How To Create a UWP (Unique Web Proposition)
That Has Them Coming To Your Site and Begging for More

Dear Friends:

If you're interested in special effects, Java, Shockwave, or any other techno-driven term that makes you drool on your computer, don't read this. You want to entertain people with your tricks, but tricks are for kids! (And kids don't make as much money as adults.)

Special effects are special because they are there to surprise; why else would they call them special? Those sites focusing on technology aren't generating any revenues; that is what we are all here for, isn't it? Your business should be online, making money, saving money, and generating leads 24 hours a day. Want to build a special, unique Web site? Then start making money, plain and simple. I'll share how I invite my audience in, let them create the content, generate the community for the Web site, and provide a revenue resource for both of us. I do this by creating the UWP:

• Make it
  Unique; no one else's site should look, talk, or act like yours;

• Build your
  Web; a simple approach and partnering with other businesses will open up doors so that others can find you; and

• Deliver a
  Proposition, the close, the reason for your Web site's existence.

Your Web site is your salesperson online; if it isn't generating revenue and/or leads, saving you money on printing or helping you build relationships with your target audience, then something is wrong. You need to create a UWP.

Let's get started by learning how to create your UWP, discovering the 6 Dirty Secrets To Fooling the Search Engines, and look for our special offer entitling subscribers to join our Web and benefit from special deals for Web Letter participants including our special report, How To Overcome the 7 Major Objections to a Web Site Sale. Available May 1 at http://www.webletter.net/ ...you should come for a visit.

Remember, you are not subscribers, you are participants...don't sit on the sideline and watch the Web pass you by. Grab the train while it is here and hop on; in a few years, you'll be the few who were able to profit from the new online marketplace.

Peace
MDD

How To Create Your UWP and Turn Web Surfers Into Settlers By Creating Comfort Zones That Makes Them Forget About the Web and Focus on Buying From You

Why Create Confusion When You Can Generate Leads?

Imagine that you go to a store to buy a shirt. You enter the door but instead of meeting a guide or salesperson, you are given thousands of other products to sift through, wander by, and get lost in with no one to help you. Meanwhile, all you want is to buy a shirt. But you can't find it because the store was so busy impressing you with its fancy lights and amount of products, that no one took the time to make it easy for you to find what you are looking for.

Sounds confusing? This scenario is acted out every day on the Web, by consumers who want to affiliate with a site, trust the person, and just...

Because we have forgotten the traditions of advertising and journalism, of guiding the visitor through the information to what they want. To create a sale, you must have a USP (Unique Sales Proposition), which I translate into needing a UWP (Unique Web Proposition). Consumers are looking for what they want and who can provide it to them. What makes your site unique? The way if affects, integrates, and invites the browser to stop and shop, to stay in your site and see what you have to offer.

They are looking for their own comfort zone, where someone understands what they want and gives them a place to talk to the business. Many people think this is just about content, but content is the most overrated element of a Web site. Don't get me wrong, you need great content, but too much content overwhelms people. They get lost in the philosophy and forget the commerce. It's not the information, it's the way you present it. But more importantly, it's the way you let the audience take what they are interested and fly...with your site as the expert, with your UWP, and the way you close the deal. To begin, you must understand:

• What is
  Unique? Market research derived directly from the audience.

• What is the
  Web? Communication with consumers.

• What is the
  Proposition? Giving them what they want and making it inviting.

First rule of the Web; we don't meet because of who we are, where we are, what time it is, or even why we are we meet because of what we are interested in. You have to make your audience interested and integrally involved in your Web site. Think of the Macintosh and the Wintel (Windows + Intel, if you missed it) machines; both could help people process information. Both looked similar to a new comer. One was easier to use, the other was marketed better. Now 80% of computer users are jumping up and down because Windows is now Plug and Play, something Macintosh has been since the mid 1980s.

What made Windows unique? Bill Gates and his marketing force, creating a comfort zone where you understood about the product and felt part of a bigger crowd in buying it. So you bought because it was the best quality for the best price; Apple was a little better quality, but at a much higher price. The difference in quality wasn't intelligible to the majority of people who use computers to crunch words and data. Which would you rather be, the person selling Windows or Macintosh?

Create a comfort zone for your audience so that they start identifying with your site.

A business is only as good as its close; if you're not closing, you need to improve your UWP. Begin with the end in mind...begin with the close...let's begin.

No business succeeds without a plan. On the Web, planning means planning to overhaul and replace your original idea. With such a new medium, you're bound to bring in your old approaches, the traditional world of broadcasting, and match your vision to the Web. Unfortunately this doesn't always match. Remember your learning curve; this means you will change your site often, to give signs of life to the audience, but at the same time you will adapt your end goal.

To make your site unique, why not tap into the learning curve of the audience? This is what you are really designing for, feeding on their passion and fulfilling it with the content they request. Right now your audience is meeting in newsgroups, on mailing lists, and in chat rooms, talking about their passions.

Are you taking any steps to get in touch with them, to let them know about you? Why spend your time on content when you can spend it on market research that is available for free every day? Anyone can create content and hope for the best in fact too many are doing that on the Web, leading to many generic sites but few can take the common sense approach to the Web that it provides. This common sense is based on the best natural and technical resource available; the minds and passions of the visiting audience.

The audience drives the entire process; why not get them to give you what you want, so you can give them what they want?

What we are really talking about is a basic marketing strategy. Set yourself goals to achieve; how will you know you've found your audience? Will you do this strictly by sales, or are there other sources of revenue generating or expense saving options that the Web will offer? The home page usually is the first thing they see, where they decide to stay or, if they don't like it, never to return. You have one shot...make it good.

So think of your first opening, the first impression you will give the Web. Should this be some sort of information collection, a place to talk, or a listing of what you do? It can't be that flat, it must allow for the dimension of exploration built into the audience. Find out what problems they have and solve them; build yourself up as the expert of organizing and understanding their needs. We all want one place to go; make your site that one place. I know this all sounds so simple; that's because it is.

Keep it simple...keep it focused...the audience doesn't want to figure out your confusion. They have enough confusion of their own.

Defining the markets you reach begins with how you describe the Web site. Begin with an idea of who you want to reach and ask yourself if they have a passion for this subject. If they don't, you're job is harder because you have to create the passion. Better to hone in on a passion and design for that, rather than try to create one.

Each week I get emails from people wanting to develop Web sites. First they have an idea for a business, like selling telephone cards online (a message I get at least 4 times a week). Then they progress to a widget they want to sell, some real estate they own, a business opportunity they want to sell, and some philosophical idea that would like to entwine into the whole package. Five very separate ideas, one very undirected Web site.

Sound confusing? It is...the confusion comes from the lack of focus. No one would try to incorporate different businesses into the same approach, but somehow people on the Web dream that it is different, that it is cyberspace...

If cyberspace is the emperor, then the emperor has no clothes. Why don't you dress this puppy up and make it fun, instead of having a Web site that hasn't done any planning, conducted any market research, or worst of all, made any attempt to create a fun atmosphere for exploration, discovery, and purchasing?

My question to those who would design Web sites as Virtual Flea Markets with unconnected products: would you buy from a store that had no idea of what it was selling? How can you have a UWP with so many different items? A Web site is a storefront that should ease confusion, not create it. Give them this ease of use and understanding, they will start talking...about how easy and fun your site is. How unique!

A unique site is one they will talk about, built on listening to the needs of the audience and crafting a site that fulfills their wishes. Don't start by creating content; take a walk around the Web, around some newsgroups, and listen to all the discussions. The clues are there if you are looking for them.

Unique sites are built by people who pick up the clues, develop content, products, and services, then provide a close to lead the audience to buy. Begin with the end in mind and create a marketing strategy, a plan of action. Test this plan out, test your headlines, listen to the audience and ask them for feedback. Not only will your site develop, but your email list will also develop. You can create the flow of exchange by addressing the simplest way to put the products and services the audience wants into their hands. Let them tell you the easiest way, then sit back as they gather to the one Web site that understands this simple fact: the audience is in control. Will you surrender (and become unique)?

How To Listen to the Audience and Let Them Control

Don't Be a Prophet, Be Profitable

Many people who come on the Web understand it is personal media, a me to you approach. So what do they try and do? Convince people of their philosophy, of believing in their terms and concepts. They try to sell the "me", the creator of the site, to the "you", the audience. The fault lies in the approach. The audience and the site should be intertwined, like any good Web.

Let's start with the basic definition of a Web: interlaced, interwoven strands, the network of delicate threads spun by a spider to entrap its prey. The Web has to be inviting, but remember that you aren't trapping them in your Web, you are inviting them in. And in my approach, your Web site should be the prey for the hunting audience. Let them build the Web that gets you enmeshed in a circle of traffic, business, and commerce.

Your Web site is the hunted; the visitors are the hunters. Let them spin their Web around your site and you have return visitors, a good site, and best of all, content generated by those with a passion for the subject. Many sites spend all their time creating content and trying to force feed it to the audience. With this approach, your originality and genius makes or breaks the Web site. I'll show you why this risk isn't needed any more.

The problem with such a site is that it's based on the ego and ideas of one person. A good Web is built on multiple viewpoints, on discussions. I just had an international WebChat, which my audience praised even though only 15 people at most participated in it. What it told me is that America Online and those other services are right; people like to chat and like to share ideas. Building a site on input from the audience is an important balancing act. But don't overdo it, because the personal touch will make your Web site.

Reaching your audience involves the first steps in any marketing campaign, trying to create a market for your distribution. Those email addresses you collect, feedback you develop on, and community you build are one way. These will allow you to develop personalized mailing lists, means of attracting attention, and following up on details. Who needs to beat an old horse to death? Become the new horse, the one built on communication.

I wish it were as simple as just going to search engines and newsgroups, posting your message, taking out classified ads, and waiting for traffic. But the audience who comes to your site needs more, they need to be involved in what you are doing. They need to be engaged and interested.

You need to listen to them, let them control the site and guide you to the right conclusion. A good Web is the extension of the Unique aspect; what makes you different is using your site for market research. Communication with consumers builds the Web. Now let's look at how you close the deal, the Proposition.

A great Web site develops a learning curve with its audience. Whatever they want is right...remember the old saying, the customer is always right?

Production begins with the audience. Why not build your proposition around what they need? For instance, you could go to newsgroups and read their ideas. Send out some feelers, even without advertising on the newsgroup. You could ask what they are interested in before you have a Web site, find out if what you are thinking of appeals to your target audience.

You could ask for advice on how to develop your site and then invite those who gave you feedback to check it out. One friend of mine calls this moderating a newsgroup, eventually becoming the expert for the group, the one whose voice controls.

I think this is way too much work; I observe and ask questions, without marketing. Then when I'm ready, I know where to announce it. If you want some great advice on how to operate this way, visit Flame Free Online Marketing at Jonathan Mizel's CyberWave site: http://www.cyberwave.com/top/article.html. It will show you many ways to do this.

You have to define the markets you want to reach, the means to reach them, and how you ultimately want to generate revenue. This doesn't mean running around in circles, screaming to the Web about your idea. You have to remain focused and begin with the end in mind.

Developing a learning curve means that there is change going on, because the audience's interest and passion is always changing. That's why it's a passion. Don't try to inhibit this energy. Don't stand in the way by trying to control it.

Now Comes The Time We've Prepared for....The Close

All this talk of a UWP is wasted if you don't find a way to close the deal. Create a lead, enhance it by listening to your consumers, then deliver the close to make them buy. Remember the comfort zone...

They will only order the way they want to, in their comfort zone...

How are you going to close your deal? Will it involve a telephone call, a direct mail piece? I've created email and mailing lists at my site by inviting feedback with the reward of a free newsletter or report. But you won't close them online alone. Give them options to order to fill all comfort zones.

The Virtual Close is the Worst Close; Forget Email and Pick Up Your Telephone to Get Them To Order

I have found the best proposition is the one I deliver personally. I set up a telephone number they can talk with a real person on. I set up online ordering at my sites, but the audience isn't that comfortable with online ordering...yet. So give them a fax to contact, an 800 number to call, and no matter what the system you create for them to get in touch with you, don't try it without being able to take credit cards. Credit cards are the disposable income of our society. With this ability, you can process orders internationally, in U.S. currency; you can process orders immediately and close them. The check is in the mail? I don't think so.

A good UWP must have a close. Now that you've created a great Web site, how are you going to close the deal? Begin with this end in mind and find out the most comfortable way for the audience to order. Then when they come to your site, you've designed their comfort zone. And they order, or you get in touch with them. Give them many ways to order, and be sure to close the deal. A good UWP dies without a good close.

Search engines look for one thing: words. They count words to determine relevance of a Web site. The following are some tricks that will fool some search engines. They all have different approaches, but the bottom line is that they count words. These tricks work and may help your site get found. Remember that search engines are adapting their approach to some of these tricks, but many are foolproof. The bottom line is, do they help your site generate traffic and help your audience find what they are looking for? Creating a UWP means remembering that the most unique sites are those easy to find.

The drawback is that these tricks may not help your site, if you are confusing people when they search. Some people are abusing them, some are using them right. I don't guarantee these will all work, since the search engines keep changing. But the truth is the search engines just count words; if you can hide them and use enough keywords, you may get your page to register on a search. You are on your own with this one, but some of these tricks have worked for me.

Secret 1: Use the <META> Commands

Take a deep breath, this isn't about code, it's about keywords. At the top of every Web page is the following code:

<HEAD>
<TITLE>The Title of Your Web Site, Appearing at the Top of the Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

You need to add to this; add the <META> statements. There are several types, but only two that really help. They are <META NAME="Description" > and <META NAME ="Keywords" >:

<HEAD>
<TITLE>The Title of Your Web Site, Appearing at the Top of the Page</TITLE>

<META NAME="Description" Content="This is where you can really describe your site. Otherwise, the search engine will just print what's on your front page, which really looks garbled. Go to a search engine and see what I mean. With this statement, you'll get about two sentences to describe your Web site, which many search engines will show .">

<META NAME ="Keywords" Content=" Marketing online Michael Declan Dunn Web Letter publishing content development expert marketing marketing marketing marketing marketing marketing publishing publishing publishing publishing publishing Web Web Web Web">
</HEAD>

Warning: notice how I only repeated keywords 7 times; InfoSeek has decided more than this will indicate a site that is faking them out. Also, just worry about the first few sentences or series of words; your visitor will never see more than 25-30 words anyway, so go for it and request that the search engine revisit your site once this has been added. If you have someone else put up your page, just send them the words and this description, they'll know what to do with it...if they don't, they should learn. It's easy and this is the most important tool to use.

Secret 2. Repeat Words Throughout Your Web Page and Site

Search engines can only read words and count them. The search engines are dumb computer programs that do what their programmers tell them to. There are no smart search engines that judge content, except for Yahoo which has people personally look through sites that are submitted. Use this to your advantage; be sure to repeat appropriate phrases enough to elicit a count of being rated as relevant, based on the number of times a specific word appears on your physical page. But there are ways to put in words that don't "appear". Read on to learn about the dirty tricks.

Secret 3. The Dirty Tricks: Images and Comments

Images give a great place to insert key words. The code is as follows:

<IMG SRC="whatever.gif" HEIGHT=59 WIDTH=60 ALT="Describe the graphic, then stick in your keywords like crazy. The search engines will read them and all the viewer will see, if the graphic doesn't appear, are the first few words.">

This trick is a great one, because it hides words and never puts them on the physical page.

Comments are another great way to insert words; I learned this one from the Discovery Channel page, which used the following (I actually edited this a bit for reading):

<!-- nature nature nature nature nature -->

This code is called a comment, which never appears on the Web page. You can see it in the code, but how many of your audience are looking at the code? Comments are used on the Web to separate sections of code.

So why not be a hacker-like user of keywords and stick in those empty spaces the keywords that will make the search engines think your page is more relevant? No one will send you to jail for it because it's not illegal, and it might help you not get lost like a needle in the haystack of competitive Web sites.

Secret 4: Another Dirty Trick: The Tried and True Way to use <PRE> to Really Fool the Search Engines

The <PRE></PRE> command allows you to format and set up text on the Web, exactly as it appears in your word processor. The only problem is that it gives a weird computer font that isn't worth using. That is, unless you want to fool the search engines.

Some people use the <PRE> command to set up hundreds of key words on their page. They do this by simply going into a word processor and typing two pages of carriage returns (hit the return key over and over), then inserting their keywords, as many as they want. They then put the <PRE> command before the beginning of the page and a </PRE> command at the end. For the Web, this translates into empty space at the bottom of the page, which if scrolled to will lead to all the keywords. If you indicate to the audience the page has ended, it is unlikely that they will scroll and discover all those keywords. This is better than putting them in plain view on your Web Page, which really looks weird.

Secret 5: Submit Individual Pages in your Web site

This is an old trick; you submit individual pages at your site to the search engines. For many search engines - such as Lycos, InfoSeek, AltaVista, Excite, and others - this is not needed. They send out their "bots" to your site to count words and will look through each page. But for some search engines, it doesn't hurt to submit individual pages so that people can find specific information. That way they don't have to just find you through your home page, the whole enchilada, but can come in the back door for a specific article, product, or service. That way you make the most out of your site.

Secret 6: Get Links to Your Web Site

Lycos does an interesting thing; it counts a good site as one that has lots of links to it. Be sure to get your links out there. The real search engine is the mind of a prospective visitor. And this trick shows that how to fool the search engines often doesn't have anything to do with them; work on building your Web and building up Links to your site. This is better advice than adapting to any search engine's rules. Build your Web by building links, and words, that lead search engines to you.

Dear Subscribers:

Many of you have requested ways to deal with the objections to selling a Web site. The sale of a Web site is integral to the actual design. You have to build value. I've created a special report for subscribers only, detailing the 7 Major Objections to a Web Site Sale, including:

  1. Risk of investing...the Web is so new!
  2. I don't know about the Web, I feel overwhelmed.
  3. What is my role in the process? How do I get leads?
  4. Can the technology replace all my current efforts?
  5. How do I get online?
  6. Can't I do it myself?
  7. How come this guy is selling it for just $500? What's the difference?

I will also include some extra keys to closing a Web site sale that I've learned from my customers.

What do I ask in return? I want you to get in touch with me via email at ( dunn@webletter.net ) or write:

I want to use this newsletter to build more than just a bi-monthly resource for you. I am creating online consulting groups, mastermind discussions for business development, and new product and services directed to adding value to all who come online. As part of my Web, I invite you to participate, to send me your ideas. And I'll send you a free report just for getting in contact! What could be easier? Until next time...