Online College Sites Succeed Amid Internet Clutter.DESPITE the gloom gloom n. 1. a. Partial or total darkness; dimness: switched on a table lamp to banish the gloom of a winter afternoon. b. A partially or totally dark place, area, or location. generated by the demise Death. A conveyance of property, usually of an interest in land. Originally meant a posthumous grant but has come to be applied commonly to a conveyance that is made for a definitive term, such as an estate for a term of years. of thousands of online businesses, the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the still offers solid business opportunities if your business model is narrowly focused on a target market. Two small companies serving college-bound students looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. money appear to be flourishing flour·ish v. flour·ished, flour·ish·ing, flour·ish·es v.intr. 1. To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive: The crops flourished in the rich soil. 2. , despite the downturn Downturn The transition point between a rising, expanding economy to a falling, contracting one. downturn A decline in security prices or economic activity following a period of rising or stable prices or activity. . Tom Lubin
"The future of the Internet is to disseminate dis·sem·i·nate v. dis·sem·i·nat·ed, dis·sem·i·nat·ing, dis·sem·i·nates v.tr. 1. To scatter widely, as in sowing seed. 2. information," says Adams, president of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based CollegeCapital.com. "It's easy to access, and it's the best way to disseminate what you've got in a quicker, more efficient way." Pre-Internet, her firm sent students a printed binder binder: see combine. An earlier Microsoft Office workbook file that let users combine related documents from different Office applications. The documents could be viewed, saved, opened, e-mailed and printed as a group. filled with scholarship information. "They'd fill out a questionnaire by hand, and we'd enter it into our database," says Adams. "It took about two weeks to relay the information. Students paid $100, and we were still losing money." The problem with sending printed information is that "the minute you print it, it's out of date," says Adams. "We thought about creating a CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). ; but you have the same problem. Plus, our information wouldn't all fit on a CD." Now, CollegeCapital.com sells annual subscriptions to students for $29.95. A subscription provides access to a database of 13.5 million scholarships (worth $8 billion), school information and internship internship /in·tern·ship/ (in´tern-ship) the position or term of service of an intern in a hospital. internship, n the course work or practicum conducted in a professional dental clinic. opportunities -- all available online. "We tried to price it so a working mother with three kids could still afford a subscription," says Adams. FastWeb, a Skokie, 111.-based company, also provides online scholarship information, but it relies on a different model to make money. Instead of charging students a fee, FastWeb offers a free scholarship-matching service to students who register with the site. To register for service, students must complete a lengthy personal profile that includes detailed academic and demographic information. Targeted advertising FastWeb relies on these profiles to match students with 600,000 scholarships (worth $1 billion). Nearly 10 million students have registered since the site launched in 1995. FastWeb generates revenue by using the personal data collected from its users to create specialized spe·cial·ize v. spe·cial·ized, spe·cial·iz·ing, spe·cial·iz·es v.intr. 1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study. 2. , targeted advertising. Both businesses have revenue models that are based on selling information. In FastWeb's case, it is selling the information about its users to advertisers. In CollegeCapital's case, it is selling the information about scholarships, internships and colleges directly to its users. CollegeCapital has invested heavily in its database, which also features information about 35,000 schools and numerous internship and "study-abroad" opportunities. Its site, which launched in August 2000, has won more than 50 industry awards. Information is updated on a daily basis. "My feeling is that if we do it right, they will come," says Adams, who is still waiting to see if her model will be profitable. She declined to discuss first-year expenditures or revenues. Adams openly objects to Lubin selling information about students to advertisers, even if it is aggregated information. "You mean he admits that he's selling these kids' information?" she asked. "I just can't believe he'd do that. If I were doing that I'd be hiding my head." But Lubin is not hiding his head. Rather, he appears proud to be running a profitable Internet-based company these days. "We're providing a service that's very valuable to students," says Lubin. "It's free to students and free to schools with scholarships. We're filling an essential need." FastWeb didn't start out with the advertising-supported revenue model it uses today. The company was founded in 1995 by Leon Heller and sold printed scholarship information to students by mail for a $70 fee. By late 1995, the business had switched direction, moved online and began offering its service to subscribers at no charge. Up until 18 months ago, FastWeb also sold banner space on its site, but has since eliminated those ads. "Banners are a great annoyance to users," says Lubin, "and they disrupt the user experience." Leads for advertisers FastWeb makes money by providing its advertisers with qualified leads. FastWeb's advertisers describe exactly the type of student they want to reach -- including geographic information, age, grade point average and so on. "Sophisticated advertisers are used to paying a fixed fee for each lead. They know what the value of a customer is to them," says Lubin. "One of the keys to our success is we can provide very accurate, in-depth information. At Napster (the embattled em·bat·tled adj. 1. Prepared or fortified for battle or engaged in battle: embattled troops; an embattled city. 2. digital-music site), for example, there's no incentive for users to provide accurate information. There are a lot of people who cloak their identity on the Internet. On FastWeb, there's a real incentive to give accurate information." FastWeb users can decline to receive targeted messages and advertisements, although once they complete the user profile, FastWeb retains the right to sell their information in an aggregate form. In Lubin's eyes, he's offering students a service, and he's not worried about helping his advertisers reach them. CollegeCapital.com, a much younger company, is still investing heavily in its infrastructure. Right now, it's difficult to assess whether or not the public will choose to pay for information, or give up some privacy to receive it for free. Reporting by Sarah Prior. Jane Applegate is a syndicated columnist Inc.com defines a syndicated columnist as, "[A] person hired by publications or broadcast organizations to produce written or spoken commentary about specific feature subjects. , author and founder of www.sbw.com, a new global online network for small-business owners. She is the author of "201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business," and is founder of ApplegateWay.com, a multimedia Web site for busy entrepreneurs. |
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