A specific purpose is a must

Seduced by the success of YouTube, far too many people are
mimicking the online video pioneer. But a lot of companies are finding
out that it is tough to catch lightning in a bottle. That includes giants like
Sony, who invested $55 million in a user generated web video site
called Grouper six months ago.

The Grouper experiment has failed. "User-generated video is dead to
us," Grouper founder Josh Felser told an interviewer.

"The same content is on every site," Felser complained. "Equally as
important, you can't monetize it. Advertisers don't want to be associated
with unpredictable content."

Grouper, which going forward will be known as Crackle, is bidding to
become an online movie studio instead. And that's a smart move, as
they become a site with a specific purpose, making it more likely that
they will intelligently use Sony's resources and skill sets.

A specific purpose is a must. When I first conceived of the idea of Free
IQ, the specific purpose was clear, providing visitors with useful,
meaningful, skill-building information. Free IQ has a powerful revenue
model as well, offering experts on all subjects the opportunity to sell
their intellectual property on our site.

Web video is here, and will do nothing but grow. But many big players
in the industry are discovering that they aren't going to be the next
YouTube. They're learning that you need to focus on doing something
specific and do it well in order to profit from it.

We're pouring significant resources into making Free IQ an important
source of knowledge for visitors. Doing so will provide our content
providers and affiliates with a considerable opportunity to profit along
with us.

That's Free IQ's purpose. And while we'll never be YouTube, each and
every day we're getting a little bit closer to being that indispensible
resource that we know that Free IQ can be.

Talk soon,

Brad Fallon