10.15.2005
The Million Dollar Kid - Alex Tew : MillionDollarHomePage.com
"Million dollar boy - By, Steve Boggan
Alex is 21. He's an ordinary middle-class undergraduate: lives in messy student digs, has spiky hair, drinks a lot of Coke. And is on his way to his first million. Meet an internet whiz-kid
Alex is a 21-year-old phenomenon. He is growing richer and richer by having a simple idea that exploits the omnipresence of the internet and its users’ absolute respect for, and addiction to, anything unique. In short, he set up a website that offered almost nothing for $1 million. And the buyers are flooding in.
The student’s rags-to-riches story begins on a balmy night in August at Alex’s parents’ home near Cirencester in Wiltshire. It was late and he was contemplating the consequences of finally agreeing to go to university after three years of hopping from lousy job to crazy idea and back again. Alex had been accepted on a business management course at Nottingham but fees and accommodation for the first year alone came to £7,000.
“To put it bluntly, I was broke and dreading the prospect of running up huge debts as a student,” he says...“I’ve always been an ideas sort of person and I like to brainstorm at night before I go to sleep — it’s my most productive time. So I wrote down ‘How can I become a millionaire before I go to university?’ It was a rather ambitious question, but I went with it.
His thought processes went something like this: what if he set up a website called the Million Dollar Homepage which contained exactly one million pixels (the tiny dots that make up an image on a screen)? What if he then used that page as, in effect, an advertising noticeboard where advertisers — mainly from the US — could buy space at $1 (60p) per pixel?
What if, when you clicked on the group of pixels bought by an advertiser, you were directed to that advertiser’s homepage? And what if you told potential buyers that this is the first page of its kind, that it’s going to become incredibly famous — and that a young British student will be able to go to university as a result of your generosity?
The Million Dollar Homepage captured the imagination of advertisers and has now spawned dozens of copycat sites that will undoubtedly do nowhere near as well as Alex’s. The reason for that is simple: the selling point of his page is that it was the first. In the first four weeks alone, Alex sold more than 300,000 pixels at $1 each..." Via timesonline.co.uk
alt="Million Dollar Pixel Page progress report" width="495"
height="45">
Alex is 21. He's an ordinary middle-class undergraduate: lives in messy student digs, has spiky hair, drinks a lot of Coke. And is on his way to his first million. Meet an internet whiz-kid
Alex is a 21-year-old phenomenon. He is growing richer and richer by having a simple idea that exploits the omnipresence of the internet and its users’ absolute respect for, and addiction to, anything unique. In short, he set up a website that offered almost nothing for $1 million. And the buyers are flooding in.
The student’s rags-to-riches story begins on a balmy night in August at Alex’s parents’ home near Cirencester in Wiltshire. It was late and he was contemplating the consequences of finally agreeing to go to university after three years of hopping from lousy job to crazy idea and back again. Alex had been accepted on a business management course at Nottingham but fees and accommodation for the first year alone came to £7,000.
“To put it bluntly, I was broke and dreading the prospect of running up huge debts as a student,” he says...“I’ve always been an ideas sort of person and I like to brainstorm at night before I go to sleep — it’s my most productive time. So I wrote down ‘How can I become a millionaire before I go to university?’ It was a rather ambitious question, but I went with it.
His thought processes went something like this: what if he set up a website called the Million Dollar Homepage which contained exactly one million pixels (the tiny dots that make up an image on a screen)? What if he then used that page as, in effect, an advertising noticeboard where advertisers — mainly from the US — could buy space at $1 (60p) per pixel?
What if, when you clicked on the group of pixels bought by an advertiser, you were directed to that advertiser’s homepage? And what if you told potential buyers that this is the first page of its kind, that it’s going to become incredibly famous — and that a young British student will be able to go to university as a result of your generosity?
The Million Dollar Homepage captured the imagination of advertisers and has now spawned dozens of copycat sites that will undoubtedly do nowhere near as well as Alex’s. The reason for that is simple: the selling point of his page is that it was the first. In the first four weeks alone, Alex sold more than 300,000 pixels at $1 each..." Via timesonline.co.uk
alt="Million Dollar Pixel Page progress report" width="495"height="45">
Pimpin' Thoughts:
Check out http://www.PixelAds4All.com - they offer a FREE 100 by 100 pixel "tool tip image" with the purchase of your ad, which acts like a billboard for your site! They are also currently offering their pixels for 50% off, or $50 USD for a 100 pixel block.
Link to This posted
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: 3:50 PM
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ALEX TEW UPDATE
Wednesday 19th October 2005
USA trip and BBC appearance
Got some exciting news! I will be going to the USA for a week in November for a whole load of press and media stuff. I will be visiting NYC, LA, San Francisco and Chicago, maybe some other places if there's time. It's gonna be fun! I'll let you know what TV and radio shows I'll be on nearer the time. If you're a member of the US press, please check the contact page for details of my US publicist.
Something else exciting is that I may be followed around the States by a film crew for a 'fly-on-the-wall' style documentary to be broadcast later in the year. It's not definite yet, but that could be interesting. I'll let you know if that happens. Pretty surreal to think I may be the focus of an entire TV programme.
Finally, for UK folks, you can watch me being interviewed live on BBC Breakfast, which is on BBC One tomorrow (Thursday 19th October) at 6:40am and also at 8:40am. I've always wanted to visit BBC Television Centre - didn't think it'd be quite like this!
Posted by Alex @ 3:42pm
Wednesday 19th October 2005
USA trip and BBC appearance
Got some exciting news! I will be going to the USA for a week in November for a whole load of press and media stuff. I will be visiting NYC, LA, San Francisco and Chicago, maybe some other places if there's time. It's gonna be fun! I'll let you know what TV and radio shows I'll be on nearer the time. If you're a member of the US press, please check the contact page for details of my US publicist.
Something else exciting is that I may be followed around the States by a film crew for a 'fly-on-the-wall' style documentary to be broadcast later in the year. It's not definite yet, but that could be interesting. I'll let you know if that happens. Pretty surreal to think I may be the focus of an entire TV programme.
Finally, for UK folks, you can watch me being interviewed live on BBC Breakfast, which is on BBC One tomorrow (Thursday 19th October) at 6:40am and also at 8:40am. I've always wanted to visit BBC Television Centre - didn't think it'd be quite like this!
Posted by Alex @ 3:42pm
the italian version of milliondollarhomepage
http://www.80centpixel.com
only for this month pay 100 pixels and you'll get 200
http://www.80centpixel.com
only for this month pay 100 pixels and you'll get 200
FROM ALEX TEW:
Wednesday 26th October 2005
Half way there!
Wowoooaagggggh!! Just reached (and passed) a major milestone: half-a-million dollars! I literally cannot believe I am writing this. I've run out of superlatives. I've used them all. But this is immense! The 'pixels sold' number is now bigger than the 'available' number. Woah!
It is exactly two months to the day since I launched the site (26th August). That's an average of $250,000 per month - wow. I actually took over the reigns briefly from my man Ean, so I could personally upload the order that took the site over half way. That was an exciting moment. I had outsourced fulfilment of pixel orders quite a while back so I could concentrate on university and everything; I wouldn't have managed otherwise. So big thanks to both Ean and Gav for all their hard work.
Because this is such a big milestone in the site's life, keep a look out for even more press coverage in the coming days. Things are gonna kick off once again. But this is central to the idea: the more pixels I sell, the more media coverage I get, and so the more people look at the site, and the more pixels I sell. It's a true 'snowball' effect. At the going rate, I will hit the mighty million dollar target on 26th December. It may happen sooner, it may take longer. Sweepstakes anyone!?
Check out two swanky new features on the homepage you can have hours of fun playing with: a zoom function so you get up-close and personal with the pixels (works in Internet Explorer only), and there's also a 'negative image' button so you can see what pixels are still available (available pixels are in bright green). But wait! There's more...
You can now display the live pixel total on your own website/blog, with this lovely banner:
Head on over to the FAQ for details on how to add it your site. The banner is hosted on my server so all you need to do is add the link, and the image will update every time new pixels are added to the site (so the total you see on the banner above is the total when you read this, not the total when I wrote this).
Well then, at the time of writing I've sold 500,900 sexy little pixels to over 1,400 advertisers. Just another 499,100 to go and we're done... it's not over yet though, so get comfortable, get some popcorn and enjoy the second half of The Million Dollar Homepage!
Wednesday 26th October 2005
Half way there!
Wowoooaagggggh!! Just reached (and passed) a major milestone: half-a-million dollars! I literally cannot believe I am writing this. I've run out of superlatives. I've used them all. But this is immense! The 'pixels sold' number is now bigger than the 'available' number. Woah!
It is exactly two months to the day since I launched the site (26th August). That's an average of $250,000 per month - wow. I actually took over the reigns briefly from my man Ean, so I could personally upload the order that took the site over half way. That was an exciting moment. I had outsourced fulfilment of pixel orders quite a while back so I could concentrate on university and everything; I wouldn't have managed otherwise. So big thanks to both Ean and Gav for all their hard work.
Because this is such a big milestone in the site's life, keep a look out for even more press coverage in the coming days. Things are gonna kick off once again. But this is central to the idea: the more pixels I sell, the more media coverage I get, and so the more people look at the site, and the more pixels I sell. It's a true 'snowball' effect. At the going rate, I will hit the mighty million dollar target on 26th December. It may happen sooner, it may take longer. Sweepstakes anyone!?
Check out two swanky new features on the homepage you can have hours of fun playing with: a zoom function so you get up-close and personal with the pixels (works in Internet Explorer only), and there's also a 'negative image' button so you can see what pixels are still available (available pixels are in bright green). But wait! There's more...
You can now display the live pixel total on your own website/blog, with this lovely banner:
Head on over to the FAQ for details on how to add it your site. The banner is hosted on my server so all you need to do is add the link, and the image will update every time new pixels are added to the site (so the total you see on the banner above is the total when you read this, not the total when I wrote this).
Well then, at the time of writing I've sold 500,900 sexy little pixels to over 1,400 advertisers. Just another 499,100 to go and we're done... it's not over yet though, so get comfortable, get some popcorn and enjoy the second half of The Million Dollar Homepage!
Hello I've read that you wrote an article about Alex Tew's MillionDollarHomepage.com brillant idea !
Well, since then he passed the 600 000 $US milestone ! And he's about to go to the USA for a press tour, so there will be another round of media attention on his homepage very soon. He will do radio/tv/newspaper interviews, that's going to be fun because we can follow his blog day after day on his site.
If you are planning to write a follow up to your article, you can say that there is now over 500 copycats sites from all over the world !
If you want to take an example of a french website, you can link to mine because it is the foremost french resource on the subject of Alex Tew's new paradigm and because I tried no to blindly translate the concept. I tried to add a twist to the idea, by drawing an image of France and organizing several little things on my site, like a BEST SPONSOR, a pixel page cheaper than the homepage, and even a pixel page totally free of charge for open source project and caring organisations.
Also, I bought 600 pixels on the original milliondollarhomepage that link directly to my site, that's my way of paying back Alex..
My site is at http://www.MonPremierMillion.com
Mon Premier Million means My First Million : I am still a bit far from it :-)
Thank you for your attention, I don't want my email to be too long but if you want additionnal information about anything related to Alex Tew's idea you're welcome to email me !
Cheers,
Pascal Cola
Well, since then he passed the 600 000 $US milestone ! And he's about to go to the USA for a press tour, so there will be another round of media attention on his homepage very soon. He will do radio/tv/newspaper interviews, that's going to be fun because we can follow his blog day after day on his site.
If you are planning to write a follow up to your article, you can say that there is now over 500 copycats sites from all over the world !
If you want to take an example of a french website, you can link to mine because it is the foremost french resource on the subject of Alex Tew's new paradigm and because I tried no to blindly translate the concept. I tried to add a twist to the idea, by drawing an image of France and organizing several little things on my site, like a BEST SPONSOR, a pixel page cheaper than the homepage, and even a pixel page totally free of charge for open source project and caring organisations.
Also, I bought 600 pixels on the original milliondollarhomepage that link directly to my site, that's my way of paying back Alex..
My site is at http://www.MonPremierMillion.com
Mon Premier Million means My First Million : I am still a bit far from it :-)
Thank you for your attention, I don't want my email to be too long but if you want additionnal information about anything related to Alex Tew's idea you're welcome to email me !
Cheers,
Pascal Cola
Friday 16th December 2005
End of term, Vanity Fair
I literally cannot belive it's the end of the first term at university. To say it has gone quickly would be something of an understatement. It's been a crazy few months. Everything has changed! New beginnings as they say. Infact, I can't believe it's the end of the year already - where has 2005 gone?! Uni has been great fun, I've met lots of great people, had some wonderful experiences and learnt lots of new things - in and out of class.
So then.. pixels.. well at the time of writing the total is a massive 864,000 pixels sold. That's in 113 days, since I launched this site. Which is an average of 7,646 pixels sold per day - wow. Orders keep flowing in too, so it should not be long before the mighty million mark is reached. I think it will happen sometime in January.
Finally, check out this month's issue of Vanity Fair for an article on me and the site. There's also a word about one of my next ventures ;)
End of term, Vanity Fair
I literally cannot belive it's the end of the first term at university. To say it has gone quickly would be something of an understatement. It's been a crazy few months. Everything has changed! New beginnings as they say. Infact, I can't believe it's the end of the year already - where has 2005 gone?! Uni has been great fun, I've met lots of great people, had some wonderful experiences and learnt lots of new things - in and out of class.
So then.. pixels.. well at the time of writing the total is a massive 864,000 pixels sold. That's in 113 days, since I launched this site. Which is an average of 7,646 pixels sold per day - wow. Orders keep flowing in too, so it should not be long before the mighty million mark is reached. I think it will happen sometime in January.
Finally, check out this month's issue of Vanity Fair for an article on me and the site. There's also a word about one of my next ventures ;)
Link to This posted
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: 4:49 PM
: 4:49 PM
Thursday 5th January 2006
Auction fever
The final 1,000 pixels up for auction on eBay have skyrocketed in value. The current bid is a massive US$152,100. Wow. Still 6 days to go! Earlier today there were some fake bids (eg. exceptionally high bids) made so I'm tightening up the pre-approval process. I will only accept genuine, serious bidders into the auction, so it is really up to those people who want to be pre-approved for the auction to demonstrate to me that they are serious and are able to pay the amount they bid. A good feedback rating on eBay helps too.
Aside from that, interest in the auction has been huge with media across the world reporting it, not to mention all the blog and forum activity around the net. So far the auction page itself has received 272,891 unique visitors since I launched it on Sunday evening. Clearly there are a lot of people out there following this auction! I am certainly checking it constantly throughout the day, in between all the e-mails and phone calls. It's really quite addictive.
Today has been another exceptionally busy one. It feels like I've had a phone glued to my ear all day as I've been doing a string of interviews with various newspapers, magazines and journals from around the world. I do enjoy it when people ask me some of the more 'quirkier' questions that I've not been asked before, otherwise it can feel like I'm reeling off the same old answers. I can only wonder what politicians and high-profile stars must go through! Overall, it is nice to have the interest, as I'm well aware it won't be here forever. I am grateful that people want to know about me and my ideas. It's crazy to think that suddenly I've become someone whose opinions and thoughts are of interest to a wider audience.
My inbox has a few messages from people who are wondering what the deal is with all the black and blue blocks of pixels on the homepage with 'R' written in them (particularly in the lower half of the page). Just to clarify, these are reserved blocks which means they have been paid for and we are awaiting the image and link from the purchaser. I will soon be setting a deadline for all images and links to be sent in, in order to 'complete' the homepage.
Finally, a note to existing pixel owners - you are not permitted to re-sell or auction off your pixels. I will not change any existing images or links. While a 'pixel after-market' would be quite a cool concept, I am determined to maintain the idea of the homepage being an 'internet time capsule'. I think it will be fascinating to lock the homepage in time, and maybe one day, who knows, it could be displayed as a piece of modern art in a museum! That would be awesome.
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Auction fever
The final 1,000 pixels up for auction on eBay have skyrocketed in value. The current bid is a massive US$152,100. Wow. Still 6 days to go! Earlier today there were some fake bids (eg. exceptionally high bids) made so I'm tightening up the pre-approval process. I will only accept genuine, serious bidders into the auction, so it is really up to those people who want to be pre-approved for the auction to demonstrate to me that they are serious and are able to pay the amount they bid. A good feedback rating on eBay helps too.
Aside from that, interest in the auction has been huge with media across the world reporting it, not to mention all the blog and forum activity around the net. So far the auction page itself has received 272,891 unique visitors since I launched it on Sunday evening. Clearly there are a lot of people out there following this auction! I am certainly checking it constantly throughout the day, in between all the e-mails and phone calls. It's really quite addictive.
Today has been another exceptionally busy one. It feels like I've had a phone glued to my ear all day as I've been doing a string of interviews with various newspapers, magazines and journals from around the world. I do enjoy it when people ask me some of the more 'quirkier' questions that I've not been asked before, otherwise it can feel like I'm reeling off the same old answers. I can only wonder what politicians and high-profile stars must go through! Overall, it is nice to have the interest, as I'm well aware it won't be here forever. I am grateful that people want to know about me and my ideas. It's crazy to think that suddenly I've become someone whose opinions and thoughts are of interest to a wider audience.
My inbox has a few messages from people who are wondering what the deal is with all the black and blue blocks of pixels on the homepage with 'R' written in them (particularly in the lower half of the page). Just to clarify, these are reserved blocks which means they have been paid for and we are awaiting the image and link from the purchaser. I will soon be setting a deadline for all images and links to be sent in, in order to 'complete' the homepage.
Finally, a note to existing pixel owners - you are not permitted to re-sell or auction off your pixels. I will not change any existing images or links. While a 'pixel after-market' would be quite a cool concept, I am determined to maintain the idea of the homepage being an 'internet time capsule'. I think it will be fascinating to lock the homepage in time, and maybe one day, who knows, it could be displayed as a piece of modern art in a museum! That would be awesome.
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