BetterManagement Maintains Success Streak; Oregon Dot-Com Proves Exception to the Rule.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2003

As the shine of the dot-com era continues to fade, BetterManagement proves an exception to the rule.

"We're a successful dot-com because we have a solid business plan and a clear vision of our role in the marketplace," said Jeanette Slepian, president of BetterManagement. "When your strategic goals are aligned with the strategic goals of your key business partners, it's easier to make the right choices and avoid common pitfalls."

BetterManagement specializes in providing timely information about crucial business management issues such as financial regulatory compliance, performance management, supply chain management, enterprise business intelligence, customer relationship management and IT portfolio management.

The company, which employs 35 people around the world, screens and organizes fresh content from over 250 respected professional and academic organizations including Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, INSEAD, The McKinsey Quarterly, the University of Pennsylvania's Knowledge@Wharton, Accenture, APQC, Cranfield School of Management, SAS and many others.

BetterManagement also creates original content, delivered as free video interviews and Web seminars. Live events such as this year's BetterManagement LIVE Worldwide Business Conference in Las Vegas drew nearly 1,000 top executives from 19 countries.

"Events such as our Worldwide Business Conference demonstrate the keen interest of our primary audience - executives, decision makers and key influencers at leading organizations all over the world," said Slepian. "The information we provide is absolutely critical to their success."

The company carefully monitors audience response to ensure the relevancy of its content. "We know what's hot and what's not," said Slepian. "If our audience is hungry for information about a certain topic, we find out quickly and we try to respond immediately with the appropriate content."

For example, when it became apparent that Sarbanes-Oxley was viewed by top executives as a critical issue, BetterManagement reacted swiftly, offering eight live Web seminars that attracted more than 1,100 executives. "Our determination to respond quickly to the changing business environment keeps us relevant," said Slepian. "As a result, we continue to break our own internal records, month to month and year to year."

In 2003, more than 16,000 people attended the company's Web seminars, up 72 percent from the previous year. BetterManagement logged 16 million page views this year, up 53 percent from 2002. There were 4.5 million visitor sessions, up 57 percent from the previous year and more than 1.8 million visits from unique individuals, up 56 percent from 2002. This year, the Web site's 4,000 articles have been read more than 1 million times, making it one of the busiest online libraries in the world.

"We make the content more relevant to specific segments of our audience by taking a geo-regional approach," said Slepian. "We're also verticalize the content, which means that visitors can find critical information that relates directly to their specific industries."

BetterManagement has broadened the scope of its content offerings, increasing penetration in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia, Slepian said. "We are currently targeting high-growth markets where there is a clear need for business management information. By tailoring content for specific markets, we can ensure continuing demand for our service. We're extremely aware that different regions of the world require different content."

Site registration for BetterManagement is free. Participants have access to more than 4,000 articles, case studies, white papers, and presentations; more than 150 live and archived video interviews and Web seminars; Info Packs containing product and service information; and optional free subscriptions to highly specialized online newsletters.