Clients often call when they're thinking about starting a business. They usually begin by asking, "Should I pay to drive traffic to my website? Pay-per-click? Overture? An ezine articles service?”

Used wisely, these methods will drive traffic to your website. But will your website be ready to receive visitors? What do you want visitors to do when they show up?

To get the greatest bang for your buck, you have to work backwards.

(1) Create a selling machine.

Before driving traffic to the site, turn your website into a selling machine. Will visitors convert to buyers? There's no point in driving thousands of tire-kickers to come visit your website. And there's even less rationale for paying to get them.

These days, more and more sites have begun to use straightforward sales letters on all their web pages. They sell e-books, consulting services, classes and audio products.

The sales letter approach offers two benefits. First, you probably sell more (if you have a good sales letter and a product that fits a genuine need). Second, you can track your success and test as you tweak your sales letter.

(2) Design a way to collect emails.

So, you say, the next step is to develop a killer website, right?

Wrong! When visitors come to your site, you want to collect email addresses for your ezine list. You want to add them to your customer base and take the first step to create a community of raving fans.

So before you create the website that will become a selling machine, create an ezine concept and a mouth-watering gift that will motivate visitors to sign up for the ezine.

Without a way to collect e-mail addresses and build a community of raving fans, your website is like a bicycle: basic transport but you do all the work. Add an e- mail collection and you've got a marketing engine - like moving from your bicycle to a motorcycle. Vroom!

(3) Get testimonials.

You will increase sales exponentially with improved copy. But to move in high gear, you need powerful testimonials.

Killer testimonials are signed with a real name and identifying information. They mention results related to money, love or health. And they emphasize the unique way you delivered information or service.

(4) Test your target market.

But wait - where can you get testim

onials if nobody buys? Do you know if customers and clients are willing and able to buy your services?

If you're offering a service, see if you can get a few paying clients before you open up a website. If you offer a product, wait to see if customers ask, "Where can I get more?”

Sometimes you have to test aggressively. Offer early-bird discount coupons (but not free trials). Set up a low-cost trial and see what kind of response you get.

(5) Choose a target market with spending power.

Now we come to the heart of working backward. You need a profitable niche: potential customers who want what you offer and who have the motivation and means to pay.

Some markets are used to spending money. I've been told that people who make quilts and scrapbooks are often eager to buy supplies, guidebooks and advice.

But some markets just don't spend. Some have price ceilings so it's hard to charge enough to earn a meaningful income.

And sometimes they value confidentiality so strongly that you won't get great testimonials. You'll need to rely on word-of-mouth - and a website may not be your best marketing vehicle.

Sometimes you're a really good fit for a market because of who you are. Twenty years with an advertising agency would lend great credibility to your marketing consulting services. Someone who rose from mailroom to vice president in five years could create an office politics coaching service.

So plan backwards. Starting with a market that values who you are and what you offer will be the first step in a chain leading to community of raving fans and a money machine website that benefits from more traffic.

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