There has been a somewhat disturbing trend in our industry for some time now. It got worse for a while in 2001, then seemed to taper off, and now here in late 2002 it seems to have been picking up again with a fierce intensity. I speak of the huge emergence of sites that offer an uninspiring concept, a blatant rip-off of ideas, and services and design (from both new and established companies alike) that offer little if any value. I can understand that everyone is trying to make a buck and desperate times call for desperate measures, but these practices only hurt our industry as a whole. I know it's not in everyone's interest to see to it that our industry moves in a positive direction, which is why we are constantly nailed for chargebacks, SPAM, copyright infringement, and a plethora of other problems that will only be corrected because of outside forces requiring us to correct them. The actions of the minority greatly affect the majority.
Take traffic for example. We've all heard traffic is king, right? It obviously is, of course! But more specifically, targeted traffic is king. You could be getting all the traffic in the world to your site, but if it isn't converting, or if it isn't the type of traffic that has any business even visiting your site, then why even bother trying to get it? Junk traffic is junk traffic, plain and simple. But remember, what might be junk for you could be someone else's treasure. Why push for traffic (or worse yet, steal it) if it isn't going to benefit you, and it might even potentially hurt others that aren't in competition with you?
For example, if you are a Webmaster resource site targeted toward the Webmaster audience and are spamming or promoting to surfers to up your daily unique visitors, who are you kidding? If you run a teen pay site, why are you "mailing" surfers who may have opted in to a bondage Website membership four years ago? These kind of practices are not only a turn-off in my opinion, but they taint the already existing pool of surfers and Webmasters out there. Also, why push to sell advertising to a Webmaster who doesn't fully understand how the business model works, gets absolutely no returns, and then perhaps either gets out of the business or comes up with alternative and unethical methods of getting the word out there about his site since he is now turned off by the advertising process, or doesn't have the money to spend anymore? It's just plain irresponsible.
There is so much to be learned about traffic. Traffic trends, quantity and quality, selling traffic, trading traffic, foreign traffic ... the list goes on. In the Marketing category of the "Articles and Information" section at YNOTmasters, we have more than 100 articles in the "traffic" subcategory alone. In several issues of YNOTNews important areas in the world of traffic are covered frequently, offering some excellent solutions. There is enough traffic to go around, and it doesn't have to be a win-lose situation. In this day and age, as profit margins are shrinking and the industry becomes more and more saturated, advertising dollars and budgets by and large are spread thinner and thinner.
Now, I am a strong supporter of competition, but only when the game is played fairly and ethically. If site A undercuts site B to make a quick buck, but site A is not able to deliver the goods and the customer is on a limited budget, it can taint the whole process, especially if the customer is new to the game. It is certainly anyone's prerogative to do what they want within legal boundaries on the Internet, but I keep seeing sites out there that offer little to no value, sap up traffic (even if only temporarily) and copy well-established ideas.
The pool of Internet surfers worldwide is growing every day. That won't change. And believe it or not, the pool of Webmasters worldwide is also growing every day (but at a slower rate). As YNOT recently hit the milestone of 10,000 opt-in-only registered Webmaster profiles (and growing!) in our Webmaster Directory, the Webmaster pool out there is in fact still going as strong as ever. Some days we see twenty new registered profiles! Sure there are a few old-timers in our biz who have been known to paint a less-than-favorable picture to newbies regarding getting involved in our industry, which unfortunately has in fact been a factor resulting in some newbies giving up after only months or even weeks into the game. Well the more the merrier, I say. We here at YNOT try to welcome all newbies with open arms, because we firmly believe that there is still plenty of room in our industry to find your niche and excel. There are still plenty of areas in our industry that are not saturated. Several untapped niches are still out there, and more are yet to be discovered.
As well, there are several marketing techniques that are under-utilized in our business. In the Nov. 14, 2002, issue of YNOTNews, author Tom Dowd offers some great tips on marketing techniques and points out some common Webmaster mistakes. Marketing is one of my fortes, but I'm still learning all of the time, and a few points he touched on were quite new to me. What if, say, you are a programmer only, and have no experience, time or desire to learn how to market and promote? There are many out there who do! Or consequently, what if you do want to broaden your horizons and save money (but certainly not time) by doing it all yourself? It's certainly possible, and that knowledge can be acquired at YNOT by reading our articles, or by attending seminars at the conventions, or by simply networking.
There are still plenty of "next big things" right around the corner in our business. In an industry where there really are no limitations and no single set of rules, pretty much anything goes. Just take a look at our Webmaster Directory for example. We have four major categories: Free, Pay, AVS, and Webmaster Service Webmasters, but look at all the subcategories! There are hundreds, and the list is by no means finite. And with the several different areas a Webmaster can work in within those particular categories (marketing, programming, design, management, etc.) the possibilities are essentially endless. There are still plenty of areas in our business where you are actually able to count on just one hand who the real players are.
Innovate, don't imitate! Do your homework. Research for as long as it takes to do things right. Be patient and take advantage of all the resources around you. Quick fixes and hasty shortcuts are not the answer ... especially if you want your livelihood to be enjoyable and profitable for the long haul. It's also good for the industry. There are still opportunities galore to carve out a fortune in this business, and frankly, in my opinion, there always will be. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Thanks for putting up with my rant. If you feel like praising me for it or ripping me a new asshole for it, feel free. I'm all ears (no pun intended!).
Jay "LAJ" Kopita is the executive editor of YNOTNews and the communications director for YNOTMasters. He can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
Entertainment
- By
