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jcokos
Staff
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 171
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Posted: 2004-Sep-15 16:14
What's the next big thing? It seems like it's been a while since something completely new and radical came along on the Internet Advertising / Marketing front. Have we explored all of the logical avenues? Is it time to come back full circle? Online companies, ourselves included, are constantly finding ways to drive up revenues. It's especially tough on sites such as Virtual Promote, where we don't have anything to "sell" from a retail perspective. Yes, we do have some premium offerings, but the lion's share of our revenues come from advertising. The past few years, we've seen advertising models and methods run the gamut -- from being almost hidden, to completely "in your face." What started as a simple 468x60 image has given way to gigantic 800 pixel wide, browser dominators. Have you been to a Web site where you get a full-screen "commercial" that you have to watch before actually getting into the Web site that you came to visit? Have you actually watched the commercial... or did you just leave? We've seen the annoying pop-up ads, the supposedly less annoying pop-under ads, windows that launch when you leave a Web site, all manner of link exchanges, 404 page advertising, and people who buy old domains and throw up generic search engines that seem to live forever in your browser. We've seen the new trend in plain text ads (Google Adsense) and all sorts of inline advertising, such as that offered by Vibrant Media's IntelliText. All of these ideas were formulated with one thing in mind... to drive traffic to the advertiser, generate a lot of money for the advertising agent, and send a trickle of that down the Webmaster who's actually showing the ads. The other commonality to all of these advertising types is that not one of them is friendly... either to the Web surfer or to the Webmaster. Surfers have to deal with the ads in real time. They have to look at them (or past them), move them, install software to suppress them, and read around them to simply get to the nuts and bolts of what they're on the Internet for in the first place. Webmasters are forced into a spot where they have to design their Web sites to look good, read well, and yet still be able to fit the ads in. I'm personally tired of designing Web sites around ads, aren't you?
So, what's the answer? How can we as Webmasters make a decent income without having to design around an image whose purpose is to take our visitor away from us, without annoying our visitors in the process? We work too hard to get visitors to our Web sites to simply encourage them to leave the minute they arrive.Personally, I believe the answer to this question is simple. And by simple, I don't mean that the solution itself is simple, but rather the idea of "simple." Simplification of the process, the expectations, and of the implementation.Maybe, good old-fashioned sponsorships, backroom deals, and bartering are the real answer. Maybe a header that says "Virtual Promote's Search Engine Forums... brought to you by XYZ, Inc.", with a link to a page about XYZ on our Web site that then leads off to XYZ's Web site. Maybe instead of an annoying banner ad, we work internally to promote "XYZ," letting our visitors know that they help us make the site possible, and that because we are business partners, and have respect for their product/service, we recommend that you visit them. Mutual interests are served, the visitor isn't uncomfortable, and we all live happily ever after.
Sure it's a pipe dream. But wouldn't it be nice to be able to make a decent living, design your Web site the way that you actually want to, and at the same time, not annoy and drive your visitors away or detract from your actual content? I think that if the thousands of programmers who spend their days trying to find new ways to inundate us with even more annoying ads were replaced by some old-school marketing guys who would make handshake deals over drinks, we'd all be better served. Technology and nifty- programming certainly has it's place, but maybe it's time to consider "simple and old school" as the way to venture forward... I think that the lesson we've all learned is that obtrusive and "in your face" advertising on The Internet does nothing to increase ROI. But what will ? Is passive, trust based advertising, rekindled from the 1950's a viable way to reach and hold onto an audience in the 2000's ?
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deepakrao
Joined: Jun 21, 2004
# Posts: 0
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Posted: 2004-Sep-15 19:39
This edition took a while to come, but great perspective. Im from India here we have a saying that 'a tree with old roots and new leaves is prosperous", well, that applies I think also to internet marketing.
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EisenbergConsultancy
Joined: Mar 28, 2004
# Posts: 0
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Posted: 2004-Sep-15 19:49
Johnny,
I subscribe to many newletters (perhaps too many)as they are (in an ideal world)an excellent source of current and topical information.
Although the ideal of this position is far removed from the reality, and it is necessary to read through an enormous amount of useless, incompetently and irresponsibly prepared newsletters. Nevertheless, I see it as a professionally responsible necessity, if I am to continue to be genuinely responsive to my relatively illinformed clientele.
Your newsletter, however, has vindicated my position!!! Indeed, there is a superb diamond within desolate landscape of meadow muffins!
Thank you.
Warren Eisenberg
www.eisenbergconsultancy.com (under construction)
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alaninportugal
Joined: Sep 15, 2004
# Posts: 0
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Posted: 2004-Sep-16 00:34
As an old school marketeer working on internet sites here and in the UK I couldnt agree more. The sooner we all realise ( as I have been telling anyone that will listen) that the internet is just another vehicle for good old methods we will continue to lose the very customers we are trying to gain.
Try walking into a shop for a loaf of bread and see how you feel if some idiot trys to sell you a car instead !!
TV advertising is falling into the same trap!!
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e10
Joined: Dec 10, 2002
# Posts: 409
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Posted: 2005-Jan-14 00:11
On my own site I have taken a traditional form of advertising and turned it into something of benefit to my visitors and the advertiser (and my bank balance).
Simply I offer the client a content page but I specify that the material provided must be valuable to the reader and I retain the right to edit to make it so. This is pure old fashioned advertorial but within it is information that is being searched for by the visitors to my site.
I ensure that each content page is informative and I do my damndest to make sure that each paid content page stands a shot of coming up in the search engines on its own merits. Many of them do and most have a PR (for what that is worth) of 4 or more.
I can see from my stats programme that the visitors leave my site in droves to the sites of the 'paid content advertisers' but they come back to my site for more.
I think I am serving both my visitors and the advertisers in the best possible way as long as the paid content stays generic and practical.
(Sorry, edited to add that much of the paid content is specialised and I couldn´t produce it on my own anyway so I am also winning by building content)
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gordinyo
Joined: Jan 13, 2005
# Posts: 20
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Posted: 2005-Jan-14 03:35
Hmmm... I like that idea, but still, I would be a little hesitant of undermining peoples confidence in what they read on the web. I realize there is paid content all over the place these days, eg computer mags, any kind of electronic review, but I could offer this. I lived in Japan for 2 years and by and large the magazines and web companies there provide an excellent service. The benefit is an extremely high level of consumer confidence that for an industry like the internet is invaluable.
Myself I provide videos on my site and sponsors can advertse in these. Also, I produce videos specifically for the web for other companies, usually sponsors of sporting events who want more exposure for their events.
Does anyone else sell ads in their videos? I would like to hear how its going.
Cheers.
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e10
Joined: Dec 10, 2002
# Posts: 409
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Posted: 2005-Jan-14 09:18
Hi Gordinyo,
There is another side to my paid content strategy. Sometimes I will have an article I want on the site. Like now I am doing something on the soc sec system. This is good info for the visitors and I will write the page and contact a few likely buyers to ask if they would like to sponsor that page.
Sometimes they bite and sometimes they don´t but overall this strategy is working for me and my site is not smothered in banner ads, pop ups, pop unders or forced animated commercials which I hate.
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gordinyo
Joined: Jan 13, 2005
# Posts: 20
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Posted: 2005-Jan-14 20:53
Hey e10,
sounds like you are doing a good job managing both sides of the fence. Don't get me wrong, I like your idea and your approach. I think I shall have pay this site of yours a visit...
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e10
Joined: Dec 10, 2002
# Posts: 409
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Posted: 2005-Jan-14 21:05
Well don´t hold your breath design wise, Gordinyo. I am always being told by local web designers that it looks like crap. Still it keep the babies in pampers and me out of mischief.
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jmadison
Joined: Jan 26, 2005
# Posts: 14
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Posted: 2005-Feb-01 13:15
The next best thing is EmpowerSearch. Super fast, cheap advertising. Great Customer Service.
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webmazter1
Joined: Feb 03, 2005
# Posts: 8
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Posted: 2005-Feb-04 08:06
MSN being loaded in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and your desktop is the next big thing. I proudly own many shares of MSFT just for this reason;-)
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