Blue mountain cards still standing
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by: al.sones
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Word Count: 444
What is Blue Mountain Cards? It all started back when ecards became big in the 1990s. Im not sure exactly how they built a business model on the idea of giving away a free ecard, but they did. Business models based on advertising revenue were quite frequent back then. This has no changed with people wanting to know where the real revenue is coming from. However, there are some painful similarities in web 2.0 to this idea of building big applications that will make money only from advertising.
Ecards are a difficult business space for me to understand. This is the space that is eating the lunch from the old paper greeting card space thats been around forever and a day. In some ways its a normal case study of technology advancement over a paper based product. But you should look deeper. eCards are not exactly the same product as paper greeting cards. You buy a paper card at a store and physically write on it. Electronic cards are bought online and never touch paper. In this way, its a real product transition. So we are actually seeing technology change the wants and desires of the buyer here. This is not unique, just look at tvs, video games or any other electronic based market.
How exactly did blue mountain cards dig out of this hole? First, Blue Mountain Cards had a big lead going into the game. They had a good plan. It seems like the executives at Blue Mountain Cards new they were onto something big, but that it wouldnt last. So the company was sold while things were still really really hot in the dot com sector. What a move that was.. Looking back, there are many things I wish I had done differently.
How is that in 2008 Blue Mountain Cards is still a going concern? One view is that the original builders of the business picked an once-in-a-lifetime period to exit the business and made an unprecedented amount of money.. I often wonder if management teams like that are really lucky or create luck due to their experience. The greeting card business is huge. Regardless of their underlying financials, this business made a name for itself in a multi billion dollar business space. I am betting that this is why they are still around today. They built a brand and have a name worth something. The part that is not text book is how Blue Mountain Cards got out at the top of the market. I guess thats where a little luck goes a long way.
About the Author
For more information on greeting card sites, click to bluemountaincards1.blogspot.com.
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