Sales from the EDGE
Back Issue #015
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Sales from the EDGE Issue #015
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Sales from the EDGE
Breaking Through the "White Noise" Of Selling on the Net
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>From time to time, the EDGE publishes important updates that
you need to SELL on the Net. Most "latest and greatest" Net
marketing & sales developments simply waste our time. Today's
"hot new technology" is tomorrow's "whatever happened to?"
Occasionally, though, something comes along that STICKS. It
might NOT even be NEW... but we need to be reminded. When
that happens, the EDGE cuts through all the "white noise" of
Web marketing. It explains the issue and outlines clearly
how YOU can best take advantage of it.
SALES FROM THE EDGE is sent ONLY to SiteSell product owners.
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February 5, 2001
Issue #015
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
o SITESELL NEWS
1) Site Build It! Hits 1,000
... New Modules in the Works
2) Announcing the Site Build It! Sweepstakes
Win Two Years of Site Build It!
o ARTICLE
1) "Could You Do It Again, Ken?"
-AND-
"What happens NOW, Ken?"
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>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SITESELL NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>-News-
---1---
>-News-
Site Build It! Hits 1,000
... New Modules in the Works
Site Build It! sales just broke through the 1,000 mark.
And we've hardly even started.
SureFire Commerce, our parent company, will be pouring major
resources into Site Build It! over the coming months and
throughout 2001 and beyond.
Of all the modules that we're working on, I'm most excited
about the upcoming "digital download e-commerce module."
To take maximal advantage of this, start now...
If you're an affiliate, or thinking of creating an e-book,
or have a service that you'd like to sell (or all 3!), get
started with Site Build It! now. Start building traffic and
earning affiliate income right away.
While you're doing that...
Start writing that e-book. In 2-3 months, when your e-book
is ready, you'll be able to build a SECOND income stream
with SBI!. Why 2-3 months?
Because, contrary to what some folks would have you believe,
it simply takes that much time to produce quality material.
It takes time, and effort, to create genuine value. It's
just common sense... there are no short cuts to "instant
e-wealth" by creating info-products in 24 hours.
And when you do create products of true value to your
customers... life on the Net becomes such a pleasure.
And how can you turn that e-book into income?
By selling e-books EXACTLY the way we do... automatic
ordering and real-time credit card clearing (yes, you'll be
able to get a merchant account through SBI!, too). What has
cost SiteSell.com well over $100,000 to put together (when
we first started SiteSell.com) will soon be available to
you... included in the same price for SBI!.
http://buildit.sitesell.com/
P.S. And further down the road, you'll even be able to set
up your own affiliate program the way that we do. Yes,
all in the same value-bundled price! (Of course, the
Dynamic Price might be somewhat higher by then.)
>-News-
---2---
>-News-
Announcing the Site Build It! Sweepstakes
Win Two Years of Site Build It!
You know...
If we were to add up all that Site Build It! provides...
o Hosting of your site ($20 per month)
o Submit URLs ($10 per month)
o Ranking Reports ($20 per month)
o Pay-per-click research and mass-bidding ($18+ per month)
o Click Analysis ($17 per month)
... a fair price would add up to $85+ per month. And then
of course, you'd have to add something for...
o your yearly domain name fee
o use of SiteBuilder, with its "guru in your ear" online
help, to build as many pages as you like -- no need to hire
a Web/graphics designer
o your catchall e-mail address
o totally unique functionality like the keyword-topic
Brainstorm & Research function in Site Build It! Manager
o the productivity that Site Build It! delivers -- what
hourly value do you put on your time?
o and soon... all the extra modules coming online
...and most importantly...
o the fact that it's all tied together into a clear, clean
system that works, and that eliminates the need to know all
the tech issues, search engine mastery, etc. (All Site Build
It! really needs from you is ... motivation.)
Based on all that Site Build It! delivers, an annual
subscription to Site Build It! should sell for WELL OVER
$1,000. Of course, its actual price is much less...
https://secure.sitesell.com/build/order.html
And NOW... you can win *TWO* full years of Site Build It!,
including your own domain name and Web hosting and all the
TARGETED traffic that you can stand!
How?
By entering the Site Build It! Sweepstakes...
http://sweeps.sitesell.com/
Even if you already own an SBI! site, go for it! Several
owners have more than five sites... all driving traffic to
various income-earning opportunities... their own sales
sites, other merchants' sites to earn affiliate income, and
even to their online stores. The top two owners each own
over 10 sites!
So, whether you own a site or not... try to "sweep" a free
Site Build It! site...
http://sweeps.sitesell.com/
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>> THIS ISSUE'S ARTICLE
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---1---
-------
"Could You Do It Again, Ken?"
-AND-
"What happens NOW, Ken?"
How are these two questions related? Well, I've been
receiving the second question a lot, ever since SiteSell.com
was acquired by SureFire Commerce.
So I've been meaning to write an article about what the
future will bring. And then, last week, I received an
interesting e-mail from a reader of Make Your Site Sell!...
---------------------------------------
"Ken, it goes without saying that MYSS!
is every bit as good as your site
claimed.
Just one question:
Could you do it again?
Things are so much more complicated
today. There's so much more competition.
So much more information.
Could you do it again?"
---------------------------------------
It got me thinking... maybe NOT. And *THAT* got me
thinking about the future, and my big mission with
SiteSell.com and SureFire Commerce during 2001.
Succeeding on the Net STILL boils down to the BIG 3 that I
realized from DAY 1 of my interest in e-commerce...
#1) Have a great product... or DON'T BOTHER
#2) Create a site that SELLS!
#3) Build targeted TRAFFIC.
And, if you want to grow a BIG business, I'd add a fourth
important factor...
#4) Scale. What does "scale" mean?
It is the ability to grow in SALES without requiring a
proportionate growth in TIME and EXPENSES. It should
require disproportionately little, even ideally ZERO, growth
in EXPENSES. And that means automation.
Let's take a look at each of the four...
#1) GREAT PRODUCT
If you can't create a great product, don't bother. Be an
affiliate, instead. An affiliate business is a great way to
build income without all the hassles of inventory,
site-selling, shipping and fulfilling, support, etc.
*THE* way to do that nowadays is Site Build It!. Amazingly,
it's the only product that offers what it does, and it's
only going to extend its head start with more and more "all
included" modules...
http://buildit.sitesell.com/
But, if I wanted to start all over today, could I create my
own product today? Yes... I'm convinced I could create
another great product. It might be on the golf swing, or
something to do with medicine, or whatever. Anyone, yes
even I, can create a great e-book...
http://myks.sitesell.com/
So #1 is NOT the barrier.
-----SIDEBAR-----
I'd have to be a masochist to create, manufacture and sell a
hard good. Just think of all the costs to produce it,
inventory, shipping... YUCK.
If you sell hard goods, the Net is merely a terrific
communication medium. But if you sell DIGITAL goods,
ahhh.....
The Net becomes a DISTRIBUTION medium, too!
What do I mean by that? Simple...
You can "ship" your product via the Net. And it's far, far
more automatable, too.
-----SIDEBAR-----
#2) SITE THAT SELLS
Boy, in some respects I wish I was just starting out. I
could just order MYSS! and know how to write a site that
sells...
http://myss.sitesell.com/
I wouldn't have to figure it all out.
Even better, we've refined the copywriting concepts and come
up with the BIBLE of writing to sell...
http://myws.sitesell.com/
I wouldn't have to read all those direct sales and
copywriting books. It's all in MYWS!, specifically written
for *NET* selling.
Here's the bottom line... Let's say that you have a great
product that truly provides benefits that folks want and
need. You're not trying to fool anyone -- all you have to
do is clearly communicate the benefits as described in MYSS!
and MYWS!.
So, creating a great site that sells is indeed STILL under
your control. After all...
If you have a great product that people truly need...
Why the heck should they NOT buy (as long as you don't make
mistakes!)?
So #2 is not the barrier.
But now it gets harder...
#3) BUILD TARGETED TRAFFIC
This is far more intense. A definite barrier.
Engines change algorithms. They come and go (ex., poor
Go.com was completely mangled by Disney until they announced
that it is now "GONE.com"). Pay-per-clicks proliferate.
I don't know if I could do it anymore. It would take so
much time to keep up that I doubt if I'd have time to
actually do, and monitor, everything necessary to build tons
of TARGETED traffic. And those pay-per-click engines are
effective, but you have to buy hundreds of words to really
generate traffic. So tedious.
And what about the last one...
#4) SCALE
As I said just above, scaling means that you have to
automate. That means a lot of sophisticated, expensive
programming.
Scaling was not important for me when I launched PennyGold.
But that was $1,000 software. So the MWR (Most Wanted
Response) for the site was to send in a simple form that
asked us to call the person to process an order.
That model does NOT scale. At $1,000 per unit, that's not
too serious.
But if you want to sell $30 e-books, you must automate. You
must be able to accept credit cards in real-time. You must
be able to run some fraud-checking. You must be able to
send automatic e-mails after the order, with unique
usernames and passwords that stop working after a successful
download.
No way I could do all that if I was just starting out now.
And there's no reason that I should have to...
The Net has reached the point where the technology of
e-commerce should be hidden from us. We should only have to
worry about our business, about what we KNOW. And...
NOT about search engines.
NOT about html and ftp and javascript.
NOT about how to set up real-time credit card verification.
NOT about all the complicated programming.
We should ONLY EVER have to concentrate on our businesses.
Because that's what we know. Give us ONE place that solves
ALL our problems in a cohesive, coordinated fashion, so that
ALL we have to do is grow our profits.
That, dear reader, will be my challenge during 2001. Our
parent company, SureFire Commerce, has entrusted me with
this most important mission. It's a wonderful opportunity
to take resources that SiteSell.com could only have dreamed
about, marry them with the SiteSell approach, and build out
a system that incorporates all the "impossible stuff" into
an effective system that allows you to focus on the ONLY
thing that is truly important to YOU... growing a business.
It's going to be a heck of a year. And please don't
worry... I'll be here every step of the way.
All the best,
Ken
P.S. First step, as I said, will be e-books and e-zines.
Within 2-3 months, you'll have both of these abilities
included in Site Build It!. And from there, it only gets
bigger and better.
So get started on that great e-book that lies within you
now. While you are doing that, build page after page of
related content on your Site Build It! site. By the time
your book is ready, the free Search Engines will have your
site indexed and will be sending traffic.
That's the time to upload your e-book, build your
pay-per-click campaign (with two simple clicks of buttons!)
.. and GROW a business with multiple income streams...
And never worry about technology, or staying on top of it
all, or anything other than your business itself.
It's the future. Our future, together.
--
P.S. Just a quick reminder re: purchases... See the
Discount Directory below? Please remember... visit each
product's site, but do NOT buy from them.
Use the Discount Directory (info right after this P.S.). Of
course, if you forget and buy it at full price, just let us
know. We'll refund the difference. With a smiley. :-)
Make Your Site SELL!
http://myss.sitesell.com/
Make Your Knowledge Sell!
http://myks.sitesell.com/
Make Your Price Sell!
http://myps.sitesell.com/
Make Your Words Sell!
http://myws.sitesell.com/
Site Build It!
http://buildit.sitesell.com/
(Regular price for SBI!, but rebates available.)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SiteSell Discount Directory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
Please bookmark this page -- it's the only page that you
will EVER need to buy SiteSell products at an owners-only
discount. For owners of SiteSell products ONLY, it provides
discounts on all products, except for the Electronic Version
of MYSS! -- if I reduced the price on it, I'd have to pay
*you* to buy it! ;-)
SiteSell Discount Directory
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
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Contact info: E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
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Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2001 SiteSell.com
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