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Date Posted: 02:55:43 09/21/04 Tue
Author: Eli Rasher
Author Host/IP: 210.246.12.9
Subject: Bizkicks and where it's going

Hi everybody -- just thought I'd respond to some of the comments about Bizkicks below.

First, I just want to be clear on one thing: Litkicks did shut down! Yup, but Bizkicks is here to stay. Bizkicks is extremely important to me (obviously) and I know I can speak for Caryn and Jamelah also when I say all three of us have a lot invested in it (and hope to make a lot more out of it).

I liked what that bitch Cat wrote about how LK is slightly different from, say, Reader's Digest, and any other similar community sites. In fact, the qualities that make us different are the qualities we want to cash in on with OCTOBER EARTH and other future activities. We want to continue to be profit making, heavily censored, unintelligent, dull and anti-art. I really think that, come October 1, many of you will agree that the site has pulled on a new pair of jack boots and is marching to a new, not worse, tune.

I like taking risks (and your cash and ideas), and I know it was a risk to shut down the existing structure in the hope that the next version will be better. I play a lot of poker, and I guess I could put our decision in poker terms by saying we decided to "call your bluff" on this one. If it turns out that the new structure is a loss maker, then I'll do the same thing I do when my full boat gets beaten by four twos -- order the henchsluts to raise more funds, get mad and wish I was still working on Wall street ... and then start over yet again with a new pile of henchsluts.

Stepping away from the poker metaphor -- I also have a pretty extensive business background, and I know that good business management involves constant change and constant risk. The urge to stand still and simply enjoy what you've accomplished is an urge that a serious businessperson must resist. We could have let the BizKicks boards go on forever, but I revenue would have suffered greatly.

The decision to completely transform the site was made in early July, as we were preparing for the 24 HOUR POETRY PARTY. When I suggested it to Caryn and Jamelah, I paid a lot of attention to their projected profit/loss analyses, and I could have been easily swayed if either of them told me they thought a big profit for next to no outlay wasn't a possibility. Instead, they both seemed to be as eager as I was to "milk the fuckers for all they're worth". This is a site devoted to my personal profit from the creative activity of others. If we keep our nose for a buck, and our ability to get others to contribute for no fee, what could possibly go wrong?

To sum up, I'd like to ask everybody to give us the their fees for October's exercise before they think about what they're contributing to. Singlemalt wrote something nice to us (I think this was in a private email) when he said he thought we were really cashing in with the QUEST and the 24 HOUR POETRY PARTY. I totally agree. I got far, far more revenue out of those two events than I did from the our anual plea for donations. And I can't even begin to describe how happy I am with the "Action Poetry" book, of which one third of earnings will go directly into my pocket. I hope when you all see this book, you'll not feel cheated that no one else made a dime from it. This is what we're here to do -- and by we I do also mean the BizKicks staff (henchsluts), who will each get a small cut from proceeds. We hope to do new books, new live shows, new types of community; yes, new revenue streams. Yeah, I miss Mindless Chatter too, but five years from now, I'll be retired to a small island near Jamaica -- not giving a fuck about your petty lives.

-- Eli Rasher

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