> If you start a new B2C business the only way to do inbound sales is advertisement, as by definition no one knows about your company/brand/products/services.

> If you start a new B2C business the only way to do inbound sales is advertisement, as by definition no one knows about your company/brand/products/services. This is not strictly true. Inbound sales is one tactic, there is also inbound marketing (aka SEO). The tactic or set of tactics available to a new B2C business largely depends on what trade offs they are willing to make between time and money. A cash-strapped B2C could invest time in SEO, while a decently-funded competitor could invest money in paid search ads. A well-funded rival could do both while also investing in social media ads. The tactics that will prove effective will largely depend on how clear the messaging is relative to more established competitors. > Outbound sales is (usually) impossible in B2C for cost reasons. Almost every successful B2C company is evidence that advertisement works. Again, not totally correct because you are using terms in a non-standard way. For instance, you refer to ‘advertisement’ when you really mean ‘marketing’. Sales and marketing as human activities, have existed from the beginning. Advertisements, the thing so derided on HN, only became feasible (and widespread) with the help technology. In other words, all ad forms depend on a enabling technology for their existence. The spread of printing presses eventually made one of the first ad formats—handbills—economically feasible when compared to the traditional practice of shouting to draw attention from patrons to the market square. The telephone made telesales/robocalls economically feasible at a scale that far surpasses doing cold calls on foot (i.e. door-to-door sales). Same with radio, television and ad formats enabled by the modern Web.