exposure, repitition, niche marketing, but it didn't work [or did it?]

Seth has a post here that points here about being overexposed scott andrew says…

"Anyway, it kind of hammers home the lessons I've been learning for the past two years, namely that most of the time, exposure is just exposure. It's one thing to get in front of someone; it's another thing to keep them interested, and another thing to get them to care. It also gives you an idea of the numbers game the Big Labels have to play in order to make the bucks they need to stay in business.

Now I kinda wish we could re-run the experiment. Are MySpace users just younger and without credit cards? What happens when you make the 'Buy CD' links bigger? What happens when you include artwork? Change the colors? What if you offered $2 off just for MySpace members? What about a free t-shirt for the first 10 to buy? Eh, forget sales — how about a free CD to anyone who refers 10 more MySpace friends? You know, make 'em feel good for being a MySpace ninja...

...and it's around this point that I realize: evil marketing-bot DNA has somehow seeped into my blackened soul, threatening to turn me into a switch-your-phone-service telemarketing lizard-boy, to be scorned by the world.

I will atone by listening to Led Zeppelin I-IV."

read the whole post, there's some very interesting statistics that show how the exposure didn't work. but scott has some ideas about why it didn't work, or could work, and Mary Schmidt goes on to point to a further idea and some insight

So, some questions for you to keep in mind as you develop/grow your business:

1. Am I going after the right target markets? Will they (easily) understand and value what I’m offering?
2. Am I positioning my product/service as a value offering? One of the common client mistakes I see in my consulting practice is pricing too low or - yes - even offering things for “free” to attract customers. This kills the value proposition and reduces them to competing on price, which is a no-win proposition for just about any type or size of company. (Wal-Mart and handful of others being the exception to this rule and there are many reasons they can do this - not just marketing positioning.)
3. Am I using the right sales methods & channels to attract and keep quality (revenue/profit generating) customers? In this case, MySpace isn’t the place for bands to make money, as evidenced by the results quoted above. Same is true of any potential “channel” If you’re selling a high-end, high quality product - you don’t want to offer in low-end, mass market stores or web sites. Example: I (and many others) would never buy Land’s End clothing at K-Mart.

it seems to me that maybe it's not the right niche.

we've said before: fish at your feet.
show up where your clients are.

unfortunately teenagers are on myspace, but if they're anything like the teenagers in my home, they've got no money and think music is free anyway