Interview with Rosalind Resnick, Executive of NetCreations

I started out as a business reporter at Fairchild Publications and then moved to the Miami Herald as a business writer. I was always dreaming about starting my own company. When I became pregnant with my first daughter I had the option of working full time or quitting the company, which opened up the opportunity to start my own business. From there I started working from home as a freelance writer and began using the Internet on a daily basis, with all that it entailed; slow modems, computer problems, etc.

I used it to research people that I interviewed for stories. It was an incredible new world that was just forming. Soon thereafter I wrote a few books about doing business on the Internet. “The Internet Business Guide” came out in August 1994 and I began speaking at different events, while also working as a journalist. Over time I began to publish my own online newsletter and began spreading the word about the Internet and the opportunity it presented.

I was a true believer and an evangelist speaking with whoever would listen, and promoting it in a number of columns and via my own newsletter. While working as a journalist, I wanted to start a small web design firm that I could promote as well. It was at that time that I began working with Ryan Druckenmiller who co-founded NetCreations with me. He was the guy who could code anything, and I was the girl who could sell anything. We were working out of our house in Hollywood, FL and driving around to different clients pitching web design business.

We were successful for a number of reasons; we were one of a very few firms, we secured some larger clients early, etc. Another key factor was that I was one of the first people to write about doing business on the Internet, and had established myself as an expert. I knew as a journalist that it would be very difficult to make the leap from journalist to businessperson if I had not demonstrated my industry expertise. The best way to ensure you are recognized for that expertise is to have a book with your name on it. The publication of that book put me on the map; allowed me to speak at conferences, write columns (National distribution), etc.

We simply followed the market. Back in 1995 you could either be an ISP or a design firm. All the other things that came along later had yet to be invented. Our role was to help our clients market their products and services over the net. In addition to creating web sites, we would help with search engine submissions, etc. We realized that our clients really needed a way to get people to their sites. One of our first products was PostMaster, which was a URL submission tool. We didn’t promise a specific listing position, but we did ensure that the search engines picked up their sites.

I was good at doing PR, and would send out press releases to the same companies that I was writing for. BoardWatch Magazine gave our PostMaster service a rave review, which provided free marketing to some of the key thought leaders in this new area. When they saw that Billboard had given us a great review they tried our service.

It is definitely tempting to say that we were visionaries and sat down and decided to revolutionize the direct marketing business. The reality is that we were two entrepreneurs trying to make a living. One of our clients came to us and told us what they needed from us. PostMasterDirect wasn’t developed out of the blue.

One of our web design clients, a major Washington D.C. law firm wanted to send out an email newsletter to their clients. At the time there were two solutions, which were quite unreliable, so we decided to build something on our own. My partner ended up writing his own PERL script that allowed users to upload an email address list via a web page, and allowed the list owner to send out an email to many people easily and reliably. This product was created for the law firm, but we ensured that we owned the rights to the program. That little program was so effective for them that we decided to build a list on our own site. It was this placement that allowed us to begin capturing email address for people interested in web design services, web promotions, etc.

There is no better way to communicate internally or externally. It is a great marketing tool, you can introduce yourself to new prospects in one quick and easy step. From a B2B perspective it is a fabulous tool. I am really disappointed by the way the industry has killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

When we developed PostMasterDirect in 1996, there were all types of Spam back then as well. In fact, when I testified before the Federal Trade Commission in 1997 concerning span, they were considering a ban on email marketing. I made a case that it wasn’t either or, or black or white, but that there is a third way, which is opt-in or permission based emails. At the time opt-in email was truly a better faster way to get a B2C message across. Unfortunately, email became so successful and prevalent that the spammers began to take advantage of this tool and abuse it.

Spammers figured out that email recipients would sign up for a chance to win random sweepstakes, companies were swapping lists, and lists become readily available of users that had technically opted-in, but not for the information or content that they began receiving. You had this situation where you had unbridled supply at the very time companies began slashing advertising budgets because the capital markets were pulling out. If you take a look at the email marketing business today the B2C side has gone from bad to worse. A company such as NetCreations, which is the staunchest advocate for privacy in the marketplace there are marketers who won’t work with them because they are associated with email. Regardless of the reputation that NetCreations has as a leading privacy advocate.

The industry needs to band together to develop privacy requirements. I think government regulations are inevitable. I am a believer in free markets; unfortunately that is not an option. The industry had five to six years to figure it out, but didn’t do so, and now the government will step in and do it for them.

I don’t think so. It is the legitimate marketers who have been hurt most by the anti-Spam regulations as opposed to spammers. There is nothing to stop a spammer from shooting off Spam from a server overseas and hopping from one ISP to another. There are a number of technological solutions available, such as filters and even the system where you confirm yourself as the recipient.

It is a boutique management-consulting firm dedicated to helping people start businesses and take their businesses to the next level. We work with startups and existing companies. Lately, we have been working with a lot of Internet and technology companies. When I left NetCreations at the end of 2001, I though that I was leaving the Internet behind, but lo and behold I am back in it. We are also working with everyone from retailers, restaurants, and fashion companies to manufacturers.

We will help startups develop their business plan. We assist with market research, competitive analysis, develop the assumptions, build the financial model, put the projections together so that they have a document together to shop to either investors, VC’s or Banks and Lenders. In some cases we will help them shop it around as well. Existing businesses need help with lead generation, marketing plans, etc. They have cash flow, but need assistance taking their business to the next level.

The difference between a successful entrepreneur and one who isn’t is that the successful one is too stubborn to give up. A lot of companies fail because they are undercapitalized, and others fail because they have the wrong business model. All of the tangible factors aside, I think the biggest reason entrepreneurs succeed is that their founders want them to. There were any number of reasons that NetCreations shouldn’t have succeeded. We were determined to succeed, and didn’t see ourselves as having any other options. We also had an innate instinct for survival.