posted on June 13, 2001 06:49:51 AM new
Read this in a newsletter ...
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Several years ago, the founder of Wrigley Chewing Gum was
on a flight from New York to his home in Chicago. The
passenger in the next seat recognized the chewing gum
tycoon and asked him a question. "Mr. Wrigley, I know your
company enjoys over 90% of the chewing gum market. Yet,
last week I read where you are increasing your advertising
budget by over 30%. With such a large share of the market,
why do you continue to spend so much on advertising? Why
not save that money or use it for something else?"
Mr. Wrigley replied, "How fast do you think this airplane
is flying?" The man answered, "Oh, I guess about 600 miles
per hour." Mr. Wrigley responded. "I think that's fast
enough, don't you?" The man agreed that indeed, it was
fast enough. "Well then," asked Mr. Wrigley, "why doesn't
the pilot turn off the engines and save all that expensive
jet fuel?"
The reason I started my reply to your question about how to
promote your web site with this little story, is to
illustrate just how vital a consistent flow of advertising
is to any business. It doesn't matter if that business is
online or offline. It doesn't matter if that business is a
small one-person operated web site like yours or a giant
like Mr. Wrigley's. To be successful, all businesses must
advertise, advertise, advertise. If the advertising is
weak, in either quality or quantity, the company's revenue
will be weak. You must have well written ads and you must
get your message in front of a lot of people. Selling is a
numbers game.
The Internet offers a wide array of advertising venues:
ezine ads, classified ads, FFA (Free For All) ads, email
ads, banner ads and links on other web sites. Many of these
venues are free and those that are not, are very
inexpensive compared to the cost of offline advertising. By
the way, offline advertising for your online business can
be very effective, but it is very expensive.
In summation, I leave you with my mantra: Advertise,
Advertise, Advertise and then advertise some more!
