the(new)mediaslut

the(new)mediaslut directory of PR companies (Beta) seems to working with every link.

A current Google Pagerank of 5 also helps.

Somebody was searching for EastWest Public Relations and came across this directory.

And that somebody out-clicked to The Pacific West Communications, a premier sponsor of this site, therefore have its listing on the top of the directory.

Yes, this could be just one click, but I have seen a few out-clicks to The Pacific West Communications.

I am looking forward to a testimonial from The Pacific West Communications.

Need to be Pimped! Contact the(new)mediaslut @ themediaslut(at)gmail.com!

Disclaimer: This is pimped request from Josh Lim of Advertlets.com to post about the future of online advertising. Need some pimping of a new product or web2.0 solution? email themediaslut(at)gmail.com.

Before blogs, you had to know HTML to create a website. You had to remember to link the home page to page 3 and vice versa.

With blogs, all you had to do was focus on creating on the content. I once registered a domain, installed a blog engine like wordpress, downloaded a theme for the blog off the web and started entering the content in less than 15 minutes.

Basic HTML was needed though, but the hardest part was creating content for the blog, not the HTML.

And if you blog has a bit of white space to spare and decide to use it to put up advertising banners, you don’t have to go to the advertisers to pitch for a deal. Leave it to Web2.0 services like Google Adsense.

If you want more local ads from the region, a blogger can go to web2.0 ad agents like Advertlets and others

All the blogger needs to worry now is creating content to get more readers to the blog.

So where is the bloggers’ online advertising advantage? What is this power of one and links?

The first few days of a new blog may start with zero readers, even though the blogger put in much thought to the design of the blog, the contents, the position of the ad, etc. So where is the blogger going to get that first reader?

It is most likely that the blogger will copy the hyperlink of the blog or post and paste it in the conversation box with a friend of the Instant Messaging service of the blogger’s choice.

Once the friend receives the link and click on it, the blogger gets his first reader. If the blog impresses the reader, the reader will subscribe to the RSS feed or cut and paste the link to give to another friend. Say the other friend also likes the blog, decides to Digg the post or add it to a social bookmarking site which is open to all to see.

From this chain, one reader decides to submit it to tomorrow.sg and it gets accepted. All of a sudden, your blog or a particular post is read by hundreds if not thousands.

The one reader becomes a multiplier effect and this the power of one reader and links.

If you compare it to the traditional print medium, would getting your first reader or subscriber be as easy?

To get a print publication out in the newstand, you would have to look for a distributor and negotiate the cost of distribution. A good distributor with a good network would cost you more.

When it gets to the newstand, how it sells depends on how much the newstand owner prominently position the print magazine or convince someone to buy it. What influences the newstand owner to do this is how much of a commission he gets from the magazine or distributor. Again, this adds to the cost.

Back to the blogs.

At the end of the day, advertisers want to see a return of investment in their advertising dollars. The whole idea of an ad is to generate brand awareness and more sales revenue.

But in today’s new Internet age, there is also one element of ROI to consider and its this concept of word of mouth marketing.

As a product reviewer who once tested 10 digital cameras for a shoot out feature, anybody who wanted to buy anything from Sim Lim Square or Funan Center would ask me to recommend it to them or seek my advise on a certain brand or product.

Blogs in a way have taken concept of that word of mouth marketing. If you want to buy a particular brand of digital camera, you would ask your friend who has one. The friend would then say, if you want to see the quality of my photos, see my blog. That’s word of mouth marketing for you.

Or if a blogger visited a restaurant or a food center and blogged about the experience both bad and good with photos to add, visitor to that blog might take his opinion to try that place.

Hence, besides just putting an ad on a blog, I personally believed that advertisers should let the bloggers also be part of the experience for a product or food place.

One of Advertlets’ advertisers is The Manhattan Fish Market. Sponsored posts were offered to bloggers who have registered with Adverlets and were in range band based on the number of unique visitors to the blogs.

That’s advertising. To keep the word of mouth marketing going, maybe Advertlets can suggest this to the The Manhattan Fish Market.

Let’s say The Manhattan Fish Market has a new menu it wants to share. Instead of just putting banner ads and looking for bloggers to put up sponsored post, Advertlets and The Manhattan Fish Market should run a blog competition among Advertlets’ members to reward those who featured the new menu in the most attractive and unique way, maybe like a full refund of the receipt spend for the meal the blogger ordered.

Though the temptation to only select the blog that writes only the good things is there, The Manhattan Fish Market should look at rewarding the blog post that could help improve the menu or even the service even if means selecting the most critical of entries.

The key here is to engage the bloggers not just as another medium, but as a customer who wants to share his experience with others.

Advertlets can be found at www.advertlets.com.