Can VALUE and PROFIT exist on the same website?


The answer to this question is YES.  Of course.  There are plenty of examples where value and profit coexist.  Maybe the better question is HOW can these two often-opposing characteristics best be introduced to unsuspecting website visitors without offending anyone?  More specifically, how can a revenue model be introduced on a value-based website in a seamless way?  That’s what we’ll be discussing here.


Before we begin, it’s worth acknowledging the reality we all live with these days and that is “value-first marketing”.  The average consumer is bombarded with thousands of marketing messages each day.  As a result, they have become skeptical and suspicious of marketing in general, making it much harder to promote a product or service.  Today, marketers must earn the trust of consumers BEFORE trying to sell anything.


In many cases, that means companies offer samples of the product or opportunities to experience the value of a product before the customer is expected to buy anything.  We see examples of this everywhere we go but nowhere is it more common than on the internet.  Indeed, almost every website offers its visitors free value items and resource tools free of charge.  Whether it’s a consumer report, an add-on for Facebook or MySpace, a new ring-tone or a personalized calorie counter, internet users have become very accustomed to receiving value before buying anything.


We’ll be borrowing some concepts from social dynamics as we analyze today’s marketing process.  The reason is simple.  Even though the internet appears impersonal to the older generation, it’s precisely the personal approach that defines success for the younger generation.  The more human your business appears, the better it will perform on today’s internet.  And when a visitor stumbles onto your website, there is a very real introduction taking place, even if you’re not there in person.  That visitor is being introduced to your business and we need to ensure that introduction is friendly, useful and profitable.


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There are an infinite number of ways to categorize websites but one way is to look at them as if they were positioned somewhere on a continuum with “all value, no sales” on one extreme and “no value, all sales” on the other.  Those two extremes are very different approaches indeed.  On the one side, you have the websites that offer lots of value items and resource tools to their visitors.  These sites earn plenty of trust and usually build respectable traffic as a result.  That traffic is an enviable asset.


On the other side, you find the websites that offer absolutely no value and focus exclusively on making a sale.  In these cases, very little trust is established and few visitors will ever return to the site a second time.  Nevertheless, they contain a revenue model and produce real profits, a rarity online.  Their revenue model is an asset, much like the traffic is for sites on the opposite side of the continuum.  The inevitable goal is to take elements from both extremes and incorporate them onto one website; a site with impressive organic traffic and a profitable revenue model.  Let’s look at examples on both sides.


All Value, No Sales


{mosimage}Wikipedia is an example of an “all value, no sales” website.  Of course, it was designed that way and as a non-profit, would have no reason to incorporate a revenue model.  But that doesn’t change the fact that the site offers tremendous value and has built undeniable trust among internet users.  At the same time, it has no vehicle to monetize that traffic.  And coming up first or second for hundreds of thousands of different keywords, Widipedia boasts impressive traffic indeed.


If you look at websites on this side of our continuum from a process perspective, there are really just two steps involved.  The first step is traffic generation.  And whether that includes paid advertising, free but deliberate promotion strategies or just plain word-of-mouth, it all qualifies as traffic generation.  People are finding out about the website and visiting it thereafter.  The second step is building trust, including free information, value items and resource tools.  This two step process benefits visitors because real value is provided.  Trust is established and traffic builds.


The perpetual traffic pattern that often emerges over a period of time is the primary asset of such websites.  And in the end, it is precisely that type of organic traffic that will produce the lowest sales cost if a revenue model were present.  If over time, people are coming to the website only because of its trusted reputation, the sales cost approaches zero and value is maximized.  These websites demonstrate the future of internet marketing.  As online competition increases, efficiencies will become more important for success and high-value websites will out perform those with expensive marketing campaigns.


All Sales, No Value


{mosimage}On the other side of the continuum, you find those websites that offer absolutely no value and focus only on the revenue model.  Examples of such websites include all the many pitch pages and sales letters that attempt to sell one product or another; usually expensive information products.  There’s a science behind these sites and the copy is designed to tap the emotions of the reader, expose unbearable challenges and offer an irresistible solution.  And regardless how detailed the description is, the visitor is forced to purchase the product before truly knowing what’s inside.


I’m not debating the value of these products.  I’m sure many of them are well worth the price.  The point is that even if the product is valuable, the website designed to SELL the product is not.  It’s a sales pitch and nothing more.  It usually contains a series of testimonials and small samples of the information being sold but there’s really no educational information on the website itself.  There’s no reason to come back.  Visitors arrive at the site and immediately know it’s a sales pitch.  They’ll either buy or not buy but they won’t come back a second time.  They’ll make the purchase decision while on the site and then leave.  As a result, the traffic on these sites is sporadic and campaign-driven.  When a campaign is in place, traffic surges.  But once the campaign concludes, the traffic quickly dries up.


From a process perspective, there are again just two steps involved.  Once again, the first step is traffic generation.  And second, there’s the revenue model.  That’s it.  Get them to the site and sell the product.  Period.  Very little trust is established and the traffic is erratic.  The revenue model is the asset.  Obviously, some perform better than others and depending on the traffic generation campaign, some may not even be profitable at all.  But the good ones boast something most websites only hope for: profit.


High-Value E-Commerce


What we’re looking for is a hybrid of these two extremes.  We’re looking for a high-value website that has a revenue model that doesn’t offend or surprise the visitor.  We’re looking to establish trust and then give the visitor an opportunity to purchase something he or she needs from a trusted source: you.  But when should the revenue model be introduced?  And how can you present yourself so the visitor doesn’t feel the need to question your products or prices?  In order to answer these questions, we have to look at a much wider process than the ones we’ve looked at so far.


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The process above shows five steps.  We’ve already seen three of these steps in the previous examples.  We’ve seen traffic generation, building trust and making a sale.  But we need to incorporate two more steps to round out the online sales process.  The first addition is step #2: Own the Frame.  And the second addition is step #5: Deepen the Relationship.  We’ll go over all five steps in detail below.


Step #1: Traffic Generation


{mosimage}There are plenty of ways to drive traffic to your website and they generally break down into one of two camps.  Either they cost a lot of money and very little time or they take a lot of time but cost very little money.  You either pay in time or money or both.  But regardless which strategy you use, the underlying effort remains the same.  One way or another, you’re demonstrating your expertise directly in front of your target market.  That involves two different steps: finding your target market online and then finding a way to demonstrate your expertise to that audience.


Finding your target market online rarely leads to one location.  Although they all have a few things in common, they also do different things while online and it makes sense to begin a list of places your target market spends time.  You can then go through your list and select those locations that are most consistent with your target market and those that offer the best opportunities to demonstrate expertise.  Locations may include search engines, blogs, forums, directories and other e-commerce websites, and they’ll all have different opportunities to show your stuff.


Demonstrating expertise sounds a lot more formal than it often is.  On the other hand, it’s often the best possible description too.  The internet offers endless opportunities to sink a line with some bait in the middle of a raging river.  You can post on forums or blogs.  You can publish articles or publicize writings on the social bookmarking websites.  You can answer questions on Yahoo Answers.  The possibilities are endless.  And in each case, the objective is to post something so brilliant and enticing that random readers feel compelled to visit your website.


Other strategies include banner or pay-per-click advertising.  Both cost money.  But once again, the idea is to display something so brilliant that the viewer feels compelled to visit the website and learn more.  Whether your online marketing campaign costs you money or time, you’re still demonstrating your expertise – your value – to the audience you’ve identified.  Even funny or shocking advertising attempt to meet the wants and needs of potential viewers.  So regardless what strategy you have for promoting your website, the process of generating traffic always boils down to demonstrating expertise.


Step #2: Own the Frame


{mosimage}The second step in the sales process is “Own the Frame”.  This concept comes directly from social dynamics and is based on the principle that the person making the introduction has an opportunity to present whatever reality he or she wishes.  Obviously, in real world settings, this refers to the person taking the initiative and saying hello.  Online, it’s the reverse.  When someone visits your website, they are automatically in a submissive role.  When they arrive at your website, they have no idea what they’re about to fine and you (the webmaster) have the opportunity to present whatever reality you like.


Before moving forward, it’s important to acknowledge that long-term success requires you can deliver on the frame you present.  Both online and off, there are plenty of people presenting impressive frames they can’t live up to and the results are disastrous.  You might be able to fool a few people at the beginning but word will spread quickly and you fail in the end.  If you plan to present a big frame, you need to ensure you can follow through.


So, getting back to the concept, you can project a small reality to your website visitors or you can project an overwhelming online presence; a parallel world, a different universe.  The effects on the visitor are dramatic.  Consider two websites for competing businesses.  One has a product selection ranging from $5 to $25 while the other has some super premium “lifestyle” options resulting in a price range from $5 to $4000.  In all likelihood, you would automatically attribute far more confidence to the second than the first.  Why?  Because the second presented a larger frame.


Presenting an overwhelming online identity projects confidence and that confidence is noticed immediately by the visitors to your site.  The simple act of offering a $4000 product requires a lot more confidence than offering a product for $25.  You need an entirely different self-image; a larger self-identity.  And this comparison applies to all facets of your website.  In every possible way, present an overwhelming online identity and then figure out how to deliver on those offerings.


When someone finds a site offering products from $5 to $25, they’ll see you as a retail shelf vendor and no more.  But if they find a site offering products from $5 to $4000, they have stumbled into a parallel universe; a world they never knew existed.  In the first case, they’ll immediately assume there are countless other vendors offering competitive products, perhaps at lower prices.  In the second, they’ll immediately assume you’re a market leader offering premium options for customers passionate about the products, a totally different mentality.


Owning the frame also applies to the presentation of your revenue model.  Present it with confidence.  Don’t hide it behind a vale of value items and resource tools.  Have it front and center, right beside your value platform, not behind it.  You need both: value and a revenue model.  But you’ll see more success if you present the revenue right on the homepage as a confident adjunct to your value proposition.  Don’t be shy.  You’re here to make money and that’s okay.  Profit is not a dirty word.


Step #3: Build Trust


{mosimage}Marketers often feel like customer loyalty is a thing of the past but I disagree.  It’s true that consumers are more skeptical and suspicious than ever before but that has resulted in the value-first marketing moniker and businesses have begun letting prospective customers sample their benefits before making the purchase decision.  For those providers who do not have a quality product, value-first marketing is like a death-wish.  But for those who provide real value with quality products, value-first marketing has produced more customer loyalty than ever before.


Once prospective clients actually try a quality product and see the value involved, they develop a sense of ownership towards that product that far exceeds the superficial customer loyalty of decades past.  And it’s precisely this phenomenon that represents the greatest opportunity for modern marketers.  There are basically three ways to let prospective clients sample your value: free information, value items and resource tools.  All three speak for themselves but their implications extend far into the sales process.


The trick is to truly understand your customer.  What are their objectives, not just for your product but within their lives?  What are they trying to accomplish?  What are the obstacles in their path?  Step #3 is the time when this information needs to be accumulated.  Yes, the priority is to give free information, value items and resource tools free of charge but you also need to accumulate as much feedback as you can, letting you better understand your customers.  In fact, the quality of information accumulated during this step will define the success of step #5: Deepening the Relationship.


It’s also important to mention omissions in the free resources you’re providing.  Ideally, you should categorize your content into beginner, intermediate and advanced.  Give the beginner content away with no strings attached.  It’s free information that’s part of your value platform.  Use the intermediate content to garner information and feedback.  You can use push strategies like autoresponders and surveys as a requirement for delivery.  Or you can use pull strategies and request feedback after the content has already been delivered.  Either way, the exchange should be clear.  Give me information and I will deliver value.


The advanced content is the subject of your revenue model and the value in that content needs to be advertised in the beginner and intermediate items.  Always mention what’s missing and let the visitor know it’s available in the advanced product.  You need to be deliberate throughout this process.  You’re building trust for a reason and your visitors need to know what it is.  Let them know where the most valuable information is and how they can get it.  Whether they buy or not, they’ll appreciate your proactive honesty.


Step #4: Make the 1st Sale


{mosimage}Making a sale leads naturally from step #2.  Visitors to your website will immediately be introduced to two things.  They’ll be introduced to your value platform and they’ll be introduced to your revenue model.  That’s all part of owning the frame and projecting confidence.  In all likelihood, they’ll explore your value platform first, giving them an opportunity to sample your expertise and get a feel for your approach.  If your beginner and intermediate content provides real value, trust will build and they’ll become increasingly aware of the information available in your advanced category – the genesis of an enthusiastic purchase decision.


The strategies used in sales letters and pitch pages still have relevance.  Once a visitor clicks on a link for an advanced product, the copy needs to be effective.  People buy what the want, not what they need, and the copy must tap into their emotions.  In many cases, the visitor is buying the product in order to FEEL a certain way and the onus lies on you to figure out exactly what that is.  This is perhaps the best place to hire a professional copywriter and monitor the conversion rates (the number of visitors buying the product divided by the total number of visitors visiting the sales page) before and after the adjustments.


The discussion so far might lead you to believe these concepts only apply to people selling information products – not so.  It’s only easier to explain in that context, that’s all.  Regardless what you sell, the product driving your revenue model should be considered “advanced” content.  That’s what you sell for money.  Everything else falls into the beginner or intermediate piles.  In most cases, they’re little teasers or extras that can easily be given way as long as the advanced products are moving profitably.


Step #5: Deepen the Relationship


{mosimage}Step #5 is really just an extension of step #2: Own the Frame.  In Step #2, the idea was to present an overwhelming online identity.  But exactly how big should your frame be?  Surely, there’s a limit where diminishing returns would discourage further expansion.  Well, the answer is simple.  Your frame needs to be big enough to encompass the objectives of your target audience.  The role of your products within these objectives might be very small but that’s not important.  Bottom line: the provider that gives the customer a way to accomplish larger objectives will win in the end.


Maybe you sell picks for guitar players.  What’s their larger objective?  You could provide a path for them to build their talent and demonstrate that talent to potential agents.  Or you could provide a forum for them to find other musicians with which to form a band or ensemble.


Maybe you sell premium jellies.  What’s your target market’s larger objective?  In all likelihood, they are aspiring gourmets, trying to hone their culinary skills by incorporating new ingredients.  You could provide an annual retreat, giving attendees detailed instruction on how to make their own jellies and how to incorporate them into meals.  You could even include a series of meals that all incorporate your own jellies in one way or another.


Maybe you offer a dating service.  What’s your target market’s larger objective?  Chances are; they’re looking for a life partner and ways to bring more happiness into their lives.  You could offer workshops on self-esteem and social interactions.  You could provide counseling for couples in the early stage of their relationships.  You could offer coaching for those who have more anxiety about dating.


You get the idea.  The idea is to look past your product selection and see the situation through the eyes of your customer, and then offer a path for them to achieve their own objectives.  This effort will do three things.  First, it will irreversibly connect your business with the larger industry you’re a part of.  Second, it will build tremendous loyalty within your target market.  And third, it will inevitably expand the boundaries of your business and probably lead to new revenue streams and enhanced profitability.