Newspapers: Avoid Extinction!
     
     
   

Newspapers have had at least 10 years to position themselves to take advantage of the digital revolution.  Sadly, not a single one has done it.  All this recent talk about charging search engines for content is yet another example of lack of long term vision.  While it may add a few dollars to their bottom line, it will not extend their life.  A Band Aid will not stop an arterial bleed. 

Newspapers must change their attitude, philosophy, and business model 180 degrees in order to survive and thrive in today's rapidly changing digital world.  They must embrace cutting edge technology.  They must differentiate.  They must deliver a greatly enhanced end user experience and make their websites a place end users want to visit.  They must allow the end user to "pull" what he wants, not force feed him something he doesn't. 

Newspapers must empower advertisers with revolutionary marketing tools without the restrictions that search engines force on them.  They must target all advertisers.  They must educate advertisers how to effectively market online dynamically and in real time and how to effectively market offline. 

The deadline to make that change is closing fast.  Opportunity lost is extinction realized. 

 

Clear Your Cache!

This website will clearly articulate an internet strategy that will work, work quickly, and ring the cash register forever.  Its content is radical compared to your present way of thinking. 

To understand ClikitySplit's business model, please clear your cache.  In other words, open your mind.  Forget everything you thought you knew about the internet advertising model.  Vision is the name of the game. 

You must thoroughly analyze today's rapidly changing digital environment, learn from it, and immediately position your newspaper to not only survive but thrive.  News delivered by today's print editions is actually "olds".  Few if any print editions will be around 5 or 10 years from now.  But that doesn't mean that newspapers cannot thrive in a revolutionary new metamorphosis.  In fact, they can make more $$$ than ever before if they position themselves to do so now.   

Take your guidance from a 15-year old intern at Morgan Stanley in the UK who described his friend's media habits.  The complete article can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/035e83fe-6f18-11de-9109-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

  • "...Teenagers do not use Twitter.  Updating the micro-blogging service from mobile phones costs valuable credits and they realize that no one is viewing their profile, so tweets are pointless..."
  • His peers find it hard to make time for regular television, and would rather listen to advertising-free music on websites such as Last.fm than tune into traditional radio.
  • Even online, teens find advertising “extremely annoying and pointless”.
  • Their time and money is spent instead on cinema, concerts and video game consoles which, he said, now double as a more attractive vehicle for chatting with friends than the phone.
  • The intern had little comfort for struggling print publishers, saying no teenager he knew regularly reads a newspaper since most “cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text”.  Rather they see summaries online or on television.

Translation:

  • Although Twitter is the darling of the media and celebrities (as of right now), it is of little interest to even the "early adopters"; therefore, its staying power is suspect
  • Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and the other social sites admit they do not have a business model--"...we are in the process of developing one..."
  • The social sites are having a very difficult time selling display advertising to their huge number of users; to prove that statement, Google admits it has been unable to effectively monetize its advertising relationship with MySpace
  • Everyone hates being advertised to
  • Website end users want to spend their time online wisely and efficiently
  • End users want speed and as little hassle as possible
  • End users want information summaries, not details; if they find something interesting in the summary, they will seek out more detail; they demand "pull" not "push'  

You must learn from this insightful advice and develop an appropriate business model.  Not next month.  Not next week.  NOW!

 

It's the End User Experience...

Deliver an extraordinary end user experience and end users will flock to the site.  You will make more money than ever before.  Keep doing the same old thing that got you into this fix and you will go right down the drain just like many of your peers already have. 

What hasn't worked and will never work:

  • Busy, cluttered, slow loading newspaper websites
  • Banner and other display advertising
  • Too much initial information
  • Impediments to a great end user experience

What will work now and forever:

  • A clean, fast loading, eye-appealing website
  • No intrusive advertising
  • Information snippets.  Ever use a search engine?  What do they give you?  Snippet teasers that, if you are interested, get you to click the link to find more information.
  • A superior end user experience

  

Website end users/visitors use websites to gather information about a product or service.  So deliver it quickly, easily and get out of their way.  You will be rewarded for it.  Get in their way and you are a dead duck.  That is exactly what has happened to newspapers.

 

Give it Away Free & Get Paid Handsomely for Doing It!

No, that is not an oxymoron!

ClikitySplit's revenue model is advertising-based but it is stealth.  Most end users will never realize they are being advertised to.  ClikitySplit forbids all forms of display advertising. 

Instead, ClikitySplit empowers advertisers to visually stand out from their competition via all the rich multimedia tools available today including:

  • Video
  • Audio
  • Photo slideshow
  • Scrolling ticker
  • Etc.

  • plus 10,000 characters of text

ClikitySplit turns advertisers into dynamic marketers.  Marketing talent, not deep pockets, determines success in ClikitySplit. 

End users absolutely love ClikitySplit's "bleeding on the cutting edge technology".  ClikitySplit greatly enhances the end user experience via:

  • aesthetically pleasing
  • uses the entire screen to deliver all search results visually and simultaneously
  • No banner or display advertising!  Never!  Ever!
  • Powerful, unique sorting features
  •    price
  •    type of cuisine
  •    chain name
  • Changing categories with just mousing over a category and clicking a subcategory (e.g. (e.g. Hotels à Economy à Restaurants à Italian à Retail/Shopping à Women's Clothing)
  • With the new search results immediately displayed on the same map. 

No other site in the world can do what ClikitySplit does--empower advertisers to stealthily market to end users while simultaneously greatly enhancing the end user experience. 

 

Use Your Remaining Time Wisely

Think the newspaper business model will ever regain its former status?  Think again.

Look at the deterioration in your subscription base over the past five years.  If that doesn't tell you the handwriting is on the wall nothing will.  Staying with your present business model is as futile as giving CPR to a two-day old corpse.

It is critical that newspapers utilize what branding power they have left to build an local visual online community where anybody can easily find whatever they want in a matter of seconds without frustration.  The search engines can't do that.  The Yellow Pages certainly can't do it.  Only ClikitySplit's unique technology can do it.

The local visual online community will attract all advertisers who stealthily market their wares to end users who come to the portal for information and receive a greatly enhanced experience.  And if they want to check out what's happening locally, nationally, or worldwide, they can do that too.  The end users will spread the word virally, including via many of the social media sites who can't develop a business model.      

The business strategy is to build a superfast local visual online community where end users can also "pull" down the news that replaces your busy newspaper website dedicated to news that bombards the end user with intrusive display advertising. 

That is what we mean when we say newspapers must change their focus 180 degrees?  Target all advertisers with ClikitySplit's proprietary, empowering technology and earn more money than ever before.    

 

A Differentiating Advertising Scenario

To prove the ClikitySplit concept, imagine the following scenario:

  • Day:                  Friday
  • Time of day:       8:00p
  • Activity:             Rehearsal dinner for your daughter's wedding
  • Crisis:                Busted water pipe

What the homeowner wants is a plumber.  Now!

But how many plumbers are on call 24 hours a day?  Very few.

How do you find them? 

  • Print yellow pages?
  • Online yellow pages?
  • Search engine?

None of these are viable options because of the time sensitivity involved.  What you need is a 911 type service that can deliver the information needed now.

Solution:

  • Logon to ClikitySplit
  • Mouseover the category "Professional Services"
  • Mouseover the subcategory "Plumbers"
  • Click on the subcategory "24 Hour Plumbers"
  • All plumbers in the end users local area are prominently displayed along with their contact information

Problem solved!  In a matter of seconds.  Relief.  Action not frustration.  Exceptional end user experience.

That is exactly how powerful ClikitySplit is.  Its revolutionary technology is at least two years ahead of every thing else out there.  Far ahead of Google.  And because we have a patent pending on our technology, significant barriers to entry by imitators are in place.  ClikitySplit will always be light years ahead of the competition.

Differentiation is the key to success. 

 
 

Target All Advertisers!

Newspapers can no longer settle for such a small percentage of the advertising pie.  In the online world, all advertisers are ripe for the picking if you have technology that empowers the advertiser and the end user traffic that demands the advertiser's presence.

Building the world's fist local visual online community via ClikitySplit's proprietary technology is critical to newspapers long term success.  End users will use it because it delivers whatever they want in a matter of seconds without any hassle and without any apparent advertising--a much richer experience.  That builds the traffic.  Advertisers will go where the traffic is. 

Advertisers want to market online but have no idea how to do it.  They have been suckered by the online yellow pages and other predators and have been burned.  Advertisers, especially the small and medium size businesses (SMBs), are time-starved and know nothing about SEO, SEM or PPC.  An extremely rare few have effective websites.  Advertisers do not need a website to effectively market online via ClikitySplit.  Our patent-pending "dynamic billboards" are much more powerful. 

Today's online advertisers can only market via static listings in the search engines and the online yellow pages.  Google Adwords limits the advertising hook message to 70 characters and no rich multimedia.  Google Maps delivers a static popup whose content is controlled by Google.  Both products deliver only 10 search results at a time.  Talk about restricting the advertising effort...

While ClikitySplit empowers advertisers to the extent never done before, the key to dominating success is  properly educating advertisers how to effectively market online and how to effectively marketing offline.  ClikitySplit is the only site that delivers dynamic content, the ability to change that content as often as desired dynamically and in real time, all the rich multimedia tools available today.  No site is easier for the advertiser to use.

All this means tremendous opportunity for the visionary newspaper.  "...Teach a man to fish..."  Since ClikitySplit is such a visual medium, the education process is simple and extremely effective.  But it will take a lot of hard work,  communication, and branding to get our marketing message across and change the way advertisers perceive the online marketing process.  But once that is accomplished, we will dominate the next generation of search--"find" as well as the next generation of advertising--dynamic content which ClikitySplit invented.

True empowerment to both the advertiser and the end user.  Differentiating technology to both.  And a unique, exceptional opportunity to mine both advertisers and end users for tremendous profit.

 
 

Google vs ClikitySplit

Ok, let's get this out of the way right now.

Google ßà ClikitySplit

Google

Google is a search engine.  By far the best there is.  However, all search engines have several shortcomings.  Among them are:

  • Only 10 search results displayed at a time
  • Google Maps only offers static popup listings
  • Therefore, Google completely controls the content
  • There is no way for the advertiser to dynamically market to the website visitor
  • If the end user wants to change categories (e.g. find a restaurant near his hotel) he must start a brand new search
  • Google AdWords, its pay-per-click advertising model:
  •     requires that the advertiser have a website
  •     limits the advertiser's marketing message to 70 characters
  •     only allows textual advertising (no rich multimedia)

To generate any traffic at all for the website, the advertiser must achieve Top 5 rankings on Page 1 in the search engines.  To do that, he must:

  • SEO (search engine opitmization)
  • SEM (search engine marketing)
  • PPC (pay-per-click)

All of these methods are extremely expensive to the advertiser.

ClikitySplit

ClikitySplit is a local visual online directory and dynamic marketing engine.  The only one there is!  Humans build its content.  As a result, it is focused on what humans search for, not what a computer algorithm assumes they want.

ClikitySplit:

  • visually and simultaneously displays all search results

  • advertisers do not need a website

  •    ClikitySplit's patent pending "dynamic billboards" are much more powerful

  • provides dynamic content, updated in real time by the advertiser as often as he desires

  • as a result, the advertiser is in total control of his content

  • advertisers are empowered with all the rich multimedia tools available today:

  •     Video

  •     Audio

  •     Photo slideshow

  •     Scrolling ticker

  •     Silverlight

  •     Etc.

  • the advertiser is empowered with 10,000 characters of text

  • changing categories is a simple as mousing over a category and clicking a subcategory (e.g. Hotels à Economy à Restaurants à Italian à Retail/Shopping à Women's Clothing) with the new search results immediately displayed on the same map.  No other site can do that!

ClikitySplit requires no SEO, SEM, or PPC.  No click fraud is possible with ClikitySplit.  According to forensic studies, approximately 16% of paid clicks are fraudulent.

No other site can do what ClikitySplit can do.  No other site is as easy-to-use nor as fast.  ClikitySplit possesses revolutionary, disruptive technology.  And since ClikitySplit has a patent pending on its unique technology, no site will be able to duplicate its technology in the future.

 
 

Powerpoint Presentation

To view a 15-minute Powerpoint presentation about ClikitySplit's strategic proposal and marketing plan, click here.

 
 

Visual Online Community with Perfected Local Search

"...When we build it, they will come..."

ClikitySplit is designed for end users to find whatever they want in just a matter of seconds with just mousing over a category and clicking a subcategory.  Perfected local search!  This eliminates the frustration of search which requires starting a brand new search to change categories. 

ClikitySplit's unique technology supports an unlimited number of categories and subcategories.  As a result, for the first time in history a true visual online community is possible.  We encourage the strategic partner to enlist readers, viewers, advertisers, and website end users to build out the online community by adding their favorite point of interest free of charge and adding guest reviews.  Not just their favorite restaurant or retail shop but where to get ones drivers license, where to find child care for their children, where to go to church, etc.  This information is especially important to new residents. 

Numerous studies have found that a majority of end users research online but buy offline.  Therefore, making it easy and simple for end users to buy off line locally is the key to success. 

ClikitySplit makes this process exceedingly simple by empowering advertisers to visually stand out to end users and empowering them to change their content dynamically and in real time as often as they desire.  The more the strategic partner drives traffic to ClikitySplit the more inclined advertisers are to effectively market online via ClikitySplit.

 
 

Demonstration of ClikitySplit

To take a test drive of ClikitySplit, just follow these simple steps:

Note:  When you first logon, a default map is loaded based on your geographic location; as a result, you are already searching without doing anything.

  • Type   brentwood tn  in the "Search by Location" box on the top right panel
  • mouseover "Restaurants"
  • Click on "American"
  • Mouseover the small red dot to the left of "Brentwood" to display "Mere Bulles" dynamic billboard

  • Mere Bulles "Specials" advertising pane is shown as the default; toggle down to see the photos and text
  • Click on the "Slideshow-Video-Menus" advertising pane
  • Click on "Slideshow"

  • Click on "Video"
  • Click on "Audio"
  • Toggle down to view Mere Bulles menu items
  • Next click on the "Quick Info-Guest Reviews" advertising pane

Now let's turn our attention to greatly enhancing the end user experience.  First note that there is no banner advertising in ClikitySplit.  Never will be!  That is a huge difference right there.

Now let's change categories:

  • Mouseover "Hotels" on the right panel
  • Select "Midrange" to display only hotels that are medium priced
  • Mouseover the small green dot to display the hotel's default popup (name, address, phone number, and "Online Reservations")

Now let's change categories again:

  • Mouseover "Retail/Shopping" on the right panel
  • Click "Department Stores"
  • Mouseover the large red dot
  • Click on the panel "Click Here to Zoom In"
  • Mouseover the large red dot again
  • Click on the panel "Click Here to Zoom In" to go down to the next street level
  • Mouseover the small red dot to display "Stein Mart's" dynamic billboard

Now let's personalize your demonstration:

  • Type your home address and zip code in the "Search by Location" box (5200 Maryland Way 37027)
  • Search for business locations near your home
  • Change categories to see the ease-of-use and speed
     

No other site can do what you just did via ClikitySplit.  ClikitySplit delivers true empowerment of the advertiser and a greatly enhanced end user experience.

 

Branding by the Strategic Partner

Branding ClikitySplit by the media partner is accomplished by:

  • building excitement and soliciting readers, viewers, and web site end users to "...help us build the world's first visual online community right here in (Cityname)..."
  • placing a clickable image of ClikitySplit "above the fold" on each of your websites
  • place informative links below the image to promote ClikitySplit
  •    About ClikitySplit
  •    Add your listing free
  •    30-day free trial of dynamic billboards
  •    Enhance your free listing
  •    Tutorials
  •    "...Help Us Build World's First Online Community..."
  • News stories about ClikitySplit
  • Sending emails about ClikitySplit to all advertisers and end users in its database
  • Making marketing calls to all Chambers of Commerce in your DMA offering free listings to their members and advising them of ClikitySplit's revolutionary marketing technology 

 
 

Building ClikitySplit's Patent Pending "Dynamic Billboards"

ClikitySplit's patent-pending "dynamic billboards" can be built in 15 minutes with our wizard.  Once built the dynamic billboards can be changed in real time in a few minutes as often as desired.  For example, a sharp restauranteur could run a lunch special, then change his dynamic billboard to run a "Happy Hour" special, and then change it again to run a dinner special.   

Content is king; the power to update that content dynamically and in real time is differentiating!  Only ClikitySplit provides this power.

Input Screen #1

Input Screen #2

 
 

Pricing of ClikitySplit's Dynamic Billboards
   
There are four types of ClikitySplit's dynamic billboards:  
   
  • Standard:   "Quick Info-Guest Reviews" advertising pane
 $49.95 per month
  • Enhanced:  Standard above + "Specials" advertising pane
 $99.95 per month
  • Deluxe:      Enhanced above + "Slideshow-Audio-Menus"
 $149.95 per month
  • Premium:    Deluxe + "Slideshow-Video-Menus"
 $199.95 per month

There are 5 different themes for the dynamic billboards.

 
 

Revenue Split

ClikitySplit monetizes your website traffic and adds a true visual online community to your portfolio of advertising tools.  This differentiates you from your competition.  The upside is huge.

You provide the branding of ClikitySplit.  ClikitySplit provides the patent pending technology, support, billing, collection and comprehensive accounting.  We share the revenue 50/50.

 

 

Financial Projections

The financial projections are based on the following assumptions:

Assumptions:

  • Initial 10,000 record POI database supplied by the media partner
  • 2% monthly growth in database from adding free listings by readers, viewers and advertisers
  • 30-day Free Trial of ClikitySplit's dynamic billboards
  • 1% of free listings upgraded each month to revenue-generating "dynamic billboards"
  • Average monthly subscription of the dynamic billboards = $100

If only 1% of the free listings in the visual online directory upgrade to revenue-generating dynamic billboards monthly, the strategic partner generates $420,000 in incremental revenue with little or no cost.  Realistically, effectively branding ClikitySplit with your resources should increase that upgrade percentage to 5-10%!

We encourage you to run your own financial projections.  Just change the drivers on Lines 1, 2, 5, and 6. 

 

 

Tutorials

The following informative tutorials will educate advertisers and end users:

Also check out our FAQs.

 
 

Educational Webcasts for Advertisers

Driving web traffic to ClikitySplit is accomplished via branding by the media partner.  Educating the advertiser how to effectively market online via ClikitySplit is the other major ingredient in monetizing your web traffic.  ClikitySplit takes care of that.

Educating the advertiser includes:

  • Tutorials about ClikitySplit
  • Step-by-step instructions how to build ClikitySplit's dynamic billboards
  • How to change the dynamic billboards in real time, keeping the content fresh
  • Webcasts (at least weekly) for all new and existing advertisers
  • Complete support

Marketing talent, not pay-per-click deep pockets, determines success in ClikitySplit.  The more we educate advertisers how to effectively market online and offline via ClikitySplit, the more advertisers will aggressively use it.

 

 

Co-branding

We want to build both your brand and ours.  Accordingly, we will gladly co-brand your media property with ClikitySplit.  We'll embed your logo or masthead on the left side of the header with ClikitySplit's logo on the right. 

When visitors click the ClikitySplit image on your website's homepage, ClikitySplit will open up in a new window, keeping your media property prominently displayed.  Therefore, the visitor's transition to ClikitySplit is seamless.

The cost of co-branding is $995.

 
 

ClikitySplit's Smartphone Application

ClikitySplit's Smartphone application is 85% complete with anticipated release in the 3rd quarter 2009.  Unlike other mobile applications, which are display advertising based, ClikitySplit's mobile app will mirror the PC version.  No banner or other advertising will be allowed. 

Screen shots of the Smartphone app are shown below.

 

         

 
 

In Conclusion...

  • At the very least, ClikitySplit builds the media partner an effective, differentiating local visual online directory
  • Ideally, the media partner obtains a huge new revenue stream, gains a competitive advantage, and seizes the opportunity to aggressively market ClikitySplit.

 
 

Contact Us

Give us a call or shoot us an email to discuss this unique strategic marketing proposal.  Here is our contact info:

 
     
 ©2007-2009 ClikitySplit.comTM    
 Patent Pending. All rights reserved