Known Community

by Cheryl C. Cigan

“Perception depends on where you’re sitting.” Stephen Pierce

We lined up single file on the playground. The gauntlet shaped into two teams one choice at a time. My sister’s take on being the last one picked meant “they choose me to even out the teams.” A charitable explanation, but I knew the other kids thought they “got stuck with me.”

Who invented kickball in the first place?
Organized sports never made sense to me. Odd too, because I’m from a family of athletes. My dad was a natural and played college ball, as did my brother, and now his son Kaare (see photo). I know I inherited my dad’s abilities too. My tennis coach told me I had the meanest back hand and serve he’d ever seen, but I knew at an early age that I’d never be an Arthur Ashe. Humiliation didn’t drive me from sports, it was realizing I was better at other things, so I honed skills, played to my strengths, and only entered arenas where I could compete and win.

Forehead slaps
Ever notice ‘forehead slaps’ when epiphanies sneak up on you? Last week while in Hansen Foods I ran into Shann Vander Leek. Shann owns True Balance Life Coaching. The conversation was electric and went beyond “Hi, how are you?” Her new book was rising on Amazon’s bestseller list and I’m embarrassed to admit I kept firing questions, intrigued, wanting to know more. Eventually my manners returned and we exchanged digital addresses so she could finish her shopping.

Looking down at her card I saw “Coaching” and I flinched. Pocketing the card I promised to check out her website and books.

Leveraging skills and strengths
The phrase “coaching” is all over the internet. Internet marketers have private coaching groups, and offer coaching programs to teach you what they know. Usually when I see a big push towards “online coaching” I click away and flee, fast. While exploring Shann’s website I felt the first ‘epiphany slap.’ Life coach. I got it. What else was she going to call herself? She works with clients to help them transition from one phase of their life to another leveraging their skills and strengths.

It is teaching
Words. Different titles and labels for the same thing. Passing information and what you know to another person. Information. Teaching, coaching, consulting, mentoring and conducting. Modify the word however you want, but it is teaching.

The second ‘epiphany slap’ brought clarity and replaced cynicism. Teaching is coaching.

Coaching (teaching, mentoring, consulting) is a good thing.

An accomplished online teacher is Rich Schefren of Strategic Profits. Rich was one of the first to identify and explain elements of an online business. He compiled this information into “The Internet Business Manifesto” which he gives away for free. Visit Strategic Profits via this link, download the free report and read it. I think you’ll agree the report is also great marketing.

The Internet Business Manifesto is one of many free reports available on Strategic Profits. Don’t be shy, download and read them all! Take advantage of the free information being offered.

Other useful resources for your business:

These are great examples of how to be the student or how you can be the teacher. How you view each depends on where you are sitting!

eBook Mentoring Course
Discover How To Create, Publish And Profit From Your Own eBook In 8 Easy Lessons.
Click Here

Note: Barnes and Noble launched Pubit! this week. Sell your eBooks to their customers. It’s easy to register and uploading content is a breeze. They make it very easy for you. And it’s free. Their digital book reader is the “Nook.”

You can also sell your eBooks via Amazon.com for Kindle readers.

Do I Really Need a Life Coach?
Life Coaches can help with Money, Success, Health, Goals, Relationships/Love, Happiness & more.
Click Here

(Be sure to visit Shann Vander Leek’s website too!)

E-Coaching Secrets Exposed – Audio, and Video Course
Join The Ranks Of Top Marketing Teachers As You Run Your Own Online Coaching Program From The Comfort Of Your Home.
Click Here

Learn Baseball Hitting Tips for Coaches and Players & Dominate
Tulane Hall of Fame Baseball Coach reveals baseball hitting secrets for baseball instruction. Hundreds of players use their baseball instruction and the results are nothing short of astonishing. 45 players went on to play professional baseball!
Click Here

Vertical Jump Training – The Jump Manual
Jump higher for basketball, volleyball, football, dance etc. Vertical leap & speed ebook, videos, forum & personalized coaching.
Click Here

Last week’s recommendation:

WriterIncome.com :: 25 Ways to Write For Money
Discover 25 ways to get paid as a writer – from writing ebooks to copywriting to freelance articles to greeting cards and resumes.
Click Here

How To Write Your Own EBook In 7 Days!
Write And Publish Your Own Outrageously Profitable EBook In As Little 7 Days – Even If You Cant Write Or Type!
Click Here

Keep thinking…..

Cheryl

Show and Tell Australian Style

It was a simple suggestion to do a small business owner “Show and Tell” on the Australian blog myBRC. The myBRC blog features my friend Paul Hassing, a business copywriter. Imagine my delight when Paul actually took me up on my suggested and posted this:

Cheryl Cigan, our American friend, kindly suggested we do a show-and-tell post.

The object of this game is to use your comment to give us a snapshot of what you’re up to and where your business is at.

Plugs, links, skites, wins, pics, pitches, write ups, testimonials and shameless promos are all warmly welcomed.

So knock yourself out!

This turned out to be one of their most popular posts and it was fun to be a part of the exchange. You can visit the myBRC Show and Tell blog here to see for yourself!

Show and Tell American Style

So I would like to make the same offer to you and my new Australian friends. I’m turning Paul’s words around on him and am inviting you to post a snapshot of what you’re up to and where your business is at.

And just like Paul offered, plugs, links and shameless promos are all warmly welcomed!

Cheryl

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” John Donne

Bazooka Bubble Gum was the best. We waited on “Go!” to square off against each other. Wrappers flew in the breeze as gum made its way into our mouths. Dress rehearsals were over. These were the important bubbles. A hush covered us until bubbles began popping. And we blew some magnificent bubbles that day!

The First Place blue ribbon I won was for a basketball-sized bubble. Only mine didn’t pop. A breeze moved it across my face and it landed in a very thick pony tail of dark curly hair.

The local paper carried a story and listed all the winners. I couldn’t believe it, there it was, my name, in the paper, listed as one of the blue ribbon winners for the Bubble Gum Blowing Contest. It was a thrill. And it was great when someone said, “I read about you in the paper.” I kept the blue ribbon and newspaper clipping in my box of special memories for years.

Luckily you don’t need to wait until you win the blue ribbon for a bubble gum blowing contest to see your name in print. You can take charge of what appears online about you and your business by writing your own articles and submitting them to leading article directories.

Article Marketing increases your internet real estate
You might be wondering why you would want to invest the time to do this. There are a number of reasons to begin doing this. Firstly, there is no cost, and secondly you get to control the content, and it drives traffic to your website and online business. Article Marketing increases your internet real estate and builds your internet presence. The biggest advantage is being able to provide information about your products and services with links to your website.

A “give and then get” philosophy
EzineArticles.com is the leading article directory on the internet and is a high ranking website. Articles, filled with information you write, will land on page one of Google. Writing articles is easy once you know how to do it. EzineArticles’ only requirement is you must submit original content. They have a wonderful “give and then get” philosophy. “Give” good content to their readers and you “get” to include information and links to your website in a “resource box.” This strategy is very effective and I use it to land clients’ websites on page one of Google and other search engines.

Robert Deveau is an EzineArticles Expert Author and can walk you through it step-by-step. Click this link to visit Robert’s website to learn how to use article marketing in your business.

Facebook Likes and Links
Facebook “Likes” are important for your business.

WebProNews featured “Facebook Likes Just Officially Became More Important to Search” on September 28th.

Last week Jim Daniels shared a few tricks to set up your Fan Page for quick growth. As he said, a Fan Page works better for your business because you are not limited to 5,000 friends. Jim said you want to show different content to non-fans in an effort to get them to like your page. To understand what I’m talking about, visit my Facebook Fan Page and you’ll see my message asking you to “Like” me. Immediately after you click “Like” at the top of page, you’ll see a link where you can get immediate access to one of my reports. This same code structure can also be used to make your Fan Page look more like your website.

I’d be happy to send you the information on how to do this (it’s very simple to do). Please reply to this email and put Facebook Fan Page in the subject line and I’ll send it to you. If you have additional questions let me know.

Show and Tell Australian Style

It was a simple suggestion to do a “Show and Tell” on the Australian blog myBRC. The myBRC blog features my friend Paul Hassing, a business copywriter (and contributor to “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin). Imagine my delight when Paul actually took me up on my suggestion and posted this:

“Cheryl Cigan, our American friend, kindly suggested we do a show-and-tell post.

The object of this game is to use your comment to give us a snapshot of what you’re up to and where your business is at.

Plugs, links, skites, wins, pics, pitches, write ups, testimonials and shameless promos are all warmly welcomed.

So knock yourself out!”

This turned out to be one of their most popular posts and it was fun to be a part of the exchange. You can visit the myBRC Show and Tell blog here to see for yourself!

Show and Tell American Style

So I would like to make the same offer to you and my new Australian friends. I’m turning Paul’s words around on him and am inviting you to visit the Known Community blog to post a snapshot of what you’re up to and where your business is at.

And just like Paul offered, plugs, links and shameless promos are all warmly welcomed!

Click here to tell the world about your business!

Other useful information for your business:

WriterIncome.com :: 25 Ways to Write For Money
Discover 25 ways to get paid as a writer – from writing ebooks to copywriting to freelance articles to greeting cards and resumes.
Click Here

How To Write Your Own EBook In 7 Days!
Write And Publish Your Own Outrageously Profitable EBook In As Little 7 Days – Even If You Cant Write Or Type!
Click Here

Keep thinking…..

Cheryl

by Cheryl C. Cigan

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” Mark Twain

“Hey, wait a minute, I planted those seeds, don’t I get some credit here?” A rather petty emotion considering what’s happened this year.

You could hear the beaming smile and happiness in my mom’s voice as she told me about the sunflower and coral pink zinnia bouquets my sister had brought to her.

How foolish of me to think I’d just planted rows of sunflower seeds that day.

Carolyn, my sister, and her husband Dave own Omena Cut Flowers. Last spring after beginning chemo treatments Carolyn faced the daunting challenge of getting 23 flower beds planted in time for her growing season. Emails circulated among her friends with “planting bee” schedules. That first Saturday morning we arrived wearing garden grubs, pulling on gloves, trowels in hand, asking, “What do you want me to do?”

The result of those “planting bees” bloomed all summer in 23 flower beds.

We didn’t plant seeds that day, we planted results. We planted beaming smiles and happiness. We planted the emotions you feel when you see faces light up when someone is pleased with what you have given to them. What is the result you’re after in your businesses when you plant something? When you discover the result your products deliver to your customers you will increase your profits.

These flowers provided another priceless lesson for me about the “practical application of reality.” Just listening to my mom, and thinking back on that spring morning, clarified “sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Yep, I get it now.

Plant different seeds for different results. Think about those 23 flower beds. Each had a different type of flower seed planted that day. Each bed produced a different variety of flower. The short term result was how relieved my sister (and Dave!) felt knowing it saved her 60 hours of work. The long term result was hearing the loving smile on my mom’s face from Carolyn’s thoughtfulness.

In your business, and especially with your online business, there are many ways to plant “flower beds” of words. Each method will produce different results, but each will deliver visitors to your website. But you need to get them planted and growing in order for them to work for your business.

One of the people I’ve studied over the years whose work has resulted in a number of helpful information products about how to do that is Bob Bly. If you have a chance visit his website and take a look. Every product explains step-by-step how to get your words planted online to grow your online business. A recent release which caught my eye is about how to market to “grumpy” old men. I think you’ll agree when you see his picture he kind of knows this subject matter pretty well!

“Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Observe what works and adapt it to your own product and market…” Bob Bly

Keep thinking…..

Cheryl

PS: Carolyn is doing great. The chemo treatments are behind her and she is looking forward to her taste buds coming back (Hooray!). Over the weekend Dave created a “don’t need to bend over” potting system and they potted over 100 perennials. Fall is the best time to get them into the ground, so if you need perennials stop by Omena Cut Flowers or call Carolyn and reserve your plant selections to pick up in the spring.

Remember the story of the gentleman who dropped his key in the street, yet got down on his hands and knees and began searching for his key further down the block, on the sidewalk, under a street lamp? The result of incomplete keyword research is similar to this gentleman’s situation. Rather than look where keywords are “dropped”, many check the “well lit” obvious places. If you don’t look for your keywords in the right places, you won’t find them.

Use Keyword Research and Competitive Analysis to Increase Your Slice of the Internet Pie

Keyword research and their correct placement within your content is critical to the over all success of your entire internet presence. It’s very important.

Online business owners should look at a number of factors before they make a decision to enter a new market. As someone who is trying to gain a Page One presence you must do the same thing they are doing, and the neat thing is that you can do just that if you will take the time to learn how to use the tools that are available to you. The two most important factors when exploring a new market are:

-How much traffic
-Value of traffic

The revenue you can generate is tied directly to the over all value of each market segment; each segment offers its own money-making features, strengths and weaknesses. Determine the number of competitors, look at paid search results and determine what a company in the No. 1 spot is willing to pay for that site. Marketers also want to know who’s ranking and holding the top spot in free organic search engine results; then they begin research to determine if they can out-rank the website holding the No. 1 spot on Page One of the search engine result pages.

Study every potential competitor ranking on Page One of search engine result pages. Investigate “On Page” and “Off Page” SEO (search engine optimization) factors for ranking websites. Make it your goal to learn:

- The Keywords Google associates with the website
- The Keywords used by the website
- Descriptive tags
- How much traffic they are generating
- Ranking strength
- Competitive marketing strengths
- Page rank
- Quantity and origin of inbound links
- Meta Descriptions
- Page Titles
- Keyword density
- Domain age
- Backlinks pointing to the entire domain name
- Backlinks from government (.gov) and education (.edu) sites
- DMOZ Directory Listing
- Yahoo Directory Listing
- Keyword in the domain name
- Keyword used in header tags (H1 to H5)
- Age of Google Cache

Phew! That seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it? But, trust me, there’s a lot of money at stake if you get this right! And making that revenue depends on dominating Page One search engine results.

The result of this investigation will help determine if it’s possible to dominate Page One of search engine result pages.

The financial validity of a niche market within each market segment is also evaluated through keyword research, traffic volume and the traffic value.

Begin the process of “drilling down” into a market to find a profitable niche to promote and dominate.

Use traffic volume and traffic value for comparative evaluations in researching a niche.

Once you decide to pursue marketing a niche, continue your keyword research. Determine main keywords to attract traffic, and build a list of targeted, buying, and potentially converting keywords, keyword phrases and relevant “theme-based” keywords.

Armed with the results of keyword research and competitive analysis, it will be easy to map out content creation, page structure (On Page), page architecture, linking (Off Page) and Web 2.0 strategy.

A local online business can achieve similar results by using keyword research to extend their ability to attract search engines. When you increase your virtual real estate (add more pages) and optimize your On Page content, you expand your “virtual word net” to catch more buying traffic. Off Page optimization, which includes relevant inbound links, is crucial to search engine ranking.

Understanding this “mindset” and the “why” of internet marketing strategies will help you when you begin to explore using free tools to dominate Page One search engine result pages. Spend some time now to explore and learn more about keyword research and competitive analysis.

Keep thinking…..

Cheryl

This article is an excerpt from The Known Method, which was developed and written for Online Business Owners:

Order your own copy by clicking on this link.

by Cheryl C. Cigan

I’ve been thinking about you this week.

Maybe it’s the weather, the early start of fall or even kids going back to school that makes me reflective. Past events roam through my thoughts.

Something else got to me this week. Melissa Kelenske from “Wool and Honey” (formerly Inish Knits) sent me her email newsletter. A sense of pride took over. I thought, “You go girl. You nailed it!” That’s when I started thinking about you too.

A few years ago we created web pages so people could be “found.” We took that concept further with some, but overall the foundation and network has taken root and grown to a solid and proven platform.

Since then the internet has grown too! Think about the tools and services you can use now that make it easy for you to do things yourself. I still remember the chamber meeting when I asked for a show of hands of those who had Twitter and Facebook accounts. Very few. Now almost everybody has an account – even my mom!

It’s rewarding to watch you explore new things and build your internet presence. I delight in hearing your stories, and always welcome your questions. It’s all good stuff. To me it’s exciting to see you doing this because your success is important to me.

Continue to build on your foundation. Stick with time-tested basic principles and you’ll do fine. Melissa’s email newsletter was filled with products and information specific to her targeted audience. It’s a great example of how she used direct response marketing principles to reach out to her customers. And it didn’t cost her a dime. No printing, no postage, no mailing expense.

Find people who buy stuff, find out what they’re buying and sell it to them.

I know it’s a rather simple statement. But as you grow I want your efforts to deliver results for you. Target your audience, work on crafting your sales messages and web content, build blogs and other Web 2.0 properties, use email to build relationships with your customers, build a mailing list and use autoresponders.

But above all else, continue doing what you do best by delivering tremendous value to your clients and customers.

Keep thinking…..

Cheryl

P.S. If you’ve got questions about email marketing let me know. It’s easy to set up and do.

by Rohit Bhargava

The search for the perfect case study for permission to innovate is like spending your life trying to find a guy named George to marry because your best friend is happily married to a guy named George.

There is a misguided search that almost everyone working in marketing around the world seems to be on. It involves seeking a golden example or case study that lays out perfectly how to achieve success with social media and be effective. In their minds, this case study would create the perfect argument for ROI, and offer a formula that could be duplicated by nearly any organization no matter their industry or audience or objectives.

Perhaps most importantly, it would be a story they could easily share with their bosses or managers or clients to help make the case for using social media more easily. You can’t blame them for trying … the only problem is that this story doesn’t exist.

The search for the perfect case study for permission to innovate is like spending your life trying to find a guy named George to marry because your best friend is happily married to a guy named George. Your objective may be the same as your friend (to get married), but the path you take will always be different. We would never dream of using this flawed logic in our personal lives, and yet in marketing it seems we seek it all the time. It is why business schools are filled with case studies and every discussion most anyone has about social media or trying anything innovative in marketing involves the same fateful question from someone in the decision making chain: “show me a case study where this has been done before.”

This is a problem for three obvious reasons:

1. What has worked for another organization will not work exactly the same for yours.

2. No case study will ever address EXACTLY the same unique challenge your brand is facing.

3. Many brands don’t readily publish case studies for the world to consume anyway.

The biggest change you can make is to stop waiting for the golden case study and focus instead on the quality of your strategy and ideas. The reason an idea and program works is not because you have some proof point from another company to point to in order to justify it. Ideas and campaigns and marketing works because it is based on an insight and motivates people to feel what you want them to feel and act the way you want them to act.

Case studies are great to learn from, but if they are the only way you can get permission to use social media or do something innovative, then you are on the path to failure before you even start.

About Rohit Bhargava:
Rohit Bhargava is the Vice President for Interactive Marketing with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com

by Cheryl C. Cigan

How many times have you been blind-sided because you didn’t recognize a profitable trend developing for products and services you sell?

“Find out what people are buying online — and then sell it to them.”

Sounds simple doesn’t it? In a bricks-and-mortar business you know what customers are buying because you are selling it to them. You have trade publications, catalogs, trade shows, sales reps and customers to provide you with product information.

Do you know where the buying-public is heading so you can position your online business, products and services directly on their buying path?

Useful Free Tools
Google offers a number of free tools you can use to discover new consumer trends.

If you want to know the current “hot trend” in the past hour, or for any day, based on broad search patterns, do a search for “Google Trends” and visit the site to see a listing of the 10 most-searched items.

Yahoo! Buzz also offers daily updates on the most-searched keywords. You can access this information by doing a search for “Yahoo Buzz” and clicking on the link and visiting the Yahoo Buzz page.

Google Insights for Search
One of the most important tools online business owners use to identify emerging search trends is “Google Insights for Search.” It is a useful tool to discover data search trends by specific categories, seasonally to add new products and anticipate demand, or by geography to learn what cities and regions are creating the search volume.

Is It A Viable Trend?
After a rising search trend is identified, online business owners begin their research to determine if the trend is viable. They will also want to confirm sufficient search traffic for the keywords surrounding this trend, and also confirm advertisers are spending money on Google AdWords. (If money is being spent on advertising, there is money being made in this niche.) A Web 2.0 strategy is developed to begin to dominate the search engine result pages to drive traffic to their “money pages.”

Dominate With Web Pages You Create and Control
The same rising trend strategies can be used if you have a local business website. You can dominate the search engine results with web pages you create and control to attract business to your website and thus to your business.

Emerging Local Search Trends
Do a search on Google for “Google Insights Search” and visit the page to learn more about the emerging search trends in your region and for your type of business, the products you sell and services you offer.

Experiment with different problems that consumers might have and who might provide the solution. For example:

fix leaky sink
plumbers
If you are a plumber, make sure “fix leaky sink” is part of the content on your website.

leaky roof
roofer
If you are a roofer or builder, be sure “roofer” is on your website.

lose weight
yoga
If you have a fitness center, be sure you emphasis “yoga” on your website with a strong promotional push to meet strong search traffic in January.

A comparative search of “Dog – Cat – Pet” indicates that there has been double the search volume and interest since 2004 in the United States alone for the “Dog” category, with weighted totals of Dog: 81, Cat: 38, and Pet: 32. If you perform this same search you will notice the graph provided by Google shows a consistent interest over this time period for all three categories.

Top Searches and Rising Searches
The results of most value are the Top Searches and Rising Searches:

Top Searches

1. the dog 100
2. dogs 70
3. dog food 45
4. dog breeds 35
5. hot dog 25
6. dog training 25
7. dog names 25
8. dog breed 20
9. puppies 15
10. dog show 15

Looking at these results, an internet marketer would probably choose to develop a “Dog Training” product incorporating techniques used by a “Dog Whisperer,” with an emphasis on establishing the “Alpha Dog” through specialized training.

If you look at the majority of the Top Searches and the Rising Searches, you’ll see that most are in the “Browse” and “Compare” phase of the Buying Cycle and not in the “Buy” phase.

Discovering Product and Services Long Tail Keywords

1. Study your website.
2. Make a list of the different products and services on your website.
3. Think about and make a list of the products and services you offer that are not on your website.
4. Do a search for “Google Insights Search” and visit the Google site and then conduct a search for these products and make a list of the Top Searches and Rising Searches.

This will become your list of long tail keyword phrases to add to your website, and it is also the information you will begin to add to the Web 2.0 properties you will build.

This would be the money you are leaving on the table by not making your buying public aware of the fact that you have these products and services….

by Cheryl C. Cigan

Millions of online buyers use community marketplaces, search engines, and mega-shopping sites while looking for specific products or services to buy online. Before the internet you would target your market then let your market target you back. Not any more. Today, your market is looking for information first, on the internet. Forty-three percent of internet users are actively searching for product and services information before they enter the “Buy” cycle. Consumers are now smarter and better armed with product information before they make their buying decision.

Granted, you may not need to be of service to millions of online browsers and buyers like the mega-shopping websites. Look at your website with fresh eyes and determine where your online business is positioned in the buying cycle. Your type of business, your type of website and the intent and purpose of your website all need to be aligned and reinforced by the words on your website.

Every word has to count. Everything you do has to make the search engines aware of your website.

We all do it. We get an idea or hear about a new product from a friend, or see a new way of doing something on TV. For instance, we decide to add energy-efficient windows to our home to save money on heating bills. We head to search engines and type “replacement windows” to browse websites to see what is available and to educate ourselves about replacement window product lines. Then we start to compare. We visit many websites to see how the windows are used and to gather ideas. We study the designs, styles, energy ratings, material choices, energy efficiency, estimated savings, tax deductible installations, prices — and sources.

When we have decided on a specific type of window, we search for just that window type, usually by model or style number, then we look for local builders and window companies specializing in window replacement.

Where does your local online business website fit in this cycle? Are “buying” keywords placed strategically SEO style throughout your website to make this type of sale?

Word-of-mouth recommendations from people we know will influence our buying decisions. Psychologically the same weight as a friend’s recommendation will prevail on the internet, when presented with a multitude of search engine results pages about one company, the quality of their work, their product selections and testimonials from happy customers.

You want prospects and customers to find you first

Align your website with keywords which contain the words your prospects and customers will enter in the search box. You want them to find you first. Utilizing article marketing and building Web 2.0 properties about your local business is how you’ll be able to dominate the search engine results.

by Cheryl C. Cigan

It’s easy to know what business you are in when you turn the key and open the door every morning. Imagine your website visitors turning that same key every morning, and listen to what they might say:

“I’m relieved to find such a highly qualified CPA so close to where I live.”
“I see you do quarterly tax returns.”
“I’m happy to know you do electronic income tax filings.”
“It’ll take so much pressure off me to know you can file my sales tax forms for me.”

Or, depending on how your website’s information is presented, their comment might be, “Excuse me, I came in here looking to buy a jacket but all I see are kitchen cooking gadgets and boating information. Where are your jackets?”

Trying to be all things to all people can create a confusing website experience for your visitors. Your website needs to reflect and realistically represent your local and online business.

Every website needs a strategic intent and purpose. What do you want visitors to do when they get to your website?

There are four strategic types of websites internet marketers build for their online businesses. Each has a specific intent and purpose for website visitors, and each type of website is part of an internet marketer’s sales funnel. Some are content-based, others are commerce-based. Each type fits into, and supports, their search engine page ranking and sales strategy.

Content Rich / Informational / Electronic Brochure

Designed and written to inform your customers and prospects with information about your business.

But they are not really set up to sell specific products.

The strength of an Informational website is the ability to incorporate images with search engine attracting descriptive tags while also being able to use an abundance of keyword-rich text.

Informational websites are effective at informing visitors about a local business, its products, services and store, and if utilized correctly they can increase your sales. Additional pages are easy to add to an Informational website and provide a wealth of opportunities for creating effective “anchor text” linking structures.

The only drawback to an Informational website is if it is used as a standalone website without any backlinks, because you will probably only get a few visitors a month.

Sales Letter / Marketing

Created to sell one product and one product only. They are easy to design and build. A Marketing website is mostly text, with limited images, and will have a “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” button. Because the focus is on one product only, these are easy to optimize for search engines for that one specific product and will easily rank with an effective backlink structure.

eCommerce / Sales / Retail

This type of website will have lots of product pictures, limited text describing products, a user-friendly, menu-driven site navigation and a shopping cart (you can also easily sell items without your own shopping cart system by utilizing PayPal on your website).

Unless you are Amazon.com, this is a very difficult site to get recognized by the search engines because there is not a strong enough force of specific keywords to make the site stand out from a sea of similar sites. An emphasis needs to be placed on correct page structure, ranking page elements and adding over-all descriptive text.

Lead Generating

Crucial to the growth of any business are sales prospects and sales leads.

The ability to acquire new leads on the internet is as important as it is for you to have new customers walking through your door every day.

On the internet, the most effective way to create a Lead Generating website is to identify and know what matters to your visitors. What was their motivation to do a search? What problem does your business solve for them? How can you present information to these visitors to convince them that you can reduce or solve their problems?

Your content has to be enticing enough that your site visitors want to make an inquiry and do business with you.

In order for the visitor to receive the problem-solving information you offer, they need to fill out an “Opt-in” or “Sign up” form. Once this information has been acquired from the visitor, a page will be presented to the user with either the information or links to the information.

The entire Lead Generating site is built and optimized with one purpose, to secure a prospect’s name and e-mail address.

Internet marketers are experts at building and implementing Lead Generating websites because, unlike your local business, it is one of the few methods available to have people walking through “their doors” every day.