Two days ago, we kicked off our PPC campaign. We had been talking about it for a month. Like all significant events, there is a right time to do it. A few days ago, we felt that time had come.
PPC stands for Pay Per Click, an ingenious invention perfected by Google. The rough idea is that you create an account wit Google Adwords, set an advertising budget, write one or a series of ads in three lines, and create a keyword database that best matches the products or services you market. Google places the ads on its search engine and those of its partners, as well as the so-called content websites subscribed to Google’s other advertisement program, AdSense. Whenever a potential customer clicks the ad to our site, we pay Google a fee. The art of the Google AdWords is to place bids to achieve the right ad placement so that the clicks and cost per click reach an optimum.
To create a three-line ad and the associated keyword database was a fun task, but what is more addictive is to see the traffic from the unknown reaches of the Internet, from total strangers sitting in front of their computer, having some faint idea of need, whizzing past our site, much like the days when I drove through the desert of American South. Once in a while a billboard popped out beside the highway. I cast a nonchalant eye on the ad, more drawn to the model than to the product . The car moved too fast for me to remember anything about the ad after a few seconds, except the sensation that I was moving.
Internet commerce is here to stay. We got into it convinced that if it is not the future, it is at least a gate through which future must pass. We would like to think that we are the gatekeeper of future, but would be content if we were just toll collectors.
We would be ecstatic if we make a lot of money through our venture. But if we do not make a penny, we will be happy in other ways. It is the process of learning, of challenging ourselves, of taking risks, that has foreordained that this is going to be a fun ride.
There is no guarantee in life. Especially if what you aim to achieve depends on the “kindness of strangers.” When all is quiet and I can afford a moment of reflection – a luxury that is getting from “exclusive” to “elusive”, my thought revolves around this notion of the new ether. In the early 20th century, ether was believed by many to be the invisible glue that holds space-time together. Einstein’s relativity shot that notion down. The analogy to the Internet is obvious, and being a subjective allusion, cannot be debunked, either by a genius or by a fool.
Our PPC is going well. The feeling is faintly reminiscent of watching one’s children grow, but at a much accelerated pace. The ads start to show on the internet within a minute. Within ten minutes, trickles of traffic. Within a hour, a torrent.
Within a lifetime? A new ether that binds our new reality. Somewhere in this reality there is a gate. Unlike the billboard along the highway, at the toll booth, one pays for the beautiful journey ahead.
