TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! DIGITAL MEDIA AIN'T EASY: MEMO CLAIMS STAFFERS JUMPING SHIP AT THE KC FREE PRESS.COM AND A STRUGGLE TO PAY CONTRIBUTORS!!!

Thanks to KICKASS TKC TIPSTERS for keeping us in the loop regarding the foibles of other lame local Internet operations who hoped to make a profit from the Internet without contributing much to the local discourse.

To wit . . .

IT IS MY SAD DUTY TO REPORT A MEMO REVEALING THAT A GREAT MANY PEOPLE AT THE KC FREE PRESS ARE TAKING OFF AND THEY WEREN'T AS PROFITABLE AS THEY HOPED!!!

The entire money letter is after the jump but I wanted to pull a money quote from Jeff Henry, the genius behind this effort:

"And, business has not been as robust for BIGSHOT as I had hoped when I looked forward almost 18 months ago when I first started toying with the idea of KCFreePress.com."

I also just laughed a bit when I noticed that the dude in charge bashed Internet sensation Groupon.com while trying to explain away his own bit of publishing fail.

My gut instinct says that only losers blame the economy but even my heroes Cheech and Chong noted that "Things Are Tough All Over."



Therefore, we have to lament that there really isn't a future for advertorial content online and one of my favorite Kansas City Political bloggers Dan Ryan has yet to find a patron who can subsidize his talents. And I'm serious that he's one of my faves, I really do need somebody to argue with . . .

Anyhoo . . . Here's a memo that was sent my way. Judge it for yourself and realize that the Freedom the Net provides is wonderful but it SIMPLY DOESN'T PAY THE BILLS!!! Not even if the whole thing is seemingly an ad play without any content worth debating or at least registering your life away to do so. Sadly, the lack of a viable ad model on the Net is gonna kill The Star too!!! Nevertheless, this kind of FAIL is important for all of us to witness given so many folks foolishly boasting of riches to be found in social media.

Check it:


"Staff and Contributors,

"As most of you have heard we are going through some changes here at KCFreePress.com. Lucas, Jen, Emily and Jay are all leaving the KCFreePress.com ranks in search of other challenges. Each had their own reasons for leaving but they will all be missed. Without all of their individual talents KCFreePress.com would not have made it off the ground, let alone be able to celebrate a successful first six months. We wish them well in their new adventures and hope that they drop back by occasionally to say hello.

"Moving forward, many of the same names that have been writing with us from the start will remain on staff. Juana will continue to cover local government and politics. I have spoken with Dave LaCrone, who will continue to write food and drink features as well as head up our new food blog. Dan Ryan will continue give us his unique view on local and national politics and Alexandra Goff will take over the event calendar duties. Steve Wilson will continue to write about music. Plus, we have added Ray Dalida and several interns to our photography staff. I plan on contacting all of you personally to discuss your involvement in KCFreePress.com but that may take some time, so If I didn't mention your name and you are still interested in writing for KCFreePress.com please drop me an email so we can chat and get on the same page about what you do and do not want to do moving forward. If you have been writing a regular feature please include those details as well. If you do no wish to move forward with us please also drop me a note. I would like to hear why so that we might come to a compromise or at least learn a little bit so that we might do things better in the future. As you might suspect we are on the lookout for a new Editor-In-Chief. There will be an ad posted soon to fill this position. If you know of anyone or are interested in tossing your own hat in the ring please email me. We will not be filling the Executive Editor position immediately.

"Regarding stability and money issues please let me assure you that KCFreePress.com isn't going anywhere any time soon. I continue to be very committed to this project and look forward to building on what we all have worked so hard to create. I want to apologize for getting behind with some of our contributor payments. The truth of the matter is TheFinderKC.com is taking longer to ramp up than we were told and anticipated it would. And, business has not been as robust for BIGSHOT as I had hoped when I looked forward almost 18 months ago when I first started toying with the idea of KCFreePress.com. 2009 was rough for everyone but unlike many others we are still here! There have been some rumors around that some contributors and staff members were not paid or will not be paid for their services. Those rumors are false. Every staff member has been paid in full and we will get the remaining contributors caught up and paid in full ASAP. We have a plan in place to make this happen and are executing on it as cash flow allows. I did a lousy job of communicating with our contributors about delayed payments and I apologize for that. I will do better in the future should we face similar challenges.

"To help get TheFinderKC.com kicked into high gear we will be adding some new functionality. Group buying is all the rage in KC and nationwide. Sites like Groupon and Living Social are making big bucks with this model and July 15 TheFinderKC.com will launch its very own group buying platform. The name and logistics are still being worked out but we have a selling proposition that is unique to all of the other group buying sites. When Groupon sells a deal via their website their client, the business offering the discounted product or service, often ends up getting just a fraction of the procedes from the sale. Groupon takes as much as 50% or more of of the proceeds of the days already discounted gross sales. Because our group buying platform is attached to the Finder we can offer the same functionality and only take 5 percent of the proceeds, necessary to to cover the cost of the online credit card transactions, leaving the business 95% of the profits. They get this group buying promotion benefit twice a year as long as they have a full price expanded profile listing on the Finder. Why do we give up the rest of what Groupon and the other group buying sites are raking in? In the long run we feel that building TheFinderKC.com and KCFreePress.com is a far more sound business model. Group buying will come and go but a well developed business directory built on solid relationships with local business people and a well established and respected online News Source for Kansas City will continue to generate profits well into the future. It's just a better bet long term. We started selling the new group buying functionality today and we are already getting positive feedback on our updated offerings. Be watching for more details.

"Nothing worth doing is easy (Yea dad - we know!). KCfreePress.com hasn't been easy but it certainly has been rewarding to see it come together. There is still plenty of opportunity ahead and I look forward to moving forward with all of you. I'm sure we will be calling a group meeting sometime in the near future, probably to meet our new Editor. For the time being please send me all of your Editor questions to me. Keep your eyes peeled for emails detailing a new more regimented editorial calendar and processes for assigning and turning in stories that should make all of our lives easier.

"Thanks again for your continued work and support. I'm proud of what we have created and can't wait to see where we will be in another 6 months.

"jh

"Jeff Henry
"Publisher, BIGSHOT Publishing"

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