Kudos and Questions to Mad Crowd Media
I really think that having this Local Ad Network will eventually awaken advertisers that online advertising is a good option to promote a product or branding. People criticizing the Mad Crowd Media (MCM) basically have the same question.
“Who will advertise to these local sites?â€
That is really tough question to answer, but my bet that there will be enough. It will not come easy and may take a while, but it can be a breakthrough for all local publishers and Netrepreneurs out there where advertising is their business model.
For undecided publishers out there, I will say, let’s give this a try. I haven’t seen MCM’s contract but I feel that publishers has nothing to lose on this deal. Go give it a shot.
For MCM, I am pretty sure they are aware on the hurdles that they need overcome to influence advertisers to spend a chunk of their advertising budget on this new medium (well, for them, online advertising is still considerably new.)
In the mind of advertisers, these are some questions that may arise and MCM must have clear answers:
- Is this effective? How can you persuade advertisers that advertising to these local sites are effective. We are aware of ad blindness particularly on blogs and forums.
- Pay-per-click is usually a better option for advertisers. The question is are you prepared to deal with click fraud?
- Can I safely associate my brand to a particular blog? I noticed that most, if not all, publishers in MCM Network are blogs. Blog normally has no editors and the author will simply say what he/she feel saying. A blog post may affect the brand that my business is pushing. What if the author will write about my competitor or something that may indirectly hurt my brand?
There will be lots of brainstorming need to be done if these questions have no answers yet. Still, I believe that this effort of MCM will bring fruits and may open more opportunities to publishers and advertisers.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Hi. My name is Jon Orana, an Internet marketing consultant and an entrepreneur. I’m now blogging to give free information, strategies, and advice to small business owners on how can they leverage their website to get new customers, strengthen customer retention, and increase their sales. 
September 20th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Hi, Anointed CEO,
Thanks for blogging about us.
You’ve raised some very important questions here and I’d like to take this opportunity to answer them on behalf of Mad Crowd Media.
Who will advertise on these local sites? Plenty are interested, as we’ve known beforehand, and have recently proven. Blogs and independent publications are published by influencers, can deliver highly-targeted advertising results, can effectively build communities, bring positive brand rub-off, and create effective (and much sought after) word-of-mouth. These sound like buzzwords, but they are nuggets of gold to any marketer. Every agency and advertiser that’s invited us to present don’t merely say “thank you”, they say instead “Give me your rates for this and that. I needed you yesterday.”
We’re on a CPM rate for banner advertising, but more importantly, we are looking for long term editorial and content relationships with marketers. Yes, CPC works best for advertisers, but CPM rates are for now more familiar to their universe of ratings and circulations.
On the matter of effectivity: we know that there’s only one way to prove that. Build the network and allow advertisers to use it. Measure the returns. I believe it will prove our work is all worthwhile.
Finally, we’ve put quality ahead of everything else. Choosing publications that adhere to a strong ethic and publishing standard helps ensure advertisers that their brand is in good company. This puts us in a position to demand better rates for the network, and creates an environment conducive to a lasting relationship.
Thanks,
Benito
Mad Crowd Media
September 21st, 2007 at 6:04 am
Hi Benito.
Thank you for spending time to clarify things.
I do have faith on your business idea though proper execution is essential.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:10 am
A follow up question. Can you specify what are the qualifications for a site to be considered as “Quality Publisher”?
September 27th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Hi, Jazzy,
Thanks for your comments.
Quality is often subjective, but there are certain yardsticks that are universally useful. In wine, for example, appellation, provenance, vintage, are excellent starting points, but inevitably nothing trumps taste.
For publications, creativity and originality are hallmarks. A blogger’s longevity and the trust that’s perceived to be placed by his/her readers in his/her publication matters too.
Finally, the most important, and possibly the easiest yardstick: will a brand want to associate themselves with his/her content? Would an advertiser want his product alongside the publication’s content?
I hope that doesn’t answer confusion with even more confusion.
Thanks,
Benito
Mad Crowd Media