Thor Schrock is catching a lot of heat over his online reality program, The Top Affiliate Challenge.
I remember when Thor first told me about his idea for the show. I encouraged him to do it, but I warned him that it would take a miracle to pull off a quality show on a daily basis.
When Eric and I produced The Next Internet Millionaire, we filmed for two weeks straight and had a two-week post-production period before we released the first episode.
Two weeks was stretching it to get it done and I had absolutely no idea how Thor thought he could pull this off in almost "real time".
Nevertheless, Thor went through with it as planned and he is now getting spanked all over the web because of it.
I would like to take a different position from the majority in one respect.
I think Thor deserves MASSIVE respect for trying to pull this off!
No, it did not take off to be the success he had hoped it would be... at least for now.
And no, it isn't a truly quality production.
BUT, the point is that Thor TRIED to do something that no one else had the cajones to do!
The Wright Brothers crashed an awful lot of planes before they got one to fly.
Thomas Edison found hundreds of ways not to light a lightbulb.
And Abraham Lincoln was not a likely suspect to become President of the United States were it not for his dogged determination and belief in himself.
Thor Schrock is a very bright guy, and an incredibly nice guy.
How many of his critics would have the courage to try something that hadn't been done before. I would guess very few...
When we did our show there were critics. We listened when the criticism was constructive and discounted the rest of it.
Thor should listen closely to what people are saying, but only so far as they are making real suggestions towards the improvement of the show.
After my two-week encounter with Thor on our show, I had him pegged as a politician. That means he is a great salesman.
He was able to sell this concept to Internet companies, local Lincoln, Nebraska merchants and the government of Lincoln. This deserves recognition for sure!
Those who are short-sighted may say that this is a failure.
It ain't over yet.
We're STILL getting interest in syndication for The Next Internet Millionaire almost a year after it was created.
But those who recount the stories of Wright, Edison and Lincoln, as well as thousands of lesser-known people who just didn't give up and believed in their dreams, will recognize that this is just the beginning for Thor Schrock.
A note to Thor...
Life is a journey, not a destination. Every step is a learning experience. Build on this experience and let it take you one step closer to your dreams.
And a note to the contestants...
I'm a little disappointed at some of the blog posts coming from the contestants. Honestly, you guys signed on for this and you are seeing up close how difficult it is to pull it off. I would hope that you would give Thor your full support and wait until after the show to make your opinions known. Just my two cents...
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
July 6, 2008 10:35 AM
Very well said.
July 6, 2008 12:02 PM
Hi Joel,
I really like you,you disreave to be President because of how our
almaighty God created you.I will always like to hear from you by phone but
I don't know your phone number.I need your phone number before going to Africa for my father's burial and funeral on 15 of this month.
May God bless you for your good works.Thank you.
Anthony Kofi.
July 6, 2008 01:45 PM
At least Thor gave it a go. How many of the bloggers bagging him would be willing to try and do something like that.
July 7, 2008 07:16 AM
Keep up the good work Thor! Please remember that you can't please everybody, and if a person don't like your program they can go somewhere else! I've done selling for quite a few years and got a lot of rejection's, but also a lot of compliment's, same goes for your production too, some like it and others don't.
It been like this from Biblical times and it will go on for as long as there are people on the planet. Keep up the good work Thor, when is your next program coming out?
July 14, 2008 03:18 PM
It was a great attempt to put something together that is very difficult to do. I think that had there been more time everything would have turned out a lot better!
August 7, 2008 04:20 PM
I concur with the tone of your post Joel. Yes Mr Schrock tried something here and the result as we can all see is not of the highest quality but at least he tried... Anyone pointing their finger and whining about it in the blogsphere should just get a life. Where is their effort at producing a reality tv show on the internet?