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Friday August 04, 2006

It’s The Eyeballs Stupid

Ask an 18 year-old today if they read the newspaper and you generally get a laugh. Being 49, I recognize that laugh. It’s the same one I gave my parents when they wanted me to put water and a little dab of Bryl-cream on my hair and cut my hair above my ears back in the 1970’s. It was sooooo outdated.

You see, the newspaper world just doesn’t get it. They think the same eyeballs that read a newspaper are going to read the same copy online. What they’re unable to do is monetize effectively the online eyeballs. That’s because their investment is still tied up in big buildings, huge printing presses, enormous staffs, cutting down millions of trees and spending millions on gas to get the newspapers to the people that are no longer reading them.

Pity.

Haven’t we seen this all before? Remember the railroads. The railroads are the classic study of how an industry has it all and loses it. They failed to recognize they were in the transportation business goes the teachings of Business 101 in every college. So, the airlines came in and took over the monetization of moving people from point A to point B.

When Bill Gates and Steven Jobs were going door to door with their silly little operating systems, the IBM’s of the world laughed them out of the conference rooms. Why? Because America was built on manufacturing. Appliances and machines and ships and tanks needed to be built. Designing software was something for college geeks.

Jobs and Gates looked at each other and said, “They don’t get it, do they?” And countless billions of dollars in lost revenue later, the IBM’s of the world finally get it. And Steven Jobs finds himself as CEO of Disney.

And now the newspaper world is selling ads in their newspapers and in the process you can get a banner or something like that on their respective websites. Why? Because they think the battle is about content. It’s not.

Look at Myspace.com and Youtube.com. Sure, there is lots of content there but the reason they exist is for connectivity. What the newspaper world has failed to realize is that we are no longer in the Information Era. We’re headlong into the Internet Era where Connectivity is King and content is measured by volume, not quantity. Still don’t get it? Look at anyone under 25’s emails. Check their spelling. If content is king, spelling would be queen. It's almost as if they have a code. Spelling doesn't matter because the less letters you use the more you're able to connect. Just communicate, nothing more and nothing less.

There are lots of sites built on content. Yahoo is indexing over 12 billion pages. Type anything into Google and see how many matches you get. That’s because we have too much information. In the Information Era, information was king. If you owned the Information you had power.

Now, thanks to the Internet, the first entity in the history of mankind not owned by anyone, information has lost it’s grip on power. To gain power on the Internet, you need connectivity. Once you achieve connectivity, you get eyeballs. And even the newspaper world will tell you that the more eyeballs you get the more money you make.

It’s about eyeballs stupid and eyeballs will always equal cash.


 


Sunday July 30, 2006

The Four Big Mistakes Businesses Are Making On The Internet

When the Dot Com Bust occurred, people like Warren Buffet, Chairman of Berkshire-Hathaway came off looking really smart. “I never invest in anything I don’t understand,” was the explanation Buffet gave to a snickering investment world. That investment world which lost billions on the Dot Com feeding frenzy found out the old man knew what he was talking about after all. Now, he’s taking his billions and giving them to Bill and Melinda Gates for charitable impact.

The rest of us have to deal with the realities of not having billions of dollars.

That reality is rooted in what Steve Martin noted in his 1978 movie, The Jerk, “Ahhhh…. it’s a profit thing….” And that profit thing is centered around your website. If your business is not measuring marketing success by visitors to its website, then you had better wake up fast.

What was missing with the Dot Com Bust now exists. Look at what Rupert Murdoch, king of all media and Chairman of the Board of Newscorp said in their annual shareholders meeting last October.

“The media industry is one that, in my more than 50 years working in it, has evolved in ways people could never have imagined. With that in mind, and at a time when our financial position is stronger than ever, we have turned our attention in recent months back to the Internet. It is an area of the media industry we simply can’t ignore, and indeed has become our greatest single area of focus over the past year.

Why the urgency? Because the Internet is the fastest growing advertising market. It has the fastest growing audience. More importantly, broadband proliferation is at last real, meaning the opportunity is now to grow exponentially the distribution of our vast video content in news, sports and general entertainment.”

What Mr. Murdoch was saying is this, “What we thought was there then (the Dot Com Bust) is there now (connectivity). During the last 7 years, something powerful has occurred on the Internet – it has grown a back half. Search Engines took off when businesses recognized that the pre- Dot Com assessment of the Internet as cyber real estate were unfounded. Cyber techno geniuses found out the hard way that the Internet was not about location, location, location. Do you think Yahoo would pay Mark Cuban another $5.7 billion for his site, Broadcast Dot Com today? Maybe $5.7 million, but nowhere near $5.7 billion. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch has recognized publicly that the future of all media now sits on the Internet by paying $580 million cash for a two-year old website, Myspace, that had not even seen $20 million in gross revenues in its entire existence. Why?

Because Murdoch sees that the Internet is now connected. Just like a highway system across the roadmap of the United States, people are traveling all over the Internet. If one gets up high enough, you can see all the traffic at once.

To do so, requires that you understand what new mistakes – assumptions – are being made about today’s Internet.

There are four big mistakes people are making regarding the Internet right now that contribute to the predictive/logistic model we’ve built regarding the success of Tops In America.


THE FIRST MISTAKE BUSINESSES ARE MAKING REGARDING THE INTERNET
Most people see what’s happened with Google and Yahoo and they assume that the strength of major Search Engines is their database of information. Nothing could be further from the truth. Search Engines took off at the nexus of the Dot Com Bust in the 1990’s. The Dot Com Bust occurred because even the smartest of Venture Capitalists saw the potential of the Internet and invested in the Dot Com Boom based on the Internet being virtual Real Estate – location, location, location. It wasn’t based on location – then. Why? Because there was no way to sustain traffic. There was no interconnectivity on the Internet. The Search Engines took off because they gave the Internet a beginning. They gave the consumer a place to start and then get anywhere on the Internet. The strength of Search Engines was timing. They captured the market because they gave the market connectivity. In delivering an infrastructure for pedestrian travel on the Internet, the Search Engines gave the Internet it’s most prized commodity – connecitivity. So, the first big mistake being made about the Internet is the over-valuation of the Search Engine world as the center of Internet marketing success. After all, 3 out of every 4 unique visitor sessions to the Internet in the USA each day do not include a Search Engine. People get around on the Internet without the use of a Search Engine 75% of the time. This year Ford is spending $150 million on Internet marketing. Type “new cars” into a Google search and see where Ford is listed. They’re not. Why? Because they’re not about to put their money on something that is totally subjective and unpredictable like search rankings. They’ve taken a higher view of the road map and they’re finding the higher trafficked intersections in order to choose the places to set up their Internet advertising.
MISTAKE #1 SUMMARY: It’s not about the Search Engines.

THE SECOND MISTAKE BUSINESSES ARE MAKING REGARDING THE INTERNET
Media giants such as CBS, Disney, Clear Channel Radio Stations and more believe the secret to the Internet is content. It’s not. They are so heavily invested in content with towers, equipment and talent that they automatically assume the Internet works based on the same principles as traditional media. They have to assume this because they have to protect their investment. It doesn’t. Put Seinfeld, the most popular TV show in history, on the Internet and few watch it. Why? Because the Internet is about connectivity. Furthermore, the number of Unique Visitor Sessions to the Internet each day in the United States is 800 million. And less than 25% of those go to or through a Search Engine. In other words, the size of the Internet Traffic NOT going to or through a Search Engine is 75% of the total Unique Visitor Sessions. Put another way – the non-linear part of the Internet is 3 times as large as the linear or Search Engine side of the Internet. Smart Internet marketing strategies mine and redirect traffic from throughout the Internet back to targeted sites without the use of a Search Engine. That’s because Internet success is not based on content, it’s based on connectivity. Look at Myspace. It has zero content unless someone gets connected and creates a piece of the content themselves. At this writing, there were more than 95 million accounts on Myspace and none of them found it on a Search Engine, nor did Myspace ever advertise in traditional media.

THE THIRD MISTAKE BUSINESSES ARE MAKING REGARDING THE INTERNET
Traditional marketing mavens still think they’re buying demographics. This is easy to understand. When someone makes a meaningful ad buy with a CBS or ABC affiliate or even on a national buy, they are targeting people who are most likely to buy their product, right? That should make sense to most anyone. Take for example a homebuilder. They are targeting a woman age 25 – 54 with their media dollars because their research shows that females dominate the decision matrix for a home purchase. In the non-traditional media world, the Internet world, your “ad buy” is based on words. All traffic moves on the Internet based on words. The same homebuilder buys “advertising” based on floor plans. If someone visits their site as a result of moving on the Internet based on the word set “floor plans” you have to see right away how that visit to their website is so much more valuable than a woman 25 – 54 who just saw their TV commercial or their print ad in the daily newspaper. Smart Internet marketing is about knowing the words of your industry. It’s really no more difficult than that. It’s about knowing how to move traffic around the Internet based on the principles of connectivity and the principles of “word ownership.”

THE FOURTH MISTAKE BUSINESSES ARE MAKING REGARDING THE INTERNET
The fourth mistake being made regarding the Internet is one of brand versus technology. There are only two parts to marketing: Brand and Technology. The problem is that traditional brand people too often do not integrate technology properly into their marketing approach – usually because they don’t understand the Internet but they do understand newspapers, television and radio. On the other hand, the new media people believe it’s all about the Internet and their technology so they forego the potential of branding because they think branding’s role ends with all traditional media. Smart Internet Marketing combines both brand and technology. Brand is nothing more than perception and perception is measured in words – the words people use to describe your business and it’s product/service offerings.

CONCLUSION
So smart Internet marketing in 2006 is simple to understand if you understand the four mistakes being made regarding marketing in this fast changing world. Recognize that the Internet has a non-linear side that is 3 times the side that is owned by the Search Engines.

Moving to mine and redirect traffic is not a technology but it is a process – a process based on sound mathematical and branding principles.
MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLE: The economies of scale for the group are always more powerful than those of the individual.
BRAND PRINCIPLE: The brand for your business is about owning words on the Internet and those words should form the basis of what people say about you and your business.


 


Wednesday July 19, 2006

There are eight ways to drive traffic to your website.

1. Link exchange with similar sites
Link exchange with similar sites is a great way to increase traffic to your site because both sites benefit. The more you exchange links with different sites, the more traffic you’ll get.

2. Write Articles and submit to article directories
This is a proven method for targeted traffic. Writing articles and submitting to article directories can give massive exposure to your site. Not only your site’s page rank and search engine ranking will increase, you may also develop the reputation as an expert in your field. You can write articles yourself or get it written by freelance writers for a small fee.

3. Start your own Newsletter
If you want life time traffic to your site, it’s time to start your own newsletter. It’s a proven fact that only 5% visitors buy from any site at first visit. If you get them on your opt-in list, you can follow up with valuable content and they my become repeat visitors.

4. Participate in Online Communities and Forums
Forums and online communities can become a huge source of traffic for site. It requires only your time and nothing else. All you have to do is start sharing your knowledge and expertise. IIt will also build your reputation as an expert and people always want to work with experts.

5. Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is the fastest way of getting traffic. Do you know what the reason behind the grand success of Hotmail is? It’s viral marketing.

Viral marketing allows you to spread the word about your company and product without any costs or low costs only. You can create a short report or tiny software and allow others to pass it to their friends and relatives. You can also attach your link to a funny video or entertaining game.

Just follow these simple and easy to follow tips and

6. Traditional Advertising
Obviously, this is the most expensive option. And, it is increasingly becoming the least effective as newspapers, radio stations and TV programs continue to lose listeners/readers/viewers to the Net. The age group of consumers 25 and under consume little commercial media. However, if you've got a large budget that you're not as concerned about the accountability of your ROI, then spend it on traditional media.

7. Internet Advertising
Internet Advertising is what is known as Pay Per Click (PPC) or Banner Advertising. It's a paid ad that is 100% trackable because it is dependent on a click for results. Viewers click to visit your website and you "pay" per click or, in the case of a banner ad, you pay a monthly fee and track the number of clicks for that amount to calculate a value proposition. The problem with all Internet Advertising is this. Many times, your paid ad is showing up on some sort of search page. Four out of every five clicks on that page go to the organic search matches. In other words, you've already eliminated yourself from 80% of the traffic for that ad. If it's not showing up through Search, then it's a paid ad on an Internet site. One other calculation to figure into the equation is that nearly 15% of all Internet clicks on ads is fraudulent. That's right. Your competitors and others are clicking your ads to spend your money.

8. NLIM
NLIM is Non-Linear Internet Marketing. It is not a technology. It is a process. It actually involves points 1 - 7. It is a calculated plan for increasing traffic through the construction of a predicitve-logistic model employing every means possible to methodically increase the traffic to your site. And it works. If you want to know more, email me at tim@dlbllc.com or visit www.dlbllc.com.


 


Thursday July 13, 2006

Marketing today is simple. It's brand plus technology. To multi-national corporations, brand is the result of branding and branding is the result of hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising spent each year over many years.

For the 98% of the companies that need results each weekend - the local and regional companies - branding is two things. It's word of mouth plus sales. Word of mouth is the what people say about your business. It's called perception. No matter who you are or what you do, the perception is ultimately the reality. Control perception and your company controls word of mouth. It's important. Where word of mouth is today is where sales will be tomorrow. If your sales are doing what you want, your brand is AOK, wouldn't you agree?

The second part of the marketing equation is technology. And technology today is the Internet - nothing more, nothing less. As Bill Gates said, "It's the machine. We're rapidly moving towards one machine. All machines are hooking into that machine (the Internet).

The Internet is a mystery to most businesses. Ten years ago the rush to build websites gained viral momentum. Seven years ago, as the reality of the Dot Com Bust settled onto many investors' bottom lines, the rush was to make the content on those same visitor-less websites more entertaining and more user-friendly. Enter Java Script, HTML code and Flash into the website vernacular.

Now, the Internet has two types of websites - brochures and business centers. Brochure Sites are for those businesses that don't need traffic coming to their site in the course of converting interested prospects to dollars. Business Center sites want to utilize their websites as a marketing process hub.

If it's enough for someone to find out about your website accidentally, or through the normal course of business, then DLB and our Internet Marketing process known as Non-Linear Internet Marketing combined with our award-winning Branding talents are not for you. You have a brochure website.

If you want to harness the power of the Internet and throw a powerful one-two punch employing the unique, results-oriented local branding processes designed to control word of mouth in your target audience, then DLB has something no one else does: accountable, predictable and measureable results-oriented marketing. Also known as kick-your-competitors-collective-butts-and-take-much-more-of-than-your-fair-share-of-sales marketing!!!

You see, it's no longer about demographics. It's about words. We've left the Information Era. Information has lost its power because there's too much of it. Whatever you find to be true on one website through one group's research can be disputed through another website's research. And they're both just as scientific as the other in their approach and methodologies. It's validation of Will Rogers' oft-quoted dictum, "Theres lies, damned lies and then there's statistics."

As a result, we've entered the Internet Era where information is subjugated to connectivity. MYSPACE exists without original content. It's about connecting. Every pundit with an opinion has a blog. The blog is the proverbial tree falling in the forest failing to make a sound unless someone is there to hear it. A blog needs viewers. Viewers arrive through connectivity.

And connectivity is the key to what to most is a mystery - the Internet. The Internet is the first entity in the history of mankind that isn't owned. That's why it grows at the rate of 6 million indexed sites a day - no owners means no limits.

Connectivity creates linear paths through the non-linear Intenet that is comprised of billions of sites. Connectivity combined with brand is what makes all advertising and marketing go in the year 2006.

And the longer you and your business wait to get connected, the further you fall behind. It's not about content, it's about connectivity.

This is the reason why so many TV and Radio Station and Newspaper websites exist as advertising add-ons. Their owners are heavily invested in the systems of content development and delivery. "If it works in traditional media, then it will work the same way on the Internet, right?" they ask innocently. But they don't.

There are too many other options that the potential viewers, listeners and readers are already connected to. Traditional media sits by watching helplessly as the water of advertising revenue pours over the dam towards the Internet. Why?

Because it's not about content, it's about connectivity. And the traditional media barons have no other choice than to continue to try and discover why their content doesn't gain the expected audience. No connectivity, no audience.

Create connectivity and win. Without it, you struggle.

But do this with the principles of branding at the same time, and your company is ready to win like never before.

Next time... the SEO myth explained!


 


Sunday July 09, 2006

DLB is about results and marketing today begins and ends with the Internet. The Internet is so large and growing so fast and most businesses are lost on it. They have a website but no one gets to the website unless they're directed to do so by a TV commercial, a print ad or a salesman's business card. If that's your business, you're missing out on the potential of the Internet to deliver qualified customers to your front door. The Internet Marketing and Advertising campaign for your company needs to leverage both the power of traditional media and the power of the Internet - together. This power collides in a proven, unique methodology known as Non-Linear Internet Marketing (NLIM). This is not Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is necessary but don't get caught up in showing up on the front page of a search until you know if anyone is actually typing those words into a Search Engine to begin with. Any SEO company can cause you to show up on the front page of a search no one is searching for. The trick is showing up consistently for a search that has meaning. And you do that through the guiding principle behind Non-Linear Internet Marketing - Connectivity. Connectivity is the key in what many are now calling the Internet Era. And, it is through Connectivity that you will unlock the power of the Internet as the centerpiece of a successful Internet and Advertising strategy. DLB is the leading force in implementing NLIM and in doing so, we get predictable, measurable results for our clients.


 

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