RE: Advertising assistance: Chicken or Egg?

From: Lisa Hodgkin <lisah_at_fnmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:39:36 -0500 (CDT)

I'll admit it, I'm a lurker. I've been lurking around in
this list for 2-3 years, back when Roy was moderator, and I
rarely post. I never flame, and rarely lend my two cents in
someone else's argument. I respond only when the
post-du-jour goes down the wrong way, as did this Chicken or
the Egg posting (11 June 1999)

Mr. Ray, your posting intrigued me enough to send me to your
web site. I have to give you kudos there-- I also rarely
fall for the sig file marketing we all do. But I went. And I
browsed and browsed and browsed, searching for the point in
your web site, seeking content that was your own. And while
I found nothing more than pleas for sponsorships and
donations, I had to laugh at myself for feeding your web
counter, which is ultimately the objective you are seeking.

Having been an Internet Marketer for many years now, I can
lend the following advice to your inquiries:


>1. RE my site: I could wait until I build up a larger
>audience and then get some advertising revenue for my
>site....

And you should. But keep in mind, to gain the large audience
you predict, you must first build your website itself. If
you wish for your site to succeed, you cannot beg, steal or
borrow the content or services of others. You must offer
professionally written content, less spelling and grammar
mistakes, and bursting with incentive to revisit.

>2. However, would it not work to say - advertiser X - my
>site targets an audience that you are now salivating to
>have, albeit in small numbers.

Only bottom-feeding might you find Advertiser X who is
"salavating" for a target audience. Advertiser X most likely
already has a target audience, and "albeit small" won't cut
it. Again, build your web site, build your numbers, then
build your revenue.

>3. Can you pay for x thousands or millions of page views up
>front...(almost like investing I gues)? Any comments on this
>please?

January 1999, I paid for 50,000 targeted impressions on an
undisclosed Top Five rated search engine. I spent thousands
of dollars for key word buys and run-of-the-category banner
displays. In February 1999 I placed the same banners in a
similar campaign with another Top Five search engine. Three
key points here: thousands of dollars, targeted campaign,
and largest search engines, chosen by the proof in their
pudding.

Mr Ray, we're all on the web to make money and build brand
awareness. You will not be fruitful looking for investments
that guarantee no return, no more so than you will be lucky
enough to receive one of the "donations" you beg for on your
web site. If you do find someone with advertising dollars
burning a whole in their pockets, won't you please be kind
enough to share their name with the rest of us?


>4. How and where does one get some statistics on page
views,
>advertising costs and etc of smaller WEB sites and marque
>name sites such as Amazon and etc. This would be useful for
>building um some sort of reference base for my point 3 above

For more information on where to get stats, how to drive
traffic to your web site, and various other web marketing
links, you can start at http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/
There's a section there you might be interested in:
Justifying Website Expenses, as well as one entitled:
Analyzing Website Traffic.

Please understand Mr. Ray, that my response is in no way
meant to flame you, it is to help you understand that the
while the web is a wonderful thing, like in the real world,
it is the survival of the fittest.

Good Luck--
--
Lisa M. Hodgkin | Director Marketing/Design | Xcel Communications
lisah@fnmail.com| http://www.advantexcel.com/webdirect/
The leading provider of electronic document delivery services and
commerce solutions. Let us Power Your Business.

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Received on Thu Jun 17 1999 - 13:57:10 CDT