cameron peron

One of the most effective uses of the internet, is the ability to promote a movement with upright intentions.  IslamCrunch is an excellent example of a web-property that targets a deep and narrow niche and applies effective communication tools to build a loyal and vibrant traffic base.  It’s one of the most effective projects utilizing web tools to push a religious point of view online today. The brainchild of Mikael Pittam and his wife Su, IslamCrunch is a web property that provides information on Islamic learning and grassroots activism.

Setting a precedent by utilizing the Internet as means to communicate Islamic teachings and promote grass roots activism. Rather than taking the “broad” route, IslamCrunch dives deep into two specific channels: learning and activism. It not only builds a traffic base by providing targeted and rich content on these two subjects, but it also effectively utilizes social tools like Twitter and Facebook to build and engage a community directly and aggregate viral created traffic.

Strictly Western Islam. Probably the highest valued asset of IslamCrunch is its Western approach to Islam – both in the structure of the property itself and the content it provides. It’s a positive force emphasizing teachings over politics or critiques on social issues.  IslamCrunch uses the same tools and technology that are otherwise highly regulated and censored in countries with a conservative Islamic tradition. By doing so, it communicates a view point of Islam that promotes peace, virtue and giving; a process that could only be made possible in a Western country.  In spite of highly polarizing events in the MiddleEast, Pittam posted an excellent audio and video series by 3 Muslim scholars discussing how to cure extremism. No doubt an excellent expression of peace and a deep insight for Muslims and non Muslim alike.

Positioned to effectively capitalize on targeted traffic. A property like this has the potential to build a massive community of highly targeted and active users. Generating targeted traffic with the sole intention of providing high value content is by far the best way to generate consistent and loyal traffic. Leveraging this loyal traffic base through new projects, IslamCrunch can generate several revenue streams as well as provide meaningful services to his users.  Some of IslamCrunch’s possible next moves:
- Social network targeted specifically to Muslim youth.
- Micro-blogging network.
- Localized portal for Islamic activism in US and Canadian cities.
- Reaching outside of Islamic community via interviews and guest posts.

In addition to being a influential source of moderate Islam, IslamCrunch has the potential of becoming a powerful media based business and online cornerstone to the Western based Islamic community. For non Muslims – it’s an excellent read and insight into a hugely unexplored demographic in the West.

It’s wishful thinking to expect that the economy will bounce back to pre June 2008 levels this year. 2009 will be a land grab year for both smart businesses with money to spend and entrepreneurs with business models built on performance marketing.

1. Yahoo will merge or be acquired. It’s inevitable. With a stock pricing straddling $10/share, a group like Ichan’s will continue buying huge portions of Yahoo stock causing stock prices to be driven up even further. With Ichan already controlling enough chairs to influence who takes the CEO chair and playing an active and persistent role on the Board, the company is headed in the right direction for an M&A.
2. Facebook will come to a realistic evaluation. The $15B hype behind Facebook will be put into check. With VC cash drying up, Facebook will have no choice by to increase advertising activities via performance based online advertising. Hopefully this activities won’t scare off users like Beacon. Not only can we expect a more practical valuation of the traffic Facebook is riding, but also a precedent for the valuation of social media in general.
3. Ebay will continue to outpace Amazon. Already ahead by a slim margin in unique monthly visitors, Ebay will outpace Amazon in growth and possibly in stock value. With consumers still spending on tight budgets, the of increase in second hand shopping Ebay gained over Christmas will play an active role in consumer shopping patterns after Q1 2009 post Christmas lull.
4. P2P lending will rise as a serious source of personal finance. Consumers still need small loans despite the average American carrying thousands in credit card debt, and banks raising personal credit rates. P2P lending sites like lendingclub and prosper will rise as a preferred source of banking; providing consumers with easy access to small time loans and empowering investors with additional revenue streams.
5. Angel investing will reach tipping point. Angel investing will become a more prominent and sought after source of funding, given lower startup costs as well as the bootstrapping mentality needed for survival in a recession.  Although still playing an active role with high exit value ventures, VCs aren’t going to take the risks that they have been in the last 2 years. Savvy angel investors will not only provide short term capital but can fill the void in provided valued added strategic guidance.

Let’s see how the ball rolls towards the end of 2009 Q1. Good luck to anyone starting a business this year!

I’ve been thinking recently about the basics of Econ 101: when times get tough – gambling and alcohol always win. That was an off the fly comment made by one of my professors made regarding financial busts and booms. A few years later when I graduated in time for 9/11 – the message to all of us was: “SURPRISE! Try and find a job in the recession wrecked and frightened economy.” The small economic bust of 9/11 proved my professor’s point:

The red line is Anheuser-Busch, and the blue line is Brown-Forman Corp., the parent company for Jack Daniels.

He was totally right! I’m not going to even bother putting a chart up for international alcohol companies, but let’s say you could easily diversify your portfolio with a few international brands, even in emerging countries and the principle yields the same results.

The value of our investments and cash are based on variables far beyond our own control. With trillions of dollars lost in the last 12 months it makes any investment, even cash or gold look scary. All investments, no matter the type, have a price that is subject to change.

I see too many financial and tech bloggers, in addition to financial “experts” giving frantic and contradictory advice. None of their answers address a simple question: what good are the investment decisions you make today worth when the entire world economy can turn upside down tomorrow? There is simply too much information to consider and little relevant historical data available.

The difference between now and the 9/11 recession, the recession of the 90s or Great Depression is that we are at a major technological advantage to learn and act financially. With finance 2.0 management and research tools like mint or yahoo finance with have the ability to get highly personal up-to-the minute information and the ease to act on what we learn. The real issue is our skill in interpreting information, making responsible decisions and investments for the long term.

Disclaimer: This purpose of this entry is strictly to provoke thought – not a provision for financial advice.

How do you monetize a huge volume of users that aren’t in the mood for seeing or interacting with ads? Ask Google. They announced earlier today that they’ll start running ads with flash games. It’s an attempt to copy/past the success of AdSense in a market undervalued by larger players.

What this deal is really about is testing passive and unengaged traffic.  Everyone interacts with web properties hosting games, funny videos and entertainment. But this traffic is not actively seeking information to make a decision. They’re simply screwing around, taking a break, playing with friends or relaxing.  Traffic volumes for passive traffic like this is decent when compared to a high volume news sites like the NY Times:

The big question is how to monetize this traffic. Higher numbers often indicate a higher chance for monetization.  Companies like Digg (valued at $40M) have the investment behind it – but results still need to be proven.  The same can be said for the other web 2.0 models like social networks and photo websites that draw massive amounts of untargeted traffic and investment – but shy away from boosting revenue figures.  These sites are cool, but I won’t believe they are an effective business model until I see the money line in action.

Another issues is how ad placement will be achieved. In the worse case scenario, ads will be placed in a seemingly disruptive way – totally distracting happy flash gamers playing their favorite free games.  Arrington gave us excellent example pointing to the tasteless ad display in movies like Idiocracy and 1990s old school style websites. Let’s hope it won’t be something like this:

Can you imagine ads being implemented in your favorite game – popping out of no where or as, characters, objectives and other in-game tactics!?

I believe there is a business behind passive traffic like flash games and other entertainment sites.  The numbers are there but the engagement is not.  On the bright side this deal will be good for everyone: Google will invest a few zillions to attract, test and monetize.  If and once the results are successful, smaller time media companies have room to move in.

In the mean time I doubt Raft War players are going to bite anytime soon :)

It didn’t take long for the Yahoo-Google ad management deal to get scrutinized by the Department of Justice.  The deal – allowing a certain allocation of Yahoo!’s ad space to serve Google managed ads – has some in Washington doubting its fairness and contribution to a competitive environment.

Can’t say I’m shocked. I spoke in the past about how consumers and businesses lose when Google nears monopoly status.  I just had no idea it would happen so soon. Everyone knows that Google has been growing disproportionally out of control with their hold on search and content advertising.  Few outside of the media business understand it.  But can any attempt at regulation or breakup at this point really achieve anything? With such a huge amount of means of interacting over the Internet it might be too late.

Regulation if done effectively could set a new precedent. This could be an excellent chance for regulators and federal authorities to make a ruling over Google that can create a competitive environment.  I hate regulation, and prefer for market economics to level the playing field.  In this case there is simply too much out of the control of consumer’s hands.  Seriously, is there enough market force to boycott the two largest names in search – :) ?

In the best case scenario the fact the DOJ is reviewing the case may give an incentive for an adjustment in the market without intervention.  Maybe Google will back down and Yahoo! consider new options for strategic partnerships with other media companies.  Worse case, a poor decision will be handed over by officials who barely understand how the Internet works let alone have the wisdom to see it’s direction in the next few years.