I've gotten a plenty of questions lately about why I think
"mini" sites, simple 1-2 page websites, are better than
"traditional" websites you might learn to build in school
or from a website design course.

In fact, I believe "traditional" websites represent a
complete waste of time and end up making small and home-
based business owners give up on the Internet before they
even have a chance to get started.

If you want to cash in fast on the web, stop thinking about
making "web" sites and start thinking about "mini" sites.

Basically, traditional sites try to be all things to all
people.

If you go to somebody's website and you see:
"Sign up for my newsletter";
"Buy my product";
"Check out these links";
"Check out our article archive";
"Click Here for the article of the day";
"Subscribe to this RSS feed";
"Visit our blog!"

.... it just creates confusion.

In other words, visitors arrive at the site and either go
nuts figuring out what to do next or, more likely, they
simply click their back button - never to return.

I once had a sales manager who told me, "A confused mind
always answers 'No!' Never give people more than two
choices in a sales talk."

He was right!

Traditional websites give people too many choices and they
fail miserably at it, usually before they ever get off the
ground.

On the other hand, mini-sites succeed wildly because they
have one purpose: to force someone to make a decision!

Mini-sites typically fall into one of four main categories:
- sales letters
- newsletters
- affiliate presales
- intelligence gathering

Virtually every mini-site you ever see will fit one of
these categories. Let's take a look at each type.

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#1 Sales Letter Mini-Sites
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One-page sales letter mini-sites represent the most
recognizable type of mini-site on the Web.

A sales letter's primary purpose should be obvious: to sell
somebody something!

Typically one-page sales letter mini-sites sell ebooks,
software, physical products, services and more.

Virtually anything can get sold with a one-page sales
letter mini-site.

The decision you want a visitor to make when they come to
your sales letter mini-site is also simple: buy or don't
buy.

You force them to decide right there on the spot. Just like
any good salesman, you force the decision by the prospect.

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#2 Newsletter Mini-Sites
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Newsletter, or forced-opt-in, mini-sites make up the second
type of mini-site.

Their primary purpose is to entice people to sign up for
your list, newsletter, or ezine.

But frankly, if you looked at some people's newsletter
sites, you would think their purpose was anything but
getting people to sign up for their newsletter!

Once you understand that the primary purpose of your
newsletter mini-site is to get a signup, you can eliminate
everything else that detracts from that purpose.

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#3 Affiliate Pre-Sell Mini-Sites
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Affiliate Pre-Sell pages make up the third type of mini-
site you can use.

Numerous ways exist to "pre" sell people on an affiliate
page, persuade them to make a decision, and then take the
specific action you want.

Some common types of pres-sell pages include: product
reviews; pre-sell videos; audio postcards; forced opt-in
pages and more.

Most people think that the primary purpose of a pre-sell
mini-site is to have somebody click an affiliate link, but
I disagree.

I think that the main purpose of your affiliate pre-sell
page should be to get a prospect to give you their name and
their email address.

Once you get that information you can sell them several
things over time.

If all you ever do is refer traffic without building a
relationship, you'll miss out on lucrative back-end
opportunities.

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#4 Intelligence Gathering Mini-Sites
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The fourth type of mini-site is used to gather marketing or
other intelligence from your target niche.

Here you actually use a mini-site to get people to tell you
what they want to buy, try, see, give their opinion on a
topic, etc.. I call it "Your Most Burning Question."

You use this type of mini-site to gather information about
what people want to know, their overall interest level in
your topic, and as a means to get ideas for newsletter and
blog content.

The bottom line with an intelligence gathering mini-site is
to get people to tell you what you need to know in order to
make money selling them something later.

So now the obvious question: Which one do you start with?

The answer: It depends on your purpose right now in your
business!

Need to sell your existing product or service? You should
set up a sales letter mini-site.

Don't have a list of subscribers? Set up a newsletter mini-
site.

No product to sell? Build an affiliate pre-sell mini-site.

No clue what your target audience wants or if they even
want anything at all? Set up an intelligence gathering
mini-site and find out what you need to know BEFORE
spending months creating a product.

Mini-sites are all about saving time and maximizing your
effort through clear focus and purpose.

Once you know exactly what you want to get done online,
mini-sites create the fastest, easiest pathway to success.