Tag Archives: Advertising

Essential For Marketers: A Facebook Page To Market Your Brand

We’ve already talked a few weeks ago about Why You Should Start Your Own Page On Facebook and given some details on how you might want to go about executing it. Now we thought a few examples from major and savvy marketers might be very helpful for you…and for me also as I navigate making my facebook page for my brand. Adam Ostrow in Facebook Shares Tips and Case Studies for Brand Marketers describes how the big boys and gals are using this resource to market their brands:

    With its recent redesign and a slew of new features, Facebook has been moving to make Pages a focal point of the site. Personally, I recently described these changes as “the business model that moves [the company] from a successful social network to a highly profitable business.”Thus, it’s not surprising that Facebook is starting to do more to reach out to brands that might benefit from using revamped Pages. The latest example is (fittingly) a Facebook Page that the company has setup to promote “Facebook Marketing Solutions,” complete with case studies from a number of large brands using the tool, tips and how-tos, and discussion with marketers.

    The brands that Facebook is featuring include household names like Adobe, Lionsgate, and Ben & Jerry’s, but there are still some useful tidbits for those with slightly smaller budgets. For example, Ben & Jerry’s implementation of Facebook Connect is something that any website could deploy with a bit of coding work and zero marketing spend.

  • facebook ben & jerrysIt lets visitors to Ben & Jerry’s website select their favorite flavor and share it on Facebook. Then, that user’s friends see the flavor selection on their homepage, and also get a link to Ben & Jerry’s Facebook Page where they too can become a fan.

    facebook news feedMeanwhile, for brands looking to spend money on Facebook (Facebook reviews), namely by promoting their Page, the Marketing Solutions group shares a number of different types of campaigns. For example, Adobe’s “Real or Fake” campaign includes a game on the company’s Page, where users guessed whether an image was real or Photoshoped.

    Adobe describes its results: “About 10% of our page visitors played the game and, of those who played, 6% clicked the “Share” button at the end of the game, and 6% clicked “Buy Now” at the end of the game. Due to this game and media placement, our page received over 6,000 new fans too.”

    For Facebook, sharing this type of information using a Page is a great example of a company eating its own dog food so to speak. It’s also good to see that they’re both sharing tips that anyone can do – without spending significant money on Facebook – as well as case studies clearly designed to get big brands to spend big dollars on marketing their Pages.

    Additional Facebook Resources for Brands

    - New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers

    - 5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page

    - 5 Tips for Optimizing Your Brand’s Facebook Presence

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Finding A Product To Sell Online – Don’t Marry It, Test It

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Just because a product sells like gangbusters on someone else’s site, don’t assume it will sell on yours.  Your product has to fit in with your overall expertise and what your site is about in order for people to go there and look for it, much less buy it.

Even if a product fits your site and its personality like a hand in a glove, don’t assume it will sell.  The pricing may not be right, the market may be saturated, the stars may not line up right.  Who knows why some things sell on any particular site and others don’t?  You can’t be clairvoyant: you’re not a mind reader, you’re a web marketer.  Everyone has 20/20 hind sight.  That’s why the best plan is to just put up a product and test it out.  It either sells or it doesn’t.  Sometimes you can tweak it…tweak the price, tweak the offer.  But often people just aren’t interested in buying that product from your site and that’s all you really need to know.  And there’s a very simple way to figure this out.
Whether you wish to sell ads related to your content, or join an affiliate marketing program or sell your own products on your site or on Amazon or eBay, there are a lot of moving parts to get right on a website and you will need to make a lot of right choices along the way.  The way to do this is by testing: testing ad placement and color, testing content, testing product categories, testing various suppliers and vendors, testing affiliate marketing programs to see which ones work for you.

Those who take the time to test everything they are doing are the ones who eventually become successful in whichever field they choose.

I can’t begin to tell you how many things I’ve tested.  I’ve tested travel, which I thought might be convenient for business customers: zero.  I’ve tested business ebooks: nothing.  I’ve tested many, many products, all of which came to nada, nothing. Even in  the two core revenue producers on the AdvancingWomen.com site, advertising and employment recruiting, I’ve been through a dozen morphing and transfiguration experiments, starting with Doubleclick Ads, from the day they were born, to some new European ad company which sweet talked me into believing they were going to take the Net by storm, but all they did was truly anemic revenues and give me one more learning experience.  All this was before I morphed my way into a successful combination of Google ads, text ads sold from my site, and some proprietary ad networks. It just took time and testing.

Same with a Job Board or employment recruiting facet of our site at Careers.AdvancingWomen.com.  I was a part of every one of what seemed like a half dozen permutations of what eventually became CareerBuilder.com. That was ok for pocket change. What I began to realize was that big job boards who wanted you as an affiliate wanted the demograhic you had captured but in no way wanted to promote your site, and why should they, as they would be creating their own competition?  Basically they were getting the benefit of your traffic and assuring that you didn’t compete with them or join another competing job board like Monster.com. It worked pretty well  for them, but not necessarily so well for you. Ultimately, I was able to start Careers.AdvancingWomen.com , our own job board which guaranteed a.) I would be building my own brand and therefore an asset I could invest in and  b.) I would not be giving up 50% of the revenue up front.  It just took a lot of testing to arrive at a successsful combination of revenue streams to support the business.

There are many product testing examples as well. Mom-and-pop team Cheryl and Gary Casper started small, like many do on eBay, first looting their own garage, even snatching up VHS copies of their daughter’s Cinderella and Sleeping beauty then moving on to sell their neighbor’s cast offs.

As they learned about online auctions and particularly the eBay environment, the Caspers moved on up the selling food chain.    They now sell $15,000 to $20,000 a month in goods on eBay.

How did they do it?  Trial and error.

After their home started overflowing with neighbor’s cast off products, the Caspers turned to drop-shippers–companies that charge others to sell their products then ship directly to buyers. Although this looked good at first – removing the risk of buying the merchandise, the inconvenience of storing it and the hassle of shipping it—there were definite drawbacks. The Caspers were selling about 40 TVs a week but about half of those arrived damaged at the customer’s home.  The Caspers needed more control over the quality of the product which was shipped to the customer.  They also set out to identify a product category which was less crowded and more profitable than electronics on eBay.

The couple used eBay itself as a research tool, and began going to Chamber of Commerce meetings to find people or companies with products to sell.  They discarded many possible products including Star Wars light sabers and gumball machines.

Ultimately the Caspers decided on auto floor mats, an item with as much as 75 percent profit margins, even after paying the dealer.  The Caspers put as many as 50 mats up on eBay, at $16 to $125 each. Once or twice a week, They buy the mats they’ve sold from a Houston-based auto surplus company.

“If I only wanted to make a few hundred dollars a day, I’d be done by noon,” says Cheryl.

So, the  best advice is probably to use  your common sense to figure out what would be a good product or service for your site to offer.  Don’t spend an excessive amount of time trying to ponder all the variables.  Just put it up.  If it makes money, keep it, if it doesn’t drop it.  That’s the benefit of testing.  Oh, and if it makes money, expand it. That’s the road to success.

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Best Way For A Startup To Earn Revenue? – Entrepreneur Poll Results

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AdvancingWomen.com believes the top responses in the following poll capture the basics of how to make it through tough times.

First, tough times are the worst possible time to think of cutting your marketing/ad budget.  Don’t do it.  That’s where your prospects come from.  Second, remember most prospects don’t convert into buyers on their first or even their second visit.  You have to keep in touch with them and keeping chipping away at that wall of reserve or objections or whatever is holding them back from buying your product or service.  A series of auto-responder messages can help expand your marketing reach and free up more of your time to speak or meet personally with serious buyers.

Evan Carmichael, Blog Manager for  YoungEntrepreneur.com shares the results  from their latest Entrepreneur Poll,  Best Way For A Startup To Earn Revenue? – Entrepreneur Poll Results.: What Is The Best Way For A Startup To Earn Revenue? The number one answer that came in was:

  • Focus On The Sale

- The number one thing to focus on is your first sale. A lot of businesses fail because they spend their time on letter head, furniture, office space, etc. What really matters is getting in front of your customer, finding out what they need, and providing that service/product. It really is that simple but is by no means easy. Sales is hard work and is a required skill for every entrepreneur. If you have no sales or marketing experience I recommend you get a sales job before going out on your own.

- Hi there, The best way to earn revenue for a start-up is at some point stop setting things up and just start SELLING. Sales is a life blood of any business and the sooner you start the sales the sooner the money comes in.

- This is the only logical answer… The only way to generate revenue is to sell your product or service. There is no need for a poll or a survey… just sell.. thats all you need to know!

- Easy…Start selling a good product as soon as possible. Receiving revenues right away begin to offset the cost of a startup. There are those who want to read, research, plan, etc. all day, but it’s those who take action that succeed in this society.

- Earn revenue by having great sales tactics–selling while not getting caught up in the backoffice work and creating sales methods. Finding a smart way to have sale prices often, showcasing your products or services through sales, or adding some extra incentive or package pricing for the client. Also teaming up with a business that targets your audience. The key is also making sure keep expenses level while selling–so gross margins and profitability ratios don’t get messed up.

  • The second most popular answer was: Create A Marketing Plan

- No one will know that the business exists if it doesn’t launch a marketing effort soon after the ink is dry on the business plan. Create a clear and concise message and repeat it at every exposure avenue visited by your targeted audience.

- To create a marketing system that can attract customers easily. First, you need a way to make sure customers will come back again for your products. Subscription based works well. 2nd, you need to come up with a reason for them to buy. Maybe a one month free etc.

- Put together a marketing plan based on your projected cash-flow needs. How much money does your business need each month to cover costs and stay afloat? How much will it need to begin making a consistent profit? Now look at what you sell. How much business do you need to do each month to bring in that required revenue? Then build a marketing plan based on bringing in that amount of business for the lowest possible investment. And create incentives for customers to act now. There are two big mistakes small business owners make when starting out. One: not paying themselves, which forces many to give up too soon. And two: taking on all the work themselves instead of running the business. A healthy business can pay you a salary, and is scalable enough for you to bring in workers when needed, while you concentrate on running (and growing) the business.

  • The third most popular answer was: Advertise

- You have to spend money to make money as a new business. Advertise!

- Hi Evan! Good to see you on this forum. I believe that to get a business up and running successfully, you have to do a combination of the things several of you are saying: advertising and selling. Your advertising has to be very smart at first, being sure not to waste a dime. Many things can be done for free now, even if you’re a brick and mortar business. Get involved right away in the Chamber of Commerce in your area. Be evident at fundraisers and work your elevator speech into conversations somehow. Use your kids to pass out flyer’s. Do co-op advertising with local businesses. Just be a positive role model in the community and you’ll earn respect; which goes a long way in business. I think when your business is just getting going is the time you really have to be frugal with any money that you can get your hands on.

Other answers from our member were:

  • Don’t borrow if you don’t have customers
  • Rent ad space on your website
  • Networking / referrals
  • Use a blog to promote your business
  • Cut expenses
  • Put profits back into your business
  • Implement your business plan

For more of this post go to YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog » Best Way For A Startup To Earn Revenue? – Entrepreneur Poll Results.

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Yes, Some Blogs Are *Very* Profitable – And Some Of Them Are Women’s Blogs

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Yes, some blogs are profitable – very profitable.

Some are not only profitable,  they have actually helped created a relaible revenue stream for other women through blogging, for which AdvancingWomen.com applauds them.

In a major slice of good news for women on the Internet/blogging scene, Lisa Stone co-founded and took on the position of CEO of BlogHer, an online blogging community for women, with more than 13,000 members and 10,000 blogs on their blog list, reaching more than eight million women each month via their community hub at BlogHer and their  publishing syndicate of more than 1,500 blogs . Stone , who appears to be somewhat of a super star in the world of blogging, had previously helped launch three sponsored blogging networks: American Lawyer Media| Law.com’s legal blog network (2004), followed by Knight Ridder Digital’s Thatsracin.com (2005), and, one she recommended as a consultant, Glam Media (2005). Also, as  executive producer and Editor in Chief/VP, Programming for Women.com (acquired by iVillage in 2001), she launched an 18-channel network and helped grow it to a Top 30 site.  So, it probably should come as no great surprise that Stone figured out a way for women to actually make money with their blogs.  She and her partners created a successful commercial enterprise via BlogHer’s Ad Network, where BlogHer works with bloggers to provide quality sponsors and advertisers with an opportunity to support communities of women online, and women who blog with an opportunity to pay themselves. More about that here.

My Photo
Lisa Stone co-founder and CEO of BlogHer

Others have gotten into the blog advertising game as well.  One reason is that with the low operating expenses of blogs, many are able to self-sustain through advertising and not be forced to sell off little chunks of themselves, at least in the beginning, to venture capitalists for funding. “Federated Media Publishing, the brainchild of former Industry Standard Publisher John Battelle, operates as a sort of uberblog, selling advertising and carrying out business functions for a stable of 130 independent blogs and related online media.

The emerging business model is to start by selling advertising and build from there with events, subscriptions or product sales. And with audiences growing at double- or triple-digit rates, ad prices are soaring for top blogs.

“Since  2005, when Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Arrington started TechCrunch, his popular blog on Internet startups as a labor of love, it has grown  to  a full-time staff of eight with a  CEO, 1.25 million visitors and $240,000 per month in advertising revenues, not including additional revenue from conferences and parties.”

AdvancingWomen.com would call that pretty profitable.

“When we started selling advertising in this space late in 2005, it was very experimental and risky. We were able to get maybe $4 or $5″ per 1,000 page views, Battelle, said. “For the same impressions we were selling then, we are now on average $20 to $30.”

On the other side of the coin, blogging businesses can make money because their overhead is low. “It’s dirt cheap to operate, which makes break-even incredibly achievable,” said  Jon Callaghan a partner with True Ventures, a Palo Alto venture capital firm that has invested in Om Malik’s technology news blog GigaOm.

Right now, it’s rare for even the most successful blogging operations to employ more than a dozen full-time staff members. Computer power and bandwidth get cheaper all the time. And a headquarters is not essential.

“There are no offices. It’s all virtual,” Daily Kos‘ Markos Moulitsas said about his site .

One success story

TechCrunch illustrates the new blogging math. It sells sponsorships that allow advertisers to display on the home page at $10,000 per month. It also uses Federated Media to sell display ads, keeping 60 percent of the revenue. And it charges $200 to list in its Cool Jobs section, getting about five or six want ads per day. Parties and conferences add another income source. Last month, TechCrunch organized a two-day event at the Palace Hotel that gave 40 startups a platform to tout their wares.

And, as far as spending goes, “our costs are only headcount,” Arrington said.

As blogs mature and start producing good cash flow, they often create additional blogs or new sites, forming networks with multiple products and a common brand identity. For example, GigaOm now offers four additional blogs, all with a common brand, and its staff has grown to 10 full-time employees.

“You’re seeing small media groups being created,” said Paul Walborsky, GigaOm‘s  chief operating officer. “This is the next evolution.”

If what you want is the nitty, gritty facts of the stats and trends today in blogging, read the report below, or go to Technorati for the full report:

Technorati: State of the Blogosphere 2008.

All Blogs Are Not Created Equal

Take a quick journey into the size of the Blogosphere

Technorati Authority

Blogging is…

  • A truly global phenomenon: Technorati tracked blogs in 81 languages in June 2008, and bloggers responded to our survey from 66 countries across six continents.
  • Here to stay: Bloggers have been at it an average of three years and are collectively creating close to one million posts every day. Blogs have representation in top-10 web site lists across all key categories, and have become integral to the media ecosystem.

Bloggers are…

  • Not a homogenous group: Personal, professional, and corporate bloggers all have differing goals and cover an average of five topics within each blog.
  • Savvy and sophisticated: On average, bloggers use five different techniques to drive traffic to their blog. They’re using an average of seven publishing tools on their blog and four distinct metrics for measuring success.
  • Intensifying their efforts based on positive feedback: Blogging is having an incredibly positive impact on their lives, with bloggers receiving speaking or publishing opportunities, career advancement, and personal satisfaction.

Blogs are Profitable

The majority of bloggers we surveyed currently have advertising on their blogs. Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in their blog is $1,800, but it’s paying off. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75K+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month. Note: median investment and revenue (which is listed below) is significantly lower. They are also earning CPMs on par with large publishers.

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