Time To Make Some Money

The game continues as brilliant developers focus on raising money from brilliant investors. The missing piece in many plans is execution of the sales strategy. Eyeballs do not equal revenue. Advertisers have more choices than ever when it comes to putting their brand in front of their target market. Although I am continually impressed with technology developers ability to create products that produce eyeballs I am skeptical about how many will be able to turn their product into a viable business. It is great to think that these new technologies will catch the eye of Google or Microsoft but with few exceptions, these businesses will eventually need to stand on their own or find themselves looking for the next big idea. New revenue opportunities are presenting themselves on a daily basis. The difficult part is weeding through the clutter to get to the strategies that will produce profitable returns. Advertisers are not looking to these new technologies for branding opportunities. They are looking for a deep engagement by the audience with their brand. Many promise this engagement but only a select few will be able to deliver.

When Is The Right Time To Start Selling Advertising?

I have worked with many digital publishers and the biggest question that comes up is 'when is the right time to approach marketers and advertising agencies about advertising opportunities?' I don't think there is any single correct answer. The key is to make sure you have done all of your homework prior to launching your advertising platform. Media planning teams are inundated with reps calling and emailing them about new opportunities. As a publisher you need to arm your sales force with all of the information they need to get in the door. Before you take it to the streets take make sure you have;
1. Done market research (who is your audience, how many, and what demographics do they have).
2. Created a media kit (this does not have to be a 2 gig file but just a couple slides about your company, your site, your site traffic numbers and your audience).
3. Defined your rates and rate structure (are you going to run cpm, cpc, flat fee sponsorships etc. and are your rates competitive with your competition).
4. Do you have contacts at target accounts/ad agencies (if you don't have these contacts then you need to hire someone who does. This is your quickest way to get your new property in front of decision makers.) .
If you are in the start up phase and interested in building your advertising sales strategy please contact me directly and we can discuss.