NONE: Re: Advertising Proven on the Internet?
Re: Advertising Proven on the Internet?
Cliff Kurtzman (cliff.kurtzman_at_tenagra.com)
Sun, 18 Aug 1996 10:14:21 -0600
Troy LeMaire <lemaire_at_pcisys.net> writes:
>I have a site that is seekig venture capital and was told by a friend
>who works for an Investment banker in S.F. that venture capitalist are
>concerned whether or not advertising on the internet is a way for
>companies to actually make money. She said that advertising on the
>internet has not been proven yet. I could understand about this fear
>the way Yahoo, Inc. has gone back to its original IPO price. What do
>you think about the thoughts she had?
Advertising on the Internet certainly IS proven, but that by itself does
not give you an automatic ticket to riches. Advertising in print
publications is "proven" too but many print publications are not able to
sell enough advertising to make money. The same holds true on the web.
And because the medium is newer, there are fewer success stories than in
the print medium.
There are a large number of factors that contribute to building a site that
is successfully supported by online advertising. I think the two most
important factors are:
1) Having sufficient traffic to your site so that it becomes an attractive
place to advertise. If you are only getting 10 visitors a day to your
site, you will have trouble attracting advertisers. Unless your site is
targetted to a very niche market, you are going to need upwards of 1000
visitors a day before most advertisers will really find it worth the time
and effort to spend any significant amount to advertise on your site.
2) Having a sales staff to sell your advertising. Except for very rare
exceptions, if you build it, the advertisers WON'T come unless you go out
and get them. This is a particularly hard lessons for many web developers
with technical backgrounds to learn. Successful print publications have
sales staffs that know how to go out and sign up big advertising accounts.
The same is true on the web. You'll likely need someone with a proven
track record of signing accounts in your industry.
And on this general subject, there was a nice story in today's Houston
Chronicle called "How in the World Wide Web do you Make Money?" by Greg
Hassell and Dwight Silverman.
The story is on Houston Chronicle Interactive at:
http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/business/96/08/18/webmoney.html
Access is free, but requires registration.
The story looks at advertising and subscription models to support web
sites. I'm interviewed in the story, as is Elizabeth Moore of Proctor and
Gamble, Bob Herbold of Microsoft, Kathleen Burke of I/PRO, and Gerard
Vanderleun of Penthouse. There is also some good discussion about using
the Commenwealth Network to find advertising for smaller web sites. The
Consummate Winsock Apps page is given as an example of a site that is a
commercial success through advertising.
Best,
Cliff Kurtzman
The Tenagra Corporation
http://arganet.tenagra.com/
713/480-6300
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This week's Online Advertising Discussion List sponsor:
WEB ADVERTISING '96 How to Bring the World to Your Web Site.
Oct. 31-Nov. 1, New York. $1,000 in Free Web Advertising for each company
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