Thanks :)

I hope what you're saying comes true. Though I'm skeptic about it *truly*. Infact, day-in day-out, the number of small agencies coming out poses yet another problem since the terrain becomes murkier and the client trust on such a medium falls apart.

Saying that, I've even seen many smaller agencies doing some awesome work - much better than bigger ones, which makes us think why?

Cheers
@Sampad

Interesting thoughts. Couple of very important points you've touched like discounts, social media importance in eCommerce, easy payment mechanism (especially for high priced items), payment gateways and above all a personal touch.

Now it makes me wonder why can't we use all these in our favor and make a biz model out it? btw I think we can!

Cheers
@Sampad

Great going Nikhil. Last year when it was launched I can see where Medianama fits in my daily dosage of digital bytes. Now you going on-step up is a validation that you guys are doing an awesome job.

Keep rocking. Looking forward to your new design.

Cheers
@Sampad

Have checked. Interesting pointers you've got there. Even one of the problems in India we face today is also listed there i.e. the UI aspect. We are on similar lines for sure. But still don't see much work happening there in Indian scenario.

Would love to hear more about your experiences?

Cheers
@Sampad

It surely does! But we have to put creativity (the element of surprise to connect positively & engage) as one of the most important armor to deal with this.

Just think about how creative most of Indian brands have been in social media realm. I bet very very few. And on the hindsight, the social media campaigns we talk about, hear about the most, all use creativity to the greatest extent to reach out & connect. But there's one obvious caveat though.

Thanks Bhanu. Appreciate it!

Cheers
@Sampad

Couple of pointers. Though overall I don't agree but I guess my point isn't what may come as obvious i.e. build a niche & you'll be successful.

And from CS post, here are some nuggets:

1. techTribe had expected online model to help in automating the referrals, which would help in scaling up the business. But referrals continue to be a manual process, and thus making it a less scalabale business. Now techTribe has stopped doing referrals (So there was a definitive lacking in their business model from the word go)

2. techTribe has about half a million users which isn't bad looking at the internet penetration in India and considering they are niche. Talk about how many users are registered in Naukri. It might surprise that techTribe didn't go as bad as one would expect. Also they were in wrong place in wrong time i.e. iTes which just recently went through a slump. But things are working out. Heck, even Satyam is now working fine (according to some close sources).

3. The founder said that "He said only mass internet plays can work in India, not niche plays. “Unless it’s a service that is a must have, it doesn’t work in Indian web” - now that's where making money in the niche means.

We have to make legit solutions of already existing mainstream problem. Users have to find value in the system. Then going back to the blackboard about how to monetize will help too.

Cheers

Sorry I didn't found any such reports for Indian market but surely there are plenty for US markets from eMarketer or Forrester research. But some research was done by WebChutney on digital marketing called "Digital Media Outlook Report 2009" http://bit.ly/4iZ2ng which might help you.

Cheers!

Thanks. Wondering why do you think so? Is because I mentioned some of the numbers in dollar figures rather than rupees? If that's the case, then it would be easier if you can convert those figures in INR. However, crux of the matter is the point I wanted to convey. Hope that is crystal for you.

Cheers