Ad Secret: Just Add More Zeros

Are you considering directly approaching large advertisers, rather than eeking out pennies from Google or joining an ad network? The secret, according to one insider, is simple: just add more zeros to your price.

“We noticed big companies like big numbers,” former Splashpress Media marketing director Dave Peralty said during a WordPress Weekly podcast. After coming up empty-handed on smaller offers, Peralty said he convinced Splashpress ad chief Dave Jones to resubmit the proposals - this time asking more money.

“When we started slipping in more zeros, we started getting more ‘yes’s,” he said. The reason for the increased success was one of self-confidence.

“They saw value because we placed more value on that advertising space,” he said.

As Peralty walks away from Splashpress and into a blogging outreach position at Israeli-based PicApp, he provided some insight into the core motivation of blog networks: money.

“Blog networks were built up to make money - simple as that,” he said. The most common money-making paths for blog networks is posting a “for sale” sign.

Cashing-out, eventually selling to someone else, is probably the biggest way most of these networks will make money, Peralty said.

Take Splashpress, for instance. After starting 2007 buying Performancing.com, the blog network acquired 901am.com in April, then finished the year grabbing several Bloggy Network sites, including Blogging Pro. Today Bloggy Network is a partner with Splashpress, creating sites for the UK-based company, including FreeWordPress Themes, Premium WordPress Themes, Photo Blogs and Feed Vault.