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Fewer than one-third of Web Sites claim to be making money.

The funny thing is, the other two-thirds are the ones who do most of the talking. They are the "experts" you read about in glossy, trade journals. They teach you about digital branding, Java, Push Media, and where to get the best Ferrari in Silicon Valley - they are the Web Emperors.

Remember...the Web Emperors Have No Clothes;

"Every age has its peculiar folly; some scheme, project, or phantasy into which it plunges, spurred on by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the mere force of imitation." Charles Mackay, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds", 1852.

"Email is Push Media"    -Jim Barksdale, CEO, Netscape

Like you, I am no Web Emperor. In the 11 plus years I have been in business, I have never seen anything with the economic power, or the hypnotic quality, of the Web. If you keep a clear head, the Web still has much to offer.

Like all offers, this one is for a limited time. Big businesses are sinking their teeth into the online marketplace. In a few years you will buy email addresses, banner ads, and strategic positioning on search engines/local, classified advertising. You will pay for all that is now free. Or you will sell access to the powerful, customer base that you developed.

It will be free for a limited time. Get leads now, before it is too costly. Let's begin....

1. Sell any special report, newsletter, or how-to on Search Engines.

Search engine information sells, because people perceive that it changes all the time. They can understand the value of getting to the top of the search engines. Sell this as an ongoing solution, delivered via email or online. Or give a free report away as a special bonus.

People want this information and it changes. This makes it a good lead product to offer for free, to sell, or to create.

Since they want to buy the search engine solution, there is a market for it. Upsell services to submit them to all the search engines, or offer to make sure their site appears on the top two pages of the heavily trafficked search engines (If guaranteed, a service generating anywhere from $200-$500 a pop online now.).

2. Offer per inquiry advertising for local businesses. Create a funnel of leads for a specific profession.

It is said that 80 percent of money is spent within 50 miles of home. The person who figures out how to generate local leads with the Web will prosper. Instead of emphasizing the global possibilities, create a way to find local traffic and recommend them to a local professional.

1-800-Dentist does this (no, they do not have a Web Site yet). You call them and an operator types in your demographics, what you are looking for, and where you are located. The operator just reads you the results. You could do the same thing online, right now.

Make it more like a recommendation than a mere referral. Set appointments for local professionals. Use your site to get them leads online. Charge per inquiry or per appointment, or per sale.

Real estate brokers, attorneys, dentists, chiropractors, doctors, real estate appraisers, accountants, and even business consultants don't always advertise in print. They network, refer, and build direct leads from other professionals.

Local referral networks can be built around simple Web Pages as an entrance fee, with a per inquiry (i.e., email, fax, or phone call) charge. A small site and some promotion can create appointments. You can offer it to people who have Web Sites or who want to create one eventually.

Or build your own network with free Web Pages. The goal is clear; sell local leads and make a bundle.

C-NET Names Its 10 Digital Hoaxes Including: Push Media Java Spam Blocking Software

3. Sell software. Or bundle the software with your services.

Software is great to sell, but the services you can sell with it are often ignored. Software is a time consuming burden for most people. Many software packages can be turned into professional, high demand services.

For example, I sell:

A. Web Trends, a statistical program for tracking results at a Web Site, and

B. Response Doubler, which identifies the top two percentile discretionary income brackets on the basis of zip codes. You run Response Doubler against your database (or that of a list you are buying) to identify these top two income brackets. This tool is essential for direct mail, and direct email, lists. If you are selling more expensive products and services, you need to get in touch with those who can afford it.

Both are drop shipped to the customer.

I also offer WebTrends support to my customers, fully analyzing their Web Site's track record. Visit http://webletter.net/webstore.html to see an example of WebTrends in action. This report took me 5 minutes to generate and has unbelievable perceived value for your customer.

All because I could figure out quickly how to use the software I am selling. And offering this as a service is a low maintenance way to make money.

WebTrends is also good for running free evaluations on other Web Sites; all they have to do is send you some log files ( small text files automatically created on most Web Servers). The whole process takes about 10 minutes if done right.

Selling software online, I hold no inventory and make money only when I sell. This is the scenario to look for, and it is all over the Web. You can earn 30% and more selling other people's software.

Do not limit yourself to online software. At Costco (a wholesale reseller to businesses in many states), you can buy discounted software and resell it. Many discount shops hold CD-ROMs, software, and how to books that you can resell in mint condition.

4. Offer a how to book or audio for your customers to use the Web, then upsell them consulting services.

I have seen great Internet books at wholesale prices in Costco, Office Depot, and other business outlets. You can buy them online, via Amazon.com, or just look for deals.

There are plenty of good Internet books to sell. I have created a Home Study seminar that Members can resell; it's target price is $47, drop shipped at a 50/50 split. Most books only carry a 15% commission, but remember, this is just a lead product. Send them the book along with your sales materials and take them to the next step.

Selling books is a way to generate paid leads, at least enough to cover your costs. Use books to qualify your leads and gradually work your customer up to more valuable products and services.

5. Help non-profits

I recently learned this from a museum in Israel.

Museums and non-profits often try direct mail campaigns to raise funds. Like any fund raising, they work on a percentage of sale or per inquiry basis with their direct marketers. Now the museum is thinking of applying this strategy to the Web.

Fund raising is a means not only to help a non-profit, but help yourself. One client of mine set up a site where businesses could donate percentages of gross sales to the non-profit or charity of their choice. Any customer that ordered through the site could also choose to donate to the non-profit of their choice.

The Web is a meeting place for business and non-profits. What an excellent way to begin local, targeted marketing...by helping the community grow.

How To Profit From Safe, Secure, Direct Email The seminar was in Boulder, Colorado; now the package is available to you. Send an email to email@webletter.net and discover how to profit from direct email, safely and securely.

Today's ad hoc Web approach is failing for most businesses. Improvisation is not a strong sign of survival. You have to plan to succeed. If you do not address each of the following four steps, you will not know what hit you.

Step 1. Marketing Strategy: How Much Do You Want to Sell, and How Quickly?

What do you want to achieve? Are your customers within 50 miles of you and online? How many people have bought your product or service? Do you have a budget to support your efforts?

At least set some goals so you can judge what is working. How many units or services will you have to sell to break even?

Then look around the Web, search engines, and Deja News ( www.dejanews.com ); visit my Lead Generator Page ( http://www.webletter.net/links.html ) and check out the online commerce statistics. Most businesses get a bad half hour of advice in exchange for this step. Or they just jump to Step 3. Set your goals and check them each month.

Step 2. Content Development

The accepted Web myth is to throw out as much information as possible. Everyone needs information, right, so the more you provide, the better?

The result is a Web flea market full of helpful hints, ideas, feedback, and confusion for your visitor. So many dead sites are out there, dead because they do not involve the customer in taking an action.

Give them an action, tell them why it would benefit them, and get them to commit by clicking on the links at your site. You can even discover how long they are spending at each page to read your materials (WebTrends, for example).

Organize your online marketing strategy around three products and/or services. Fight the temptation to waste time on information and entertaining. Start with your track record, a Web Page with your resume and/or testimonials, along with something visual, a photo or picture of your business. Add one good article to prove you know what you are talking about.

Content development is where most prospective businesses bow out of the Web. They look at the task and are overwhelmed. It is an opening for any company to consult on and charge for. Or if you are paying for a Web Site, pay to have someone do the content for you. Do not presume it is included with the technical design of your Web Site.

Forrester Research Predicts the Top Online Shopping Revenue Will Come From:

1. Computer Products    2. Travel    3. Entertainment

4. Apparel 5. Gifts & Flowers 6. Food & Drink

Step 3. Apply Web Marketing to Meet Your Goals

Apply the content to your strategy. Test it. Trust only the number of inquiries you get, and how quickly you can convert those to sales.

Nothing else matters. Trust only your customers and where they respond. Use a Web Statistics program like WebTrends to see if people are visiting your site, and how long they are staying.

Focus on what works and make it easier for your customer to immediately contact you. This means good headlines, text full of bullets, and links that in two or three steps takes the customer to the point of deciding whether to purchase.

At this point include a place to get in touch with you if they do not buy immediately. Try to get them on the phone if possible.

Step 4. The ongoing process of finding partners, customers, and anyone to help your type of business flourish.

A. Local: services and products within 25-50 miles of home

The goal is to generate leads and appointments. Market through local channels (print, newspapers, radio, etc.), local Web advertising, and geographically targeted marketing. Where do people in your area go online? Remember that hobbies, education, and business advice drive them more than just the urge to shop and buy what you have to sell.

Find out where they are meeting and get them in touch with you.

B. Retail/Web mail order

If you can put it in a box and ship it legally, retail and Web Mail order are great businesses. Selling retail products depends on the volume you need to generate.

Study the demographics of who buys your product/service off-line and apply it to the Web. Low-priced items require tremendous exposure to generate significant sales. You will need banner ads, print advertising, and much work to develop brand recognition for what you are selling.

If you have high priced items targeted to a specific market, you will likely do better than retail. Direct mail and direct email, along with advertising in magazines and trade association journals to a targeted market, can yield good returns with more expensive items.

Find out where your target market goes online and approach those Web Sites, mailing lists, and wherever else they are meeting. Make sure you qualify your market before approaching them. After all, not everyone can afford that exclusive, $150 bottle of wine.

Next Issue: Web Trends What does bundling software like Microsoft have to do with making money online? Read the next issue and discover the Web Trends that will affect your business in the upcoming year.

C. Interactive TV

Cowles Simba projects the total U.S. Internet TV market to reach just 3 million people by the year 2001. A far cry from the 40,000,000 or so that we need to make this a consumer marketplace. This market may be huge in the next century, but right now it is for big business only.

Forget your Shockwave, Push Media, and streaming video delusions. WebTV is a nice idea, but between poor delivery systems and television screens based on a 1950's standard, we are a long way from the consumer masses coming online via TV's. I hope I am wrong on this one. But even if they do, you cannot compete with major entertainment companies.

D. Personalized News/Entertainment/Information

Visit any of the financial sites and you will find amazing examples of information delivery. Get the Wall Street Journal's, Free Personal Journal trial, www.wsj.com, to see an example. The Personal Journal is bundled with Barron's and Smart Money online, a combination package of information. You will need an alliance of companies to make money selling information access.

A better way to market would be as an agent, or broker, for any of the major services. This niche is based on mass media marketing techniques, good for advertising companies, costly to any small business. You will need an extensive sales force and the ability to maintain an expensive, information delivery system.

The fact is, few people pay much for information online now. Even the Wall Street Journal charges just $40 or so, compared to $150 plus for the print editions delivered via mail.

Once again, margins are low and maintenance costs are high.

The Birth of Direct Email, the Fading of Bulk Email Bulk email is the cold calling of the Internet. A tested list that responds is worth more than a bunch of cold names. Funny thing is, those people getting the names now, will own the lists later.

E. Direct Email Marketing

Direct email will become more and more valuable, as more people come online.

This is what the Web means to small business, the poor man's push media. The best thing is, this poor man has a much better chance of becoming rich. Direct email lists will be as common as direct mail in the coming years.

If you are going to do this, do it right. Here's a few simple rules to remember:

Rule 1. Direct email generates leads, not sales. Plan to follow up.

Rule 2. Be wary of lists you buy.

Any list you buy is either an informal opt-in, where people have allowed themselves to be emailed advertising. Usually this means they receive free information, or reports, from the business who owns the list.

The second list is one step from spam, lists that have been harvested and hopefully targeted. I say hopefully because many are just the second step in a bulk email mailing.

A good list that does not mind being mailed to and generates sales is what you want.

You can buy millions of addresses for practically nothing, but these lists are not worth it. You will likely get shut down, get tons of duplicates, and acquire a giant headache.

Think in terms of hundreds of customers, not millions of emails - quality, not quantity.

Rule 3. Create Impact in Three Words If You Can

People are busy. They are looking at tons of emails. Why should they open yours immediately?

Your goal is the three word headline; you may need to use more or less. If you cannot sum up your pitch in one sentence, keep working on it until you do.

The Subject Line is the headline of your email; this is what they will look at. If it does not make them want to act, they will hit delete immediately. No one wants to spend time figuring out what you are offering.

Forget tricks; do not use cute phrases or dollar signs. Be direct. Which approach creates the most leads? Use what works, not what you like, or hope will work.

"Push technology refers to software that can push a single computer file simultaneously to thousands of locations." "Probitia pitching 'push' technology", Boulder Daily Camera, 9/6/97, p.8B    Direct Email refers to email programs that can send emails to thousands simultaneously.

Rule 4. Personalize the message. Address your customer directly as "you". Keep it brief.

Calling your customers by name in an email should be required of all businesses. If you are not doing it yet, start now.

There are so many database/email programs that will allow you to personalize your email. Use them. NetContact is one; many databases allow you to export and merge for print letters. Mail Merge is possible for many email programs, and will become so increasingly in the future.

Rule 5. Write in bullets; in the information overload, the person with the easiest copy to read wins.

Sum up your main ideas in 5 bullets.

After you write each one, read it out loud. Ask yourself why what you said is important. Does it increase, boost, save, discover, explore, intrigue, and all together focus on the word "you"? Cut out the riff raff and select the bullets that generate the most response.

Rule 6. Write short copy, with an invitation to get more.

Your introductory sales letter should be short and to the point, two or three paragraphs at most. Invite them to get the whole story. Then send them to your Web Site (preferred), autoresponder, and telephone/fax. Expect to generate leads and give them autoresponders that are 8-10 pages long at most.

If you have a sophisticated sale, ask them to fill in a brief questionnaire at your Web Site in exchange for your sales letter. Try and follow up with a personal phone call.

Experiment with posting the sales letter at your site, and including it as an autoresponder.

Rule 7. Never expect them to buy on first contact. (How often do you?)

Protect Your Copyrights on Images: Visit Digimarc ( www.digimarc.com ); they have a program that allows you to embed your info on any graphic you put on the Web. And it allows you to track usage via their Web Site.

Rule 8. Write so anyone can read your direct email.

Write your ad copy in a word processor and check the reading level of what you are writing. I use Word's Grammar Checker, located under the Tools menu. You can run sentences, paragraphs, and whole documents to find out what grade level you are writing for.

For example, I ran the word "SimpleText" through the checker. The trick is to run the entire check; this report appears at the end.

I ignore everything except the Flesch Grade Level; notice how the word SimpleText is at the sixth grade reading level. That is why Apple used that word, because it is easy to remember and say.

If you use this tool on your sales letters, you will be amazed. I was writing at an 11th grade to early college level. It was great for academic research, but the death of a sales letter. I just shortened my words into two or three syllables. I stopped using contractions if possible. My words became simpler. My sales increased.

Most word processors should include this feature; if not, there are many third party grammar checkers. Just look for the Flesch Reading Level and you should be fine.

Rule 9. Amaze them With an Immediate, Surprise Bonus

Many people give away free reports, newsletters, and bonuses to start the direct response process. Giving away for free is good, but only if you make an impact. When you write a direct email, you need to direct the visitor to check out a Web Page/site dedicated only to what you are selling.

Forget driving them to your home page, with all those choices. Give them one choice, and give them their free bonuses immediately. Autoresponders are the most common way.

Forget driving them to your home page, with all those choices. Give them one choice, and give them their free bonuses immediately. Autoresponders are the most common way.

Bonuses in Action: Astrology.Net

Astrology.net sells astrological readings. They have about 10 or so packages to choose from. But when you visit their site, you are asked to join up and to get your free report.

The process begins with a listing of all the possible readings you can purchase. The free one is in the upper, left hand corner of the form, where all important information should be. This is where the eye first rests, then reads left to right. You scan through their choices and get to the bottom of the form, submitting for your free report.

You enter your name, birthday, and time of birth. Time of birth is very important and not all of us know this one. They give you the option to include the time or not. You trade them demographic information for the report.

The information product is created as you fill in three forms. The result is a 3-5 page report and a personalized graphic of the stars alignment at the time of your birth, posted at their Web Site.

You receive an email telling you the Web Site address. You also learn that this report will be taken off-line in a few days, so you visit immediately. They get your email address, and using a statistical program can check to see if you even bothered to visit.

What a great way to qualify your leads; they buy the demo, then have to visit your Web Site to pick it up. You could do this with a password protected area as well, with information delivered as a text file (.txt), a Word file (.doc, Save As "Word for Windows 2" will allow whatever you create to be opened on most word processors), or even Acrobat PDF files for those of you with an Internet savvy customer.

Delivering your bonuses immediately is critical to online marketing. And it does not have to be complicated. From autoresponders to automated reports, the trend is clear; get them thinking, participating, and requesting information. Delivered online, your distribution costs are virtually zero.

Use this information to qualify your leads. Then close with those interested customers, and follow up with the rest as prospects. Unleash your Web Business through leads and direct marketing.