Online Marketing Strategies

November 21, 2000

Amazon.com, Yahoo.com, eBay.com. They all have one thing in common-they know how to market their businesses online. Now you can find out how to spread the word from Interactive marketing expert Scott Kurnit, CEO and Founder of About.com. Read what he said about which online marketing strategies can help you start creating your own buzz online, and drive serious traffic to your site.

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AMEXemagine: Welcome to the e-magine chat with online marketing expert, Scott Kurnit of About.com. Learn the ins and outs of how you can create your own buzz online and drive serious traffic to your site. Which types of online marketing strategies are the most effective? What goes into creating a banner ad? How do you build awareness with sponsorships and syndicated selling? So, go ahead and start asking - you've got 60 minutes to learn how to get the word out! Welcome Scott!

Scott: Hi. It's nice to be here. I look forward to your questions. I look forward to helping our friends on the net, however possible, do better on the net.

Skoots: What got you started in this type of business?

Scott: I was in television for about 20 years and realized that the internet would be a better system of delivering information to people. More targeted, more interactive, more compelling; that it would be textural based, as well as able to provide audio and video, and would ultimately be the distribution medium for all media.

Anthony: What is an online community and how do you build one?

Scott: An online community is a place where folks come together to share information, ideas, opinions. You build it by working to provide a compelling environment, a trust environment, an environment where there is a leader, but someone who realizes that everyone gets their fair say with an open exchange. Where people care about each other. Where they are not overly anonymous and are open to sharing. Community isn't easy. Many people are shy about participating. It requires that the company--as About or Amex or any other company--is open to hearing honest feedback, both positive and negative. It requires an editorial sense that means that the basic fundamentals of journalism need to apply, which is new for most corporations. It means that the people who are responsible for community love it, have a passion for it and participate in it themselves.

Caryn: What's the major difference between online marketing and other marketing channels, like print and TV?

Scott: The biggest difference with online marketing is that you have the opportunity to reach your customer with immediacy. It doesn't mean that you don't practice good branding, but it means you can get the customer to come immediately to your website and to have an experience with your brand or product. It's more efficient (at least it has been for us over the last several years than offline marketing), because we can target people who are webcentric and web savvy, and minimize waste.

Domenic: So how would a newbie get his nose in this marketing strategies?

Scott: If you were using About.com , you would very easily use our Sprinks product or a product like goto.com where you can buy the links yourself. In our case, for as little as $25, at which time you set the bid which gives you the capability to move up the queue to get attention for your website or for your offline product. You could also contact any one of the online ad agencies, or these days traditional ad agencies, or a company like About or Yahoo specifically and directly, explain to the sale dept what your needs are, what you need to accomplish, and place the burden on the website to devise a plan for you using a variety of tactics to deliver to your audience.

Jocuna: What is the first thing you should look for when searching for a domain to host your online business?

Scott: You want to make sure that your domain is the same as your brand, that it is short, that it can be easily spelled even if heard on a radio. For example, Lycos when on the radio needs to spell L Y C O S so people don't think the Y is an I. Descriptive if that's appropriate, fun if that's appropriate, and serious if that's appropriate. It is critical that your domain, how you answer the phone, how you talk about your business, how you talk about yourself on the radio matches.

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