I have a fair bit of traffic. Can I get advertising for my website?

Dear Aunty B,

I have a website that is getting a fair bit of traffic. My board has suggested to me that I “monetise” the website by exploring opportunities that attract revenue from advertisers.

I don’t know the first thing about this and I wondered if you could give me some suggestions on where to start and how big you need to be to get advertising? We are in software and I am expected to report back on this in two months.

Help please,
Victoria

Dear Help please,

So you are changing strategy. You plan to move from being a software company to a publisher. That’s a big move. But don’t worry. I will run through the strategy for you.

First the costs. You will probably have to fork out at least $1 million a year. That covers a red hot sales force, traffic managers to serve the ads, account managers to service the clients – oh and of course editors, sub editors, designers and journalists to write fresh content. You could use a bit of your back end like your bookkeeper and accountant to chase debts and stuff but it will also cost you more. Even with all of that it will be tough going because your competitors are now not other software companies but large, aggressive and very experienced publishers who have economy of scale and are pretty good at the art of creating content.

The other point to consider is your audience. You may well have a lot of people coming to your website but who are they and who wants to reach them? Maybe no one but fellow gamers!

So here is your answer to the board. First thank them for yet another excellent suggestion and outline all reasons it won’t work. But tell them the research you did into the matter has helped you identify opportunities to redevelop the website so you can do far better branding, lead generation and conversion. Outline the plan and then give them full credit.

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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