JOHN SUMSER,
E D I T O R


S P O N S O R S


Find out more
About IBN


Articles

Archives

8 Corners of ECommerce


Register to receive
e-mail when
this page changes.

Email address


Hall Of Fame
8 Corners of ECommerce

Types of Links

Red Herring
H C I Readlist
Webstyle guide
The Pilot
Daily Webnews
I A Daily
Webcatcher
Professor Pete
Ad Tutorial
Advert World
TRADEWINDS
WebMaster Mag
HT Marcom
Dave-Net
A1 Index
Telecosm
Submit It

Suggestions?



The advertising
industry is on
the verge of
being shattered
into a thousand
fragments due to
the knowledge explosion
and the proliferation
of new technologies.
There are no
more grand theories
that hold sway
over the entire
industry.
Michael Strangelove


Advertising is
one of the minor
arts, so don't
be intimidated
by it. Try
not to lose
your sense of
playfulness.
Keep it fun.
Robert Bly



Reality
is more
complex
than
it seems.
John Gall



The System
is its own
best
explanation.
John Gall



It's better to
do a few things
really well than
than to do
a lot of things
badly.
If you can't
make the necessary
commitments of
time and energy
to your
electronic
marketing
efforts
scale back
your plan.
John Sumser


Suggestions?

All material on this
website is the
property of IBN
(The Internet Business Network)
You may download
a copy for personal
use. Redistribution
without permission
is strictly
prohibited.
All material on
this site is
© 1995. 1996. 1997 by IBN



OUR HOME

...


Click OK to receive our occasional Newsletter

August 22, 1997

The Seven "C's" of a Successful Web Site

The Web Doctor at CreatiVision offers his words of wisdom on a variety of topics, amongst them "The Seven "C's" of a Successful Web Site".

Good, straightforward stuff. While we suppose that you could as easily do the "The Sixteen "X's" of a Successful Web Site", or "The Five "E's"...", these are worth checking out as a reminder.

Essentially, they cover these areas:

  • Consideration
  • Clarity
  • Content
  • Color
  • Consistency
  • Charisma
  • Cult-ability

You can probably figure out most of them - but we felt that "Cult-ability" was scraping the bottom of the barrel a little.

The Doc also pronounces on his "Nine (?) Top Peeves" - once again, pretty normal stuff, running the gamut from Ad Pollution to ActiveX.

There's also a box into which you can insert your URL for the Doc's consideration and criticism.

Our collective breath is bated... --John Blower

August 21, 1997

Whisper It Not Aloud...

In one of the many discussion lists to which we subscribe, there is much talk about the effectiveness of banner ads, click-through rates, CPM's and all the other jargon which attaches itself to online advertising and promotion.

The virtual "conversation" could be overheard amongst any group of media professionals, whether print, TV, radio or any other broadcast medium.

We have long harbored the belief that the Web is not a broadcast medium, and that using mass medium models for the New Medium is inappropriate and misleading.

We are not alone, it seems.

At a recent trade association meeting, we fell into conversation with a senior executive from a prominent banner ad placement company.

To our surprise, he agreed with our assertion that the Web is a narrowcast medium, and serves us best by fostering one-to-one relationships.

"Why then," we asked, "do companies like yours insist on using a mass medium model for advertising and promotion in the New Medium?"

His response was that "people understand it". And that there isn't an alternative model. Yet.

Later that evening, we spoke with an account executive from a large ad agency. We asked the same question. And got the same response.

Listen up people. From both sides of the ad equation there is no faith in the model to which we all nominally subscribe.

The Web is not TV. It is not "broadcast".

We do not have a model for using this medium effectively. There is, as yet, no magic formula. But, finally, there seems to be some tacit admission that the model we are currently using is not appropriate. --John Blower

August 20, 1997

Relationships

Discussions about the Internet often revolve around bandwidth, faster modem speeds, the latest "killer app" and other, largely peripheral technologies.

Forget about 'em. The Internet is about relationships: individual to individual, individual to organization, organization to organization.

Ask yourself why someone would visit your site. They probably want information of one sort or another. And if they can't find it at your site, they may mail you.

Your visitor will expect a prompt response, rendered in a friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming manner. They will expect accurate information - not a hard sell.

If the information your visitor requests is not immediately available, they will expect an immediate response telling them that and a follow-up with the requested information within twenty-four hours.

If this doesn't happen, your organization will be perceived as slow and unresponsive. And it will doubtless be perceived the same in terms of the delivery of your product or service.

This is the essence of doing business on the Internet.

It seems to us that far too many organizations do not, as yet, understand this basic principle. It often appears that they have a site "because they should" - they don't actually believe in the medium. The Internet component of their sales and marketing effort is seen as peripheral.

Too many sites are static, rarely updated, full of excessive graphics, and make no attempt to interact with their visitors.

The Internet is about building and consolidating relationships. In the Digital Age, we need to remind ourselves from time to time that it is this base which underlies the whole superstructure. --John Blower

August 19, 1997

Real Call

A lady with a charming English accent called me up the other day.

I was, in fact, expecting the call, as I had entered my phone number in a box at Real Call.

This is a new twist on the "credit card security on the 'Net" red herring.

Here's how it works.

Simply install a RealCall button on the appropriate page of your site, and all your customer has to do is enter their phone number in a box, and a call from your site is automatically generated. The call (obviously) has your message, and is charged to your telephone.

The major advantage seems to be that your potential customer doesn't have to remember an 800 number or, indeed, any number other than their own.

It's fun. Check it out.

Clarification:

In a recent article about >Northern Light Search Engine, we may have given the impression that payment was required to use the Special Collection search.

In fact, the search is free and you pay to retrieve the article. But retrieval is free until September 11... --John Blower

August 18, 1997

More eMail

If you use the original "push" client, eMail, as a marketing and promotion tool, you may be interested in a new list manager from British company Unipalm.

Revnet's GroupMaster gives users a fully-featured tool for scheduling the delivery of bulk email messages, web content and attached data files. It automatically delivers pre-scheduled information, manages "bounced" or undeliverable email, and keeps accurate list membership and email read-rate statistics.

GroupMaster enables the list manager to:

  • create and manage lists easily

  • deliver Web information, files and emails

  • enroll subscribers from the web or import lists of subscribers

  • schedule mail deliveries to lists

  • deliver and receive multiple messages as one (in "digest" form)

  • view statistics on list membership and response rates to email

GroupMaster supports discussion groups and offers a unique member control panel that lets list participants control their own list options over the web.

The product runs on Windows NT Server and requires an SMTP (TCP/IP) mail server on another machine. List managers require a Web browser plus an email client and subscribers require only an email client. There are four versions of GroupMaster available from Unipalm, priced as follows:

  • GroupMaster (5000 subs.) $495.00
  • GroupMaster Plus (20,000 subs.) $995.00
  • GroupMaster Pro (50,000 subs.) $2495.00
  • GroupMaster Enterprise (250,000 subs.) $9995.00

--John Blower

August 04, 1997

Auto News

We're trying an experiment. If you use Netscape 4.0 and have a copy of Netcaster, you can receive the Newsletter daily by clicking the following button. Try it and let us know how it works. We'll be watching. If you already have Netscape 4.0, you can download Netcaster here

Add Design and Marketing Daily Now!
Add Design and Marketing Daily Now!


Take a look at the Archives. We've indexed all the past issues with topic pointers.



Check out the Archives....130 Weeks of Back issues including:

August 17, 1997
  • PIU
  • Another Search Engine
  • SOHO
  • Dancing with the Gorilla
  • Deep Throat
August 10, 1997
  • Internet USA
  • Nation of Spammers
  • Lifetime Values
  • ENode
  • Tovarich
August 03, 1997
  • Too Good To Be True
  • Who's Pushing Whom
  • A Recent Poll
  • Sidebars
July 27, 1997
  • Talking The Talk
  • Modest Proposal
  • eMail Ads
  • HEITML
  • Mark Me Up
July 20, 1997
  • Silence
  • WordsWork
  • Ugly
  • Video Banners
  • Virii
July 13, 1997
  • Some Print Resources
  • Security Breach
  • Bits and Pieces
  • Domain Confusion
  • Caxtonian Thinking...
July 06, 1997
  • Not Rocket Science
  • Money for Junque
  • Slow, Quick, Slow
  • WEBTV?
  • Cookie Cutter
June 29, 1997
  • Interoperability
  • Marketing Resource
  • Confereces
  • Industrial Strength Ideas
June 22, 1997
  • Promote One
  • Europa
  • Design Resource
  • Media Kits
  • Style Sheets
June 15, 1997
  • Using eMail
  • New Morality
  • Odds 'n' Sods
  • Fast Modems
  • Which Search Engine
June 08, 1997
  • Events
  • Hard Copies
  • Banning Junque
  • Another Survey
  • Networds
June 01, 1997
  • Shop Til You Drop
  • Coffee Time
  • Jaundiced
  • Push To Shove
May 25, 1997
  • Microscope
  • Gadfly
  • Marketing Your Site
Complete Indexed Archives(24 months of marketing and design) Complete Indexed Archives(24 months of marketing and design)

Contacting Us
Call, fax, write, email. We'd love to talk about your project.

All material on this site is © 1995, 1996 by IBN (The Internet Business Network), Mill Valley, CA 94941