A look back at 2004 (yes, this is a sappy "Year End" thread)
 

2004 is almost over. Been one hell of a year, huh? :D

What do you remember as being the "big events" in our industry in 2004?

What big things happened to you & your company in 2004?

****

For Jim & I, I'd have to say that this board & it's popularity are the biggest thing in 2004, so Thank You! to everyone that's supported us.

Now that I've gotten the sappy thing out of the way, some things that you might have forgotten about that we're "big" around here:

Fonz & Yell went to Miami on us:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/pools/nhl-nba/index.html

DrBizzaro won a trip to my house for the Super Bowl:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/pools/04superbowl.html

We gave $2500 away to some ass clown that had never posted before & has never posted since:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=6223

We've sponsored many Sports Pools:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/pools/nfl/index.html
http://www.greenguysboard.com/pools/mlb/index.html

We were nominated for 2 XBiz Awards:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=13859

MAG in Chicago was a blast:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=6415

Twice I allowed Legal Spamming :D
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=12652
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=8258

I went insane:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=13020
...and then regained my composure :)
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=13167

Poker came:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=4285
...and went:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=5656

2257 got a lot of panties in a lot of knots:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=8832
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=11919

ARS caused a lot of talk:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...&threadid=5236

We lost a few friends:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=12749
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=13683

I was also going to post about what happened that was "big" for me & my company, but oddly enough, they are all listed above :D

So what do you remember about 2004? Post it here & let's get teary eyed thinking about the year that's almost past :D

Four hurricanes in one year resulting in me finally remodeling my whole house which is almost done.

Also having my tranny neighbor come knocking on my door asking me to run her site for her which has really helped in paying for all this.

All in all this has been a very good year for me both financially and in getting my life together.

Looking forward to 2005 but I could do without the hurricanes this time.


|potleaf|

Over all 2004 has been a good year :) The biggest thing for me was the move to Buffalo :)

Nothing really exciting for me. Had a great time at many events this year including Chicago.

But I have a few things happening for 2005 that are big moves for me so bring it on baby. |bananna|

2004 was my first year in the bizz so I have nothing to compare it with but I feel it has been a very sucessful year for me. I have gone from making a couple hundred a month to making enough to pay all my bills. None of this would have been possible without the help of all the great people here at GG&J. thanks everyone and lets hope next year is even better for all of us.

Fred

2004 will go down as the WORSE year in our lives for Toni and I. I will not go into too many details, but it literally started around 1030PM Dec 31, 2003 and kept going to late September. So far it has gotten better but after 10 months or so of pure hell we are not holding our breath.

The few things I will mention of what I will remember 2004 for:

Losing my cat of 17 + years

We finally left Indiana for good.

Being in 3 hurricanes in 5 weeks

Deaths in the family and too many other family issues to mention

Toni getting “fired” after 9+ years of volunteer service to a battered woman’s shelter (where the entire staff absolutely loved her) by the chairman of the board (who never once met her or the staff) when he found out she was in porn.

Purdue football going from 4th in the nation to a 4 game losing streak.

Indiana Pacers getting dismantled.

Bo Sox… who da thunk it? Ever?

GWB… I need to say no more.

More US Deaths over “WMD’s”

Getting to know more people in this business that I have respected for a long time, getting to know some people I have known for a while better and now being able to call some of them friends.

Knowing that 2004 is almost over makes me pleased, I have some things to look forward to in 2005, one of which is to “work” with some people I respect and admire.

Goodbye 2004…. You will not be missed….ever.

2004 - well, this time last year I was like 175lbs from being in the hospital 8 fucking days. So, this year is better.

:)

I got into the free site thing, made a few mistakes along the way, but being a part of this board helped me out a BUNCH.

I transitioned in an *almost* seemless manner from a virtual host to a dedicated server last week.

I went skydiving.

I got fat, but working out again. :)

2004 was a transition period for me.

Lots of things major on the horizon for 2005...

Let the New year come! |roses|

wow
 

ahh 2004, ups and downs galore!

the biggest thing in 2004 for me, was moving back to my home state of new mexico, from virginia where i was living with my mother for a while.

Saddest thing i saw go, was ARS. I checked out the news arsRI a bit when it first came out, but never liked it enough to promote it.

Best thing that has happened this year for me, is learning to program cgi/perl a bit better. Ive made my own linklist scripts and all kinds of cool stuff, things i would have killed to be able to make in 2003 :P


Alltogether, I hope 2005 is better! Conversions for 2004 are atleast twice as bad for me as 2003 was.

Hope everyone has a good productive 2005!

every year is the best year it gives me lots of memory to treasure

What can I say... Debbie and I have had a monster year with For The Girls, it's just gone from strength to strength :) We can't believe how big it's got in such a small amount of time.

It's been a lot of hard work, and as other people have said in their posts, GG&J board has been really helpful to us... so thanks everybody.

I guess the other big biz thing for me this year is seeing former major sponsors like ARS and Maxcash decide to change - and losing a lot of income because of it :( That combined with the squeeze on the industry, Google being difficult (and the rising Australian $) has meant there was a bit of stress from my position as an affiliate. But things are on the up again.

And in 2004 I got better at bellydancing :D

Thank you very much for that wonderful insight into your 2004.

***

grandmascrotum brings up one that I forgot about - the Maxcash thing was almost as bad as the ARS thing for a lot of peoples bank accounts.

I got back into porn after a hiatus of almost 10 years (this time as a webmaster instead of a performer). Started a few sites which I'm proud to say are now all paying for themselves and prospering. I learned a fuck of a lot about everything in the online porn biz, including how much I have left to learn. That's OK though, since every step forward is still one step closer to the destination.

I've met a lot of really good people and made some great business connections, at least half of which were compliments of this board. Plus I feel like much less of a newbie since I now know the answers to most of the newbie questions :)

Other than a couple bumps in the road with sponsors who stood up and took care of me right away, I have yet to have any serious issues with my sponsors (I know my day is coming, but it ain't here yet :))

December is already a record sales month for me and it's supposedly a slow month, so I very much look forward to 2005.

Happy holidays to all. |santa|

Tart and I revamped our business plan to include free sites so we are closely monitoring our statistical progress there with ROI vs. galleries.

Opened our fetish TGP and will soon close it to open submissions, going to partner only in 1Q2005.

Pimped out Tart's graphic skills and design talents more so now we have regular customers ordering on a more consistant basis.


have 2 projects on tap for 1-2Q2005 that were conceived during the 78 days i was the guest of the US Govt. 1st one goes to house arrest mid jan so hoe-fully *lmao*.. we'll be ready to launch shortly after that.. still trying to figure a way to get a cam into the women's prison here for "Jail cam girls gone wild" ..

Of course none of this would be possible without the support of this board.. and the valuable information we learned from the "on the bench" sessions with MML..

so for a short year it was pretty good!!

Sooo Whohoo to the end of 2004.. and *happy dance*.. bigger and better in 2005.

Professionally, personally and financially, 2004 was one of my best years in a long time. To top it all off, I bought a beautiful house this year and my even more beautfiul son was born.

Been a super year. Increased our revenues in Adult, also launched SMS billing service .

I even met a cute girl or two |afro|

Looking forward to 2005 , a year with lots of possibilites |headbang|

Like many people here, ARS issue :(

And as for business goes, Overall it was a good year and hope to top it in 2005 :)

Also,

Got married in September
Moved to a new house in October
Turned 40 in November :D :D






|santa|

The most excitening thing I did last year was going to an overseas continent to meet up with some porn obsessed people who paid for my trip, got me drunk, covered me with cheetos, put their boobies on my head... But all of that was made up for with a nice lapdance on the last day of that visit :D

Thanx again GG&Jim

My doggie also died this year after being with me for 12+ years.

I started my LL

I managed to not start smoking again

... and some other insignificant stuff :)

Superbowl and world Series in one year :-)

LAJ

good to see you posting here

Well the sites grew about 300% across the board so that was pretty good I am looking for more increases in 2005 as well as launching some new projects.

I am working on some great new stuff for next year, so this year was a good time in that I met new people in Jan 2004 at Internext and plan on seeing these great people again in two weeks.

I think the greatest thing is that things are going well, the wife and I are still together, I am no dead yet, and there are a lot of great people I talk to everyday that has made the year so great.

Looking forward to starting the new year off with all the great people from the baord, having some drinks and doing some business.

Here's to 2004 and 2005. |drunk|

This was very much a transitional year for me too.

I relocated from CA to FL. (was actually the end of 03) Started my new life with my fiance. Said way too many goodbyes. Have had to learn to navigate with the ocean on the wrong side and no mountains.

I flew across the country back and forth way too many times.

I realized I moved to a state that had 4 friggin' hurricanes in one season. Sat through 2 close ones, and decided I do not like them at all. And I really don't like Florida in the summer without power.

I lost my little brother, who I had raised, after many hospitalizations and traumas through out the year. Still learning to grieve and function at the same time.

Postponed a wedding date, unfortunately but necessary. It will be an even better event in the long run I think.

I went to real estate school, and I'm going after a career I've wanted my whole life. (just waiting to take state test)

Made some amazing sexual discoveries about myself.

As for the biz, I not only began learning the adult web biz, but from scratch learned how to build a webpage. Then I discovered GG&J, and lurked while soaking up as much as I could, before finally coming out of my shell and posting some. Looking forward to doing more now that I'm more comfortable.

At the end of the year, I realize what I've really done all year is prepare myself for a plan that I hope is the rest of my life. 2004 was the hardest year of my life with the most obstacles to overcome, and I've never been so glad to see a New Year approaching. But that hard year has paid off with a very promising looking future!:)

I was having a brilliant year up till November. I moved from TGP galleries to free sites in June and sales skyrocketed. Our hosting company grew and is the largest it has ever been. I took my first real holiday in over 3 years (2 weeks in Panama and Costa Rica).....but then November hit and so did that lightning strike and I have still not fully recovered from the loss of my emails and my own personal submit and tracking systems.

I am looking forward to getting things all re-setup and starting into it all again in January and trying to beat my success record.

cheers,
Luke

I dont have complains about 2004 ....i think, except for the ars thing then|angry|

2004 i learned more, made alot of good deals with people and sponsors. oh and i decide to change the way i do bizz....3 times|violin|

my downline: saw people come webmastering and go down, my obsession to make linksites and doing other hugeee projects (which always takes more time then planned)and getting bored with making free sites and taking to much days off .

Top of this year (and the years before) is the realy good friends i have made in this bizz , the people i work for and my hubby who still stands behind me while i am more behind puter then spending time with him. The boards, because i am in a different time zone and alone in daytime i love to hang around the boards. lets say the boards like ans newbie board and ggandjim give me the boost to work on the net.

I hope 2005 will be just as good or even better as 2004 for me, got again alot of plans and will work them out in my christmas holiday(yeah yeah will be my last holiday for the next months) oh yeah if Santa is reading this board i want as a present 48 hour days in 2005

|violin|

2004...what can I say...it was quite a learning experience for me. I learned that I thoroughly enjoyed learning this business from the ground up. It was the most challenging thing I have done in many years. Basically starting from scratch, not knowing html, graphics, etc. and learning by asking questions, searching the boards and finding good people like all of you.

Now that I look back at 2004, it seems uneventful now, but "starting the change of life", losing my 26 year old nephew suddenly, moving to a new area were very traumatic at the time.

Starting 2005, I have several goals set in order to generate income so I won't have to get a real job. And I intend on setting a regular work schedule - yeah, right!

As far as resolutions go, I could name about 20, but I'm not going to resolve to do anything because I won't finish them, so why start!

What I noticed the most about the people at this board is that you are very compassionate:

1. Just look at the contributions that were given to that poor woman who lost her husband about a month ago. I would venture to guess that the majority of donors have never met her, yet they offered financial help. That says a lot about people.

2. The genuine concern for our boys overseas is heartwarming. I don't have any ties to any soldiers, but reading your posts keeps me aware of the sacrifices they are making for our freedom.

3. The loss of pets is talked about here too. Even the men aren't shy about expressing their feelings.

You're a great group of people and I thank you for accepting me into your world.


Nina

looks like i missed a lot by not being on the board...

looks like 2005 will be a fun year ;)

Ohhhhh...we're full of silly surprises |jackinthe

Ah, 2004. I remember like it was yesterday. What a joyous year.

This year has been good to me. I'm not certain what it is, but I feel more of a part of this whole porn thing now. Though I am not where I want to be yet, I feel like I'm finally on the right track. Until recently, I've felt like I'm swimming agaisnt the current in a toilet where someone desperately needs to shake the handle.

As far as my personal life goes, it has been fairly smooth, though friend and neighbor lost his nephew, Nathan Brown, to an RPG in the back of an open truck in Samarra on Easter day. Meeting his parents and attending his funeral absolutely destroyed me emotionally for a several days. I'm just glad that his mother is a straight-talking no-bullshit anti-Bush kind of mom. (She, by the way, put up a huge stink just recently about Rumsfeld not personally signing his letters to grieving soldiers' parents. Rumsfeld has now vowed to sign each one.)

'4 years have always been a little shaky for me, and this one was no exception. The upside is those '4 years always seem to lay the foundation for really good '5 years, so I'm counting on 2005 to be awesome.

Onward through the fog! ;)

2004: My paid submit thing was a huge success

I was really nervous about that when I started it

I would like to thank everyone here for their support

2004 sucked in so many ways that it's not even worth bitching about it all here on the board - lol

So I have FAITH that 2005 will rock - well, and insider info that I can't quite share yet here in public that confirms that faith. I am SO looking to the New Year - it's gonna be excellent!

Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in Vegas in a couple weeks. Here's to success and excellence for us all in the New Year!!!

|waves|

Tease!

2004 was a huge transitional year for me in terms of my business. I shifted my focus from the tried & true methods that had been working for 3 years to starting up a gazillion new projects, none of which are really "finished". I won't see the results & know if anything I did this year really paid off until 2005, but an interesting year nontheless with lots of analysis of what I truly want to do with my work day.

No major changes in my personal life, which falls under the "no news is good news!" category. :)

Gabbo

If nothing else I will remember 2004 as the year I found myself up to my ears in trannies and the men who worship them.

Had one in my office today, one in my driveway, one in my backyard, and a guy named Alex driving them all around who only dates trannies and told me that I was pretty sexy for a fish.
The vid I was doing for them

This has been a great year for me and Mrs. soggy. aside from the hurricane Ivan we prospered quite well in 04. Id like to take time to thank everyone on the board and wish everyone a happy holiday season and new year.

See ya in Vegas,

soggy

The 2257 panties is my fave.

haha - perfect response from the industry's biggest tease!

|smooch|

Get out of my head Kath! ;-) I made more money this year than last... but it did suck overall.... felt like a looooong year.

I will support your faith with some optimism about 2005 though!

After reading your post I have this nagging feeling that I really should get my ass to Vegas this time... to make sure the new starts on a high note iif nothing else.


Can-Spam happened this year... and was talked about a lot... and Acacia fizzled(?)... Between the patent schemes, VISA and Ashcroft we have actually ridden it out through a few industry boogie men that were "going to ruin us all".. and more than a few people seem to have had record years income wise too.

Still..... roll-on 05.. it cant start soon enough for me!

|shake| Hey good to see you posting here LAJ
If you don't know who LAJ is look here:
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...threadid=14121

2004 Pat's full year of schoolin
I learned HTML well enough to go from spending 3 or 4 days building a free site to half a day
I had a 2257 panic attack and gave all my sites to a whore
Got over my 2257 phobia and spent weeks getting everything switched back
I wasted a bunch of time and money on a script and programmer
Wasted a bunch of time trying to learn php
Found Kaktus in the "I'm looking for" Section of GreenGuy and Jim
He's brilliant, his prices are great, and now I can add features to my sites without learning php
Opened up Tijauna-Escorts decided life's to short the money wasn't worth the stress
Went to my first two webmaster events
Chaperoned a group of webmasters at a Tijuana Whore House
Wife and I Spent 3 hours in the back of separate Tijuana cop cars, Me in one saying take me to jail her in the other saying how much money do you want
Had two Doctors look up my wives hooch and say it looks like Cancer (scared the Fuck out of us)
biopsy was negative so now their talking about removing some of her plumbing and she should be good to go.
I told a story that I thought I would take to my grave
2004 I made more than I lost, learned allot and made some friends, so I say iit was a good year
|waves|

Started out this time last year, so no previous years (in this biz) to compare with, but:
Done well enough to go full time about 6 months ago, after setting a goal to go full time in Jan 05
Moved from a complete shit hole and equally shit landlord to a nice new home with a garden
Met a lot of great people here & at ANS
Finally found a job I actually LIKED (webmstering of course)
Got blacklisted from some big LLs for something I still haven't got to the bottom of, and from time to time find myself still trying to work out how I had pages going 302
Got off the blacklist
Made some fantastic contacts with some paysite owners
Finally caught Santa last night!

It's been a hell of a year... and it ain't over yet!

I just about finished school (one more class, not a big deal). At my age, I am surprised I even GO to school, let alone get a certificate for anything. I have learned more and more of the craft of video making, editing, and got some good work as a Director of Photography for a producer who has some really kewl stuff going on (and a bunch of girls in latex... but that is another story!). Took my first few customers for video editing, some worked out, some, well, were less that perfect. I am still developing style and mad skillz, so we will see how that turns out, i guess.

2004 was also the year that I shed some domains and gained some pounds. The shedding domains was to get rid of a really big millstone around me neck left by an ex partner. I went from 2000 domains or so down to a much more svelt 750 or so. The are all managed in one place now, and I know where they are going. Seriously getting my muse back after getting fucked over in 2003, and turning it into something good. 2004 wasn't the greatest year, but damn, I like the way the road is going now.

Many personal ups and downs. Right now on "up", which is a good thing.

20lbs I didn't need.

Being able to be a (small) part of a great board here. It has been amazing to see this place grow, the quality of the people around is great, and the business attitude is wonderful. I much prefer to be here than in a room full of kids or a retirement home.

2005 is coming. Make some money everyone, and don't forget to take the time to enjoy it.

Alex