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MYSS! 2002
Table of Contents
    Foreword 4
1   How to Use MYSS! 2002 6
  1.1 Links to Spots within MYSS! 2002 6
  1.2 Navigation Features 6
  1.3 Viewing Features 11
  1.4 Search Features 13
  1.5 Print Features 13
  1.6 Links to the Web 14
  1.7 Sidebars 14
2   Introduction 15
  2.1 Why You Need MYSS! 2002... Today 16
    2.1.1 Already On the Web? 18
    2.1.2 Just Thinking About It? 19
    2.1.3 Save a Bundle! 20
  2.2 E-commerce is Alive and Well! 22
    2.2.1 It Doesn't Take Lots of Money! 25
  2.3 MYSS! 2002 is For Everyone 27
  2.4 Jump the Tech Ropes... 28
    2.4.1 HTML -- Getting Started! 29
    2.4.2 Graphics For "Do-It-Yourselfers" 33
    2.4.3 Banners, Ahoy! 39
    2.4.4 Site Design 43
    2.4.5 Finding a "Techie" 46
    2.4.6 Miscellaneous Webmaster Resources 48
    2.4.7 Site Build It! 49
  2.5 The Big 3 to Succeed on the Web 54
    2.5.1  How to "Nail" The Big 3 54
    2.5.2 First, The Product 55
    2.5.3 If I Can, You Can! 56
    2.5.4 Next, Make a Site That SELLS! 57
    2.5.5 Finally, Attract Targeted Customers 59
    2.5.6 PennyGold As a Site Example 62
  2.6 Join the 1% Who SELL! 65
  2.7 Get the Most Out of MYSS! 2002 66
3   Most Wanted Response 69
  3.1 Set Your Most Wanted Response 69
  3.2 Get Your Most Wanted Response 72
  3.3 MWR Doesn't Apply to You? 74
  3.4 It's Not Just the Number, It's the Rate 75
  3.5 Respond to the MWR... Fast 76
4   It Starts With Product 77
5   You Can Write to SELL! 79
  5.1 Know Your Customer 80
    5.1.1 So Who Is on the Web? 80
    5.1.2 Language -- The New Internet Barrier 82
    5.1.3 Web Page Translation 87
    5.1.4 International Trade Issues 91
    5.1.5 The Woman's Wide Web 92
    5.1.6 Access Speed -- Yes, It's Still Slow 99
    5.1.7 Attitudes To Web & Shopping 102
    5.1.8 An Informal Top 10 Web Activities... 107
    5.1.9 Your Customer's Mindset... 109
    5.1.10 Where is Your Target Coming From? 110
    5.1.11 Write for your Target's Personality Type 111
    5.1.12 How & Why to Thumbnail Your Target 111
  5.2 Crash Course... Write to SELL! 113
    5.2.1 Powerful Tools of the Trade 113
    5.2.2 Benefits, Benefits, and More Benefits 116
    5.2.3 Hot Copy SELLS, but... 118
    5.2.4 The You : Me Ratio 119
    5.2.5 Building a Long Term Relationship 120
    5.2.6 Turn the Info-Pyramid Upside-Down 120
    5.2.7 Never Waver, Never Stray 121
  5.3 Make Each Page SELL! 122
    5.3.1 The All-Important Headline 124
    5.3.2 How to Write Headlines that Hit 125
    5.3.3 Joints --- The Key to Visitor Pull-Through 128
    5.3.4 How to Write a Magnetic Joint 129
    5.3.5 Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Page Joints 130
    5.3.6 Summing It All Up 131
  5.4 The "Write" Tone 131
    5.4.1 Turn Your Visitor Into Your Friend 132
    5.4.2 Become a Story-Teller 133
    5.4.3 Don't Make These Friend-Losing Boo-boos 133
  5.5 Cut, Chop, Axe, & Prune 134
  5.6 Never Underestimate The POWER of Words 135
  5.7 The 3 Rules for Words that SELL 137
6 Build Trust & "Likeability" 138
  6.1 It Starts With Look & Feel 138
    6.1.1 Two Tasty Examples 140
  6.2 Join the Big Leagues... Get Your Own Domain 142
    6.2.1 Www.yourcompany.sex? 143
    6.2.2 Hunting for the RIGHT Name 145
    6.2.3 Registering Your Name 151
    6.2.4 The Multiple Domain Game 154
    6.2.5 Checking Trademark Status 156
    6.2.6 Copyright Protection 159
  6.3 Win SALES With Valuable Content 161
    6.3.1 The Information Balancing Act 166
  6.4 Unique Ways to Use Photos 167
  6.5 Prove It! 169
  6.6 Explain the Incredible 172
  6.7 Specifics Are Reassuring 176
  6.8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T Privacy! 177
  6.9 Certification Boosts SALES 179
  6.10 More Confidence-Builders 180
  6.11 Never Mislead...Not Even a Little 182
  6.12 15 Sales-Killing Ways That Erode Confidence 184
    6.12.1 Don't Hype Your Friends 184
    6.12.2 Quit Talking...Let Your Visitor Play, Too 184
    6.12.3 Mistakes...Sure Sign of a Sloppy Company 185
    6.12.4 Missing Graphics -- Amateurs Only 185
    6.12.5 Outdated Info... Are You Still Open??? 185
    6.12.6 Guest Books, Tired & Tacky 186
    6.12.7 Scrolling Marquees -- "Look What I Can Do!" 186
    6.12.8 "Under Construction" -- Who Isn't? 186
    6.12.9 "Site of the Micro-Second" Awards 187
    6.12.10 "Download Netscape" (or Explorer) Button 187
    6.12.11 Don't Keep Asking for a Cookie! 188
    6.12.12 Hit Counters -- Who Cares? So What? 189
    6.12.13 Arggggh! The Dreaded Blinking Text! 189
    6.12.14 Splash Pages 189
    6.12.15 Not Too Sticky! 192
7 Make Your Site Usable 195
  7.1 Your Server as Pizza Delivery Car 196
    7.1.1 Get a Fast, Reliable Vehicle 196
    7.1.2 What to Look for in a Web Host 198
    7.1.3 How to Find the Best Web Hosts 203
    7.1.4 How to Make Sure Your Site is Up! 204
    7.1.5 Get a Fast Driver (Web Designer) 206
    7.1.6 Designers, Put the Pedal to the Metal 208
  7.2 The #1 Usability Principle.. 211
  7.3 Make It Readable, Then Scannable 212
    7.3.1 Long Scrollers What to Do 214
    7.3.2 The Optimal Size for Text Blocks 215
    7.3.3 How to Use Lines, Bullets and Other Mini-Icons 215
  7.4 Do Your Links Clink? 217
    7.4.1 Link Rot... The #1 Sales Killer 217
    7.4.2 Links in the Copy... What to Do 218
    7.4.3 Embedded Links, A Big No-no! 219
    7.4.4 How to Fool-proof the Destination 219
    7.4.5 8 Ways Links Can Cost You 221
    7.4.6 The Bottom Line? 223
  7.5 13 More Usability Ways to Kill Sales 223
    7.5.1 Frames -- Netscape's Curse to the Web 223
    7.5.2 The Agony of Browser-Specific Sites 224
    7.5.3 Not Cross (-platform, -browser, -spec's) 225
    7.5.4 Requiring Plug-Ins Will Plug Sales 226
    7.5.5 Long, Messy URLs 227
    7.5.6 Use of Full-Text Search Engines 227
  7.5.7 Orphan Pages...So Now Where Do I Go? 228
    7.5.8 No Link to MWR Closer Page on Every Page 229
  7.5.9 "Best viewed with Explorer 4+ and Shockwave" 229
    7.5.10 The Deady Horizontal Scroll Bar 230
    7.5.11 The Dreaded 404 File Not Found 231
    7.5.12 Popping Up New Windows Like Daisies 233
    7.5.13 The Impersonal Pre-Fab 233
  7.6 Test, Test, then Test Some More 234
  7.7 And If It's Not Usable... 236
  7.8 Links to Usability Gurus 237
8 Navigation... Where Am I?? 239
  8.1 Points of Reference Help to Build Context 240
  8.2 The Anatomy of a Web Site 241
    8.2.1 Content Page -- The Guts 241
    8.2.2 Link Page -- Link Only 242
    8.2.3 Opening Page -- Grab their Attention 242
    8.2.4 MWR Closer Page -- Get the Order 243
    8.2.5 Pathways -- Lead Your Customers 243
  8.3 How To Build a Navbar 246
  8.4 How to Build a Table of Contents 250
    8.4.1 Text-based TOCs 250
    8.4.2 Graphic-based TOCs 252
    8.4.3 The Rule of 7 254
  8.5 Uses for The Left-Side Margin 254
  8.6 A Rock-Solid Navigation Structure 257
  8.7 How to Use Links on Content Pages 262
  8.8 Meandering = Lost Sales 265
  8.9 Keep the Browser's Navigation Functions in Mind 266
  8.10 Other Navigational Aids 268
  8.11 Special Content Sections 270
  8.12 Simple Structure+ Clear Pathways= Never Lost 271
  8.13 Cisco as Example 272
    8.13.1 Table of Contents -- Outstanding! 272
    8.13.2 Navbars -- Whoops! 276
    8.13.3 Left Margin... a Variety of Uses 277
    8.13.4 Let's Go Product-Hunting! 279
    8.13.5 Drill-Down and Click Again... 280
    8.13.6 Lost at Cisco -- Which Way to Go? 284
    8.13.7 Or... the Shortcut... 287
  8.14 Let There Be Light! 289
9   The You-Focused Opener 291
  9.1 Fire Your Biggest Gun First 291
    9.1.1 The Unique Selling Proposition... A "How-To" 294
    9.1.2 An Opener that SELLS!... 295
    9.1.3 "That's Where the Money is!" 298
  9.2 Building a Killer Opening Page 299
  9.3 "Talk About My Lawn, Not Your Grass Seed!" 300
10 Two Critical Sales-Builders 302
  10.1 How to Make Testimonials SELL! 302
    10.1.1 How to Secure Great Testimonials 303
    10.1.2 Get Maximum Mileage From Your Testimonials 305
    10.1.3 How to Get & Use Product Reviews 310
    10.1.4 When To Add Testimonials? 311
    10.1.5 Articles on You, Your Company, Your Products 312
    10.1.6 Using Other Third Party References... 313
    10.1.7 Your Unsalaried Sales Staff... 314
  10.2 The SALES-Clinching Guarantee 315
    10.2.1 Developing the Perfect Guarantee... 315
    10.2.2 How to Handle the Refund Request 317
    10.2.3 How to Reduce Refund Requests to Near-Zero 317
    10.2.4 Summing Up... 318
11 Site-Sales Techniques 321
  11.1 Build a Form that Works! 321
    11.1.1 Make it Short 321
    11.1.2 How to Qualify Your Prospect 322
    11.1.3 Make it Clear 323
    11.1.4 "Submit" is for Techies 323
    11.1.5 How to Remove Worries 324
    11.1.6 Verify the Data 324
    11.1.7 Put Up a Response Page 325
    11.1.8 Follow-up with an E-mail 326
  11.2 How and When to Use Music 327
  11.3 The RIGHT Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 330
    11.3.1 Where to, Why to & When to Use Graphics 330
    11.3.2 Show Your Products in Their Best Light 331
    11.3.3 Are Your Graphics Confusing? 332
    11.3.4 Picture Perfect 333
    11.3.5 Clip Art, Buttons, Backgrounds, Bullets, Etc 334
    11.3.6 A Few Basics About Graphics 334
    11.3.7 Keep or Axe? 335
  11.4 Give Your Visitor Something to Do... 336
  11.5 A Rarely Used Powerful Tool 338
  11.6 Build Community to Build SALES 340
  11.7 Using FAQs to the Max 342
    11.7.1 5 Steps to a FAQ that SELLS! 343
  11.8 Going, Going, Gone! 346
  11.9 Post All Policies 349
  11.10 Affiliate Yourself with a Charity 350
  11.11 Something Special for the Holidays 353
12   "Who Cares? So What?" 354
  12.1 The Product Features Page 354
    12.1.1 It's Not as Easy as It Sounds! 355
    12.1.2 Two Compelling "Show & SELL" Techniques 356
  12.2 The About Our Company Page 359
  12.3 The Tech Support Page... Why NOT! 361
    12.3.1 Live Support -- Why NOT! 362
  12.4 How to Use a Disclaimer To Build Credibility 366
13   The Closer Page 368
  13.1 Build to the SALE 368
  13.2 Skip to the SALE 369
  13.3 No Distractions, Just Close! 370
  13.4 Why Via the Web? 371
  13.5 How to Make an Offer They Can't Refuse 372
    13.5.1 How to Use the Free Bonus 373
    13.5.2 How to Create "Buy Now" Anxiety 374
    13.5.3 Bundles, Discounts, And Coupons 377
    13.5.4 The Perfect Offer... 381
  13.6 What's the Right Price? 382
    13.6.1 Pricing Strategy 383
    13.6.2 Make Your PRICE SELL! 384
    13.6.3 Dynamic Pricing 393
  13.7 The Call to Action 397
  13.8 "And How Would You Like to Order Today?" 398
    13.8.1 Secure vs.Non-Secure Server 399
    13.8.2 Four Steps to SELLING Via Secure Server 401
    13.8.3 Phone -- "I Just Wanted to Hear a Voice" 403
    13.8.4 Fax -- "I Like to Send Paper" 405
    13.8.5 Snail Mail -- "I Hate Giving My Credit Card" 407
    13.8.6 No Matter How They Order, K-I-S-S! 408
    13.8.7 How to Set up a Currency Converter 409
  13.9 The A-B-Cs of Online Ordering 411
    13.9.1 Order Forms and CGI Scripts (Made Easy) 413
    13.9.2 Simplicity Rules... Unless... 417
    13.9.3 Automate to Grow FAST 419
    13.9.4 Scale... ESSENTIAL for Maximum Growth 420
  13.10 No Clicks from Offer to Order 422
  13.11 The Thank You Note 422
  13.12 The "Last Ditch" Pitch 424
  13.13 Example of "How to Close" 426
  13.14 If At First You Don't Succeed... 428
  13.15 Summing It All Up... 429
14 The Backup Response 431
  14.1 It's Now or Never...Unless... 433
  14.2 Keep Your Eye on the Ball 434
  14.3 The Perfect Products for Backups 435
  14.4 Give, then Take 436
  14.5 Match Product to Desired Response 437
    14.5.1 The True Purpose of the Free Report 438
    14.5.2 Text of "Sales Letter" as "Special Report" 441
    14.5.3 How to Use Mini-Apps to Drive SALES 447
    14.5.4 Newsletters -- Building Your Business 451
    14.5.5 How to Start & Grow Your Own Newsletter 452
    14.5.6 The More The Merrier! Eyeballs, That Is! 461
    14.5.7 Sample Newsletter Format 463
    14.5.8 Getting Sign-ups for Future Notifications 468
    14.5.9 Selling Your Newsletter 469
    14.5.10 Attracting and Buying New Subscribers 473
    14.5.11 Pop-up Invitation 476
    14.5.12 Dressing Up Your E-zine 479
    14.5.13 An Income Generator 479
    14.5.14 Freebies -- Your Chance to SELL!... or SMELL! 481
  14.6 Formatting Newsletters In HTML 482
    14.6.1 How HTML Formatted E-mail Works 485
  14.7 Getting the Backup Response 487
    14.7.1 The Compelling Offer 487
    14.7.2 The Crystal-Clear Call to Action 488
    14.7.3 Automate Your Reply to the Backup Response 489
15 "Well, that's done!" .......NOT! 490
  15.1 How to Analyze Traffic to Boost SALES 491
    15.1.1 The Ideal Log File Analyzer 493
    15.1.2 The Best Traffic Analyzers for Your 494
    15.1.3 Data from Log File Analysis 496
    15.1.4 Track, Track, Track 500
    15.1.5 Number of Visitors and the Conversion Rate 504
    15.1.6 Do You Know Where Your Visitors Come From? 505
    15.1.7 Use Visitor Behavior to Boost Conversion Rate 507
    15.1.8 More Info On Analyzing Your Traffic 509
  15.2 Quadrupling Your Conversion Rate 510
  15.3 A Checklist for Quadrupling Your CR 511
    15.3.1 How to Test and Measure Site Improvements 514
  15.4 Update the Old and Develop the New 515
    15.4.1 Borrow New Concepts and Technologies 516
  15.5 Use Customer Questions to Increase SALES 518
  15.6 How to Fix Invisible SALES-Losing Errors 519
  15.7 Revisit Later with Fresh Eyes 519
  15.8 Bottom Line... It's Never Done! 520
  15.9 The Site Re-Org... 520
    15.9.1 First Decision? Look and Feel 521
    15.9.2 Second Decision? How to Get a Clean, Clear Layout 524
    15.9.3 3rd Decision? Navigation 527
    15.9.4 Fourth Decision? Content 528
    15.9.5 Conclusions After The Re-Org 530
    15.9.6 How to Handle Minor Upgrades 530
    15.9.7 Test to Be Best 533
    15.9.8 Another Makeover...The Beverly Hills Hotel 537
16 Use E-mail to Close the SALE 538
  16.1 Power E-mail 538
    16.1.1 For a Pro-Looking Letter... 539
    16.1.2 Soften Your Writing 541
    16.1.3 Write to SELL! 543
    16.1.4 The Subject... Your E-mail "Headline" 543
    16.1.5 Sig Files That SELL! 544
    16.1.6 Composing the Perfect Sig File 546
    16.1.7 How to Hit Reply for Best Effect 548
    16.1.8 How to Use the ">" Tag for Special Effects 551
    16.1.9 Special Considerations for E-mail 552
    16.1.10 How to Turn It Around in Hours 553
    16.1.11 Putting Water on the Flames 554
    16.1.12 How to Use Autoresponders to Get SALES 554
    16.1.13 Follow-up For MORE Sales! 556
  16.2 Real-Life Example of Closing the Sale 558
    16.2.1 Letter From Interested Customer 558
    16.2.2 The Three Rules of Power E-mail 559
    16.2.3 Prompt, Friendly E-mail Reply 559
    16.2.4 High-Tech Opens, High-Touch Closes 561
    16.2.5 Prompt, Friendly E-mail Follow-up 561
    16.2.6 It Was More Than Worth the Effort 562
  16.3 Automate Replies to the "Same Old, Same Old" 563
    16.3.1 Best Answer to the Request for More Info 563
  16.4 Using Autoresponders to Reply NOW! 565
  16.5 Real-Life Example of Losing a Sale 567
    16.5.1 First Letter to InfoSeek 568
    16.5.2 InfoSeek's Reply 568
    16.5.3 Second Letter to InfoSeek 569
    16.5.4 InfoSeek's Reply 570
    16.5.5 Third Letter to InfoSeek 571
    16.5.6 InfoSeek's Reply 571
    16.5.7 Fourth Letter to InfoSeek 572
    16.5.8 InfoSeek's Reply 573
    16.5.9 Fifth Letter to InfoSeek 573
    16.5.10 InfoSeek's Reply 574
    16.5.11 Excite Comparison 575
17   After the Sale 577
  17.1 How to Get Paid 577
    17.1.1 Credits Cards - How You'll Be Paid! 577
    17.1.2 Getting Your Merchant Account 578
    17.1.3 Third Party Providers 581
    17.1.4 Don't Step on These Credit Card Land Mines 585
    17.1.5 How To STOP Credit Card Fraud 585
    17.1.6 How to Eliminate Credit Card Chargebacks 592
    17.1.7 A Word about Chargebacks 595
    17.1.8 How to Do Real-time Credit Card Verification 597
    17.1.9 Fraud and Real-time Credit Card Verification 599
    17.1.10 Want to Scare Away Thieves? 601
    17.1.11 Resources to Help You Avoid The Land Mines 603
    17.1.12 Other Anti-Land Mine "Devices" 605
    17.1.13 Next Generation of Credit Card Security 608
    17.1.14 Accepting Online E-Checks! 610
    17.1.15 Using 1-900 Phone Billing 613
    17.1.16 Online Escrow Services 613
    17.1.17 Catering To Teens 615
    17.1.18 Microsoft's Wallet/Passport 616
    17.1.19 Person-To-Person Payment Services 617
    17.1.20 Coming Soon To The Internet Near You! 622
    17.1.21 A Time of Great Upheaval! 626
    17.1.22 The Tried-and-True Boosts Income, Too! 627
  17.2 The "Final" Step... Fulfillment 629
  17.3 Delivering it NOW!...Digital Fulfillment 634
    17.3.1 Digibuy 636
    17.3.2 Doing It ALL Yourself! 638
  17.3.3 Processing Orders Manually 638
    17.3.4 Automating on Your Own! 641
  17.3.5 Automating Digital Goods 642
    17.3.6 Let Someone Else worry About It! 643
  17.3.7 The Automation Manual! 644
  17.4 Upselling... It's All in the Timing! 645
  17.5 Nurture Your Customers to Grow the Relationship 647
    17.5.1 Testing... Testing... Is This Thing On? 648
    17.5.2 Automated, Yet Personal, E-mail Follow-up 650
    17.5.3 Delivering Super Customer Support 652
    17.5.4 Maximizing Support / Minimizing Time 657
    17.5.5 The Best Way to Build A Long-Term Biz 660
    17.5.6 Walk the Walk... 661
    17.5.7 5,6,7,8, Anticipate, Anticipate 661
    17.5.8 Keeping Your Finger on the Pulse 663
    17.5.9 An Example of Support OVERdelivery...And What It Brings You! 667
  17.6 Customer Relationship Management 675
    17.6.1 Personalizing Content 679
  17.7 Where's My Order? 684
  17.8 Make Return Shipping Easy 685
  17.9 Build a Business... NOT a "Back-End" 687
  17.10 The POWER of Branding 691
18 Sites that SELL! 696
  18.1 How Small Companies SELL! 696
    18.1.1 The Success Clinic -- Do You Have Success Anorexia? 697
    18.1.2 Web Pages That Suck 698
  18.2 How Big Companies SELL! 702
    18.2.1 Dell 702
    18.2.2 Amazon.com 705
  18.3 Experience Speaks 716
    18.3.1 Learning from the ShopIrish Webstore 717
    18.3.2 Advice from Signature Software 721
    18.3.3 The Success Clinic's "Words to Succeed By" 725
  18.4 Words from the Wise 729
    18.4.1 The Ten Secrets of Netsavvy's Sell It! 729
    18.4.2 The Seven "Must-Remembers" 733
19 It Ends With Traffic 737
20 Wrapping It All Up.. 739
  20.1 When to Break the Rules 739
  20.2 Manipulation vs. Ethical Sales 741
  20.3 Practical Nuts-and-Bolts "To Do List" 742
    20.3.1 The Min -- Enough to Get You Started 743
    20.3.2 The Max -- The Whole Nine Yards 743
  20.4 Building Your Web Team 745
    20.4.1 Sales V.P... as "Head Designer"?! 746
    20.4.2 Hiring or Assembling a Team 747
    20.4.3 Experience Counts 749
    20.4.4 The Legals 750
    20.4.5 Maintain Your Site 751
  20.5 Web Sales Newsletters & Sites...The Cream of the Crop 751
    20.5.1 SELLING on the Web 752
    20.5.2 Traffic-Building 754
    20.5.3 General E-commerce 755
    20.5.4 Miscellaneous, But Important... 757
  20.6 The Future is Slo-o-o-o-ow... Ôtil 2004 759
    20.6.1 Bandwidth Forces Everyone to K-I-S-S 759
    20.6.2 And Don't Be Tempted by "The Latest and Greatest" 762
  20.7 A Great Way to Know You're Succeeding! 763
  20.8 11 Steps to a Site that SELLS! 764
    20.8.1 Prepare... Don't Repair 765
    20.8.2 Set, and Get, the MWR 767
    20.8.3 Backup Responses... 767
    20.8.4 Design & Usability 767
    20.8.5 Write the Opening Paragraph 768
    20.8.6 Write the Pathway 768
    20.8.7 Re-write4 -- Tighten and Activate 770
    20.8.8 The 10-Point Pathway Checklist 771
    20.8.9 HTML and Usability Testing 773
    20.8.10 Showtime! 774
    20.8.11 Build Targeted Traffic 774
  20.9 The Top 6 Rules in 17 Words 775
  20.10 For the Advanced Netrepreneur... 775
    20.10.1 Overall Results 779
    20.10.2 The Major Reasons... Sitesell.com vs. General Findings 785
    20.10.3 What We Did About It 789
  20.11 The Bottom Line 791

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