Individual Responses

The reviews have been going on for about 18 months now, and as they grow, so do the complexities of continuing to provide them.

Each month the number of tapes we receive, the number of companies we interact with, and the number of fans who read "the reviews", grows considerably. In some respects this has created some problems we hadn't forseen, that divert me from our focus, which should be to deliver as many new reviews as possible each month.

For instance, one of my biggest problems is emails. I'm getting close to 30 emails every day. A couple from companies, but a majority are from fans/martial artists. Quite often the fans of our reviews provide me a long and detailed background of their training, the tapes they own, and then based on that, want me to spend alot of time making detailed recommendations, and answering questions, for them.

These questions, the detail that's involved, and the time it takes to answer them, is taking up alot of my personal time, and is preventing me from getting caught up on the 100+ backlog of tapes I have in my closet, and thus posting new reviews. So it's basically come down to this, do I answer 30 emails a day, spending hours doing that each and every day, or do reviews? Which do people want? I can't continue doing both!

Well I've made a autocratic decision....I'm going to focus more on grading tapes than answering tons of emails every day. I've got to so we can attempt to get caught up on our huge backlog of tapes that companies are waiting and expecting to see reviews on.

So, from here on out, there will be no more "individual responses" concerning:

1. Which tapes of so-and-sos are best?
2. What tape would you recommend on _______?
3. Between so-and-so and so-and-so, whose tapes are better?
4. Out of all the tapes _____ does, which is the one I should buy?
5. Based on the lengthy detailed martial arts background I just provided, which tape should I buy on ______, or which martial art should I take?
6. I own ______ tape, what do you think of so-and-so's tapes, compared to_____ ?
7. Why do you think _____ is so good?
8. What specifically was different about what _____ shows on his tapes vs. _____?

Believe it or not I get a TON of emails everday asking these kinds of things AND MORE! There seems to be no end to the open-ended questions people ask, in which each person expects me to provide them a long detailed explanation about various things.

People you've got to realize something. This is a part time hobby, not a full time job that I get paid to do. Yet the emails that pour in, and the responses people expect, are growing. At their current rate of growth, and the detailed answers each person wants, I predict in the next 6 months it will be a full time job to continue answering everyones emails each day! I've got a life, family, work, training, friends, other hobbies, and all these emails people want answered have taken ALOT of my personal time away from those things. There are many nights I get home at 6:30, and I get so caught up in answering emails, that not only do I often not get to workout, but I don't finish answering emails until 10, 11 or 12 at night. How many of you would do this every night for over 12 months, and let it take you away from your training and other things you'd rather be doing?

OK, hopefully you get my point. So from here on out, know that we appreciate your kind emails, thank you's, and words of encouragement. We will continue to read each and every one, but don't expect an individual response on each. I can't continue providing 30 detailed responses each day. All I can suggest is that you read the reviews, and use them to try and answer your many questions.

Look at it like this, although some of you might get 1-2 emails a day at home, and spend 5-15 minutes replying to them, I get 30 emails, many wanting 10-20 minute lengthy responses. I can't continue providing that. Sorry, but I'm only one guy, and I've only got some many hours in each day!

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