Internet news story

In case you missed this story, it just goes to show there's always a new idea out there for a better mousetrap, if you will. All you need is enough press and a good idea. I wish I had it!

Cash pours in for student with $1 million Web idea

By Peter Graff
Thu Dec 29, 1:04 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - If you have an envious streak, you probably shouldn't read this.

Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.

Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page.

He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university.

The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100.

He sold a few to his brothers and some friends, and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release.

That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites.

So far they have bought up 911,800 pixels. Tew's home page now looks like an online Times Square, festooned with a multi-colored confetti of ads.

"All the money's kind of sitting in a bank account," Tew told Reuters from his home in Wiltshire, southwest England. "I've treated myself to a car. I've only just passed my driving test so I've bought myself a little black mini."

The site features testimonials from advertisers, some of whom bought spots as a lark, only to discover that they were receiving actual valuable Web hits for a fraction of the cost of traditional Internet advertising.

Meanwhile Tew has had to juggle running the site with his first term at university, where he is studying business.

"It's been quite a difficulty trying to balance going to lectures and doing the site," he said.

But he may not have to study for long. Job offers have been coming in from Internet companies impressed by a young man who managed to figure out an original way to make money online.

"I didn't expect it to happen like that," Tew said. "To have the job offers and approaches from investors -- the whole thing is kind of surreal. I'm still in a state of disbelief."

Comments

Chatty said…
I had heard about that somewhere...ABC news maybe? I am telling you, for all the wacked out ideas I've had in the past, I bet one of them would have made me rich. Oh well, at least I am rich in spirit! lol

Michele sent me today!
Doh! Seems so simple...
Michele sent me.
craziequeen said…
blimey - just been there :-S

Lots of gambling sites :-(

cq
Michele sent me
Joe said…
Neat idea!

Here via Michele.
Valerie said…
What a cool idea!

Michele sent me today. I hope you have a nice weekend.
Michelle said…
Wow, what a clever young man. Good for him, he appears to be a really nice kid too.

Happy New Year :o)
-A said…
That is a wonderful idea...

Hi! Michelle sent me.
Anonymous said…
That's amazing!

Michele sent me.
Lazy Daisy said…
Hi Michele sent me. I like your post...and you sound like someone who will come up with something clever yourself. Happy New Year. Lazy Daisy
YellowRose said…
I have a 20 yr old at home...wish he'd come up with something like this!!! LOL

That is amazing....Michele sent me your way tonight!
kenju said…
I sure wish I had thought of that!
Juggling Mother said…
Good for him. little people making money off people who make money off little people is always good to hear:-)
Manzkee said…
His brilliant mind really inspired me. Happy New Year!
Manzkee said…
His brilliant mind really inspired me. Happy New Year!
Anonymous said…
I love stories like this! Good on him! Thanks for sharing it Utenzi.

Hope you had a lovely New Year.

:-)3T

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