Fordebating.com will not see a substantial gain in membership based on the site owners advertising..

I look forward to an intellectual debate with you, and hope this goes well. Key Affects of AdvertisingTo start the debate I would like to post my thoughts on what effective advertising is, and how I don't see Coveny specifically hitting the major points that would require him to be successful. In an article by author Rick Suttle, we can see what he feels are major important factors in hitting a target audience. The first is Reach. "This measurement pertains to the number of people who actually saw a company's advertising. "(1) Keeping in mind that Coveny's advertising most likely extends other places besides just Debate. org, when we look at the physical amount of individuals he is appealing to, we have to consider how many active members are even aware of his posts. It's safe to assume that the majority of active forum users are also long term users who either been around for a long time, or look for a community they like to stick with and grow. That said, the number of individuals he is appealing to, is already a very small portion of the website. As far as I have seen, Coveny's only made a public spectacle of himself and his website within the forums, and one debate between himself and Mikal in which the topic specifically refers to Fordebating. com. (2) A debate that despite the appearance of a large amount of views (Views are counted upon refresh, so can easily have been pulled by the two debaters and any moderators that had to look at the controversial debate multiple times) only ever received one vote. Even if we were to grant him that all of the users he engaged with in heated arguments in the forums or even people who just saw the drama and were interested in his website for some reason, were to sign up as members of his website, by contrast the total intake of members isn't going to be large. I'd be surprised if there are more than 20 people in the forums who even know about or care about the drama on top of that. Assuming he was able to convince all 20 individuals he's appealed to through his out-reach on Debate. org, that doesn't seem to qualify as a substantial gain. At least not substantial enough to justify all the time he has spent appealing to these forum members, where this time may have been better spent advertising elsewhere or even working on his website to ultimately yield more of a growth in user base. Another point Mr. Suttle lists is Sales and Profits. "The best way to build sales and profits is by reaching the right target audience. In other words, small business owners must make sure their advertising reaches the people who are most likely to purchase their products. " (1) In context to Debate, he certainly is on a website that is topical and relevant to debating, but the real question is how he is pitching his website to these debaters in a way that would make one heavily consider switching the community they spend time on from Debate. org, to ForDebating. com. Coveny believes that by simply being a presence he is marketing his website. What he hasn't been focusing on nearly as much, is pitching the benefits of the whole package. He made one initial forum talking about ForDebating, and occasionally he makes little quips about his new website to individuals who complain about the site of DDO here and there. But we should think of a decision to move website similar to switching an Internet provider. If I have spectrum Internet, and I hear about savings, faster speeds, and less of an agreement term, I am more willing to switch than simply seeing an advertisement where the owner of AT&T makes fun of Spectrum's consumer base and constantly argues with them. Coveny has a whole theory on "drama being an effective advertiser" which I will get into later, but what he isn't prioritizing is focusing on key aspects that are far more likely to attract people. Coveny would be much more successful by putting a greater focus on the benefits of his website, and highlighting key features people will be able to take advantage of. The effects of controversy against Brand AwarenessIf there's one thing to credit coveny on, it's his Brand Awareness for the website. Certainly when Coveny is brought up, the automatic thought is to place him as a the head of a website he has invested time and money into. The heart of his pitch has constantly been that he is not adverse to the controversy that has taken place between him and the other members of the website, because it furthers awareness of his website. But we can take my earlier point into consideration here, that the controversy is driving away the same members he is or should be trying to appeal to. Again we are taking a very small margin of a forum based community, as opposed to appealing to other aspects of the site. When the majority of a community tend to dis-agree with you or think you are an "@sshole" (3) as one of his recent debates lists him as, he is not setting up a whole lot of incentive for these same members to check out his website. So I think an important point to talk about here that will inevitably be brought up during this debate as it has been discussed about in length on the website, is the effects of advertising through drama. My opponent has consistently brought up the point that controversy will aid him, the same way it aids others like Alex Jones. Alex Jones has a net worth of 10 million, which coveny attributes to him marketing through drama. Well this isn't entirely true. Alex Jones appeals to the insecurities of his listeners: "An examination of his business seems to indicate that the vast majority of Infowars’ revenue comes from sales of these dietary supplements. Infowars isn’t a media empire — it’s a snake-oil empire. " (4) But Alex Jones certainly is a character, and his outlandish views and beliefs certainly bring him an audience, even if a major portion of that audience deigns to listen to him knowing he is absurd to make fun of him. So granting coveny that being absurd can attract an audience in specific situations, it is definitely not the same situation with Coveny's debating website. Alex Jones is a radio show, and when you listen to him you know you are going to hear some oddball theories. Is that what people in a debating community are looking for though? Is this really what Coveny should be wanting for his website? I don't think it is. In fact, Coveny himself said otherwise by constantly highlighting issues with debate. org "There seems to be some major problems with spam, voting, and just a general disinterest in the website over there. All looking very good Fordebating. com" Wouldn't this make a better selling point than a "Hey look at me, I am controversial". Users aren't going to be hooked by drama, they want features and this is what Fordebating has. This should be his selling points. To equate Alex Jones to himself, is essentially saying that he knows what he is saying and doing is bull crap for clicks. Getting quick clicks doesn't create a community of members though who are prone to refresh a page daily and make them more likely to click advertisements, or engage in other aspects of the website that will produce money. Coveny should be looking forward to building a professional environment that encourages and challenges free thinking, networking, and better features. An Alex Jones approach is just selling snake oil for money, and if money is the only goal this simply won't work. Obviously this is a business venture for him, but it needs to be more than a business venture in order to be successful. Great YouTubers who make money like Casey Neistat, or successful business owners, all have to have a vested interest in their product, show, and believe in what they are doing, and the money comes later. ConclusionAdvertising a product through negative attention will not yield a substantial gain from this website. It is my belief that Coveny could have been more successful with his website if he had invested his time with trying to sell the product, rather than himself. It is my hope that Coveny finds this out, maybe even through this debate. I genuinely hope his website does well, and I think with a bit of proper focus, he can make that happen. Sources:1. . http://smallbusiness.chron.com...2. . http://www.debate.org...3. . http://www.debate.org...4. . http://nymag.com...