Why Advertise? Why Advertise Here?

A Brief Lesson In The Power Of Advertising

Anyone and everyone wishing to get their message out, whether they run a business, a church or an organization, needs to advertise. NEVER underestimate the power of advertising! If you wish to grow and be successful, you absolutely need to advertise.

Everyone in the United States, in fact most people in the World, know one or more or all of the following names: Walmart, Starbucks, Microsoft, McDonald's, Pepsi, Boeing, USA Today, IBM, TBS-CNN, Yahoo, Ford, Apple Computer, HP, Disney & Coca Cola. 

These are all names from the "A-List" of Who's Who in American business, and every one of these businesses have at least 4 things in common:
1) They all started out small: Microsoft - 2 kids in a dorm room.... HP - 2 guys in a garage.... Yahoo - 2 kids in a dorm room... Apple Computer - 2 kids in a garage.... Starbucks - 1 small coffee shop.... Coca-Cola - a druggist with a cough syrup recipe... Walmart - 1 variety store.... McDonald's - 1 burger joint.... TBS-CNN - a small, obscure UHF TV station... and on it goes.
2) Their founders all had the ability to dream, and had vision.
3) They all worked harder than their competitors.
4) They all promoted and advertised heavily....AND STILL DO!

The rest, as they say, is history.

Why Advertise Online?

The paradigm of media advertising has changed, is changing, and will continue to change over time.  Most commercial advertising until now has occured in newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV, which also brings us news & current events, sports & entertainment, fashion & celebrity, government & politics, and business & industry.

Companies place their advertisements in such media because that is where people go to find the information they are looking for.  The fact being that if you expose your product or service to enough people, enough times, over and over, they will remember you and buy your product or service eventually.  But in the past few years a quiet revolution has been taking place.  That change is due to digital technology, and more specifically, the Internet.

The Internet is actually in it's infancy - a little over a decade old in it's present form.  But in that short amount of time it has captured 100s of millions of visitors from all over the globe...and guess what they are looking for? Exactly the same things they looked for in the "old media"...news & current events, sports & entertainment, etc., etc., etc. This, plus many other things older media simply cannot provide:  Real-time chats with friends & family, actual up-to-the-minute information, comparison shopping from the convenience of one's home, alternative news & views, online bill payment, and much more...exactly what people want, exactly when they want it, all in real-time.

Now, the "old media" is not going away.  Not for some time anyway, and perhaps never. But newspaper readership is way down, and TIVO and other such digital recorders now allow viewers to bypass TV commercials.  The media knows it, and most newspapers, magazines, and TV & radio stations have Internet presences now. The advertisers know it as well. So guess where the advertisers are putting more and more of their advertising dollars? You got it - online. In 2004, more money was spent on online advertising than ever before - up some 30% or so over last year - and as their budgets move to online advertising, less will be spent on traditional media marketing. It is estimated that online advertising will surpass magazine advertising in 2007.

Why? What do they know that you don't?

Well, for one thing, that the younger generation is now fluent with the Internet.  These days, from Kindergarten on, children are learning to use computers and access the Internet, and by the time they graduate, it is second nature to them.  Many are so used to it that it is now their main source of news and entertainment. Read this article from MSNBC.  Seniors, too, are active on the Internet.

Yes, but not everyone is online, right?

Coming Soon To A Cell Phone Near You

So just how many people ARE online?  As of August 2005 the number was over 900,000,000 - over 14% of the population of the entire World, and growing at a brisk pace.  68% of the population in North America is online - also still growing.

But here's more statistics to contemplate: There are over 1,500,000,000 cell phone subscribers Worldwide. Over 500,000,000 cell phones were sold last year, with 4% of that being high-speed Internet-capable (3G, or 3rd Generation) cell phones - that is, the user can surf the Internet wherever they may be, right from their cell phone, which has a built-in web-browser.  It is estimated that by 2009, 90% of cell phones in some areas will be 3G phones. It's only a matter of time until ALL cell phones are Internet ready.

At some point, people will not bother to look for a phone book to find the number for a store or restaurant that they wish to visit, in order to call and find out their hours or to get directions anymore.  They will simply look for business websites on their cell phone's web browser and get the information there, or do so from their home or office computer.

The question is, if they are looking for YOU, whether from their home or office computer, or from their cell phone, will they find you?

The Good News

The good news is that the Internet is the "Great Equalizer". Even if you only have a small budget, you can compete with the largest of media firms and the heaviest of advertisers. If done correctly, your business, church or organization's website or online listing can stand out and be found just as easily as finding Walmart's or Amazon's multi-million dollar websites.

Why Advertise Here?

Quarter Of A Million. That's how many visitors we had last year. How did we do it?  We've spent approximately 15,000 man-hours over the past 4 years researching, developing and compiling the information on this site, so that it is not only useful, but fun and interesting. We continue building on that base of knowledge and information to make sure that the site continues to draw ever more visitors.  Could having access to 250,000 potential customers help your business?  Only YOU can answer that. Is it worth an investment of 33¢ to $1 a day for that kind of exposure?  Again, that's a question only YOU can answer.  We hope your answer is yes.

Be Seen, Get Found! - That's our job. It's what we do. If you advertise here, we will make every effort to ensure that you will be seen by any of those 250,000 potential customers that happens to be looking for whatever it is you offer.

We're Cheap! - Call it cost effective, call it fiscally prudent. We just call it cheap! Have you ever placed an ad in a newspaper or on the radio? $20 or more gets you a business card sized ad in the average weekly paper - for 1 week.  $30 or more gets you a 30 second spot on the radio - that's 1 time .  An ad of large enough size to actually be seen in the Yellow Pages will run you $250 to $2,500 per month or more!  Is it worth it?  It must be, because 1,000s of businesses regularly advertise in this way. But the number of customers you'd need to generate just to pay for your advertising alone means you'll need to work hours, days, or even weeks, just to pay for the ads, before you ever get to put a single dollar in your own pocket.

There's got to be a better way?! There is!! $120 per year, 10 Bucks per month, will get you a full year's business listing on this site, with enough words allowed that your customers will know exactly what you sell or do, your phone number and address (with a link to a map), your hours, and even a link to your website if you already have one.

$350 per year, less than a buck a day, will get you your own MicroWebSite™. This is a single-page website hosted on our server, which includes your own domain name (www.YourCompany.com). This is the equivalent of a full page newspaper or Yellow Page ad. Far more robust than a business listing, you can display all the information your customers need to know about your business or organization including photos, products & prices, everything that a basic business listing includes, and far more.  This also includes a business listing.

Hey folks, advertising just doesn't get any cheaper, or better, than this...unless you plan on stripping naked, painting your logo on your butt, and running down Main Street squawking like a chicken!  That's free publicity...plus a free overnight in the clink and a nice chat with a prudent juris about why advertising here would've been a better idea!

You've put a lot of thought, time, effort, and money into getting your business up and running. It's time you get noticed. We'll work our little tushies off to make sure you are. Fair enough?

Ready to get started?  Click Here.  You could be on the Internet sooner than you think! Still unconvinced? Read on....

The VALUE Of One Customer -
The COST Of Losing One Customer

Just what IS the value of a customer?  And what are the consequences of losing even ONE customer?  Here are a few thoughts for you to mull over.

There is a particular restaurant that my family frequents. We visit them 2 or 3 times per year.  Usually there are from 4 to 6 of us in the group. The tab for dinner and drinks averages $80 per visit. That equals $160 to $240 per year. We like the place, and have been going there for years. Over 10 years that amounts to from $1,600 to $2,400,  just from our party.  We also recommend it to all our friends.  How many customers did they pick up because of our hearty endorsement and recommendation? Who knows. If 10 with similar dining habits, then that amounts to from $16,000 to $24,000 over the last 10 years.

How did we find this restaurant in the first place?  Their advertising.  They did a mailing which contained a $ OFF coupon.  They are still doing the mail advertising after all these years. We use the coupons if we have them, but if we don't, we still go there.  Why? Because the food is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the staff is friendly.

There is another restaurant that I went to ONE time. I emphasize the word "ONE", because ONCE was enough. Although the food was acceptable, the person behind the counter was rude and unfriendly, bordering on contemptable.  The feeling they gave off was "why are you bothering me with your order?". Well, that was it for me.  I never returned.  Furthermore, anyone who asked me about them, I told them of my experience, and recommended that they NOT go there.  Is it fair to say that they may have lost from $16,000 to $24,000 over the past 10 years (providing they are still in business)? Again, who knows.

How did I originally find THIS place?  I drove by it and thought I would check it out. Looking back, I can see why this place didn't advertise: Customers seemed to be an annoyance to them - something to be avoided.

So we have 2 different stories with 2 different outcomes.  The one business is thriving and successful.  In fact, I believe they have opened up 1 or 2 more identical outlets over the past decade.  The other, who knows and, quite frankly, who cares.

That is the story of business. You invest your money and time and open your shop. You advertise to get new customers.  You provide the best product and service that you possibly can, and hopefully those customers pass along a good word or 2 about you. Word spreads.  You grow. But as noted in the first example, a successful business never stops advertising.  Why?  Customers move. They die.  Attrition.  Demographics change. You need to bring in new generations of customers.

Look again at the list of businesses I mentioned at the beginning of this article. They are: Walmart, Starbucks, Microsoft, McDonald's, Pepsi, Boeing, USA Today, IBM, TBS-CNN, Yahoo, Ford, Apple Computer, HP, Disney & Coca Cola.  Now, name one among them that doesn't advertise dispite their already immense successes. Can't? You're correct, they all do.

But even if you have no plans whatsoever of becoming as large as any of these, you still need to draw enough customers to pay for your time and expenses, just to break even, if you are running your business because of the love of what you are doing.  So even in that case you still need to do SOME advertising.

Ready to get started now?  Click Here.

Thanks for your time, and great success in all your endeavors!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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