Comments on: Disaboom, Take Two

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:35:42 +0000

My husband’s workforce counselor told him about Disaboom and asked him to sign up to look for jobs. Boy were we disappointed. The job listings come straight from Career Builder…and these are not jobs specifically for people with disabilities. it is just a straight feed with the exact same job listings.

The first thing I noticed was that the health info seemed to be copied from articles I had read elsewhere.

My husband signed up for some work-at-home info from Disaboom, and now he gets spam from them! The latest one was a letter from Rebecca Kingsley, supposedly the Work at Home Group Chief Editor at Disaboom. It was a spam letter trying to get him to sign up to make money doing online surveys! But it looks like she is trying to help…”don’t get ripped off. This is the ONLY legitimate online survey company.”

That wasn’t even the worst one…but too much to tell.

My personal opinion is that the people running this website are vultures preying on vulnerable people who are desperately looking for help. If you aren’t in that category, then that is fine…enjoy!

If you are disabled and looking for work, look elsewhere. Just sign up for CareerBuilder because you will have to anyway to apply for the jobs listed on Disaboom.

By the way, anyone can purchase content and set up an RSS feed from a job site…this site to me is a front for someone who thinks they found a new crop of fools to bilk. I wouldn’t give them a penny for anything. I’m upset that they have my husband’s contact information.

By: Marty

Marty — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:55:45 +0000

Keith, Liz’s point was that Wheelchair Junkie is a community that was grown from one person’s efforts, not as a for-profit marketing scheme. Whether the founder of Disaboom uses a wheelchair or not isn’t really relevant to that point. Her point addresses the concept that Internet communities are grown, not bought, and that they grow when the content reflects the interests of the users, not that of the investors.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:18:54 +0000

While their marketing is targeted at investors, I’ve seen it more predominantly on the internet reaching out to users. While marketing is just that…seeing an advertisement that talks about a person’s love life not being over just because of a new disability is putting that message out in the public view. Many people are scared to death of what might happen if they ever become disabled. Having the message that that is not the end and there is a life outside original expectations is refreshing and an important message for everyone to realize.

Also Liz to your point, Disaboom was started by Dr. Glen House who has been a wheelchair user since around the age of 20. I wish they had more info on him as he seems to be the driving force behind Disaboom.

http://aboutus.disaboom.com/

By: Marty

Marty — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:32:05 +0000

Liz, you wrote:

“Maybe not being a boomer means also … can’t put up with crappy site design & weird marketing-speak.”

You’ve really nailed another good point: there’s a whole new demographic out there. It’s not confined to “people with disabilities”, either. Old-style marketing, and old-style demographic approaches, just don’t apply the way they once did. (And that new demographic even includes a whole lot of ‘boomers’, though not, apparently, Disaboom’s inventors.)

Misunderstanding that new demographic often seems to go hand-in-hand with not getting how the web works in 2008. As you also wrote, Disaboom’s approach seems to be this:

“Throw money at it, and a magic Community shall arise” where community means marketing demographic – but then ignore what it takes to really have a community.

Which is a sure prescription for failure. Great points, Liz!

By: Marty

Marty — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:02:39 +0000

Keith, I’m glad that you are finding something positive at Disaboom. However, I think you’re a bit confused about Disaboom’s marketing. It’s doing nothing to help “place issues regarding disability in the public eye”.

Disaboom’s marketing is targeted to investors, and meant to convince them that the disability community will make them rich. This in no way affects people who “are uncomfortable or just don’t understand these issues”.

In addition, if you were an investor, as opposed to someone who uses the site for free, and has no financial interest, I suspect you’d be a little less patient with its failure to have developed more effectively.

By: Liz Henry

Liz Henry — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:10:11 +0000

Oh and Steve I agree with you too. And have to trash Disaboom just a bit more. (Trashing by praising sites that are better.) When I poked around Disaboom the 2nd time all I could think about was the guy who runs Wheelchair Junkie forum and built up a whole giant web site and seems to just do it all himself. Why not find some awesome people like him, and give HIM 6 million dollars of VC money to burn. He could hire some other people to expand out what he has, collect some marketing data for his VC people and you would have something way cool. (I mean, it already IS way cool.) I also think Ouch BBC does a pretty good job.

By: Liz Henry

Liz Henry — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:03:16 +0000

I feel much the same way about it. It’s so slick and corporate, without being really usable. It struck every wrong note I have!

“Throw money at it, and a magic Community shall arise” where community means marketing demographic – but then ignore what it takes to really have a community.

Maybe not being a boomer means also … can’t put up with crappy site design & weird marketing-speak.

In contrast, I look at Patients Like Me and really like it. I just wish they had more categories and stuff, but for what they set out to do, it is pretty cool.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:45:47 +0000

I think Disaboom is a great site! The disaboomer community is very helpful and responsive. The site just launched some time late 2007. I find it very unrealistic to expect them to be the end all be all so soon. I appreciate that I constantly see the hard work being put into the site. It’s constantly evolving. I’m excited the direction Disaboom is headed. Their marketing, while obviously essential to the continuing growth of the site, also helps place issues regarding disability in the public eye. The majority of people are uncomfortable or just don’t understand these issues. I applaud Disaboom for their continued support of our community.

By: Disaboom - A Slick, Not-So-Pretty Website Ploy | GearAbility

Disaboom - A Slick, Not-So-Pretty Website Ploy | GearAbility — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:06:22 +0000

[...] Related: Disaboom, Take Two [...]

By: Marty

Marty — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:49:42 +0000

Great comment, Steve; you've detailed so much of what really bothers me about Disaboom, too. Thanks for contributing a fuller picture, and adding details I didn't have room to add.

I, too, had never heard of this heard alleged "leading voice" prior to these attempts to market him and his site. The dreamy/visionary photographs of him creepily remind me that the site is as contrived as his photograph. It doesn't help that his dewey-eyed photos are also reminiscent of the pathetic pictures of "disabled children" of the 1950s which were so often used by charities soliciting donations. How does Disaboom manage to strike so many wrong notes?

You're so right, Steve, when you write "they should be working on giving visitors something meaningful to see when they get there." Too bad the commitment wasn't to content first, marketing second.