TylerCruz.com: An Internet Entrepreneur's JourneyThe journal of a web entrepreneur on his journey to wealth.

Private Ads: Building Strong Advertiser Relationships

• Private Ads: Building Strong Advertiser Relationships
• Condo Update

Building Strong Advertiser Relationships

I prefer to sell ads privately most of the time. What are private ads? Basically, private ads are paid advertisements that are administered and processed by the webmaster himself. The opposite of private ads would be the use of ad networks, such as ValueClickMedia, Google AdSense, TribalFusion, CasaleMedia, etc. I’ll refer to these as public ads.

I have absolutely nothing against public ads. They are an essential part of monetizing websites and do a great job at mediating between advertiser and publisher. However, I believe that many webmasters are so used to using public ads that they don’t even know that they have the option of sell ads privately.

Now, there are really only two methods of selling ads privately: automatically or by hand. I prefer the latter. I do not use an advertisement or banner management program even though there are some fantastic ones out there, for free no less, such as PHPadsNew. I therefore cannot track click-through-rates or sell ads on a CPM basis, and I’ll agree that this is a major downside of doing things by hand, but by talking to the advertisers personally, by adding their banner or other advertisement by hand and manually doing the accounting, I am more in tune with my advertisers.

For example, instead of simply having advertisers automatically purchase ads and being out of the picture completely, by dealing with advertisers personally I’m gaining a more personal relationship with that advertiser/person. They also get a better service this way as well – take the following scenario for instance: an advertiser half-way through their campaign decides they’d like to change their banner image. Depending on what automatic software you’re using, they may be able to do this by themselves, but what if they wanted to change their ad to another format, or request something that your software cannot offer?

By dealing with advertisers on a personal basis, they are getting better customer service and feel a closer connection with your site. You can also give them deals and work on obtaining bigger ad contracts. You couldn’t do this if you were simply using an automated process.

The biggest upside to selling ads privately and dealing with advertisers closely is that you open yourself up to a lot of opportunites. I outline them below:

• • Increased Revenue

I’ll often talk to advertisers on AIM or MSN to see how things are doing. By simply talking to advertisers and understanding their needs and wants, as well as truely befriending them, you’ll find yourself in many situations where you can sell more advertising to them.

Take two weeks ago for example. I was bored and started to look through my AIM list to see if anyone interesting was on that I could talk to. I saw a particular person who had advertised on one of my sites for a long time, but had stopped for certain reaons and hadn’t advertised with me for several months.

I decided to talk to him, not with selling any ads on my mind at all, but to simply see how things were going. It turns out that he had launched a few new sites and after a short bit of talking, he was interested in potentially advertising on my sites again.

I pitched him a few ideas and offers, and a few minutes later he had spent $1,300 on ads.

That is just one example. This happens to me all the time – I have so many great relationships with my advertisers; in the summer I was making $5,000 a month from one company/advertiser alone.

• • Repeat Advertisers

I’ve gained such great relationships with many of my advertisers that they keep renewing and coming back for more. I have some advertisers that have been with me for literally years. Repeat advertisers are a priceless commodity as you can even use them to advertise on multiple sites you own.

• • Free Referrals

If you keep your advertisers happy, you’ll be surprised what they’ll do for you. While this may seem a bad business move on their part, some advertisers will tell their collegues or friends about your site and that it’s a great place to advertise. They are selling your advertising for you!

I also have advertisers who will enjoy my site and participate and visit it often. They’ll also tell friends to visit it as well.

• • Inside Information

This may depend on your niche and type of site, but I’ve gained a lot of inside information and knowledge by simply talking to advertisers. I’ll learn about new sites popping up, various interesting tidbits, possible upcoming competition, etc. You’ll be surprised what you can learn from advertisers – after all, they’re most likely not just advertising on your site alone.

I’ve made literally thousands if not tens of thousands of extra dollars that I most likely would not have ever seen if I had not dealt with advertisers privately. I’m an extremely honest salesman when it comes to my ads – in fact, I often advise advertisers not to purchase certain campaigns because I don’t think it will perform well for their particular site or needs. I believe this pays off in the long run as they’ll trust me and come back to me in the future.

So there you have it… just some food for thought.

Condo Update

I met with my realtor again today (I baked him some nice chocolate chip cookies, hot from the oven :)). I had to wait over the weekend for the sellers to sign the Purchase Agreement. I looked over everything today and signed it myself. I then wrote a cheque for $25,000 as a down payment. This was obviously the largest cheque I’ve ever written – it was a quite strange feeling to say the least.

So I’ve again progressed through the stages. There are still a few more steps however. The next is for my mortgage broker to work with the bank and approve and set up my mortgage; I’ve only been pre-approved thus far – now it must be initiated and set up officially. The bank will then do thing such as have my condo surveyed and appraised and such – this will be no problem as my place is brand spanking new and the same units in the building sold for $10,000 more. This is expected to take 7-10 days.

After that’s done, I’ll have to meet with a notary and lawyer to have the deed handed over and to fill out more paper work.

The posession date is set for February 24th – 39 days from now. I wish it was sooner – I’m so anxious to move in now. I’ll give my notice to my landlord soon as I need to give at least a month’s notice. I’ll start moving the small stuff myself the week before moving in, and will hire a moving company on the last day to move all the big stuff. So, unfortunately that means there will be no photos for you guys until I move in.

However, for those interested, I’ll provide some of the features of the place:

• Modern, low-maintenance exterior with cultured stone detail
• Engineered rain-screen designed finishes
• Individual decks with tempered glass or decorative railings
• Extensive landscaping with water feature, fountain, and gazebo
• Guest parking
• Secured, heated underground parking
• Wheelchair accessible complex
• Individual storage lockers
• Enter-phone security system with cameras
• Spacious social/activities lounge with outdoor patio BBQ pit area
• Sprinkler system
• Low-E double-glazed, thermally isolated, energy efficient windows
• Individually air conditioned
• Modern interior Champher Bead drywall corners
• Designer White Frigidaire Appliance Package – self-cleaning coil element range; 21 cf fridge – spill-proof glass shelves; built-in dishwasher – ultra quiet fiberglass insulation – 4 level precision wash – energy star-rated; over-the-range microwave with 2 speed fan, 115 cf 950 watts
• Roughed in plumbing for built-in vacuum system
• In-suite laundry rooms
• American Standard bathrooms with soaker tubs
• Ceramic tile foyer; 40 oz nylon carpet; quality lino in bathrooms and laundry
• 8.6 coufered ceilings on the top floor
• Pre-wired for High Speed Internet/Shaw Cable
• Most suites have a gas fireplace
• Well-planned kitchens with designer White Foil Cabinets with crown-moulding; brusiged chrome hardware; white tiled backsplash; double stainless sink; some kitchens feature breakfast counters
• Window coverings/screens
• Elevator
• Each floor features a designer colour scheme
• The St Paul Home Warranty