|| Return to On The Road... ||
September 21, 1996
Boston
Cross marketing is one key to developing your business online. You need to cross the boundaries of what is going on, of how you approach the Web. So many people I teach think of this as some new, separate medium; I keep hearing of businesses scared of the Web spending $500 for a basic, bland brochure, housing it under the conservative ring of "testing the waters". They don't even know what they're testing.
Most new businesses don't get what the Web will provide. They think of it only in terms of advertising and measure results only in terms of dollars generated, of sales. The cross marketing capabilities of the Web is what drives the successful businesses; isolating it as some advertising medium is the sure sign of mediocrity. Check out how many sites take this path. They are the ones leading the complaints, like Bob Dole's of the Internet, trying to defend the past as better than the present.
Couldn't we all be spending our time better in inventing a future for this opportunity? I'm chucking my old approach away and focusing on the new convergence of all facets of marketing. My marketing isn't just online, it's through advertising in print, direct mail, interviews, maybe even a little radio chucked in. All for the sake of helping my business succeed.
But what I've really discovered is the amazing cross marketing capabilities available. Let's say I have a product that I put online. Most sites say, for more information visit www.blahblah.com. That's the customer service part, the first cross marketing. Instead of just an advertisement, I have content and support that act as advertising. There are no busy signals, it's always there, and it grows with what the audience needs.
The second cross marketing is in public relations; when I put my Web site on all my business correspondence, bring it up in conversations, and just plain tell people what I do, the credibility factor shows. I'm on a different level because everyone wants to know what the Web can do for them. I answer this question, elicit their curiousity, and get them talking about what they want to do.
In return, they spread the word like I spread the word about Web sites and people that I love to visit online. Another cross marketing benefit is print, radio, and television advertising. Many people know how valuable radio advertising time is, but there is also dead time that they need to fill. It isn't always filled to the brink; the same thing applies online. You can use your Web space as valuable barter material; trade for that radio spot in exchange for a Web site or page; use advertisers content as a way to increase your credibility and get that print ad out. Do endorsements of each other, or endorsed mailings, to further expand the value of your Web site.
Do you see how this has gone far beyond traditional marketing and advertising, which is so temporary, expensive, and inherently loses value with time. A well directed Web site will gain value over time, not measured by direct sales but by leads generated, relationships forged, mailing lists, barter, and many, many other cross marketing options.
You have to think about much more than just slapping up an ad and waiting for it to lose value. Claiming to test the waters, you are planning for a loss. It's nothing wrong you're doing, you just don't understand how much more and cheaper this can be. It's not about services and getting only the quick buck; it's about building long term value of all the people you do business with. Not some corny overdone super binary pyramid scheme, but a way to build your alliances and business.
But to get value, you have to know where to mine for the gold. The best mine is your Web site, which is why many bad sites look like empty mines, where the people were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unlike physical mining, a Web site has to create it's own right place right time by taking advantage of all the cross marketing capabilities.
I'm going to have to leave this for now; it's becoming a great book and after all, being on the inside means having access to what I'm doing. If you'd like, email me and I'll brainstorm with you. Or just come back to visit and see how this develops.
Until later....peace.