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Cybergrrl had what it took
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October 21, 1997: 8:11 p.m. ET
Web company co-founder proves women can mean big business on-line
From Correspondent Valerie Morris
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - With hundreds of start-up companies jockeying for recognition on the Internet, competition for advertising dollars can be tough.
But Aliza Sherman found on-line success by targeting a web audience that barely existed three years ago -- women.
At age 29, Sherman is the co-founder, creator and president of Cybergrrl, a 3-year-old Internet-based media company. Cybergrrl is devoted to two businesses -- consulting and creating original content.
"When I first started Cybergrrl Inc., it was purely consulting. … Then we began creating our own websites which became so popular… people want to advertise," said Sherman.
From the start, Sherman positioned her company to reach women on-line. That may be Cybergrrl's most valuable commodity. New research shows women make up nearly half of all web-users. Companies that once assumed the Internet was the domain of teenage boys now are paying more attention to females.
Sherman boasts clients like Avon and Clinique.
"We do everything from building their website to… organizing special events like live chat," said Sherman.
While consulting is profitable, Cybergrrl's original-content websites -- which Sherman compares to magazines or television shows -- are drawing enough advertisements now to make up half the company's revenue.
"Not every website has that kind of success. We just have a highly targeted audience," said Sherman.
Sherman doesn't stray far from her audience either. She runs bi-monthly meetings of a group called Webgrrls to help women network on-line, and in three years groups have sprung up all around the world.
Sherman has been successful despite no background in marketing or business. She doesn't even have a college degree.
Cybergrrl got its start when a business partner provided her with $100,000 of startup money three years ago.
Today, the company has received its first round of outside financing, but Sherman and her partner maintain a majority stake. Although secretive about Cybergrrl's value, they say earnings are already up 200 percent this year and the staff has been expanded to nine full-time employees.
"We're making money… We're also incurring amazing expenses -- huge -- as we hire more people, want more equipment," said Sherman (222K WAV) or (222K AIFF)
Sherman hopes to expand into more traditional mediums, as she tries to turn Cybergrrl into a brand name. She may take some cues from her role model, Martha Stewart.
"I admire Martha Stewart a lot for the way she has branded herself ... in many different media," said Sherman.
Sherman is presently in talks to turn the Cybergrrl character, who is featured in an on-line comic strip, into a television show. She's also writing a book, to be published in paperback later this year, about women on-line.
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Cybergrrl
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