Posted by jb on March 29, 2001, at 1:23:36
In reply to Re: what others could help me with, posted by Dr. Bob on March 27, 2001, at 1:06:30
General advertising dollars are down, definitely, but I targeted dollars are actually up. Fewer advertisers are willing to pay Yahoo to host their site, as the click-through rate is horendously low, not to mention subsequent purchase rate. The problem is mainly with the general appeal websites, not a targeted site, such as this. Actually, Psychobabble is actually a very, very targeted site and, therefore, a marketers dream. Further, there is a potential to offer genuine benefit to users, as well as generate income for site maintenance and Dr. Bob's services. Some things which come to mind might be United States mail-order pharmacists (not the overseas stuff). A number already have websites, but they don't market themselves very well. Many PsychoBabble users could receive substantial benefit from lower cost prescription meds which their health insurers may not cover. Bookstores, such as Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble are all other great ideas others have mentioned. Pharmaceutical companies may also be interested, somewhat in the same vein (excuse the pun)as their radio and tv dollars directed at the general public. Just think of the ad dollars we've all seen spent on Paxil. Also, I think there are ways to accomplish this while showing good taste and not detracting from users' experiences. That is, we should look for synergism among PsychoBabble and commercial interests.
I think the bottom line (another pun) is none of us should expect this excellent service to continue, indefinitely, without compensation from either ourselves, the users, or, something which I think we prefer, someone else. I think that someone else could be commercial interests or the government. And, I don't believe the Bush government is likely to ante up anytime soon.
JB
poster:jb
thread:619
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010315/msgs/931.html