The Internet is drastically different from all other media we are accustomed to: Conventional media are PUSH media. The Internet is a PULL medium. Internet advertising, then, should be drastically different from conventional advertising.
Generally, conventional media consist of print publications, radio/TV, and direct mail. Publications push information, and at the same time, try to grab the reader's attention with color, graphics, and unusual techniques. Radio and TV push news and entertainment, and try to sandwich in emotional ads. Direct mail pushes nothing but ads - which is why it is called junk mail.
Although they may occasionally work, these PUSH techniques do not belong on a PULL medium, such as the Internet. On the Internet, the visitor, not the vendor, is king. He has the choice of an infinite number of sites to go to. He can't be PUSHED. He needs to be PULLED.
Everything you do must be geared to attracting visitors. Fancy technology, in-your-face emotional ads, and spamming (the equivalent of junk mail) will not do it. Supplying their needs will. I believe, people get on the Net in order to learn something. Even if the purpose is shopping, they want to learn enough to make comparisons and choose the best product for their needs. A good site is a learning fountain. A good learning fountain has a great deal of visitor involvement.
As good as you may make your site, you alone cannot always help each visitor. Help her further by pointing her to other learning fountains similar to yours. You now are part of a linked network, Each of you in the network helps the visitor, but also helps other sites in the network.
As a network, the Internet consists of many networks. As an advertiser, you are looking for a way to attract people to your network. You do this by building links among the various networks you are interested in.
It may help to define broad categories of networks:
- LEARNING-NET - This is the network you build around the theme of your learning fountain. You gather the people who are likely prospects and help them learn as much as you can.
- NICHE-NET - You work within a niche. If you link with sites that work on other aspects of this niche, you have a niche-net. Cooperation among members of this network can prove beneficial to all.
- COMPLEMENTOR-NET - Vendors worry too much about competitors, not enough about complementors. The latter are defined in the book, Co-Opetition, by the following statement:
"Customers value your product more when they have the other
player's product than when they have your product alone."
In other words, complementors help increase the pie for you as well as themselves. If you're selling golf clubs, vendors of sneakers are complementors. If you do news releases, publishers are complementors. A good advertiser builds links with complementor-nets.
- INTERNET-NET - Universal search engines or directories effectively paint pictures of the entire Internet. From these sites you can link to millions of different networks. They must be part of your advertising campaign.
- EXTERNAL-NET - All conventional media may be thought of as another network, from which you may attract people to your site and learning-net.
Your advertising philosophy, is not to gain hits or click-throughs, but to attract the right type of prospect to your site. You do this through a process of building links to your site. Here are 6 major steps:
- Choose a niche and define your theme. Make your site a learning fountain centered around your theme.
- Build a learning-net among your visitors through forums, chats, interactive software, mailing lists and newsletters. The latter two are of special importance, since they help build community.
- Form a nich-net of related sites. Build it with reciprocal links, banner ads and sponsorships. Send news releases and articles to publications focused on your niche. Make sure you're listed in directories serving your niche.
- Define complementor-nets and identify focal points, that is, sites where these complementor-nets meet. Publications and associations belong to this category. Send ads, news releases and articles.
- Identify the most popular internet-nets and list your site with them. Advertising here pays only if what you sell fits into a wide variety of categories.
- Use all your normal approaches on the external-net to bring attention to your site and learning-net. Don't forget business cards and stationery.
To advertise your site on the Internet, you do not need to spend lots of money. But you do need to spend lots of time - building linked networks around your learning fountain.
