NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Online media kits
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Online media kits
Cliff Kurtzman (cliff_at_tenagra.com)
Tue, 29 Jul 1997 18:19:43 -0600
Kevin Leathers <Kevin.Leathers_at_obgyn.net> wrote:
>Let's face it, most of us spend most of our time trying to get
>pre-identified, target accounts to look at our services, and are happy if
>we get through to a few at any given time. We already know why they should
>talk with us and know that we would be a good fit. Do we stop trying to get
>through to those that are not interested right now? NO. Do we turn away
>clients that find us? NO. Do we make most of our money from waiting around
>for clients to find us? NO.
I've been debating whether or not I should chime in on this thread or not,
but Kevin's note got me giggling enough to do it. Maybe I'm just doing
something wrong and too dazed to notice it. On year2000.com (which Tenagra
runs and operates as part of a joint venture with de Jager & Company
Limited), we've done little if any active selling of the site to
advertisers/sponsors. Nonetheless, we now have nearly 140
sponsors/advertisers, each with one year contracts. While I can't retire
yet, it is fair to say that the revenue from our advertisers adequately
covers for the related costs of supporting the thirteen people that
contribute to the site's care and feeding on a full or part time basis.
Frankly, I think that putting rates on this site would be rather tacky.
All we do is just put a note on the home page (bottom of left frame) that
says:
"A variety of sponsorship programs are available for vendors
that wish to list on the Year 2000 Information Center. Please
contact Shaun de Jager of de Jager & Company Limited at
shaun_at_year2000.com or (416) 494-7277 for additional information."
People that want to sponsor the site simply send Shaun an e-mail, and Shaun
e-mails them a rate sheet. We usually ask the person to supply a name and
corporate affiliation if they don't do so with their request. (FYI, our
experience on all of our sites is that people that are so unprofessional as
to not identify their name and affiliation in conjunction with an initial
business correspondence have virtually a zero probability of every becoming
advertisers or clients. They are either 1) just curious; 2) competitors;
or 3) people who think that $50 is too much to pay for most anything...)
Actually, there are two other things we do to attract advertisers -- #1 is
to try to make the site indispensable to its target audience, and #2 is to
conduct a steady campaign of good, old fashioned public and media
relations. We make sure that the press is continually aware of the value
that the site can offer to their readership, and as a result the URL is
picked up somewhere in the press both online and offline several days each
week. We've also created an environment where advertising on our site is
almost considered essential to be a player in the industry the site
supports.
I've found that the same thing has held true with Tenagra for its business
as an Internet marketing and web development agency. Virtually all of our
accounts have approached us rather than the other way around. We've done
some limited active selling from time to time, and undoubtedly will do more
in the future, but on the whole I've found the cost of pursuing accounts we
have no relationship with and getting them to hire us is far greater than
the costs of doing the public relations work that will get clients to come
to us. Like Glenn Fleishman recently wrote about Amazon.com, our emphasis
is first on supporting our clients, but building our name and brand
recognition within the industry and the media that covers it is a very
close second. By sustaining the quality of work and visibility to
continually position ourselves as a premier provider of the services we
offer, we are able to bring on new business relatively inexpensively, which
also results in an ability to operate at higher margins (or offer lower
prices).
Undoubtedly, as the industry matures, this will change. So far in the
Internet marketing industry, gaining a new account usually does not mean
taking it away from someone else. When it does, our need to emphasize
selling over marketing and public relations will increase. There are also
a lot of organizations now that have the capital investment to allow them
to emphasize gaining market share over operating at a profit. We find that
this is also changing the dynamics of acquiring new clients.
--Cliff
Clifford R. Kurtzman, Ph.D.
President and CEO
The Tenagra Corporation
http://www.tenagra.com/
281/480-6300
Internet marketing, public relations, consulting and web design
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