Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and
Mini-sites come in different flavors but all have onesignificant element in common. Each site is very tightlyfocused upon selling a single product or service. No Flash.No graphics. No links out. No banners or advertising of anykind. Nothing that detracts from the site purpose, which isto make the sale.The Pure Definition In simplest form a mini-site consists entirely of a salesletter and order form. That is, your visitor either buys orclicks the Back button. Your site offers no other option. Suppose your current site is focused on selling ebooksand software to help people raise their kids. Each productis a candidate for a mini-site dedicated entirely to sellingit. You might do well with, "How To Build A Sewing Site," oranything specific of interest to some. Maybe show how toremodel your kitchen, build a plane or boat. But a mini-sitedependant upon keywords such as "site design" or "sitepromotion" isn't going to make it because there is simply toomuch competition.Affiliate Programs In some cases, pre-selling your visitors before sendingthem to the sales pitch on an affiliate site can work wondersfor your conversion ratio. In others, you're better off simplygenerating a click to the site. If pre-selling is a good idea for a program that is payingwell, then a mini-site consisting of only a page or two can workwell. You may need only your enthusiastic endorsement of theproduct on a single page. Or you may want to add anotherproviding an in-depth review. All content points to linksto the sales pitch on the program's site. This works, but as above, the major task is in drawingtargeted traffic. If this can be managed, then this is alsoa good model.Selling Hot Products To take the notion of selling as an affiliate program onestep further, you may want to consider selling currently hotitems. For example, back up a couple of years and anticipatethe interest in MP3 soon to burst upon the scene. Make theright pick, find the best affiliate program, and you may havea winner. This approach works only for those who already know howto sell most anything. Without a background in sellingeffectively, particularly on the Web, it's best to leave thisnotion to those who do.Profits To Be Expected Your purpose in building a mini-site is to generate profits.However, you are not looking to make a living off the site.Quite the contrary. You simply want to generate a separateincome stream. And $200/month may be all you need. Given onesuch site, the trick is to continue producing others, addingto total income with each.Claims Of Time In notes about building mini-sites, one claim made oftenreally bothers me. That you can toss such a site together inan hour or two. This is not even close to feasible for most. Pros may be able to quickly gather parts of existing salespitches with information from the affiliate program or themanufacturer of the product. Then, in short order, cobbletogether a sales pitch that works at least reasonably well.Still, I don't know anybody who really can manage this in anhour. To me, time is part of the cost equation. It takes timeto put together a slick sales presentation. More to definean advertising campaign. And even more to track costs versusresults.Generating Hits Is The Hard Part Okay. You've got a good product, a neat sales letter,and an order form. All is looking good. Now how do youdraw targeted traffic to read your pitch? This is thecritical issue, for profits depend upon success in doing so. Yahoo and other directories will ignore you. And responsefrom search engines will be limited. Their visitors are notlooking for sales pitches, so yours may not show up. Many who demand that a mini-site be only a sales pitchand order form are excellent marketers who have been quitesuccessful. Thus they have a large list of followers, manyinterested in reselling what is offered. They produce a salesletter, announce it to their list, and sales follow almostautomatically. Since few have such lists, options are reduced toadvertising. Personally I feel the pay-per-click search enginesare the best starting point. GoTo.Com can bite pretty hard withtheir fees. While less significant, there are many smallerengines of this type that can be used for experimentation.For a list, see