DedicatedtoAthenaParthenos,thegreatParthenonwasdesignedbyarchitectsIctinusandCallicratesandbuiltovertheyears447-432B.C.Basicallyitisasimplerectangularbuilding,237feetlongby110feetwide,withDoriccolumnsarounditsfoursides.Apedimentoneachendrisestoaslantingroof.Withtheexceptionoftheroofframeandpartsoftheceiling,theentiretempleisconstructedinmarble.TothisdaytheParthenonremainsthemasterpieceofconsummateproportions.Doyounoticeaveryimportantfactaboutthisstructure?Itisthis:theheavyroofissupportedbynumerouspillars.Withoutthosepillars,theroofwouldcollapse.MypersonalmentorandfriendJayAbrahamcallsthisTheParthenonPrinciple.TheParthenonPrinciple,simplyexplained,isthis:Havemultiplepillarsgeneraterevenueratherthanoneortwo.Yourbusinesscouldcollapseifit'sonlysupportedbyoneortwoincomestreams.Toomanybusinessownersgambleeverythingonasinglerevenuesource.Theyoftengetattachedtoonetypeofmarketing-andoverlookthefactthatthereareatleastadozenincomestreamstheycouldaccess!Mostcompaniesingeneral,generate revenue-throughoneortwomethodstheydependonanduseoverandoverandover.However,whathappenswhenoneofthose"pillars"crashes?IfjustONEpillarweretogodowninthisscenario,youwouldrisklosingupto50%ofyourbusiness.Ouch!Whathappensifoneofthepillarsgoesdown?Dothemath!IfoneoftheseTENpillarswentdown,itwouldn'tbecatastrophic-itmayevenrepresentupto10%ofyourbusiness.Isubmithowever,whatifyourbusinesshad15,or20,oreven30DIFFERENTways,or"pillars"forgeneratingrevenue?Thatwouldmakeadifference,wouldn'tit?Whatmaynotseemobviousisthis:themore"pillars"youhave,thelargerandheaviertheroofthatyoucansupport.Themoreincome-generatingmethodsyouhave,thelargerrevenueroofyouwillhave.Iwillshowyouhowtohavemorepillarsbyopeningyoureyestowhatthepossibilitiesare,andwhatopportunitiesyoumightbemissing.InthisarticleIamgoingtointroduceyoutoabakersdozen(yes,13)differentpillarsyouronlinebusinesscanusetogeneraterevenue.Isthatallthereis,13?No,butletsstartherefirstandifyou'reboldenough,Imayfollow-upthisarticlewithapart2oreven,part3. Asyougothroughthese"pillars"thinkofthewaysthatyoucanapplythemforyourbusiness.DONOT,atfirstglance,discardthemandsaytheydon'tapplytoyou.ThinkofthepossibilitiesofhowtheyCOULDapplytoyou.Ontothelist:KeywordsSitdownandbrainstormasmanykeywordsandphrasesthatsomeonemightusetofindabusinesslikeyoursonInternetsearchengines.Besurethatyounotonlytakeintoaccountnotonlykeywordsandphrasesyoumightcomeupwith,butalsogetfreshoutsideperspectives.Onceyouhavethelist,refineittoabout20keywordsandhaveyourwebdesignerinserttheseatthetopofyourwebpagesinthesectioninthisformat:IncludeyourURLonofflinematerialsPutyourwebsiteaddressontoeverypieceofmarketingmaterialyouhave,beitbusinesscards,letterheads,invoices,brochures,everything.Youdon'thavetoincludethewilldojustfine.CaptureemailaddressesfromsitevisitorsBIGtiphere.Designaboxonyourwebsitewherevisitorscanleaveyoutheirnameandemailaddress,minimally.Offerthemsomethinginexchange(seenexttip)andincludeacheckboxwherethevisitorgivesyouconsenttoe-mailthemupdatesaboutpr oductsorservices.Thisgivesyou"permission"tomarkettothemandevenremindthemtorevisityourwebsiteagain.Keeptheseinadatabaseforfutureandfrequentuse.PublishanEzineNobonesabout-producinganezine(newsletteryouremail)onaweekly,monthlyorquarterlybasis,ishardwork.Butitisoneofthebestways,onceyou'veestablishedasolidlistofemailaddresses,tokeepintouchwiththosewhohavevisitedyoursite,buildloyalty,developbrandawareness,andbuildfuturebusiness.Don'tmakeitlongandboring,butrelevant,easytoread,andsomethingyourreadercanmakeuseof.Youcandistributeitviayouremailprogramorsubscribetoalistserver.PressreleasesIfyouhaveanewsworthyevent,whynotconsiderwritingabrief,one-pagereleaseandsendittoprintperiodicalsandotherezines?YoucandoitbyhandorusetheservicesofInternetNewsBureau[],EricWard'sURLwire[],andtheNetrageousPRCenterfoundat[/PR/index.html]E-mailSignatureEverymajoremailprogramtodaywillallowyoutoassigna"signature"toappearattheendofeverymessageyousendorreplyto.Suggestion:makeitquickandtothepoint(yourname,compan y,phonenumber,websiteaddress,youremail,andonesentenceoffour-to-sixwordsofwhyyouarethebestserviceoffering).SearchEngineSubmissionI'vewrittenotherarticlesonthis,butsufficetosaythatyoushouldsubmityourwebpagestosearchengines.Todobasicno-costsubmission,visiteachofthetopsearchengineslistedatSearchEngineWatch[]andmanuallysubmitoneachwebsite.AlsovisitfreesubmissionservicesatwebsiteslikeJimToolsSubmit[/submit.html],andWebStepTop100[].Keepinmindthatover90%ofthesearchenginetraffictomostWebsitescomesfrom8to10majorsearchengines.EmploySearchEngineOptimizationSimplysubmittingtothesearchenginedoesnotguaranteeyou'llreceiveanynewvisitors.Ifpeoplecannotfindyouinthefirst10to30matchesofasearch,thensubmittingwasawasteoftime.SEO,orSearchEngineOptimization,focusesonoptimizingyourpagestoimproverankingbycreatinggatewaypages,eachtunedforaparticularsearchphraseandsearchengine.Theprocessofsubmission,monitoring,reportingandresubmittingisalargeone,beware,buteffectiveSEOcandriveverytargetedtraffictoyourweb site.JoinabannerexchangeBasically,youjoinaprogramwhereyouagreetoshowarotatingbanneronyourwebsiteforothermembers,andtheydothesameforyou.ThereisagoodresourceofbannerexchangesatBanner&LinkExchangeNetworks[/exchangenetworks.shtml].Smarttips:whenreviewingstats,makesureyoulookatclick-thru,notimpressions,andtrytojoinanetworkthatmembersservethesametargetcustomerdemographic.StartanaffiliateprogramIfyousellproductsonyourwebsite,thenabsolutely,startanaffiliateprogram.Simplystated,yourprogrampaysacommissiontootherwebsiteswhoselinkstoyouresultinanactualsale.Thegoalistogivepeoplefinancialincentivetopromoteyourwebsiteandproducts.Isuggestyoureadthis[/article/cz.2645.html]excellentarticlefromJoelGehman,founderofEchoFactor,forfactorstoconsiderifyoudecidetooutsourceyouraffiliateprogram,andamajorcomparisonofthetopguns.Idon'tsuggestyoubuildyourown;readthisarticle[/cgibin/gt/article.html?article=1737]tofindoutwhy.AutoresponderImagineacompletelyautomatedsystemthatdeliversinstantinformationtoyourpo tentialcustomersandthenpersonalizesfollowupwiththemautomaticallyoverapre-assignedschedule?ThisiswhatanAutoresponderwilldoforyou:aprospectvisitsyourwebsiteandentershis/hernameandemailaddressinaform/boxrequestinginformation.AnAutoresponderwillautomaticallysendthevisitorapersonalizedemailreply;someautoresponderswillsendfollow-upemailsatlaterdates,addthisvisitortoadatabase,andremoveprospectsthatdon'tconverttocustomers.Forasamplingoffreeautoresponders,gohere[/email_auto.htm].ContestsandSweepstakesProperlyandtactfullydone,contestswilldrawvisitorstoyourwebsite.Askentrantstofilloutasmallonlineformthatwillgiveyoudemographicsandmostimportantly,theiremailaddressesforlaterpermissionmarketing.Youcaneasilyfindgiftsponsorsbyofferingthemfreeadvertisinginexchange.eBooksThenumber1reasonpeoplegoonlinebesidessending&receivingemail,istodoresearch.eBooksaresimplyelectronicbooksthatcanbedownloadedtotheuser'scomputerandreadwhenthey,thewebsitevisitor,isnotonlinepayinginternetaccessfees.Itsveryinexpe nsivetocreateacompellingeBookthatyoucansell,andwithtoday'stechnology,youcanprotectyourintellectualproperty.TheauthorofeBookCarSecretsRevealedsellshiseBookfor$29.95andsells17000copieseverysingleyear,generatinghalf-a-milliondollarsinyearlyincome.Usethesepillarstogenerateadditionalrevenuestreamsforyourbusiness.Eachonecouldeffectuallystandontheirown,buttogether,thancangenerateenormousupsidepotentialwithlittleorvirtuallynodownsiderisk.WanttobuildabiggerParthenon?Thenwhatareyouwaitingfor?
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