Are you a fan of The Apprentice? Last night, Chris attempted to lead the Apex team to a victory against Mosaic by generating the most profit from sales in a bridal shop of each team's making. Both teams got their shops open and stocked with dresses. Both teams were motivated to sell the dresses to their bridal customers. Mosaic trounced Apex by generating over $12,000 in profit, while Apex barely passed $1,000 in profit. The difference? MARKETING.

Apex adopted what we call the "buckshot approach". They went to Penn Station and Grand Central Station and handed out flyers to every commuter who would accept one. How many brides were in that group? No one knows.

Mosaic, on the other hand, sent out an email to 23,000 engaged women. A one-shot plan, but aimed directly at their market. When Mosaic opened their doors, they had over 40 customers standing in line. Apex had merely 2.

Now, if you're expecting this next paragraph to extol the virtues of email marketing, you're going to be disappointed. What The Apprentice illustrated to me was the difference between "link farms" and paid online advertising. There are companies out there who will promise a website owner 30,000 hits a month. So what? That's the difference between handing out flyers in Penn Station and sending an email to a woman who is engaged. Our advertising campaign may deliver 200 visitors to the site, but those 200 people are searching for what the website offers. Which would you rather have? 30,000 passers-by or 200 interested buyers?