November 18, 2005
million dollar homepage 2.0
Too funny. This would have to qualify for the "Bizarre Blog Post of The Month" Award.
An old college friend of mine, Talia Channon (who was introduced to me by Dave Mackenzie, funnily enough), has a film project in the works. Here's the PR blurb:
Following in the footsteps of a startlingly simple online marketing scheme launched this year, two UK screenwriters are raising funds online to develop their feature films.Screenwriters Talia Channon and Lee Curle of Lucre Films have launched PixelYourShops.com, a site based on the successful Million Dollar Homepage, developed by 21-year-old UK student Alex Tew. Individuals and businesses pay $1 per pixel (sold in 100-pixel blocks) to advertise themselves on the website for five years, and Lucre Films keeps the funds.
The site has the potential to raise $1m.
Michel Shane and Anthony Romano, who previously served as executive producers on Catch Me if You Can and I, Robot, are attached to produce Lucre’s romantic comedy Too Good To Be True. The script is completed and is currently being sent to potential directors.
Too Good To Be True is about an Englishman working on a New York magazine who has to return to his homeland to report on the social season and unexpectedly finds love. No casting decisions have been made for the project yet. Channon told ScreenDaily that the film’s production budget was expected to be around $15 million and that there was already interest from a UK distributor.
Buyers of pixel blocks on the PixelYourShops site so far include a fashion photographer and a water technology business.
Heh. I knew it would be a matter of time before somebody copycat'd the Million Dollar Homepage. But I didn't expect it would be friends of mine.
That being said, maybe it'll work. If you look at the original Million Dollar Homepage, a lot of the ads are fairly [cough] low end. Casinos and whatnot. The kind of stuff you're more used to seeing in your spam filter.
However, you could argue PixelYourShops is more targeted. It's connected to the film business, so who knows, maybe film people will see it and like it, and give them their money.
Besides that, Channon & Curle have had some pretty major interest from a huge Hollywood producer (Yes, you've heard of them), so we'll see what happens.
Posted by hugh macleod at November 18, 2005 11:49 AM | TrackBackThere are literally hundreds of copycat sites out there already - this idea jumped the shark a long time ago!
Posted by: john at November 18, 2005 12:22 PM"Hundreds". Can't say that surprises me.
The only way I see this working is if they manage to successfully target the film biz.
But one thing the internet has taught me- you never know what works beforehand. So the trick is being able to try lots of different things. Which is why I like blogging. It allows you to try something new on a daily basis.
So if this 2.0 idea doesn't work, they'll try something else. No big deal.
Posted by: hugh macleod at November 18, 2005 12:36 PMhehe. Yeah, Alex is very clever and turned his simple idea into a good money-earner. I doubt that anyone else will even come close to that success. Still, the day I posted about Alex the spam comments started coming in - check out all the copycats that posted to my blog post: http://www.coveryourasp.net/TheMillionDollarHomepage
I left them all on just because a) they dont get live links and b) they are just soooo sad!
Posted by: James Shaw at November 18, 2005 1:34 PMThe question is whether they can get enough attention for their initiative. If there are visitors, there will be sponsors. Until now their 'Pixel clicks' are not that impressive...
Posted by: Jeroen Sangers at November 18, 2005 4:39 PMthanks for all your comments, Guys! They are greatly appreciated. It's true we are only 3 days old which is why we are getting viral as fast as we can. Interest from the film biz is great and there will be a lot more businesses up in a few days time.
We are the latest news bulletin on Brand Republic as we speak and also Xtreme Media and Ammo for branding, advertising and marketing.
We are giving this our best shot - it's a lot of fun!
Posted by: talia channon at November 18, 2005 6:05 PMLet's all board the clueless train...
Posted by: Phil at November 19, 2005 3:47 PMwell, you know what they say - those going nowhere usually get there - let me know when you need a map, Phil.
Posted by: talia channon at November 19, 2005 6:30 PMI'm giving this concept a spin with Million Dollar Wine:
http://basicjuice.com/million.html
It's focused, tied to both the site & the blog.
I'm curious to see how it works out.
Beau - jolais! C'est tres joyeux! We love your idea ans so will all the wine lovers out there - we wish you well - why don't you click on to www.pixelyourshops.com and see what you think - you never know you might want a block! Cheers!
Posted by: talia channon at November 21, 2005 8:28 PMI agree that the basic million pixel sites are played out at this point. In order for one to work, it has to generate an incredible amount of traffic and attention and I just don't see the copycat sites achieving this. However, I would like to mention The Pixel Challenge at http://www.thepixelchallenge. The challenge? They intend to sell 1,000,000 pixels in 30 days. I have doubts as to whether or not they acheive this goal - but who would have thought that the original would have sold 640,000+ so only time will. I suppose if they are adept at generating buzz they could make it happen.
Posted by: John at November 25, 2005 5:34 AMGuys i agree with everything you said but, that wont stop me trying! I have copied Alex's site which it just so happens he turns out to be a friend of a friend!
Anyway on Thursday (World Aids Day) i am releasing www.thegaymilliondollarhomepage.com which is a similar site focused on the gay and lesbian community who can come together and all advertise in the same space! Not only this but 50 cents of every dollar i earn is going straight to UCSF's AIDS research center.
I am 18 years old and the idea is that i can donate a load of money to the worthwhile foundation and once i have split the rest with my business partner and paid costs of everything and upkeep of the site for next 3 years i might be able to put myself through college.
Any thoughts? what are my odds?
Jamie
Posted by: Jamie at November 30, 2005 12:04 AMAn unfortunate tale begins to unfold,
now the winter is here and the weather is cold,
an unlucky lady due to circumstance rare,
has lost all her clothes - her body is bare,
she surely will perish I hear you all cry,
get laughed at, get ill, arrested or die,
It's a sad situation, I'm sure you agree,
It could happen to you, it could happen to me.
The reason I'm bringing this problem to light,
is because you can help her right here on this site,
With a couple of clicks you can alter her fate,
and dress her with pixels before it's too late,
Any pixels you buy - just a dollar a block,
can be linked to your site, where people will flock,
to see who is helping this girl in dispair,
by donating pixels - for her to wear.
SexyPixelHomepage.com
(1 cent per pixel)