"The Desktop Global Marketer" (tm)

   A free on-line newsletter of Sidereal Designs, Inc.,
   for Internet Entrepreneurs, and those who are
   considering becoming one.
_____________________________________________________

                  May 24, 1999

In this issue: "Have you been planning to complete
your half-started web site for some time now but it's
not happening? Have you been intending to get going
with a web site but it always seems to need more
thought before you take the plunge? If so, you're not
alone."

_____________________________________________________

   "The Desktop Global Marketer" is free, and may be 
   re-published freely with permission. We encourage 
   you to give it to your friends.

   For subscription (or un-subscription) details,
   and other information, please see the end of the 
   newsletter.

   For any other purpose, please write to:
   	jamie(at)siderealdesigns.com
   Or visit us at:
   	http://siderealdesigns.com
_____________________________________________________

Have you been planning to complete your half-started web
site for some time now but it's not happening? Have you been
intending to get going with a web site but it always seems
to need more thought before you take the plunge? If so,
you're not alone. Maybe you're suffering from "web-block."
We've found ourselves using this term, by analogy to
"writer's block," to explain the unexpectedly large numbers
of our clients who are full of enthusiasm for getting going
on the web, but who seem to get stalled in an early phase of
the process. We've been thinking about what we might be able
to do to help smooth the way.

Do any of the following apply to you?

1. "I know I want to do a web site, but I know so little
about the web I'm afraid of getting involved over my head."

2. "I called a webmaster and got a site set up, but now I'm
having second thoughts about the initial plan I had for it."

3. "I had a good start, but now I draw a blank when I try to
write material for anything beyond a first page."

4. "I'm stalled trying to figure out what I pages I want and
how to make it all hang together."

If none of this - nor anything similar - applies to you,
count yourself fortunate and stop reading here. Otherwise,
let's look at some of the issues that are giving people
problems.

1. The stalled project: It's common for people to promise us
they'll get us the text for those pages in just a day or two
- but month after month after month goes by. The thing to
remember is, THE WEB ISN'T PRINT. You get to mess up; it's
okay. Don't be afraid to put up a less than perfect first
attempt. It's better than nothing by an infinite amount, and
it can be better still tomorrow. Our most successful clients
have just plunged in and gotten something going and massaged
it later.

A web page isn't cast in stone like an article that appears
in print. If it's not right, you can change it. When we look
at an impressive web site that looks like a magazine ad and
think of it in the same terms as we contemplate producing
our own, that's scary. But the web is different; think of
web pages as scratch paper subject to continual
experimentation and improvement and put something up there.

2. Techno-angst: We often get calls or e-mail from people who
begin by apologizing about how little they understand about
the web. They've put off starting because they don't even
know for sure what they want to ask for and are afraid
they'll be asked all sorts of technical questions. The thing
to keep in mind is, THE TECHNOLOGY ISN'T YOUR
PROBLEM. That's what you hire a webmaster for.

The web is complex and high-tech, but nobody knows or cares
whether you know the difference between html and shtml;
you're not supposed to. Your job is exactly what you're good
at: bringing your expertise to bear on what your clients
need. Your webmaster is a member of your marketing team
who'll help you do this, and she's not going to give you an
exam next period.

If you can explain what your business is, your webmaster can
put up the site you want, even if you have to send them text
by snail-mail, typed on a manual typewriter. Tell him in
general terms what effect you want and make him figure out
how to achieve it. He can make recommendations, tell you
what can and can't be done, and he doesn't expect you to
understand the "how."  Even publishing your own e-mail
newsletter only takes basic secretarial-level computer
skills, and if you don't have them so what?  Hire a
secretary who does.

3. Indecisive focus. We have people who are all in a rush to
get a site going, only to call us back a few days after we
have the site under construction to say they're not so sure
about their focus and need to think it over a bit more. Then
they think, and think, and think.... One person calls us up
every month or so to add yet another new domain name, but
has yet to get a single web page up.

Now consider this: where else but on the Internet can you
launch and try out an idea for a global enterprise for a few
thousand dollars?  Suppose it flops and you have to retread
the site and try your next inspiration? You could try out
several dozen web-based endeavors for the price of opening
one office or storefront business in the brick-and-mortar
world. If you can't decide which business model is right,
you can TRY THEM ALL, THEY'RE CHEAP. One thing we've learned
about the Web is that if one person has an idea, a dozen
other people are not far behind. It's a gold-rush out there
and while you're fine-tuning the idea, someone else is
probably getting it under way.  It's better to be first than
to be perfectly on target.

4. All trees, but no forest: Quite a few people have great
ideas for particular pages to support their site, but have
trouble figuring out the big picture of what things the site
needs to have, how it gets connected together, and what the
relation of the parts should be. This is natural. A web site
is a HYPERTEXT DOCUMENT, and not the kind of linear document
we're used to in the world of print. That means there are
multiple paths and multiple ways to use it and explore
it. You can't think about it like you're probably used to
thinking about writing more normal items.

Instead of getting stuck trying to write in two directions
at once, ask your webmaster to come up with a plan for the
SITE TOPOLOGY. That's web-speak for the design that
identifies the pieces of the site, how they link to each
other, and what information each has to have to be a
stand-alone element with respect to all the routes that
might lead to it -- for persons moving through the site in
different ways, with different purposes in mind. She'll talk
to you about the overall goals and message of the site and
then break it up into the necessary parts and elements and
define their connectivity. Once she's produced the plan,
you'll know what information you need to put into the text
you need for each page.

Last but not least, if you're still suffering web-block, or
if you just need information on options, costs, technology
or possibilities, give us a call or drop us e-mail. We're
always happy to give our best advice away free, and it might
get you unstuck.

Jamie




_____________________________________________________

To subscribe, send email to: 
	newsletter-request(at)siderealdesigns.com
and include the word   subscribe   as the only item in
the body of the letter.

To unsubscribe, send email to: 
	newsletter-request(at)siderealdesigns.com
and include the word   unsubscribe   as the only item in
the body of the letter.

If you have problems with either of these, write directly
to jamie(at)siderealdesigns.com for prompt attention from
a human.

If you would like to re-publish any of our newsletters,
at no cost, please contact jamie(at)siderealdesigns.com.

"Sidereal" is pronounced sy-DEER-ee-all, and means "of
or pertaining to the stars, the heavens, etc."


______________________________________________________________________________
Sidereal Designs, Inc. "Making The Web Simple."   http://siderealdesigns.com