New Radiance Updates
June 2002

~~ SUMMERTIME WEBSITE TUNE-UP ~~

1. Fixing Website Turn-offs

Visit your own website, if you have one, and look at it from
your visitor's point of view. How easy (and logical) is it to
move from one section to the next? Are your navigation headings
clear? Most of us now know what "FAQ" and "About Us" mean in
internetspeak, but do your other navigational headings mean the
same thing to your customers as they do to you (or your web
designer)?

I recently visited the website for Canon, looking for a list of
local authorized repair people. I must have spent 15 minutes
fiddling around in their website trying to figure out which
buttons would get me closer to my goal. The first decision
wasn't too hard. I had to decide between English and a bunch
of other languages. But wait -- there was a little button under
one of the other languages that said "U.S. Customers." Click.

The next decision was trickier. My research was for a printer
that's used at the office, but I had to decide whether to click
on "Consumer," "Office," or "Industrial" with no written clues
to guide me. Or...should I enter the "Solution Zone" or the
"Partner Zone"? I guessed at "Consumer" and then had a new set
of choices.

Did I want "Product Support" or "Get Service." I guessed
"Get Service." My next choice was - good grief - "Consumer" or
"Office" again. And on and on, like voice mail with a mouse.

So, pretend you're a brand new visitor to your website. Are you
invited in -- or turned off?

(2) Fixing Website Overload

When the World Wide Web initially got going, many of us put
up websites without a clear understanding of their purpose. Also,
many of us still attempt to do too many things on one website.
That's one of the reasons I purchased a Site Build It package --
so I could move the marketing section of the New Radiance website
to a more logical place than the site that hosts the Metaphysical &
Holistic Florida Directory (http://www.newradiance.com).

One of the most valuable lessons I've learned so far from the
Site Build It manual (I'm at page 151 of 417) is that focused,
theme-based websites are more user-friendly for both visitors
and search engines.

So, look for more excerpts from the Florida
Directory on its current, dedicated website and follow the
marketing information to the new website I'm making with
Site Build It (details in a future newsletter).

How many different things are you trying to do on your website?

If it makes sense to split your current website into two or more
smaller, focused, theme-based sites, you might want to look at
the Site Build It package yourself. Here's the link for info: http://sitesell.com/newradiance.html

3. Attracting More Visitors to Your Website

Using the right keywords in your page titles, descriptive text
and meta tags helps bring new visitors to your site. View a list
of the 1600 most popular Google(TM) and Yahoo(R) keywords: http://www.markusallen.org/cgi-bin/keywords.pl?A=&PC=12853&T=731015
This information was featured in a recent Markus Allen ezine.

4. Determining Your "Most Wanted Response"

Where thought goes, energy flows. What is it that you most
want your website visitors to do? Do you want them to purchase
a product on the spot, call to arrange an appointment, speak
with a sales rep, subscribe to your newsletter, enter a contest,
request a free report, download an MP3 file, sign up for a class
-- or all of the above?

If you're offering products and services on the same website,
you'll want to think through the desired customer response for
each item. That means engineering the different segments of
your website for the type of response mechanism that your
customers prefer to use: mail order form, fax form, 800 number,
PayPal link -- or all of the above.

If you want to really spiff up your website and make it an
active member of your marketing plan, get a copy of
"Make Your Site Sell" by Ken Evoy. His "Most Wanted Response"
chapter is worth the price of the whole book (all 802 pages).

This e-book is inexpensive, easy to follow, contains lots of
examples and covers just about every aspect of creating a
successful website. Here's the link for more information: http://sitesell.com/newradiance.html

~~ NEW RADIANCE NEWS ~~

The New Radiance Florida Directory is your statewide guide
to metaphysical bookstores, spiritual centers, alternative
health care, intuitive counselors, coaches, spiritual advisors,
metaphysical teachers & classes, holistic/new age publications,
and a whole lot more. 

Do you have a book or seminar to promote?
-- Contact 155 bookstores by mail or phone. They're listed by
geographic region in the Directory.

Are you a speaker or workshop facilitator?
-- 139 Florida spiritual centers are listed with addresses and
phone numbers.

Are you feeling energetically zapped or wired?
-- Find healers and spiritual advisors to help you stay balanced
during these crazy times.

Do you feel pulled in many directions?
-- Find intuitive counselors to help you see, or to confirm,
your direction in life and work.

The 2002-03 New Radiance Florida Directory gives you all this
and more for just $9.00 (plus tax and postage). If you've ever
purchased mailing lists before, you'll know that this is a great
bargain. 

To purchase the Florida Directory by credit card online, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0964570262/newradianceresou

To order the 192-page book by mail, just send your check for 
$12.84 (includes sales tax and shipping) to New Radiance,
PO Box 86674, St. Petersburg, FL 33738.

For a list of bookstores where you can purchase the Directory,
please visit http://www.newradiance.com

ATTENTION RETAIL STORE OWNERS: If you'd like to sell the
Florida Directory in your store, please request the wholesale
price list by emailing your store name and address to: mailto:newradiance@earthlink.net. Thanks! 

~~ MARKETING TIPS ~~

1. "Psychic Quarterly" is a not-for-profit mailed publication
which reviews metaphysical books and products. For a sample
issue, send a 2-stamp SASE to Karen Howard, PO Box 880603,
Port St. Lucie, FL 34988-0603.
Email: mailto:khoward3158@hotmail.com

2. Find newspapers for creating a press release mailing list at: http://directory.google.com/Top/News/Newspapers/

3. Speakers and authors can find mailing lists at: http://www.bookmarket.com/databases.html

For example: (a) 150 learning centers where teachers and
authors can speak and teach for a fee -- cost is $15.00.
(b) 2300 public libraries for $40 -- addresses are downloadable
into your mailing label program.

4. Sign up for a newsletter written for professional speakers at http://www.speakernetnews.com

5. A publishing and entertainment law newsletter for authors
and publishers is available at: http://www.copylaw.com

~~ TO EZINE OR NOT TO EZINE ~~

What happens after a visitor looks at your website? Does
(s)he come back to look some more? One tried and true way
to maintain interest in your products and services is with an
emailed newsletter -- an ezine.

An emailed newsletter serves exactly the same purpose as a
printed and mailed newsletter. A newsletter helps you:

- gain credibility by showing what you know
- stay visible to prospects and clients
- keep customers updated about your services, classes & new
products
- build trust over a long period of time
- promote your products & services in a gentle, informational way.

With postage rates going up again on June 30,
(see http://www.usps.com for the new rate schedule) an ezine
makes a lot of sense.

As with a printed newsletter, you'll want to consider your ezine's:

- frequency of mailing (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly?)
- its theme (which aspect of your business will you accentuate?)
- its tone (funny, serious, philosophical, practical?)
- its format (plain text and/or HTML with graphics?)

Once you have over 50 to 100 subscribers, you'll want to
investigate online ezine hosting services.

Topica (http://www.topica.com) operates the free Topica
Exchange service - the tradeoff is an ad in your newsletter
that may have no bearing on your business at all.

Yahoo groups also offers a free service:
http://groups.Yahoo.com.

New Radiance Updates just switched to Topica E-Mail Publisher,
which charges a fee based on the number of messages mailed
per month, but there are many other good email list hosting
services.

If you look at the bottom of the ezines you receive, you'll
get a clue as to the mailing list manager each one uses. 

If you're thinking about starting your own ezine, here's a short,
preliminary "to-do" list.

1. Figure out ways to acquire permission to send information
to prospects' and clients' email boxes. For example, on the
Florida Directory mail order form, I include a check box and
space for an email address so individuals can request a
subscription to New Radiance Updates.

2. Start pulling together (a) articles you have written,
(b) class outlines you can work into articles and (c) sections
of your books that you could feature as articles in your ezine.

3. Revitalize your website so that it is attractive to your
ezine subscribers. You'll be promoting it in your newsletter,
and might want to "shine it up" before publicizing it a lot.

4. Decide on the kind of message you wish to convey to
clients and prospective clients. I'm a "how-to" type of person.
I enjoy researching a subject, pulling out the essentials and
passing the basics on to others, to get balls rolling.

Here are a few ideas you could use or adapt:

(a) If you're a channeler, you could feature discourses of
a universal nature as your main content, and promote
intuitive readings of a personal nature as your sales message.

(b) I receive one ezine from a marketing consultant who
helps business owners write advertising copy that influences
people to buy. His ezine features examples of advertising
psychology case studies, supported by statistics. It's one of
the more interesting ezines I get.
For info, visit http://www.adsurgeon.com.

(c) In my marketing course, "Marketing with a Mission,"
I center practical examples of the theory around a (fictional)
counselor who focuses her business on abundance issues.
With a niche like that, you'd never run out of newsletter material
-- and an ezine would help fill her workshops and counseling
schedule.

5. Ask current clients what they'd like to see in your ezine.

6. Begin researching ezines in your field and in other areas
of interest to you to get ideas of format, style, tone and content.

7. Check out a few of the ezine-focused websites, such as:
- http://www.ezine-queen.com
- http://www.ezine-tips.com

By the way, if you purchase a Site Build It website, an ezine
module will be added this summer as part of the package.
Ken Evoy's newsletter indicates that it will be included in the
basic price, and if you order now, it'll be added automatically.
For details, visit: http://sitesell.com/newradiance.html

~~ DIRECTORY ADVERTISER UPDATES ~~

June 30 is the last day to purchase "Marketing with a Mission"
at the introductory price of $17.00. This 102-page e-book
shows you step-by-step how to create a business niche from
your life's mission. Focused energy builds a stronger light.
Find the business niche that fits you perfectly and that's easy for
you to promote to customers and prospects.
http://www.marketingwithamission.com

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Radiance Updates is a free service sponsored by the
New Radiance Metaphysical & Holistic Florida Directory.

Back issues starting Sept. 2002:
http://www.newradiance.com/newsletterarchives.htm

www.newradiance.com
PO Box 86674, St. Petersburg, FL 33738
(727) 397-2702 newradiance@earthlink.net

Copyright 2002 New Radiance Corp.

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