Re: @d:tech World - The Experts' Secrets of Viral Success

From: Alec Ellis <alece_at_glopro.com>
Date: Fri 17 Nov 2000 11:15:30 -0500

DONNA STRYK <donna.stryk_at_tenagra.com> WROTE:
> From the launch in August of 1998 through last
> Friday, Comet Cursor was downloaded by 50 million
> unique users. Not bad for a company who never spent a
> dime on advertising.

TO WHICH ELIZABETH FAWCETT <ElizabethFawcett_at_nextcity.com> REPLIED:
> But did it generate any revenue? ie were people paying
> to download the cursor or was it free? If it was free,
> 50 million users sounds great but there is still no
> money in the coffers. Business is about profit - where
> are the profits from a free download?

This is a very strange comment to make, atleast from a
business point of view. We put out many free programs
and software, with a long term view in mind... the Net
is about many people keeping in touch with information,
as a community. What better way to encourage this, but
with Distribution Channel Vehicles.

"Vehicles" that carry ads, acquire emails for
subscriptions, viral Market products and services,
introduce MORE partner programs that hence create more
vehicles.

The little picture is "how much will it make this
week", where that larger picture is in 12 months how
many subscribers will I have , and how many 100's of
millions am I going to sell this dam thing for.

Equipped with a development team, a standard web design
income, or web hosting business or ad business to bring
in the daily 'wedge' or survivable 'mullah', MONEY, you
can concentrate on building for the future.....
building products that are free now, but offer, like a
good free subscribed Journal, a free vehicle to sell or
use later.

This is where your Marketing plan, Business Plan,
Forecasts, Cash flow plans etc come in to use.

Example...and a very good one... ICQ a free messaging
program, the founders didn't make ONE cent of income in
the first two years of construction and use, no
advertising, no sales, nothing. BUT... after that first
two years of not a cent...sold it to AOL for approx
US$300 million dollars, with a database of 12 million
users, this was the value in ICQ.... not how many sales
it had made in those two years.

Hotmail.... another free product, free email address,
obtained 9 million users in about a year before sale,
sold to Microsoft for approx US$400 million dollars.

So... ICQ in 2 years made the founders....
$300 million, and Hotmail in 1 year made the
founders ...... $400 million.


If it was free,

> 50 million users sounds great but there is still no
> money in the coffers. Business is about profit - where
> are the profits from a free download?

The profits are gained from foresight, building a
network, from this you build partnerships, advertising
deals, etc.... or just sell your product like the above
and get on with making more!

Cheers
Alec Ellis
Glopro - www.glopro.com





Received on Fri Nov 17 2000 - 10:15:30 CST