Kathy,

Usually when an online Web 2.0 company announces it is in its beta stage, all its services are free. Then, it comes out of its beta stage and what you have are free services and fee-based services. A company like Jott.com comes to mind. For a long time anything you wanted to do with Jott was free. Then, the company came out its beta stage and suddenly you had certain services which were free and others that were fee-based.

But, not all companies are set up to act that way. Look at Squidoo.com. Squidoo.com is not in its beta stage and nothing is fee-based. However, look at all the advertising there is via Google ads on any Squidoo page. Squidoo is a real money-maker when it comes to using Google ads. But, that is not all. Squidoo is making money through third-party development of its many lens modules. Squidoo is making so much money it can afford to fund charities and pay lensmasters for creating outstanding lenses that get lots of traffic.

Make no mistake, Web 2.0 innovators are finding ways to make money without having to take it out of the pocket of those who wish to enroll in their sites. That just could be how Twitter is making its money - through advertisers and the many third-party developers utilizing its API.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
707-709-8605
Attract more customers!

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