Hi all,
The recent hacker attack has helped me come to a very difficult decision. The main reasons are
1) I don’t know what the heck I’m doing.
2) I stink at marketing.
3) Since I am a workaholic and a bit obsessive (like a dog with a bone), I am working all the time and my family isn’t happy about it.
4) Some minor health issues have popped up and my doctor has ordered me to reduce my stress level.
The other thing is the time involved, which for most people wouldn‘t be much. But for me - not knowing anything about PHP or MySql from the start, and being a workaholic, and a bit obsessive besides - it means I work all the time on it. The site at FamilyTreeAction.net has a couple of bugs in it still, that I just don’t know how to fix. I’ve tried everything. I’m not a webmaster or computer programmer and I’ve been learning as I go, the hard way. I bought books and have been reading non-stop and trying to fix it, without success. I did get a lot fixed, but the two main things, I haven’t been able to. And the author of the script, who installed it for me, is unresponsive and won’t help. AncestralClicks is running smoothly again since the hacker attack. All that is required there is to check in each day to approve ads, payments, answer messages, etc. However, like I said I am a workaholic and a bit obsessive. Plus, I am a more hands-on type person - I can’t just leave the system and trust it to run itself, checking in occasionally. I am at the site several times a day, I backup daily, and I keep a running spreadsheet of my member database, separate from the site.
It’s taking up all of my time. My family is upset because I’m working all the time and want me to quit the sites. I don’t have time for other things I need to do - such as housecleaning (I’m so embarrassed at my house right now!) or things I want to do (my hobbies). I never wanted to be a computer or internet guru or whatever. I just wanted to have a good, friendly and honest site (because so many PTC sites aren’t that great) - a place where all of us could make a little extra money and maybe even build friendships. I wanted to build a friendly site, that would be more like a community rather than just a place you go to click each day - a fun place that members, and advertisers too, would feel good about going to, even look forward to going to. And I think that part is going great so far. We do need more advertisers to come in, and I just stink at marketing. I don’t want to spend all my time on this and upset my family. I worried over it, prayed about it, and talked to my family. The hacker attack almost seems like it was a sign. I hate to leave things unfinished. But I think this is what I have to do. It is mainly because of the time involved for me and just not knowing what I’m doing. Someone else would be able to manage it a lot easier and on less time than I have. Both sites are great sites.
AncestralClicks is setup great - there were some things I wanted to change or add, but those things were just to make it even better. I have received a lot of good suggestions from people and have been working on doing what I could.
FamilyTreeAction has two important bugs in the script. First - the paid clicks have to be sent manually - there is a bug in the automatic sending process that I haven’t been able to figure out. Second - the paid emails links aren’t working and have the same automatic sending problem as the paid clicks. If you want more information about it let me know and I‘ll email you privately. Someone who knows PHP could probably fix those problems easily.
And you know, I’m not even sure how to go about “selling” a website. I know how to transfer one, at least from one hosting service to another, because I had to change hosting services for both sites, but both accounts were in my name. I guess we’ll figure that out as we go too. I guess I’ll take best offers, because I don’t even know what to try to sell these sites for. Whatever deal is worked out - I will be taking care of my members! I will personally make sure they are paid because they have trusted me and it’s my reputation on the line. As of last night, all payment requests that I’ve received have been paid. If you would be interested in taking over either or both sites, please let me know. Please don’t sit there and think that what you could offer wouldn’t be good enough. If everyone thinks like that I won’t get any offers at all!
I have Ancestral Clicks .com .net and .org that will go together in the AncestralClicks.net package. I have Familytreeaction.com and .net that will go with the FTA package. When I bought .Net, I thought I also ordered .Org, but for some reason that didn’t come through.
If you might be interested in buying or taking the sites over, email me and I’ll give you more information on site stats, etc. If you have any questions or want more information, please let me know.
Everyone on the forum and all of my members have just been so very nice - I do hate to give up the sites, but it is something I have to do. I will continue to manage the sites as I have been until they are transferred to someone else.
Kind regards,
Dee - Admin
AncestralClicks.net
FamilyTreeAction.net