The Web Can Make You a Star!

Some people think of the Web as a cavernous online library. Others consider it an electronic global village. But the Web is also the world's biggest stage. If you're an expert in a field that people care about, if you're connected to people whom others want to meet, or if you have a sense of style that lots of people enjoy, you can reach a potential audience of millions -- and have impact around the world. You can become a star.

Consider the career of Robert Seidman. Three years ago Seidman was an anonymous project development manager in an obscure company called FYI Online. He was part of a team creating yet another personalized electronic news service. As part of his job, he signed up for every source of online information he could find -- and soon his inbox was inundated with articles. "I thought it would be nice if someone could take all this stuff and tell me what I needed to know," he recalls. "Then I thought, 'I'm reading this stuff anyway. Why don't I do it for other people?'"

So he posted a collection of article abstracts to two Internet newsgroups. After his collection got rave reviews, he posted another one the next week. His following grew. Industry insiders started sending him information about their companies -- and their competitors. Seidman then started hearing from his readers: "I love this stuff, but I don't visit newsgroups all the time. Send it to me through email." So he made that offer to all of his readers. Within three days he had 3,000 subscribers to Online Insider. A star was born.

"I love this," he marvels. "I can sit in my bedroom, write what I think, and have a relationship with thousands of people -- I'm like a kid in a candy store."

Seidman is just one of many emerging Net celebrities. We'll introduce you to four of them and explain how they found their roads to fame. Their stories will help you get online with your own show.

The Guru

Star: Robert Seidman, 35, creator of Online Insider, a weekly electronic newsletter with 20,000 subscribers.

Online Insider has come a long way since its debut in 1994. It's no longer a collection of article abstracts. It's a platform for its creator's deeply held views on the fate of the online business. One typical issue, published this past fall, includes an essay by Seidman on the battle between Microsoft and Netscape. There's a letter from Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, responding to earlier criticism of the company by Seidman, and a long meditation on whether spam email can and should be stopped.

Today Online Insider is more than just a newsletter. Seidman has launched a Web site with archives of past issues, links to companies and Web sites mentioned in his commentaries, discussion groups, and an invitation-only area called Insider Talk. "I've built a one-to-many relationship with my subscribers, and they've built a many-to-one relationship with me," he says.

Fan Club: Seidman characterizes his subscribers as "die-hard Internet enthusiasts, people in the industry, and people who work in the Internet wing of their companies." They include the most influential people in the online business -- people who in turn recognize Seidman's growing clout. "What amazes me," he says, "is that people from Microsoft take the train from New York City to Westchester County, where I live, just to show me their products. Steve Case from America Online has been very good about giving me interviews."

Seidman emphasizes that although Online Insider exists to express his point of view, many subscribers pay attention primarily because of the people he talks to. Case was the first industry bigwig to make contact with him. "Then I started talking to others in the industry, and it really helped my credibility," he explains. " Once a few people start talking to you, everyone wants to talk to you."

Road to Fame: Life as an online pundit is not for the faint of heart. From the moment Seidman began distributing his newsletter, it began to take over his life. He left FYI Online in February 1995, less than six months after his first posting, and joined a former colleague at IBM. One reason: IBM liked what he was doing well enough to let him do some of it at the office. "But I was working 70 or 80 hours a week," Seidman says. "Between email, research, and writing, the newsletter alone took up 30 hours a week. I had no life." Eventually the toll became too high; Seidman had to turn his online report into a full-time job. He left IBM and cut a deal with CMP, the trade magazine empire. He agreed to become an editor at large for NetGuide, a now-defunct print magazine, and to continue producing his newsletter. "It was going to allow me to have a 40-hour-a-week lifestyle and to compensate me very well," Seidman reports. "But things didn't turn out as I'd hoped they would." He resigned in August. His current status? "I'm not affiliated," he says euphemistically.

Still, he has no regrets. Online Insider continues to grow in reach and influence, and its founder is convinced that his high profile will pay big financial dividends. "I didn't go into this to make money," says Seidman. "But I don't doubt that my value in the marketplace has tripled as a result of writing the newsletter. I've gotten some pretty flattering job offers."

The Stage: Visit Online Insider on the Web http://www.onlineinsider.com .