Although it is impossible to tell precisely how many visitors a site is getting without having access to complete logs, and similarly difficult to tell how one site stacks up against another (especially when some site masters don’t know how to differentiate image hits from page hits, etc.), there are third party traffic tracking tools that provide one methodology of roughly benchmarking one site against another (although the accuracy may be questioned).

One such site is Alexa, and as noted by Jason Busch over on Spend Matters in “Who Has Got the Eyeballs Online Spend Management Traffic” in November of 2007, Sourcing Innovation, the only other independent blog in the sourcing / procurement / supply & spend management space that publishes on a daily basis, was not only the 7^th most visited publisher of original content in the space, but the fastest growing content publisher in the space! With a three month change of 672,310 in the rankings, Sourcing Innovation’s growth rate was almost triple that of Spend Matters and essentially five times that of Supply Chain Digest, which was growing slowly while all of the other publications were essentially standing still. Not bad for an upstart blog that had been publishing for slightly less than a year and a half at the time!

The specific metrics on November 17, 2007 were:

Another such site, which I find to be much more reliable and consistent in rankings from month to month, is QuantCast. Between December 1, 2007 and March 8, 2008, Sourcing Innovation‘s ranking steadily increased from 5,530,305 to 434,201, making it, according to Quantcast, the fourth most trafficked publication in the space, preceded only by ISM’s Inside Supply Management, Purchasing Magazine, and Supply Chain Digest.

In addition, Sourcing Innovation is now peaking at an average of 15,000 unique page views a day! With the average visitor viewing an average of 1.5 pages per visit, it’s easy to see that peak days on Sourcing Innovation now attract almost 10,000 unique visitors, with average days generating over 8,000-plus page views and 5,000-plus unique visitors.  The following graph, complied using the built-in analytics package that accompanies the blog software, demonstrates how Sourcing Innovation hit this peak for the weeks ending January 19th and April 19th and that, once a peak is hit, daily SI traffic will eventually rise to that level!

Moreover, this traffic is starting to become truly global in scope!  Although the US still accounts for the majority of traffic at roughly 57%, we now have Canada representing 7%, the UK and India coming in at 6% each, China accounting for 3%, Germany and Australia with their share at 2%, and France and the Netherlands accounting for over 1% – and over 150 countries are represented in the last 15%!

However, the best measurement of this blog’s success is the bandwidth consumption rate, which is the most carefully tracked metric by any ISP. This blog is now serving up over 14 GigaBytes of pure text a month! (All images are hosted on separate sub-domains or web-sites with their own bandwidth allocations.) To put this in perspective, this is roughly equivalent to serving up the *entire* text of the Encyclopedia Britannica over fifty two (52) times each month!

SPONSORSHIPS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED

Since most of the new generation of marketers in the space don’t get the value of brand visibility and the value of being associated with a leading, independent, authority who focuses on education and not marketing or propaganda, and

Since SI will not adopt the “sponsored post” model as SI does not believe in “pay-to-play“, and more importantly, will not risk selling out its principles for extra $$$’s (as it’s very hard to maintain relationships when a “sponsor” thinks they can push what they want when they pay — as a former Lead Consulting Analyst on Advanced Sourcing for Spend Matters, the doctor is acutely aware of the agony Client Relations and Editorial went through on a weekly basis enforcing Spend Matters’ editorial ethics and just doesn’t want that headache).

SI temporarily suspended sponsorships when the doctor was writing for Spend Matters Pro and the M&A mania erupted the space into chaos.  However, now that the doctor is no longer associated with Spend Matters, and the M&A mania has calmed down, the doctor is considering re-opening sponsorships under the right set of conditions.

In the interim, SI will keep regularly publishing and keep addressing relevant issues, and in particular will cover those issues that are going unaddressed by the “leaders“, but SI will not commit to any schedule going forward until such time as it again has 4 logos on the sidebar.  (But given that it usually takes two crowbars to ply the doctor away from the keys, you can expect 5 posts a week most weeks.)

FYI, if you are wondering what THE VALUE OF SI ASSOCIATION is:

Over 2/3 of all companies that have had a commercial relationship with SI since its inception have merged, been acquired, or acquired other companies and are now (part of) bigger, more successful entities.

All companies that sponsored SI before sponsorships were suspended (when the doctor joined Spend Matters) and worked with SI have merged or been acquired on their terms and are now part of bigger, more successful entities.

To the best of SI’s knowledge, NO OTHER INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION or Independent Analyst Entity HAD THIS SUCCESS RATE. (Maybe it’s because the doctor is fussy about who he’ll work with … but still … )

Consistent with SI’s goal of openness and knowledge sharing, SI’s sponsorship model is public.

Basic Sponsorship

Overview (A MAXIMUM OF 5 Slots Available!)

• linked company logo on the topmost section of the right-hand sidebar
• “Sponsor Welcome” post and up to one “update”, “interview”, “commentary”, or “subject of interest” post per quarter (where SI maintains final editorial oversight)
• unlimited permission to reproduce blog posts, with citation and URL, during the sponsorship period (subject to the Sourcing Innovation copyright requirements and restrictions) for educational purposes
• attendance, and blog coverage, of one sponsor event per year in North America or Western Europe (at sponsor’s expense) [minimum twelve month sponsorship] (does not include speaking or panel moderation)
• reduced fees for webcasts, podcasts, white papers, and speaking engagements (and, in fact, if you are not a Fractional CRO client, it might be the only way to get them!)

Advisory Package

There will also be a (two-tier) advisory package option (for annual sponsorships) that will include:

• one day of advisory per quarter (or month)
• one (or two) Illumination(s) (SI’s white-paper) for educational marketing purposes (with webinar support)
• an additional event per year (i.e. you hold events on two continents or hold a small user workshop once per year for New Product Development in addition to an open conference)
• one speaking or panel session at one conference

SI would like to note that all of its sponsors in the past engaged SI on a regular basis, using either an advisory model or a fractional CRO model, and SI believes the key to their success was regular interaction with SI and other leading analysts and consultants.  As such, this offering will serve as an intermediate offering between sponsorship only and its full CRO services (which it is limited to a maximum of three, but probably only two, non-directly competing companies at any one time).

Payment Options

• one lump sum up front or
• equal payments at the start of every quarter

PRICING

The pricing model will be included below when sponsorships are opened up again on a first-come, first-serve basis.  However, one thing we will say is that we will give you a year of visibility for less than the cost of one big event that will give you 3 (three) whole days.  Think about that.   Three days lost in a sea of madness or one year of visibility with FREE educational resources for your (potential) customers!

$X,000 / month with a 3 month commitment
$X,000 / month with a 6 month commitment
$X,000 / month with a 12 month commitment
(note that some benefits only kick-in with a 12 month commitment)

The rates listed will be valid for the length of the initial contract period (up to twelve months). Sponsors get first right of refusal on continued sponsorship beyond their initial sponsorship period at the rates in effect 60 days before the end-date of their current sponsorship period and will then have 30 days to make a decision before the exclusive first right of refusal expires. The advertised rates will not change more than once per quarter, regardless of demand or change in site popularity.

You can e-mail contact us using the contact information in the FAQ at any time to discuss sponsorship opportunities.

I believe in an open business environment enabled by education and knowledge sharing.
Furthermore, I believe that independent blogs, and not trade publications and analyst firms, are the future of knowledge dissemination on the internet.

I believe in the power of informed, independent opinions.
Sourcing Innovation is a breath of fresh air compared to the vendor blogs that seem to dominate the space.

I know that an informed customer is better than an uninformed one.
It’s easier to sell to a customer who understands what they need.

I believe in the power of the brand.
I know that the average life-span of a business is 14 years and shrinking, that only 33% of companies in the Fortune 500 will get through the next decade unscathed, and that there is a strong correlation between the top 100 brands and those companies that have survived relatively unscathed for more than 5 years. I believe that SI will help me build my brand.

I know that when it comes to enterprise software, click-through advertising doesn’t cut it.
Click-throughs work when you’re selling commodity goods that can be bought on an impulse. They don’t work when you’re selling sophisticated enterprise software systems that require layers of budget approvals.

I know that throwing up a companion website to a traditional print publication doesn’t guarantee hits, and that this means that advertising in on-line versions of traditional publications isn’t useful.
Brand value comes from brand recognition, and that comes from continual exposure. Most publications haven’t embraced the power of the new media, and still publish the bulk of their new material on a traditional monthly publication schedule. As a result, visitors to those sites tend to check them only once or twice a month, which implies that they will have very limited exposure, if any, to my advertisement. Thus, the return on the (large amount of) money I paid will be minimal.

I believe that a SI sponsorship is perfect for me.
There are no advertisements – just a small, restricted number of sponsor logos. Even if readers don’t notice my logo every day, they’re still going to notice it regularly. This will give me brand recognition every day. Readers will remember the intro post, they’ll know what I do, and I’ll get invited to the table. One informational SI post is worth a dozen press releases, because it is passed around, reviewed, and re-reviewed by my customers and their peers. Regular reading of SI allows readers to understand what they’re looking for and be able to see where my solution adds value. I believe I win when the customer best understands the value I offer.

I’m going to contact the doctor (using the contact information in the FAQ) because I know where my market is going — they’re going to Sourcing Innovation!

P.S. If you want the long version, it can still be found here in the original post: Why I’m Going to Sponsor SI!

Note: If you’re short on time, please see Why I’m Going To Sponsor SI … For Executives for an abbreviated version.

I believe in an open business environment, where knowledge is shared and users are educated and informed. I choose to support independent thought leaders who can cut through marketing double-speak, veils of secrecy, and accepted myths, and who can drill to the truth of the matter. And I believe that independent blogs, not trade publications and analyst firms, are the future of knowledge dissemination on the internet.

SI is the first and only blog that is focused primarily on end user education and knowledge sharing. It is also the only major blog written by a technologist who understands what technology can (and cannot) do, and therefore it is the only blog capable of diving deep into solution offerings and not just the marketing around them. This allows the editor to understand what a solution provider can do, what they could do, and what they ought to do, and to pass that knowledge on so that buyers can make an informed decision. And it’s one of the only blogs where the author is not afraid to have an informed and independent opinion. In a space populated primarily by vendor blogs with vendor messages, it’s a breath of fresh air.

By sponsoring SI, I’m letting the world know that I believe in openness, knowledge sharing, and honesty. I’m confident in the value of my offering, so I want to help my prospective customers understand my products as well as those of my competitors. My prospective customers, who understand what they’re looking for thanks to great expository posts on SI, get a good sense of what my products and I are all about before they make the first contact. This allows us to have a meaningful dialogue from day one! And I serve my current customers by insuring the continued availability of a great resource that expands their minds, knowledge, and capabilities.

Furthermore, an investment in SI, which will be seen as a positive by my target market, helps me to build my brand for the long term. I’m familiar with the research by Bain & Co which determined that the average business life-span is now 14 years, that only 33% of the companies in the Fortune 500 will get through the next decade unscathed, and that the other 67% will either have to merge, acquire, or drastically change their business model to survive. I’m familiar with the Interbrand rankings that rank the top 100 most valuable brands. And I see the strong correlation between those companies that have survived more than 5 years in the Fortune 500 unscathed and those with a high brand value.

I understand that click-through advertising doesn’t cut it – because, as easily measurable as clicks are, clicks alone don’t have value. It’s not clicks, it’s not registrations, it’s sales and market-place recognition. Just because I paid $3 for a Google ad-word doesn’t mean that a click I get from that ad-word is going to have value. First of all, most search terms mean different things to different people, so “purchasing solution” could mean a P-card to one user and a full-fledged “e-Procurement Solution” to another. Secondly, there’s no way to know if I’m reaching my target market. Maybe it’s a senior buyer typing “sourcing” — but maybe it’s an HR recruiter who also does talent sourcing.

I also believe that advertising in on-line variants of traditional publications is insufficient. Brand value comes from brand recognition, and that comes from continual exposure. Most publications haven’t embraced the power of the new media, and still publish the bulk of their new material on a traditional monthly publication schedule. As a result, visitors to those sites tend to check them only once or twice a month, which gives them little exposure to my advertisement. Furthermore, since these sites use traditional advertising models and allow virtually unlimited ads — scattered throughout, over, and under, the page — there’s no guarantee that my ad is going to be seen at all! And even though I may get a click-through from someone in the space, it’s not necessarily someone interested in what I have to offer.

I’m selling enterprise software and services – not books and CDs. I’m not going to get a sale on a click, even if it’s from a purchasing director looking to buy a solution that does almost exactly what my solution does. I’m going to get the sale by winning the deal against all the other vendors that get invited to the table in the selection process. And the way I win this deal is (1) by getting invited to the table in the first place, which will not happen if I’m not known, and (2) by selling to a buyer who understands the value in what I’m selling, which will not happen unless the buyer has been able to educate himself or herself on what my products do and the important problems they solve.

That’s why a SI sponsorship is perfect for me! There are no ads – just a small, restricted number of sponsor logos. Even if readers don’t notice my logo every day, they’re still going to notice it regularly. This will give me brand recognition, readers will remember the intro post, they’ll know what I do, and I’ll get invited to the table. Furthermore, through regular reading of SI and referenced materials, they’ll also understand what they’re looking for and be able to see where my solution adds value. I believe I win when the customer best understands the value I offer.

Finally, I want to be a partner in moving the space forward. I want readers to know that I have sponsored SI, what it is that I do, and why my products may be worth checking out. One informational post on my product in SI is worth a dozen press releases. I’m excited about the positive marketing campaign I can spin around an SI sponsorship – and about my support of a market leading resource with similar goals in terms of open business and end user education.

And I’m getting involved at a great time. Over the past year, SI has increased in popularity over 500%. With readership beginning to increase at an even more rapid pace, it’s poised to take the space by storm.

I’m going to e-mail the doctor right now (using the contact information in the FAQ) to see about reserving my sponsorship slot!