Re: Start-Up Advertising Sales

From: Mark J. Welch <MarkWelch_at_MarkWelch.com>
Date: Wed 14 Mar 2001 18:28:53 -0600

MATTHEW CARMICHAEL <matthew.carmichael_at_usjuris.com> WROTE:

>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? asked how he might
>jump-start advertising sales for his well-funded
>dot-com startup (classactionamerica.com).

I have always recommended a "stair-step" approach to
selling advertising. Start by getting any placements
you can -- including pay-per-sale affiliate programs or
pay-per-click ads (direct or through ad networks).
(One quick & dirty solution is to join a dozen or more
LinkShare programs and use their ad-rotating tools.)
This gives you DATA that you can share with your advertisers,
including clickthrough and conversion ratio data.
Some of those ads might perform well for the target
audience, others won't. You learn.

With that data, you can answer advertisers' questions
so they can better evaluate your placement for their
needs. And based on which of these ads perform, you
might find some ideas to target other advertisers.

Another obvious idea to generate revenue might be to
set up a bookstore (using Amazon, B&N, Borders, or one
of a dozen online booksellers). In your "bookstore"
you can provide links to recommended books so people
can learn what class-action suits are, and what they
may experience if they participate in a class action
(as a lead plaintiff or a class member). You can also
link to books that show how evil some big corporations
are and how class action lawsuits help our society
respond to these miscreants. This provides some actual
editorial content for the site, and helps your visitors
educate and motivate themselves further so they are better
clients for your subscribing attorneys.

(Just to emphasize how neutral my advice is, I would
certainly NOT recommend that you join my company's
affiliate program, because it's simply off-topic for
your site.)


-- Mark J. Welch, Chief Strategist, MovieGoods Inc.
-- http://www.MovieGoods.com (77,000 movie posters & more)
-- (925) 462-8483 voice - mailto:MarkWelch_at_MovieGoods.com



Received on Wed Mar 14 2001 - 18:28:53 CST