Subject: Re: Ad-Supported Web Sites From: JRWilson@pollux.com (J.R. Wilson) Date: Fri, 01 Nov 1996 20:53:54 GMT

On Fri, 1 Nov 1996 08:49:56 -0500, rscom@travel-net.com (Ron Scammell)
wrote:

>If I'm to believe Rosalind Resnick and a lot of the other Internet gurus=
 I
>come across in my reading, I don't have much of a chance of launching a
>successful (read: money-making) online publication that is based on =
banner
>advertising.
>
>In a recent Resnick column in Internet World she flately states: =
"chances
>of a small to mid-size Web publisher floating his boat by selling banner
>ads are about as good as the neighborhood basketball star's odds of =
getting
>drafted by the NBA."

Of course, every player in the NBA was, once, a neighborhood
basketball star.  But, in general terms, she's right.  I've been
dealing with a company that has tried to overcome this by offering
advertisers several small sites as a package for less than they would
pay a bigger site to reach the same number of people (the site owners
still set their own rates, by the way).  A couple of days ago my rep
said they had been stunned at the complete lack of interest as ad
agencies and corporate ad departments continue to concentrate on a
handful of big sites.

But here's a little secret:  Presumably you have started a business
site on the Web because you already have some experience in that area,
which means you should already be known to many of the people you
would like to attract as advertisers.  Take the ones you know best on
a personal basis and pitch them a *very* good deal if they will help
you get off the ground, pointing out the Web is the wave of the future
and a small ad investment on their part could help things along --
and, of course, that their early assistance will be rewarded by
special rates and such in the future (but don't offer them anything
that will buck your own ethics or diminish the credibility of your
site).

You might be surprised to find there are companies out there willing
to do this sort of thing.  After all, most of them started out as
somebody's crazy dream and scheme, too.

>If you believe the numbers from research companies like Jupiter, =
Forrester
>etc., there is going to be an explosion in web ad revenue in the next =
few
>years reaching into the billions of dollars. (Jupiter estimates $5 =
billion
>in total online ad revenue by the year 2000).
>
>Following the "big guys get it all logic" does this mean that the same
>handful of mega sites are going to gobble up the $4 billion plus change =
in
>new ad revenues that is headed to the web.

I think the love affair with the high-priced guys now pulling in the
revenues will be short-lived because, for the most part, they can't
quantify results.  The problem is the advertisers are still
functioning on a traditional print/broadcast concept that has nothing
to do with the Net.

>Or, might a good portion of this advertising bonanza go to the "small to
>mid-size web sites" (online publications included) who have carved out a
>loyal niche audience in much the same way specialty magazines have done
>with great success.

Exactly.  The job for the rest of us is to convince as many of them as
possible that targeted ads on small, niche sites directly speaking to
their customers are worth far more than multi-million dollar banners
on Netscape or some search engine that most people ignore because they
aren't interested in the subject or are too busy trying to find what
they went there for in the first place.

Cheers,
    J.R.
	=
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	J.R. Wilson                  mailto:JRWilson@pollux.com
	Publisher			  http://pollux.com
	Pollux Publishing	    AeroWeb-CompuWeb-DefenseWeb
		    Our Writers Are Our Reputation
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