Rowse is the only household name at b5 now that they saw fit to get rid of Shai. If Shai’s blogs did as well as Darren’s of course she would be there still.
This blogger isn’t the first person to wonder why Darren is still at b5Media. By being there he condones the low payment and shoddy treatment many b5 bloggers receive. I recommend Darren take a look at what’s going on at b5 and think about how this will affect the ProBlogger and his brand.