Four Click Freedom

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Clickboards are a new form of Internet advertising that will help stimulate demand for retail and other businesses through the promotion of discounts and rewards that studies have shown to be highly effective in response by Internet users.  The overall value of the Clickboard is higher and more competitive due to its performance than any other kind of Internet advertising especially in the world of social media.

Projections show that after one year, costs can be recouped and overall performance based on the low end can produce results over RMB100,000 per month making it as competitive as local magazines.

Capital needed for equipment, software, personnel, time, and web services needed as well as hidden costs can be covered in the first two months of successful operation which should be one year after initial introduction.  Intellectual property and ownership of this new product as well as financial rights to investors and current owners is still something that needs to be discussed, but the involvement of each party is outlined in this statement.

Clickboards has been in construction for almost one decade now and as the market is looking for alternatives at this moment and because this product is best stimulated by the current economy, this is the best time to introduce it.  There are no legal binding measures in place at this moment except for intellectual property rights which can be defended with the years of work and research involved especially that outlined on the blog advertual.com.

Clickboards is my invention and there are no competitors at this moment making it a good time to be a first mover.  Prototypes have been made and extensive design has gone into the future installation of this product.  Results from social conversation have always garnered interest and intrigue.

NAME

Clickboards, Clickcard, and Clickboards.net

These are the generic names of these three tools that work together.  The main reason behind their names is to reflect the ‘how to use’ function of these tools.  However the names can be changed to match the preferences of the user.  For example the Clickcard does not need to be a card at all, but for ease of explanation I will refer to these three items using these unbranded names.

VISION

To create strength in a weak (in terms of effectiveness) online market where the potential is high to establish the means for personalized, non-disruptive, advertising for all media’s utilizing the Internet.

In five years it is likely that a strong social network for savings will be established and fluorishing.  Not only in Tianjin, this platform will be applied to other cities and should be on the verge of being a national utility.

The business at its core is a Social Shopping Networking Utility.  Social Utilities are the new wave for marketing and will continue to be in the coming decade.  Web 3.0 will focus mainly on how to get customers to interact more with their shopping behaviors.  Creating a platform where people share not only in their common circles but their extended networks to seemingly strangers bringing more transparency to global retail.

Unlike other social marketing strategies which require high amounts of involvement with little or no advantage to the Internet user, Clickboards not only stimulates but also rewards the users each step of the way.  It creates a bridge of mutual interest between clients and users.  Not only do the users have control over what they gain and how they are targeted, if at all, but also the clients or advertisers can gain valuable insight over their targeted and un-targeted markets.

MISSION STATEMENT

To change the way people think about the Internet and the overall benefit from using the Internet for shopping and savings.  Advertising has always had the dilemma of being the unwanted guest rather than a tool for users to benefit themselves and their experiences on and off line.

I have a bachelors in advertising and have worked in media since high school.  Three years after graduating high school the Clickboard actually came to me as an idea.  It started out as a pop-up and gradually over time had to be enhanced to keep up with Internet trends.  I have tried to trademark my names but was told the names are too generic to do so.  This idea has stuck with me and every once in a while I get heated up again and try to take action.  Now for almost a decade I have been mulling over this idea and to this date have still seen no one put anything along these line together and into action.

My product is a big idea and thus can fit almost any scenario to fit the shape that the Internet takes over time.  It keeps up with growing trends, even so far as the scare about behavioral marketing that is taking place right now.

Although I use generic names to discuss my idea.  Their names are malleable to fit any local market.  I believe the future in branding this product is simply the clicker-icon with the star that moves back and forth on the banner to encourage people to click.  In any market this will become to be recognized.  It can be copied or altered; but to the same degree, that is further reinforcement of my product.  In the future this clicker-icon will become the brand identity.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

My goal is to make a profitable and self sustaining website that supports all employees and pays back all investors and has enough liquidity to expand the operations in a timely manner.

To create profitability there needs to be at least 100 Clickboards active in a singular community.  This does not necessarily mean 100 clients but the more the better.  Looking at other local players in the media business, 50 clients can be quite challenging.  But pulling from advertisers who are already in the market and creating a platform for local businesses to become easily involved at a fair price, I believe within one year after initiation this quota can be fulfilled.

STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS (SWOT)

This business, like all new business models has a combination of all of these.

The online industry is changing almost every two years.  The Clickboard model has had to be changed many times to keep up with the various trends in the market.  So why should this product be introduced to the market now?  Because the market is screaming for something new that will add substance to a limp fish.  Currently Search Engine Optimization is the key to any website.  Websites constructed for the sole purpose for achieving these mathematical goals are the winners.  But this destroys actual content driven websites and services.  My strength is that I have the ability to actually raise prices based on performance using current measuring techniques like click through rate, action oriented results, and even so far as the physical use of the promotion.  The current performance criteria actually work in my favor and that is why this model works in the current market.

The market may change however, as is the case with social marketing.  In this case things can closer resemble that of product placement.  Various costs will be established for straight line product exposure.  My model will continue to supersede these changes, as my prices will fluctuate and be determined based on flat costs.  Anything that my product is able to obtain over and above market prices will continue to be the profits driven by performance.  Performance is something that will always garner better prices.

Keeping Clickboards to myself is going to be quite a challenge.  This is the second weakness and must be harnessed and reigned in; this being said instigating people to click is one of the larger challenges in the market today.  Again I believe the clicker-icon and those icons that other people make to promote ’safe clicking’ will become the norm.  Differentiating myself from these copycats should not be hard if I make a large enough effort to establish myself as the first mover.

New technologies should make this idea flourish and become better.  For instance there are plans in my design for Clickboards.net Kiosks that will be in front of large grocery stores and retail outlets.  People can do pre-shopping or even use their smart phones to organize thier promotions and find similar discounts for products they are looking for at the time of their physical shopping experience.

New web-based technologies will also make it easier for people to share, collect, manage, and utilize their coupons.  For instance building websites that are actually three in one, meaning one URL actually displays three different websites that all interact seamlessly, where the old one-click websites can not handle the stream of information.  Now users can interact with their pages and other people in their network from one seemingly fully integrated website. No refreshing needed between the clicks.  Also the Clickboards themselves can be fully operational websites inside the banner spaces provided.

STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN

This is the most critical step including both the sales and the marketing.

I will develop a highly profitable website within one year.  The main achievements over this year will be to furbish a website that is highly competitive in design and trusted by users.  Clients will see the potential in advertising on our website.  Traffic of at least 5,000 hits a month will be achieved and Google and other search engines will recognize the URL on at least the second page for those searching Tianjin.

✓      The website will not go into action until design process has been proved effective with test market.  I would say in six months this goal is achievable.

✓       Clients will sign letters of intent to advertise using the new pricing model on our website.  Twenty clients will be obtained over the six months and another twenty in the remaining part of the year.

✓       The Clickcard will be handed out after the six month trial phase once website has met design criteria and clients have signed firm contracts for one year.  1000 Clickcards will be registered as users by the end of one year and one half.

✓       At least twenty local clans will be established within these users at the end of this one year. (Clans are part of the social savings part of Clickboards.net)

✓       At the end of this one year, data from users will be collected and given to the clients.  New contracts will be signed and new promotions offered by our clients to users based on these results.

The marketing for this product is the most important.  Over some coffee and cigarettes, I have found that the most advantageous means of promoting this service is through the use of the JIN MAGAZINE name.  Through cooperation with the magazine, newsletter, and the soon to be radio affiliate, traffic can be created on the JIN MAGAZINE website.  At this time, it is in my best interest to use a currently well established brand name, rather than creating one on my own.  I want to remodel the current website and add various pages on the website that would act as a portal for Clickboards.net.  Of course this wouldn’t be its name, rather I would use the name JIN CARD to promote this service.  The card and website would promote themselves as extensions of the magazine, where even hard copy advertisements can work in conjunction with the website portal.  This includes the promotion of coupons, prizes, and user interaction.

The number one thing that will make this site work, is not staying within the boundaries of the JIN MAGAZINE website.  Rather Clickboards can be sold across the Internet to local users.  Using services such as Alimama.com, we can sell our clients Clickboards on national websites, including the likes of Facebook.com, that will drive local users to the Clickboards portal on the JIN MAGAZINE website.  So no longer are we limited to the amount of ads we can sell only with the space provided on our website.  This makes the idea of having 100 Clickboards on the Internet a reality.

The second most important, yet still just as critical concept, is that at all times we can track the results of the Clickboards.  Not only on our site but on the sites that we list the Clickboards outside the JIN MAGAZINE website.  We not only need this to see how we are doing but also how much to charge our clients.  As each Clickboard is made up of several clicks, we need this information to charge our clients.  This information is what will drive the effectiveness of our ads but also the future sales with recurring contracts but also with new clients.  Showing them the ability of the Clickboard to draw in users, not only from the first click, but all the way through to the sale will garner this product a sound name and also prove its effectiveness as a sound ad stage and thus prices can be raised.

FINANCIAL PLAN

Initial calculations show this as a sound business model with little expenses necessary to get it up and running.  However much time and effort is necessary to make this a success.

I want to show you an example of what the case would be if JIN MAGAZINE website had the same activity as that of another local website TianjinExpats.com.  But to put things in perspective about the local online community let me first give a you a basis point for recognizing how much activity is out there.

INCOMING CASH FLOW

In April this year TianjinExpats.com had 15,000 visits with over 90,000 page views.  Their homepage banner for one month costs RMB2000.  Using an industry standard, their click through rate on the 15,000 visits would be 2% giving a total of 300 clicks on the ads.  Then calculating their price per click the value of RMB2000 / 300 clicks would give you RMB6.6/click.

Using this as an example in relation to Clickboards which have anywhere between three to five clicks in the total number of clicks we would expect a response at least two or three times higher in the number of clicks.  Using more of an industry standard of RMB4/click rather than the RMB6.6/click and multiplying this by two or three times and again multiplying it by the 300 responses to ads we could expect results to be anywhere between RMB2400 to RMB3600.

If this one banner was on JIN MAGAZINE website alone we would keep the profits and exercise more competitiveness over TianjinExpats.com because we offer the better and more responsive product although our prices are higher.

On a larger scale if we were to put ads across the Internet we would determine our price per click in the same manner.  We would pay the websites their monthly rates and keep whatever goes over from our pricing strategy as profit.

If 100 Clickboards are created for clients and we again use the 2%CTR, that each click is RMB4 and use an average of three clicks per Clickboard, then each impression of the 100 Clickboards would have two ads clicked each worth RMB12 for the three clicks.  So then the two ads worth a total of RMB24 would be worth RMB24,000/mille or per 1,000 impressions.  Now most sites will receive 10,000 impressions per month on the low end or 10 CPM.  Our total value earned would then be RMB240,000/10CPM.

Only several of the ads will actually be on the JIN MAGAZINE website.  If 60 of the ads were placed across the internet and the total cost for placing them per month was RMB2000, that would total RMB120,000 still leaving us with RMB120,000 as profit per month.

I find this quite realistic and competitive to the magazine.

EXPENSES

Like any business there are costs involved.  For example: equipment like fast computers, software, personnel, JIN CARDS, web utilities, time.

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Of course traveling expenses and an entertaining and sales budget for clients would also be required.  But as learned from working at the magazine.  This can be a minimal expense that can be determined monthly.  Probably not to exceed RMB1000 a month.  Other hidden costs involve dealing with the services like national websites and Alimama.com.  These must be determined later but can be covered in the costs per click of the Clickboards.  Revenue will start coming in as the new website is launched and several of these costs will be covered in the reinvestment of the funds.  As can be seen with the revenue stream, the year worth of costs should be recouped after the first several months of successful operation.

MARKETING

Initial customers will come from the pool of clients currently advertising on the Internet.  At these competitive prices further sales should be made to local businesses that also want to get involved in this new social marketing network.  All in all we will be utilizing all media outlets to promote this service including the print magazine, radio, and even newsletter.

MEASURING AND EVALUATION

The beauty of this plan is the ability to measure results from the beginning.

Not only can we evaluate the clarity and design of the website but every ad that we post can be tracked and monitored online.  Our clients will see results and we will create a performance driven application and portal for our users and advertisers.  The detailed action plan puts deadlines and KPI measures in place so that this project does not get behind schedule.  For both investors in the project and owners these are critical to determine responsibility for the projects achievements.  The only loss that is foreseen is the time necessary to find the qualified people necessary to make the project possible.  But as Tianjin is an IT heaven for new graduates, it is without cause for concern that this will not be a problem.

BETA TESTING

Throughout the creation of the Clickboards project, continuous testing will be necessary and over the course of the year changes to the overall design are sure to occur.  All of these will need to be evaluated and controlled so that the most economic path will be taken.  Also clients need to have the most interaction in the creation, so continuous surveys and testing will involve the cooperation between the clients.  This will ensure the customers and clients complete satisfaction and the easy transferable application to other markets