I caught the last few minutes of #blogchat on Twitter last night. If you have a Twitter account and like to discuss topics having to do with blog related subject matter, I highly recommend checking it out. I’m pretty much addicted to it now. It’s Sunday night at 8PM CT and Mack Collier, the founder, posts a different topic every time. Last nights’ topic was particularly interesting to me. Mack tweeted out earlier in the day to ask if anyone had any recommendations on topics they’d like to discuss for the session. One of the topics covering “Should You Advertise On Your Blog?” was recommended by Patrick Allmond and settled upon as the final decision.

This topic is very interesting to me, one that sparks enough thought to write a new blog post, and I’m calling this one “Advert Eyes”.

A few questions for thought here first…
How do we effectively advertise in this new day and age? What does it mean to advertise anyways, anymore?  Who’s  Adverting Your Eyes?

One of The Definitions of Advertising by the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary :

The action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements.

OK, so the dictionary states “especially by paid announcement”. Just wanted to get that fact established before I move on. Why? Because that’s the part I am most fascinated with exploring.

It’s a very simple fact to state that we all need to call attention to the products or services we sell. There is no way to let people know what we have to offer unless they are made aware. Pretty simple stuff, I know. My big question is: are people being adverted and therefore sold by paid advertisements themselves anymore? Yes, of course they are. I’d be a fool to think otherwise. But, I am talking more about the future and how the web landscape is changing everything so dramatically and quickly. In my humble opinion, the future could hold a very different answer. It’s happening on small scales more and more everyday. I’ve written about how different traffic driving techniques can occur to land on sites. I’ve also written about authenticity and/or lack thereof. See my previous blog posts. I think this topic of “Advert Eyes-ing” fits perfectly in the middle of those two others, like the meat inbetween two slices of bread to make for a great ham (or turkey, if you prefer) sandwich. And Yes, I know it’s getting close to lunch time. Get to the point, we’re all getting hungry.

The Point:

I believe that paid advertising, note I stated Paid, is slowly dying. Painfully Slow, but nevertheless it is. I don’t believe in many ways, shapes or forms it’s ever going away. There is a huge difference between something dying and going away. Advertising is effective today and will continue to be. Although, I think it will become less and less important as time marches on.  Here  is my rationalization: As more people personally brand themselves, earn the trust and as a result successfully become their own advertiser, or what I’m calling Advert-Eyes-er (adverter), without the payment, without  the eyeball adverting financial influence, and most importantly WITH authenticity to sell a product or a service they represent and passionately believe in, the more “advertising” by the textbook definition will dissolve one drip-drop at a time. We are talking both ways, influx and outbound. Paying me to steer eyeballs to you or paying You to steer eyeballs to me. I also know the argument can easily be made that the masses and the amount of eyeballs for any given audience cannot be seen on that large of a  level, scale and magnitude versus the paid versions currently available. And that’s a very valid point  for now, at least. But the more people personally brand, the more these early personal brand ambassadors will stand out in their respective fields,  and therefore the more people will follow suit to play catchup to them. And then, we all knows what happens next….

Final Thought:

I would believe You any given day of the week (if I like what you are saying) well before I would believe it coming from your company, business or what you represent.  Humans are adverts in today’s world, not Things.
Like I always state. “I am just a jewelry salesman”. I always love to learn and keep an open mind to other ideas and opinions. I encourage and respect your thoughts/comments down below. They are all greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time!

-DG