Seth Godin bemoans how cheap the ads are during non-prime-time spots. That is, they’re produced cheaply. They stink. On the other hand, an advertiser will pour millions of dollars into a Superbowl ad that runs only once. Because they don’t want to spend a lot of money producing an ad for a spot worth only a couple hundred bucks. But here’s why this logic is severely flawed, even if the ad runs only once in a cheap spot.

I didn’t do what I promised my wife I’d do. Because I screwed up.

She really wanted to see Rocky, because its inspirational story would really make her feel better right now. I really wanted to see Rocky, too. Because the last time I saw it was long before I knew how to write fiction myself, and I couldn’t learn anything from it. In fact, it was so long ago, I don’t even remember how the movie goes.

Here’s the story of Marillion, an independent UK band. Most bands record demos, scrounge for gigs, and pray daily to be discovered by an A&R rep. The competition is fierce. And frequently, those chosen are the ones with the least talent. And most bands never make it, or break up and die long before they even have a chance.

Jim Logan points out that the world is full of crap marketing. And that’s your opportunity. Because the more crap is in the world, the easier it is to shine above it all. And there is more crap now than ever, because it is so cheap and easy to get on the web. But the whole story has an interesting implication that Jim missed.

Jim Logan yesterday ranted about the sleazy state of marketing today. He says marketers have stooped so low in their efforts to make a buck, and—what’s worse—customers actually expect it. And he asks, are we jaded? Are we doomed forever to be enslaved to the fine print in all the marketing materials we get?

I know I have become more skeptical in my old age. (Not that I’m “old” yet, but old enough to be skeptical.) And I’m certainly tired of all the promises too good to be true. And I’m tired of all the clueless sleazoids trying to get one more sale, at any cost, even that of a customer.

So, Jim, your phone story reminded me of one of my own.

This is a critical error, and yet one that every small business owner has made at least once in his life. We make it, because it’s human nature. Every human being loves to talk about himself. So when I talk to a potential customer, what’s the first thing I want to say?

I want to tell him all about me, of course! Except, he doesn’t care about me. Yes, I’m sure he wants to be friendly. I’m sure he wants to be polite. Maybe he’ll let me talk for a minute or two. But he won’t listen.

Jim Edwards posted on his “I Gotta Tell You” blog about “Free Website Traffic” myths and scams. Including one that I’ve been dying for someone to debunk: So-called “safe lists.” Yes, I’m sure the people selling access to the safe lists are making a bundle. But for the rest of us… Well, as Perry Marshall recently warned, “In the ’make money on the Internet’ category… a sucker is born every six seconds.” Thank you, Jim!

The cold, hard truth is that building traffic is hard. And it can be expensive. This is one of the key areas in my upcoming report, The 4 Things Every Small Business Website Needs. Don’t let anyone fool you! Getting traffic to your website takes time, it takes money, it takes effort, and it takes smarts. But it’s a necessary part of any business website. (And not just any traffic, but the right traffic and at the right time.)

-TimK

Google AdWords is both the best and worst thing that happened to Internet advertising. It’s a system that makes it possible, for the first time in the history of the world, to deposit five bucks, write a couple of ads, and instantly get access to over 100 million people—in less than 10 minutes. In fact
it may be the first and best thing to do to get traffic to your site.