Will pay per click campaigns fit your business model??

Characteristics of business models that work well with PPC:
1. Focused on very specific product(s) sales.
2. Address a clear problem or niche.
3. Clearly identifiable conversion (to a sale or other action).
a. Visitor action is measurable (if your visitor reads your information and then goes to Wal-Mart to buy, you have no way to know or measure)
b. The visitor’s action directly results in money.
c. Manageable time frame for linking the site visit to revenue.
(Purchase 3 months later can be difficult to link to an ad campaign)


Model 1
Specific Product Sales
(usually best for PPC)

Characteristics:
1. A single, highly-focused product
2. Usually a specific demographic
3. Short learning/familiarity curve
4. Possible impulse buy

Example: www.healingveteransptsd.com
(Note: This is a brand new site from one of our members, Nancy Dunkin.)
Product is an ebook for healing war veterans’ PTSD in one week – sales price is $80.
The “grabber” is a free ebook of case studies that captures the email address for future sales.

Model 2
Specific Problem or Niche – multiple products
(also very good for PPC)

Characteristics:
1. A very clearly defined problem or desire
2. Clear demographics
3. Many affiliate or related groups of products
4. The site adds value to solving the problem
5. Visitors use the site for research, often resulting in extended time to buy – less chance of impulse buy.

Example: Sage-hearts.com
This is a site for online dating services. It offers reviews of the major dating services and affiliate links for signing up. The value added by this site includes:
• Online dating sites are grouped in one place
• Independent reviews which really help the visitor select
This site brings in over $600,000 a year in income, much due to the lucrative structure of the affiliate programs.

Model 3
Specific Problem or Niche – indirect product or revenue
(PPC less useful, but still can be important)

Characteristics:
1. A very clearly defined problem, need or desire
2. Clear demographics
3. Product cannot be purchased from the site, often sale requires follow-up phone call and ongoing campaigns
4. Revenue may come months or even years later
5. PPC campaigns can take a long time to determine effectiveness, and are therefore generally riskier.

Example: Drug Rehab Lifeline
Free Referral Service for Drug Treatment Programs.
• Visitor reaches via toll-free number or online form
• Counselor works with family on phone.
• Addict arrives 1 to 6 months later
• Commission paid on arrival


Visitor Action ► $$$ Rule of Thumb
The longer the time frame (between online visit and revenue) …
• The more data / track record you need to measure effectiveness
• The more you rely on probabilities
(1 out of 10 reaches turn into an arrival)
• The more qualitative data you need.
(Are you reaching a wealthy demographic? An elderly demographic?)


Model 4
Resource / Information Directory
(PPC is useless)

Characteristics:
1. Typically addresses a particular demographic, but not necessarily a specific problem.
2. Usually information / research based rather than product or service oriented.
3. Adds value by gathering data in one place, simplifying research
4. Revenue is usually from ads – specific advertisers or Google Adsense.
5. Usually requires high traffic for profitability

 

Example: Askdavetaylor.com
• Q&A site, free reference for computer and Internet questions

•  Revenue from Google Adsense

Example: Nationalsubstanceabuseindex.org
•  Broad reference, no call to action
• Revenue from many advertisers
• No direct action → $ link

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Section II: Steps to Success

Building an Online Business from Scratch

1. Concept
(Hey – there are no good sites for motocross fanatics! Where do I compare bikes, gear, motocross parks???)
2. Market Analysis
(Do they have money? Do they love to buy gear, etc? Do they shop online?)
3. Niche & Product Analysis
(What problems are they trying to solve? What do they want to buy? What do they complain about?)
4. Keyword Analysis
(What words and phrases do they type into search engines to find answers?)
Includes PPC Analysis
(What is the estimated traffic and price for these keywords? Adwords will tell you.)
5. Product Development
(Let’s give them a solution!)
6. Product Launch
(Put it up on a site, in a shopping cart, give them a way to buy. Now, let’s advertise and get a PPC campaign producing!)

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