View Larger Map

Part 3: Playing The Rate Card

September 8th, 2010

y2.d122 | so. wiped.

photo credit: B Rosen "This is you after designing ads for 120 hours straight. Was it worth the 10 bucks a pop?"

By Matt Cook
Point Click Media

After you’ve acknowledged what parts of your website have the most potential for advertising revenue and after you’ve decided exactly what types of advertising you’ll be offering, you’ll need to decide on a value for each of those spaces and assign pricing for it.

This is likely to be the most difficult part of getting into online advertising – generating the revenue model. For one, you’ll need to study your metrics, demographics and statistics to find out which pages are the most visited. For example, your homepage will likely be your most visited page, and why not? The home page is the entry point to your website. It’s likely how your visitors find you through search engines or through referrals and it’s also where they go to find out what’s happening throughout your site. Naturally, the more traffic to the page, the higher the value – and with that you can associate a higher price with it.

You’ll also have to keep in mind things like production costs. Will your advertisers be supplying their own content? Remember that not every business has a team of designers ready to provide you with an awesome barrage of advertising. You may need to develop some concepts for your clients and have some back-and-forth with them to ensure their satisfaction.

When factoring in production costs, it’s not uncommon to see many websites budget the first week or month (depending on how the ads are sold) of a sale toward the initial production. Once those initial costs are covered, be it for the design work or perhaps a commission to whomever sold the space – then you can begin to turn a profit. This all goes along with ensuring that your website has a proper business model in place before you start lighting up your site with ads like a Christmas tree and lose your shirt by not covering costs.

Web advertising can also be sold in a slew of different methods. One is by dedicated time slot where the ad is sold by either a number of days, weeks, months, etc. This is the most common and traditional way of selling advertising. Other methods include selling per impression or per click. This works by charging the client for a predetermined number of page views or by charging based on the number of times someone has clicked on the clients’ ad(s). Just as you can begin to get creative with what types of advertising you will be offering, you can be just as creative with how you sell it.

A proper business model is the key to making sure that your website blossoms into a healthy revenue stream. To do it properly, it’s not as simple as filling your white space with ad spots and plastering “Buy Me Now!” tags all over the place like a used car lot. There’s loads of strategic and careful planning to be done to ensure long time stability and viability.

We’ve touched here on the basics of preparing your website for advertising. If you’d like help in studying your website with the goal of helping it pull it’s own weight in revenue, contact Point Click Media.

Posted in General News, Web Tools

A Sneak Peek at Our New Branding

July 28th, 2010

By Matt Cook
Point Click Media

Sniff sniff…

There are a multitude of memorable lines that sappy parents usually break out when their kids reach the age when they’re ready to leave the nest. Many of the more common ones include:

“I remember when she was just a baby…”

“Do you think she’ll make it out there?”

“I’ve got the carpenter coming Tuesday to measure for the hot tub…”

Business owners can often share many of these same feelings because in many ways their businesses are also their children, and Point Click Media is no different. Our baby has come a long way since being conceived as a few ideas that over time have seen ups and downs and many lessons learned, but ultimately we’ve seen Point Click grow into a healthy, thriving web development firm. Now it’s time for us as business owners to let our baby strut her stuff and “show the world what you’re made of, sweetheart.”

No, I didn’t actually rip this off from the front of a Hallmark card. It’s pretty much our reasoning for our face-lift at Point Click. We’re 4 years old now and it’s time to lose the training wheels. It’s time to give ourselves a look that accompanies what Point Click Media is all about – a clean, streamlined approach to effective online marketing.

FrontSideCard

Stay tuned to the website as well folks, as this very blog that you’re reading will be undergoing some major changes to feature the new branding.

We’re extremely excited at the road ahead for Point Click Media. There are always peaks, valleys and countless twists and turns, but you can be sure that Point Click Media is prepped to hit that sucker with the rear view mirror torn off and the pedal to the metal. What better way to hit the road than in a ‘69 Camaro Convertible with a fire-breathing T-Rex behind the wheel and Ozzy Osbourne strapped to the hood.

Your move, world.

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Posted in General News

Rebranding Reviews: MapQuest

July 21st, 2010

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

Note: Point.Click Media was not involved with this project. This is merely a review for study purposes.

Remember MapQuest? Back in 2002 you felt like you had the technology at hand to build the atomic bomb because MapQuest allowed you to embed their web-based global mapping system right into your website. How cool was that?

First of all, does anyone still use MapQuest? It seems like in recent years MapQuest has fallen so far behind Google Maps that it wouldn’t shock anyone if they just fell off the face of the earth. Nevertheless, MapQuest is actually a subsidiary of AOL who have also recently rebranded. Perhaps the two coincide in some form in order to try and distance themselves from old, outdated, inept technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Reviews, General News

Should Your Website Be Mobile Ready?

July 14th, 2010

Openness: FaceTime

photo credit: myuibe - If Steve Jobs knows two things, it's the iPhone and how to get a crazy good deal on buying black turtlenecks in bulk.

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

It’s not a huge stretch of the imagination by any means to realize that mobile devices are quickly becoming the wave of the future for browsing the internet. With the ability to access the billions of web pages on the web from the luxury of your phone or hand-held device from anywhere on the planet, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the trend is becoming so popular.

Let me throw some quick statistics at you:

  • 100 million. That’s the number of Blackberries sold to date.
  • 85 million. That’s the total number of iPhones and iPod Touches that have been sold as of April 2010.
  • 3 million. That’s the number of iPads that have been sold in the last 80 days.
  • 1.7 million. That’s the number of iPhone 4 units alone that have been sold since launch on June 21st. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in General News, Web Tools

Part 2: Driving Traffic to Your New Website for Pennies a Day

June 23rd, 2010

Obsolete Book - 5/365

photo credit: Jamiesrabbits - "Hello? Operator? I'm looking for someone who can point me towards the 21st century..."

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

Last week, in the first half of this 2 part series, we offered a few ways to help you get your website off the ground by providing free methods of driving traffic to your website to help your organic search engine rankings. This includes updating your website with regular content and link building with your closest business partners and associations, among other things.

All of our provided free methods work great, however they can take a significant amount of time to produce results. Now, we’re not all perfect – often, when we don’t see results right away we’re bound to fall off the wagon eventually. There’s no real reason to fret over it though, because unlike those 10 unsightly pounds you have circled in red permanent marker on the top of your New Years Resolution list every January, your immediate problems can be resolved with only a pocket full of change. We’re not talking thousands of dollars or even hundreds. You can essentially purchase extra traffic for the cost of a ham sandwich. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips, General News, Tips and Tricks

Part 1: Driving Traffic to Your New Website – For FREE

June 16th, 2010

141 Little Suamico House 26

photo credit: MorrowLess - Corn on the Ty Cobb anyone?

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

It’s the nature of the entrepreneur. You’ve invested some money into your website, giving it a fresh new look and all kinds of great new features that are going to have your customers drooling and itching to throw fistfuls of cash at you like Steve Jobs at an Apple Developers Conference. Now you want to start cashing in a return on your investment.

Alas, you’ve launched the website and not much is happening. You’ve built it, so why aren’t they coming? Well unfortunately, unlike the vast cornfields of Iowa that are inhabited by hoards of dead baseball players just waiting to flock to Kevin Costner’s house for a game of poltergeist stickball, search engines don’t give you that automatic drawing power just because you’re there. You need to earn their respect. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips, General News, Tips and Tricks

So What’s the Deal With Vector?

May 5th, 2010

This type of Vector - although delicious and high in fibre - is not what were talking about

This type of Vector - although delicious and high in fibre - is not what we're talking about

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

If you’ve ever gone to a sign shop, cresting/embroidery shop, or any design and printing house to get your marketing materials designed or printed, there’s a good chance that one of the very first questions you’ll be presented with is, “Can you supply us with a vector of your logo?” Your first instinct may be to reply, “A logo? Sure! I’ll send a JPEG over as soon as I get back to the office.” But do you really know what you are providing? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips, General News

Ding-Dong! The Niche is Dead!

April 7th, 2010

Viewmaster

I'm 99% sure that IE6 was based off of this technology. - photo credit: renaissancechambara

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

There are certain points in our lives when we’re overcome with feelings of euphoria and excitement at the prospect of what the future may bring. Graduation, marriage, the birth of ones children – they’re all great moments – but nothing quite compares to that feeling that web developers get when a security hole-ridden internet browser finally gets taken to the woodshed for some eternal R&R. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in General News

How Social Media Can Impact Your Business

February 24th, 2010

Fragment of an artifact from 2006

photo credit: dno1967 - "You pressed... 998#24%*00 - Thank you for calling Unorthodox Jewish Tech Support for the hearing impaired."

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

“It’s just a fad.”

“This will never catch on.”

“This won’t last.”

We said it about The Simpsons, we said it about grunge music, and at one point it was even said about the internet itself. Many of us are still saying it about social media. There’s no denying the fact that social media is here for the long run, and without even knowing it your business is likely being impacted by it as we speak. The internet is now a giant forum where people – your customers – are gathering to chat about anything and everything, and eventually your business will become a topic of choice.

So what’s being said about my business?

The internet has a place for everyone. Whether you’re manufacturing proton accelerators for use in swallowing the planet whole, or printing t-shirts sporting Tony Danza and the slogan “I’m the Boss”, there’s a fan club, forum, chat room, Twitter feed or Facebook group for your niche. Social media is a great way to find out what people are saying about your product or service and to generate valuable feedback in improving your customer relationships.

But even with the vast universe that is the web, your business can still keep in close personal contact with your clients. For example, with Facebook groups you can interact directly with your clients. Allowing people to interact one-on-one with your business goes a long way toward establishing customer loyalty. It can act as an extension to your public relations. After all, nobody likes calling up a corporate hotline to listen to this:

“Welcome to the redundant, soulless, throw yourself in front of a Greyhound bus, service hotline.
For Shipping Inquiries… Press 1.
For Billing Inquiries… Press 2.
For Tech Support… Press 3.”

*Several Hours Later*

“For Customer Service… Press 473#**901.”

There’s no point in dismissing social media as a marketing tool. I’m reminded of those television interviews in the early 2000’s with the Iraqi generals who claimed, “We are not being invaded!” when you could clearly see American paratroopers launching grenades at the presidential compound in the background. Those that choose to simply ignore new avenues for generating interest in their business can expect the same results. Try searching for yourself or your company name directly and see what comes up and what’s being said about you. It can be a good indicator of whether or not you’re on the right track. If you’ve got a bomber full of exclusive information to drop on your client base, contact Point.Click Media.

Posted in Branding Tips, General News

Point.Click Media Has A New Location

February 22nd, 2010

Point.Click Media is proud to announce the opening of our new location at 108 High Street in Moncton. Located within the Trimedia Atlantic building, we’re looking forward to working alongside their team and the prospect of offering a complete range of media services to businesses in the Greater Moncton area.

Want to drop by?

Point Click Media Productions
108 High, St Suite 205
Moncton, New Brunswick Canada
E1C 6B5

newlocation

Posted in General News, Point.Click News

Next Page »