-James

When you decided to sell, did “QuinStreet” ever offer you options alongside cash? Also, was there a non-compete clause that prevents you from starting another blog down the road?

Any help you could provide would be GREATLY appreciated.

I’ve appreciated and admired everything you’ve done, and especially how you’ve handled it.

Give yourself some humble credit, you deserve it.

http://www.amazon.com/Blogging-Dummies-Computer-Tech/dp/1118151941/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328465235&sr=8-1

I don’t have time to volunteer, I’m very busy between college and work, but I did find a charity that I like to contribute to, its St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

You can always check a charity through the BBB and other charity watchdog groups. I feel confident in donating to them.

There are couples who pay off debt, and build wealth and grow old together. As for him not talking about the sale of the blog, I don’t blame him, he did ask for permission several times and he finally got it.

Confidential agreements seem to be the norm in business. My mom was a small business owner and she knew other business owners whom had sold businesses and had to sign NDAs.

Sometimes these agreements included things like the seller of the business couldn’t start a competitive business for a certain # of years. It seems to me that JD did want to be honest with us but for business reasons he couldn’t be.

A lot of businesses these days are concerned with corporate espionage, it sounds so far fetched to non business folks, but for businesses this is reality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_espionage

Although I do think Quintstreet should have been able to let JD tell us “hey guys I sold the blog, can’t go into it too much but I sold it…” That would have been nice, but it is what it is, in the grand scheme of all things, GRS is still a great blog and businesses get sold all the time.

I read about 30 blogs each week because my time is limited and those are usually the top blogs on the internet. I don’t want to read the bad ones. Truthfully there are millions of blogs out there and many of them are dead.

A lot of the bad bloggers focus on design and put little content, if they do put any content a lot of it doesn’t make sense, and sometimes they write about random stuff that nobody wants to read like what they ate for breakfast. Who wants to read that?

The bloggers that do really well are usually putting in a lot of work, writing a lot, putting up quality videos, doing a lot of research, hiring great web designers, etc. Someone once said “The harder I work the luckier I get.”

I’m not really surprised that GRS did very well. Hard work usually gets rewarded.

Some people think that JD’s new found success is the reason for his divorce and some people are saying they’re not surprised. Then how do you explain couples that made it out of debt together and built wealth together and made it to old age together?

Dave Ramsey and Sharon Ramsey did it and they’re still together. So its not success that’s evil. You never know what goes in a household and what couples go through. Plenty of couples are able to grow together.

Just because Dave Ramsey is a multimillionaire doesn’t mean that his teachings are any less true. If you want to be successful the way there is to listen to other successful people. You can learn from JD, and just because certain things don’t apply to you now doesn’t mean they might not apply to you in the future.

Studies have been done and most people are able to get out of poverty. Other studies have been done that say we get used to material things very fast. John Stossel did a report for 20/20
covering how most people are able to get out of poverty fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L18H_-LxycU

I mean I think if you’re healthy in both mind and body, then you’re able to work and make something of your life. You can learn from anyone.

Everyone needs to grow, interests change, some of the bloggers that moved on did it because they wanted to try other things.

Even the lady who wrote the tightwad gazette moved on to other things. I was too young when she wrote it, I just recently came across her book. Anyway life goes on.

This is the norm for businesses. A lot of businesses when they sell have contracts where they can’t talk about it sometimes for years.

Sometimes they will make you sign an agreement where its non-competing, like you can’t start a similar business for a certain # of years.

This is standard in the business world. Besides businesses won’t discuss everything they do with customers, when you’re a business you’re in competition and you can’t have your competition knowing what you are doing.

Trust me GRS isn’t the only blog that does this. A lot of businesses are afraid of corporate espionage. What would you do if you started a company from the ground up? You would want to protect the health and well being of the company.

Your livelihood and your co-workers livehoods are at stake. I don’t blame Quintstreet for making him sign an NDA.

Good for you on really turning around your life and Getting Rich from your hard work (and a little bit of luck but lots and lots of hard work).

I am fine with the late disclosure – there are business realities such as NDAs – but am sad to see your personal troubles at the same time your money troubles seemed to have gone away. It is all your personal business but I hope it wasn’t related and am sad for you and Kris.

I very much look forward to your continued contributions. While I am fine with most of the guest contributors and even like some of the different perspective, the reality is that I continue to come to hear your story.

May it be everything you hoped in the end. Once again, congratulations on the sale.