Most entrepreneurs who launch a Web site are seeking product sales revenue or
advertising revenue. Even corporate brochure sites frequently sell
advertising. As you click through sites while you're online, the
proliferation of advertising gives the impression that Web ad sales could be
a logical (and potentially profitable) way to offset the expenses of
building, maintaining and promoting your site.

But before you make the call to Monster.com to ask who places their
advertising, you may want to consider these statistics from Jupiter Media
Metrix, and premier online advertising tracking company:

Online advertising accounts for under 2 percent of total advertising. If
all goes well (and right now online advertising is not going well at all),
the research company predicts that will rise to 5.2 percent in five years.

Online advertising rose an impressive 69 percent last year, but this year
online ad revenue is only expected to rise 12 percent, and over the next five
years, the growth will hover below 15 or 20 percent each year. This means
online advertising will have to fight hard to rise to the level of billboard
advertising.

Jupiter also reported that advertisers have their doubts about online
advertising. Advertisers believe Internet ads do not reach enough people and
are too expensive.

More bad news for those who want to sell ads is Jupiter's finding that the
cost of Internet advertising has fallen 30 percent over the past year and
these costs are expected to keep falling into the fall of 2001.

Online advertising is one of the casualties of the dot com crash. "Online
advertising was built on false expectations set up in the Internet bubble
when everyone believed the Net was magical and didn't need to be measured,"
said Carla Hendra, president of OgilvyOne North America, a major online
advertising firm. "For the first few years, if someone looked at a Web site
and said 'cool,' that was enough. Now clients are becoming more conservative."

This translates into "Forget about it" for those who believe they can attract
advertising dollars to their Web site. Product sales at Web sites, however,
present a completely different story. Even with the dot com crash, Americans
are spending more money than ever online. The Web continues to be the
fastest-growing retail channel. According to Boston Consulting Group, online
retail revenues grew 65 percent in 2000, hitting $44.5 billion. The research
company expects revenues to reach 66 billion this year, up 45 percent from
last year.

In May of this year, visits to ecommerce sites were up 35 percent over May of
last year, according to Goldman Sachs. Jupiter Media Metrix reported that
Amazon's traffic was up 34 percent this May over last May, reaching 20
million visitors. Walmart.com visits were up 126 percent this May over last
May.

So I received an email this week from Manuel Morales, owner of Sign3.com, a
site that allows NFL fans to vote for their favorite team. He receives 1,000
visitors each day, which gives his site total page views of 4000 per day. And
he's asking how to profit from this traffic. The simple answer is "Don't
bother trying to sell adverting."

With his type of targeted audience, Manuel probably stands a better chance of
selling official team products to create profits. He can likely obtain the
products through affiliation or direct inventory purchases. He can tie an
individual team product page to votes for a particular team so the fan sees
only the page for the team selected. He can outsource the product shipping to
the manufacturer or distributor.

The strategy of selling products to visitors is not foolproof, but given the
advertising statistics versus the retail sales statistics, product sales are
certainly the strategy most likely to succeed. And given the ability to use
affiliation with product distributors as an alternative to actually buying
inventory and filling the garage with stock, the product route may come with
little risk.

Rob Spiegel is the author of Net Strategy (Dearborn) and The Shoestring
Entrepreneur's Guide to the Best Home-Based Businesses (St. Martin's Press).
You can reach Rob at spiegelrob@aol.com

1. When in a bookstore, leave your business card within the
first 4 pages of books related to your target audience. If
they're interested in the book's subject, they'll probably
be intrigued by your business card as well, and visit your
website, call you, email you, etc.

Off-line generated prospects are also proven to be more
likely to buy once visiting your website, in comparison
to prospects generated online. Kind of like playing "hard
to get" I guess.

2. Use an email "header" to immediately remind prospects of
the benefits you offer. A header is just like a signature
file, but at the very top of your email.

You can use a simple 2-3 line header, stating who the
message is from, and a short one line advertisement for one
of your websites. Place headers in your newsletters/ezines,
autoreponder messages, mlm prospecting emails, etc.

Note: This can also be a great way to "test" your headlines
and it works like crazy! I mean it.

3. Write high-quality, information intense articles for
more free publicity. Hey, if you have the time to write
them, people almost always have the time to publish them
for you and create a storm of free exposure!

One article a month from your fingertips could mean an
extra $200 a month addition to your bottom-line, or easily
more. For the few hours it takes to write and distribute,
it's more than worth the work. Like Simon Baxter said "Get
your name out there as someone who knows where it at!"

4. Impliment a simple form of viral marketing.
There's many great ebooks on the Internet that you can get
free, and brand with your website's URL and contact info.
This is a phenomenal way to build an opt-in email list
fast, and promote your website on the backend.

My personal favorite has always been the "TrafficVirus"
edition by Jimmy D. Brown - available free at:
http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R39995_TV3

5. Barter, trade and partner-up for profits.
You could trade for traffic, ezine ads, products, services,
etc. Bottom line: You can boost your sales without spending
a penny more. Get creative and exciting things can happen.

6. Write your own ad copy for affiliate programs.
Spend some time creating your own unique, powerful ad copy
in order to "stand out from the crowd". This will leave
the other affiliates in your dust and give you a strong
advantage over your competition.

7. Get an inexpensive, custom-made sticker advertisement
for your vehicle's rear window. Why not? State your USP
(Unique selling position) in BOLD letters with your website
address below it. Think about how much driving you do
sometimes, and how many people will see that sticker!

Michael S.L Bombard
http://www.MarketingBlaze.com

Did your high-school history teacher ever explain to you the
importance of taking and keeping class notes? If you followed
this advice, you were likely glad you did when mid-terms came
along. If you didn't take notes, you probably suffered the
consequences.

Well, the same rule applies in the business world. If you take
and keep notes on customer inquiries and orders, they'll be
available for you to use when you need them. If you don't,
you'll probably have a lot more trouble drumming up entirely new
business.

Think for a minute about how you communicate with your customers.
If it's primarily by phone, have a big notepad nearby to take
down names, dates, phone numbers, email addresses, questions, and
other pertinent information and facts. If your prospects don't
volunteer such information, ask for it. Most of them won't mind
and will even appreciate your attention to details.

If you communicate with customers and prospects mainly through
email (or even snail mail), you have the advantage of having most
of the information you need already documented for you. Try
creating a folder in your email program for possible or
prospective clients, and save the emails you get from them, even
if they never place an order. Periodically when things get slow,
go back to that file and touch base with those people who seemed
interested but never ordered, or who did order and might consider
doing it again.

Whether speaking on the phone or sending them an email, ask these
"cold" or "past" customers how things are going for them. Refer
to your notes to know what questions to ask and what advice to
offer. Remind them that, at one time, they were interested in
your products or services, and tell them about any special
promotions you're having. Don't be pushy, simply offer to help
them if they're still interested, and let them know they can
contact you any time for help.

When placing a call or sending an email to one of these
prospects, be sure to start by reminding them of who you are and
why they contacted YOU before. Tell them you were going through
some old notes or emails, and wanted to follow up to make sure
you'd answered all their questions and given them what they
needed. They'll appreciate your effort and concern, and THAT
makes them more likely to buy.

Meredith Pond and her team of top writers help you increase
profits without working harder. See Meredith's editing services,
advertising packages, and free business ideas at
http://CheapWriting.com Reach her at meredith@drnunley.com or
801-328-9006.