Should you Purchase a Turnkey Site or Build Your Own?

You see them all the time, pre-packaged websites
selling everything from acorns to zinc. Most of them
have a nice professional look about them, with good
pictures and graphics. Of course, the sales literature
with the offer telling you how you're going to make a
gazillion dollars!

Most of them are one page mini-sites devoted only
to selling their particular product and that's where
the problems begin; since it's only a sales "landing
page," it will not be enough to sustain an ongoing
relationship with your visitors and customers, the
real bread and butter of any business!

The reason they aren't effective as stand-alone
websites is that many customers that visit a site
don't purchase the first time. In many cases, it takes
a number of visits to get your visitors into a buying
frame of mind. I heard it put this way: When you first
met your wife, did you ask her to marry you on the
first date or did it take a while? It's the same thing
with customers!

The idea of "pre-selling" your visitors has been time
tested and it does work. Through each visit they learn
more about you and feel more confident buying from you.
Heck, just the fact your website is still there after a
period of time is a good selling point. A well put
together website will also have a sense of balance and
there will be honest-to-goodness content aimed at the
visitor; not straight-up sales copy!

The difference between a one page sales website and
your own, content filled and well designed, is like night
and day! As an example: Have you ever been phoned
"cold" by a pushy telephone salesman? What was your
mood? I bet it wasn't a positive one! The same goes for
any website that only pushes sales at the expense
of an ongoing relationship with their visitors.

A stand alone sales promotion campaign that leads your
customer to a hard-sales website, is doomed to failure!
All the previous reasons should convince you a turnkey
website is a terrible idea as your first Web effort.

That isn't to say it isn't good for some purposes!
Used as a sales landing page, once your customer has
been pre-sold, is an excellent use for it. Matter of
fact, some of them have very effective sales copy and
will do the job nicely.

Of course, comparing the sales effectiveness of pre-
selling versus pre-packaged has left out the most
glaring reason for building your own website: You and
your personal style and experiences! You have unique
qualities that will be reflected onto anything you do;
all the people, places and feelings that have
contributed to making you a one-of-a-kind individual!

All this should go a long way to convince you to build
your own website. With so many copycat sites in every
corner of the web, your website will be a smashing
refreshment from the cookie cutter approach.

Your originality will be remembered and identify you as
a unique and creative individual. The total design and
vision of your website will convey ideas that a
trainload of turnkey sites can only hope for!

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By Francisco Aloy

(C)2004 Francisco Aloy
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