Tips From the Pioneers By Steve Outing Last week, some 500 online content pioneers gathered in San Francisco for the first significant industry conference to focus solely on Internet content creation and provision. Internet Content 99 was a milestone event in the growth of the still-infant online content industry. Also present in encouraging numbers were venture capitalists, who heretofore have mostly eschewed pure online content deals in favor of technology-oriented Internet media plays and national portal companies. For those of you who missed Internet Content 99, I'll recount some of the highlights and lessons learned at the conference. First Conferences representatives say they plan to repeat the show in the U.S. in another year, and produce a European version of Internet Content in about six months.
People tend to come online more to find information than to be entertained.
Likewise, writers and content creators should have the goal of making their content useful to online users. Candace Carpenter , CEO of iVillage, the Web's most popular women's content site, pointed out that verticals should be very profitable Internet businesses in time. The natural evolution of all media is to targeted destinations, and the Internet is no different from television, radio or magazines, for instance. Carpenter said in the example of seniors, a broader-based seniors portal or hub site should be successful today. The growth of vertical portals also is what represents perhaps the largest opportunity for writers and other content creators, who will serve this growing industry.