Some e-tailers are trying to get out of costly sponsorship deals with portals, too. 2 Find ways to branch into B2B markets without abandoning consumers. 3 Raise more money from private investors and less in the public market.
Execution is especially critical now.
5 Don't be afraid of the best consumer-oriented deals. CMGI just funded Dialpad, a consumer Internet-phone venture, in part because of its low marketing costs. The U.S. Mint is making a mint on the Web. Since it costs only a nickel to make a quarter, the math works. On Apr. 3, when Maryland quarters went on sale online, 12.8 million coins sold out in two hours.