But more importantly -- only if that traffic is highly targeted to what we have to offer!

Rule Number 1...

OUR TRAFFIC NEEDS TO BE HIGHLY TARGETED IF OUR WEBSITE IS GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL

That's why it's so critical to your online success that you take the time to clearly define your USP and develop your entire website around it.

Take note:

• We didn't capitalize on "1000 Cooking Recipes" on our website.

• We didn't capitalize on "The largest assortment of cookware" available online.

• We didn't capitalize on "Non-Stick" or "Lifetime Guarantees" on our cookware.

• We didn't capitalize on the fact that we've been in business for over "XX" years!

• We didn't capitalize on any of these things (although we may have all these things to brag about!)

We simply developed our USP as this...

The only place on the web where fine dining and romance combine to spark your love life!

And right now, those are the only folks that we want to bring to our website!  Folks who enjoy cooking and would love to prepare a nice "candle-lite" meal for their mate!

This is very important...

Never lose sight of the fact that we could have the greatest website on the net, thousands of customers visiting our site on a weekly basis, a lot of valuable, entertaining content, freebies available to download, pop-ups and email forms ready to snatch up email addresses to build upon our "foundation"... but the fact remains...

If our traffic isn't "Laser Targeted" toward what we're offering... all our efforts will be in vein -- wasted!

If the vast majority of the folks who visit our website aren't specifically interested in our USP:

• They're not going to opt in to our email offer

• They're not going to be interested in our newsletter

• They're not going to be interested in our "follow up offers"

• Ultimately... They're not going to buy our products!

Simple as that!

We specifically want to target only our defined NICHE'!  We need to seek out and find our target customer and then carefully "lure" them to our website.

We want to attract folks who will be visiting our website specifically looking to create some romantic meals for their mate.  Right?  That's the perfect market to attract.

Yes, there are other targets we can expand upon like "healthy cooking", "fine wines", Chocolates, Flowers and gift baskets via affiliate programs, etc. as our business grows (and we'll discuss many of those profit nuggets later in these 12 lessons) but for right now -- our primary focus needs to always remain -- Romantics that want to cook up a "special candle lite meal" for the one they love.

So, how can we be sure to attract those folks interested in our USP?

We "PRE-QUALIFY" all our website traffic.  We need to target those folks in particular before we can really begin to reap the rewards from our marketing efforts.  We don't want to spend our time and efforts (and possibly money) on bringing traffic to our website that isn't specifically interested in what we have to offer.  Our USP!

Got it?  Understand?  Comprende? Capice?

Okay then...

So, now that we know WHO our target is going to be focused on, how do we let those customers know we even exist and "entice" them into visiting our website?  How are these folks - who may not even realize yet themselves that they're interested in what we have to offer - going to find out about us?

Simple.  We're going to tell them we're here -- brighter than life -- and that we've got some incredible offers just waiting for them - MANY FREE just for stopping by.  We're going to show them we know what we're talking about before they even hit our homepage.  We're going to become a respected leader in the marketplace.

But before we go about "touting" our web address all over the Internet, we first need to be sure that once we do start seeing those customers pounding on our homepage -- "Let Me In... Let Me In..." -- we have all the tools and resources in place to capitalize on each and every visitor.

Remember this...

When our traffic starts arriving, we want to be sure we can step up to the plate and crack a "HOMERUN" every time.  Okay... maybe not a homerun every time, but at least a single or a double...

Here's what I would consider a "Good At Bat" when it comes to what we want to gain from our traffic?

Yup!  You guessed it!  You, my friend, make me so proud...

Getting every single visitor to sign up for our email list.

(there's a tear running down my cheek at this very moment ;-)...

Man O' Man!  You're gonna have such an advantage over 99% of every other site online once you start implementing these strategies...

In earlier lessons, while just beginning to build our website, we talked about how important it is to build our "foundation" -- our email list of customers -- Right?

We also talked about how important it is to "pre-sell" our website traffic by offering them something of "value" in exchange for their email address.

And do you remember how we pre-sell our customers?

By convincing them to subscribe to our list which will allow us to follow up with them via email, eventually establish a relationship with them and build trust.

REMEMBER... BUILDING OUR LIST IS - AND ALWAYS WILL
BE - OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY!

If you also recall, in past lessons we talked about how important it is to have quality, entertaining content to write about in our niche'.  Do you remember?

Well, without getting too far ahead of myself here ( I tend to do that sometimes), I'd like to try and put a few of the pieces from our "scattered website puzzle" together for you so you can begin to see where all this is leading to and to hopefully start expanding your "newly acquired" knowledge about why this "simplistic" setup we developed when we first started out building our website was so extremely important.

Take a step back for a moment and think about something...

We have to take into consideration our "ultimate goal" as an online drop shipping, marketing, selling, endorsing, writing, entertaining, trusted, self-employed, Internet entrepreneur.

• Is it your goal online to make a few hundred dollars each month?

• Is it your goal online to make a few thousand each month?

• Is it your goal to make TENS OF THOUSANDS each month?

I'm sure you'll agree - BIGGER IS BETTER - Right?

So, if we want to be able to expand our business into an "E-powerhouse" we need to realize that we are going to want to be bringing in multiple streams of web revenues to accomplish this.

But can all these multiple streams of income come from just one small website?

Yes, they can - in the beginning...

But to really be able to see the "big bucks" coming in we need to realize that we will eventually want to expand our business in many different directions -- NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST as we continue to BUILD OUR LIST.  That's when "multiple streams of income" will really begin to erupt!

Like I said, I don't want to get to far ahead of myself here in this lesson, but I want you to realize that it really is a "SUPER-SIMPLE" process to open a new web store online and generate $10,000, $20,000, even $40,000 plus per year from one simple laser targeted niche site if setup and marketed correctly.

And rest assured, as we continue to move forward throughout each of these 12 lessons, you'll realize just what I mean when I say "SUPER-SIMPLE".

But I think you'll agree that we want to do more than that... right?  We want to set our goals high!  Ultimately, we'd like our business to provide a full time income... Right?

We'd like to see our income develop into $100,000, $200,000 even $300,000 a year if we can.  So how do we do this?

We do this by expanding our "foundation" NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, And WEST!  This will allow us to have various streams of income coming into our business from all directions.

Let's think about our little website for just a moment...

In it's first stage, our site will have everything it needs to start bringing in targeted traffic, converting that traffic into a "solid foundation" of targeted email subscribers, and the ability to make a few sales each day (as you'll soon see).

But wouldn't it be great if we knew right from the initial launch of our site that we had "BIGGER AND BETTER" plans for our website than to simply grab a few sales each day from our list of customers?

You're darn right it would!

So, although here in Lesson 5 we're going to continue to break new ground and learn about some clever techniques for building our foundation, just keep it in the back of your mind that we're not nearly done expanding our foundation and building our business from all directions - NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST!

In future lessons, we're going to keep expanding our "BUSINESS" to create an auto-pilot system that will generate sale after sale once we set it up correctly.

Exciting, isn't it?

But right now in lesson 5 we need to concentrate on homepage's "TO DO LIST".

We need to continue on designing our homepage.  We need to be virtually guaranteed that we'll convert all the traffic to our website (once we start generating it) into our subscriber list and build our foundation.

So... Let's get our homepage completed so we can be sure we snatch up those email addresses...

Adding pop-ups, forms, and lead capture systems to our homepage...

Again, you're probably sick to death of hearing me say this... but your NUMBER ONE goal as an ecommerce entrepreneur is capturing your visitors email address!  END OF STORY!

So, to be sure we've given ourselves every opportunity to do this effectively, we'll need to incorporate a few lead capture systems into our homepage.

If you haven't yet visited our "LIVE" Homepage yet, I encourage you to Click Here Now and take one last look at what our page looks like before we begin to add some more clever "Profit Nuggets" onto our page.  All we've basically done so far is add a subscription form embedded directly into our homepage.  That means... "We've only just begun"!

As I stated in lesson 3, you should try to incorporate at least three or four "lead capture" generators into your homepage for maximum results.

• A link to your newsletter at the top of the page

• A pop up inviting your visitors to register for a FREE e-course or special report

• A link in the menu bar offering a FREE e-course or report (some type of valuable downloadable product)

• An exit pop up for your offer

• A sign up form directly embedded into your homepage

When we designed our homepage for "Candle-Lite Cooking" we designed the homepage with a "sign up" form embedded directly into the homepage of the site.  That was our first step.

Now, we need to expand on that "capture page" and add a few "goodies" to allow for our targeted traffic every opportunity to "opt-in" to our email system.

So now comes the fun part!  We'll need to do a little brainstorming to decide what we'd like to offer our traffic in return for their email address.

Remember... GET YOUR TRAFFIC INTO YOUR EMAIL SYSTEM!

So, let's think about a few things we could offer.  My three personal favorites that I've continually had great success with over the years are:

1. A free e-course

2. A free newsletter

3. A free report to download

So let's stick with those for the time being and see how we could incorporate them into alternative "capture" methods by using some pop-ups and exit windows for starters.

NOTE: Before we do that, let me just address the issue of "Pop-Ups" in general for a moment because there is a lot of "hissy whispering" going on about the use of pop-ups in general online and how "ANNOYING" they can be to your website visitors.

Rest assured, I hate annoying pop-ups just as much as anyone else when browsing the net.  The difference however, between what is generally considered to be an annoying pop-up and a "welcomed" pop-up is the relevance of the pop-up to your website.

There's nothing more frustrating than visiting a website and having multiple pop-ups jumping out all over your web browser - each having nothing to do with what you're interested in.  To further frustrate the hell out of you, each time you close one... another pops up at you.  Heck, there are times when you have to close down your entire web browser just to get rid of those annoying things.

That's not what I'm talking about when I refer to a pop-up on our website.  You see, you're traffic won't mind if they see a pop-up on your website's homepage as long as it's relevant to your target audience and gives your visitors the option to immediately close the window if they aren't interested.

Trust me... I've used pop-ups on many different websites over the years and I don't think I've ever had one complaint from a visitor about them.

Why?

Because I'm offering my visitors something valuable on the subject that they've come to my site to learn more about.  Simple as that!  You NEVER want to place a pop-up on your site advertising an affiliate program, traffic exchange system, banner ad, etc.  That will definitely annoy your web visitors.

But a custom designed, strategically placed pop-up offering something of value to your visitors will be a welcomed addition to your site.  Plus, you'll be amazed at how many of your website visitors will actually take you up on your offer by entering their name and email address into the pop-up form - hence - building your "FOUNDATION".

Okay... enough said!

There are two crucial elements to your business that I wanted to bring to the forefront here in lesson 5.  My goal in this lesson is to provide you with a better understanding of these two elements:

1. A Strong USP

2. An Effective Capture (home) page

So, to better help you understand the importance of developing a strong USP, I have provided you with a free download that I would like you to read written by an author many refer to as "The Million Dollar Man" - Dan Kennedy.  I think you'll find this e-book both enlightening and entertaining.  Pay special attention to the story about Al The Plumber.  MY FAVORITE!

If anyone could demonstrate to you why it's imperative to your business that you develop a strong USP it's Dan Kennedy.  You can download his ebook from the link below:

21 Days To A Profit Explosion

The second crucial element to your success is understanding the importance of a well designed capture page (homepage) and learning how to add "un-blockable" pop-ups, pop unders, exit pop up windows, and forms to your homepage.

Although we'll continue to talk about capturing email addresses in upcoming lessons, in today's lesson I wanted to provide you with a VIDEO SERIES by Louis Allport which I think will provide you with some valuable information, tools, and techniques for creating capture pages, pop ups, forms, and links to get your website visitors to subscribe to your list offer.

Although Louis talks more about selling "information products" in his video series, you'll clearly gain a better understanding of how to incorporate these little "gems" into your own website.

But before you download the video series however, I would also like to mention a few things that Louis doesn't cover in much detail that I feel is important.

As I mentioned in Lesson 1, it's absolutely necessary that you setup an autoresponder account in order to capture and follow up with your website visitors.  Two of the most popular and most trusted companies for an autoresponder service are:

http://www.aweber.com

http://www.getresponse.com

Both of these services will allow you to create pop ups, pop unders, exit pops, glide in windows, embedded forms, etc. through the account tools they offer.  This is very handy when you want to design a pop up or exit window, etc. quickly and easily.

Regarding our homepage at "Candle-Lite Cooking", I've now added FOUR "lead capture" generators so once we begin sending traffic to our website we'll be sure to snatch up as many targeted email subscribers as possible.  Before you take a look to see how I've incorporated these four "Lead Generation Systems" into our homepage (capture page), take note of the following:

1. The subscription form I embedded into our homepage:
   
   
   
   
   
    

2. The pop up window offering a free e-course:
   
   
   
   
    

3. The exit window offering a free download:
   
   
   
   
    

4. The link to our newsletter:
   
   
   
    

Okay... So now that we've gone over the "key" capture elements to our homepage, take a minute and Click Here To Visit Candle-Lite Cooking Live.  Take notice of the "FOUR" elements we now have incorporated into the site.

1. The pop-up window (unblockable)

2. The exit window (NOTE: If you have pop up blockers "on" you will not see this exit pop up)

3. The embedded form directly on the homepage

4. The newsletter link at both the top and bottom of the page

I'll STOP HERE AND WAIT while you check things out!

Now that's an effective homepage!  And who would ever guess we plan on using some drop shippers to sell products from our website.  Would you?... I Didn't think so ;-)

So, to learn more about how to create an effective homepage and also where to grab some incredible FREE tools that you can use immediately to add these clever types of pop ups and exit windows to your website, you can download your video series below:

Click Here To Download Your Videos

And remember to take some time to read over Dan Kennedy's ebook about developing a strong USP:

21 Days To A Profit Explosion

I think that will about cover things for lesson 5.

In lesson 6, we're going to quickly finish up discussing the remaining elements of our homepage design and get into some terrific traffic generating techniques that will virtually guarantee us we start bringing in some highly targeted traffic and building our "foundation" by adding email addresses to our customer list.

You have my word... Our next lesson is gonna be a real "spitfire"!

So, until next time..

See you at the top,

Joe L.Golson
Joe L.Golson

P.S. I'd Love to hear your comments or any feedback about this course.  Please send me your comments to joegolson@homefreebusiness.com