Build An Internet Parthenon, Part 2

By Daniel Ramos
Posted Monday, October 11, 2004

Do you notice a very important fact about the Greek Parthenon? It is this: the heavy roof is supported by numerous pillars. Without those pillars, the roof would collapse. My personal mentor and friend Jay Abraham calls this The Parthenon Principle.

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.

About the Author
Daniel Ramos is the President of Genesislogic Inc., a New York City based ebusiness that helps companies massively profit from the Internet. If you want to learn how to massively profit from the Internet, vist (WWW.GENESISLOGIC.COM) and download from an extensive online library of resources, call us toll-free (800) 590-5155, or send an email to INFO@GENESISLOGIC.COM