Some companies are still missing the mark with their website. Here are my top six "musts" when designing a great website:
Soon, the bulk of web advertising space may be bought and sold on exchanges, just like commodities. Currently there are a number of exchanges run by small companies, but according to a recent article from The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! are beginning to explore the space.
Currently, web display ads usually get sold through sales people or an ad network, but there is generally a large amount of unsold inventory. This is where the exchange would come in, matching buyers and sellers to reduce unused space. The current problem is that with numerous exchanges and a lack of standards, there isn't enough critical mass to reach desired market liquidity (an asset's ability to be easily bought or sold without significant price fluctuation or loss of value).
Some industry insiders believe that exchanges could eventually process half of all online ads, once the market matures. While it is true that many high-profile Internet ad campaigns require human interaction, some say that this is only 10 percent of the market, and that the rest has the potential to be traded on an exchange.
Moving to an exchange system eventually will benefit both the buyers and the sellers. All of that inventory left unused (or sold at last-minute cheap rates) will have a home (and a market price)!
Not enough time or budget for a photo shoot? If you're considering stock photography, there are two options: royalty-free and rights managed. Here's what you need to know:
In stock photography, you get what you pay for. Royalty-free stock photography may look like a bargain, but it has some serious drawbacks and can damage your brand's image if used the wrong way.
Royalty-free images are purchased outright, either as single images or on disc volumes in bulk, and can be used almost any way you want, on a billboard, a website, or a magazine ad 20 years from now.
The biggest drawback to royalty-free stock photography is the chance that a competitor might use the same image. Royalty-free collections are widely marketed, so you must gamble that the sheer number of images in all the competing royalty-free collections will make a duplicate use unlikely. It may seem like a safe bet, or so thought Dell and Gateway – who featured the same model and the same location in their 2004 back-to-school campaigns. Talk about a HUGE uh-oh!
Rights-managed images are "rented" for a specific purpose and at a specific price. They can tell if someone in your category has used that same image. Once you negotiate a fee with the stock house or photographer for a specific use, any other use is subject to an additional fee--which can get rather expensive. But you have to consider the alternative; do you really want to chance a competitor using the same image?