Advertising is truly like fishing.

When you fish, you are in a dual with fish.  Many will look at your offering, and most will not bite.  It takes the right fish at the right time in the right place to make the catch.  Just like selling any product, you need the right bait, but you also need the right place and the right time.

Do you want to be the fisherman with a single pole in an Ocean?

True, on the Ocean you may catch that monster Marlin, but its going to be tough and a lot of work to land it.  You will be elated to make the catch and you will eat well for a little while.  But who knows when you’ll catch the next big one.  There will be a lot of trial and error and your chances are pretty slim.

Or would you rather be in a lake with a really, really big net?

For providing a constant profit of fish, its much smarter to cast a wide net.   You might not land “the big one” but you significantly increase your chances of being successful.

The moral of the story is, don’t risk everything looking for the big one.  Be conservative.  When it comes to advertising and buying ad space, select a variety of smaller sources first.  Many times I see people choose one or two higher priced spots and they aren’t successful immediately, so they simply give up.  Get experience before moving up and spending the big bucks on expensive space.  If you can make it work on a small scale, it will work on a large scale.

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Branding is hardly an obscure concept; if you don’t know what branding is, ask any high school kid with an Internet page. The largest companies in the United States clearly believe in the value of branding. Usually when Coke runs a commercial, for example, the goal is branding, rather than immediate and direct sales. Bank of America is also big on branding – almost every advertisement that company runs is designed to make you feel more familiar and more comfortable with the Bank of America brand. When you see a company’s advertisement focusing in intangibles, it’s a good bet that company is trying to build up its brand.

Think about it. You’re driving across I-10 on your way to Florida, and you stop for food at one of those exits made for travelers. There’s a McDonalds and a Denny’s restaurant, and also a third diner named “Abbie’s Place.” If you said “Abbie’s” then congratulations on your adventurousness, but you’re also in the minority. The vast majority of interstate travelers are going to pick McDonalds or Denny’s simply because they are familiar with those brands – and believe that they know what to expect. The branded restaurants could be run by managers who don’t ask their employees to wash up before work, or after using the bathroom, where Abbie’s could be run by the cleanest people in America – but when the traveler makes that split-second decision on where to eat, “Abbie’s” will seem like the biggest risk.

Online, smaller companies tend to focus on sales or conversions – branding seems like a luxury. This, I think, is a mistake. The delivery mechanism for branding campaigns doesn’t matter – television, magazines, the Internet – regardless of your platform, branding is important. If your website converts 1 sale from every 500 visitors, does that mean 499 out of 500 are worthless? Hardly.

It may take a while for the more timid online consumers to grow comfortable with your brand. Face it, the Internet is full of scam artists. We’re reminded of that every day when we open our inbox and get the latest phishing scams or clever attempts to infect our machines with a tojan. When a consumer first encounters your brand, he or she will probably have a trust deficit – and rightly so. If you can’t close a sale on first contact, then it’s your job to at least help those consumers grow more comfortable with your brand in order to close that sale some other day.

We know branding, in that general sense, works. If it didn’t work, why do we routinely pick Coke and Pepsi over other colas? Why would anyone drink Budweiser beer? Why did Microsoft feel compelled to answer Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads with an “I’m a PC” campaign of their own? The problem isn’t whether branding works, the problem is how do you measure the success of your branding efforts.

This can be especially problematic when you market online, and in many ways branding is an exercise in faith. That doesn’t mean though that you can completely ignore any measurements from your branding efforts. Don’t despair, there are some effective methods that you can use when trying to get a feel for the success of your branding campaigns.

Page views per visit. Take a close look at your traffic and try to get a feel for how many pages your website’s visitors are viewing per session. If you have a one-page website, this is irrelevant of course, but for most websites a larger number of average page views means the audience is interested. If you have engaged your audience, there’s a much better chance that your branding efforts are having an impact.

Average time spent on site. One visitor arrives on your site and loads four pages, while another visitor only loads three. The second visitor, however, spent ten minutes on your website where the first only spent two minutes. Which visit was more valuable? Likely the answer is the second – assuming he wasn’t just pausing to answer the phone or go to the bathroom between page loads. If you are buying traffic from two different sources, one way to measure the quality of that traffic is by how long visitors from each source spend on your website. If source A sends visitors that spend an average of 4 minutes on your site, while visitors from source B spend only 2 minutes on average, then source A is probably sending you traffic that’s a better match for your website – and the longer people spend looking through your site, the better for your branding efforts.

Return visitors. How many times does a person come back to your website over a certain period of time? The more a visitor interacts with your brand, the more familiar she or he will become with your brand. If visitors are returning, there’s a good chance something caught their attention, and you’ll have multiple opportunities to build brand confidence with those repeat viewers.

Ultimately, every branding campaign needs to result in revenue. If you’ve been branding your website for many months but haven’t seen any increase in traffic or conversions that might be attributable to better brand awareness, then something is wrong. That doesn’t mean you should abandon branding. If you know you have a solid product but you choose to reject branding, your long-term business prospects aren’t very bright. If your branding campaigns aren’t yielding results after a reasonable period of time, at least six months of consistent branding, then it might be time to ask why that’s the case – perhaps it’s a problem with the product or the presentation – and start making some changes.

Note: If you don’t have a more powerful analytics solution, you can always use Google Analytics for free. Just note that Google Analytics tends to under-report traffic. It should still give you a good idea of the behavior of your visitors, but keep in mind the real number of visitors is probably higher than what Google Analytics is reporting.

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Google has updated its position on blog commenting in this post on their official webmaster blog:

Hard Facts About Comment Spam

What is clear from the post, crystal clear, is that Google is out to spot and “at best” ignore your efforts:

“Google has an understanding of the link graph of the web, and has algorithmic ways of discovering those alterations and tackling them. At best, a link spammer might spend hours doing spammy linkdrops which would count for little or nothing because Google is pretty good at devaluing these types of links.”

So if your current link building strategy relies heavily on finding blogs to add comments to for the purpose of getting a link, you need to re-evaluate right now.

I personally still intend to find relevant blogs, and will post relevant comments that add value to the site, and I will continue to add my site name and URL to create a backlink in that comment.  What I will be stopping is visiting any old blog, either personally or using automation, to drop links through comments.

Google has spoken, again, so it is time to mix things up again and evolve your link building strategy if it involves comment spam.

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As a surfer, you know you hate popups.  You hate interstatials, and know that girl from your city doesn’t really want to talk to you.   So if this is all true, then why would anyone ever annoy their surfers like this?

What is really more important?  Making more money from your website, or keeping your visitors happy?

Its easy to get caught up in short term gains, and a quick buck.  Every day I see websites so cluttered with ads from every ad network imaginable that its actually difficult to find the content.  Its also difficult to find a reason to come back.  Then there are the websites that have multiple popups, an interstatial, and then a fake “Instant Messenger” ad that pops up from the bottom.  You’d think that the average surfer was under attack by the people running these websites… and in a way, they are.

Those with the experience and long-term vision know that these tactics are more hurtful than helpful.  The reality of the situation is that in the long run, websites that use excessive advertising slowly drive away their visitors.  The great thing about the internet is, for every page about a topic, there are a million more on the same topic.   They can (and do) go elsewhere.  Conversely, when people find a website they love, they come back again and again.

In a recent study, web surfers indicated that they find “interstatial ads” 3-times more annoying than banner ads.   If you are not sure what Interstatials are, these are the full page ads that take over your screen and require you click the ad, or click a “skip ad” button.  Both advertisers and webmasters are quick to point out that they are lucrative.  If used on a limited basis, these are a great way to monetize individual pages or data that is being provided for free.  Too often, however you will see webmasters add these to their index pages which open immediately.  Surfers are immediately splashed in the face with an option to go somewhere else, before they have even had a chance to view the current site’s contents.

How to avoid losing touch with your users:

• Its easy to lose your “surfers eyes” and forget what its like to surf the web as a regular joe.  Take a moment and review your website, think about it, ask other people to surf your websites and ask for their feedback.
• Don’t expect your visitors to do anything you wouldn’t do.
• Don’t annoy your surfers.  There is a fine line between monetization and making your visitors upset.
• Never trick or mislead your visitors.  Creative marketing is one thing, but knowingly lying to your surfers or tricking them is quite another.

Its a myth that more ads equals more money, as the more ads that are added to a website, the less each of those placements earns.   Ultimately I can’t tell you how to run your website, but you should always consider the surfer as a person, not as a revenue stream that needs to be pushed until it breaks.

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So here we are about eight months out from Cybernet Expo San Francisco and I haven’t slowed down in my pitching for sponsorships, brainstorming for speaker and panel ideas, search for promotional partners, etc. My lists grow daily and in typical fashion my head is swimming with ideas. Yes, I’m excited to get things going for our show next year! Many of the attendees will travel to San Francisco from all over the country and, in a number of cases, from outside the United States. It’s important to us that all attendees feel like that got tremendous value from Cybernet Expo, and that means we have to get started as early as possible on planning the show.

Capri Anderson

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I’ve been organizing trade shows since 2003, and the first time out I was more or less thrown into the deep end to sink or swim. Fortunately I swam but it was certainly not without a few bumps and bruises along the way. This blog series will detail my weekly adventures with production of the Cybernet Expo 2010 event currently scheduled for July in San Francisco.

I obviously don’t want to give away all my tricks here, since it seems too many people think they have what it takes to put on a competing trade show, and the market is pretty saturated. But I will be sharing in these blog updates some general marketing and production insights that I have learned over the years while working in the show, some of which might be useful in planning a variety of different kinds of live events, not just trade shows.

Even though the 2010 show is nearly nine months away as of this writing, and we wrapped up the 2009 show just a few months ago, it is never too early to start getting it together for next year. Lead time is critical, and it’s much easier (and more beneficial for the show) to plan early as opposed to starting late. This will minimize the damage or frustration that often comes with last minute changes… and trust me, there are always plenty.

Currently I’m looking for possible show sponsors, thinking about what the website will look like and which model or personality would make a good “face” for the 2010 show. I’m also compiling a list of potential speakers, seminar and workshop topics, and planning various other events and logistics. By this time next month we hope to announce the show dates and launch a brand new website.

Next to follow will be putting together online and print creatives to help market the show once we have several more sponsors on board and dates for the event locked in solid.

The closer we get to the show, the more I’ll have to discuss, so stay tuned!

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Web⋅mas⋅ter
n. A person whose occupation is designing, developing, marketing, or maintaining websites.

(From: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/webmaster)

En⋅tre⋅pre⋅neur
n. A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture.

(From: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/entrepreneur)

Usually when I meet someone new and they ask me what I do, I say I am an Internet Entrepreneur. I do not say I am a Webmaster.

Looking at the definitions above, the things I do can be described in both, so I am a Webmaster too.

So why do I say I am an Internet Entrepreneur? Is it because I think it just sounds cooler? Is it because I like words of French origin, or words that are hard to spell?

No.

It is because you must be an Entrepreneur if you want to succeed online today.

If you are inspired to run one or more websites with the desire that it will earn you enough money to be the equivalent of a part time or full time job, or better yet, well-off or wealthy, than just being a webmaster isn’t going to cut it.

You must understand that you are running an online business and it is just like any other business.

You need funding and a budget. That’s real boring and not as exciting as big boobs, I know, but it’s true.

You don’t think you need funding because you are a great web designer and webmaster?

You may be able to get something started without much money. However, try growing into a substantial business that supports its growth and affords you nearly everything you want without funding.

I don’t mean that everyone has to get investors, venture capitalists, or a bank loan. What I mean is that in the least, you better be prepared to invest you own money in the business.

I’d advise to try spending as little as possible to avoid the syndrome of throwing large sums of money at something thinking that will do the trick. Having a tight budget can actually make you quite creative.

It is important to realize that you can start out as a 1-person endeavor, but as you do things right, and get a little lucky, the business will start to grow. Even if you are a workaholic, you will eventually find out that you can no longer grow by doing everything yourself.

You will need to pay people to help you.

If you are not a great web designer, than by all means, please, please hire a professional. I can’t believe that people still post total pieces of crap websites in the forums and want to know how good they are.

If you want to learn web design, by all means do so, but don’t do it on a site that you want to make money with. Buy a book or take a course and practice on a hobby site.

If you wanted to open your own restaurant, don’t you think it would be a good idea to have experience working in one first? The same goes for the Internet.

Other general business aspects that apply to a for-profit website are:

- Marketing – the old fashioned 4 P’s still apply – product, price, place and promotion.

- Differentiation – why should we come to your site instead of one of the other 1 billion sites out there?

- Finance & Accounting – what is coming in and what is going out? Are you in the black or the red? Do you owe anyone money? Does anyone owe you money?

I could go on and on, but we can’t do an entire business course in a blog post.

I’ll have more in the next post, but for now, let me ask you a question.

Are You a Webmaster or an Entrepreneur?

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I’ve lead workshops at conferences nationally about the use of social media and social networking for the adult industry. Most people (especially webmasters) understand SEO, but are still a little hazy on social media marketing. Through the seminars and workshops, I try to shed some light on SMM so that the time they spend on sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc are not wasted.

I think a huge problem that the adult industry faces (other than the obvious tube site and piracy issue) is that it’s a product that is not necessarily socially acceptable. Talking about sex is not considered polite conversation. In fact, so often, we’re told to add a NSFW tag to links so that people who follow and read what we write know that they probably shouldn’t open that link while at their office. So many companies have filters and alerts built in to let the HR department know when someone’s visited an adult-content site while at work…so, fearing possible warning/firing/embarrassment, they just avoid clicking on that link altogether.

So any adult content company — whether it be toys, DVDs, webcam, or membership site — is going to be fighting an uphill battle when it comes to trying to reach potential consumers during what are considered “normal business hours”. Factor in the fact the the internet is an internationally-run, 24/7 operation, and the fact that so many internet users have home-based businesses or computers in their homes that they share with other family members, and the likelihood of them clicking on any adult-oriented link you provide them is close to nil.

Because of that, I know that a lot of social network users who are also adult-content providers narrow their playing field. They only try to follow people who are already within the industry (non-consumers but with networking potential) or people who have accounts who are also NSFW. The problem with most online users who have NSFW accounts is that they are set up that way because they are trolling for free hookups. In that case, only dating sites may prove profitable.

So why bother using social networking sites to drive traffic to your site, if your attempts are just going to be met with a Block, Unsubscribe, Ban, or Spam notification?

Because social media and social networking can be used to bring traffic and potential consumers to your site – but only if done properly.

Please comment. Part of the social aspect of social media marketing is the open invitation for comments, discussion, argument, and comparison. We can’t get better without sharing ideas – so welcome! Hope to hear from all of you soon.

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If you plan to spend time marketing yourself, your company, your products or your services through social networking sites, there are really only a couple that are worth your time. The giant in the room, of course, is Facebook – which by most estimates is now the second most-visited website on the Internet, behind Google of course.

If you’re going to spend time on Facebook though, then you probably should get familiar with the “Groups” application, which is a simple way to stay connected with people who share a common interest.

For those of you who are already familiar with the Groups application, you can skip this tutorial since it covers only the basics.

Facebook: Applications Menu

For the rest of you, we’ll need a common frame of reference for this discussion, so let’s assume for the sake of argument that your goal is to promote your book review website. You have two choices when planning a group on Facebook for business purposes: you can target potential customers directly, or you use Facebook to network with other professionals who themselves might have access to potential customers. In our scenario, we’ll assume the targets will be other businesses because I’m a big believer in the benefits of B2B networking.

So the group we’re going to make then is a professional group, and the people you want to attract would be other individuals who run websites, since they might make good partners for traffic trades or other forms of cross promotion. You could always make a general group like “Website Developers,” but you probably need to narrow your focus down somewhat for starters. If you live in Texas, for example, you might start a group called “Texas Internet Developers.” If you’d rather be even more specific, go for “Houston Website Developers.”

Groups technically aren’t built-in to Facebook; strictly speaking, they’re a Facebook application. The chances of that making any difference to you though are slim. What that does mean, however, is when you start a group you’ll need to access the Groups application from the Applications menu, which at the time of this article is located in the bottom left corner of your Facebook screen.

Once you have selected Groups, the first thing you should do is search for groups similar to the one you plan to create. If there is an existing group that fits what you’re planning to create, you can always choose to just join that group instead of starting from scratch. If you’d rather be at the wheel, knowing what similar groups exist already can help you with naming your group so that it at least sounds different – and if there are too many similar groups, you can always change your focus.

After you have scanned what already exists, click on the link to “Create a New Group” and fill in the form that follows.

Facebook: Create New Group

Group Name. If you want people with like interests to find your group, use a descriptive name. And since the group in our scenario is supposed to be a professional group, keep the name professional too. Only teenagers really appreciate absurd group names, and teenage antics aren’t in short supply on the Internet, so put on a professional face and take networking seriously.

Description. This is your chance to get some good keywords into your group to help people find your group in the first place, but your group description should also sound professional and be descriptive. If you simply stuff keywords, other people won’t take your group seriously.

Group Type. Here you get to place your group into a category, two levels deep. In our example we’d probably select “Internet & Technology” for the first category, and “Websites” for the second.

Email: Add in your email address here, so you can get proper notifications of select group-related events.

You can ignore fields like “recent news” or “address” for now, those aren’t vital to the operation of a Facebook group.

When you’re done, click on the “Create Group” button. Now you’ll need to do a little group administration and customize the settings for your new group.

Facebook: Customize Group

In addition to having the option of determining whether group members can post comments on the wall, share pictures or videos, or post links, you also get to decide the “Access” settings for your group. All three choices are clearly explained on Facebook, just keep in mind the real questions here are: 1) “Do I want anyone to be able to join my group?” and 2) “Do I want anyone to be able to find my group?”

In our scenario, we probably want the group to be findable by anyone on Facebook, but we might want to restrict who can join the group since it’s supposed to be focused on Web developers in Texas. You can select “This group is open” if you don’t want to verify new members, or “This group is closed” if you’d rather approve new members before they can participate in the group.

Once your settings are complete, you’ll be prompted to send out invitations to people you can select from your Friends list; alternatively, you can enter a list of email addresses. If you don’t know anyone yet who would be a good match for your group, you’re going to have to do some work. Join other open groups that might include potential members for your own group, and start making new friends.

You also want to make sure your new group has some content of interest so new members have a reason to stick around after they join. Post pictures if relevant, start discussions, post links of interest, and when you get enough members you can even consider planning a local event for group members in your area.

Facebook’s Groups application can be an effective tool for networking with other professionals, and it never hurts to have friends in business. Just remember that marketing with Facebook takes work, and like anything else in modern Internet marketing, if you don’t stay at it consistently then it won’t be of much help to your business.

Remember: At the end of the day, Groups is a software tool; it’s up to you to use that tool to supply interesting content that attracts attention and solicits participation.

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