Originally Posted by Paul Markham

It's one purely of perception. You think converting 1-100 of consumers, not clicks on a banner, is marvelous. I see it as losing 99%. When you consider most Tubes don't convert 1-1,000 of consumers, then you have to think it's not very good. Unless you think losing 99.9% of interested people is good.

I use to sell Office furniture, if I knocked on 10 doors I reckoned to pick up one as a customer. If a person walked into our showroom, off the street, I convert 2-3. If an invited person to the showroom, I would convert at an higher rate.

Before that I worked on my market stall around London. If a person came to the stall and started looking at the good, clothing, I converted 50%.

I was a salesman.

If you think selling is giving free samples to 1,000s for 1 to buy. Again we have a problem with the word selling. If you think it's called marketing, we don't have a problem. you do. Because it's not.

It's slinging mud at a wall in the hope some will stick.

Or laying out 1,000s of free samples and waiting for someone to find something they like enough to buy. When the free samples are a substitute for buying the product, then you left selling and marketing a long way back.