Wed Feb 06 15:25:04 PST 2019

26

Why Search?
Search engines take advantage of reverse broadcast networks to help save time and
money. They are instant answer systems that provide ultra-targeted advertising.
Search allows you to sell what your customers want, when they want it.
Finding Prospects
I had just finished reading Permission Marketing by Seth Godin when I became
engaged in one of the most interesting chat sessions of my life. A random kid
from California instant messaged me to say hello. In much the same way as other
marketers do, he scouted the web to find his ideal client. This guy searched
through Yahoo! profiles and found that on my profile I wrote that I collected
baseball cards.
He wanted to know if Barry Bonds was my favorite player. He told me he had over
16,000 Barry Bonds cards. I told him that I had an autographed serial numbered
Barry Bonds rookie, but baseball cards did not mean much to me anymore.
I asked if he did business over the Internet. He, of course, said no. It was clear to
me why. He had no way to display any of his cards, and he was using spam to
contact people. I asked him if he wanted to have a website on which to sell his
cards.
He told me he couldn?t afford it; he said that it was too expensive. But, I thought,
what is a fair price for limitless distribution?
Baseball cards, like many collectible commodities, usually drop in value rather
sharply once a player retires or that collectible goes out of fashion. Not only does
the price drop, but demand plummets. It?s a logarithmic loss of value. I have
picked up Robin Yount and Dave Winfield rookies for $5 and $8 each; both cards
went for 00 or more in their heyday.
This kid wanted to buy my autographed Barry Bonds rookie card to add to his
16,000 Bonds cards. Even though he?ll never sell them, he thought he was doing
business. I sold baseball cards back in high school, and I knew how to do it well.
But I did not know it well when I started. I was trying to sell expensive cards to
Chapter
1
With search you do not
hunt for your customers.
While they are actively
interested in your products
or services, they hunt for
you.