Click here if you see this blinking: Interesting article on the efforts of the IAB to come up with standard measurements of online advertising effectiveness. Also interesting are these statistics:

Still, the state of online advertising is not as desperate as some in the old media make it out to be. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, an Internet research firm, total online ad spending was almost $5.69 billion last year, or more than 3 percent of the total advertising market. Furthermore, total online ad dollars spent ? and the percentage of the entire advertising market those dollars represent ? have sharply increased each year since 1996. Jupiter Media Metrix predicts that over $15 billion a year, or fully 7 percent of all advertising spending, will move online by 2006.

Wasn’t it Jupiter who just last year predicted web advertising sales would be over $7.5 gazillion by 2006?

Small business marketing myth, #1: That would be the oft-suggested premise that small business owners do not think of themselves as small business owners as in this article from today’s Wall Street Journal. In other words, there is not such a thing as a small business market, but rather small companies within vertical trade groups. Perhaps that was true 15 years ago, but each year marketers spend billions convincing small business owners that they are small business owners. American Express certainly does. Sprint is throwing millions at the term small business right now. The WSJ reporter cites Quicken’s channel of small business “aggregators” like accountants as responsible for 50% of the software company’s small business sales. But that leaves another 50%, doesn’t it? I agree that small business owners do not first think of themselves as small business owners, but rather define themselves by their trade or profession. But when it comes to seeking products and services not endemic to their vertical industry, they head first to the “small business” section.

There is no substitute: Didn’t I see this once in a movie?. Oh yeah,
Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nicholas Cage. Or was it Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
?

Burying the hatchet: Okay, now that the clueless at Gaylord have finally grasped the marketing implications of torching their heritage, I’ll ease up on them. I’ll be smoking the peace pipe by attending the All Star Bluegrass Celebration at the Ryman tomorrow night. Being taped for a PBS Special, this line-up is one of those only-in-Nashville-deals that I usually hear about after it takes place. This time, however, I’m among the lucky few who will be hearing the following in an all bluegrass evening: Alison Krauss and Union Station, Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, The Dixie Chicks, Nickel Creek, Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, Del McCoury Band, Patty Loveless, Travis Tritt and Bruce Hornsby.

Don’t tread on truckers: Road King editor Bill Hudgin’s weekly email on trucking has been around almost eight years. Another weblog (of sorts) from your friends at Hammock Publishing. And also home to Bill’s famous closing line:

Until next time, be safe, make money and get home often.

I would stay until the swimsuit edition: Sports Illustrated managing editor Bill Colson announces today he’s resigning after the Winter Olympics. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that Colson was feeling the heat from higher ups at Time, something SI has been shielded from in the past. I’m a big fan of SI; an even bigger fan of John Huey, the Time Inc. editorial director who the Journal says wants SI to liven up. Thanks from a devoted reader, Bill. But I’ll admit, I can’t wait to see more Huey influence.