by Jim Cashel
Peter Herzog directs Spotlight.de, a
large German-speaking tech community.� We asked his opinions about managing
a profitable community with limited staff, communities in Germany, and the
online community sector in Europe.
Please tell me about Spotlight.de?
Spotlight.de was founded 1997 as a private initiative for continuing education. Since then it has become the largest community for computer
technology within the German-speaking region with more than 1.5 million visits/month, 12 million page impressions/month and
125,000 new postings/month.�
Whether it is a hard disk crash, trouble with the new graphics card or problems with Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Linux, the 72 message boards
of the net community offer resources to visitors – most of them “desperate” -
seeking advice or wanting to help each other. The high number of visits guarantees quick help, in contrast to a discussion with a stressed salesman or an expensive service hotline. Also topics in addition to hardware and software themes are increasingly gaining popularity.�
What is your business model?
Spotlight.de finances itself through advertising. 2001 was a difficult year for the advertising industry – a bitter experience we all
had to share. However, early in 2001, the site changed to full screen interstitials, which fade in every 10 minutes. It was on purpose
that no banner dumping prices were offered. Instead, attention was paid to very high advertising quality and smooth booking
procedures. Despite the reduced advertising activities many well-known companies such as
Compaq, Intel, Deutsche Telekom, eBay and Bertelsmann remained satisfied regular customers.�
Following nearly five years of intensive build up, Spotlight.de is now the leading website of its kind
in the German speaking Internet. Spotlight.de has never suffered a loss so far and the entire company’s build-up and development was financed
through its own income sources.�
What is unique about your site?
I’d point to our friendly and pleasant atmosphere. Spotlight.de grew fast, but
in a “healthy” way. Many users have accompanied us for years and found their “online home” on our site. In my opinion an online community
should be like a pub in which the guests really feel at home. Credibility and professional service towards users and advertising
partners are of central importance!. Furthermore, Spotlight.de never gets boring due to the many new and
interesting postings.�
How many employees does Spotlight.de have?
Luckily only four!
Which community software do you use?
Our technician himself developed the entire community system. In my opinion this is an advantage in that we create our own identity. We also employ
smart technologies which make Spotlight.de fast despite enormous traffic.�
How would you describe the online community sector in Germany? Major players?
In addition to many chats that primarily serve to casually entertain people, websites with a high utility in exchanging experience
and knowledge are very popular. There are thousands of German speaking message boards. However, it is very seldom that you
find a central meeting point in the Web with many active, committed users.
Many of our readers are familiar with US laws relating to online communities. What German laws relate to your work?
It is important that in Germany the website owner has to intervene in case of troubles with content as soon as he learns of it.
Fortunately this is rarely the case with Spotlight.de, as our experienced community managers are already active and the
pleasant climate within the community does not make it necessary to take drastic measures.�
With integration across Europe in many fields, do you see pan-European online communities forming? Or do efforts tend to track country
borders?
In my opinion the differences in languages and mentality in online communities represent the most distinct borders. Community projects
which strongly consider regional characteristics do have the biggest chances for success. A Pan-European community would have to be English
speaking and thus it automatically is no longer European, but global.�
What are your expectations for online communities in Europe in the coming three years?
In an increasingly more complicated world, the exchange of experiences and knowledge becomes more and more important. Therefore I see a
growing demand for online communities. It is true that communication is one of the central pillars of the Internet. Despite the many mistakes
which were made in this area, I am very confident regarding the prospects for online communities (financed through advertising and/or
membership fees), because they offer enormous advantages for the participants which are only possible online.
Do you have contacts to US communities?
Unfortunately not. We would be very happy to find opportunities to exchange experiences and ideas. Maybe there are joint interests as well.
Contact mail: herzog@spotlight.de .
