The Parthenon Principle, simply explained, is this: Have
multiple pillars generate revenue rather than one or two.
Your business could collapse if it's only supported by one
or two income streams. Too many business owners gamble
everything on a single revenue source. They often get
attached to one type of marketing - and overlook the fact
that there are at least a dozen income streams they could
access!
What may not seem obvious is this: the more "pillars" you
have, the larger and heavier the roof that you can support.
The more income-generating methods you have, the larger
revenue roof you will have. Here I'll continue to open your
eyes to what the possibilities are, and what opportunities
you might be missing
In the previous article, I introduced you to 13 different
pillars your online business could use to generate
additional revenue streams. In this article I am oing to
introduce you to twelve (12) additional pillars your online
business can use to generate revenue.
As you go through these "pillars" think of the ways that you
can apply them for your business. DO NOT, at first glance,
discard them and say they don't apply to you. Think instead
of the possibilities in how they COULD apply to you.
USP
Most websites try to be many things to all people. That's a
mistake. Instead develop a USP (unique selling proposition)
that clearly defines who you are, what you uniquely do, and
why your website is the site of choice to visit. Your
website should convey this USP throughout, stressing the
benefit of doing business with you. Don't be wishy-washy in
your approach; be straightforward and sell. Hard. Clearly
convince site visitors of the benefits you can give them and
do so by staying within a product or service niche. Less
confusing, higher margins. Learn precisely how to create a
USP at Jay Abraham's site: www.abraham.com/articles
Reciprocal links
Surf the web and find complementary sites to yours; send the
webmaster an email saying (a) you visited the website, (b)
complementing them on one or two specific things about the
site you liked, (c) and request a reciprocal link to your
website. Keep a page on your site where you put links to
other sites, however make sure that your visitors don't hit
that page too soon in their visit to your website, leaving
your website too soon!
Newsgroups
Dejanews [www.dejanews.com] is the primary website onramp to
over 45,000 discussion groups. Now, don't get the idea that
once you find a discussion group, you can begin aggressively
marketing your services. That's considered SPAM and will
make you look really bad. Instead, participate in discussion
groups relevant to your industry and customer demographics,
adding to the discussion in helpful ways, and let the
"signature" at the end of your messages do your marketing
for you. People will gradually get to know and trust you,
visit your site, and do business with you
IRC
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. IRC is a form of chat on
the Internet where you can enter channels (rooms) and have
real-time discussions based on the topic that the channel
generally discusses. You can also create your own channels
and hold text-based conferences with Internet users all over
the world. Use the same policy about IRC as you use for
Newsgroups; be helpful but not overly obsessed with pitching
your products. Over time, other channel members will come to
recognize your expertise and inquire privately about your
business. See www.IRC.net for a more detailed explanation of
how IRC works and how to get in.
Awards
Once your site is completed, you've gotten rid of the Under
Construction signs, and the website runs fast, then its time
to consider applying for awards. Most award sites
automatically subscribe entrants into an ezine. Winners are
not only announced at the website, and you are informed by
email, but are also announced in its ezine with a link to
your site. Larger award sites send press releases to a wider
audience. Consider these award programs: Award-It
[www.award-it.com]and Award Sites [www.awardsites.com] and
of course, our own program: www.genesislogic.com/awards.asp
Join parallel affiliate programs
As you surf the web discovering whom your allies and
competitors may be, be sure to ally your website with like-
minded websites and join their affiliate program. Why?
Because you can select products that you can offer your
target audience, earn money on the sale of those products,
and gain added value by aligning yourself with expert
products which your website visitors will appreciate. Also
check out www.associateprograms.com and www.associate-it.com
Give something away for free
When you can offer something to visitors on your site for
free all of a sudden interest perks up; the word FREE is
irresistible. Make sure that your offering is related to
your services so that the visitors you attract will be good
prospects for your business. Example: 3Com offers system
administrators a free networking benefits analysis
CD/calculator to compute the cost of designing a network.
What does 3Com sell? You guessed it: network cards and
network devices.
Join a webring
A Web ring is a group of linked sites with similar subject
matter. A visitor to one site in the ring can quickly access
the rest of the sites in the ring. The largest collection of
web rings today is the www.webring.com, managed by Yahoo!,
which not only allows you to join web rings, but also create
them. Visit their website and see if there is a match in
your topic. If so, join, and link your site to the ring,
thereby driving further targeted traffic to your site.
Share your content
If you sell knowledge-based services, consider writing tips,
lessons, hints, secrets, or anything that would help a
particular group of people. Then submit the content
regularly by emailing your fresh work to webmasters and
ezine editors who publish related material. Make sure (a)
you insist your byline be published, and (b) you be notified
by email when it was published. At the same time, solicit
content from webmasters and authors within your industry and
publish these on your website. Doing this will build a
resource library your visitors will appreciate and that in
turn, will build brand awareness and profit.
Log files
Log files from your web host will give you: visitor session
statistics, resources accessed, paths through site, top exit
pages, most requested pages, visitor demographics by new vs.
returning, referring URLs, search engines referrals, and
more. The key to generating revenue is to use the logs and
proactively manage your traffic to produce higher quality
results. Remember this keyword: MWR (most-wanted-response).
How can you better direct traffic through your site, based
on where visitors are now going to, to better get them to
the response you desire? Figure that out, build it, and
watch your responses soar.
Good design
I almost wish this was obvious but unfortunately it's not.
Bad design prevails in a very large way still, and
surprisingly, on sites that are intended to serve the public
and generate revenue. By good design I mean, make your site
(a) easy to navigate, (b) easy to search within, and (c)
logical in the next steps a visitor should take. Put your
company name, address, phone number, and general email
address on every page so that customers don't have to hunt
for your contact info, no matter what page they came into
your website by. Customers will appreciate the ease of use
and friendliness of your website.
Customer service
Golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you. Treat your customers right and give them a reason to
come back and frequent you with their purchases. Promptly
answer emails and voicemail messages. Companies that treat
customers with respect, and not just as a commodity, will
stand out in this day and age of poor service. Either most
companies today are providing no service, or just enough
service to get by. Don't do it. Invest in service and
treating your customers right and you will stand out and be
rewarded.
