Making Money Doesn’t Count!

For example, a website about Widgets might be:

• General Information about Widgets
• Widgets for Sale
• The Best Resources for Widgets (where to buy, best deals)
• How to Create Your Own Widgets
• Widget Accessories
• Interesting/Unique Uses for Widgets
• Widget Community (Discussion Forum)
• Widget Repair
• A Widget-user’s Blog

eBusiness Model

Let’s take just one of those examples -> “How to Create Your Own Widgets”, and look at a potential eBusiness model. Obviously this is an informational site and the main objective is to educate visitors on creating widgets. You might address the benefits of creating your own widget (versus buying a pre-made widget), offer a list of the tools or resources needed for this type of project, and show illustrations of various types of widgets along with instructions for creating them. Your goal is to provide complete, easy-to-navigate pages that lead your visitor through every step of creating widgets.

If you know how to create widgets, this would be an excellent website for you to develop. Imagine the interactive options you could add to the content we discussed above: Widget Workshops, a Widget Newsletter (to offer new, unique ideas each month), a Widget Discussion Forum to share ideas about creating widgets, Widget Supplies and Custom-made/Personalized Widgets for sale.

Content-based sites

Now you are seeing the profit potential of what started out as just an “informational website” (what we call a “content-based site”). To put this into perspective, let’s imagine for a second that you are a representative of Tupperware. You could easily create a website titled, “Quick & Easy Meal Ideas – At Home or On the Go!”. Your website would address the benefits of efficient meal-planning and cooking (healthy meals, save time, spend more time with your family, less mess in the kitchen, etc). You could then create a categorized database of recipes, including recipes for: school lunch bag, healthy fast breakfast, lunch break, quick dinner ideas, easy & fun picnics, covered-dishes that impress, etc. Get creative!

Obviously Tupperware makes the perfect products to accompany the recipes that you offer. At the top of each recipe page, you would list the ingredients for that particular recipe. The next paragraph could read, “Recommended Items” – and show an image and brief description of the product that would compliment this Meal Idea perfectly!

By creating this type of website (content-based), versus a shopping cart or ecommerce website, you will attract a much larger number of visitors. Your site will also encourage repeat visits, and your atmosphere of information (instead of sales) will mean that visitors are more likely to join your mailing list and share your site with their friends & family. Let’s face it, nobody likes a pushy salesperson. And the same goes for pushy sales-sites. Make your site friendly and informative, and offer plenty of quality content ;)

Affiliate Sites

But what if you’re not a Tupperware rep, and what if you don’t have your own products? Simple: You resell products on your website as an Affiliate and earn commission on each sale. There are affiliate programs for virtually every product-type and every market you can imagine. Go to Google.com and search “widgets+affiliate” (without the quotes – and replace “widgets” for the type of product you would like to promote on YOUR website). It’s that easy!

However, don’t just paste a banner onto your web pages and consider it done… work it into your content, make a personal recommendation, give a list of ingredients or resources that are relative to the information on any given page. Banners simply don’t work. Sales are not easy to make. CONTENT is what attracts visitors, informs or educates visitors, encourages visitors to come back to your website… and compels them to make a purchase.

Use Your Imagination

Okay, it’s time to use your imagination! How can YOU create a content-based website (or add content to your current website) that keeps visitors coming back over and over again… AND entices them to buy products?
_______________
Lynn Terry, of Self-Starters Weekly Tips:
http://www.SelfStartersWeeklyTips.com 
Shows you the difference between websites that
COST you money and websites that MAKE you money!

©2004 This article was written exclusively for Internet Based Moms™ and may not be re-published or copied without permission from Internet Based Moms™, except to print one copy for personal use. Comments and general questions about the article's content can be directed to the author.