DAY 97

UPDATE: Wednesday, 15-Jun-2005 4:46 PM

Well I have to take a bit of a breather to discuss items that have not gotten done in the path to launching www.maxsimo.com.

One of the programmers that I trusted with setting up the display of listings for discount offers and cash-back offers has not completed his tasks.

The end result is that almost three weeks into the pre-launch of maxsimo.com, I am having to take away time from my daily work and go back and analyze, test and correct work that should have been done in April and May.

In these times, there's not much I can do, but to make sure that the work is done correctly and no short cuts are taken.

So, these are part of the problems that I am faced with on a daily basis, especially when work is late.

Part of the problem is that I send directions for the work to get done, and then I am very trustworthy and sit back until a deadline comes and goes.

What I should be doing is to see at a midway point and then again a midway point from the previous point, the work done. I need to ask for work that has been done on a continuous basis.

IF I end up waiting 'til the last minute when a project is due, then I have waited too long.

It seems that as long as I have been working on the projects with the current programmers, nothing has been done on time. I have now made an agreement with the programmers that no new tasks will be put forth. The only task at hand at this time is to make sure that work that has been accepted at this time works. And works very well.

That is all that I have asked for. So far the network is running. What I want to make sure is that it keeps going like it is.

Another decision that I made in the past 24 hours was to make sure that no new tasks were added. By doing that I want to make sure that "what we have on the plate now -works".

So, I went through the tools list at maxsimo.com and took out two tools that just didn't work. I had developed two ideas that helped generate traffic for users. Once was called the TRAFFIC RAMP and had an innovative idea that allowed users to input a classified ad. Then the user had to take the code given by the system and put it on his or her web site.

Then the system authenticated that the new user had put the code on the web site and displayed the ad.

ONLY when the code was put was the ad displayed.

Then when a new user visited the site, and got another classified ad, and put the code on their web site, the new users ad would also display.

The system kept doing this until there were about 7 ads. And each time when someone put a new ad, they were forced to read the previous readers ad and view the web page that the user had put an add.

It's seems a bit difficult to explain, but the theory was this: Like minded people visited the site. They also wanted to place an ad. So they were forced to visit the previous advertisers site BEFORE putting their new ad.

The system them forced like minded people to visit other sites similar to their interest.

The system worked. However, when our database tables were changed, it did not. So, with all the delays we have had, I yanked the system from the list of tools.

I will add the tool as soon as possible because I think it created a unique way to deliver visitors to a site.

Then there was the Banner Management System. This tool I also pulled from the list of tools just because it did not work.

The system allowed users to join a program that the banner linked to by inputting their own REFERRAL URL into the banner code. The result was that when the banner was clicked, the user was delivered to the site linked by the banner, but the credit was given to the sponsor of the banner.

Once again the system worked well and delivered visitors to a users site.

One of the interesting problems I am having with our programmers is that they don't seem to understand the importance of some of the small things that I am doing.

For example, let me take the directory that one sees when they first visit www.maxsimo.com. In that directory, the sellers, after they attain a certain position can control the regions on the directory. For example, they can enter a country. Then create a city. Then create several suburbs to that city and then go on to enter all the types of businesses in that city.

Basically, this is a setup like Yahoo or Dmoz or for that matter any other directory, but controlled by the user.

I think this is VERY POWERFUL stuff that sellers can use to build their own business. However, explaining that such a setup has a lot of power and value on the Internet is not easy to convey to someone in an offshore location.

In their minds what has value is a program for a local hotel that can help the hotel manage operations. What I am setting up does not enter their minds as it does not present a product or service that they or the environment around them uses on a daily basis.

This is an interesting dilemma as more and more companies take programming and operations offshore. The question is how do you explain quality, timeliness, dependability and the user friendliness of the system to people who are NOT used to the same conveniences on their daily life?

This is not an easy task. I have managed to get our operations going. However, I know that in order to make it to the next level of operations and to build the organization that I would like to build, I need to work with people who can support the ideas that I have.

The ideas that I have and try to develop are a bit ahead of their times.

So, this is a serious problem I am faced with and the solution is to add staff from the states and here in the Netherlands to quickly help setup some of the finer points in the system. Then the existing staff can focus on making sure the new items fit seamlessly into what we have already done.

Well, all this is easier said than done. So, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Not to mention a lot of items to get done. Which I will tend to now. Out today. Hope you have a good weekend. I'll have several updates throughout the weekend. Sam

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