Getting to Know You

When creating a website, one of the very first things you need to decide is what will you put in your About Us page. Should you present a more personal approach where you tell visitors who you are and how you started the business? Or should you present a more corporate facade that sounds so businesslike and professional, without revealing anything about yourself?

I don't think there's a right or wrong approach.

The more personal approach of presenting the life story of the business founder or a detailed description of how the business came about can be a great human interest story. More so if you really have an interesting story to tell, or your business has already achieved some sort of success. In fact, I've interviewed several folks and written about them both here at PowerHomeBiz.com and at WomenHomeBusiness.com because I was fascinated by their story in their About Us page. However, I'm turned off by those people who praise themselves to the highest heavens in their About Us page (e.g. "I did this, I did that, I am so great hear me roar")

On the other hand, the more businesslike approach that tells the readers what the business is all about and what the business stands for can also be a good choice for some. While not presenting a single figure visitors can identify with (typically the founder), the prospective customers and readers get a feel for the business and what it represents. This approach is also good if you want to project a bigger image for your business hiding the fact that this is a one-person business (not that there's anything wrong with that, but some find it easier to get more business if they project a bigger size).

The key to remember is that customers or visitors want to have an idea of who they are dealing with. Whether you write a brief entry or a kilometric story, your visitors want to know that they are dealing with real people who are not out to dupe or scam them. By sharing even a little of yourself and what the business is all about, you are able to bring in the needed trust from your visitors.

Impact of the Internet on Home Businesses

We know that the Internet has opened a lot of doors for home-based businesses. But it's just fun to see some statistics on how Internet affects home-based businesses.

An SBA entitled "The Impact of Location on Net Income: A Comparison of Homebased and Non-homebased Sole Proprietors" included some interesting market research data on home business owners and the Internet:

• Home based firms using the Internet are growing 46% faster and surviving longer than home-based firms not using the technology
• Over 70% of US adults "believe that the Internet has made it easier to start a small business"
• Web sites generate business leads for 81%
• 77% believe a website helped to make them more competitive
• 55% thought that having a website "helped their company weather economic downturns"

The Strategy of Giving Your Offerings for FREE

I've met some people who are perplexed why some businesses give their products or services for free -- and how they make money. In fact, your products for free has been one of the best business models, particularly on the Internet.

With PowerHomeBiz.com, for example, we give away the information for free. But we earn from the ads we post on the articles. Advertising is one of the most common ways information websites such as ours earn from giving away the store for free, so to speak.

This strategy has been used to a great advantage by companies who actually sells products or services. Long ago, Estee Lauder has started the trend among cosmetic and beauty companies to give free samples away, and now this seems to be the norm in the beauty industry.

On the Web, Adobe gave away its PDF Reader and made a lot of money from its paid products. So with Macromedia Flash, which gave away its free Shockwave Player. Skype allowed free download of its software, but earned from their premium services. SixApart offers its LiveJournal blogging platform for free, but sells a premium version.

The trend nowadays is to give something for free -- in order to capture the audience attention, make them familiar with the company, and make them try the product. Once hooked, offer them a premium version or offer them one of your paid products.

Business 2.0 calls this the "freemium" business model, where a free version of the product is given away only to lure the customers with the paid version. And you will find that they will want to pay because they have already tried and used the product, or they are more responsive to your offering because they already know and trust your business.

Search Marketing Strategies

As the year comes to a close, I'm sure you are now strategizing how to improve your website's performance next year.

At the top of the list typically is how to improve your search engine rankings (both organic and performance of your paid listings). A good start is to read MarketingSherpa's Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007. While the 200+ page report is pricey, you can read a 19-page excerpt of the study which has some nuggets of wisdom in terms of keyword trends, using press release wire services, and even eyetracking heatmap.