Social news site Digg didn't do very well in terms of revenues during the first three quarters of 2008 -- about $6.4 million on 30 million monthly uniques for a $2 million loss. So a couple weeks ago, we launched the Fix Digg's Miserable Business Contest, promising to personally pass the winner's plan and resume to Digg founder Kevin Rose and CEO Jay Adelson.
After many submissions, a look at five early leaders, a "popular vote" winning plan from entrant Ben Schaechter, and a our own 7-point plan, we've finally found a winner: Cornell MBA student, Keith Cowing.
We chose Keith's plan for the following reasons:
- It includes the most obvious way for Digg to make money now -- sponsored posts inserted into the front page river.
- The plan lets readers vote on the banner ads at the margins of the page, which should boost the CPMs on those ads because advertisers will know they are only being shown only to users who actually want to see them.
- Keith points out that Digg could make some money selling marketers data about its users advertising preferences.
- It takes a stab at revenue projections.
- It's 14 full pages of PowerPoint glory.
Below, our letter of introduction to Digg founder Kevin Rose and Keith's plan and resume. Congratulations Keith!
See Also:
Our Favorite Small, Simple Ideas For Saving Digg
