My job as the Needlework Editor at CraftGossip.com is one job (my bosses are in Australia).
My job as Show Director for the National Counted Cross Stitch Show (NCCSS) was a second, entirely separate job (my boss was located at Rockome Gardens in Arcola, IL, USA).
There was absolutely NO connection between the two other than that I utilized my CraftGossip blog to advertise the NCCSS -- at no cost to Rockome Gardens, by the way -- because it fit in exactly with the job description for my CraftGossip blog. Without me and my CraftGossip blog, the 2007 NCCSS would have completely failed because there was NO OTHER ADVERTISING FOR THE SHOW WORTH MENTIONING (although I did get us a spot in The Gift of Stitching online magazine ... which Butch Phillips apparently thought so unimportant, even though it would have hit our TARGET AUDIENCE of stitchers, that he couldn't be bothered to pay the $40 fee for the one month spot available).
Butch Phillips, the self-titled Mayor of Rockome Gardens, according to his TV commercials which must have cost thousands of dollars to make and air, clearly does not understand anything about paid blogging or Internet marketing. He has several times made the erroneous statement mentioning CraftGossip as a "pay for hit site," and made it sound like I receive $1.00 for every hit or something equally ridiculous! I don't even receive $.01 per hit, and that is because CraftGossip is NOT a pay per click program. Pay per click advertising is a type of Search Engine Marketing ... and CraftGossip is NOT -- you guessed it! -- a search engine. Rather, to the best of my understanding, it is an affiliate (have you checked out CraftBits yet?), and specifically, a revenue sharing program which uses contextual advertising.
A lot of people seem to think I made a great big bunch of money from CraftGossip because of NCCSS-related posts, and that:
The truth is CraftGossip is a fledgling craft-related blog site, and I was lucky to get in on the ground floor as one of their first editors. I signed up on one of the last days of January 2007. I have not yet received a payment from CraftGossip, and that is because less than $50 is due me at the moment. As soon as my earnings total $50, I'll receive payment.
If people really think I don't deserve to be paid for my work AFTER THEY HAVE READ ALL THE FACTS, I'll determine how much of my current earnings balance was earned through NCCSS-related posts, and then send Butch a check for 90% of whatever that amount turns out to be. I'm willing to do this not because I'm already rich off of CraftGossip, but because 90% of very little is still hardly anything.
So my answers to the above three points are:
If you still don't believe me, consider this: Would I post this here on CraftGossip where my bosses will see it if it weren't true? It IS true. I already asked for and received permission to post this from Shellie, and of course I'll be hanging onto her email.
My job as Show Director for the National Counted Cross Stitch Show (NCCSS) was a second, entirely separate job (my boss was located at Rockome Gardens in Arcola, IL, USA).
There was absolutely NO connection between the two other than that I utilized my CraftGossip blog to advertise the NCCSS -- at no cost to Rockome Gardens, by the way -- because it fit in exactly with the job description for my CraftGossip blog. Without me and my CraftGossip blog, the 2007 NCCSS would have completely failed because there was NO OTHER ADVERTISING FOR THE SHOW WORTH MENTIONING (although I did get us a spot in The Gift of Stitching online magazine ... which Butch Phillips apparently thought so unimportant, even though it would have hit our TARGET AUDIENCE of stitchers, that he couldn't be bothered to pay the $40 fee for the one month spot available).
Butch Phillips, the self-titled Mayor of Rockome Gardens, according to his TV commercials which must have cost thousands of dollars to make and air, clearly does not understand anything about paid blogging or Internet marketing. He has several times made the erroneous statement mentioning CraftGossip as a "pay for hit site," and made it sound like I receive $1.00 for every hit or something equally ridiculous! I don't even receive $.01 per hit, and that is because CraftGossip is NOT a pay per click program. Pay per click advertising is a type of Search Engine Marketing ... and CraftGossip is NOT -- you guessed it! -- a search engine. Rather, to the best of my understanding, it is an affiliate (have you checked out CraftBits yet?), and specifically, a revenue sharing program which uses contextual advertising.
A lot of people seem to think I made a great big bunch of money from CraftGossip because of NCCSS-related posts, and that:
1. It was a conflict of interest.
2. I should be paying Butch because it brought so much traffic to my site.
3. I really shouldn't complain about not getting paid by the NCCSS or Rockome Gardens because I made enough already through CraftGossip thanks to Butch.
The truth is CraftGossip is a fledgling craft-related blog site, and I was lucky to get in on the ground floor as one of their first editors. I signed up on one of the last days of January 2007. I have not yet received a payment from CraftGossip, and that is because less than $50 is due me at the moment. As soon as my earnings total $50, I'll receive payment.
If people really think I don't deserve to be paid for my work AFTER THEY HAVE READ ALL THE FACTS, I'll determine how much of my current earnings balance was earned through NCCSS-related posts, and then send Butch a check for 90% of whatever that amount turns out to be. I'm willing to do this not because I'm already rich off of CraftGossip, but because 90% of very little is still hardly anything.
So my answers to the above three points are:
1. None of my bosses at the time minded, so it was not a conflict of interest.
2. Butch hired me knowing ALL ABOUT CraftGossip, and with the full intention of using it as a resource to advertise the NCCSS. I was more than happy to do that, as my CraftGossip blog wouldn't begin to earn money without Internet traffic, and a link from Rockome Gardens' website to me here on CraftGossip would have been very beneficial. Butch was to link to my CraftGossip blog immediately after he hired me; that was part of my CONTRACT with him. He failed to meet his contractual obligations and didn't link to me until approximately seven weeks afterward. This lengthy delay caused me to lose out on a significant opportunity to develop an audience for my CraftGossip blog -- some portion of which would still be regular readers today, which is called a "loss of future income" in legal terms. Butch is lucky I'm not presently planning to sue him for that loss of future income, but then, I'm still attempting to collect what I was owed to begin with from him.
3. Many needlework designers work two jobs -- their designing job, and their "paying job." I was working two jobs also -- my CraftGossip job, and what was supposed to be MY paying job until I do actually bring in enough to comfortably rely on just my CraftGossip earnings. Butch stiffed me. It's similar to working one job during the week and a second one on weekends. I expected to get paid for both, and I trust I will eventually get paid by CraftGossip -- but Butch stole from me. I was NOT a willing, informed, or consenting VOLUNTEER for either CraftGossip or Rockome Gardens' NCCSS. CraftGossip knows this and is honest. Butch took advantage of me and is dishonest.
If you still don't believe me, consider this: Would I post this here on CraftGossip where my bosses will see it if it weren't true? It IS true. I already asked for and received permission to post this from Shellie, and of course I'll be hanging onto her email.
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