It Takes A Village
Building community on the Web.
Women comprise a growing percentage of Internet users, and if
46-year-old Candice Carpenter and her partners have their way,
every woman who goes online will know about http://www.iVillage.com
This 3-year-old "network of online communities"
started with a $1 million investment and a distribution agreement
with America Online that gave the Web site enviable positioning.
"That distribution deal meant we would have traffic from day
one," says co-founder and CEO Carpenter, who cites consulting
work she did for AOL as one reason her New York City-based firm
obtained the Internet giant's backing.
Carpenter founded iVillage.com with Nancy Evans, 48, and Robert
Levitan, 37, to provide Web content for women in what was then a
heavily male-dominated medium. The site is arranged in channels
that address issues like parenting, relationships, health, fitness,
food, money and careers.
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One channel addresses business ownership topics. "The idea
behind Work from Home is teaching women how to start, nurture and
grow a [homebased] business," says Shelley Pyne-Hanley, who
produces the Work from Home channel. "We target women from
those just kicking ideas around to those who have a business and
may be wondering how to market it or how to organize a filing
system." According to Pyne-Hanley, Work from Home includes two
major features that change daily--a message board and a feature
article on a topic related to homebased work issues.
Carpenter is bullish on the future of iVillage, both as a
business prospect and as a resource for women: "We want to
continue to be the dominant women's brand [on the Internet] and
to help women solve their everyday problems."
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