3by9

About 3by9

I have never been good at learning unless I am able to jot down my thoughts. As Coudal would say, "I don't write it down to remember it later, I write it down to remember it now." This couldn't be more true than with my online ventures. I run a design community, Drawar, where I have been able to teach myself more about design than ever before simply by jotting down my thoughts and opinions on the subject. Once I begin to understand my own knowledge about something I am better able to break it down to see where I am wrong and what should be improved upon.

I wish I had known this about running an online business a long time ago. I have had many successes and failures the past 8 years. Many people like to think that 9rules was a success of mine and in many ways it was. I'm proud of what our team created, but if you are looking at success as the ability to cash out and retire then we failed. If you are looking at success as a measure of having a Top 1000 site, then again we failed.

We didn't fail in building a community though. We didn't fail in helping to bring quality content to the web. We didn't fail in helping others form new relationships. When it comes to business you have to pick and choose what you are in it for and 9rules, as crazy as this sounds, was never in it for the money and my inability to remember that was my own failure. It never became the money machine to live off of simply because it was never planned out that way.

Trust me it's great to work on something everyday that you love, but when there are days you are struggling to eat the fun ends quickly. When your partners are wondering what you are going to do to bring in their paychecks you lose the enjoyment. I spent five years trying to make 9rules into something that it was never meant to be. Lesson learned.

With Drawar I am granted a new lease on life. From the beginning I went in with the understanding that I wanted to make money from the site. This didn't mean that I only saw that site as a money making venture because when I view it like that the concept seems to breakdown. People tend to notice what your intentions are even online. If you are in it just for the money they will sense it and it becomes a bit harder to make money. Instead it's better to help people accomplish something and make their lives better and in doing so you can figure out the money angle from there. Intend to do good.