Re: Start-Up Advertising

From: Rob Frankel <rob_at_robfrankel.com>
Date: Tue 13 Mar 2001 11:02:06 -0600

MATTHEW CARMICHAEL <matthew.carmichael_at_usjuris.com> WROTE:

>I am new to this listserve, but find all of your input
>extremely valuable. I am glad I am not alone. Here
>is my problem: I am the advertising sales department
>for our new dot com http://www.classactionamerica.com.
>We are about 10 weeks old. We have plenty of funding
>from some of the top trial attorneys in the nation.
>We are generating tens of thousands of members in our
>free newsletters every month.

No, my friend, you are not alone. Everyone is slowing
down (see below).

>So, when the VP of marketing asks why I have not sold
>any ad space in our e-newsletters, my answer has been,
>"No one has any money." Advertising in our
>e-newsletters is cheap, too. I am almost giving it
>away.

That, in the long run, will kill you. What you should
be doing is pointing out how responsive your program
is (if you can show that) especially if times are slow!

>However, I think our brand has something to do
>with it (lawyers, class actions, suing, etc.) and that
>people are afraid to associate themselves with us.

It's possible. But being the eternal optimist that I
am, I truly believe that "for every nut there's a bolt".
You may be talking to the wrong crowd. Are there other
groups that you could be targeting?

>On top of that, I also feel as though the current
>advertising recession isn't helping things either.
>Am I paranoid or is everyone else experiencing this
>as well?

This is the part of your post that I loved best:
"advertising recession". It sparked a notion in me
that what we're really in is an "advertised recession"
-- people have let the media spook them into pulling
in their horns.

Once again, I can't help but think this is a great
time for market expansion -- while everyone else is
on the run, this is the moment to move boldly forward
and capture the ground others have given up.

Keep your rates up, but increase the value. Show
them that you can create business for them and your
business should grow.

Rob Frankel

-- Rob Frankel, consultant and author of "The Revenge
of Brand X: How to build a Big Time Brand on the web or
anywhere else." on sale at http://www.RevengeOfBrandX.com
("The Frankel Tapes: Volume One" available there, too!)
Big Time Branding (SM) http://www.RobFrankel.com



Received on Tue Mar 13 2001 - 11:02:06 CST