Web Site Vs. Web Business

So What's The Difference?

When I first began to look into having a Web site for my local organizing service, my intent was to improve the marketing of my business. What I discovered was I had tunnel vision!

I mean, why just build a Web site? Why not build a Web BUSINESS?!

Believe me, I never planned to build a "side business" when I started this internet journey. Heck, I didn't even use the internet two years ago except to e-mail and play educational games with my little ones!

Now here I am with an offline AND an online organizing business, both of which are doing quite well!

Put On An Addition

I encourage you to definitely pursue distinguishing the differences between a Web site vs. Web business.

Afterall, you are already knowledgeable about your local business niche or the one you'd like to start. How about sharing that knowledge on your Web site as a trust-builder or relationship builder?

How To Do This

Now, back to the question "How do I do this?"

My answer pertains to both those who already have established offline niche businesses and those who would like to build one either on or offline or both.

Sidebar

Step By Step

Consider Site Build It! for instance. For less than the cost of Yellow Pages Ad (who finds anything of value there?) you can have a Web site building program that is almost as easy to use as it is to e-mail! At the very least, it can be an easily changeable online broshure, but believe me, you will not want to stop there!

Site Build It! has taken all of the "techie" and "behind-the-scenes" stuff that the average person shys away from and automated it. I am not talking about WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Programs, if you have looked into these. I am talking about an all-in-one Web site building, marketing and hosting package that is "Clickable-Easy" to use!

Think it sounds TOO easy? Visit some of the sites built by people just like you and me.

Look At These Results!

In everyone of these Web businesses, what shines through over and over again? Yes, PASSION! Everyone of these SBI!ers is passionate about their business and provide relevant, quality information. Everyone of them used Site Build It! to build their sites all on their own. Many of them had absolutely no Web experience when they started out. You can do this too! These are also great examples of a Web site vs. Web business. Every one of these sites are businesses.

So the first step is to get an easy-to-use Site Building Program. Personally, I have found none better than Site Build It! but just to be fair, you can click here and make your own comparisons.

Make Your Own Comparisons

2. Start writing Content (the C in the CTPM Process ). Think you can't write well? Surprise! Writing for the Net is easy too. Just be yourself and write about what you know and love. Write about everyday experiences with your customers or clients. Write about how you built your business. Write about anything at all related to your niche! Write with the passion you feel anad write just as you would talk to someone you know well. Just write! Editing comes a bit later. So for now, just write, write, write.

There are some really great resources about writing for the Net. The first one I mention is offered FREE! I know, I know, that word "Free" conjures up all kinds of crazy emotions like "why is it free?" or "cool, it's free!" or "it can't be very good if it's free" or...well I COULD go on but let me just tell you about this anyway, okay? It's called the "Netwriting Masters Course" and yes, you can download it absolutely free.

This course will teach you how to sell more by writing better and smarter. In other words, you will learn how to write to PREsell and then how to write to SELL. Most other courses available teach you one approach or the other, but not both. In addition, I haven't found any other course that is offered Free.

Another Net-writing option is "Make Your Content Presell." Sorry, this one is not free, well...almost. But the contents are INVALUABLE! Seriously. You can use this book for improving your writing in any area of your life. Bottom line, it teaches you how to write to communicate and in your own personable voice. It's easy to read, and written with humor and in the author's own easily understandable voice.

Finally, I will mention "Make Your Knowledge Sell" which guides you through the steps to putting your knowledge into writing in order to create an e-book which you can sell on your Web site. This sounded a bit frightening to me at first, almost like there's no way I could ever be an "author" but the reality is ANYONE can author a quality e-book and sell it on the Web. Make Your Knowledge Sell will convince you within the first few pages that you DO have valuable knowledge which people everywhere are looking for. Now you will be able to share that and possibly earn income from it as well!

3. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with whatever Site Building Program you chose. When you know enough to start building, it's time to take what you have written and enter it.

4. Build! Ask a family member, friend or co-worker to read your first few Web pages and offer comments and suggestions. Ask for ideas for content from these people as well as your offline clients/customers. Ask them what they want to know, what interests them in relation to your niche. You can even ask them to write something for your site! Use your imagination. Sounds pretty fun, doesn't it?!

Back To Business...

This is SO important for you! Think of all the keywords you can use that will allow someone to find you! Hundreds of them! Now think of all the "keywords" you can use in a yellow pages ad which will allow someone to find you...one :( One keyword category per ad. Pretty tough to effectively market that way.

Bt the way, the bigger Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. are currently pouring gazillions of dollars into building high value LOCAL SEARCHES. This is great news for small business owners who now can easily be found whether they have a Web site or not. Just think, too, if you are a local niche business AND have a Web site, and someone finds you through a LOCAL SEARCH, you have a far greater opportunity to get that all important trust building relationship started through the content on your site. Everyone else gets a cursory glance and a click out of there. Which do you want to be?

All of this talk about keywords and local search leads to Traffic (the T in the CTPM Process ). You must have Traffic to your site and the proper keywords are vital to building Traffic. For more on how to build traffic, just enter the keywords "how to build traffic to a Web site" into your Search Engine; or if you go with Site Build It!, it's all done for you with a few clicks.

6. Now that you are building traffic to your site, your primary goal is to market to people who need your service, product and/ or information. You want to provide information, solutions, recommendations, etc., all of which are considered Preselling (the P in the CTPM Process ). It's kind of like gently persuading them to consider you. Your intent is NOT heavy selling here.

Try to think of if as the online version of building trust. You are offering your visitor information that they are looking for and when you provide what they want, they begin to gain confidence in you as a good source. Just as you would offer an offline client/customer friendly service, you provide your online visitor the same through your content.

For a service niche, initially your main goal is to "presell" to your visitor that you are better than the competition. If you have a retail-type niche, your main goal is to provide just enough information that they will feel compelled to try a product or some merchandise. It works similarily for all niches. Preselling is all about warming up your visitor, not selling. People respond to preselling in a less guarded manner than they do to selling. Just think of your own experiences when someone is trying to sell you something as opposed to a friend recommending something.

You "presell" every single day. Preselling presents itself in a variety of forms, ie., to persuade, recommend, influence, offer samples, impress, praise, complement, support, etc. You can do all of the above both offline and online.

Buzz

Let's use a common everyday example to drive home the point even further. When you are looking to buy a digital camera for instance, you tend to ask around to family and friends and then you begin to form opinions from what you learn from them. Why? Because you trust them! This is why it is just as important that you begin to build trust through your Web site as it is in your offline niche. Now if you were looking to buy a digital camera but did not have anyone to ask, let's see what happens when you research online.

Perhaps you arrive at a camera Web site. This site offers many cameras for sale but does not have a lot of information (good content), basically just specs, cost and availablity. You decide to look elsewhere and find "all-about-digital-cameras.com" where you find great content written in a knowledgeable, friendly voice. This site compares different features of digital cameras and maybe even displays photos taken with each one pointing out the positives and negatives (not those!) of the quality. BINGO! You begin to develop trust in the author of this site. See how it works?!

Okay, I think you get the idea so we will move on to the way you will add income to your niche business by adding a Web presence...

7. We've arrived at how you are going to earn income from your Web business. Initially, you will focus on writing great content. If you put this first and foremost, you will succeed. Eventually, because you are building a business, you will need to make money in one way or another. What monetization (the M in the CTPM Process ) model/s you choose will depend on your niche. For different ways to monetize your Web business, please see:

Monetizing Options

8. I hope that you are convinced that it doesn't make sense (in most cases) to just build a Web site. Build a Web BUSINESS! You will have a great time trying something new and at the same time you most likely be in for some wonderfully unexpected surprises.

Why just build a Web site? Build Web BUSINESS!

All the best to you on your Web Business Journey!

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