You’ve decided to make the leap. You’re going to start selling your products and services online. You’re excited. Wow! Millions of people will be able to buy from you.

Let’s see — what will you need to do first? Yep. You’ll need to create your own Web site.

A week or two later, your Web site is complete. You’re thrilled. It’s exactly what you wanted, your own storefront online. You get to work and do everything you’re advised to do: you send out news releases and submit your site to all the search engines. You promote your URL on everything from your business stationery to the side of your car.

Six months after that, you’re starting to see a trickle of traffic, but it’s hardly the flood you imagined it would be, and you lose heart and interest. The Internet, you decide, is a sham, a haven for sp*mmers and assorted lunatics. You vow that you’re staying with the safe and comfy offline world, and you vow never to be taken in again.

What did you do wrong?

Oddly enough, you did nothing wrong. You did everything right — BUT what about branding?

In the real world you create your brand without too much effort. People judge you by your physical presence: by your office, your clothes, your stationery, your advertising and your voice on the phone. In the virtual world, you lose all those valuable cues which tell people how to pigeonhole you. You must replace them with something.

Offline, your brand is you. It’s you online, too. However, it takes more effort to create. You need to create an online persona and a Unique Selling Point. A tagline, or motto, is also helpful.

Important: There is no way you can do this stuff wrong. You just need to do it. If your goals change at some time in the future, not a problem — just change your online persona, your USP and your tagline. Then hey presto chango, a whole new you/ brand.

Also important: don’t be afraid to be bold. Share your passion. If you’re enthusiastic about what you do, others will be too. You must be enthusiastic to create a memorable brand.

=>Your online persona

In the online world, you can be whatever you aspire to be, by creating an online persona. Take a look at these three sites:

1. Judy Cullins’s online persona is "The Book Coach".

http://www.bookcoaching.com

2. Tara Calishain’s online persona is that of an online research expert, with "ResearchBuzz".

http://www.researchbuzz.com/

3. Jane Teresa Anderson’s online persona is that of a dream expert with "Jane’s Dream Network".

http://www.dream.net.au

Judy, Tara and Jane have all created an online persona which is easy to remember. You can do the same.

Start by thinking about what you’re passionate about, and what you hope to achieve.

=> Your USP (Unique Selling Point)

Your USP (although you probably won’t spell it out for people directly on your site or anywhere else) needs to be evident in everything on your site during the first year or so. It’s your mission statement if you like, or your compass.

Your USP tells people what to expect from you. This, combined with your online persona, is your brand. Your USP must relate directly to your audience.

Write down this question: "In one sentence of 25 words or less, what matters most to me?" Answer the question.

Your answer won’t appear on your site, it’s strictly for you. Another way of putting it would be: "Where’s my passion here?"

Your answer is your USP. You don’t need to share your answer. However, keep it in mind. Look on the answer as your road map for the site. If everything you write/ create for the site harks back to those 25 words, there’s no way you can go wrong in creating a coherent online persona. And your own brand.

=> Your tagline

From your 25 words, create a tagline/ slogan. You don’t need to use the exact words, just the general idea behind them. For example:

My tagline for Creative Small Biz is: Turn your talent into a flourishing business.

For Creative Copywriting it’s: Words That Work.

For Digital-e it’s: Info To Go.

Your tagline keeps you focused, it’s a reminder to yourself.

There you have it. It’s easy to create your own online brand. How much does it cost? Not a cent, just some thinking time. Its value to you however, is immense. With your own brand, you will stand out online. (And you’ll have a lot of fun, too.)

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business, copywriter and journalist Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and small, and consults on search engine marketing. Angela has written copy for companies in many industries, ranging from technology and real estate to the jewellery trade. Her clients include major corporations like hp (Hewlett Packard), WestPac Bank, and Acer Computer. For copywriting services and marketing advice contact Angela at angelabooth.com

Pixel advertising is an innovative marketing concept introduced by 22-year-old Alex Tew that allows advertisers to buy advertising space on a per-pixel cost basis. The more pixels an advertiser buys, the larger their ad and the greater the chance that it will be clicked on. Selling one million pixels at $1 each, Alex’s Million Dollar Homepage has created quite a buzz in the news media and has easily reached its $1 million target.

Thanks to the stunning success of Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage (MDHP), pixel ad sites have mushroomed all over the net. There are even commercial scripts that you can buy that will allow you to set up your own million-dollar homepage in less than 15 minutes. However, this does not mean you’ll make a million dollars…or even a thousand dollars…or even the cost of the script.

Alex Tew’s pixel advertising concept was simple, so simple that it eventually led many people to pound their heads on the wall repeating to themselves, “Why didn’t I think of this first?” But his idea was also novel and original. And because of its novelty it commanded a lot of attention (and free publicity) from the media.

Needless to say, no news organization will rush to report about a second million-dollar homepage, let alone one set up in 15 minutes with a purchased script. This is not to say, however, that there is no room in cyberspace for the second or third or even thousandth MDHP. In fact, there are presently at least a thousand MDHP clones hoping to capitalize on the pixel advertising craze. Many of them have managed to make a lot of money despite not being the original.

Some people view MDHP clones as little more than shameless imitations trying to leech off Tew’s original concept. This would be the case if his idea, while fun and original, has little use beyond his website.

On the contrary, the clones have proved quite the opposite. Their successes have demonstrated that Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage was worth much more than $1 million. Moreover, they have lend legitimacy to the concept of pixel .

While the original MDHP has made "internet history" (in Tew’s words) by achieving its $1 million goal, it is unlikely to become anything more than just a blip in internet history if the concept is not adopted and refined by others. In fact, most MDHP clones have achieved their riches not by ripping off Tew’s site verbatim, but by borrowing his pixel advertising concept and finding creative uses for it.

Far from being just a fad, pixel advertising holds an enormous promise as an alternative, cost-effective channel for online advertising. But the concept is still in its infancy, and to avoid becoming internet history, it has to evolve. An important aspect of this evolution is how limitations inherent in the concept itself and in how pixel advertising is being used are addressed.

Perhaps the most obvious argument against pixel advertising is that its current use is largely limited to websites with seemingly useless clutters of ads with no content whatsoever. At best these sites offer advertisers little more than a source of non-targeted traffic.

An obvious solution to this is to incorporate pixel advertising into content-rich sites. Instead of selling pixel advertising exclusively through a site with nothing but a giant grid of picture ads, banner-sized pixel grids may be incorporated into a site with real content. A good example of this application is the relatively small and unobtrusive pixel panel placed on http://www.ezclassifieds.org/. Since most people go to ezClassifieds.org to post and look at ads, the site is an ideal place to offer pixel advertising to visitors. Obviously, incorporating pixel ads into content sites involves a lot more work than installing a ready-made script on a new domain. It involves developing a content-rich site and *then* offering pixel ads as an alternative to text links and traditional banner ads.

Used in this way, pixel ads are at the very least superior to traditional banner ads. Unlike traditional banners, a pixel banner may contain ads for several advertisers. Plus, pixel ads are not confined to predetermined shapes and sizes. Many pixel ad scripts will automatically resize images submitted by advertisers, eliminating the need to edit them to conform to the publisher’s requirements. Purchasing pixel ads is usually painless and often fully automated. Since most people have grown accustomed to ignore banner ads, pixel ads are likely to generate higher click-through rates.

Copyright 2006 Oudam Em

Oudam Em is the publisher of MillionDollarBuzz.com, http://www.milliondollarbuzz.com, a pay-per-click pixel advertising site. This innovative model incorporates performance-based pricing into pixel advertising, allowing for more systematic and equitable pricing of pixel ads. MillionDollarBuzz.com also syndicates pixel ads to content-rich websites, extending the use and effectiveness of pixel advertising.

Some people believe that hit exchanges are not good for bringing in free traffic. However I will disagree completely. In my own experiences I have had excellent results while using hit exchanges. The key is to use them correctly.

There are some assumptions you have to make when using hit exchanges, one that the people who will see your ad on the hit exchanges will be surfing only to earn credits towards the advertising of their own site. Number two the people will not read your long drawn out ad, there isn’t enough time, or interest.

If you are going to earn business from people surfing the web using a hit exchange, 2 things will have to happen to be successful, using this method of advertising.

1.) You must have an offer that attracts the viewers attention!

2.) The web page must be built for speed!

Starting with number 1. Most people find it hard to turn down a good offer. Try to offer something that has people interested, in hearing more like, Find out how you can get my product x; at an extremely low, low price. That seems to attract attention quite well. Giving something away for free is another great way to get people fired up about what you have to say.

Number 2 your web page needs to be built for speed. The thing to remember with hit exchanges, you only have about 20 to 30 seconds of exposure time to grab your viewers attention. So make the page short, and to the point. Lastly, I recommend that you put a picture on the page, a picture is worth 1000 words.(This will help you to keep it short)

Here is an example of a web page that I have built for speed. I have generated many on-line sales using this method of advertising.http://www.internet5kincome.com/science.html

You may have to adjust the wording, if you find that you are not getting the results you are looking for. This kind of web page works well, once you have everything right. From there things move into auto pilot!

Notice in my example the picture of the e-book. When I first had built the page I did not include the picture, after adding it my results were 100 times better. Also if you take note of the form on the page. When the viewer submits the information to the auto-responder, the auto-responder sends the E-book to the person’s email automatically.

There is still one more step to take. This step is my favorite, it can earn you a ton of extra traffic, so if you are interested pay attention to this. You already know that your new prospect uses hit exchanges! This gives you a golden opportunity to earn credits by referring them to other traffic exchange services. All traffic exchanges that I have ever used, provided me with extra credits, and even money for referring them to new clients. Although it should be Obvious, you need to send your affiliate links to your prospects to earn credits, and this step can be done using your auto-responder!

Psst, so what if I do not have an auto-responder? You can Get one free at http://www.getresponse.com

I am Michael Ditch, the owner of Internet5kincome.com web site. If you liked what you have read in my articles, or have questions about what you have read please visit my web site, where you will find many ideas and resources, on how to own and run a successful Internet home business. http://www.interent5kincome.com

Alone In A Swirling Sea of Classifieds?

All business owners are eventually confronted with a serious dillema — how to advertise, in which medium, and which is the best deal for each dollar spent.

Do newspaper ads outpull radio spots — or is the power of television the only way to go? And what about the high tech world wide web? The answer is different for each business, each situation, each location and each product.

The following are the pros and cons of each medium. Knowing these can help you decide which medium is right for advertising your product.

NEWSPAPERS

The Good:

* It’s fast. An ad in a magazine may take three months to break. A newspaper ad can come out the next day. If you need business fast, this is great.

* Newspapers have wide array of editorial topic selcition to match what you are advertising. For example, if you are selling car parts, you can place your ad in the paper’s automotive section, or have it placed next to news stories about cars. Newspapers also have international news, local news, etc., all of which help you focus your advertising effort.

* You get a lot of room, if you need it. Remember, long copy always sells better than short copy. The broad area of a newspaper page is ideal for long copy.

* Newspapers can insert your catalog, flyer or whatever preprinted materials you might have.

* You can use them to distribute reader response items, such as coupons, contest entry forms, surveys, and other such things.

* Radio advertising is sometimes called "invisible ink." That’s because it is gone as soon as it is broadcast. With a newspaper, you can give the customer something to clip, or something they may see a second time if they read the newspaper a second time.

* Newspapers can reach large numbers of people, depending on circulation. Lage urban dailies, for example, may easily reach 1 or 2 million potential buyers overnight.

* They are available nationally, regionally, or locally.

* Newspapers allow you to reach possible nonreaders who might be part of your secondary target audience.

* Tend to be cheaper than other media, depending on a number of variables.

* Newspaper ads are easier to produce, and thus less costly. A TV ad, for example, may require special effects, actors, video footage, etc.

* Newspapers are good for repeat exposure, a vital element of effective advertising. Readers need to see something an average of six to eight times before they "see" an ad or respond to it.

* Newspapers can reach people who otherwise have little access to other media.

* Many people buy newspapers not for the news, but to find out what’s on sale today, or what’s happening today. Movie ads are a prime example.

* They have better local market penetration than magazines.

* You have more options in terms of space and unusual ad configurations

* You can use dealer listings.

The Bad:

* Newspapers tend to charge relatively high-cost premiums for less than full-run purchases.

* They are flat, and more than literally. In other words, they don’t beep, squeek, blast and make noise and colorful moving images as do radio and TV or a website.

* Do not have the reach other media forms, such as national magazines.

* Are not conducive to last minute changes beause of tight printing schedules.

* Newspapers do not produce as high a frequency level as other media forms.

* Large space ads are very expensive and their longevity is fleeting.

* Ads in newspapers tend to compete heavily with other ads on the page. Clutter is not good for your ad, but in a newspaper, there is usually a lot of clutter

* Use of color is crappy, and does not equal that of magazine color quality.

* Tend to deliver only an adult audience. If you have products targeted at teens or even college students, a newspaper probably won’t reach these people.

* Newspapers are usually only viewed by one person at a time.

RADIO

The good:

* Radio offers a wide array of formats which can reach listeners during a specific state of mind, which can complement a specific advertising message. Many people listen to radio while driving to and from work, others listen in the evening while relaxing next to a cozy fire.

* Delivers your message to everyone in the room or car at the same time.

* Is fast. Your ad could be heard the next day if production is available, ad copy is written and studio time is available.

* Radio advertising is intrusive — it butts in on your listening, and your only opiton is to listen or change the channel, (or shut it off!)

* Reaches a national, regional or local audience.

* Can be effectively targeted to consumer segments, such as teen-agers vs. seniors, or men vs. women.

* Can be repeated often, thus driving the message home. Once again, repeition is the heart of effective advertising.

* Radio ads can be heard 24 hours a day.

* Radio can reach people as they are on their way to the store. Messages delivered just prior to actual shopping are very powerful.

* Tends to be cheaper per announcement than either TV or print, and in fact, is probably the most cost efficient of all media.

* Uses "theater of the mind." Radio uses voice and sound effects to conjur up images in the listener’s mind by engaging the human imagination. This can be more powerful than any pre-developed TV image or still photograph.

* Reaches people who do not like to read newspaper or magazine, or people who do not view outdoor mediums, such as billboards, and those who do not like TV or computers.

The Bad:

* Most people have the radio on "for noise." That is, they are usually otherwise engaged with something while listening, and often are only half-listening.

* Repetition is more important to overcome general lack of attention on behalf of the listener, and thus, you have to spend more for more spots,which can make up for the lower cost.

* Makes it difficult for the listener to take physical action as a result of the advertising message. For eample, most listeners do not have a pen in hand when they hear an 800 number to call or an address to remember.

* You generally need more up-front money to buy up the large number of spots you need to get the job done.

* Is not visual, and many people retain better what they can see than what they hear. Also does not move, another aspect of capturing vital attention.

TELEVISION

The Good:

* Is usually in vivid exciting color, and color is a prime motivator of the human mind.

* Uses all elements of sight, sound and movement at once to form a powerful package that hits on all level of human senses (except touch and smell).

* Can deliver your message to all people in a room simultaneously.

* Is fast, but not as fast as newspaper or radio because it tends to require more production.

* Like radio it is intrusive. The customer does not have to seek out the ad, like they must to find a movie listing or a rummage sale. The ad comes to the viewer.

* Available nationally, regionally, or locally.

* Television ads can be purchased to focus on concentrated geographical areas, especially with the advent of cable.

* Has a wide variety of programming to match the nature or subject matter of your ad. Want to sell rock-n-roll CDs? Buy ads during Grammy Awards or American Idol. Want to sell feminine hygiene products? Buy time during soap operas.

* TV has more reach than any other medium in terms of all segments of society. Just about everyone watches TV, but not everyone reads newspapers or magazines.

* Is good for repepetition of ads.

* TV can deliver your ad at any time of the day, 24 hours a day.

* You can get an exclusive, that is, your ad need not compete with a clutter of other ads — but you may have to pay dearly for it.

* Tends to be more cost efficient in terms of number of responses it produces compared to dollars invested.

* Is probably best for reaching those people who tend not to use any other form of media.

The Bad:

* Most often is very cluttered. your commerical may be sandwhiched deep within a string of other commericals, which have long since caused the viewer to head to the refrigerator. Also weakens long-term memory of your product message.

* Is sometimes hard to get. There are usually a limited number of TV spots available, and you may not get the program you want.

* Is perhaps the most expensive. There are a lot of production costs related to TV advertising.

* May be less demographically selective as some other media forms, although cable TV has helped in this category.

* Your audience can fluctuate widely. If 10,000 people see your ad one night, a mere 100 might see it the next if a high-interest program airs on another channel.

* TV is cost-inefficient when you are after highly focused target markets.

* VCRs are helping TV ads get beyond the "invisible ink" problem of broadcast media. A taped program may be viewed again and again — on the other hand, your commerical may be fast forwarded.

MAGAZINES

The Good:

* Magazines offer a wide variety of subject matter and editorial focuses to reach readers when they have a state of mind you are looking for. Thus, you can tailor your message to a high degree of specificity.

* Magazines have glossy, polished paper that makes color photographs and other graphic elements look like works of art. You ad will look superb. (That doesn’t mean it will sell, however!)

* Can reach very specific target markets without having to waste time or money on markets you do not care about.

* Like newspaper, you can have long copy. Full or even multiple pages let you make a pretty long and detailed pitch. Do people really read all that fine print? Yes! If you have their attention and interest.

* You can insert your catalog, card, flyer or whatever into the magazine.

* Like newspapers, they allow you to include reader response materials, such as coupons, entry or order forms, and more.

* They are not disappearing ink. In fact, magazines are even better on this count than newspapers because people are much more likley to re-read or go over a magazine a second time. Many people even collect magazines or go through them for research in the library, giving your ad the chance to be seen again and again.

* Can reach a huge audience, easily in the millions with the bigger magazines.

* Magazines allow for a breathtaking array of creative options: pop-ups, special inks, holograms, unusual space configurations, personalizing elements for each reader of the publication, etc.

* They have national, regional and local reach.

* Magazine ads can reach specific demographic segments within the total readership of the magazine. That’s because most magazines have departments and areas of specific topic or subject matter, helping you to target your customers.

* Magazine ads can reach possible nonreaders who might be part of an advertiser’s secondary target audience.

* Because they are more highly focused and need less repetition, as in radio, they can actually be more cost effective than any other media form.

* Frequency of exposure is high, as we said, because magazines are often read more than once and by more than one person. Also, they may read other similar magazines you have targeted for your ads.

* May reach people that other media do not. Many people prefer to read magazines to newspapers, for example.

* Magazines can accommodate your listings.

The Bad:

* One of the biggest drawbacks is the long period before you buy the ad and when it appears. A magazine ad may take three to four months before it appears. If you need fast cash and customers, this is no help. Also, a reader may not get to his or her magazine right away upon receiving it.

* Tend to be expensive for one-time runs.

* Do not offer sound of movement, although some cutting edge ads, such as pop-ups or those with micro-chip intsertions are breaching this drawback. These are mega-expensive, however.

* Because they are more highly focused, they have less reach, which many do not consider a drawback.

* You must submit your final copy and ad prep many months before deadline. Some magazines have a fast close, and other will call up repeat advertisers with last minute deals, often because they have space to fill or when others back out at the last minute.

* Although once they start printing, you cannot backout. Generally, once you buy a magazine ad, you are locked in no matter what. Refunds are rare.

* You do not get high frequency unless you buy an entire year’s worth, but then readers will see them about once a month for most magazines.

* You only get exposure to one person at a time, as opposed to a whole room or car-full as in radio or TV.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENTS

The Good:

* You get superior quality color on high quality paper, allowing for effective product presentation, if you are willing to pay top dollar.

* Great for insertions. You know the way it is with all Sunday papers and magazines — lots of extras which many readers actually buy the publication for in the first place. Many people live to scan and clip coupons.

* You get ample opportunity for long copy. Sunday magazines are among the best place to make a long, detailed ptich.

* As we said, people love to clip coupons, and this is the place people will most likley use any kind of special insertion, from coupons to sweepstakes, contests or surveys.

* Have better chance of repeat exposure to your ad than newspapers or magazines. People tend to hang onto the Sunday paper longer and also give it a better read because they are more relaxed and have more time on Sunday to linger over the paper.

* Can reach large numbers of people in a short time.

* You can get very creative, as you can with magazines. This means pop-ups, specials inks, scratch-and-sniff — even insertion of product samples.

* Distribution of the advertisement to possible nonreaders who might be part of an advertiser’s secondary target audience.

* Because of high readership and better repetition factor, can be a good deal for the your scarce advertising dollar.

* Production costs for your ad will be less than all other media, except for newspaper.

* Can reach people who do not ordinarily read newspapers or pay attention to other media. Many consider the Sunday papre "special."

* You get immediate delivery to entire audience — even millions of people — in just one day.

* They can have national, regional, or local distribution, although national is less likely with most Sundays, except the real biggies, such as the New York Times.

* Sunday publications have higher penetration and greater readership locally than do competing publications or other media.

* You can use dealer listings.

The Bad:

* Ads do not force themselves on reader as in radio or TV. In other words, they are nonintrusive.

* No sound or movement in general.

* Usually require advertising materials well in advance of issue date. Some even have longer lead time time than magazines.

* Relatively inflexible for accommodating last minute changes. Most Sunday ads are set in stone after you issue a check. You won’t get a refund.

* Frequency is lacking because they only come out on Sundays, and people don’t make connections from one Sunday to the next, in most cases.

* Are extremely expensive if you want national or regional coverage.

* Large space ads are very expensive and they are here today and gone tomorrow most of the time.

* Again, they are relatively short-lived, and quickly end up lining a bird cage or wrapping a fish.

* Are not good for delivering ad messages to young people: teens, young adults and children.

* Most often only expose ad to one person at a time, unlike radio or TV, which can deliver a message to a roomful of people all at once.

INTERNET

The Good:

*The Internet is the global community of computers that makes the exchange of information, pictures and sounds possible.

*Can be in vivid exciting color, and color is a prime motivator of the human mind.

* Is fast. Can achieve astounding success if your website receives enough traffic.

*Available, nationally, regionally, locally and internationally.

*An ALTERNATIVE form of marketing that has many strengths and weaknesses.

*Can be done at low or no cost and levels the playing field. A home based business can appear an compete with large companies.

*A large assortment of creative options: popups, popunders, audio, video, personalizing etc. The list goes on and on.

The Bad:

*The learning curve can be a long one. It takes time before you really understand what you are doing.

*No insertions.

*No social contact. You work alone.

*Ezine ads, classified ads, top ads and solo ads can be expensive.

*Failure rate is high.

*Earning an income online isn’t difficult–but it can be confusing if you don’t manage your time and money, have a consistent plan and stick to it to avoid becomeing derailed.

There you have it. Based on what you have learned above, you should now be in a better position to decide which medium is best for your business, product or service.

Of course, the only perfect way to make a final decision is through test marketing with each medium. You can do that by starting out with small, inexpensive ads in each medium. Those that bring the best results deserve to get your future business and a larger share of your advertising dollar.

Good Luck!

Copyright 2006 Kevin Lankford All Rights Reserved.

Bettering Your Best, Web-Spin, Lankford Enterprise are trademarks of Kevin Lankford. Visit us on the web: http://www.KevinLankford.ws or http://lulu.com/kevin2

Word of mouth! Next question!

That was the typical answer of most of my clients over a 25 year period of consulting. Why? Because it was (a) free, (b) easy, (c) obvious, (d) what their customer told them, and (e) free. Did I mention it was free? That seemed to be their criteria in choosing an effective media. What they didn’t want to hear from me was how expensive their campaign might be. But I was kind and gentle when I told them they were completely insane. No, I didn’t really say that. But I wanted to, believe me.

The plain truth was that I had to learn their business, who their customers were and what they wanted to achieve. Then I could break the bad news to them: advertising actually costs M-O-N-E-Y. That is, effective advertising is an investment. The type is determined by the needs of the business. Answer all the who, what questions first:

(1) Who are your customers?

(2) Where are your customers?

(3) When can you reach them?

(4) How can you reach them?

(5) Why do they need your goods or services?

(6) What do you plan to do to get these customers?

Depending on the answers, you can construct a basic advertising strategy. For example, if you’re a local company with a product, newspaper, radio, and cable television might be the cost-effective solution. If you provide a service, start with the local Yellow Pages. Direct mail can be good for targeting certain zip codes and offering discounts. You have to figure each one’s ROI (return on investment) and the reach. That is, the amount of people they are seen by and the CPM (cost per thousand). Begin with the media rep and get a rate sheet. They are the experts and their advice is free, Then consider getting a consultant on board.

The most effective promotion is the one that works best. It may not be the cheapest or fanciest, but it’s the one that keeps the business afloat. Whatever media that you choose to attempt, don’t forget to track the results or each one. That way, you reinvest in the one or ones that work best. And don’t be afraid to spend. Closing a failed business is far more painful.

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master’s Degree from Monmouth University. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the Phoenix," available at amazon.com. His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages." Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

Sometimes it’s necessary to go back to the basics. I know many small businesses that do their own advertising and struggle to understand what they are doing and how to enact a marketing program. I’ll give you my take after thirty years on the job. Assuming you have a product or service, a basic logo and direction, we need to look at your market. Who are you customers? You can take that right from your business plan. Go grab it and I’ll wait. What, you don’t have a business plan? Shame on you!

Okay, it’s not the end of the world. But, you should develop one at the next break and keep it handy. But I’ll assume you have a pretty good idea of who your customers are and where they’re located. These are the “who” and “where” parts of the marketing equation. This is critical in determining your media and budget. Both should have been included in your business plan. Okay, I’ll stop beating a dead horse.

If I asked who your ideal customer was, the answer shouldn’t be everyone that’s breathing. Please be more specific. Women between 25 and 65. Young adult men. Seniors. That type of demographic data. And where would I find these people? Anywhere is not the answer. How far will your customers come from? Five or fifty square miles? This will narrow down the media and type. Does your typical customer read the paper, mailers, watch television or listen to the radio? Probably, but which ones and at which times?

Who is your competition? Don’t say you don’t have any. Be realistic and examine how they are reaching their customers. Then consider similar placements, You will catch the most fish where the other experienced anglers are dropping their lines. So now you have a fair idea of the “how,” or media, to use. Let’s look at the “when.”

Are you seasonal? If you’re an air conditioning repair business, the answer is obvious. But not so fast. Perhaps you need to do the most advertising when business is the slowest in the winter. In fact, during recessionary times, the businesses that increased their ads gained the most market share. So consider being counter-intuitive and promote yourself in ways you might not have considered.

Getting back to the a/c people, if everyone has full-page ads in the Yellow Pages and you have no chance of being in the front, consider a newspaper ad where there is far less competition. Or direct mailers for winter tune-ups. That would be the “when.”

The “why” question is the toughest of all. Why advertise when business is good and I get lots of word-of-mouth? Because even the best known companies like Coke and Microsoft need to keep the name out there. Do you live in a town where people move in and out? Are there newcomers in your neighborhood? How do you intend to reach them? If you said, “word-of-mouth,” that’s not advertising. That’s something beyond your control. Realize more people talk about their bad experiences than good. If you found a rusty nail in your onion soup you would tell far more people than if it was fine as usual. Right?

Plan your campaign by finding ways to reach your customers with a message that solves a problem. Every product or service does that very thing, so that’s the easy part. Then develop the approach, implement the strategy, and track the results. Ask your customers for feedback and tweak the ads as needed. And did I mention have a basic business plan?

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master’s Degree from Monmouth University. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the Phoenix," available at amazon.com. His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages."

Brand Identity is a conversation, an interaction—a brandversation. Like any conversation, it leaves an impression. Of course, the nature of the impression will depend on the value of the interaction, the way it has been communicated, the way it has been received, and the extent to which it has been engaged.

By the mis-1990s, the Internet had changed the way we worked: the way we were educated: they way we played, shopped, and communicated. And it promised more. For anyone involved, this transformational time was exhilarating and exasperating. The learning curve was no longer a curve but a straight line moving vertically from its base. The future was again upon us with predictions of revolutionary change and rapidly developing evidence of that change. Movie theaters would cease to be, the Internet would bring the demise of radio and television, there would be no further use of the Post Office, the corner video store would be replaced by online, on- demand subscription services, and every brick and mortar store would become click and mortar.

Brandversation v1.0

Corporations rushed with a vengeance to grab history and launch their websites. The first-generation websites were little more than electronic brochures, and were commonly referred to as brochure-ware. These sites usually contained an “about us” statement, some corporate philosophy that had been resurrected from the company’s archives, dusted off, and lightly rewritten. Descriptions of the company’s products and services, a careers section, and a “contact us” link were included to finish of the site. Branding was considered to have been addressed if the company logo and slogan were in a prominent place and appeared in, as close to the corporate colors and the web would allow.

Brandversation 2.0

Evolution into more adventurous territory spawned the birth of second-generation sites: interactive sites. Here a company’s hope was to mine data, with the intent that this information would help it better understand the consumer. This collection of data would build a profile on a consumer and, in theory, provide the company with a rich understanding of the consumer’s lifestyle and spending habits. The hope was to benefit both the consumer and the company. Usually this was accomplished by giving something to the consumer in exchange for filling out a brief customer profile. Case in point: The New York Times gave free access to its online edition to those who completed such a form. The form requested personal profile and asked permission to e-mail information that the company thought might be relevant to the user. Once this was completed, the user had daily access to the news and the Times had a “cookie” (an informational retrieval) embedded in the user’s computer. In theory, this cookie could provide a stream of information, including following the consumer’s online navigational history.

Attention was paid to the brand experience, but only as it applied to the content of the product or service offered. If a company had a fun product or service, the experience was made more playful; more businesslike products or services gave a more straightforward experience. Although a plethora of data was collected, many companies did not know where to go with this information, where to store the ever- increasing supply being poured into their system or how to use it.

What was emerging was an exploration into the user expectations and, in fact, into the way future business would be conducted and branded. Great effort was taken to ensure that consistent branding and brandversation emerged between the content of the product or service, but contextual branding was only hinted at.

Brandversation v3.0

Soon third-generation, transactional sites appeared. Business could actually Be conducted as information was harvested. For a brief moment in time, the idea of a web centric environment revealed a future where much more was possible. However, the original hope of having a low-cost media vehicle proved unreachable, as the drive toward web advertising proved that bringing traffic to a site was a costly affair. The heavy lifting of driving eyeballs to sites proved to be a Herculean task. The promise of web centricity proved to be the downfall of many sites. Only a few web-only business prospered, although not necessarily financially. Companies like Amazon, which had developed a business model based on retaining each customer and refining customer profiles over a significant number of years (as long as 12 years), built better customer loyalty. Not only did their plan provide a model for an extended brandversation, but their ability to harvest information on their customers also permitted them to develop a richer brand experience. Contextualizing created rich experiences for customers and other suggestions in their category of interest. By taking the legwork out of the customer’s research and showing interest in the customer’s request, Amazon built a brand that is customer centric. Contextualizing the customer’s experience actually builds business for Amazon.

Brandversation v4.0

The destination site or destination fulfillment business model is undergoing a colossal evolution that goes beyond web centric or brick-and-mortar-centric models. It is a profound change that has refocused many corporations from a web centric perspective to one that is customer-centric. Simply providing an environment as a platform for the content is not enough. The user wants more, and is being given more, and this has put more pressure on the brand promise. The user is demanding content and an experience that is relevant to and engaging to him/ her.

The expanding digital bubble that surrounds each consumer also increases the pressure on every brand promise. Content is expected, but content alone does not constitute or guarantee success. Content must be delivered in a contextualized environment. Contextualized branding links touch points throughout the user’s experience, making the experience more relevant and rewarding.

The Internet continually reconfirms that its power lies in the ability to connect people and ideas. The popularity of the chat rooms, user groups, e-mail, and other forms of social networking are but a few everyday examples. Brand must also make that connection to the individual. Today, companies must act as though everyone has been wired into a wireless world.

Narrowcasting versus Broadcasting

Contextualized branding does not look at communicating a general message to a large group of people. Quite the opposite: it narrowcasts a message, personalizing that message for a specific audience. By building an audience of ones with a targeted message, every message adds value to the brandversation between the brand and the user. Johnson and Johnson’s Tylenol banner campaign explored this concept by running banner advertisements on the financial sites: the ads for Tylenol appeared whenever the market dropped 100 points or more.

The brand promise is an experience, a journey, and a friendly walk that always adds new value to the experience. It can bring consumers back or send consumers searching for another experience to meet or exceed their expectations. The more the brand promise considers the needs of the individual consumer, the deeper that consumer’s loyalty to the brand will be.

Theme parks are exploring ways to improve brand experience by giving users smart cards that allow them to avoid waiting in lines. By swiping a smart card at a card reader on the ride of choice, the user registers a place in line and is given a time to return. In our wireless environment, we will soon be able to do this from cars on the way to the theme park. Once we arrive, there will be no need to stand in lines, as the schedule will have been preprogrammed from our cell phones, ensuring more fun –a better branded experience.

Furthermore, knowing a customer’s schedule would enable the theme park to send him or her relevant targeted messages. He/her could receive instant messages as he/she moved through the park, suggesting places to eat and offering coupons or discount for eating at certain times at certain food providers. Not only does this richen our user’s branded experience, but also it helps draw customers into places in the park that may require traffic at that moment, improving the user’s experience as well as the park’s overall business.

Brand is a conversation that can take place at any of the encounter points that exist in a consumer experience. At a theme park, the user could enter the experience at any point though a phone call to the park or travel agent, or a purchase at a souvenir stand. The user picks his/her point of entry: the user is in control.

A credit card owner has multiple entrance points into a brand. The card owner could enter her experience by paying a bill online or making a purchase at a store. Wherever she enters into the experience, she will be touched by the brand. It is the responsibility if the company to ensure a meaningful contextualized experience if it wants to retain the customer.

Contextualized Brand

The speed at which the Internet has evolved has highlighted the importance of the brand experience. It has also revealed that the experience must be relevant and contextualized.

Brand experience is a one-fold proposition: brand and experience cannot exist with the other. For a band to survive, it must display a very clear, distinguishable brand promise, focus and goal. Brand attributes go beyond the immediate benefits of a product or service and are influenced by the attributes of the brand promise, as it is contextualized throughout the touch points of the consumer experience. Contextualizing the consumer experience means developing a branded experience that constantly exceeds a customer’s expectation. Imagine a scenario in which you are connected to a true brandversation. Make it simple, a scenario booking an airline ticket for a business trip. You want to arrive in New York and return a week later. As you book the ticket, you are given a list of car rentals, hotels, restaurants, and special events happening at the time of your visit, personalized to your own preregistered preferences (sports fans get a list of sports events, geeks find the latest techie exhibitions and hot spots in the city); a reminder to send a gift to your dad for his birthday (with a suggested selection of gifts); a wake up and weather service call. It was the Internet space that reconfirmed what was previously known but has been somewhat forgotten. Branding means a great user experience. Good Internet branding went beyond logos, taglines, slogans and corporate statements into real-time interaction for an online experience that is meaningful.

But branding does not stop there. Developing a contextualized experience may include doing more than one company is able to provide. Coalition programs, partnership between companies with the purpose of providing a seamless consumer experience, recognize the importance of granularly defining a company’s brand relationship to other companies in the emerging wi-fi environment. As consumers settle into their digital, wired bubbles, the demand for personalized experiences will intensify.

Don’t leave Home Without it

Our communication technology has us wired to the world, exposing the user to the branded experience 24/7, anywhere, any time and all at their choosing. The more robust the technology becomes, the more creative minds find ways to employ it. M- technology notifies us when we are in the vicinity of a friend or business contact. It offers us coupons redeemable at restaurants we are passing by. It notifies us when a book we are interested in has arrived as we pass by a store.

Today in Japan, DoMoCo has put all of this in place. Teenage girls have totally embraced this technology, turning their mobile phoned/e-mail/entertainment/wi-fi environment into a fashion item worn as a necklace. Salarymen are wired in and out of the office as Gen3 mobile technology becomes ubiquitous. A man looking through the car showroom window at the latest Mercedes after the dealership has closed can use his phone to scan a QR code on the window. This can activate a commercial on his mobile phone broadcasting a commercial demonstrating all the features of the vehicle of any car he is interested in. NNT DoMoCo’s success lies in its creative ability to align its brand with thousand of other companies.

Cell phone ownership among teenagers in Sweden is 100 percent. The opportunity to immerse an audience in a deep branded digital communication is limited only by our ability to creatively use current and future technology.

Today’s branded experience is an interconnected experience that links the user with a robust, meaningful, personalized, prioritized experience. It requires a brand vision that is creative, customer-centric, and globally encompassing. The user is in control they want information when they are ready to receive it. The digital environment provides us with the technology to meet this demand. From blogs, podcasts, social networks, destination sites, he user has more touchpoints to interact with and each one offers an opportunity to deepen their loyalty to a brand but it requires a brandversation that is imagination and compelling. It requires people with a relentless creative vision and imagination to continually evolve the brand experience.

Article by Ken Thurlbeck
From The Digital Designer ISBN 0-7668-7347-1

Ken Thurlbeck is an early evangalist on the web. Presently CEO of Thurbeck & Co. in New York city he has held the position od Senior VP Creative Director and Brand Strategist a companies including Digitas and Avenuea/Razorfish.

So is pixel advertising just another fad… here today and gone tomorrow? No one really knows for sure, but right now it’s one of the hottest online advertisement mediums.

But in order for pixel advertising to have any kind of real staying power, people will have to do more with the concept than just introduce ‘knockoff sites’.

While the ‘cookie-cutter clone’ approach favors the quick buck artists, copying Alex Tew’s ‘Million Dollar Homepage’ (www.milliondollarhomepage.com) idea is simply not sustainable in the long run. What’s needed, in order for the pixel advertising craze to survive, is for webmasters to give advertisers a legitimate reason to buy pixels from them… other than that it’s new and cool. With so many people now selling pixel ads, how do sellers differentiate themselves? Or do pixel ads become a mere commodity, where price per pixel becomes the overriding consideration.

So is there hope for pixel advertising as a viable ad medium? I believe so, and the answer lies in one word… creativity. How can someone take this concept, give it a unique twist and then add value?

It seems unlikely that that advertisers will continue to simply pay good money, just to have an advertisement on a pixel page… without seeing a potential for return on their investment. A recent random check of a dozen or so pixel clone sites reveals this to be true… a lot of empty pixel real estate remains unsold. And at prices below what Alex Tew was charging.

Of course, some sharp marketers soon figured out that pixels sites oriented around ‘adult entertainment’ might draw some interest from advertisers. You have to figure it’s only a matter of time before X-Rated pixel sites are in full bloom all over the internet.

Pornography aside though, what are some ways that inspired webmasters might monetize pixel ad sites? Perhaps by holding a contest… maybe a raffle to benefit a charity or some sort other promotion for a worthy cause. Or maybe taking a lead from the blogging community and doing a pixel site for like-minded individuals, causes or organizations. Such as a guide site to local churches in a given city.

Another idea might be to create a site where hobbyists or enthusiasts could post pictures… like Corvette owners, coin collectors, people who grow roses, fisherman - who could display their prized catches or favorite fishing holes, NBA fans, etc. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Or how about a site featuring puppies? A pixel-master could allow canine lovers to come and post adorable puppy pictures. It could even be a free site, where the owner could place a sprinkling of Google Adsense ads, a couple of Amazon banner ads for books about puppy care… and even some relevant affiliate links to sites selling dog related products.

Will this make a million dollars? More than likely… no.

But it does add value and could easily generate some income from contextual avertising, affiliate referrals and even topical e-book sales.

And besides… isn’t a page full of cute puppies a whole lot better than a page full of lonely pixels!

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