Can anyone say pump, and dump? I hate to say I told you so, but this recent auction listing says it all. The MillionDollarWiki is up for sale with the bid currently at $10,000.
Nothing in recent times on the Internet infuriated me more than this crappy investment being pitched by bloggers I like such as John Chow and CashQuests. The author of CashQuests came back to WhyDoWork to defend the idea that if you want to make money online, you have to do whatever it takes, and as expected, John stayed quiet.
The recent listing of this site up for sale should be an indicator to everyone that bought a page that this joyride is over. The creator, Graham Langdon claims in his auction listing:
I am selling the site to pay for the projected expenses of my newest project, Entrecard.com. I need to raise a lot of capital quickly to support an expensive developer.
The auction also lists monthly revenue ranging from $2,000 - $40,000. In my past experience a good rule of thumb to value a site is between 12-18 months of revenue in the most basic circumstances. To be accepting bids as low as $10,000 for a site that has made $40,000 in a single month is insane; unless the site is no longer going to make any more money and die a quick death.
In this case it’s the best idea possible (for the owner). I had really hoped that John would steer clear of promoting anything else from Graham, but looking at his most recent post it looks like he is back on the bandwagon. This time Graham has come out with a glorified version of a banner exchange. This form of advertising died about the same time as the Macarena. Don’t be fooled by the “web 2.0″ spin, dropping a business card is the same as a banner impression.
I hate to come off as negative, but the MillionDollarWiki was one of the worst scams I’ve seen in a long time, and by the revenue estimates in the auction listing it’s clear that quite a few people wasted $100 on an empty page you can get for free.
It’s time for the top bloggers to show some responsibility to their audiences, and readers to demand more.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed.!
max responded on 04 Dec 2007 at 1:32 am #
Well, make sure to check out the Quarter Wiki on your way out the door. hehe…
gaic responded on 04 Dec 2007 at 5:17 am #
Hello,
Interesting article. I agree.
I am building an Entrepreneurs Investors community. Our idea is to bring to entrepreneurs advice that will help t hem in the growth process (without crawling and begging for help). They can post their needs. Most entrepreneurs are too isolated and just don’t know what to do. They also do not have all the financial resources to ask for advice. We will be honored if you can participate to our community.
I leave you the decision to publish the address of the website (thestreetmarket.com).
Thanks and good work!
Ninja Dollar responded on 04 Dec 2007 at 6:12 am #
If memory serves, I think John Chow and cashquests were promoting the Million *Euro* Wiki which ended up being sold for a few hundred dollars.
WhyDoWork responded on 04 Dec 2007 at 6:20 am #
@ Ninja Dollar:
I actually linked to one of Johns posts in my article titled “Make Money with the Million Dollar Wiki” so I’m thinking he advertised both
@ gaic:
Thanks for the link. I’ll take a look!
DwayneLattimore.com responded on 05 Dec 2007 at 5:43 pm #
I totally agree with you dude! I mean this guy can’t be serious with that kind of marketing! What’s even worse are those who would even fall into the trap of believing it! we live in a very capitalistic society and no one will undercut themselves like that! GP!
Dwayne
Practice to Become Better
WhyDoWork responded on 06 Dec 2007 at 12:11 pm #
thanks Dwayne!
Nice to see someone agree