Weathering the Dot-Com Bomb

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by Donna Schwartz Mills

The big story at last year's SuperBowl - aside from the game itself - was the amount of advertising dollars spent by Internet companies. Flush with money from venture capitalists, their marketing folks barely blinked at the huge figures required to get into the event's ad game (which sells this year for $2.5 million per 30-second spot).

We all know how that story ended. The only Web companies expected to repeat at this year's SuperBowl are Monster.com, Hot Jobs and and e*Trade. Those not making a second apperance include WebMD (4th quarter losses = $50 million) and, most notably, Pets.com.

This is big bad news for those who invested money in these companies hoping for double-digit returns. And their woes have trickled down to those of us who operate our little dot-com companies without the benefit of venture capital (other than what we keep in our own bank accounts).

The trickle-down factor has resulted in fewer advertising dollars allocated for the Internet. If you publish an ezine, you have probably already tightened a few notches on your belt. According to TechWeb, "Ad rates are now nearly impossible to track because companies are no longer paying designated prices. In ad parlance, these sales are 'off the rate card.'" and those companies who are buying ads are enjoying discounts of up to 50%.

Smart ezine publishers who have seen their ad revenues plummet are looking toward other income sources. Many turn to affiliate programs -- but all is not rosy there, either.