Interesting, notice the section I have bolded. Does this mean IUSAA is looking to play the MALL/DBCC spinoff game?
February 22, 1999 08:16
infoUSA to Launch Small Business Internet Portal, Internet Content
Revenue Doubles in January 1999
OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--infoUSA(R) Inc. (NASDAQ:IUSAA/IUSAB) announced today that revenue from content sales via its Internet site, www.infoUSA.com, more than doubled in January 1999 as compared to the same period last year. This excludes revenue from its strategic Internet partners that license the company's databases for use on their web site. In response to this growing demand by small business owners and entrepreneurs for Internet delivery of infoUSA's products, as well as other products, services and information dedicated solely to their needs, infoUSA will launch a small business portal, www.b2bcom.com. The company's strategic Internet partner, InfoSpace (Nasdaq:INSP), will provide some of the technology for the portal.
infoUSA chief executive officer, Vinod Gupta, said, "This portal will be a one-stop Internet shop for this market, and represents a natural way to leverage infoUSA's core competence in servicing the small business customer. Many of infoUSA's current two million customers are included in the approximately 10 million small business owners, 12 million entrepreneurs who work out of their home and 15 million aspiring entrepreneurs that comprise the target market for this portal. This community will increasingly be using the Internet for the majority of its purchases and to sell its products via e-commerce. The portal will sell products and provide valuable services and information that are targeted to this community and are uniquely tailored to its needs. infoUSA is in a premier position to direct traffic to this site, given its numerous links with Internet licensing partners and traffic to its existing web site, which total one million hits per day. In this way, the portal has the potential to attract significant banner advertising revenues as well as generate product sales for the company and its partners. In fact, we are already getting inquiries from potential advertisers."
Gupta continued, "The key to success on the Internet is having proprietary content and traffic. infoUSA has a distinct competitive advantage in its ability to deliver both to this portal site, as well as to contribute its expertise in conducting e-commerce with the rapidly growing small business market. The company will consider structuring this portal as a separate entity in order to create its own brand identity and maximize shareholder value. In the future, this may include accessing the public markets in order to fund its growth."
The site will provide information on important topics, such as how to start a business, how to finance a business, how to successfully manage a business, and how to find new customers and increase revenues. Small business owners will be able to purchase a wide array of business products such as office supplies, computer and telecom equipment, software and other small business products, which will be offered through partnerships with various vendors. Additionally, many of the infoUSA sales and marketing products will be offered, such as sales leads, mailing lists, business credit reports and electronic business directories. Links to companies offering professional services such as accounting, tax, legal, human resource, insurance, and trademark and patent services will be available. Small business owners will be able to access a chat room and message board where they can share ideas with other small business owners, or even sell their own products, and participate in special "Ask the Experts" sessions on various topics. The site will even offer small businesses a free e-mail service and the ability to create their own web sites to conduct e-commerce. |
