"Focus Your Web Site... Or Get Out Of Business"
Copyright © 2001 Milana Nastetskaya
milana@helpingfoot.com

WORD COUNT: 516
WRAP: 65 characters
PUBLISHING: May be published free of charge with
the resource box intact. Would love to know if you
do publish.
 

Last November, I was jumping up and down absolutely excited
about my new idea.  I was going to create a web site filled
with articles, links and resources on just about any topic
you could imagine.  This way no matter who finds my site and
for whatever reason they click on it, I will always make
money, right?

So, I spent time collecting and writing articles on health,
beauty, business, finance, insurance, parenting, and
computers, joined a gazillion of affiliate programs for each
topic and finally launched my HelpingFoot.com.

Three months later I made exactly zero income! I wrote to
several e-zine publishers asking for advice. They told me my
web site has too much to offer - visitors just don't know
where to start, and what direction to go.

"Yeah, right", I thought. "What do they know? After all,
with so many articles and resources my visitors will surely
find something to do!"

I was terribly wrong, and I am glad I realized it before
wasting more of my time.  I had to do something to make this
site profitable. But what?

I re-designed my HelpingFoot.com completely.  But first I
asked myself what I want my visitors to do:  order my
products? sign-up for my newsletter? read articles? visit my
web forum?

You see, when you know exactly what you want your visitors
to accomplish on their first visit, you are more likely to
come up with a good design.

Since I already had two other web sites devoted to direct
selling, I decided to use this one entirely for opt-in
mailing list by capturing my visitors' e-mails.
 

 1) I removed all the links to irrelevant articles and focused
the entire site around web design for beginners.
 
 2) Those old articles are still there (hey, they generated a
lot of general traffic from the Search Engines!), but are not
linked to from the homepage.

 3) I created a small pop-up window that asks for my visitors
e-mails

 4) Placed a sign-up form right on my home page, and linked
to another page called "free newsletter" in case my
visitors come from a page other than my  home page.

 5) I have also created an attractive cartoonish logo for my
newsletter.

 6) Every past issue of my newsletter includes a sign up form at
the bottom so people can subscribe right after reading it.
 

Can you guess what happened?

The number of people signing up for my newsletter tripled!
I went from 20 subscriptions a week to 60 - in just a few
days.  This means that every month my list will grow by
approximately 240 people! And every self-respecting
successful marketer has a growing list to announce new
products and offers, test marketing strategies, and
develop a close relationship with their subscribers.

Now, if I wanted to make my web design forum as the main
focus of HelpingFoot.com, for example, I would emphasize it
right on the home page: with graphics, links and incentives.

So, ask yourself now:  what is my "Most Wanted Response"?
Then make sure your entire web site is centered around this
goal.  With the right amount of quality traffic, I guarantee
you will accomplish that goal in no time!

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Milana Nastetskaya is a full time web developer and the author of
two books: "Create Your First Busines Web Site in 10
days" and "65 Instant Web Design Answers".
http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com
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