Webmaker's Blog

One of the problems I'll admit that Clickincome has had in the past is in directly addressing the basic business model our product is based around. As Clickincome Internet Mentors, we tend to leave a lot of that to the customer. It's their business. They should do what they want, with it. Sure, we offer advice and critiques. I've always felt, though, that Clickincome clients, and any entrepreneur for that matter, should know when to follow there instincts, even if it breaks the "rules" of business that others have set. That's how great businesses become great. They offer something unique in a powerful and new way.

Still, the Clickincome products do lend themselves to particular business models better than others. Sure, you can use Clicksite Builder to do a lot of interesting and unique things but, because of it's built in limitations (all programs do some things better than others), some things are going to be easier. This lends itself to certain web business models, over others.

Our mentoring curriculum does the same thing. We've prided ourselves, in the past, over the curriculum's flexibility but, just like the Clicksite Builder program, the Clickincome mentoring program favors some business models over others.

If we were to identify the one "standard" business model that fits both the Clicksite Builder website building tool, and the Clickincome mentoring program, it would have to be a products based model. The basic idea of a products based model is an online store, much like a retail store, where people can peruse different products and then buy them, using their credit or debit cards.

Thinking of your Clickincome website as a physical store helps some of my clients to grasp the basic elements of a product based model. The home page, for example, is like the lobby, or entrance way, of the store. When you walk in to a regular brick-and-mortar store, the first thing you see are signs showing all the specials they're running. You see featured products that they're currently trying to promote above their other products. If you look around, you can see the customer service counter, beckoning you to go and ask questions. You also see the signs above each aisle that direct you to the place in the store where you can get the things you want.

On the web, a "Contact Us" page is just like the customer service counter. It's the place in your website where people go to get their questions answered, or provide feedback about the rest of your store. Don't forget to ask the visitor if they want to sign up for your newsletter. That way, you can market to them directly through email, later on.

A "Catalog Page" is just like the aisles in your store. Retail stores don't just throw everything into the middle of the floor and expect you to find what you want. Your website should be the same way. Sort your products into categories. Create a separate "Our Catalog" page for each category. For example, if you're selling watches you could create catalog pages for men's watches, women's watches, sports watches, and so on. You could even separate it by brand: Seiko, Citizen, Luminox, Invicta, whatever you've got.

Your "Home Page" is the entranceway to your store. It's the place where you'll introduce your business, what kinds of things you sell, and invite people to check out the rest of your site. It's also the page where you would feature sales you might be having. Maybe you've got a featured product of the month, or something. The home page is where you'd talk about it. If you want to give visitors more detail about one of those specials, you may even want to create a special page just for it, and then refer people to that page from your home page.

Of course, some questions are going to get asked all the time. Most of them will have to do with the way you do business. To solve that problem, you'll want to build an "About Us" page and a "Business Polices" or FAQ page. A business policies page will include things like a privacy policy (we're not going to share your contact info with anyone), a return policy (in case they have a problem with the product), and a security policy (Clicksite Builder uses SSL encryption to keep credit card info safe).

These pages will be expanded on, over time. Every week you'll add more information, more products, create sales, you name it. This way, your site builds over time, step by step. This is how large companies get they way. They start small, and get larger, building large successes, on small successes.

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