8 Comments

ReveNews: Looking Back and Ahead

Mar 7, 2008
by

Now that we’re finally moved over to WordPress and the conversations (and traffic) are beginning to flow again, I thought we’d do a fun trip down memory lane.This isn’t really a substantive post, but it’s Friday afternoon so let’s have some fun.

For those of you new to ReveNews, the site has a storied history. Instead of writing a text version, I thought it might be fun to look at some of the different iterations ReveNews has had over the last decade (thanks to the Internet Archive).

Put on your blinders for the first few… the designs were a little rough.

1999…

revenews1999.jpg

2001…

revenews2001.jpg

May 2001…

revenewsmay2001.jpg

2003…

revenews2003.jpg

Aug 2003…

revenewsaug2003.jpg

2004 (Into the Grey)…

revenews2004grey.jpg

Aug 2004 (Back into Green)…

aug2004.jpg

Individual page from late 2004 redesign…

revenewsjuly04individ.jpg

Major update in September 2005 (header image didn’t get archived on archive.org but it was pretty)…

revenewssept05.jpg

More tweeks in 2006 (RSS, improved navigation)…

revenews2006.jpg

And the latest revision from this past Winter and this year…

ReveNews08.jpg

What a long, strange (and green) trip it’s been. In 1998, who would have figured this little community site would still be around 10 years later?

Speaking of RSS and upgrades, we’ve made the RSS feeds page much more usable. You can subscribe to individual topics, the comments or authors as well as go straight to an author’s individual page. We’re working on getting those individual author pages more customizable so that bloggers here will once again have their own profile, etc on something like www.revenews.com/samharrelson. So, check that out and subscribe to your favorites (or just grab the general feed for everything).

Here’s to the next decade…

About Sam Harrelson

Former ReveNews and CostPerNews Publisher, Former Affiliate Marketer, Current Middle School Science Teacher, Current Publisher of AffiliateHack

Twitter: sbharrelson22
Filed under: Online Publishing + ReveNews
  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    Odd, I remember AffiliateWire…Brian Clark was doing Syndication (via javascript) way before the masses even understood syndication…

    Jots note- Whatever Brian does – 2 years = via business?

    -wayne

  • Brook Schaaf

    ha – nice trip down memory lane, Sam. I remember coming across the green in 2000 for the first time.

    ReveNews was dead a few years ago. Wayne deserves a lot of credit for reviving it.

  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    No, but I thank you. I just kept things together in dry spells. This is a community and has had many stewards. Brian, myself, Jim and Sam, who I feel, has a grasp of things most humans do not. I am grateful. It has not been easy, but like curation in digital worlds- there is too much here to lose. Lessons, insight, history, comments, etc.

    Now on to supporting this community and ten years of knowledge- so how best to do that? You cannot sell CPA to CPA marketers. Serious.

    What would you do? Just "doing it" is hard work, and behind the scenes- even harder. I am thinking on this- very hard…how valuable was it to you then Brook? How about now?

    Anyone else? Bloggers here are great and passionate, and Revenews reaches some real influential readers (you would be *surprised*) so I know bloggers are getting exposure…but we need variety- the system is too closed and RN must self-sustain and maybe grow.

    Social network theory, etc.

    Video Brook- you have that DNA- don't be afraid to talk about it. Publishers and advertisers want to know.

    regards,

    Wayne

  • http://www.cumbrowski.com/ Carsten Cumbrowski

    Yes, the folks over at http://www.ContentRobot.com did a good job. Thanks to Dana and Karen.

    There were some initial issues and a few that just popped up, but those were for the most part not really unexpected.

    Dana and Karen acted surprisingly quick and efficient to remedy those issues when they emerged.

    I assume that you will make another post about it, but I wanted to give some kudos where kudos are due already. :)

    Cheers!

  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    I am getting multiple links in Technorati when I post…I am not a gear head…so Content Robot?

    kudos- yes- to all. Monetization so it is sustainable is the next step and might be a hard and painful one, but time to go to the next level e.g. Next-Gen

    -Wayne "been around so long, legend by default" ok close to it…long time.

  • http://www.revenews.com Sam Harrelson

    Thanks for the kind words, Wayne. Back at you.

    You can tell a great deal about a culture by what they value. For example, the US gov't attempts to foster the arts and humanities with numerous grants, etc.

    I wish, in my heart of hearts, that our online revenue generating culture (as dispersed and eclectic as it is) found more value here. I hear complaints about some of the companies behind the ads here, but no one else seems to be willing to step up and support this place.

    I fear that unless we can find support from somewhere, we won't be able to do a post like this 10 years (or even 1 year) from now, or at least I won't be able to afford to be the person making that post as the "publisher."

    Sam

  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    Nods. I guess it is odd people don't see all the action…Changing path of Revenews is the ultimate test IMHO and if it has to burn…:)

    It is a case of community DNA. Can it be changed? (Ensure we document what we do btw.) Maybe…

    People can judge for themselves, next few weeks, we can try some models Sam…the game- has begun!

    As for Revenews bloggers, who aren't compensated with money- I thank you- you know the value of social capital, (consulting, exposure, some get press, etc). It pays off.

    Sam said to be quirky. Let me translate for once- get out of your comfort zones and let bridge people (e.g. me or Sam among others) connect you to new places. You might be surprised.

    Some will not like changes. They will laugh and belittle ideas. That is a good sign.

    Affiliate marketing- think of this analogy TV networks and their affiliates (although that future is uncertain).

    Those who are new- great! You have less to unlearn so you have an advantage.

    This is not a diss on other forums, blogs, etc. They all hold important cornerstones and fill roles.

    Now- get creative. Take risks. This is a real world collaboration. You all are where the rubber meets the road. Go for it… puzzle us, write a haiku (see woot.com literally doing that in their ad campaigns?) It failed but the subsequent buzz was worth far more…search Revenew's archives, look back at history at their first mention- see where they are now…the community that wants to buy. Take a day to study history and take some time to be historical…you aren't spammers or scum. You are businesses of various sizes and sets with untapped potential.

    This is not doomsday- this is a just a new era.

    best,

    Wayne

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    I thought AffiliateWire was the coolest thing back in the day.

    It is funny how the affiliate marketing culture has changed.

    Back in 2000, at the first Affiliate Force, I remember having lunch with all nearly all of the big affiliate newsletter publishers.

    There were maybe a half dozen people putting out news and perspectives back then.

    Now, I can't even keep up with the volumes of affiliate blogs out there.

    Onward and upward.