Web 2.0 business comes a dollar at a time

First there was the Million Dollar Homepage, where Alex Tew sold a million advertising pixels at a dollar each (although the minimum order was a $100, 10x10 block). It was a brilliant idea, a flash in the pan (see chart), and quick way to make a million. Imitators sprung up, but the MDHP was a novelty play, so the also-rans weren't worth the bother. The world needs only one Pet Rock.

But there may be other novelty ways to skim a few bucks off the Net. The latest (via e-Hub): MonthlyDollar, a site where you can "employ" the owner, George (he refused a request to provide a last name), for a dollar a month. George's site says he "works for the Internet," and his employers will have access to his business ideas and private sections of his site. What will that be worth? I just kicked in my $1 salary and I can't see anything new. You get what you pay for.

Actually, what you get by "employing" George is your name and your link on his list of employers. This list of sponsors may just generate links back to your site and at a very low, fixed rate. Should MonthlyDollar get a lot of traffic, even for a short while, it might be a decent low-cost advertising play.

Hats off to MonthlyDollar for figuring out a new way to profit from the Web's hype machine.