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A Year in the Life of a Dot-Com
Dear DACIS Subscribers,
It has now been a year since this website rolled out. It has been an eventful year—and not just for us, but for Internet-related businesses in general.
During that year, we've gone from a mania for all things Internet to a more realistic appraisal of the medium's business prospects. An untold number of dot-coms which were launched on a wing and a prayer have come crashing to Earth. Millionaires have been made and unmade. It's enough to make us glad that we didn't add a ".com" to our name (at one time we did consider it).
But we were never like most other dot-coms. We saw the Internet simply as a better way of publishing the competitive intelligence databases that were already selling well in CD-ROM format (and which we had been providing since 1996). The transition was natural. Our databases have thrived in this new medium—they're more timely, more comprehensive, and more powerful. Our sales model has also matured. Formerly it was a process that enriched our printer and the U.S. Postal Service, while yielding spotty results. Now it is conducted swiftly and inexpensively—and with returns which are far superior.
We're pleased to report that this year has been an unalloyed success for InfoBase Publishers. During the first 11 months of 2000 we've already exceeded our previous sales year record (which came in 1998) by 54 percent. We've increased the size of our analytical staff by more than 50 percent. We've paid for this website, and for the improvements made to it over the course of the year. And we've paid for these things financed solely by you, our loyal subscribers. (And you have been loyal: our resubscription rate for 2000 has been just under 90 percent. That's an extraordinary number for this industry.)
So while other dot-coms have been out shaking (and reshaking) the money tree, we've been minding the store. We'll be doing more of that in the year to come. Major improvements to this website are being prepared for 2001. We appreciate the confidence you've placed in us with your subscriptions. We realize that trust is earned, not given. We will continue to earn yours as this website enters its second year.
Best regards,

Stuart McCutchan
President
InfoBase Publishers, Inc.
November 18, 2000
DATE
Nov 18, 2000