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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
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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


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February 13, 1998

Nobody Told Them...

Globe Reach is (yet) another Internet Marketing firm.

As the name implies, they are still flogging the old "Global Web" horse, when, in fact, the Web (as we know) is increasingly local in orientation. In support of this notion, we would simply point to the success of Yahoo!'s local editions and the various "sidewalk" manifestations...

Anyway, we can only surmise that, from the look of Globe Reach's site, their market lies with the "black background, tons o' gifs, no alt tags, let's be way kewl" crowd.

To be fair, their "Resources" page contains plenty of links, even though the minuscule text, in gray, on a black background makes them difficult to read.

One of their more outrageous claims is to get your URL listed "in the top 20 (first two pages), of the major search engines". This will cost you a mere $60/month (plus, of course, the obligatory "set-up fee" of $99...).

So why wouldn't we send these guys a check? Well, in the first place, you need to dig a bit deeper than we'd like to find out that they're "Globe Reach Corp." of Plano, TX. They do, however, list fax and phone numbers in the contact information.

In the end, tho', we have to ask ourselves whether or not we would trust our online marketing with the gramatically and spelling-challenged.

"THAT S [sic] OUR PAGE! This time let s [sic] go over to another major search engine, Lyros [sic], for a search on cloth dolls . Click search now and you ll [sic] see that Cloth Dolls - A Soft Cuddly Doll is ranked #4. THAT S [sic] OUR PAGE!"

etc, etc....

We'd like to think that our marketers had a grip on the language.

On the other hand, such is the state of spelling on the Web, that perhaps mis-spelled keywords would get more "hits"...

--John Blower

Feb 12, 1998

The Five Cs

The ingredients of successfully marketing and promoting a Website are probably know to all of us by now.

However, Alan Sarkissian suggests a handy aide-memoire - which he leaves open to amendment, addition or modification:

  • "Content - this should be self-explanatory. It represents your offer online. And remember - content is king. Without meaningful content, your site is unlikely to generate more than a smattering of casual visitors;

  • Context - refers to what is being offered online being relevant to one's target audience(s) for the site;

  • Community - refers to the creation of an online environment that one's site visitors feel they are part of through being asked to contribute or participate in; the development and maintenance of a relationship (as you do with offline marketing practice);

  • Continuity - refers to whatever is being offered online coinciding with your offline marketing imagery, objectives and presence also; AND

  • Change - refers to the simple fact the what is being offered has to change enough so as to not bore the hell out of your target audience(s) and be seen as proactive as well as enticing to your casual site visitors."

--John Blower

Feb 11, 1998

OneSeek

Another player has entered the alternative Web search and navigation field.

OneSeek Corporation recently launched OneSeek.com, a site which offers a different teachnique/approach to finding information on the web.

There are two features which differentiate OneSeek from the rest of what is becoming a crowded area of the Web.

The first is called "WebChains" (which sound a lot like automated "Web Rings...). WebChains are implemented as pop-up windows which contain "Forward", "Back" and "Fast Forward" buttons, like a VCR (can you program yours?). You use the controls to browse through groups of related sites. OneSeek includes a variety of pre-defined WebChains - all of which include only "high quality sites".

A quick surf through the "Jobs" chain, for example, whisked us through a round-up of the usual suspects - Monster Board, 4Work, BestJobsUSA and so forth.

However, you can also create your own WebChains and then bookmark them for future use. Any website can be part of a WebChain; it is not necessary to make any changes or add code to the sites in the chain.

The second feature is the OneSeek "Parallel Search Machine". (Which sounds like something out of Dr Who...) This lets users query the major search engines, as well as top content sites in a variety of categories, simultaneously.

Category searches often produce higher quality results than general web searches because the query is executed directly on sites which specialize in an information category.

Currently available search categories include news, business, sports, entertainment, travel, politics, health, stocks, software technical support, shareware/downloads, UseNet, and web publishing.

Now, if only they could figure out what I wanted to search for before I did...

--John Blower

Feb 10, 1998

Take No Prisoners!

A chance encounter at the Martini Club took us to Integrated Systems' website.

Despite our being warned off, we found the site to be useful, informative and easy to use.

We could quibble about the request to send resumes to "careers@isi.com" (it's a bit impersonal), but the instruction not to send one's resume as an attachment is a clue that this company knows what's what.

The Web is about fulfilling users' perceived needs. In the case of ISI, this includes an admirably clear explanation of what the company does, and, on the homepage, an invitation to further one's career with them.

Notice the use of the word "career". ISI isn't looking for people who want a job. They see themselves as being instrumental in furthering one's professional development.

Being based in Sunnyvale, California, ISI is operating in a marketplace rife with a shortage of qualified candidates. To this end, applying for a position with them is made easy.

We understand that most of ISI's recruitment is carried out over the Web. It would be interesting to see how the company responds to an application.

--John Blower

LinkExchange
LinkExchange Member


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



Check out the Archives....160 Weeks of Back issues including:


Feb 09, 1998
  • Martha Stewart
  • Tenagra Awards
  • Interactive Email
  • Zero 1
  • Media-ocrity
Feb 02, 1998
  • Link Info
  • Recruiting Design
  • Were They Thinking?
Jan 26, 1998
  • What's In It 4 Me
  • Global Reach
  • Deadly Sites
  • Accomodating Design
Jan 19, 1998
  • It's Local
  • Dodgy Data
  • Elementary?
  • Novices
Jan 12, 1998
  • Communities
  • Is It Worth It?
  • Luncheon Meat
  • Web Rings
  • Marketing With Titles
Jan 05, 1998
  • Holiday Greetings
  • Website Garage
  • AArgh!
  • Year End Forecasts
Dec 21, 1997
  • Surveys
  • Communications Arts
  • Daily Brief
  • Click Trade
Dec 14, 1997
  • Whose Eyeballs?
  • NPR
  • Cool Tools
  • Hamsters?
Dec 07, 1997
  • Color Of Money
  • Resources
  • Search Engine Tuneup
  • Nice Makeover
  • European Design
Nov 30, 1997
  • Site Design
  • Statistics
  • Semi Free
  • Thanksgiving
  • Visitors
Nov 23, 1997
  • Easy Shopping
  • Great Content Wins
  • "Skinny" Graphics
  • Site Design
  • Net Mailer
Complete Indexed Archives(36 months of marketing and design) Complete Indexed Archives(36 months of marketing and design)

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