Work Yourself Up!

Nobody Gives a Damn - Why This Domain Name?

As you've probably noticed, the domain for this site is nobodygivesadamn.com.  Why?

When I got the idea to do a "general" marketing blog (I already have one for music marketing), the first thing I did was try to come up with a good name.  After all, you'll get more traffic to your site if people can remember the URL, right?

As you know, domains like onlinemarketing.com or webmarketing.com just aren't available off the shelf in 2006.  And I didn't want something like online-marketing-blog-you-should-read.com or some made-up word that nobody would remember... So I went through a list of domains that I use to track ads to see if I could work anything in.

A bit about that...

I don't want to dumb this down for people, but also don't want to skip over an important concept which might save you tens of thousands of dollars...literally.  If you've heard this, feel free to skip over it, but I hope that you'll keep reading, even if you know about tracking, because I think you'll like my approach.

Bottom line, you need a separate URL for each ad that you place.  That way you'll know which ads work and which don't.

But I don't like to do use a URL like generictrackingURL.com because I don't think they're nearly as effective.  If you've got a good URL, this is actually part of your sales-copy and can increase conversion.

For example, if I were to place a classified ad for this site, which of these two would you click on?

1. ONLINE MARKETING HELP - Get online marketing help right now at www.generictrackingURL.com.

2. ONLINE MARKETING HELP - Nobody give a damn about your product?  We can help.  www.nobodygivesadamn.com

And yes, I know the copy sucks on both ads.  And I know the headline is weak.  This example isn't to show off my copywriting skills.  I'm trying to get you to look at how a URL can be part of the copy though, rather than just something to track.

Plus, you want something that people will be curious about.  You want them to think, "Hmmm... Nobody Gives a Damn dot com?  I wonder what that's about."

A great example...

Let's say you're looking at a magazine ad for deodorant.  Sure, most everybody uses it, but it's not really something where you'd put down your magazine, go to your computer, and look at the web site being mentioned.

But you might if they had a funny name like underarms.com.

Which is exactly why Procter and Gamble owns this domain...

So to answer the question about why this site is at nobodygivesadamn,com, that's why.  I already had the URL for tracking purposes, wasn't currently running a campaign with it, and thought it was appropriate for the material being covered here.

I have plenty of these and will post some advertising examples which use them shortly.

Who Am I?

My name is David Hooper.  I just set up this blog for people interested in both online and offline marketing.  And here is why you should trust me...

I'm 33 years old.  I've had an email address since I was 10.

I've been marketing online since the early 80s...back in the day of bulletin board systems and online networks like CompuServe and Q-Link.  While in high school, I expanded into direct mail.

I have plenty of experience and know what works as well as what doesn't work.

Although I have dozens of "niche" sites for various products and services, I work in these areas primarily as a "testing ground" for my main business...music.  This is what I am best known for.  I have a nationally syndicated radio show on the subject (get the podcast free), I've got 6 published books, and I'm an in-demand speaker.

I take marketing seriously, but view it more like a game than anything else... 

In this country, money is important to people.  So I look at it as the ultimate skill to make somebody want to part with it.  Somebody has money, I want it, and I've got to use my skills of written words and speech to persuade him into handing that money to me.

This isn't force...that doesn't count.  I'm not holding a gun to somebody's head and making him do anything; I'm simply encouraging him to want what I've got more than he wants his money.

It's a great skill to have.  And I hope this blog will enable you to do the same...

I encourage you to bookmark this site (Yahoo! / del.icio.us) as well as sign up for updates via email.  I've got some great resources to share with you as well as a way of looking at things you won't see elsewhere.