Here's a true story to help you understand what I mean. Several months ago I downloaded a trial copy of a software package called "Postmaster Express" by Online Automation. Online Automation started emailing me to see how I liked it. After trial was over, they kept emailing me...and emailing me. When I was finally in market to make a buying decision on an auto responder solution for my business and guess who came to mind? Did I buy from them? Yes. They had been in my face for months. They didn't give up...and they got sale. This is an important lesson.

Postmaster Express: http://www.post-master.net/rs/Andrea_Wilson

7. Have more than one product or service to offer so if one dries up, you don't starve.

If you have only one product or service, think of other ways to attract new customers: re-write stale sales copy, revamp your web site, get creative with your advertising.

For instance, if you're a chiropractor, be creative in your advertising. Target different segments of your market: today baby- boomers, tomorrow seniors. Or start a new fashion: "New Moms: How to Stay on Your Feet Longer and Enjoy it More."

How you accomplish each of these seven principles depends on who you are, what you already know, what information you read, what you have time and money to invest in, what appeals to you, and what your skills are.

I'm a writer. I write a newsletter, Press Releases, articles, etc., but I'm not an expert at writing sales letters. That's a different skill. While I'm learning, I can use skills I already have to market my services. Maybe it'll turn out that my particular services sell better using my methods in end and I never have to worry about sales letters.

Besides, if every web site is turned into a one-page sales letter because "that's what works," pretty soon everyone will be jaded and stop reading them. If you do something different with your web site, maybe you'll get traffic. People come to Internet to find information. That's reason sales letters on web sites are often cleverly disguised as information. The price -- even if it's free -- has to be buried way at bottom so benefits of product or service have really hooked visitor before they realize they're being sold. (There's a little sales letter advice for you.)

Don't forget to look at your own interests and skills. Maybe you love participating in forums frequented by people who'd benefit from your product. It's easy for you to chat with them and they grow to trust you. The next thing you know, they're buying from you. Do you have to learn to write Press Releases? I don't think so.

If you or I do exactly what everyone else is doing, we'll be blind sheep, using stale methods to sell stale ideas. Follow basic principles, get advice on ways to accomplish each one. Then put your own twist on them and stand out from flock.

But what if you just want to feel more in control of your web business. What if you have that nagging feeling that if you knew a little more about way things worked, you could cut your operating expenses by 50 - 70%? Is that possible? Yes, it is. You just need to know where to look to uncover facts that your current suppliers certainly aren't going to encourage your to look for. You need to get over your fear of a little technology too, since cutting out middlemen does often require you to understand how things work.

Why am I rambling on and on about how you can take charge of your business and cut out middleman? Partly because I've recently started doing more and more of this. I also wanted to tell you about a workshop my friend Fred is conducting on this very topic. Fred has to be irritating a lot of people, because he teaches you exactly how to become your own web host, handle your own domain registrations, and generally take responsibility for things that your business survival depends upon.

Take a moment now and read some of things Fred shares with you! You'll probably discover a whole new world that you never gave much thought to. Don't miss out on this: http://williecrawford.com/cgi-bin k.cgi?fred

It's virtually impossible for you not to benefit from having read this article and investigating Fred. That's because from this day forward, you will always wonder if you could, and if you should be getting a better price when you buy products on-line. Asking questions like this and then taking appropriate action is one of things that will allow you to break out of "pack." At least realize today, that on-line world really is no different than off-line world, and that there are ways to buy goods and services you need wholesale. Then your job becomes to discover how. I've shown you one answer :-)