7.0340 Internet Business Journal (1/180)
Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 15 Dec 1993 19:23:49 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0340. Wednesday, 15 Dec 1993.
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 93 10:25:35 EST
From: mstrange@fonorola.net (Strangelove Press)
Subject: The Internet Business Journal Issue 1.5 Online
The Internet Business Journal
Commercial Opportunities in the Networking Age
The first and foremost information source for the
commercial Internet community.
Volume 1, Number 5 - November 1993
For subscription information, contact
Mstrange@Fonorola.Net
Note that The Internet Business Journal is a hardcopy
(print) publication. For a complete electronic sample
copy, e-mail Mstrange@Fonorola.Net and request the file ibj.6
New Editor
The publishers are pleased to announce a new Editor-in-
Chief for The Internet Business Journal -- Aneurin
Bosley. Mr. Bosley will continue to guide the growth of
IBJ into a resource-orientated, practical, and easy-to-
read survey of the latest trends, resources, tools, and
strategies for both the new and experienced business
user of the Internet.
CONTENTS IN BRIEF:
Advertising on the Internet
This article discusses some of the pitfalls that
advertisers will encounter when they venture onto the
Internet.
Satellite-Delivered Usenet Newsfeed
Home satellite receivers are now available which can
deliver Usenet news from over 6000 groups right to the
user's home. Ideal for those without access to all
newsgroups.
Software on the Net
Documentation on eight useful pieces of publicly
available software that will help you use the Net more
effectively.
The Newspaper of the Future
The electronic newspaper can offer many advantages
over its paper counterpart. Here is one idea about what
newspapers may look like in the future.
Government Online
A selection of eleven government-oriented resources
for research and general interest.
Industry Profile: O'Reilly and Associates
An overview of one of the Internet's biggest
publishing success stories.
The Essential Internet:
The Emergence of Electric Gaia
An article about the rise of a new global culture
where time, space, and personal identity are redefined.
Resources for Business, Commerce and Industry
Twenty-four Internet-accessible resources and
services for the networked business.
Internet Publishing News
Fourteen items of interest to Internet-facilitated
publishers.
How to Use the Internet
A new section documenting helpful guides and
discovery-oriented tools available on the Internet.
The Merger - Bell and TCI
An analysis of the highly publicized merger of two
industry giants -- Bell Atlantic and TCI.
Articles:
Advertising on the Internet
Advertising on the Internet is a new regular column by
Michael Strangelove, publisher of The Internet Business
Journal, and author of the new book, "How to Advertise
on the Internet: An Introduction to Internet-
Facilitated Marketing." Advertising on the Internet
will examine cultural issues for Internet advertisers;
explain tools, tips, and trends in Internet-facilitated
marketing; and review the variety of advertising that
appears on the Internet, both good and bad. The focus
will be on informing the business community of the
responsible and effective use of the Internet as a
marketing and communication tool -- for what is good
advertising if not good communication?
Advertising on the Internet is not a new phenomenon --
it has been going on for a long time in a variety of
fashions: passive, active, unsolicited, direct mailing,
subtle hints, bold statements, and free samples. Yet
most advertisers will fail in their initial attempt at
Internet-facilitated advertising. This is not at all
surprising given that most advertising in any medium is
woefully ineffective, mind-bogglingly boring, and
uncreative at best -- deceptive and annoying at worst.
Why will most advertisers fail when they succumb to the
seduction of the virgin fields of the Internet?
Traditional advertising will fail to achieve results on
the Internet because this virtual community is oriented
towards content. In contrast, advertisers usually sell
through promoting image and style -- broad archetypes
delivered to mass audiences. But the language of the
Internet, for the majority of its population, and for
some time to come, is low ASCII (Aa-Zz, 1-9 text plus a
few miscellaneous characters). More than being a mainly
text-based environment, the Internet is first and
foremost an oral culture, where the keyboard mediates
the spoken word to a complex matrix of subcultures.
Sensitivity to Internet culture will define success for
any business entering into this global matrix.
The business world is going to have to learn a new
language when it communicates to the Internet community
-- the language of content-based, interactive,
community-orientated dialogue. Unidirectional
pontification coming from the lofty heights of
corporate sales and marketing offices will only
alienate the typical Internet user. To be accepted by
the majority of Internet users, a business will need to
participate in the virtual communities they wish to
reach. This means that business must be willing and
prepared to enter into dialogue in an appropriate
manner on the appropriate forums. Unlike any other
medium familiar to advertisers, the Internet is fully
bi-directional. Businesses must be prepared to answer
for their products or services if they are less than
100% satisfactory. The Internet user will not hesitate
to make their complaints known to both the offending
business and to the rest of the Internet community!
For the immediate future, the costs of Internet-
facilitated advertising will not be associated with
expensive visual productions, but with the labour
required to dialogue with the desired market areas
found within over five thousand discussion forums. This
labour factor will become a critical consideration for
truly responsible, responsive, and effective Internet
advertising as the staggering Internet growth rate
pushes these numbers to tens of thousands of forums and
hundreds of millions of users over the next decade.
For quite some time to come, the Internet will not
represent a mass market such as TV where content is
controlled and packaged to a limited number of
predefined and demographically homogenous audiences
consisting of millions of viewers. There are no mass
markets on the Internet -- only micro communities with
distinct histories, rules, and concerns. The challenge
for the Internet-facilitated business is to find a way
to reach these communities on their terms, respecting
their local customs.
Watch this column for specific techniques on using the
Internet to engage in that unique form of business
communication called advertising.
For subscription information, contact
Mstrange@Fonorola.Net (TEL: 613-565-0982 FAX: 613-564-
6641, Subscription Manager, 208 Somerset Street East,
Suite A, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA, K1N 6V2)
Copyright (C) 1993 by Strangelove Internet Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved. This document may be archived
for public use in electronic or other media, so long as
it is maintained in its entirety and no fee is charged
to the user; any exception requires written consent
from Strangelove Internet Enterprises.