soul .gc January 15, 2006 Share soul .gc Member January 15, 2006 LONDON, England (Reuters) -- If you have an envious streak, you probably shouldn't read this. Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet. Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page. He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university. The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100. He sold a few to his brothers and some friends, and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release. That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites. So far they have bought up 911,800 pixels. Tew's home page now looks like an online Times Square, festooned with a multi-colored confetti of ads. "All the money's kind of sitting in a bank account," Tew told Reuters from his home in Wiltshire, southwest England. "I've treated myself to a car. I've only just passed my driving test so I've bought myself a little black mini." The site features testimonials from advertisers, some of whom bought spots as a lark, only to discover that they were receiving actual valuable Web hits for a fraction of the cost of traditional Internet advertising. Meanwhile Tew has had to juggle running the site with his first term at university, where he is studying business. "It's been quite a difficulty trying to balance going to lectures and doing the site," he said. But he may not have to study for long. Job offers have been coming in from Internet companies impressed by a young man who managed to figure out an original way to make money online. "I didn't expect it to happen like that," Tew said. "To have the job offers and approaches from investors -- the whole thing is kind of surreal. I'm still in a state of disbelief." Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chamberlain January 15, 2006 Share Chamberlain Member January 15, 2006 I read that a while ago! That guy's smart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBugs January 15, 2006 Share TheBugs Member January 15, 2006 AHHHRHRRHHGGGg. makes me so angry i didnt think of something so easy to do. props to him tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayfarer January 15, 2006 Share wayfarer Member January 15, 2006 Is there no link to this site? looks interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chamberlain January 15, 2006 Share Chamberlain Member January 15, 2006 I remember there was a comment spot on the site telling me about that story. Some human had the nerve to say he didn't deserve the money and should donate it to charity. I was more shocked to read taht then the guy makeing some cash! Humans suck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz.e.rus January 15, 2006 Share Laz.e.rus Member January 15, 2006 yes, I saw this a while back. Pretty cool! WHY DIDNT I THINK OF THAT!>!? http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackieChan January 16, 2006 Share JackieChan GC Alumni January 16, 2006 Didn't I make a post about that? Some ebay thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chamberlain January 16, 2006 Share Chamberlain Member January 16, 2006 I think someone already did, I don't surf the net so I was guided there from this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoMamma January 16, 2006 Share YoMamma Member January 16, 2006 Yes, there were 2 topics about this subject in these forums. I still think it's an amazing story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*BiGBonES** January 16, 2006 Share *BiGBonES** Member January 16, 2006 $1,000,000 idea, Why can't I think of these ideas... coz us brits pwn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeek January 16, 2006 Share TheGeek Member January 16, 2006 $1,000,000 idea, Why can't I think of these ideas... coz us brits pwn <{POST_SNAPBACK}> the only thing you own is yourself......... jk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3vil January 16, 2006 Share 3vil Member January 16, 2006 i think its funny.the way he makes his tuition is brilliant.mad props. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witt January 19, 2006 Share witt Member January 19, 2006 Apparently some people tried to hold this site for ransom....stop it guys, just b/c he thought of it first doesn't mean we have to give him a hard time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoMamma January 19, 2006 Share YoMamma Member January 19, 2006 Apparently some people tried to hold this site for ransom....stop it guys, just b/c he thought of it first doesn't mean we have to give him a hard time <{POST_SNAPBACK}> same story is on CNN today: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/01/1...k.ap/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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