Forum Moderators: skibum
Soooo, FWIW, here's the rest of the exchange.
> Hey Bill,
>
> Unless you get a number of customers that buy an invisible
> fence when they relocate to the area, I don't think my
> traffic would be a good fit. The majority are researching
> vacation plans, but an estimated 10 to 15 percent are
> planning to relocate and/or retire here.
>
> Our rates for an link ad package, including logo graphic, and
> descriptive text covering the blah, blah, blah....
Finally! an administrator that gives honest feedback! Thank you for your time. I'll keep looking. Bill
Was this because the amount of traffic would have been too low compared to the price of optimization? I am assuming so.
Have you considered picking them up as a client and just doing PPC work for them, for a 10% premium over advertising spending? Seems like that might be another source of income. Then again, it may only amount to about $2.00 per month for you, and therefore not worth the effort.
You could always suggest some targeted keyword phrases on goto, just to be friendly (maybe get some referrals too!)
Great job on the honesty though, sometimes it seems as though there is not enough of that left in the world.
>Was this because the amount of traffic would have been too low compared to the price of optimization? I am assuming so.
>
Even though the traffic my site could have provided would have worked out to an estimated .10 per click, I don't think the conversion would have been high enough to make it profitable for him.
>Have you considered picking them up as a client and just doing PPC work for them,
This might be hard to explain without a little background. Originally ('95-'96), to get clients, I developed and hosted their pages as part of my sites. As my sites developed, I shifted the strategy to be more like a print magazine and I became an editor/publisher. Now, (with a few minor exceptions) all content is mine and I only do SEO for the benefit of my own sites, I then sell advertising space via sponsorships, buttons, and banners.
>the honesty
Besides being the right thing to do, it's a good business practice. I would have eventually lost the disgruntled clients anyway, and I've found that it's just an easy way to do business. Now I often find that my reputation for 'telling it like it is' either preceeds me or is easily validated by someone else present. That really expedites so many deals now that I tend to take its effectiveness for granted.
I applaud honesty!
When I first got into affiliate marketing, I didn't care what my visitors got, what the merchant's business model was, what my visitors could do for them - just show me the money. It didn't take long to figure out, taking everyone into consideration when making decisions was the best route. What merchants want traffic that does not convert? What visitors want pure hype, or uninteresting products/services? A big part of online success is looking at all angles for decisions, and finding what is a winner for all parties, just what rc did.
You mean the "estimated 10 to 15 percent are planning to relocate and/or retire here"? No, he didn't. While I'm somewhat acquainted (;)) with what the real estate market does with the incoming traffic, I really didn't have a clue as to whether an invisible fence installer saw that segment of my traffic as a hot demographic for sales prospects. My guess is that it would be lukewarm at best, he seems to have confirmed that.
Here Here! Actually I look at it this way: I don't want to waste someone else's time, and I don't them wasting mine.
>You mean the "estimated 10 to 15 percent are planning to relocate and/or retire here"? No, he didn't.
Yet But he coudl very well refer someone to you in the future..you have already proven yourself honest and worth recommending to someone else.
-G
-H
That said, telling it like it is has made web marketing incredibly easy for me now, and I heartily recommend this approach to any publisher dealing with sponsors or media buyers. When I get a serious inquiry, I offer detailed stats and demographic info about my traffic, then I just point them to the roster of sponsors and invite them to pick one or more and email them. BTW, I don't offer contracts and 99.99% of my deals are done on an email "handshake." (Keep in mind that my business model calls for a large number of sponsors at relatively small individual $ fees, so I'm not risking much on any given transaction.) As for referrals from those I've advised not to advertise, I can't say that I've had any from independent advertisers. But, I *DO* have a nice stable of small site developers and even a few regional media buyers that recommend my site to their clients -sometimes in their original proposals. I do not offer a sales commission, as that would compromise their relationship with their clients. I do give them all the support info I can and promise to make them look good for their clients.
Also, Drastic made a very important point:
What visitors want pure hype, or uninteresting products/services? A big part of online success is looking at all angles for decisions, and finding what is a winner for all partiesOn many sites, advertising can be CONTENT. Many times, I've run banners and even sponsors that I knew were not going to pay out in terms of effective CPM. I ran them because they looked good in context, even if they were tangential to the routine, high-volume interests.
