Sales from the EDGE
Back Issue #030

Back to Back Issues Page

Sales from the EDGE Issue #030

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sales from the EDGE
Breaking Through the "White Noise" Of Selling on the Net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct. 18, 2002
Issue #030
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
o SITESELL NEWS
 
  1) SiteSell Buys Itself Back! 
  
o Featured Article 

  1) Differentiate... Stand Up and Stand Out, Or Get Run Over
       
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SITESELL NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

>-News-
---1---
>-News-

SiteSell Buys Itself Back!


You've likely heard this by now.  But if not...

Yes, it's true.  SureFire Commerce Inc. is now officially
our EX-parent company.  SiteSell.com bought itself back from
SureFire earlier this month.

We have been steadily growing these past two years
(following the acquisition).  I'm proud of our reputation as
a well-respected provider of small business e-commerce
information and solutions.  In particular...

Site Build It! sales have exploded, becoming by far our most
popular product.  Thousands of SOHOs, service-sellers,
NOHOs, IBOs and other small businesses have used SBI! to
establish successful online presences.

-----SIDEBAR-----
Although Webmasters were not a primary target
for SBI!, it's fun to see how even they use
SBI!...

1) some buy up to 10 sites to build targeted
traffic on a variety of themes, all related
to large, pre-existing sites... kind of like
funnelling warm, targeted customers from
around the world into a larger site that
would not otherwise be found for all those
keywords and themes.

2) others simply need to quickly put up an
attractive, effective, traffic-building site
for a small-biz client, all within a
reasonable budget.  Some maintain the sites,
some turn them over to the clients.  Either
way, it's a profitable way to quickly deliver
a high-quality site to a small biz client.

Of course, as I said, Webmasters are not
actually our "target customer" for SBI!
because its whole purpose is to empower the
small businessperson to do it on her own!
-----SIDEBAR-----

As I was saying...

Thousands of SOHOs, service-sellers, affiliates, NOHOs, IBOs
and other small businesses have used SBI! to establish
successful online presences.

And the operative word, of course, is SUCCESSFUL.

SureFire Commerce Inc., however, has had its share of
"dot-com troubles" (unrelated to us) and has now decided its
core focus will be Internet transaction processing, bill
payment, and MOTO and check processing.

An excellent opportunity presented itself to re-acquire
ourselves... so we did!

We've grown to where we are now in the Top 2000 sites on the
Net, according to info.alexa.com (#1696 as of the time of
this writing).  With thousands of small businesses building
sites with SBI!, tens of thousands of owners (of our other
products) and hundreds of thousands of subscribers to our
various zines and courses, it was an offer that, as they
say, we just could not refuse.    :-))))))))))))

Major development is underway.  It's an extremely busy place
around here.  Just recently, there was the launch of Site
Build It!'s impressive upgrade (LogoCreator, NavBar Maker,
e-zine publishing, etc.).  More and more exciting
functionality is coming down the pipeline -- including
upcoming SpamCheck and LinkExchange tools and, of course,
the truly MAJOR e-goods/e-commerce/affiliate release.

Please see the site for more info about SBI!'s upcoming new
features...

http://buildit.sitesell.com/

All the tools, all in one place, all for one price, and all
tied together into a straightforward, integrated,
step-by-step process that works.  More and more, SBI! is
meeting the needs of...

"Every(wo)man"

It likely meets yours, or it will soon!  :-)

It was an exciting time working with the SureFire group.  We
both figured that this buy-back was the best of both worlds
for each of us.  We plan to maintain an ongoing relationship.

Are you ready?  

We have the throttle wide open!

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>                THIS ISSUE'S FEATURED ARTICLE

--------
PREAMBLE
--------
 
I had another article planned for this space, but something
happened...

Every now and then (and I sure wish I could do it more
often!), I write an article that strikes --> spot-on
dead-center.  I'd like to say that I know it all along as
I'm writing, but I never do.  I'm embarrassed to say how
often my favorite articles are greeted with yawns.

I only learn how good a piece REALLY was by gauging reader
response to our support staff, who relay the best replies
and the overall numbers to me.  And it's amazing...

The "home run" articles that generate great reader response
are ALWAYS a surprise.... a pleasant one, of course!  :-)
The last issue of The Five Pillar Affiliate Report (our
affiliate program's newsletter) contained such an article.
Feedback was immediate, positive, high-volume, and intense.

Now, we do have SOME cross-over articles between our three
e-zines (not for SBI! Xpress, our fourth zine that's purely
for SBI! owners).  But we very rarely print articles from
the "5 Pillar Report" in the other e-zines -- the articles
are usually irrelevant because they are about new tools or
information that helps affiliates PREsell SiteSell products.

And really, that's all I was trying to do with this recent
article... I was attempting to show affiliates how to
differentiate SBI! because there, literally, is no other
product like it on the Net... but there is a GLUT of stuff
that dances all around it.

So it's important to position SBI!'s uniqueness.

Now, if you are a 5P Affiliate, please re-read the article.
Reader response has cleared my glasses up and I see why it
was such a major help for affiliates.  Sometimes, being on
the inside, we miss the forest for the trees.  It's
definitely worth a re-read.

And if you are NOT a 5P Affiliate, well...

First of all, please consider our program -- we're growing
rapidly and there has never been a better time to use it 
to build an additional revenue stream...

http://affiliates.sitesell.com/

Secondly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR YOU & YOUR BUSINESS,
please read it from YOUR point of view.  How can you
differentiate yourself?  If you have a sales or affiliate
force, have you positioned your product firmly in THEIR
minds?  This is literally a matter of standing-up-and-out
or...

... getting run over, surrounded, trampled by the
competition.

So, I reproduce this article here, unchanged.  The intensity
of the response simply forced me to sit up and TAKE NOTICE
and share this with you.

As you read this article, get into MY head.  What am I
saying, and why?  What do I want our wonderful team of
affiliates to take away?  What messages do I want them to
communicate?  And how?  And to whom?  Once you've done
that...

Adapt and use at will, FOR YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

Or expect tire treads up and down your back.


-------------START OF 5 PILLAR ARTICLE-----------------

-------
---1--- 
-------

Differentiate... Stand Up and Stand Out, Or Get Run Over


Way back in 2000, "yes, it was the turn of the millennium I
do believe" (he said, stroking his long grey beard while
drawing thoughtfully upon his pipe), Jack Trout wrote a
great book...

Differentiate or Die: 
Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471357642

Well, I'm not wild about the title, so let's just say...

Differentiate to Thrive
How to PREsell SBI!-B Effectively 

So, why *IS* it so important to differentiate SBI! to thrive 
and to know how to PREsell SBI!-B effectively?

In a word...

GLUT.

There is just so much out there, everything from what I call
"old-fashioned Web hosting" services (i.e., html, ftp,
uploading, etc.), to sitebuilders with links to a bunch of
third party tools, most of which are ineffective, and none
of which are integrated into a system that WORKS.

But, on the entire Internet, there is NOTHING like SBI!.

NO OTHER PRODUCT, and I mean NO OTHER PRODUCT, provides a
complete, all-in-one Web-hosting-SYSTEM-OF-TOOLS that makes
it quick and easy for anyone (from savvy pro to complete
newbie) to build a professional, popular, and profitable Web
BUSINESS (and not just a Web SITE).  

BOTTOM LINE...

> Why build a Web site, when you can build a Web BUSINESS?

To repeat, because this cuts to the bone...

SBI! does NOT just build a site -- it builds a BUSINESS.  We
build traffic, not hype.  We force solid business practices
upfront.  And we bookend that with strong, original and
creative tools that build targeted, motivated visitors.

So our clients succeed.

Not ALL of them, of course...

Just the ones who try.  Motivation is the only ingredient
that our customer has to provide.

-----

SBI! was built to succeed, from the ground up.  It's taken
us a while, and things are going faster and faster, momentum
gaining week by week.  It started slowly because we were
very, VERY small (still are, compared to some of the fearful
looking competition out there).

But that "smallness" has stood us in good stead.  If you've
never lived in the trenches, you never know how to thrive,
let alone survive, in that space.  And if you're a big
company, you simply can't understand what small businesses
need.  You can't adapt and develop, fast and with a true aim
(now that I've seen the BIG CORPORATE side, I KNOW).

It started with a solo Netrepreneur (myself) marketing a
real product, making a profit, and creating raving fans,
well before "Make Your Site Sell!" was even a concept...
well before Amazon even started to wonder why they could
never be profitable.

And it continues with Paul Crane, SBI! Product Manager. 
Paul remains our "dirty work boots, sleeves rolled up"
guy... trying every new product out there, experimenting
with new ideas, using his two functioning sites that we
feature in his "Test Tube" series of articles.

We've been there, done that, and SOLD the T-shirt...

LOTS and lots of "T-shirts."  We still do.  

And we always will.

So it starts with that mindset.

That experience.

That perspective.

No matter how big you are, you can't build that mindset. 
EVERYTHING stems from BEING there.

-----

What does that mean for SiteSell and SBI!?

It forms philosophy.  OVERdeliver.

It makes us care, because we're there.

It ensures commitment and focus.

And, the biggest difference that no "BIGCO.COM" can
emulate...

We simply know small business, because we ARE "our
customer"... SOHOs, NOHOs, IBOs... service businesses,
affiliates... any small-small business (1-5 employees).

-----

What does it NOT mean?

It means that we are NOT focused on "monetization" (code
word for fooling traffic into buy junk that has no hope of
delivering).

We are NOT focused on MBAs' marketing studies and the price
of our stock.  Our only worry is our small business
customers, one at a time, and doing our best to provide
EVERYTHING that each one of them needs to succeed.

We are not focused on ANYTHING EXCEPT providing what works.
So the only tools that make it into the SBI! system of tools
are the ones that you simply MUST have... the ones that save
huge gobs of time and money.  And the ones that bring warm,
targeted, willing-to-buy traffic.

-----

Your customers/readers/friends/colleagues/relatives are
coming online... tens of millions of them.  Many of them
don't even know it yet.  Perhaps some of them have already
tried and failed, but they'll try again, because the Net is
a must -- there is no "close second" as a cost-effective
medium...

...... IF you get it right.  And SBI! does GET IT RIGHT.

-----

Everyone thinks e-commerce means stores.  Nope.  Not even
close -- it's just one (not even the best) opportunity.

It's service businesses building a client base.

It's NOHOs -- for example the frustrated stay-at-home mom
who wants to get started with something that really works
("mompreneurs").

It's tons of small 1-5 employee small businesses who just
need a solid presence.

It's local businesses with local customers -- Ralph Wilson
has started a new site (netassisted.com) which focuses
purely upon this HUGE and overlooked niche.

It's affiliates who can earn thousands of dollars per month, 
yet NOT even have a product of their own.

It's people wanting to sell e-books, e-photos, anything that
can be digitized.  Watch the e-photo sales market boom over
the next three years, and e-books will ultimately be huge --
non-fiction instruction books already are.  The whole
"digital goods for sale" space will soar.  And that's why
we're adding e-com (more on this in a bit).

In other words, e-small-biz is much, much, more than "hard
good stores."  E-commerce, at this point, has only scratched
the most superficial layer of the surface.

The next wave will be intense, universal.  And you'll be 
there, in the middle of it, driving it to happen...

...... if YOU get it right.

And that's my job... help you get the message right.  And 
it all starts with clear, true, honest, DIFFERENTIATION.

-----

It's important to understand that SBI! is SO much more than    
merely "the best of anything else that's out there."  And by
the way, the best of what's out there amounts to Web hosting
PLUS "a bunch of tools" cobbled together, which costs extra
(10 times more than SBI! at one large company!), and which
simply do NOT breed success.  

Why?...

No process.

No understanding of the small business experience, of
their daily lives.

MBAs earning $300K per year, telling programmers what
they think small businesses need, based on theory and focus
groups.

-----

To get a bit deeper into what truly differentiates SBI!,
let's start with the least important, the most generic,
LEAST differentiated aspect of SBI!.  In other words...

What is SBI! *NOT*?

Hosting.

"You do DO hosting, right?"

Ouch, that question can drive me around a bend.

SBI! does, naturally, include domain name and Web hosting
(unlimited bandwidth, unlimited pages, catch-all POP e-mail
address, e-mail forwarding, and so on).  But Web hosting is
NOT our business.

Hosting is a part of SBI! the way that 4 tires are a part of
a Mercedes-Benz.  Sure, you need the tires to be able to
roll, but just about everyone makes good tires nowadays.

Hosting is the most elementary, non-differentiated,
commodity aspect of providing business space online.  Heck,
if you can't deliver good, fast, reliable hosting and
bandwidth and e-mail, you don't even belong at the party.

So yes, our car has four tires.  And they're excellent
tires.  The tires roll a top-line Mercedes, though.  And this
particular Mercedes almost drives itself... and because it's
all digital, and because less than 1/3 of our customers EVER
need to contact us for any help at all, we can afford to
sell this Mercedes for less than the price of a Hyundai.

-----SIDEBAR-----
As Ripley would say... "Amazing but true!"
2/3 of SBI! owners never contact us for
support.  They don't need it.  The system is
step-by-step simple and fool(almost)-proof.

We are standing by, of course, ready to help.
But our support staff feel a bit like the
Maytag repair guy you see on TV. 
-----SIDEBAR-----

If it's not the hosting, it's the sitebuilding, right?  It
must be SBI!'s "point and click" site-building.  That's the
unique differentiator.

Partly, getting warmer...

Yes, all our SBI!'ers, whether Web marketing professionals
or complete newbies, love the server-side PhotoShop-quality
tools.  You create a totally custom and polished logo,
great-looking javscript-crafted buttons, and a totally PRO
look-and-feel.

-----SIDEBAR-----
Prefer to customize one of our templates?  No
problem, your look and feel is done in
seconds!  But if you want your own totally
custom look, it's like running PhotoShop
through your browser. 
-----SIDEBAR-----

The LogoCreator and NavBar Maker are pretty darn unique --
they deliver a final graphic impression and navigational
sharpness that is the equivalent of what an expensive
designer would create for you.

Yes, this is pretty rare on the Net.

And so is the "block-by-block"-easy SiteBuilder, which lets
you build and modify pages as easily as, yes...

...... stacking blocks.

Professional, attractive Web pages without any programming
knowledge?  Yes... even my 14 year old daughter can build a
great site.  Actually, she has -- I'll update you on Nori's
progress in just a second.

But... there ARE plenty of other services around that
generate Web pages without the need for HTML programming,
although I must say that they have that amateur, circa 1999
"geocities look" to them.

So this, by itself, is not what differentiates SBI!.
Actually, no single part of SBI!, no matter how unique and
powerful each tool is, differentiates SBI!.  I could take
you through the entire SBI! process in this manner...

http://quicktour.sitesell.com/

Each and every step outlined in the Quick Tour is incredibly
valuable... INvaluable, actually, to the overall success of
the project.  From the Action Guide, to brainstorming and
blueprinting until you get just the right domain name, along
with the most profitable content to create...

...... and on through the sitebuilding, followed by the
unheard of engine-submitter which does way, way more than
any comparable service AT ANY PRICE -- it tracks the major
Search Engines' spiders, and monitors when each page on
every SBI! site gets listed.  And then...

Not getting spidered?  Not listed?  It resubmits!
Automatically!  While you sleep.

And finally, it tells you where all your pages rank, at all
the key engines.

I could go on through all the Pay-Per-Click tools, the
all-important Directory HQs (wait til you see the new
feature coming there!), the Paid SE HQs, etc., etc.

But you still would NOT have that unique DIFFERENTIATOR
(although I hope you're starting to get the answer by now).

-----

Our commitment to each and every small business success is
total.  SiteSell has ALWAYS focused on OVERdelivering.  But
SBI! takes that philosophy to a whole new level...

...... far beyond simply providing ALL the tools necessary to
succeed online.  SBI! provides the "guru in your ear" system,
the Action Guide, that ties it all together into a "do-able"
"connect-the-dots" roadmap to online success.

And now you're getting very, VERY close to the answer.

So...

What is it that differentiates SBI! from the glut?

Simple.  It works.

No puff, no smoke, no mirrors, SBI! just works.

The small business person only has to know their business,
and provide the motivation to do SOME work.

-----SIDEBAR-----
Sorry, we have not been able to figure out
how to take ALL the work out of the equation!
But we are about 90% of the way there.  :-)

Meanwhile, please do tell your customers that
if they expect to push a button and wait for
money to come pouring in...

...... tell them to please look elsewhere.  AND
to let YOU know when they've found it!  ;-) 
-----SIDEBAR-----


If you simply follow the Action Guide (that little shadowy
guy with the whip), you WILL succeed.  You have no choice.

It's not QUITE connect the dots or color by numbers.  But
it's pretty close.  You add your knowledge, your particular
skill sets related to your passion, your hobby, your
business, your service... whatever it is that you bring to
the table.

We'll take you the rest of the way.  And I don't care if 
you're an absolute beginner on the Net....

-----Testimonial-----
A few months ago, I knew absolutely nothing 
about building a Web site.  Now I feel like
I've hit the mother-load!

Tony Burtt
Elite-Sports-Training
http://www.elite-sports-training.com
-----Testimonial-----


So the key differentiator at this point is...

It works.  Most small businesses are doomed to wondering
"what happened?"  So SUCCESS is, of course, the single most
important differentiator -- the system of tools that forms
"the SBI! process" guarantees vibrant, steady, long-term
growing success on the Net.

Yes, all true.  But that's STILL not the whole
differentiator.

SBI! works.  And it does so at a time-cost to you of a tenth
of what it would normally take to do all this... if you
could (and most folks simply could NOT).  And it does it at
a price of 1/10th of what we SHOULD charge.

"Mercedes at a Hyundai price"

Basic, old-fashioned Web hosting ALONE costs what SBI!
costs.  A good, no-forced-ads e-zine service capable of
sending HTML-formatted e-mail starts at the same price of
SBI! (and SBI! has unique features such as an automatic TEXT
translator for text-only e-mail software and soon, a
SpamCheck function to keep you out of the Junk folders of
Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail and the large ISPs).

Want the real value of the SBI! value bundle?  See this...

https://secure.sitesell.com/build/order.html

-----

SBI! works so well, and there are so many ways to measure
its value once it's up and running, that it takes literally
no time at all to recoup your costs.  For instance...

Paul Crane, our SBI! Project Manager, tells me that his SBI!
site...

http://www.diet-supplement-review.com/

...... has referred just under 6,000 unique visitors (5,918 to
be exact) over to his main site...

http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/

..... over the course of the summer.

Overture would charge $900 at an average cost-per-click of
$0.15 per click to send Paul that much traffic.  What's more
impressive than that kind of ROI?  And that's just one of
the many returns diet-supplement-review.com delivers.

How about this interesting stat?  Paul tells me that his
diet-supplement-review.com site is consistently
ultimatefatburner.com's #3 referrer site.

Who's #1 and #2?

You've likely heard of THEM... google.com and msn.com.

One more revealing fact.... Paul started (the pre-SBI!
built) Ultimatefatburner.com as our "in the trenches"
commitment, years ago.  Paul actually runs this site in his
very limited spare time.  Over the years, he has built up
200+ pages and presently has an Alexa score of 36,913. 
Wonderful testament to what a smart Net marketer can still
do in this day and age.

But here's the truly great story, and it's what ANY small
business person CAN do today... and will be able to do for
years and years and years to come through SBI!...

Over the past several months, Paul built a second site using
SBI!... diet-supplement-review.com.  It only has 15 or so
pages (Paul does NOT put more than an hour or two per week
into these side projects -- I keep him chained to the desk,
attending to a variety of initiatives!)... and yet, despite
that reality, this site already has an Alexa ranking of
55,023!

How powerful is that?  Pound-per-pound, way more effective
than his painstaking, expensive, pre-SBI! site.

Paul has spent thousands of dollars and hours on his first
small-biz site, ultimatefatburner.com.

"No way I'd ever do another site without SBI!, of course!"

-----

Here are a couple more examples...

My own daughter's site that she started 6 weeks ago (she's
14 and knows no html, ftp, etc., etc.)...

http://www.anguilla-beaches.com/

In a few months, she'll start converting the traffic she is
now building into dollars.  She's already getting good
traffic from Google and FAST -- Altavista will follow next,
then Inktomi.  (Her site actually gets more traffic that the
Anguilla Tourist Board's!)

Quick experiment?  Try looking up her most important
keyword, "Anguilla beaches," at Google or FAST or Yahoo!.

And her e-zine, Anguilla Beach Lovers, is building a solid
base.  Anguillians pass it to their friends, including
friends in the States and Europe who are now considering
Anguilla as a vacation destination, due to our own wonderful
experience, written about through Nori's eyes.

Yes, she could do this far faster, but I only allow her one
page per week.  School first.  But, for an adult, this is a
kernel of a business.  THAT kind of traffic, the kind that
recognizes your passion and understanding for whatever YOUR
theme may be, becomes a client base that generates revenues
through affiliate links, service income, referral deals with
local businesses, sales of e-guide books, etc.

-----SIDEBAR----
When I say we here at SiteSell live in the
trenches of small business, I'm not just
whistling Dixie!  It's a true family affair! 
-----SIDEBAR----


And this next example is particularly instructive (for me, 
as much as for you)...

Some of our customers are rather precocious.  Now that the
foundation of theme, content, look-and-feel/navigation and
traffic has been established, our next MAJOR upgrade, as you
know, is to add e-commerce.  But some of our customers are
sprinters and beat us to the punch.  So jugglenow.com
has already added PayPal's shopping cart...

http://www.jugglenow.com/

Clever!  By the way, jugglenow.com, a single site built and
managed through SBI!, is #51,324 at info.alexa.com, which is
better than some entire malls do!

SBI! works.  At a price 1/10th of what we SHOULD charge.

-----

And now, dear reader, we are REALLY close to what makes SBI!
so unique.  It takes us to the very core of the message that
your reader/customer/friend/colleague/relative simply must
understand.  Remember...

Differentiate to thrive.

What makes SBI! unique, what DIFFERENTIATES it, is what
makes my daughter ask me...

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
How do normal people build a site 
and handle search engines 
and all that, without SBI!"  
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

I love that word "normal."  :-)

For people who simply want to do business, whether it's to
grow their service business, be an affiliate, sell e-photos,
build their IBO or SOHO business, WHATEVER they want to
do...

SBI! is magic.  The technology boggles *MY* mind!

And when we talk about "our technology," we don't fake it
and private-label someone else's technology and kludge that
into the mix.  First, you couldn't afford SBI! because we'd
have to add that expense to the price.  Second, it wouldn't
work the way we know it must, and we wouldn't have the
power to change it, since we would NOT own the code.

So all our technology is our own.  Yes...

The "quick & dirty solution" is to partner with a company
that already provides the required product/service.  But
it's not the way to go, not if you want to build something
truly great, where all the tools talk to each other, where a
process flows with sheer effectiveness.  THAT requires an
all-encompassing, from-the-ground-up approach.

-----SIDEBAR-----
For example, if we were to partner with any
of the numerous e-mail newsletter services
available (instead of developing our own
Mailout Module), the cost of maintaining a
newsletter would be passed directly on to you
from that partner.  In other words, our $300
product has now become a $600 product, as
clients spend an additional $25/month to
maintain the newsletter service.

And we would not be sure that the product
would develop in a way that meets OUR
clients' needs, the price could escalate
further, etc., etc., etc. 
-----SIDEBAR----- 


Secondly, instead of a nice slick and seamless integrated
package of tools and functions, the product soon becomes a
hodge-podge of add-ons and features.

SiteSell has always made (and will continue to make) the
difficult decision -- the decision to develop our own
in-house technology.  That allows us to OVERdeliver... a
system of tools that works, at a price that's a tenth of
what it should be.

We've had to make that same tough decision for our next BIG
modules -- the e-commerce and affiliate modules.

Want to implement an industry-standard 2-tier affiliate
program on your site?  Say good-bye to $700+ in set-up fees
and $50/month maintenance fees.  That's $1300 in costs for
the first year, and $600 each following year.  And that's
just for the affiliate management end of it.

And SBI!-E is much more than just a "tacked on" affiliate
program...

The SBI!-E package includes your own merchant account,
sophisticated fraud screening, perfect pricing, secure
digital e-good delivery, a 2-tier customizable affiliate
program, extended MailOut ability (to customer and affiliate
lists), and the same kind of extensive "reporting and
managing" back-end tools that SiteSell has...

...... all of it, our own technology.

Since not everyone needs e-com, and since there are some
extra hard costs that we absorb, it's the only-ever
"additional cost" module.  The upgrade will be USD$199.
Naturally, it integrates seamlessly into the SBI! tool.

-----

Back to the "magic of technology"...

Of course, there's nothing magical or mystical about the
Net.  SBI! takes care of the "magic" -- granted the
technology that drives brainstorming, Search Engine mastery,
etc., certainly appears to be magic.  But it's not.

It's just technology doing the part of the job that you
should not have to do, freeing you up to do YOUR BUSINESS, 
leveraging your time ten-fold.

Our technology... YOUR way.  So YOU can, and DO, succeed.

-----

You don't need to understand your phone to make a business
call.  E-commerce is the same way... now.

Thanks to SBI!...

You just do your business...

...... and thrive

...... in a tenth of the time

...... at a tenth of price.

THAT, dear reader is the unique DIFFERENTIATOR.

----------------------------------------------------------
You just do your business...

.... and thrive

.... in a tenth of the time

.... at a tenth of price.
----------------------------------------------------------

The key to the effective PREselling of SBI! is conveying
this to YOUR visitor.  Make this message break through all
the clutter of marketing claims that OVERpromise and
UNDERdeliver.

Other businesses provide Web hosting for Web sites.  That's
fine.  It's easy to build a Web site (there are literally
hundreds of thousands of deserted Web sites floating around
in cyberspace).  But it's not nearly as easy to build a Web
BUSINESS... and certainly not at this price, and not with
this ease, thanks to a total system of integrated tools.

Remember...

Why build a Web site, when you can build a Web business?

Tell your visitors, your friends, your customers, your 
colleagues...

----------------------------------------------------------
You just do your business...

.... and thrive

.... in a tenth of the time

.... at a tenth of price.
----------------------------------------------------------

PREsell that message.  Then send folks to the site, through
your RRURL, which will do the selling for you...

http://buildit.sitesell.com

If they want a quick tour first, send them to...

http://quicktour.sitesell.com

The Home Page, Quick Tour and the link (on the home page) to
some sample sites should give your potential customers all
the info they need about SBI!...

.... after you have PREsold by cleanly DIFFERENTIATING this
unique-to-the Net product.

-----

We tend to forget a truly critical fact -- at least I know 
that I tend to forget it, because I'm just so close to it.

You and I know that SBI! is real.  It works.  Exactly the 
way we say it does.

But the rest of the world does NOT know that.

Tell them.  DIFFERENTIATE.  Get this message across with
clarity, precision and honesty and I promise...

Your 5 Pillar Business will boom.

------------------END OF 5 PILLAR ARTICLE-----------------

So what's YOUR takeaway ACTION STEP from an article that was
never really intended for your eyes?

Differentiate to thrive!   Review YOUR Web site and YOUR
other key communications that reach YOUR customers and YOUR
sales force...  

Review your message with "new eyes."

Are your key differences clear?  Or has it all become a bit
hazy over time?

Differentiate... or get use to tread marks.  It's a tough,
congested Net out there.  You simply MUST stand out.
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SiteSell Discount Directory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 MYSS! 2002 -- if I
reduced its price, I'd have to pay *you* to buy it! ;-)

SiteSell Discount Directory
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back issues available at...
>> http://www.sitesell.com/edge/backissues.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO UNSUBSCRIBE
To unsubscribe, go to the following URL and enter your e-mail
address. If you use more than one e-mail address, be sure to
enter the same one that you used when you subscribed.
>>  http://www.sitesell.com/unsubscribe-edge.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WANT TO CHANGE THE E-MAIL ADDRESS AT WHICH YOU GET THE EDGE?
http://www.sitesell.com/change-email.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact info: E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2002 SiteSell.com