I built my first commercial website in 1995. New Jersey Online (NJ.com – it was cool when I ran it! Today, Meh.) It was one of the first online newspapers; was tied to the three leading New Jersey newspapers; was extremely well-funded by Advance Publications,;I had brilliant partners like the prescient Jeff Jarvis; had numerous industry firsts (like the first real-time global newsfeed) and was designed to make money.
I ran it for five years, it won awards, was considered a leader in the category. It didn’t make enough money. I don’t even think that today, almost 20 years later, it (or its cousins like OregonLive) even come close to replacing the money loosing Newhouse newspapers (just Google The Times Picayune and its death). Why didn’t NJ.com make cash? [Read more…] about Advertising Does Not Work On The Internet