Where is the best place to advertise?

hagtech · « **on:** 20 Aug 2005, 12:38 am »

Help me out here. What is the most effective advertising? Where do you think I should place ads?

audioXpress?
Stereophile?
The Absolute Sound?

Or online webads? Been looking at the GoogleAds system. They put click-throughs on other sites. Keep in mind this has to be a high bang-for-buck operation.

jh

LFE · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 Aug 2005, 01:31 am »

Most of the ads i look at are in Stereophile and audioxpress.

Rono944 · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 Aug 2005, 03:14 am »

I think Sterophile might afford you the best return for completed units, especially as you already have already recieved great reviews for product and engineering expertise. I imagine AudioExpress would create demand for half kits. I think people need to know just what you have created with these products and what level of performance they can attain with them, ie: what products they are in the same league as?

I know I am looking forward to a Chime/Hagdac half kit in my near future.

Ron

ehider · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 Aug 2005, 04:11 am »

I think Madisound and Audioasylum are your best bets. You can also give Audiogon a try. All three will give you serious exposure for peanuts in cost.

As far as advertising in the high end rags, forget it! It is rediculously expensive and mostly read by high end snobs more interested in Krell, Halcro and Wilson instead of great bang for the buck products i.e. not a large demographic of "practical audiophiles" that would seriously consider your products IMHO.

rotcoddam · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 Aug 2005, 07:05 am »

I think one of the best ways to advertise is to give out a lot of technical help to those that are diy'ing and modding stuff. The ones building and modding not only your own products, but anything else you can help them with. These are the people you want to reach. Take a look at Vinnie of Red Wine Audio. Just another Audio Asylum inmate who gave tons of advice and time to help others mod the Toshiba dvd player for the last few years. Many people came to know him because of his expertise, but they came to like him because of his generosity. Now he's doing very well with his new company, selling modified equipment. People love the guy and they really like what he builds. He laid a solid foundation to build a great company on. It may take up some time, but it's free and you'll have fun helping others. Not to mention getting your name out there.

Yoda · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 03:48 am »

How about online 'zines like www.dagogo.com and www.6moons.com...and sending the C-series out for reviews?

I found you through a user review by accident, and got in touch with Ed at The Horn Shoppe who has a Cornet.

LFE · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 04:27 pm »

I guess in the end it really depends on what market you are trying to reach. Are you looking to market the Trumpet Phono and fully complete products, or are you looking to empasise the half kit side? Or both? Maybe taylor an ad for Stereophile, focusing on your ready built products, especially the Trumpet, and a DIY style ad for the other publications and web sites.

hagtech · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 08:33 pm »

Aha, so audioXpress is pretty popular. At least with the DIY crowd. Any similar magazines I am unaware of?

Yes, I have to market both "built" and "kit" products. Each very different. Stereophile is really expensive. I ran a nice marketplace ad in TAS for a year with not very good results. Cost more money than it brought in.

So any consensus about the online rags? Do you all read 6moons, etc?

I did send C-series for review. Should hit PFO next issue. They did Cymbal too. I realize reviews are all-important. Most customers seem to find me by accident, so I know I'm not doing a very good job of marketing.

jh

BradJudy · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 10:07 pm »

It looks like you already have a small ad on AudioAsylum. It seems like ads at DIY incluned sites would be a good idea, but it looks like diyaudio.com doesn't have any ads. I don't know what other DIY type sites might have ad space for sale.

Will you have any product at the RMAF this year? I know Wayne doesn't have a room this year, but if you have items somewhere in the show, I would try and get that word out so people can see/hear them. It's probably too late now, but partnering with a speaker company on a room at a show like that would probably be worthwhile.

Another option would be selling some complete items on AudioGon.

Partnerships with other small companies can be helpful. Perhaps a co-advertising deal with Teres, small high effeciency speaker company or a tube supplier like AES. Someone with products that compliment yours and you could trade ad space on each others websites.

hagtech · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Aug 2005, 03:39 am »

Good idea with Audiogon. Might as well just advertise assembled pieces there. Have sold a few proto units.

I won't make RMAF this time around. Maybe next year. Was looking for a room to put my new DAC in, but never put time into it. There will be some Trumpets in use. Maybe a Cornet. I'm suprised Wayne isn't there, short drive for him! If I were within a thousand miles, I'd go.

So does anyone click on those advertiser links at 6moons?

jh

BobM · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Aug 2005, 12:54 pm »

Hey if you're looking for a commercial product review then advertizing with Stereophile is a must have

But I think you need to find another naked woman model to update your ad.

Enjoy,
Bob

hagtech · « **Reply #11 on:** 25 Aug 2005, 07:57 pm »

Quote

find another naked woman

You didn't like that one?

jh

hagtech · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Sep 2005, 07:25 pm »

Ok, of all the online websites with click-through banner ads, which do you guys like the best?

www.positive-feedback.com
www.6moons.com
www.enjoythemusic.com

Or any other, like the tracking angle? Does anyone actually click on the ads?

jh

BradJudy · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Sep 2005, 07:35 pm »

Hmmm....I only visit those sites if someone links to a particular review. I originally got turned to your products when someone (on AudioAsylum IIRC) recommended the Bugle to me.

Rocket · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Sep 2005, 01:21 am »

Hi Jim,

I visit 6moons more often than the other 2 mentioned sites.

regards

rod

bunky · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Sep 2005, 11:44 pm »

Quote from: Rocket

Hi Jim,

I visit 6moons more often than the other 2 mentioned sites.

regards

rod

likewise.

fishydan · « **Reply #16 on:** 14 Sep 2005, 01:09 am »

Hello Jim-

Have you seen the VTV show info? Here's a link. It looks pretty cool...

http://www.vacuumtube.com/vtv%20news.htm

Best,
Dan

jcolton302 · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Sep 2005, 04:37 pm »

hi Jim,

i just registered here but have a Bugle that I love - i'm in the process of building the power supply and putting them each in nice enclosures.

this isn't exactly advertising related, but i've often thought that a slick looking, pre-built Bugle would be a very popular item. over at the vinyl asylum, the bugle is constantly touted as the best bang for buck stage but often the response is 'i don't want to build something' and while the Bugle Pro is great, its' WAF is probably pretty low and hardly yells out 'audiophile' gear - and buying a pre-soldered PCB isn't exactly something already 'built.'

so, i thought it might be worthwhile to offer a pre-built Bugle in a really nice enclosure (either battery powered or not). Hammond has some nice extruded aluminum enclosures that are pretty slick looking and won't look out of place next to someone's thousand dollar receiver. and you could certainly charge enough to make it worth your while - the much bandied quote is 'the bugle beats anything under $500' - so keep it under that and you should be ok. heck, it might even make people think it can beat anything under 750 if it is in a pretty case.

put a power supply in a seperate case and that should be a good selling point too!

so... back to advertising. i think having this available in any ad in a mainstream non-DIY stereo mag would be great. one of those ads with the varying levels of quality - showing the pre-built cornet, bugle, etc, with a blurb saying that kits are available too.

anyway, just sort of thinking out loud. hope this is remotely interesting.

oh, and thanks and keep up the good work!

-john

cryotweaks · « **Reply #18 on:** 21 Sep 2005, 05:12 pm »

HI Jim,

I do not recommend Six moons, they are way oversaturated with ads as it is, and I think it would be hard to get noticed.

PFO is expensive, tough to get good placement on, and does not give good ROI. I have a banner running there right now. It gives me 6 click throughs a day, and maybe one or two customers a month. I will not be renewing my contract with them.

Audiogon is by far may favorite. I can tell immediately by the jump in web traffic when I have a banner or classified running on Audiogon. for about $200 per month, you can get into their program. That gives you $200 worth of ads per month, you pick where you want them, and what type you want (standard classified or banner).

An interesting aside. If you run a classified ad on Audiogon, you are placed in the Stereophile.com marketplace. Its a cheap way to advertise to the Stereophile crowd. However, if you run an Audiogon banner ad, they are stripped out of the feed to Stereophile. So the lesson is run banners alongside regular classifieds for maximum exposure.

Audioasylum would be good for DIY, and its cheap.

Google adwords can get you wide exposure as well, but I am still analyzing the effectiveness for our particular niche market.

I hope you find this helpful, PM me if you need any more information.

Mike

hagtech · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Sep 2005, 06:32 pm »

Mike, that's some great info. I'll look into Audiogon. Have my PFO test ad in place. So far about $0.75 per click. We'll see how it goes.

I see a lot of places sell stuff directly on audiogon new.

jh