What The?...
Before I begin, I want to announce my new endeavor, ChomaTime.com. I hope you will continue to support me and check that out. More about that later…
Well my friends, it's been almost ten years. In that time I have accomplished some things, failed at others. I went into business on my own in 2002 after leaving a job at LiquidGeneration.com. I didn't agree with management there, and thought that I could be more successful on my own. And I was.
During the first 5 years of running ZipperFish.com I gave my former website a run for it's money, beating it in Alexa rankings once or twice. I started a LIVE audio show long before the term "podcasting" and even longer before sites like Ustream. With my YAAFM series, I have reached over 30 million people, more people that live in Canada. And I have a loyal fan base. Some have come and gone, some have stuck around, and some are brand new.
During those early years it was a lot easier to establish yourself on the internet. Back then "content was king" and if you made content, you could make money. These were the days before MySpace, before YouTube and way before FaceBook. And make money I did. Not a lot, mind you, but it was a way better job than working in a cubicle.
I want to thank my friend PJ for supporting me then. Taking the reigns of my company, making it legit, and helping move it forward. But change was on the horizon, and it wasn't good change for all us small fish.
The numbers on Zipperfish.com started to go down as YouTube and Social Networking started eating up everyone's time on the internet. Now-a-days it seems that 99% of people's internet time is on YouTube or Facebook, leaving small sites like ZipperFish to struggle to survive on the scraps.
ZipperFish went through a lot of changes in the last five years… pushing games then no games, boobs then no boobs then boobs again. I been a snake eating my own tail trying to keep up with it. Trying to find the right combination of content and design to keep the numbers strong.
I had mild success with a animation vid-cast called Shobiz Newsy News. I want to thank Rob and Libsyn for their support. At the inception of Ustream, I was their golden boy, even getting on the front page when I read Harry Potter in different character voices. Thanks for the support Ustream.
But over the years I started losing more and more interest in ZipperFish. I went from freelance website builder to full time website builder, and I make a pretty good living at that these days. When I do update Zipperfish, it's far and in between. Making promises to myself that I will update more often. Promises I never keep.
But I did keep up with one thing: Zipperfish LIVE (aka ZFL). A live show I do on Friday nights on Ustream. But with all the other content on Zipperfish, ZFL got lost in the shuffle. With a small number of followers, people ask me why I do it. Why? BECAUSE I LOVE IT.
It was during this introspection that I realized something. I want to be in front of the camera. Am I a narcissist? You bet your ass I am.
But it's been almost ten years with Zipperfish. Building the brand, building the audience. You can imagine how hard it is to let go. I BIRTHED this. Blood sweat and tears. I have lost friends over it. I've lost relationships over it. I've given my SOUL to Zipperfish. But like anything else in life, sometimes you have to let go. And now is the time. Now is the time for me to let go.
With that I am excited to announce ChomaTime.com. My last name is Choma and I want to start to embrace ME. Not Zipperfish, but ME.
What can you expect on ChomaTime.com? To tell you the truth, I'm not sure yet. It's a new chapter in my internet life, and I will start writing it. What I DO KNOW IS THIS: Zipperfish LIVE fans can breathe easy… ZFL is turning into CTL. ChomaTime LIVE. The same show, just a new name.
I want to do more videos. I want to be a YouTuber I guess. What's that gonna be? Dunno. But I hope we can all have some fun finding that out...
Thank you for your support.
-Jim Choma aka The_Walrus
Special Thanks to...
| Bruce F | Mike F | Brad S | Jim K |
| PJ | Jeff B | Pete K | Jack K |
| JMShearer | Adri | BigJohn | BigBob |
| Patrick M | Adam | NobodyLikesOnions.com | Libsyn.com |
| Rob from Libsyn | NewGrounds.com | All my fans at NewGrounds | Squealer |
| BigAl | TidyCats | SkullGirl | Tinkerbell |
| TXHelloKitty | CyberPunk | CPWS radio | Corneo |
| bagman | Fester | Houston | Kenton |
| SteinVidar | Tyler B | UFObbq | Tyler |
| RJ | Diva | papaAaron | GulDukat |
And all the other people who have challenged me, hated me, supported me and loved me. And my mom. Thanks mom.