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World's
Most Usable E-commerce E-zine
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SITE-SELL! Issue #006
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SITE-SELL!
The World's Most USABLE E-commerce E-zine
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>A free, twice-monthly e-zine dedicated to showing you ...
> ... how to MAKE YOUR SITE SELL!
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November 4, 1999
Issue #006
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Each issue of SITE-SELL contains USABLE
content in 1 or more of these categories...
CATEGORY IN THIS ISSUE?
> SITE-SELL XPRESS --> YES
1) We've got a winner! :-)
2) From the EDGE
> HANDS-ON SITE SELLING --> YES
Your Product's Gotta Be There!
> SITE-SELL! SPOTLIGHT --> NOT THIS ISSUE
> BEST OF THE REST --> YES
Ralph Wilson strikes again!
> TEST YOUR SITE --> YES
Is Your Product THERE???
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SITE-SELL XPRESS -- News
What's new in the world of sitesell.com...
--
1) We've Got a Winner! :-)
Do you remember this article from SITE-SELL #003, where I
did a complete makeover of the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel
Web site?...
http://articles.sitesell.com/bhh/
Well, someone has just won October's MYSS! Sweepstakes! As
soon as that person replies to our notification, I'll be
doing an in-depth review of his site... free.
If you'd like to be November's winner...
http://www.sitesell.com/cgi-bin/contest/contestStart.pl
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2) From the EDGE
We've started a 4-part series in Sales from the EDGE (free
e-zine to all MYSS! owners). It covers three strong, new
ways to build traffic to your site, including a complete
STEP-BY-STEP strategy for how to get the most out of each.
When it comes to traffic-building techniques, most people
either don't use them at all, use them half-heartedly or
sub-optimally, or make some serious mistakes that actually
cause setbacks. These articles show you how to use these
new techniques... the RIGHT way... at no expense.
The fourth issue will tie it all together with a new,
comprehensive, and powerful Phase III strategy. This
approach will push MYSS!'s concept of Phase III
Keyword-Focused Content Pages to the next level.
A good 95% of MYSS!'s content is "classic content." Sections
such as writing words that SELL, or building gateway pages
that pull LONG-TERM traffic, or developing your own products
will not go "out of style." That's why I say that 95% of
MYSS! will be as valid in 2002 as it is now.
Once you know and use the MYSS! process, all you need to do
is stay up to date with the occasional IMPORTANT
development. Of the tons and tons of overhyped new
technologies that come out every day, most simply wither
away (remember "push"?). When I'm sure of something
important that will stick, I cover it in the EDGE.
The EDGE keeps the other 5% of MYSS! "evergreen" -- and it
keeps MYSS! owners from wasting their time on all the
day-to-day white noise of Internet marketing. :-)
Get the EDGE now, while it's still free, by ordering MYSS!
at its still low price of CAD$24.95 (well under US$20)...
https://secure.sitesell.com/order.html
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HANDS-ON SITE SELLING
Based on our own experience, this column features original,
in-the-trenches info that you can *USE.*
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> Your Product's Gotta Be There!
You know, it all starts with product. So why are there so
many people trying to sell junk like...
o 5500 reports-on-CD-ROM (generic rehash written by others)
o software that does not get the job done
o inferior hard goods of any kind.
I mean, why bother? The Net is such a fabulous place to
change your life by building your own business. Why in the
world would you want to set your foundation in quick sand?
So let's get away from site-selling and traffic for an
issue. Instead, let's evaluate the product or service that
you are selling (or considering) on the Web.
In MYSS!, there is a 16 point product checklist. Let's give
your product the nickel tour...
When considering a product for Web sales, weigh these
sixteen factors, listed in approximate order of
importance...
1) Product Quality -- Does your product solve someone's
problem, or deliver a benefit, in a high-quality way? If
not, STOP -- kill this product. Everything becomes a lot
easier if you are selling a great product.
2) Competition -- Consider the competition. Don't enter a
crowded field if you don't have some kind of unique edge
(for example, a unique product or a unique approach).
3) Market Size -- Wide appeal is great, but the Internet is
ideal for niche products, as long as that market is on the
Net in sufficient numbers.
4) Promotability -- Can your product be promoted at
low-or-no-cost?
5) Profit Margin/Pricing -- Even though the cost of doing
business on the Web is low, a product with a great profit
margin is still a wonderful product to sell.
6) Supply and Exclusivity -- If you develop your own
product, you're 100% sure of your supplier... you!
Exclusivity on a product is the next best thing. Otherwise,
make sure that you are protected.
7) Advantage for You to Sell Via the Web? -- Evan Schwartz,
in his wonderful book Webonomics, describes information-rich
products as being the ideal ones for the Web. By that he
means videos or software, but not Tide detergent. Is your
product information-rich?
8) Advantage for Customer to Buy Via Web? -- Is there an
advantage to the customer to buy via the Web? For example,
availability, price, convenience, or speed of delivery.
9) Sizzle Factor -- Does the product lend itself well to
some marketing "sizzle?"
10) Support Required? -- Is the product basically "plug and
play." If your consumer can use it immediately with no
special help, this is a big plus.
11) Legals/Regulations -- Make sure it's safe and legal in
every jurisdiction where you'll be selling it, including
a trademark search to be sure.
12) Cost of Transportation -- The product must be cheap to
ship (as a percentage of the cost of the item).
13) Cost of Inventory -- It should be cheap to maintain
inventory.
14) Potential for Repeat Purchase? -- Your product must have
the potential to develop repeat business.
15) Community -- Does the product lend itself to building
community? Perhaps via a newsletter? Or through a Chat
Room or E-mail Discussion List?
16) "Fun" for you? -- Does selling the product give you
pleasure? Your Web marketing efforts will suck a lot of
your time, and will require a lot of creativity. If you
enjoy it, time and creativity both come easier.
I put "fun" last, just because it's such a special
consideration that I didn't know where to rank it! For you
hard-core sales professionals, "fun" may not matter. But
for the husband-and-wife team marketing a "labor of love"
based on a long-time hobby, obviously "fun" should be ranked
at the top.
If you can give all of the above 16 factors high or perfect
scores, you're all set. If you can't, either reposition
your product for Web sales (see MYSS! for full details on
the above 16 point checklist and for advice on how to best
position your product/service for the Web)...
... or start over. MYSS! reveals the very best product
categories and even how to develop your own products. After
all...
If "PRODUCT" is not solid, everything else becomes 100 times
harder.
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And now for one very special reason to sell only the very
best...
The e-mail that you receive is a constant joy. Here's an
example...
http://www.sitesell.com/testimonials.html
Notice the phenomenal reviews by the pros? You won't find
those for any other Web marketing book or manual. See those
gushing comments from happy readers? Every one of them
comes with an e-mail address so you can verify that they're
all for real. Let's face it...
It's easy for any Web marketer to put up page after page of
"testimonials" if they're signed by the likes of...
Joe Smith
President, AnyCorp, Inc.
or
Betty Jones
Maple Town, Illinois
After all, you just can't trace these people. And if you
could, you wouldn't bother taking the time, right? Of
course, you're not *supposed* to bother -- why else would
marketers do that?
But if you include the person's e-mail address (or telephone
number), hey!... That person *loves* what you're doing so
much that s/he actually allowed this information to be
posted on the Web site. And most importantly...
... your visitor *KNOWS* that every one of those
testimonials are for real.
>BOTTOM LINE Tip About Testimonials
Never, ever use testimonials that your audience cannot
EASILY, QUICKLY VERIFY. If anything, they'll actually hurt
your efforts.
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A personal note...
We've long since stopped adding to our Testimonial Page --
there is, after all, such a thing as overkill. The support
staff always acknowledges your kind words, and they forward
them to me simply because I love seeing them.
Yes, no doubt about it... only sell the best. After all,
how would you feel getting letters like this on a regular
basis?...
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It's probably been a month or so that I
purchased MYSS and I've discovered many
reasons my sites have NOT sold as I expected.
Probably the biggest mistake of all was
thinking that web sales would be a breeze
after millions in conventional sales and
almost thirty years of professional computer
software consulting and engineering
experience.
I'd like to tell you that I already owned
"the other" internet marketing courses
running from $50 to over $200 dollars each
prior to buying MYSS. In fact, the price for
your course was so low, I was skeptical of
even buying it. With that iron-clad
guarantee, however, I couldn't resist.
Besides, I really enjoyed the writeups about
you and your wife and satisfying my curiosity
was well worth the $17.06 US cost.
What stunned me first was that I filled up
two (3 inch) binders with the MYSS manuals,
not to mention another 1 1/2 inch binder with
the affiliate program. It was the actual
reading of your fine course that converted me
and made me realize that your course is for
real and worth more than all the courses I've
bought put together!
I don't think I was cheated with the other
courses simply because MYSS wasn't out at the
time. But I will say that there's no other
course that comes close to the quality
lead-through instruction that MYSS provides.
You also have a unique way of teaching in a
fun, entertaining manner.
Last night, I decided that I'd like to be a
part of your affiliate program not knowing
what I was about to see. Like so many other
affiliate self-starters, I acquired my first
domain with no inkling of what I was doing
and quickly enrolled in about fifty of them.
(The more the better, right?) After
downloading your hefty affiliate manual, I was
so spellbound by what your affiliate program
offered I read it onscreen from start to
finish while printing the hard copy. It was
impossible to stop even as it approached
2:00a.m.!
Mr. Evoy, I want to congratulate you on the
finest training course on internet marketing
in Make Your Site Sell as well as the finest
affiliate program that I've ever seen. Your
affiliate program alone is far more valuable
than the ($300) introductory "kits" being
sold to supposedly prepare a person for a
particular business.
I also want to thank you and all those
responsible for putting this wonderful
affiliate program together. It's without a
doubt the best affiliate program available
and is certainly the only one of its kind.
Its easy to see your promise being delivered
in that you deliver far, far more than the
expected! Its truly an honor to be affiliated
with you!
Sincerely,
John Ledford
sincerely@emeraldis.com
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And that, dear reader is exactly why we sell MYSS! for such
a low price. MYSS! really is the BEST at the LOWEST price.
I insist on putting it into the hands of EVERYONE who is
ready. I refuse to restrict it to those who can afford to
pay large amounts of money.
Thanks very much John, for such a wonderful letter. My
pleasure could only be greater when you write back to tell
me about your success, something like what John Gleason
wrote to me just yesterday...
------------------------------------------
Ken, literally five minutes after I replaced
a truly beautiful, bells-and-whistles-laden
site with the one I developed based on your
MYSS! process, the phone rang twice within
five minutes for orders!
Orders have not stopped since. Thanks so, so
much. :-)
John Gleason
ssgus@aol.com
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Bottom line? Sell GREAT products... it's much, much easier,
and your online life will be a sheer joy.
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BEST OF THE REST
So many e-zines... so little time. And so little USABLE
stuff. This section only contains especially important Web
sales-getting articles from other e-zines (we subscribe to
over 100 of them). Only major stuff "makes the cut."
--
> Ralph Wilson strikes again!
Those of you who have read MYSS! know how obsessed I am with
"knowing your customer." It's natural, almost subconscious
to write with YOURSELF in mind, rather than your customer.
MYSS! shows you how to break out of the "me" mindset and
into the brain of your customer.
Ralph Wilson, in his latest issue of Web Marketing Today,
has written an absolute must-read on this topic...
http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/issue63.htm
Please... do not miss the articles on learning about your
visitor. Of everything that I've read over the past two
months, this is the single most important one. It's so
fundamental to success.
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TEST YOUR SITE
A challenge to you, dear reader...
--
> Is Your Product THERE???
Review your product to see if you should continue to sell
it, or if you should be positioning it better for Web sales.
What are you selling on the Web? Does it deliver true
value? Do you own the sole rights to it? Review your
product against MYSS!'s 16 Point Checklist. If it fails...
Why the heck are you wasting your time? Follow the MYSS!
guidelines for developing a GREAT product (or repositioning
your existing ones) and take control of your own business...
one that will thrive!
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Back issues available at...
>> http://www.sitesell.com/site-sell-backissues.html
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Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President of SiteSell.com Inc.
(c) and ™ SiteSell.com Inc. All rights reserved.