I visited the site of the 5-day “Getting Nigerian Businesses Online” (GNBO) event (at the Grandeur Events Center on Billings Way, Oregon) on the 2nd, Tuesday 1st November 2011, and was intrigued by the participation of business owners. Nigerians to Take Advantage of the offer: Everyone loves gifts!

Due to other commitments, I did not plan to stay long. I quickly inquired about the steps involved in creating the promised FREE websites (so I could pass the details on to other interested parties) and found out that the only payment required was domain registration. That made sense, since Google hosting is FREE. The custom system used by the providers is based on the FREE SITE BUILDER interface powered by a Google assistant.

Before I left, I struck up a conversation with a CEO who was leaving, having set up his site. In the course of our discussion, I asked: “Now that you have YOUR website, what next?… What will you say on it?… How will you promote it?… Are you going to place ads on TV, radio, newspapers? , or on Facebook, Google?“

You need a carefully developed plan for your Internet presence!

Guess what? She Thought He Was “Blowing Grammar!” Needless to say, our discussion didn’t last long. Hmm, I guess NOT everyone sees what’s possible. Some people are just fine doing what others are doing.

I started building FREE websites for clients over 3 years ago because I understood this often overlooked but crucial point. Many prospects often asked me in surprise “But why will you build for free? So how do you make money?“

I always pointed out that advances in web technology now equip ANYONE, including 5 year olds, to create dynamic database driven websites with a few clicks and NO technical knowledge. An example is Joomla! – a powerful open source content management system used by millions to build websites. So what I do is get clients to pay me for content writing and developing custom automated web marketing systems.

Unfortunately, many web professionals failed to “get it” and suggested that I build sites for FREE, because my design skills were lacking. With this FREE Google-backed GNBO offering (promoted via TV, radio, print and online media) to millions in its target market of Nigeria, I’m sure not a few of those myopic developers are having nightmares right now. Many GNBO recipients are now Web Marketing leads that I can approach!

To make money, you need to make sales. Building a website is only the FIRST step in the process. Making your website BRING you leads should be your focus. If you don’t have a plan to make that happen (a plan that should ideally influence the construction/design of the site itself), your website will be a DRAIN pipe for your money. Period.

Now that your site is live, I suggest you follow (at least) the steps below

These are basic components of a plan that I would recommend. You can learn about other components by reading other articles I’ve written on business marketing.

1. Content of your website: Ideally, this should happen during installation. But it’s never too late. The content on your site must be responsive, that is, compelling enough for some visitors to contact you or respond to your offer(s). Evaluate your content. If you can’t do it yourself, hire a competent specialist to do a CONTENT REVIEW for you. He/she can help you rewrite it, if necessary. If you need help, call me.

2. Your mailing list: You NEED to generate sales leads, who you can follow up with. If the setup is correct, your website should periodically HARVEST contact information from potential customers on your website’s mailing list. Mailing list software with outbound registration forms. Many hosting providers offer one-click installation of these tools. Offer freebies on your site to entice visitors to leave their names, emails, phone numbers, etc. Over time, you will be able to mine this data for financially rewarding answers.

3. Your follow up: 2 ideas easily come to mind here. Launch a newsletter on the brand website and an article marketing campaign. Use your mailing list software to send messages at decent intervals to subscribers, cleverly making offers and product/service announcements in those streams, from time to time. Keep this up long enough and you will notice MORE subscribers and opportunities to close sales appear.

Ignore Those Who Say Otherwise – Embrace A Customized Web Marketing Plan And Make It Work For You

“Where everyone thinks alike, no one is thinking” – Anon

Sometimes it’s just NOT smart to follow the majority.

If there is anyone who KNOWS the importance of being different, and who used it to GET AHEAD, for the benefit of himself and MILLIONS of people around the world, it is SIR RICHARD BRANSON. This is what he recently had to say about ANOTHER person who CHANGED the world, by THINKING differently….

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“Sometimes, pursuing your vision means you’ll have to ignore warnings and even ridicule from others… As you pursue your own business vision, take heart if building your business involves troubling obstacles, and ignore your critics.

Pursue your passion; admit when you find something you’re not good at, and either delegate it or find a way around it (even Jobs hired top professionals to lead public relations efforts, and formed alliances with competitors Apple, IBM, and Microsoft); and when things go wrong, pick yourself up and move on. This is an adventure that requires courage and conviction.

Throughout his life, Jobs encouraged everyone he worked with to “think different.” It’s advice I’ve taken to heart. He was referring to businessmen; he meant you…”

Richard Branson (Branson on Sunday), “Steve Jobs, a businessman who thought differently.” Sunday Punch, October 30, 2011

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Last words

In February of this year, I wrote an article titled “You Can’t Beat Your Competitors If You Keep Doing The SAME Things They Do!” (See my EzineArticles Expert Bio page.)