Is the Internet overloaded with advertising?

Ad Age recently posted an article titled Think Different: Maybe the Web's Not a Place to Stick Your Ads. I found this interesting because I’m always on the look out for what’s new in online advertising. And as you know, there are a ton of advertisements on the Internet. This article covers a lot of topics on online advertising, but the section I found the most interesting is the section about advertising that has value.

“Functionality, utility -- whatever you want to call it -- brings a different level of engagement from consumers. Because people click on these things freely and voluntarily, because it helps them to get something done, they come to them with a different mindset than they do marketing communications that interrupts, whether a TV commercial or a pop-up ad online. Put simply, they want to be there. There's one other thing about them: Unlike that TV spot, the cost of distribution is very small if not free.”

This paragraph summarizes perfectly what Internet advertising is and what it should be. A lot of advertisers treat Internet advertising in the same manor they do TV and radio. The Internet is not a mass-market tool and it shouldn’t be treated like one. With the Internet, your options are only limited by your creativeness. On TV you are limited by time, space and cost.

On the Internet time is not a limiter. Although you only have a short amount of time to initially engage the viewer, once you have them engaged you could keep them for as long as you can keep them engaged. The creativity that the Internet allows makes it easier to keep the consumer engaged. Games have become a popular way to keep viewers interested in your advertisement. Orbitz has a lot of games that I partake in a lot. My favorite right now is the shuffle board game.

Space is not a limiter because you can have any number of activities for the viewer to interact with across your entire site. The great thing about the Internet is that you aren’t limited to a television screen. Once you get a consumer to your site, it is so easy to browse and move around, (as long as your site is constructed properly) you can window-shop for a long time without even knowing it.

Cost is drastically reduced from TV. While you still have to pay for online advertising, it’s reduced by pay per click advertising and the fact that online advertising is just plain cheaper.

The biggest draw back to online advertising is not using it properly and that is the main point of this article. The old limitations are removed and replaced with all these new options, so you need to think differently. You don’t need to spend a ton of money and cram a ton of information into a web banner. It only needs to hold the pertinent and interesting information to get someone to click on it. Once they are on your site, your site is one big advertisement for you. Let that do the heavy lifting. It’s not necessary to bombard the consumer up front. Get their attention, draw them in and let them make the choice how much exposure they want. It might end up working out better in the end. If it’s not force fed down their throats, consumers might be more willing to accept your product.

Let me know what you think. Are you sick of loud flashing banners? Do you agree that less is more when it comes to online advertising?

-Dennis

The Price Setting Game

CNN recently posted an article on setting competitive fees for your business. This is a subject that I know very little about, but am interested in because I hope to one day have my own business.

The article starts off by dealing with location. “As with real estate, it all starts with location. A big design firm in New York City or Los Angeles is going to charge higher fees than a small group in Florida or South Carolina, says Micheline Laberge, a licensed interior designer based in Sarasota, Fla.” This is common sense, but a very important point that I think gets over looked a lot. If you are in an area where people don’t make as much money, it is harder to charge higher prices. But don’t let this be a roadblock to starting a company. You don’t always have to be the priciest product. You can be very profitable in the middle of the pack or even near the bottom.

They also recommend bringing in a consultant to help set up your business. I think this is an unnecessary and costly step. In the beginning you should be able to feel your way through the process. Unless your company starts off like a rocket and grows beyond your control, you should be able to figure out what works best for you.

One strategy the article does not mention is finding out what your competition is charging. If you know what they are charging and you know you are performing a better service, you may be able to charge a higher price. If your service is equal to the competition you know that you need to be closer to them in price, and need to find another differentiation point.

It’s not always easy to find out what the competition is charging but you can find out. One way to find out is to survey potential customers that have used the other service. This can be a little tough because often times people will tell you a lower price because they hope to get a lower price from you.

Another way to find out is to call your competition and ask them. Now, you can do this the honorable way or the non-honorable way. You can call them, introduce yourself and ask them if they are willing to help you set up your prices. They may not be willing to help the competition and who could blame them. The other way is to call them as a potential client and ask how much they charge. This is the non-honorable way and I would never take this route, but non-the-less, it’s probably the most effective way.

The most important thing in the beginning is to control costs. If you can control costs, you can start off offering a lower price and gradually raise the price as your company grows and you want to increase revenues. Controlling costs also allows you to start and maintain the company with a lower amount of capital, which gets you into the ball game faster.

Check out the article and let me know what you think. Have you started a company? Does this advice work for you?

-Dennis

Fake Hype

This is something the company I work at is famous for. They fake something until whomever they are trying to impress is gone and then rip down the facade faster than Niagara Falls. Yesterday we had a surprise BBQ that was supposed to celebrate the good work we have done so far in our corporate fundraiser. Now don’t get me wrong, I love free food, and I partook in plenty of it. But, I find it a little too much of a coincidence that this BBQ came on the day that a major industry magazine was visiting us. Ok, now you’re probably thinking that I’m blowing this out of proportion. Well they also stole 4 chairs from my co-workers office to build a “war room”. A war room is a place where people are supposed to go to concept and crunch numbers and basically kick ass to help the company. Why all of a sudden did we have to build one? Now this is just a guess but I think the “war room” will be dismantled and the chairs given back within the next two days. If you’re going to go through the trouble of building a fake war room, why not just build a real one and actually use it. A war room is something this company can use. Instead it will go back to being the empty office that it was before. After several of these “pretender” moves in a row, the employees start to see through the fog. Everything is taken with a grain of salt. And even if the BBQ did come out of gratefulness, it’s seen as a ploy to look better for the magazine.

Now, I’m not just all complaints. It’s not past the point of no return. I think this can be fixed, but it has to be done right. They can start by leaving the war room. Make the employees feel like they are investing in us. Giving us the tools to create great work. Over time, moves like leaving the war room intact, will rebuild the confidence of the employees and lead to better work.

Let me know what you think. Have you worked for a company that created ploys to make themselves look better? How did you handle it?

-Dennis

Going Small to Get Big

How many of you have worked for or have thought about working for a small company? This is something I have debated back and forth during my short career. I’ve worked for two larger companies, nothing the size of General Electric, but good size companies. So when I found an article from The Wall Street Journal about how moving to a small company can lead to big rewards, I had to check it out.

As with anything else there are both good and bad points to this argument. Some of the good points made in this article are gaining recognition and exposure. Some of the bad points are gaining too much exposure and working with tighter budgets.

Gaining recognition and exposure
“That can also mean more ready recognition. "Every success you have in a small business is magnified by a hundred," says Dean Medley, senior vice president of recruiting at Medical Methods Inc., a staffing firm in Jacksonville, Fla., with 50 employees. "When you land a new account, it's a huge deal."”
In a large company it can be hard to get the recognition you really deserve. Most projects are worked on by teams and some of them can be very large teams. This leads to the praise being spread out. Even if the entire team didn’t contribute equally. When you work at a smaller company, you may be the only person working on the project, so all of the recognition goes directly to you.

Too much exposure
“That doesn't mean there aren't drawbacks to going small. For one, blunders are magnified. "When you have a setback, it's extremely painful," says Mr. Medley, who joined Medical Methods in 2004 after being laid off from Bank of America Corp.”
At the same time the added exposure can also be a double edge sword. Because you are the only person on the team anything that does go wrong falls squarely on your shoulders. But if you want to be the one to receive all the glory you have to be able to deal with down times as well.

Tighter Budgets
“Tighter budgets mean smaller companies sometimes can't afford to pay salaries equal to those of big firms, says Roy Cohen, an outplacement counselor whose clients hail from such Wall Street firms as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Bear Sterns. Case in point: This year, chief financial officers at companies with $500 million or more in sales are projected to earn between $257,500 and $370,500 in average annual base pay, according to a 2008 report from staffing firm Robert Half International Inc. CFOs at firms with up to $50 million in sales are expected to receive between $91,000 and $122,250.”

“But Mr. Cohen also notes that many small employers provide alluring trade-offs such as shorter workweeks, less travel and work-life balance incentives including telecommuting arrangements and flexible schedules.”

This is often seen as the biggest draw back to working for a small company. Your financial situation is a very personal thing. I’m never comfortable telling people what to do with their money. Your financial situation may not allow for you to take a pay cut to work for a smaller company. At the same time, taking a pay cut to work less hours or work in a more fulfilling environment may be worth it to you.

In the end it comes down to where you are most comfortable. If you like being in a large company that has a multitude of departments and a wider range of options. Then that is where you should be. If you are more comfortable in a smaller company where you interact with top management more often and your day-to-day activities directly impact the company bottom line, then that is where you should be.

What do you think? Are you more comfortable in large or small company?

-Dennis

Is Your Career Radical?

“Radical Careering” by Sally Hogshead, is a great book that was suggested to me by a co-worker. This book is written for anyone at any job, but I believe it is a must read for anyone starting their career. It’s not long and is very simple to read (as my co-worker said, “you can read it in two dumps”). But the impact of the words is amazing.

The book is about getting the most of your career, whatever that may be. Hogshead goes through “100 Truths” of careers and people that are dedicated to their careers. Below are a handful of “Truths” I found to be very meaningful to me and I believe will be meaningful to young professionals.

“Forget what your business card says. You’re an entrepreneur.”
This one is important and I see it a lot in my office. People all to often get caught up in what title they have. If a project comes down that usually goes to a person above or below them, they pass on it because, well, it’s not their responsibility. That’s not in their job description. This limits people in their growth. Often time’s promotions are given after you have earned them. Someone who takes on projects that are above their title and completes them successfully will be rewarded with a promotion. The person who waits to get the promotion before they take on the new projects, most likely will be passed by the other person.

“Aspire to be the dumbest person in the room.”
This piece of advice is very important to someone at any point in his or her career. What Hogshead is saying is that you need to surround yourself with brilliant people in order to get the best out of yourself. It doesn’t mean that you should find a place with a group of smart people and latch on like a leach. It means you should find people that are at the top of your field and learn from them. This is also important because you can’t let yourself feel like you are the smartest person in the room. Let’s face it, you probably aren’t. There will always be someone who knows more about something than you. Whether it’s accounting or online media or purchasing, there is a weakness in your “game”. And if there isn’t then there is something wrong with your work place and you may want to look for a new place to work.

“Don’t work for someone you don’t respect.”
This “Truth” has to do with making your work environment a place you want to be. If you have a boss that is constantly degrading people and asking more of his/her employees than he/she asks of him/herself, it may be time to look for a new boss. Work should be fun and exciting. If someone is making work feel like work then they aren’t getting the best out of you. Now, don’t confuse this with work being hard. Work is going to be hard at times. At least it should be. There will always be times when your boss has to ride you, but it should be done in an encouraging way. A way that builds strength and respect.

“The most risky decision is not making one.”
Paralysis by analysis is the best way to describe this one. Have you ever seen the person that has so much information in front of them and they still can’t make a decision? That is the worst place to be. You can make a great decision and be praised or can you make a horrible decision and be canned. Either way you acted on your own terms. If it means you made the wrong decision and it cost you your job. That’s ok. It may not feel like it at that time, but you learn from it and move on. If you get fired because you refuse to make a decision, you’ve learned nothing and you are still in the same position.

“Portable equity is the only form of job security today.”
Portable equity is an interesting term. Portable equity is the things you have learned that you can take with you. The reason this is so important is because business has changed. The days of working for one company for 40 years and getting a great pension when you retire are gone. You are going to change companies and maybe even fields during your career. The only way to keep yourself in demand is to have knowledge and skills that are transferable. If you are the only guy in the office that can work the company specific database, you may be the most popular guy in the department. But when you go to XYZ Company that doesn’t use that system, your knowledge is completely useless. If you are the guy that knows the online automotive market better than anyone else, you can transfer that knowledge to XYZ when you move there.

“Be someone’s hero.”
I found this “Truth” interesting because I hope to be able to do this one-day. At some point in your career there will be someone who makes a large impact on you. Whether it’s giving you some advice or a chance at a new project, or even hiring you at your first job. Someone will make a difference. This is simply giving back. Make sure you give someone the advice, or the new project, or take the chance on the person you think will be a great worker. You may find out that person is better than you ever thought. It also will most likely mean the world to that person.

All in all this is a great book that every young professional should read. Let me know what you think. Have you read this book? Have you read a book you think covers this topic better?

-Dennis

For full disclosure, I am in no way associated with the writers, publishers or anyone else involved in this book. I also did not receive any money for recommending this book.

“Radical Careering” by Sally Hogshead. Penguin Groupe: 2005

Job Market Showing Signs of Weakness

I found this article on CNN.com the other day. I found this article interesting not because the job market is showing sings of weakness, but because this news is coming from employees and not economists. This could be a very bad sign. The job market is a lot like the stock market. A lot of times it doesn’t matter if the market is capable of going up. If the investors (employees) don’t have any confidence, they won’t invest and prices won’t go up. If employees don’t have the confidence that there are other jobs out there, they are going to be less willing to leave their current jobs, which could lead to less job growth.

Real World Example

I’m seeing this at my job right now. We just went through a round of budget cuts and had to layoff three people. Right now, everyone is working extra hard to make sure they keep their job because they know other advertising agencies are going through the same budget cuts and aren’t hiring right now. This also means that people in my office are less likely to leave the company for greener pastures. They know the greener pastures may turn out to be rotten soil right now.

What do you think? Is your company/industry starting to lag?

-Dennis

Workers know best: Job market weak.

The Talk

I had “The Talk” yesterday with my boss. She pulled me into her office and wanted to assure me that after the talk we had as a department last week, I was not in jeopardy of losing my job. They were going to have to layoff one person from my department but it wasn’t going to be me. This was a very strange moment for me. On the one hand I was greatly relieved that I was still going to have a job. But on the other hand, someone was going to lose there’s.

After thinking about it a little more last night, I’m actually pretty excited about “The Talk” that we had. It’s just reinforcement that I’m doing a good job and that my hard work is paying off. It motivated me to work even harder and learn more so I can be a better employee.

So why don’t we do this more often? If a conversation with my boss made me feel better about myself and motivate me to work harder, why not do it every 6 months? In the almost two years I’ve been here, I had one review and it took place after I had been here for a year and a half. And now that I think about it, I was more motivated after that meeting as well.

Plus it can be used as a teaching tool. This is my first real job; a stepping-stone to the rest of my career. It would be nice get some feedback on things I need to work on, or things I need to learn for the future.

Let me know what you think? Does your boss have frequent reviews? Do you find them helpful or annoying?

-Dennis