“Mini” VS “Traditional” Websites? And the winner is…

Jim Edwards here with my latest article (below) for you…

If you’ve been following my blog at all lately, you know I’ve been focusing on mini-sites and how to use them to quickly build your business.

Well, there seems to be a little confusion as to what exactly "mini" sites are and how you use them to quickly build up your online business (specifically selling to niche markets).

So before we go any further, I wanted to clear up any misconceptions for you and fill in the blanks for everyone.

That way we can all get on the same page about building a list, selling your own products, promoting as an affiliate and more.

Enjoy the article (below)…

Jim

PS – Want to comment on this article?

Leave your 2-cents here on the blog in the "Comments" section

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Cashing In Fast With "Mini" Sites

      – by Jim Edwards

© Jim Edwards – All Rights reserved
    http://www.thenetreporter.com
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I’ve gotten a plenty of questions lately about why I think "mini" sites, simple 1-2 page websites, are better than "traditional" websites you might learn to build in school or from a website design course.

In fact, I believe "traditional" websites represent a complete waste of time and end up making small and home-based business owners give up on the Internet before they even have a chance to get started.

If you want to cash in fast on the web, stop thinking about making "web" sites and start thinking about "mini" sites.

Basically, traditional sites try to be all things to all people.

If you go to somebody’s website and you see:
"Sign up for my newsletter";
"Buy my product";
"Check out these links";
"Check out our article archive";
"Click Here for the article of the day";
"Subscribe to this RSS feed";
"Visit our blog!"

…. it just creates confusion.

In other words, visitors arrive at the site and either go nuts figuring out what to do next or, more likely, they simply click their back button – never to return.

I once had a sales manager who told me, "A confused mind always answers ‘No!’ Never give people more than two choices in a sales talk."

He was right!

Traditional websites give people too many choices and they fail miserably at it, usually before they ever get off the ground.

On the other hand, mini-sites succeed wildly because they have one purpose: to force someone to make a decision!

Mini-sites typically fall into one of four main categories:
- sales letters
- newsletters
- affiliate presales
- intelligence gathering

Virtually every mini-site you ever see will fit one of these categories. Let’s take a look at each type.

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#1 Sales Letter Mini-Sites
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One-page sales letter mini-sites represent the most recognizable type of mini-site on the Web.

A sales letter’s primary purpose should be obvious: to sell somebody something!

Typically one-page sales letter mini-sites sell ebooks, software, physical products, services and more.

Virtually anything can get sold with a one-page sales letter mini-site.

The decision you want a visitor to make when they come to your sales letter mini-site is also simple: buy or don’t buy.

You force them to decide right there on the spot. Just like any good salesman, you force the decision by the prospect.

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#2 Newsletter Mini-Sites
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Newsletter, or forced-opt-in, mini-sites make up the second type of mini-site.

Their primary purpose is to entice people to sign up for your list, newsletter, or ezine.

But frankly, if you looked at some people’s newsletter sites, you would think their purpose was anything but getting people to sign up for their newsletter!

Once you understand that the primary purpose of your newsletter mini-site is to get a signup, you can eliminate everything else that detracts from that purpose.

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#3 Affiliate Pre-Sell Mini-Sites
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Affiliate Pre-Sell pages make up the third type of mini-site you can use.

Numerous ways exist to "pre" sell people on an affiliate page, persuade them to make a decision, and then take the specific action you want.

Some common types of pres-sell pages include: product reviews; pre-sell videos; audio postcards; forced opt-in pages and more.

Most people think that the primary purpose of a pre-sell mini-site is to have somebody click an affiliate link, but I disagree.

I think that the main purpose of your affiliate pre-sell page should be to get a prospect to give you their name and their email address.

Once you get that information you can sell them several things over time.

If all you ever do is refer traffic without building a relationship, you’ll miss out on lucrative back-end opportunities.

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#4 Intelligence Gathering Mini-Sites
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The fourth type of mini-site is used to gather marketing or other intelligence from your target niche.

Here you actually use a mini-site to get people to tell you what they want to buy, try, see, give their opinion on a topic, etc.. I call it "Your Most Burning Question."

You use this type of mini-site to gather information about what people want to know, their overall interest level in your topic, and as a means to get ideas for newsletter and blog content.

The bottom line with an intelligence gathering mini-site is to get people to tell you what you need to know in order to make money selling them something later.

So now the obvious question: Which one do you start with?

The answer: It depends on your purpose right now in your business!

Need to sell your existing product or service? You should set up a sales letter mini-site.

Don’t have a list of subscribers? Set up a newsletter mini-site.

No product to sell? Build an affiliate pre-sell mini-site.

No clue what your target audience wants or if they even want anything at all? Set up an intelligence gathering mini-site and find out what you need to know BEFORE spending months creating a product.

Mini-sites are all about saving time and maximizing your effort through clear focus and purpose.

Once you know exactly what you want to get done online, mini-sites create the fastest, easiest pathway to success.

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Hope this clears up any misunderstandings about mini-sites and why they’re so effective… no matter whether you’re a fresh-faced newbie or a battle-hardened online business veteran.

To Your Success,

Jim