"Here's the bottom line on eCommerce...
If you have a great product, and a site that SELLS, and can bring targeted traffic to your site cost-effectively, you will succeed. There are NO other variables. MYSS! 2002 covers it all."
Way back in Internet time, shortly after the dawning of the Internet - circa 1999 - the Bible of selling online was created. Much later in Internet time - 2002! - it was updated.
This classic used to sell for about $25 - and was an incredible bargain at that price.
It showed us how to create a successful business online. In step-by-step detail.
But, let's let the author - Ken Evoy - tell us in his own words from Make Your Site Sell 2002.
Dear MYSS! 2002 Owner,
Thank you for downloading the now-free MYSS! 2002.
It really was the BIBLE of selling online. Praised universally, it has sold well over 100,000 copies, all through the sitesell.com site.
Way back in 1999, when MYSS! was first launched, this "Read Me First" file said, "never has it been so cheap AND possible to build a business."
It continued by saying, "Search Engines are STILL great bargains. You'll never get a better chance to attract free, targeted traffic."
That remains true today. This file also implored the reader to "do more than read. USE the information. If you APPLY the lessons well, you WILL succeed."
And THAT was the beginning of Site Build It!. Why?
Because most people, most Webmasters even, cannot actually overcome all the technical aspects of building a successful online BUSINESS. Sure, it is cheap-quick-easy to put up a site. Anyone can do THAT today. But what then?
Instant gratification is followed by slow, expensive failure, due to an inability to drive traffic. In other words... no BUSINESS.
THAT is why MYSS! 2002 was never updated.
Instead, it evolved year after year into Site Build It! (SBI!)...
I guess you could say that MYSS! and MYSS! 2002 were the e-volutionary equivalents of "Cro-Magnon Man." Remarkable in their time, those two editions of MYSS! launched many successful Net marketing careers.
But the "Big 3" (described in MYSS!) evolved into a fuller, more powerful process that became known as "Content - Traffic - PREsell - Monetize"...
And SBI! not only evolved the THEORY of succeeding online, it included all the tools [Main>Tools] needed for ANYONE to be able to EXECUTE the CTPM process...
SBI! uses technology to make all the barriers disappear and empower Webmasters and small business people to build BUSINESSES.
Please enjoy this free download. MYSS! 2002 still contains a great amount of evergreen information and fundamentally sound ways to think about selling online.
But there is much more to building a business than "The Big 3" and selling.
For that, evolve to SBI!.
All the best,
Ken Evoy
President, SiteSell.com
-----BOOK LAYOUT----->
MYSS! 2002 is divided into 7 volumes...
o The Main Volume -- focuses on site-selling. Everyone worries about traffic. But if your site doesn't SELL, you waste all that nice traffic. Learn how to increase your sales site's Conversion Rate.
o Product Volume -- everything you need to know about developing, evaluating, positioning, pricing, and testing products for the Web. Use its info to verify that your e-commerce venture is built on solid ground.
o Store Volume -- covers the process of selling multiple products online, from ten to a thousand or more SKUs (Stock Keeping Units). Learn how to design your online store effectively and to maximize usability.
o Traffic Volume -- follows the "what works and what doesn't" approach to building targeted traffic (especially in the ever-evolving Search Engine world). It covers all the online and offline ways to build a steady stream of motivated buyers to your site.
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**NOTE -- much of the traffic-building information is of interest, but dated. SBI! has pushed way beyond this. ***
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Here's the bottom line on e-commerce...
If you have a great product, and a site that SELLS, and can bring targeted traffic to your site cost-effectively, you *will* succeed. There are *NO* other variables. MYSS! 2002 covers it all.
o Glossary -- don't know what a word means? Click to the Glossary.
o Table of Contents (TOC) -- a terrific navigational aid. Scan the various chapters and sub-chapters. See something important? Just click on the title.
o Index -- while useful for paper-bound books, a *digital* Index is invaluable for getting the info you need... FAST!
The Index and the TOC make MYSS! 2002 THE unbeatable online Web-sales REFERENCE book. No answer is ever more than a click or two away at ANY time you need some help.
You see, this classic is now available for fr*ee.
You might think that it's fr*ee because it's out-of-date, and no longer valuable.
But you'd be wrong! As Ken said, "MYSS! 2002 still contains a great amount of evergreen information and fundamentally sound ways to think about selling online. But there is much more to building a business than "The Big 3" and selling. For that, evolve to SBI!."
The concept of PRESelling versus selling MUST be understood for successful online business. In virtually every case we find of a business that has gone online without success this distinction is not understood. Sites mix up the two concepts - and lose sales: or get distracted with all the latest flashy techniques and gimmicks and forget to do their PRESElling and selling properly - and lost visitors.
- Prepare - Don't Repair
Answer these questions for each product you will sell online.
- Nature of product
- Appropriate for web sales?
If not, change the response you want from the visitor. There's a trick here, though... McDonald's sells hamburgers, but you can't sell hamburgers on the web, right? Wrong! Have your visitor print a coupon to take into the store for a discount, and sign up for your newsletter to receive information about your product and announcements of specials and sales.
- Benefits
- Features
- Determine your USP [Unique Selling Proposition] - that which makes you different, better, more desirable from your competition
- Develop thumbnail sketch / profile of your target market[s]
- Offline marketing mix - how will this tie in with online mix?
promotion, price, place or distribution
- Analysis of online competitors
- Goals of the web site
Most Wanted Response [MWR]
Backup Response
Other - technical information, customer service...
It better pursue the MWR or develop a long term relationship with your customer... anything else is a distraction.
- Set, and Get the MWR
Most Wanted Response or MWR is Ken Evoy's term for what you most want your visitor to do
Set this for each product on your site. You build your whole site towards this goal.
- Backup Responses
Develop at least one backup response...why? For each visitor who buys, perhaps 10 or more others will come but reject the offer, at least for now. The studies show that it sometimes takes buyers 7 visits before they actually buy. The backup is to keep things open with them until they are ready to buy.
- Design & Usability
- develop the "look and feel"
- design a master template page with all the basics
- design the "Home" page and next level of link page[s]
- develop the site's navigational architecture
- lay out the pathway[s] - how you plan to lead the reader to the MWR for each product
- re-read [often!] the usability chapter
- Write the Opening Paragraph
Each product's pathway starts with its Opening Page. In the Opening Paragraph, fire your biggest gun - your USP. The book will coach you in detail on how to develop your Unique Selling Proposition.
- Write the Pathway
It ends with an irresistible offer and a crystal clear call to action built into your MWR...
and a closer page that shows your reader exactly how they can deliver your MWR...
but there is a lot of writing to get through the pathway to make the sale. Fortunately, Make Your Site Sell! 2002 will be there to guide you every step of the way.
- Rewrite *4 Tighten and Activate
Tighten, chop, prune, activate, fine-tune... this is the really hard work.
- The 10 Point Pathway Checklist
After the re-writing and polishing, apply the checklist to every pathway to ensure nothing is missing.
- HTML and Usability Testing
Put the site up on the server where it will reside, but not yet accessible to live traffic;
mini-usability testing from a half dozen people who will give you honest, blunt, trustworthy answers;
adjust, adjust, adjust... look for bugs, check links;
OK - ready to go live!
- Showtime!
Move the site to its final server location;
promote lightly;
watch for flaws, problems with the site; problems with your infrastructure such as responding to orders;
- Build Targeted Traffic
You are live! Use the Traffic volume for a wealth of ideas to promote your site and attract targeted traffic.
And an even more compact summary...
