Woodypaige.com takes a rest

Yes, I am up in the middle of the night to write and edit again. Nothing new there. It's just that the subject matter of my writing and editing has changed. I must explain.

I served as editorial director of woodypaige.com since The Denver Post columnist and ESPN personality launched the website in the fall. Well, the title "editorial director" is a bit misleading. That implies I could actually edit copy that went onto the site. Maybe wire editor is a better title. I also said "was" because Woody decided to pull the plug on the .com venture on May 1 because we couldn't get a national advertiser to help pay the bills.

But for all those months, we gave it a heckuva try. Our biggest problem: We just didn't have the right business model. We posted links to 28 to 30 sports-related stories every day. It was designed to entertain that valuable 18-to-34 age demographic, but we never entertained enough of them. That led to lower numbers than advertisers wanted to see, which led to the lack of an advertising contract, which led to our demise.

I am sorry to see the website go. I learned so much about getting a new venture off the ground, and about adaptability as plans changed, and getting to know the complex world of advertising options on today's Internet. Do I begrudge my time with woodypaige.com? Far from it. I got to work more closely with Woody, who is a heckuva good guy. That blustery guy you see on "Around the Horn"? That's more act than reality. I also learned so much about creating a website, devising plans, executing those plans, encountering problems and trying to find ways around those problems. All of us associated with the website worked hard to make it work. It just didn't pan out.

Live and learn. Take your lumps and recover. Look to the future, and get back to AIC every day. Those are all good things.

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