Internet advertising outlook

» Internet publishing outlook remains good - Web Publishing Blog: "Relying on organic search engine traffic sucks, especially if your business has large fixed expenses. Google’s recent shakeup of Adwords has now done a pretty good job of wiping long term search engine confidence from many.

The projects I am putting my money in to right now share these traits:
# large amounts of traffic come from word of mouth
# strong community features (i.e. forums)
# scalability (spread one concept across multiple niches, or a very high ceiling for broader markets)

As long as the internet advertising market continues to see double digit growth internet publishing should look very healthy. The “monetize it with advertising money” business model will work very well if you have little overhead."

My read on this:

* Don't get caught up in advertising schemes and trends. Stick with what has worked for you. Adwords will be regularly "shaken up". That's Google's scene - constant evolution.

* Word of mouth is (and always has been) the best advertising you can get. Enable "tell-a-friend" scripts on all your pages as you can. Create Squidoo Lenses for all your products - which builds in this feature (Squidoo created by Seth Godin who wrote the book "Permission Marketing").

* Brand and brand-extend your products - capture a niche and then capture similar niches. Check out the success of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" franchise.

My personal view of advertising is: don't. It's another addiction, full of rosy promises unkept. Any amount or type of broadcast messages will return 3-4% sales. That's a plain and simple statistic. That is what all advertizing is based on. Fads and fashions warp these statistics - as short-lived phenomenon.

When you consistently deliver quality products every time, you build consistent word of mouth. However, word of mouth as a double-edged sword is pretty unfair. The old phrase is: "everytime people say something nice about you, they tell four others - everytime people say something bad about you, they tell ten."

Keep your attention and focus on quality.