An interview with Erin Jansen Founder of NetLingo.com

What is NetLingo ?

NetLingo.com has thousands of definitions that explain the online world of business, technology, and communication, including the largest list of text and chat acronyms ;-) We entertain and educate students, teachers, parents, gamers, designers, techies, bloggers, journalists, and industry professionals worldwide. It began in 1994 as a Web site which started tracking hundreds of new words and terms that were emerging on a daily basis surrounding the community and technology of the Internet, the World Wide Web, computers, and the high-tech industries. It acts as a digital reference guide that helps millions of people around the world learn about the most commonly used words, smileys, acronyms and so on, that keep sprouting up on the Internet. Dubbed "the semantics storehouse of cyberspace" NetLingo tracks the new vocabulary surrounding the technology and community of the World Wide Web...all of the "net lingo."

NetLingo Inc. is a consumer-technology publishing company and provider of personalized Internet information and educational tools. These tools motivate tech-conscious people to learn, understand and grow in knowledge of hardware, software and online technology, business and communication. As an educational content provider, NetLingo has received recognition from leading magazines, newspapers, periodicals, universities, radio, and television shows, and tens of thousands of Web sites, giving it industry standard status.

What exactly is a dictionary of Internet terms, I mean I think I know but please explain.

"Net lingo" as it is known, is the "talk of the Internet", the "cyber speak," the new terms and technology and companies and products that have sprung out of the creation and community of the Internet. Hundreds of new words have emerged since the christening of the Web and millions of people who use the Internet for personal and professional reasons have had to learn, quite literally, a new language. Those in the high-tech industry surrounding the development of the World Wide Web have acquired this new vocabulary over time, and these people contribute it. Now the slang, jargon, styles of e-mail communication, technological terms, chat shorthand, emoticons, acronyms, Internet companies, groundbreaking Web sites, has infiltrated our daily lives and people and employees have varied levels of understanding. NetLingo is the current authoritative reference on Internet terminology. It is widely used within the Internet industry and for the general public. It is an online publication where users go to "look up" a word (just like we do with a regular dictionary).

Which terms are considered NetLingo ?

Most NetLingo terms are words or acronyms that were developed by people who use the Internet to communicate. Since the Internet is still a relatively new communications medium for many people worldwide, and since many of these terms are new, and since most people are new users, NetLingo serves a large need. I've categorized the words as either Online Jargon, Net Technology, Software, Hardware, Web sites, etc., and I've described the terms in very easy-to-understand definitions. The actual words themselves relate to the vast network we call the Internet. For example, some terms are older communication terms (such as Arpanet and POTS); some are standard computing terms (for example compression, cache and so on); some are the names of software programs which have become standard Internet programs (like Netscape and MSIE); some are World Wide Web sites which are used so frequently people refer to them when discussing the Internet (such as Amazon and Yahoo!); some are acronyms used to shorten longer cryptic names (such as DNS for "domain name server" and URL for "uniform resource locator"); many describe the future technologies that we are already implementing today (such as RFID and GPS); and finally the need to say a lot more in a lot less time has created an enormous amount of terms, as is the case with chat/e-mail shorthand (for example, F2F for face-to-face and the variety of emoticons which add human subtleties to what could otherwise seem to be very stale, static messages ;-) see what I mean?

Where do the terms come from?

The terms and definitions in NetLingo come from a variety of sources. Many entries widely used in the industry are standard technical terms that we have indexed and further defined or edited over the years. Other NetLingo jargon and phrases come from authoritative sources on a particular subject. And many NetLingo acronyms and smileys come from our Web site users. In fact this is one of the best things about the online world, it is very easy to interact with your audience, and the people who interact with you make up the community. I keep in touch with the NetLingo online community and they submit new word ideas regularly.

When you say "we" who is we?

The "we" refers to the company, NetLingo Inc. I run the company and the Web site. It may also refer to the online community in general, it depends on the context. NetLingo Inc. is not a start-up anymore, the company publishes information products and it is an established business. Founded as an S-Corp in 1999, I knew there would come a time when people would be getting online for the first time, and not know what all of this new Internet jargon means. The first words I added were @, bookmark, and browser. (Back then people didn’t even know how to pronounce the @ sign, they’d say the “a” with the circle around it ;-) As you can imagine, since it is a dictionary about the Internet, on the Internet, NetLingo has grown tremendously.

How many terms are in the Dictionary?

In the print version, there are approximately 3000 terms + the acronym and smiley collection; in the online version there are more than 6000 terms and it continues to grow. The collection of acronyms and text messaging shorthand continues to grow the most: In 1998 there were 500, in 2000 there were 800, as of 2007 there were more than 2000. I am proud to also offer on the Web site, a very extensive list of file extensions. I've referred to the file extension page myself many times and it is reliable. In the footer there are links to international country codes, how to add sound to your site, useful resource pages, and all kinds of other things. Many of the definitions come with tips, insightful information that leads users to more than 500 "more info" pages with further detailed information, download links directly to the download page, and additional search options.

How does the Online Dictionary differ from the Print Dictionary?

It differs in so many ways. But think of it like this: The book is a classic, the Web site is dynamic. The book is published, it's in print, it's cataloged and it's not going to change. The Web site changes daily! The book is useful as most books tend to be, especially for an overall understanding of the fundamentals of the Internet. The Web site is able to keep up with the changing times. Since it is so inexpensive to publish on the Web, NetLingo.com has literally thousands of "pages" (whereas the book has 528 pages). The "more information" on the Web site is either links to "more information" about a topic, "downloads" of software programs, and "advanced searches" which are queries that I’ve pre-defined in order to access the wealth of information buried in the search engines. The Web site also has many extra, interactive features such as the "frames view" and the "Pocket Dictionary" which make using it very easy. It is fully cross-referenced and runs in a Cold Fusion, database-driven environment. It will endure in its purpose to serve people, whereas eventually the book will be outdated.

What are some sample terms?

Terms such as ASCII, boolean logic, CobWeb Site, TEOTWAWKI, Bozo filter, worms, spiders, Trojan Horses, and so on are considered old fashioned. Now there's terms like leetspeak in which a coded language is replacing letters with other keyboard characters, for example each of these numbers means i love you: 143, 1432, 459, 831. And there will always be terms such as blogs, geocaching, Googlewhacking, Dutch auction, podcasting, even web hosting and so on, that continue to need explaining because they continually evolve. Enter NetLingo ;-)

So, how popular is NetLingo.com?

Very. As of early 2002, the Web site received more than 500,000 page views per month and 50,000 unique visits per month. In late 2004, the Web site received more than 1 million page views per month and 100,000 unique visits per month. And in early 2007, the Web site received 2 million page views per month and 500,000 unique visits per month. It maintains a very high Google page rank and Alexa rating, and was proudly #656 on Google's List of Top 1000 Web Sites.

To what do you attribute it’s popularity?

It’s a niche product, created at the right time, in the right element. It is a leader in the Computing/Internet/Help/Reference categories due to its original content, unique design, and innovative technology. It’s a dictionary about the Internet, on the Internet, I mean that’s pretty well positioned. And it’s been around since 1994 – there are literally millions of individual user’s homepages and companies and organizations that link to NetLingo because they find it helpful. Mind you it wouldn't stay popular if I didn't keep it updated on a regular basis, so overall, I'd say that's probably the most important component. My users have told me time and again that the new content keeps them coming back.

How exactly did you get involved with writing a dictionary?

I’m an academian at heart (with a Masters degree from the LSE) so I guess it makes sense that if I was going to write a book it would be a reference book. But when I think about it, it was basically the right idea at the right time. NetLingo was first published online immediately after the Web browser was commercially released in 1994. It was in SoHo, along the stretch of Silicon Alley in lower Manhattan, and all things Net-related were just gathering momentum. The idea came at a kitchen table to begin tracking Internet-related words and phrases because we knew a time would come when some people would get online for the first time and not know what this crazy jargon means. We also realized that for those of us in the field, there were sure to be many more new terms and technologies created over the coming years. Indeed the style of language itself has changed in the online world because of the amount of typing involved, never before has the @ sign or acronyms been so popular. And the attitude or tone in which you communicate online is often casual, thanks to chat rooms and e-mail. So we started tracking it all, and like many great ideas at that time, it was a grassroots effort with the hope of making it big someday. Basically the Web is a self-publishing medium and the Internet is comprised of technology but also of words, words, and more words, and for me, it's about fostering online understanding so regular people can be part of this global communication system.

You said before that NetLingo has received a lot of press coverage, be more specific.

There have been many news articles written about NetLingo, including "World Wide Websters," "Interaction on the Internet," and "Joining the In-Crowd means Learning the Lingo," see the press section. NetLingo.com has been reviewed in hundreds of publications, and on TV stations, radio stations, and webcasts.

Prominent mentions include: New York Times, London Times, MSNBC, USA Today, Fortune Magazine, Reader's Digest, People Magazine, PC Magazine, TNN, E! Entertainment, SciFi channel, Headline Spot, blink Earthlink magazine, Access magazine, Computer Currents, Apple, Inc. Online, Fast Company, The Net, the BBC, and more. Experts agree NetLingo is "the hip, handy insider's guide for Web users, educators, and industry professionals."

Why should people use NetLingo ?

If you want to get the most out of the Internet and the World Wide Web you're going to have to understand the language that everyone is using online. You're also going to need the programs and resources to access the information that makes the Internet such an awesome communications tool. NetLingo teaches people about the Internet and the World Wide Web through it's easy-to-understand definitions and direct access to some important links and programs.

What need does NetLingo serve?

NetLingo serves many needs, for example, some people become very fearful about anything relating to computers yet they’d like to take part in "this whole Internet thing." NetLingo helps people learn about the Internet while using a computer so they feel more comfortable. Adults and students who want to work in the Internet industry use NetLingo to learn about the Internet/Web sites/e-commerce/e-mail. In this way it serves the needs of the general online population especially the new users who come to it by way of their Internet Service Provider (ISP). It also serves the needs of businesses who must use the Internet nowadays in order to maintain a competitive advantage; it serves the needs of universities who use it to educate adults and students about the Internet; it serves the customer service needs of ISPs who, by bundling it with their software and giving new users a dictionary with which to look up new words, are cutting down on tech support calls that are simply new user questions; it is an intranet product and serves the needs of corporations and business owners who need to keep employees trained and informed; it serves the needs of employees who use it daily to quickly look up new terms they encounter and to create presentations about the topic; it serves the needs of the international audience who are still learning about the Internet; and it serves the needs of a large .org and .gov visitor base. NetLingo is truly a niche resource with the unique aspect of being a reference-based product that serves the needs of the online population and will most likely be used and revisited by everyone with Internet access.

Why did you decide to publish it as a book?

The NetLingo.com users (whom I affectionately call "The Linguists") sent me thousands of e-mails asking me to.

Who is your online audience?

The most activity on NetLingo.com comes from ISPs (Internet Service Providers) - all of which cater primarily to new users. NetLingo.com also boasts a large international audience, including a 30% average daily traffic count from users in Australia, Canada, UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Israel, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil. An early survey revealed:

• 72% are male, 28% are female.
• 44% are 18-30 years old, 32% are 31-45 years old, 16% are over 45, and 8% are younger than 18 years old.
• 35% use the Web more than once a day, 14% use the Web once a day, 12% use the Web several times a week, 28% use the Web once a week, 8% use the Web several times a month, and 3% use the Web less than once a month.
• 36% have 20 sites or more bookmarked, 64% have less than 20 sites bookmarked.
• 6% visit NetLingo.com several times a day, 11% visit once a day, 36% visit once a week, 42% visit less than once a week, 5% said this was their first visit.
• 2% said they're primary activity in terms of business or organization is in banking/finance/accounting, 5% in computer product sales (wholesale, retail), 6% in computer product software manufacturer, 6% in computer/network consultant, 0% in data processing service, 15% in education, 3% in government, 0% in insurance/real estate/legal, 16% in ISP/online services, 0% in manufacturing, 21% in media/marketing/advertising/entertainment, 0% in medical/dental/healthcare, 1% in systems integrator/network integrator, 6% in telecommunications, 13% in Web-related content or services, 1% in wholesale/trade/distribution/retail, 2% said other, and 3% said not applicable.
• 41% reported a management level of responsibility, 39% said staff, 20% said not applicable.
• 38% have completed a graduate degree, 46% have completed a college degree, 12% have some college,
• 4% have a high school degree or earlier.
• 33% connect to the Web at home, 32% connect to the Web at work, 20% connect to the Web at both home and work, 14% connect to the Web at school, 1% connect elsewhere.
• 93% have not made an online purchase, 7% have purchased an item on the Internet.
• 4% have a household income of less than $20,000, 16% have a household income of $20,001 to $40,000, 31% have a household income of $40,001 to $60,000, 28% have a household income of $60,001 to $80,000, 13% have a household income of $80,001 to $100,000, and 8% have a household income of more than $100,001.

What is the market?

I firmly believe we are still at the early stages of the information era where there is a market demand for all things Internet-related. NetLingo Inc. intends to capitalize on this demand by supplying the need to know how to communicate in the online world via its user-friendly dictionary. We are at the right place at the right time and in control of a product with a circular cycle: as the Internet industry continues to move forward and as more and more of the population gets wired –or wireless, as the case may be– the need will continue to increase for this kind of information and, at the same time, this information has a content base that will continue to grow exponentially. NetLingo has the potential to be used and revisited by everyone with Internet access, and the book has the potential to be re-edited and re-sold for many years in many markets. NetLingo became a popular and useful Web site because of its unique and worthy content. Because my product caters to newbies getting online, the demand is now and since the Internet is global (with English as it's primary language), so is the need to understand it's words and definitions also global. And now, with the advances in Web site design which involve primarily XML, there will be the need for a more intuitive understanding of the meaning of words and concepts, and NetLingo is well positioned to provide content in that area. By year-end 2002, the number of Web users worldwide topped 2 billion, boosted by 1 billion users that began to access the Web over handheld devices. There is still a lot of opportunity.

Great future plan, how did you get to this point, how did you grow this as a business?

NetLingo grew slowly during 1994-2000, it was a part-time passion. Once I delayed my climb on the career ladder, I had more time to pursue NetLingo. I infused it with new life, I set up a corporation, and focused all of my efforts on getting the book done. Since it continually received a lot of awards and good press I was finally able to put ad banners on the site to try and make some cash to cover my costs while I was rewriting and editing the content. Plus, that was the goal back then for indie developers because before an ad network will even look at you, you have to get, say, at least 1 million hits per month, and now I had done that. But it wasn't enough to compete with the VCs who could quickly create a commercial entity and spend millions of dollars on publicity buying Superbowl ads. No, for an independent site owner who was heavily involved in the industry at the beginning, it was a bummer in the late 90’s because it seemed like you had to have money to compete, when in the beginning it wasn't about that at all.

Did you become disillusioned with the Internet hype?

Yes, but I always knew it was hype. When things started moving very quickly in the Internet industry and what used to be an open space for people to create and self publish became dominated by corporations, advertising dollars and venture capitalists who just wanted to make money, I took my hiatus. I did not like the American media machine with all of its hype, the money-hungry energy, and the misalignment of work ethics and values, so I saved my money, left my highest paying job, and took the plunge into full-time entrepreneurship. After seven long years, it's finally paying off and paying off big. I am so glad I devoted myself to it! That's not to say that I won't enter the career field again, in fact, I still enjoy working on content development projects for other clients.

What do you think happened and why are you any different?

Many of us knew it would happen, we saw it coming and we hated it every step of the way: the commercialization of the Web. And since we were all swayed by the media and the analysts who made it seem a bigger opportunity than it was, I started exploring all kinds of business options too. Since I was at the forefront in my niche, I diverted my time to researching how to license my content to other sites, how to sell ad banners on my own, how to break into e-commerce with the t-shirts, how to do affiliate marketing, how to do a dog-and-pony show for investors, on and on. The results? Pocket change. I ended up saying "no" to three Internet companies in the year 2000, who offered to acquire me just to get rid of NetLingo so it wouldn't be competition for the dictionary sections on their Web sites! I thought to myself, this is not the way I'd like to do business, it seemed like some kind of offshot of capitalism was rearing its ugly head, plus by this time, I was receiving a lot of positive feedback from the Linguists, so when those big entities showed me they didn't care about the online users and just wanted to do away with NetLingo , I realized I needed to get on the fringe again, detach from the ideas of the industry, and take my own approach. That's what the Web for me is all about, the ability for any of us to carve out our own niche and if you're an entrepreneur, to figure out a way to earn a living with it. I kept getting so much feedback from the people who use NetLingo saying that it really, truly helps them, I said OK, let's stick to the original vision even though I'm still not making any money yet.

So how did you grow it as a business?

Working on it passionately everyday. The book helped bridge the gap between the online world and the "real world" and I’m "more credible" now that I’m a published author. The Web site thrives with online advertising support, thanks to the quality of the content with drives the quantity of user traffic. So after years of hard work, my business continues to grow. But back to the hype, just as I witnessed with disdain the media "hype up" the Internet craze to unbelievable proportions, I then observed with some disappointment the natural fall-out of these companies who thought they knew what they were doing and what was to come. I've always been a strategist and I knew that what was happening during late 1999 was not going to pan out. Instead of working on the bleeding edge, developing things just to be "first to market" I've opted to stay in touch with the majority of people who need to know what an FTP site is, so that they can publish their own work of art, just as I did mine. I think that kind of quality focus is a distinguishing character in these times of "big corporate."

It sounds like there are a few aspects you don’t like about the Internet industry?

Only a few, I consider myself an indie developer (an independent Web producer). For a few years in the late 90's, the Internet industry as a whole became a misguided attempt to make as much money off of the Web as quickly as possible, I thought to myself, is this Western civilization? You've heard the story by now, just put together a good business plan, raise a bunch of money, get rich on paper, and be the instant envy of all your friends. Only about 50 or so awesome applications were actually developed in my point of view and now, those same firms who wanted to buy me out ended up laying off people and going out of business, and dozens of other multi-million dollar funded Web sites have gone down. Since I didn't have any money to begin with AND I knew I was fulfilling a need, I decided to stop putting my efforts into generating money with the Web site and start listening to the 5,000+ Linguists who signed up on NetLingo.com and were telling me to publish it as a book. Once I did that, I started making money (funny how that works) and now I'm fulfilling a need again by keeping my audience current on this ever-evolving content. Thankfully Web 2.0 is changing all of that. Now killer apps are being created again, and the online community is the driving force again. Woo-hoo!

So that was you’re next step, to publish NetLingo as a book?

Yes, I've done that. I’ve taken what I developed in the online world to the real world marketplace as a book. NetLingo was published in October 2002, and we sold more than 7,000 copies at Barnes & Noble Bookstores nationwide. We also continue to sell books via Amazon.com. Now I publish a "Word of the Day E-mail" daily and a "Top 20 or Top 50 List" monthly. I also intend to publish a second edition of the book, as well as specialized guides, for example, "NetLingo for Teens and Parents," "NetLingo for Newbies," "NetLingo for Online Marketers," etc.

What’s your biggest concern?

It’s called the content conundrum: how to make money with online content. I posted a user survey poll on NetLingo.com asking the users whether I should make NetLingo.com a $49.95/yr subscription, and include specialized content for parents and educators and journalists, or if I should keep it free, with ad banners: the users said both. So I'll be launching a subscription service along with the free site and continue maintaining relationships with ad networks, partner text links and affiliate programs, as well as those who sponsor dictionary defintions. Off the record, I can't believe some big Internet company hasn't responded to the opportunity of sponsoring NetLingo.com in an integrated sponsorship campaign. This would mean integrating Intel’s brand, for example, with the NetLingo brand on the NetLingo.com Web site. Only one company would be the sponsor, their brand would be all over the thousands of pages of the Web site, and it would be in a "NetLingo is brought to you by Intel " kind of environment. It seems like a great marketing vehicle for a large Internet player. I intend to get a sponsors like that ;-)

I meant what is your biggest concern with publishing the book?

Oh, to tell you the truth, my passion remains in the online world. The fact that the book was so well received is rewarding, but I derive my satisfaction from the Web site. My focus now is on e-books and keeping the Web site content updated. I may partner with a print publisher to come out with future print editions of NetLingo. Like I said earlier, I am keen, however, on co-branding personalized print versions of NetLingo with organizations who want to distribute it to their membership (for example, a "NetLingo For Seniors" in association with AARP). This makes use POD (print-on-demand), and makes NetLingo a benefit to others.

Who is your competition?

My online competition is WhatIs.com (bought out by TechTarget.com) and Webopedia.com, however these sites are run by teams of male engineers and their angle remains to be somewhat arcane, technical, computer definitions. I'm more interested in Internet culture and jargon, and my calling card has always been that NetLingo is written by a woman using layman's language that everyone can understand. There's also Wikipedia by now (but DBEYR) and urbandictionary type sites, but my focus remains on online lingo (not street jargon). My print competition is the Dummies Dictionary series (which is actually full of incorrect information and I can’t stand it) and a handful of other Internet Dictionaries, but none of them are integrating the printed book with a Web site and none of them are positioning themselves like NetLingo is: fun and easy to understand. They may have more bells-and-whistles on their Web sites but when it comes down to it, it's all about the content. Anyway NetLingo continues to receive praise for its simplistic style.