Need suggestion on launching/executing an ad network


1

We are about to launch an interstitial ad network for our country. Our startup is similar to companies like adfly and linkbuck. We need suggestions on how to properly launch our company. We are a small team without funding. Right now how execution plans goes like this

  1. Give $20-50 dollar voucher to advertisers. We think this would attract advertisers and some of them might become regular customers
  2. Woo publishers/users to shorten urls through us. We have a better revenue sharing model than our competitors which means they earn more.

What worries us now, is that we would be making little or no money from the initial advertisers (limited number of them get $20-50 voucher) and therefore would not be able to pay publishers.

Would it be wise to ignore publishers' payments? Wouldn't that tarnish the image of a company trying to get known? Please we would love any suggestions/ideas we can get.

Thanks

Getting Started Launch Company

asked Jun 6 '13 at 22:20
Blank
Nedy
109 points

2 Answers


1

I would avoid the gimiks, people may come for the vouchers but they won't stay unless you have a quality product, which for the publisher means good commissions, don't not pay them. I think vouchers shouldn't be used as a means for attracting people but more as a means for easing in the people that already want to use your service but want to test it without a commitment.

answered Aug 7 '13 at 11:22
Blank
Jake
11 points

0

You shouldn't ignore any payments to anyone that you are agreeing to pay. You will very quickly put your business under.

If you can't afford to run a promotion for free ad vouchers and pay the publishers, you should look at other ways to attract advertisers. Or attempt to gain a little capital from investments or bootstrapping a little.

Those vouchers are marketing money, and should come out of a marketing budget. You should have all of your expenses budgeted out to make sure you don't end up in this kind of a situation. If you hit your limit for marketing for the quarter, either reallocate funds from somewhere else (office supplies, your salary, whatever) just make sure you have enough to pick up the lost revenue. Remember, for each dollar voucher you offer you should be able to account for that dollar somewhere in a budget.

answered Jun 6 '13 at 22:32
Blank
Randy E
632 points
  • Thank you for this. I know what to do now – Nedy 11 years ago

Your Answer

  • Bold
  • Italic
  • • Bullets
  • 1. Numbers
  • Quote
Not the answer you're looking for? Ask your own question or browse other questions in these topics:

Getting Started Launch Company