During 2008, thanks to my wonderful clients, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking with online business news and information users. I’m forced to the conclusion that there is a terrific opportunity, in almost every vertical slice of the market, for a new online business that’s there for the taking.
That business is to provide not just news, but data, education, and answers … not just what happened today on a topic or an industry problem, but everything you need to know to understand it and react to it intelligently.
A real business information source of the kind I’m talking about would combine the best elements of a great news site (currency, intelligent organization, multiple sources) with a deep vertical Wikipedia, integrating valuable reference data, how-tos and explainers with crowdsourced industry data and commentary. And guess what? Unlike a plain old news site, I am sure people and companies will pay for the privilege of belonging to a site that can become a respected go-to resource.
It’s not easy to execute – in fact, I’m not sure anyone has really done a site like this yet. Like all real information businesses, it’ll take the right talent to build it and run it. Industry commentator Jeff Jarvis is trying to get us to call the skills you’ll need to create a news product in the future “curating” – but I’m not sure that nails it. A site like I’m talking about won’t just arrange and package things that already exist somewhere; to establish the level of expertise and reliability it will need, it will also have to go ahead and create information if what users really need and want just can’t be found anywhere else.
In a way, what I think people in business are looking for is (brace yourself) a richer and deeper about.com that operates at a high professional level, with respected industry experts who pull together all the disparate types of “help” people in an industry need, no matter what it is or where it comes from.
Anyone interested in that business?
3 responses so far ↓
robert ivan // December 8, 2008 at 8:07 pm |
The LA Times tried this back in 2005 and failed. The problem people agree on is that the paper never cultivated any sense of community. They just opened the thing up and within days had to take it down due to “obscene” material. LOL
http://news.cnet.com/L.A.-Times-shuts-reader-editorial-Web-site/2100-1023_3-5754202.html
Information Entrepreneurs: I’ve Got the Horse Right Here « The Open Field // June 8, 2009 at 9:44 am |
[...] content, and tons of automated technology. That model can work, of course. But there are also still plenty of vertical businesses (based on specific industries, hobbies, etc.) that can be built based more on the unglamorous, [...]
best small business ideas // June 17, 2009 at 7:30 pm |
Great post, I think where most people get stuck or decide to set an idea back in the closet is when it comes time to start…
I think an intelligent way to approach any online business endeavor or and online publication for that matter is to give it legs in the offline community, FIRST.
A small, say two or three, person constituancy who are consistant in updating, finding, and shareing industry specific information can generate a lot of interest and develop an engaged loyal group of follower (future contributors)
Lots of ego stroking, big shot talk, and we shouldisms don’t get it done…
I think big, always have, but as much as I’d like to say something else, I have to say the business endeavors that have really took off for me, started really small.
Nothing happens till something moves, so its said, and I can say from experience that if you believe persistance pays and being consistant is a prerequisite of success… go ahead and times that by 10 online. Its about separating your self from 99.9 % of the the other people and websites on the internet and those two things, Persistance and consistancy, do it.
Again Great Post.
J. Crawford