The Road Less Traveled : A History of iOnline

Para-Noir Productions - 1997

Joshua Smith founded the small multimedia firm Para-Noir Productions in 1998. Para-Noir's services included the production of 3D animation, short films, digital art, editorial copy and websites. These services were extended to both clients and creative internal projects.

A decision was made in 1999 to narrow Para-Noir's focus into the creation of original online media content to meet the growing demands of an increasingly web-savvy public. This decision led to the creation of iOnline Pty Ltd.

iOnline's Foundation - March 2000

Para-Noir's evolution into iOnline Pty Ltd took place in early 2000, after which iOnline immediately moved to build and expand its network of independently-owned websites. These websites included the information-rich webmaster resource Net-Ads.com, the consumer-oriented All-4-Free Freebie Tree and film production directory Film-Makers.com.

During this period, iOnline also assisted a number of other pioneering companies to build or enhance the earliest iterations of their websites. The company carried out work for the likes of Brothers Neilsen, The Ingles Group, Palm Springs Natural Spring Water, Gliding Adventures, Devolved, Pacific Coast Publishing and Bio Magnetic Therapy as an outsourced service supplier to various creative agencies.

Search and Sites: The iOnline Network - 2000-2004

Drawing from the challenges presented by the dot-com crash and the resulting dramatic contraction in advertising revenues across the industry, iOnline grew its guerilla marketing skill set out of necessity and in response to the debut of exhilirating new online advertising technologies. The company recognised the value of search marketing early and embraced the pay-for-performance concept as an advertiser, publisher and search engine operator. The pay-per-click search engine, IgniteSearch grew out of this experience to further refine iOnline's knowledge of the pay-for-performance field, from the unique perspective of being simultaneously a publisher, advertiser and search engine operator.

GeekVillage Acquisition - October 2004

iOnline built upon its reputation as a defining voice in online advertising when the company acquired GeekVillage (incorporating the Geek/Talk Forums) from Published Perfection in late 2004. Geek/Talk is a community of more than 8000 professional web publishers, programmers, online marketers and internet advertising agents that is incredibly well regarded within the industry.

The purchase of GeekVillage, Geek/Talk and Free-Webmaster-Tools.com subsequently enhanced not only iOnline's position within the web marketing industry, but further revitalised the iOnline Network.

Relocation to Varsity Lakes - January 2005

Varsity Lakes is a purpose-built community based on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The suburb has been developed from the ground up as a high-tech hub unlike any other found in the region. As a result, a number of Australia's leading Information & Communication Technology firms have established bases in the region, creating a mini Silicon Valley in Varsity Central.

iOnline moved into the PowerTel Building - which houses one of the best connected NOCs in the region - which is at the core of the Varsity Central business district, in early 2005. This allows us access to a huge base of expertise, competitive inspiration and the forming of cooperative alliances with leading ISPs, telecommunications companies, creative agencies, venture capitalists and technology incubators who all call this region home.

Additionally, being based metres from the network operations centre that houses our servers has also enabled us to offer faster and more reliable service to our hosting and development clients.

The Future

iOnline currently has a number of exciting innovations under development, including systems that will make content easier to manage and trade, transactions simpler to convert, online advertising simpler to deliver in a targeted and responsive manner and hubs of commerce tailored to generate increased business for a range of niche industries.

We're also looking to expand our client services to incorporate an increased range of multimedia productions services, including the creation of video and animated content for use in broadcast, handheld and DVD applications. Most importantly, though, we'll continue to commit extensive resources to ensuring that our existing clients are building their businesses and that their online marketing efforts are producing tangible and growing returns.