Seidman's Online Insider - Vol. 4, Issue 44
============================================================================
Seidman's Online Insider - Vol. 4, Issue 44
Visit the Online Insider on the Web < http://www.onlineinsider.com >
============================================================================
Copyright (C) 1997 Robert Seidman. All rights reserved. May be reproduced
in any medium for noncommercial purposes as long as attribution is given.
IN THIS ISSUE
- Editor's Note
- So, You Think You're Senior Officer Material
- What's Happening in Insider Talk?
- Okay, so 50% Click-Through is a Pipe Dream
- AOL One-ups My Weather Request
- C from CompuServe
- Holiday Specials
- Stock Watch
- Subscription Info
Editor's Note
=============
I hope this finds all of you enjoying your holiday season. I'm running
without an editor this week, so I would consider it a great holiday
present from you to me if you didn't (nit)pick on me this week. Special
note to my brother Steve: this requests applies to you too!
Yes, the holidays are coming. So is ISDN (install date is Monday, 12/22).
In honor of both, I'm taking the next couple of weeks off and will return
with a newsletter on January 11. Also, after more than 3 years of
publishing on a "mostly weekly" basis, I will be moving to an
every-other-week schedule beginning in 1998. During the off weeks,
nuggets about what is going on at the Web site might be sent out. I
haven't worked that out yet.
The reason for moving to a bi-weekly schedule is pretty simple. Over the
last several months I've come to a few conclusions. The first is that I
want the newsletter to be free of charge to the readers, the second is
that I don't want to hassle with advertising, the third is I want to have
some sort of a life! Accommodating those first two requires an outside
source of revenue. I could go on with that, and the weekly schedule, but
then I wouldn't be able to have a life. I know, I expect a lot. What can
I tell you?
I'm going to leave the Microsoft/Netscape, Window-less IE topics alone
this week. You've no doubt been inundated by the coverage anyway and at
this point, the only subject of real interest to me is whether or not the
what appear on the surface to be very hard-line tactics by Microsoft will
pay off or not. More on that in a couple of weeks, no doubt.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and I wish you the best in
1998!
So, You Think You're Senior Officer Material?
============================================
I'll be doing some consulting for Charles Schwab's Electronic Brokerage
group. I'm very excited about it. The mesh between the Internet and
financial services is great. Also, I can get behind a company who's true
goal is to provide people with security during their retirement. Oh sure,
I know most of you think their true goal is to MAKE MONEY. And I'm sure
that's true. But the sense I get from the folks at Schwab is that they're
truly interested in making people's financial lives easier. That's
something I can get behind! Additionally, it helps pay the rent, feed the
cat and the fish, and it allows the newsletter to remain free!
If that's something you can get behind too, there's a job opening that
might interest you. Charles Schwab is looking for a Senior Vice President
of Electronic Brokerage Technology.
The successful candidate will have over 10 years management experience
(with about 15 years total experience) in large, real-time systems and
software development (true software development experience, not IS
experience). The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering
Internet-related product and system development (not just applications
development). There are over 100 people in the organization and it's
continuing to grow. Schwab is looking for someone who cares about
organizational development and people development as much as software
development. If you're interested and have the background, or know
someone who is, please e-mail your resume (or have them e-mail their
resume) to arlene.griffin@schwab.com or fax it to 415-636-0100. Be sure
to indicate know you heard about the position in Seidman's Online
Insider! Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is a Member SIPC/NYSE.
What's Happening in Insider Talk?
=================================
CompuServe, Past and Present
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi?c=online&t=16 >
Some Online Business Models that Make Sense? You Decide.
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi?c=online&t=22 >
Advertising Growth (or lack thereof) and Why Auditing Matters - this post
by David Simons, Managing Director of Digital Video Investments is this
week's "Post of the Week":
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi?c=advertising&t=7&q=8 >
Okay, so 50% Click-Through is a Pipe Dream
==========================================
When I spoke of hoping to achieve a 50% conversion rate from e-mail reader
to reader of the Web "SideTracks", I was just blowing smoke. Sadly, the
truth is, that there are too many reasons why that can't happen, ranging
from the amount of time people have, to the way they read the newsletter.
Many folks read the newsletter offline, some even print it out before
reading it, making a click-through rather difficult. There are some
things I could do to increase the likelihood of click through, but most of
them add administrative work, that for me, personally, would be more
trouble than it is worth. In this regard, however, the best suggestion I
received (from quite a few people) was to do three versions of the
newsletter -- a plain-text ASCII version, a rich-text version for AOL and
a pure HTML version. Now there are several ways to go about doing
something like this, and for many of you, I think those ways would be
worth considering, but for me, the thought of administering to three
separate mailing lists or combining all three into one huge e-mail are
unattractive. But, I would be thinking about it a lot differently IF the
goal was to make some money off the Web site. And to those who wrote
that I should do some more compelling marketing in my banner (above), I
agree. I just found that I really liked having a stark banner! But it's
definitely something to think on.
Since I don't have money for marketing and am not, at this point, willing
to invest sufficient time and resource into guerilla marketing, I think
for me, the best method is perhaps going back from whence I came. Once
upon a time, I had a twice-monthly column on CNET and for me, a similar
approach might make the most sense for web-based content. Why? Sites of
that scale already have the eyeballs and can therefore drive traffic to
the content in ways that I alone cannot, at least not economically.
While I used "click-through" to mean that those reading the text version
of the newsletter, would click-through to the Web site, I didn't
necessarily mean that advertising banners needed high 50% click-through
to be successful. Indeed, the bigger issue I have with advertising is that
there are not enough advertising dollars to sustain everyone looking to
make a buck that way, whether the banners themselves are successful or
not. But, for those of you hung-up on click-through as it relates to
advertising, numbers aren't always the most important thing.
For a take on this from someone living in the real online world (instead
of me, who only writes about it!) here's a letter from Anne Campbell who
runs and is a part-owner of the Cruise Critic area on America Online.
"Mr. Seidman...
I read with interest your article on AOL's content providers, since I am
one. I am editor in chief of Cruise Critic on AOL, and much of what you
say is very true about advertising.
Cruise Critic is independently owned by me and my partner. While Cruise
Critic is one of the very few areas that is strictly editorial, we have an
advertising area called Ship Shop, consisting of travel agents selling
cruises. Elsewhere, we have areas where our advertising manager obtains
"sponsorship". For example, we have a monthly cruise sweepstakes, and the
cruise line which awards a cruise for two, advertises each month. We have
AOL member-cruises (the cruise line pays to have this spot) and other
promos.
The point is, we've found that while getting advertisers is very tough, it
can be done. But if it's a static "billboard" type ad, the measured
"hits" will be small. Those advertising promos that work always involve a
promotion or contest, something that involves members. For example, one
cruise line prides itself on high levels of cuisine, so we planned an "AOL
Culinary Cruise" for members with a great price. The cruise line paid
advertising for three months to promote the cruise (and itself, of
course). Some of the travel agency advertisers in Ship Shop have made a
bundle, while others haven't. The difference is those agencies which lead
with discounts, change their copy weekly and have phones ringing off the
hook. The unsuccessful ones run a generic ad which simply focuses on
service, years in business, etc.
In keeping members returning to Cruise Critic, I run daily News &
Bargains, constantly offer new "Top Ten Best" lists and articles. We send
out a free newsletter twice per month highlighting new features in Cruise
Critic, with links to the area. It's a tremendous amount of work, but
our numbers remain high, and cruisers keep coming back which attracts
advertisers (also, the demographics of cruisers is quite attractive to
many advertisers). Of course, nightly chats and very active message
boards help a lot too.
It is a tough haul, and when AOL pulling the plug on royalties based on
time, a number of travel partners pulled out. Let's hope our work
continues to prosper.
Regards,
Anne Campbell
Partner, Cruise Critic on AOL"
--
Thank you, Anne. I hope some of the other readers can benefit from your
comments.
AOL One-ups My Weather Request
==============================
I am sure there are those of you who are indeed very sick of my
complaining about AOL not making it easier to view the weather. Why
would I complain so much about something that isn't really that big of a
deal? The reason I complain so much about it is precisely because it
isn't a big deal. If AOL (and others) won't begin making the not a big
deal stuff easier, when will they ever begin working on the things that
are harder and are a "bigger deal". I just want things to be easier to
use -- I think my heart and my head are both in the right place here, so
I'll make no apologies.
But I will say that my hat is off to David Gang and the product team at
AOL. With the forthcoming AOL 4.0, not only has Gang and crew made
getting the local weather easier, they made getting the local weather
WHEREVER YOU HAPPEN TO BE easier. I didn't notice this because unlike
most AOL users, I access AOL via TCP/IP (while I know many folks access
this way, most AOL subscribers do not).
I got some e-mail from some people telling me that they were getting their
local conditions right on the AOL welcome screen with a link to the more
detailed forecast. No entering of zip codes, no nothing. What I had
proposed originally was that AOL give me a local weather forecast based on
the zip code they have stored for me. They took it one better --
providing you with the local forecast for the city nearest to the access
node you've dialed into. Unfortunately, this doesn't work when you access
via TCP/IP or AOL's surcharged 800#, and it doesn't appear to work in
every city (it doesn't seem to work, for whatever reason, with my local
access number) but if you dial-in via one of AOLNet's access numbers, it
might work. I imagine the number of nodes this feature will work with is
increasing.
This won't work for everyone (TCP/IP, 800#, etc), but it will work for
the overwhelming majority of AOL users. Especially for business travelers
who call in from different cities depending on where they are, this is a
really nice feature.
C from CompuServe
=================
For those of you who can't wait to see "C", the new web-based effort from
CompuServe, your wait is over. You can check out "C" at
< http://c.compuserve.com >. As previously discussed you can "register"
as a guest and view much of the content available on "C", but in order to
gain posting privileges and see certain content, you must be a member.
As an incentive, CompuServe will be giving away two months of free access
to "C" if you sign-up as a member.
Overall, I like what CompuServe has done with "C", especially its
implementation of its forums on the Web. On the whole, however, I am not
optimistic about the success of "C" for a variety of reasons. For one,
CompuServe is a little late to the content game on the Web, and without
spending lots of dollars in marketing, "C" won't make a name for itself.
While reciprocal linking deals are nice, they won't drive the sort of
traffic necessary for making "C" a huge success. Fortunately, at least in
theory, the ongoing costs of maintaining "C" will not be high (as mostly
it is a port of information that exists already on CompuServe).
A big set-back in my view is the way CompuServe has chosen authenticate
"C" users. Simply put, in order to get full access as a member, before
giving your name, address, and credit card information, you have to
download what is being billed as the "C from CompuServe Installation
Package". Unfortunately, the minimum package available is 1.8 mb. While
it's true that's only 10 minutes with a 28.8 modem, that's 10 minutes that
kills any chance the product has of being a huge success in getting paying
members (who, after the trial will pay something less than $10/mo. for
membership, depending on the package. While I understand why CompuServe
went this route and am somewhat sympathetic, as a customer I simply do not
care. At that moment of truth where I'm ready, willing and able to give
you my credit card, don't make me download something that will take 10-20
minutes. Give me a user name and password and solve the problem on your
side, not on my (the client) side. In defense of "C", you can instead
request a CD instead of downloading the software and while that satisfies
not making you download the software, it doesn't satisfy getting you
online right away. The CD approach will make your wait to actually USE
the service even longer.
Of course, when I think "huge success", I'm thinking in terms of millions
of users, and it could well be that CompuServe would be thrilled to get
100,000 folks who will sign-up as members. Besides, most of the stuff, at
least for now, can be seen in guest (free) view, and this is perhaps where
C is looking to create a name for itself. Will C be successful? It's
hard to say, because there is one thing that could happen that would
significantly increase the odds of C's success. It involves our old
friends at AOL, Mr. Case and Mr. Pittman. If Steve and Bob decided to
promote "C" from CompuServe heavily on AOL, "C" would stand a much better
shot. Of course, in doing so, AOL would be promoting "C" at the expense
of promoting something else. I think it is unlikely that AOL will give
"C" much promotion from AOL. AOL argues it bought CompuServe precisely
BECAUSE it was a separate brand. If "C" can't stand on its own without
promotion from AOL then AOL may say it didn't want to build a new brand.
On the other hand, AOL is trying to leverage it's own Web presence,
AOL.COM, to non-AOLers. It would seem there is a lot of synergy between
what AOL.COM wants to achieve and what "C" wants to achieve. But for
some reason, I'm still not optimistic...
Holiday Specials
================
Nope, I'm not trying to sell you anything! Just wanted to point out a few
things worth looking at (and they didn't pay to be mentioned here!).
1. Audible < http://www.audible.com > offers Audio Books and other audio
content at steep discounts over what you'd pay at the bookstore. The
audio can be played directly on your PC or via a special Audible player
that you can take with you (car, train, plane, etc). The selection is
pretty good. The first-time setup was a little tricky, but worth the
effort. My only complaint is that the Audible Player can only store two
hours of audio at a time, and most books average 3 hours and up. So you
can't (without taking your laptop) dump a book onto the player and listen
to the whole thing between a flight from New York to San Francisco.
2. What would any end-of-year be like without a year in review? While
there will no doubt be many available on the Web, if you're a sports fan
(as I am) you'll want to check out:
< http://CNNSI.com/features/1997/yearinreview/ > CNNSI's year end review.
If you're not into sports, perhaps a broader perspective from NBC
correspondent Tom Brokaw via MSNBC would be more to your liking at
< http://www.msnbc.com/news/130918.asp >.
3. So, you think you have what it takes to make a bundle on a high-tech
startup? Now you can have some fun seeing if you have the right stuff by
growing your own virtual Internet company (hey, you were sick of virtual
pets anyway, right? Go down to the local shelter and get a REAL pet, you
won't be sorry!) courtesy of the merry elves at Tengra:
< http://seasonsgreetings.tenagra.com/ >.
Happy holidays! See you in two weeks.
Stock Watch for the Week Ending December 19, 1997
=================================================
Courtesy of InfoBeat's CLOSING BELL < http://www.infobeat.com >.
52 Wk 52 Wk P/E Week
SECURITY CLOSE HIGH LOW Ratio CHNG
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AT&T Corp................ 61 5/16 59 5/16 30 3/4 20 +6.2%
Amazon Com Inc........... 54 66 15 3/4 -0.9%
America Online Inc....... 84 3/4 91 1/8 31 3/4 -1.5%
Apple Computer Inc....... 13 11/16 29 3/4 12 3/4 -3.1%
At Home Corporation Ser A 24 9/16 30 5/8 16 5/8 -8.1%
C/Net.................... 28 46 1/2 15 3/4 +2.7%
CMG Info Svcs. Inc....... 27 1/4 28 7/8 10 7/16 +4.8%
Cmp Media Inc Cl A....... 18 7/8 29 3/8 13 3/4 27 +4.1%
CompuServe Corp.......... 13 1/8 14 9/16 8 7/8 +1.9%
Concentric Network Corp.. 9 1/16 16 8 3/4 -10.4%
Cybercash Inc............ 13 5/8 26 1/4 10 1/2 -4.3%
Earthlink Network Inc.... 23 1/2 24 7/8 8 5/8 +8.3%
Excite Inc............... 24 31/32 35 7 1/2 +6.8%
FTP Software Inc......... 2 8 3/8 1 1/2 +14.2%
GTE Corporation.......... 50 52 1/4 40 1/2 17 +1.9%
H & R Block Inc.......... 45 1/2 45 3/16 28 50 +4.5%
Hewlett Packard Company.. 61 5/16 72 15/16 48 1/8 21 +0.6%
IBM...................... 102 1/8 113 1/2 63 9/16 17 +1.7%
Individual Incorporated.. 3 11/32 11 7/8 2 5/8 +4.8%
Infoseek Corporation..... 8 11/16 14 1/2 4 3/8 -4.1%
Lycos Inc................ 36 3/4 42 10 3/8 +10.5%
MCI Communications Corpor 44 1/16 45 27 5/16 44 +0.5%
Mecklermedia Corp........ 22 7/8 30 16 1/2 53 0.0%
Microsoft Corporation.... 128 11/16 150 3/4 80 3/4 48 -5.8%
Mindspring Enterprises In 30 34 5/8 5 3/4 -8.7%
Netcom On Line Communicat 22 1/4 23 1/2 7 7/8 -0.5%
Netmanage Inc............ 2 9/16 7 5/8 2 3/32 +2.5%
Netscape Communications C 27 3/4 59 1/4 23 1/2 -0.4%
Network Solutions Inc. Cl 13 1/8 26 3/4 11 3/4 66 -13.9%
Onsale Inc............... 13 1/2 35 1/4 4 5/8 -15.6%
Open Market Inc.......... 9 15/16 17 3/8 6 1/2 -6.4%
Oracle Corporation....... 21 5/8 42 1/8 21 3/4 30 -4.9%
Psinet Inc............... 5 3/16 13 3/8 4 11/16 -10.7%
Quarterdeck Corp......... 1 33/64 6 5/16 1 7/16 0.0%
Security First Network Ba 7 1/8 14 1/4 5 1/4 +17.5%
Silicon Graphics Inc..... 13 30 5/16 12 5/16 52 -2.3%
Sprint Corporation....... 56 5/8 60 5/8 38 3/8 25 -1.5%
Spyglass Inc............. 5 15 3/8 4 7/8 -23.4%
Sun Microsystems Inc..... 38 11/16 53 5/16 25 1/2 20 +8.4%
Vocaltec Communications L 18 3/8 33 1/4 5 1/8 +12.2%
Worldcom Inc............. 33 1/16 39 7/8 21 1/4 +3.1%
Yahoo Corporation........ 61 7/8 61 1/2 11 9/64 +3.9%
Dow Jones 30 Industrials. 7,756.29 -1.0%
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Seidman's Online Insider - Vol. 4, Issue 44
Visit the Online Insider on the Web < http://www.onlineinsider.com >
============================================================================
Copyright (C) 1997 Robert Seidman. All rights reserved. May be reproduced
in any medium for noncommercial purposes as long as attribution is given.
IN THIS ISSUE
- Editor's Note
- So, You Think You're Senior Officer Material
- What's Happening in Insider Talk?
- Okay, so 50% Click-Through is a Pipe Dream
- AOL One-ups My Weather Request
- C from CompuServe
- Holiday Specials
- Stock Watch
- Subscription Info
Editor's Note
=============
I hope this finds all of you enjoying your holiday season. I'm running
without an editor this week, so I would consider it a great holiday
present from you to me if you didn't (nit)pick on me this week. Special
note to my brother Steve: this requests applies to you too!
Yes, the holidays are coming. So is ISDN (install date is Monday, 12/22).
In honor of both, I'm taking the next couple of weeks off and will return
with a newsletter on January 11. Also, after more than 3 years of
publishing on a "mostly weekly" basis, I will be moving to an
every-other-week schedule beginning in 1998. During the off weeks,
nuggets about what is going on at the Web site might be sent out. I
haven't worked that out yet.
The reason for moving to a bi-weekly schedule is pretty simple. Over the
last several months I've come to a few conclusions. The first is that I
want the newsletter to be free of charge to the readers, the second is
that I don't want to hassle with advertising, the third is I want to have
some sort of a life! Accommodating those first two requires an outside
source of revenue. I could go on with that, and the weekly schedule, but
then I wouldn't be able to have a life. I know, I expect a lot. What can
I tell you?
I'm going to leave the Microsoft/Netscape, Window-less IE topics alone
this week. You've no doubt been inundated by the coverage anyway and at
this point, the only subject of real interest to me is whether or not the
what appear on the surface to be very hard-line tactics by Microsoft will
pay off or not. More on that in a couple of weeks, no doubt.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and I wish you the best in
1998!
So, You Think You're Senior Officer Material?
============================================
I'll be doing some consulting for Charles Schwab's Electronic Brokerage
group. I'm very excited about it. The mesh between the Internet and
financial services is great. Also, I can get behind a company who's true
goal is to provide people with security during their retirement. Oh sure,
I know most of you think their true goal is to MAKE MONEY. And I'm sure
that's true. But the sense I get from the folks at Schwab is that they're
truly interested in making people's financial lives easier. That's
something I can get behind! Additionally, it helps pay the rent, feed the
cat and the fish, and it allows the newsletter to remain free!
If that's something you can get behind too, there's a job opening that
might interest you. Charles Schwab is looking for a Senior Vice President
of Electronic Brokerage Technology.
The successful candidate will have over 10 years management experience
(with about 15 years total experience) in large, real-time systems and
software development (true software development experience, not IS
experience). The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering
Internet-related product and system development (not just applications
development). There are over 100 people in the organization and it's
continuing to grow. Schwab is looking for someone who cares about
organizational development and people development as much as software
development. If you're interested and have the background, or know
someone who is, please e-mail your resume (or have them e-mail their
resume) to arlene.griffin@schwab.com or fax it to 415-636-0100. Be sure
to indicate know you heard about the position in Seidman's Online
Insider! Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is a Member SIPC/NYSE.
What's Happening in Insider Talk?
=================================
CompuServe, Past and Present
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi?c=online&t=16 >
Some Online Business Models that Make Sense? You Decide.
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi?c=online&t=22 >
Advertising Growth (or lack thereof) and Why Auditing Matters - this post
by David Simons, Managing Director of Digital Video Investments is this
week's "Post of the Week":
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi?c=advertising&t=7&q=8 >
Okay, so 50% Click-Through is a Pipe Dream
==========================================
When I spoke of hoping to achieve a 50% conversion rate from e-mail reader
to reader of the Web "SideTracks", I was just blowing smoke. Sadly, the
truth is, that there are too many reasons why that can't happen, ranging
from the amount of time people have, to the way they read the newsletter.
Many folks read the newsletter offline, some even print it out before
reading it, making a click-through rather difficult. There are some
things I could do to increase the likelihood of click through, but most of
them add administrative work, that for me, personally, would be more
trouble than it is worth. In this regard, however, the best suggestion I
received (from quite a few people) was to do three versions of the
newsletter -- a plain-text ASCII version, a rich-text version for AOL and
a pure HTML version. Now there are several ways to go about doing
something like this, and for many of you, I think those ways would be
worth considering, but for me, the thought of administering to three
separate mailing lists or combining all three into one huge e-mail are
unattractive. But, I would be thinking about it a lot differently IF the
goal was to make some money off the Web site. And to those who wrote
that I should do some more compelling marketing in my banner (above), I
agree. I just found that I really liked having a stark banner! But it's
definitely something to think on.
Since I don't have money for marketing and am not, at this point, willing
to invest sufficient time and resource into guerilla marketing, I think
for me, the best method is perhaps going back from whence I came. Once
upon a time, I had a twice-monthly column on CNET and for me, a similar
approach might make the most sense for web-based content. Why? Sites of
that scale already have the eyeballs and can therefore drive traffic to
the content in ways that I alone cannot, at least not economically.
While I used "click-through" to mean that those reading the text version
of the newsletter, would click-through to the Web site, I didn't
necessarily mean that advertising banners needed high 50% click-through
to be successful. Indeed, the bigger issue I have with advertising is that
there are not enough advertising dollars to sustain everyone looking to
make a buck that way, whether the banners themselves are successful or
not. But, for those of you hung-up on click-through as it relates to
advertising, numbers aren't always the most important thing.
For a take on this from someone living in the real online world (instead
of me, who only writes about it!) here's a letter from Anne Campbell who
runs and is a part-owner of the Cruise Critic area on America Online.
"Mr. Seidman...
I read with interest your article on AOL's content providers, since I am
one. I am editor in chief of Cruise Critic on AOL, and much of what you
say is very true about advertising.
Cruise Critic is independently owned by me and my partner. While Cruise
Critic is one of the very few areas that is strictly editorial, we have an
advertising area called Ship Shop, consisting of travel agents selling
cruises. Elsewhere, we have areas where our advertising manager obtains
"sponsorship". For example, we have a monthly cruise sweepstakes, and the
cruise line which awards a cruise for two, advertises each month. We have
AOL member-cruises (the cruise line pays to have this spot) and other
promos.
The point is, we've found that while getting advertisers is very tough, it
can be done. But if it's a static "billboard" type ad, the measured
"hits" will be small. Those advertising promos that work always involve a
promotion or contest, something that involves members. For example, one
cruise line prides itself on high levels of cuisine, so we planned an "AOL
Culinary Cruise" for members with a great price. The cruise line paid
advertising for three months to promote the cruise (and itself, of
course). Some of the travel agency advertisers in Ship Shop have made a
bundle, while others haven't. The difference is those agencies which lead
with discounts, change their copy weekly and have phones ringing off the
hook. The unsuccessful ones run a generic ad which simply focuses on
service, years in business, etc.
In keeping members returning to Cruise Critic, I run daily News &
Bargains, constantly offer new "Top Ten Best" lists and articles. We send
out a free newsletter twice per month highlighting new features in Cruise
Critic, with links to the area. It's a tremendous amount of work, but
our numbers remain high, and cruisers keep coming back which attracts
advertisers (also, the demographics of cruisers is quite attractive to
many advertisers). Of course, nightly chats and very active message
boards help a lot too.
It is a tough haul, and when AOL pulling the plug on royalties based on
time, a number of travel partners pulled out. Let's hope our work
continues to prosper.
Regards,
Anne Campbell
Partner, Cruise Critic on AOL"
--
Thank you, Anne. I hope some of the other readers can benefit from your
comments.
AOL One-ups My Weather Request
==============================
I am sure there are those of you who are indeed very sick of my
complaining about AOL not making it easier to view the weather. Why
would I complain so much about something that isn't really that big of a
deal? The reason I complain so much about it is precisely because it
isn't a big deal. If AOL (and others) won't begin making the not a big
deal stuff easier, when will they ever begin working on the things that
are harder and are a "bigger deal". I just want things to be easier to
use -- I think my heart and my head are both in the right place here, so
I'll make no apologies.
But I will say that my hat is off to David Gang and the product team at
AOL. With the forthcoming AOL 4.0, not only has Gang and crew made
getting the local weather easier, they made getting the local weather
WHEREVER YOU HAPPEN TO BE easier. I didn't notice this because unlike
most AOL users, I access AOL via TCP/IP (while I know many folks access
this way, most AOL subscribers do not).
I got some e-mail from some people telling me that they were getting their
local conditions right on the AOL welcome screen with a link to the more
detailed forecast. No entering of zip codes, no nothing. What I had
proposed originally was that AOL give me a local weather forecast based on
the zip code they have stored for me. They took it one better --
providing you with the local forecast for the city nearest to the access
node you've dialed into. Unfortunately, this doesn't work when you access
via TCP/IP or AOL's surcharged 800#, and it doesn't appear to work in
every city (it doesn't seem to work, for whatever reason, with my local
access number) but if you dial-in via one of AOLNet's access numbers, it
might work. I imagine the number of nodes this feature will work with is
increasing.
This won't work for everyone (TCP/IP, 800#, etc), but it will work for
the overwhelming majority of AOL users. Especially for business travelers
who call in from different cities depending on where they are, this is a
really nice feature.
C from CompuServe
=================
For those of you who can't wait to see "C", the new web-based effort from
CompuServe, your wait is over. You can check out "C" at
< http://c.compuserve.com >. As previously discussed you can "register"
as a guest and view much of the content available on "C", but in order to
gain posting privileges and see certain content, you must be a member.
As an incentive, CompuServe will be giving away two months of free access
to "C" if you sign-up as a member.
Overall, I like what CompuServe has done with "C", especially its
implementation of its forums on the Web. On the whole, however, I am not
optimistic about the success of "C" for a variety of reasons. For one,
CompuServe is a little late to the content game on the Web, and without
spending lots of dollars in marketing, "C" won't make a name for itself.
While reciprocal linking deals are nice, they won't drive the sort of
traffic necessary for making "C" a huge success. Fortunately, at least in
theory, the ongoing costs of maintaining "C" will not be high (as mostly
it is a port of information that exists already on CompuServe).
A big set-back in my view is the way CompuServe has chosen authenticate
"C" users. Simply put, in order to get full access as a member, before
giving your name, address, and credit card information, you have to
download what is being billed as the "C from CompuServe Installation
Package". Unfortunately, the minimum package available is 1.8 mb. While
it's true that's only 10 minutes with a 28.8 modem, that's 10 minutes that
kills any chance the product has of being a huge success in getting paying
members (who, after the trial will pay something less than $10/mo. for
membership, depending on the package. While I understand why CompuServe
went this route and am somewhat sympathetic, as a customer I simply do not
care. At that moment of truth where I'm ready, willing and able to give
you my credit card, don't make me download something that will take 10-20
minutes. Give me a user name and password and solve the problem on your
side, not on my (the client) side. In defense of "C", you can instead
request a CD instead of downloading the software and while that satisfies
not making you download the software, it doesn't satisfy getting you
online right away. The CD approach will make your wait to actually USE
the service even longer.
Of course, when I think "huge success", I'm thinking in terms of millions
of users, and it could well be that CompuServe would be thrilled to get
100,000 folks who will sign-up as members. Besides, most of the stuff, at
least for now, can be seen in guest (free) view, and this is perhaps where
C is looking to create a name for itself. Will C be successful? It's
hard to say, because there is one thing that could happen that would
significantly increase the odds of C's success. It involves our old
friends at AOL, Mr. Case and Mr. Pittman. If Steve and Bob decided to
promote "C" from CompuServe heavily on AOL, "C" would stand a much better
shot. Of course, in doing so, AOL would be promoting "C" at the expense
of promoting something else. I think it is unlikely that AOL will give
"C" much promotion from AOL. AOL argues it bought CompuServe precisely
BECAUSE it was a separate brand. If "C" can't stand on its own without
promotion from AOL then AOL may say it didn't want to build a new brand.
On the other hand, AOL is trying to leverage it's own Web presence,
AOL.COM, to non-AOLers. It would seem there is a lot of synergy between
what AOL.COM wants to achieve and what "C" wants to achieve. But for
some reason, I'm still not optimistic...
Holiday Specials
================
Nope, I'm not trying to sell you anything! Just wanted to point out a few
things worth looking at (and they didn't pay to be mentioned here!).
1. Audible < http://www.audible.com > offers Audio Books and other audio
content at steep discounts over what you'd pay at the bookstore. The
audio can be played directly on your PC or via a special Audible player
that you can take with you (car, train, plane, etc). The selection is
pretty good. The first-time setup was a little tricky, but worth the
effort. My only complaint is that the Audible Player can only store two
hours of audio at a time, and most books average 3 hours and up. So you
can't (without taking your laptop) dump a book onto the player and listen
to the whole thing between a flight from New York to San Francisco.
2. What would any end-of-year be like without a year in review? While
there will no doubt be many available on the Web, if you're a sports fan
(as I am) you'll want to check out:
< http://CNNSI.com/features/1997/yearinreview/ > CNNSI's year end review.
If you're not into sports, perhaps a broader perspective from NBC
correspondent Tom Brokaw via MSNBC would be more to your liking at
< http://www.msnbc.com/news/130918.asp >.
3. So, you think you have what it takes to make a bundle on a high-tech
startup? Now you can have some fun seeing if you have the right stuff by
growing your own virtual Internet company (hey, you were sick of virtual
pets anyway, right? Go down to the local shelter and get a REAL pet, you
won't be sorry!) courtesy of the merry elves at Tengra:
< http://seasonsgreetings.tenagra.com/ >.
Happy holidays! See you in two weeks.
Stock Watch for the Week Ending December 19, 1997
=================================================
Courtesy of InfoBeat's CLOSING BELL < http://www.infobeat.com >.
52 Wk 52 Wk P/E Week
SECURITY CLOSE HIGH LOW Ratio CHNG
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AT&T Corp................ 61 5/16 59 5/16 30 3/4 20 +6.2%
Amazon Com Inc........... 54 66 15 3/4 -0.9%
America Online Inc....... 84 3/4 91 1/8 31 3/4 -1.5%
Apple Computer Inc....... 13 11/16 29 3/4 12 3/4 -3.1%
At Home Corporation Ser A 24 9/16 30 5/8 16 5/8 -8.1%
C/Net.................... 28 46 1/2 15 3/4 +2.7%
CMG Info Svcs. Inc....... 27 1/4 28 7/8 10 7/16 +4.8%
Cmp Media Inc Cl A....... 18 7/8 29 3/8 13 3/4 27 +4.1%
CompuServe Corp.......... 13 1/8 14 9/16 8 7/8 +1.9%
Concentric Network Corp.. 9 1/16 16 8 3/4 -10.4%
Cybercash Inc............ 13 5/8 26 1/4 10 1/2 -4.3%
Earthlink Network Inc.... 23 1/2 24 7/8 8 5/8 +8.3%
Excite Inc............... 24 31/32 35 7 1/2 +6.8%
FTP Software Inc......... 2 8 3/8 1 1/2 +14.2%
GTE Corporation.......... 50 52 1/4 40 1/2 17 +1.9%
H & R Block Inc.......... 45 1/2 45 3/16 28 50 +4.5%
Hewlett Packard Company.. 61 5/16 72 15/16 48 1/8 21 +0.6%
IBM...................... 102 1/8 113 1/2 63 9/16 17 +1.7%
Individual Incorporated.. 3 11/32 11 7/8 2 5/8 +4.8%
Infoseek Corporation..... 8 11/16 14 1/2 4 3/8 -4.1%
Lycos Inc................ 36 3/4 42 10 3/8 +10.5%
MCI Communications Corpor 44 1/16 45 27 5/16 44 +0.5%
Mecklermedia Corp........ 22 7/8 30 16 1/2 53 0.0%
Microsoft Corporation.... 128 11/16 150 3/4 80 3/4 48 -5.8%
Mindspring Enterprises In 30 34 5/8 5 3/4 -8.7%
Netcom On Line Communicat 22 1/4 23 1/2 7 7/8 -0.5%
Netmanage Inc............ 2 9/16 7 5/8 2 3/32 +2.5%
Netscape Communications C 27 3/4 59 1/4 23 1/2 -0.4%
Network Solutions Inc. Cl 13 1/8 26 3/4 11 3/4 66 -13.9%
Onsale Inc............... 13 1/2 35 1/4 4 5/8 -15.6%
Open Market Inc.......... 9 15/16 17 3/8 6 1/2 -6.4%
Oracle Corporation....... 21 5/8 42 1/8 21 3/4 30 -4.9%
Psinet Inc............... 5 3/16 13 3/8 4 11/16 -10.7%
Quarterdeck Corp......... 1 33/64 6 5/16 1 7/16 0.0%
Security First Network Ba 7 1/8 14 1/4 5 1/4 +17.5%
Silicon Graphics Inc..... 13 30 5/16 12 5/16 52 -2.3%
Sprint Corporation....... 56 5/8 60 5/8 38 3/8 25 -1.5%
Spyglass Inc............. 5 15 3/8 4 7/8 -23.4%
Sun Microsystems Inc..... 38 11/16 53 5/16 25 1/2 20 +8.4%
Vocaltec Communications L 18 3/8 33 1/4 5 1/8 +12.2%
Worldcom Inc............. 33 1/16 39 7/8 21 1/4 +3.1%
Yahoo Corporation........ 61 7/8 61 1/2 11 9/64 +3.9%
Dow Jones 30 Industrials. 7,756.29 -1.0%
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