|| Return to On The Road... ||
May 10, 1996
Las Vegas
Dear Friends:
Our first show in Vegas; we've had people from Vegas fly in for workshops, mostly in L.A. and Phoenix I think, but this was our first show in the desert. The Crowne Plaza was a surprising change from most Vegas fare; no slot machines or glittery lights, just a nice hotel.
What better place than Vegas to deliver a workshop on something so new? Years ago Bugsy Siegel looked at this empty piece of desert and his gun, and built a town and a legacy. Pioneers are inherently gamblers, risking all they have on an idea, business, or dream. As I looked around at the Hard Rock Cafe next door, at the hotels on the Strip, I saw that the ones who built this had the visions. It wasn't difficult for the Hard Rock Cafe to put up a store when they knew the economics, knew who lived there, their buying habits, and how to target them.
Imagine Bugsy's dilemma, staring out at this vast desert and the underworld threats he would have to overcome. He would barge into new territories, had to forge his alliances, and build a thriving business. When he achieved this, he achieved history.
The Web is similar to Vegas' inception, but luckily we don't have the territory battles or the mafia underworld breathing down our necks. Not yet at least. It is wide open, like the desert. Build a city and soon parts of that desert become more valuable than others. Location location location. The Strip properties are more valuable than the outskirts for business, because there is more traffic. Suburbs are now being built due to recent growth, which will increase the value of that real estate.
Bottom line...where the traffic goes, the cash goes. Build a Web site that generates traffic, and you build the online equivalent of a Strip on the Web. Only difference is, this "Web" desert will soon become overpopulated and so crowded, the traffic will only stop at the best, most unique sites. Just like the real world, we look for brand names, for identities that have proven themselves. The Web is filling up with junk and consumers will dump those sites that just were slapped up, for no reason, like any marketplace, until that unique Web site is seen, one with a personality and the right approach. That "Web" will be the lagoon in the desert, the one worth investing in.
How did Bugsy overcome his dilemma? By building his dream, creating value in a location, and selling it. Actually, his dream ended with a bullet in his head, but then he was dealing with a rougher crowd. If you build a Web site and market, advertise, and drive traffic, it can succeed. Some businesses thrive on limited traffic paying high prices; others thrive on high traffic paying low prices (the old volume makes up for my limited margins argument).
Your goal is to create traffic; gambling is okay for Vegas, but your audience doesn't want to search for a needle in a haystack. They want to find their needle and come back for it again and again. If you let them.