Making Space For MySpace: The Internet Gets A New Leader
Making Space For MySpace: The Internet Gets A New Leader
“We started our first company nine moths later,” recalls Anderson. “So I went from not working or doing little side jobs here and there to helping to run a company and own part of it. I don’t think that a normal business guy would have given me this kind of chance.”
DeWolfe might not have been “normal,” but he nevertheless saw something in Anderson that sparked an instant connection. The duo decided to create an Internet marketing firm. Called Response Base, the company took off. It was so successful in fact, that it was sold within a year to eUniverse for several million dollars. Although they both continued to work for the company, Anderson had bigger plans.
Anderson began thinking about online social networking, and wondered if it was going to be the next big thing. “I had looked at dating sites and niche communities like BlackPlanet, AsianAvenue, and MiGente, as well as Friendster,” he says, “and I thought, ‘They’re thinking way too small.’”
Anderson pitched the idea to DeWolfe and he was sold. It reminded him of one of his USC business papers, where he had proposed the creation of a community website called Sitegeist. He was given an A- for the idea by a professor who rarely gave out A’s of any kind. DeWolfe knew he was onto something.
In 2003, Anderson and DeWolfe launched their new site, first inviting just local bands and club owners to create profile pages and become their “friends.” Because of how it began, the two indie music lovers got to spend much of their time going to watch live music each week and talking to bands. “It was pretty much a great way to work,” recalls DeWolfe.
As it turns out, their marketing strategy was not only fun for them. It was also successful in terms of generating the publicity that they needed. “All these creative people became ambassadors for MySpace by using us as their de facto promotional platform,” says DeWolfe. “People like to talk about music, so the bands set up a natural environment to communicate.”
When a friend reminded DeWolfe that he had previously bought the domain name myspace.com (he had been toying with the idea of creating a web-hosting company), the pair had their new site name.
“Things did go remarkably easy for us,” recalls Anderson. “I can’t say we struggled for a long time; we only struggled for a month.” But that one month was a difficult time. With little traffic to their new site, Anderson began thinking, “This may not work out.” Then, one day, he says, “We this huge spike because of people telling each other. It just went crazy from there. We didn’t have this big, long struggle behind it. We put it up, and it got popular very quickly.”
So, what began as a community of creative people that Anderson and DeWolfe knew in Los Angeles quickly grew into a worldwide phenomenon simply by word of mouth. Today, MySpace is up and running in 14 different countries. That, says DeWolfe, was always their intention. “We wanted to make sure we had a huge U.S. community right from the beginning. And it was always in our first business plans to expand it internationally.”
Making Space For MySpace The Internet Gets A New Leader
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Neither DeWolfe nor Anderson particularly liked authority, but in each other they found not only a friend, but somebody they also respected and with whom they could work well. After Xdrive, the company they had both been working for, ended up in bankruptcy in the dot-com bubble burst, DeWolfe and Anderson decided to go into business with each other.
“We started our first company nine moths later,” recalls Anderson. “So I went from not working or doing little side jobs here and there to helping to run a company and own part of it. I don’t think that a normal business guy would have given me this kind of chance.”
DeWolfe might not have been “normal,” but he nevertheless saw something in Anderson that sparked an instant connection. The duo decided to create an Internet marketing firm. Called Response Base, the company took off. It was so successful in fact, that it was sold within a year to eUniverse for several million dollars. Although they both continued to work for the company, Anderson had bigger plans.
Anderson began thinking about online social networking, and wondered if it was going to be the next big thing. “I had looked at dating sites and niche communities like BlackPlanet, AsianAvenue, and MiGente, as well as Friendster,” he says, “and I thought, ‘They’re thinking way too small.’”
Anderson pitched the idea to DeWolfe and he was sold. It reminded him of one of his USC business papers, where he had proposed the creation of a community website called Sitegeist. He was given an A- for the idea by a professor who rarely gave out A’s of any kind. DeWolfe knew he was onto something.
In 2003, Anderson and DeWolfe launched their new site, first inviting just local bands and club owners to create profile pages and become their “friends.” Because of how it began, the two indie music lovers got to spend much of their time going to watch live music each week and talking to bands. “It was pretty much a great way to work,” recalls DeWolfe.
As it turns out, their marketing strategy was not only fun for them. It was also successful in terms of generating the publicity that they needed. “All these creative people became ambassadors for MySpace by using us as their de facto promotional platform,” says DeWolfe. “People like to talk about music, so the bands set up a natural environment to communicate.”
When a friend reminded DeWolfe that he had previously bought the domain name myspace.com (he had been toying with the idea of creating a web-hosting company), the pair had their new site name.
“Things did go remarkably easy for us,” recalls Anderson. “I can’t say we struggled for a long time; we only struggled for a month.” But that one month was a difficult time. With little traffic to their new site, Anderson began thinking, “This may not work out.” Then, one day, he says, “We this huge spike because of people telling each other. It just went crazy from there. We didn’t have this big, long struggle behind it. We put it up, and it got popular very quickly.”
So, what began as a community of creative people that Anderson and DeWolfe knew in Los Angeles quickly grew into a worldwide phenomenon simply by word of mouth. Today, MySpace is up and running in 14 different countries. That, says DeWolfe, was always their intention. “We wanted to make sure we had a huge U.S. community right from the beginning. And it was always in our first business plans to expand it internationally.”
Making Space For MySpace The Internet Gets A New Leader
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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