PUBLIC MARKS from vista with tag business

This explosion of new Web sites -- a phenomenon often dubbed "Web 2.0" -- is great for all kinds of Internet users. But how long can this new crop of startups survive without charging for their products? The answer, in some cases, may be not long. Simply put, many of these outfits, much like their dot-com predecessors in the late 1990s, don't have business models. The most common revenue source in the Web 2.0 world is contextual advertising -- but, as some analysts point out, the nickels and dimes earned when visitors click on ads provided by the likes of Google's AdWords barely bring in enough to cover the costs of Web server hardware. Consequently, some industry watchers believe that a shakeout is likely within the next 12 to 24 months.

Paul Rademacher talked about how Housing Maps, which is a mash-up of Google Maps and craigslist, came out of a real world need for him and grew from that. The lesson here is that usefulness is a key driver for success in the Web mash-ups world. He also mentioned that Housing Maps isn't necessarily a pure API mash-up, because the craigslist data is taken from their RSS feeds and then he stores the content on his own server. So mash-ups are still painful to implement, despite all the hype around using APIs to deliver them. Paul also said he that reached 900,000 visitors to Housing Maps without any marketing effort, which is an indication of how mash-ups can be low-cost to both produce and market.

Developing a mashup can be a lot of fun and it's usually low cost, because you're using (semi) open tools and data. Forget fun though for a minute - is there a business in mashups? There are obvious benefits for the data providers, for example both Google and craigslist benefit from increased traffic to their sites. In most cases that leads to increased revenue as well. But what's in it for the mashup developer, apart from publicity and prestige?

John Musser over at ProgrammableWeb (a great source for info on APIs, I might add!) has posted about the NY Times article* on Google Maps mashups.

Business models are perhaps the most discussed and least understood aspect of the web. There is so much talk about how the web changes traditional business models. But there is little clear-cut evidence of exactly what this means. In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself -- that is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain.

It wants more. Six Apart doesn’t disclose financials, but it’s the biggest independent company in the blogging space, with 15 million users and 125 employees. Still, many of its products are cheap or free. The company’s most expensive hosted blogging service for consumers is $14.95 per month. By contrast, the new TypePad Business class, which amps up security and storage, starts at $89.95 per blog per month. Business executives may not be known for their gripping narratives, but a barely penetrated market with deep pockets is a pretty compelling opportunity.

今天，Google 中国发布了本地商户中心 (Local Business Center; 网址: bendi.google.com/local/add) 服务。通过这项服务，国内的各种企业，无论大小、是否有网站，都可以把自己企业的信息主动发布在 Google 本地捜索平台上。经过 Google 的纪录在案，广大终端用户在本地捜索上查询他们所在城市和地区的企业商家时，就能轻松找到那些企业。

I wrote a quick entry about this Chicago mattress store on my personal blog and how fantastic the service was, how affordable the prices were and how I generally just had a great experience there (compared to the over-price place just a block away). Recently, I’m at the gym and a guy we know comes up to me and says ‘Oh, I stopped off at that mattress store you recommended and got a bed.’ Strange, I hadn’t mentioned to Sean about the store. ‘Oh yeah, he’s got that review from you posted at his store.’ Strange, I hadn’t mentioned to Sean about my blog.

This is a directory of Fortune 500 companies that have business blogs, defined as: active public blogs by company employees about the company and/or its products.

See all 100 companies on this year's ranking, plus company profiles with full list data and up-to-date stock performance information.

The Business 2.0 Blog. What Works. What Doesn't Work.

Ten years ago every business leader had to have an Internet strategy. These days the question making the rounds is "Should we get a blog?" To help you answer that question for your business let's review what a blog is, and look at the different ways that a blog could help your business.

Carl Bialik, a former technology reporter for the Online Journal, is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn, N.Y. He has long had an interest in looking at the way numbers are used, and abused, in the news, business and politics.

The blogosphere is a vast, unruly, and totally tantalizing mother lode of unvarnished consumer opinion on every product and service in the capitalist universe. But to know what the masses are saying about your product, you would have to dig through 350,000 fresh daily postings on a staggering 20 million blogs worldwide (90% of them are based in the U.S.). And that's just the beginning. Roughly 50,000 new blogs are launched every day.

近期，最热门的几大事件-超级女声、电影《神话》、苹果Video iPod发布……都与"无线"挂上了钩。随着无线科技发展一日千里，移动营销渐渐流行。 今天的市场营销已经是一个"差异化"(Differentiation)的战场-利用差异化的产品，通过差异化的渠道，捕捉差异化的客户。

一份可以輕鬆閱讀的中國財經周報，有興趣的朋友可以抽空瞧瞧！

「知己知彼，百戰百勝。」有空來讀讀大陸的書報期刊，是挺有意思的一件事！

A flurry of big deals in recent weeks provides many new ways for weblogs to turn a profit.

「Blogs, search, RSS, Atom, business news, and general geekery.」 我很喜歡讀Niall的Blog。

A site devoted to demonstrating how effective weblogs can be for communicating with customers and marketing to new customer prospects.

Read/WriteWeb is about the trends and business of Web 2.0.