Web site strategy #2. "Stay with Me" concept

Written by Pavel Lenshin


The most of what I've planed to say is already explained in these three words mentioned above. It would probably berepparttar end ofrepparttar 117449 article. :0) Maybe somewhere else, but not here, as I haven't yet explained yourepparttar 117450 blueprint for success with content rich web-site.

Without going too far let’s use any popular web-site directory and look for online magazines or just theme-focused web-sites. You will quickly grasp what I mean particularly. They usually consist of many stand-alone pages on certain topic related torepparttar 117451 main web-site subject. Generally they have a complex and deep directory structure, inrepparttar 117452 contrast torepparttar 117453 e-commerce shops complexity, which are mainly more technical rather then contextual.

Although I should clearly emphasize that these two strategies arerepparttar 117454 "backbones" of all variations of existed models, it’s understood that it is a big temptation not to include some product sales letter into already known and established content rich web-site or not to expand your already highly profitable product sales web-site or e-shop with a very good content material related torepparttar 117455 topic.

Back to our "backbone" #2.

Their TASKS are to:

1. Provide a visitor with information s/he is looking for in Quality, Quick and Qualified way, implementing, therefore, my rule of "3-Qs". 2. Answer at leastrepparttar 117456 majority of visitor's questions. If this task is not successfully accomplished your visitor is lost to continue exploring other web-sites for answers, that haven't been found at your site. 3. Make your visitor spend more time at your web resource, as it will mean that s/he is highly interested in information you arranged. 4. Make a time-spending for anyone who comes by to be pleasant. That is whyrepparttar 117457 structure, web-site navigation, content and its representation are much more important in comparison withrepparttar 117458 site that utilizes "buy or goodbye" policy. 5. Build long-term online credibility atrepparttar 117459 expanse of quick profits. Any online sales are subsidiary and shouldn't be considered as target number one.

FEATURES:

* Presentation ofrepparttar 117460 quality information concerning given subject. * Complex navigation structure. * Relatively big web-site in terms of occupied space. * Demands a lot of support efforts.

How long isrepparttar 117461 way?

Much longer then putting sales-letter web-site. Credibility and online community respect cannot be built on 2-3 web-pages of information and 2-3 weeks of work. If you are serious about your online presence and you can afford spending several months exclusively for creating content rich web-site disregardingrepparttar 117462 time needed to collect that information and gain necessary skills and knowledge first. That isrepparttar 117463 way you should go through.

Branding Your Business

Written by Elena Fawkner


Branding Your Business

© 2002 Elena Fawkner

If you think only big corporate names need to think about things like brand names, think again. Your brand says a lot about you and your business, and that's as true for a one person home- based operation as it is for a multinational conglomerate. In this article we look at how creating a strong brand for your business can help you set yourself apart fromrepparttar pack and layrepparttar 117448 right foundation forrepparttar 117449 future growth of your business.

WHAT IS A BRAND?

Your brand is more than justrepparttar 117450 logo on your letterhead and business cards or your business name. It is your corporate identity. An effective brand tellsrepparttar 117451 world who you are, what you do and how you do it, while atrepparttar 117452 same time establishing your relevance to, and credibility with, your prospective customers.

Your brand is also something more ethereal. It is how your business is perceived by its customers. If your brand has a high perceived value, you enjoy many advantages over your competition, especially when it comes to pricing. Why do you think people are prepared to pay stupid money for items of clothing withrepparttar 117453 initials "CK" on them? Perceived value. Perceived value as a result of very effective brand promotion resulting in very high brand awareness.

Now, I'm not saying we all need to rush out and start creating brands that are going to be recognizedrepparttar 117454 world over. Most of us simply don't haverepparttar 117455 time or other resources necessary. What I am suggesting, however, is that it is possible for your brand to dominate your niche.

WHY DO I NEED TO CREATE MY OWN BRAND?

=> Differentiation

We touched on this inrepparttar 117456 previous section when we looked at what a brand is and how it can be used to increaserepparttar 117457 perceived value of your products and services. The main reason for creating your own brand is to differentiate yourself from your competition. New websites are a dime a dozen. So are home-based businesses. You need to constantly be looking for ways to set yourself apart from your competition. Your brand can do that for you.

=> More Effective, Efficient Marketing

Another good reason for creating your own brand is to make your sales force (even if that's a sales force of one - you) more effective and efficient.

Imagine if you didn't have to spendrepparttar 117458 first 50% of your time with a new prospect explaining who you are, what you do and how you do it. What if your brand had already communicated that for you? You can spend 100% of your time focusing on sales rather than educating your prospects about your business

Another benefit of branding is thatrepparttar 117459 efforts you expend increasing your brand awareness through promoting and marketing your brand to your target market automatically transfers to your products and services. So, even when you're advertising your brand, you're indirectly also marketing your products and services.

HOW DO I CREATE MY OWN BRAND?

OK, so you're convinced you need to create your own brand. Where on earth do you start?

We saw earlier that your brand needs to say who you are, what you do and how you do it. It needs to do all these things atrepparttar 117460 same time as establishing your relevance to, and building credibilty with, your prospective customers. Needless to say, it is absolutely essential, if you are to build your own brand, that *you yourself* have a firm grasp of who you are, what you do and how you do it. If not, you're going to haverepparttar 117461 devil's own time getting that message across to anyone else, let alone establishing your relevance and credibility.

=> Write A Mission Statement

So, let's start by creating a mission statement. What isrepparttar 117462 mission of your business? Obviously you're in business to make a profit. But making a profit is a byproduct of a successful business. Focus instead on how you choose to achieve that profit. What are your core values?

A good place to begin thinking about your mission is to put yourself inrepparttar 117463 shoes of your customers. Put yourself in their target market. Let's say your business is web hosting. If you're inrepparttar 117464 market for a web host, what things are important to you? Different people will be looking for different benefits but you can bet that they want their website to be accessible to site visitors so reliability will be high on their list. Price is also likely to be high onrepparttar 117465 list as is 24/7 technical support. What about add-on features such as unlimited email aliases, cgi support and what-not? These things will be highly important to some and less important to others. So focus onrepparttar 117466 benefits that are likely to be highly relevant torepparttar 117467 majority of your target market. Let's settle for our purposes on reliability, price and technical support.

Your mission statement might read something like this: "I strive to earn a fair return on my investment of time and money by providing affordable webhosting with guaranteed 99% uptime and 24/7 telephone technical support". That's a pretty general statement and if you decide to focus on a particular niche ofrepparttar 117468 webhosting market, such as small business, you may want to more narrowly focus on that group in your mission statement.

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