You’ve got a great product or service. (Uh, huh. That’s right. Believe it or not, quality concept is still important.) You’ve edgecrafted* with the best of them. You’ve got the heart and the drive. It’s time to make it happen.  So, you finally bit the bullet and threw down a small pile of hard earned cash on a sweet, slick new website by a pro designer you love. It’s your time and you’re ready to go.

The anticipation of rocketing down the boulevard in your newly crafted technological sales-generating Maserati is pure electricity. Easy street is around the corner. The engine is purring. You put it in gear and let off the clutch – nothing. Purring like a tiger? Check. Looking totally awesome? Check. Proud owner smiling and waving? Check. Problematically, however, the rocket stays on the launch pad. Houston, we have a problem. Your “Maserati” seems not to be a means of transportation into the lifestyle of the rich and famous after all. What you have is a gorgeous showpiece without a drive-train to turn the axel that spins the wheels that make the machine go forward. It’s great on the eyes all right, but no one’s at the show. Customers are out there. You know it. Your web site is in here, wherever that is. Great products or services are prepped and at the ready. And where are you? Well, my friend, you’re behind the wheel of a beautiful stationary vehicle banging your head because it’s better than tear soaking the Italian leather.

Your web presence and all those shiny, but empty shopping carts stand silent for others to discover and occasionally interact with. “It’s a cool site,” they say. Sometimes someone and even says, “Wow! What a great widget!” Your friends say the cool word way more than normal and it’s started to feel pretty awkward. You dutifully post a new message every once in a while as you diligently monitor for signs of intelligent life. Psst. Hey. You know what? I hate to break it to you this way, but your website sounds pretty much like a, how shall I put, billboard.  You’re the proud owner of a spendy technological sandwich board on a dusty road somewhere in the desert. Bummer, I know, but don’t go getting all depressed on me.  It’s really ok, you did the right thing.

The truth is, it’s not just your website that’s the equivalent of a non-interactive, two-dimensional sign on the road less traveled. Recent studies indicate that 98.6% of all websites participating in a blind survey admit to being more genetically linked to Cyberspace signage than some bustling digital nexus for e-commerce and education.  Having a website is necessary in today’s economy, but it can’t be like the Maserati we talked about if it’s going to benefit your venture. You must get it out of the vast desert, overpopulated with more than too many cool billboards, and into the lifestyle pulse of fans and prospective customers. That is the goal, right? OK. Just checking.

Constructing your sign in the middle of the desert makes it very hard to find. Let’s say it’s like setting up an amazing flower shop in the Sahara then sitting back to wait for all the flower lovers to stumble upon it when they need a bouquet.  Sure, someone might stumble upon it. But there just has to be another way.  And there is.

Wouldn’t it be good to tell people where the shop is?  Or, perhaps better, what about moving it to where customers already are? We could appropriately invite them to your pace and, let’s just get crazy while we’re at it, we’ll get other people and other shop owners to tell them where to find you, as well. It’s radical! Don’t you love it? Then, when they start coming in droves, be prepared to make the experience memorable so they have 10 reasons to come back and bring 20 friends!

Let’s recap.
Step One – Have a killer idea.
Step Two – ID your target fans.
Step Three – Build a website/webshop just for them.
Step Four – Drive customers to your website so they can fall in love! Or
Step Five – Forget about having any visitors to your shop, avoid the hassle of sales, customer service, fulfillment and all that messy junk. Just stick to business as usual in the rusty, dusty desert.

Tired of the desert? Want to know how to drive people to your website?  Keep an eye out here over the coming months as I continue to break down the metaphors and reveal the solutions. That’s it for me. I’m thirsty. Too much desert talk.