Internet Business Forum 5th most popular small business resource on the Web

New company eclipses
larger, more established players

New York, NY, January 15th, 2001 - Internet Business Forum topped a host of much larger and older rivals to grab the number five spot in Top9s December 2000 rankings of the Web's most popular online small business resources, drawn from data provided by PCDataOnline.

The list was headed by the highly trafficked Bizland.com web page hosting service site, but the big "surprise" is the performance of the group of sites at ibizHome.com, launched only last July by Internet Business Forum, a privately-held company.

With its line-up of 16 high quality online business advice newsletters, and an aggressive program of subscriber acquisition, IBF pushed online players like US$24 million funded SmartAge.com and US$70 million funded EqualFooting.com into lower places.

Responding to comments on the rapid success of the company, Kathryn Russell – President - said, "It's especially gratifying to be recognized by Top9 and PCDataOnline as a leading small business resource, because we have been trying hard to practice as a company what we preach as a publisher. Our low-cost marketing techniques have generated over 200,000 double opt-in newsletter subscriptions in under 6 months. More importantly though, I believe this result validates our focus on quality, independent insight and providing in-depth information."

"The Web's impact on smaller but also on larger and regional businesses is just beginning to be felt," Russell went on to say. "We expect to be a key resource for these companies and their managers and staff, but we think there is plenty of opportunity in this growing market niche for others, too."

ABOUT INTERNET BUSINESS FORUM, INC.
Internet Business Forum, Inc. is headquartered in New York, with staff on three continents. It owns and operates the Internet Business Forum, a rapidly growing network of 10 web sites and 16 e-mail newsletters dedicated to providing useful and timely internet-related business information. Internet Business Forum newsletters are published on weekly or twice-weekly schedules and number over 200,000 subscriptions. The Internet Business Forum network also includes ibizNewswire, a real-time, free business news service providing constantly updated headlines in over thirty relevant financial, professional, technical, and Internet industry news categories. According to PCDataOnline, the Internet Business Forum had 261,000 unique visitors in December 2000. The Internet Business Forum network was ranked #5 of all online small business resources by Top9 in December 2000.

CONTACT
Ms Kathryn A. Russell, President, Internet Business Forum Inc.
522 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10024, USA
Tel: (+1) (917) 826-6886
Fax: (+1) (212) 769-2091
Mail: kathrynrussell@ibizadmin.com
Web: http://www.ibizhome.com/

INFORMATION FOR EDITORS

Top9 rankings: http://www.top9.com/business_finance/small_business_resources.html