-•- WorkAtHomeNews.com Newsletter - Issue 298 -•-
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Webmaster Help
==============

Do you take the easy way out, or take the time to learn? As a web 
page designer or webmaster, you could easily find yourself behind 
the times if you're not looking for ways to improve. Whenever I'm
designing a new website, I try to include something new if at all 
possible. Over the years I've picked up quite a few tricks that I
know I wouldn't have learned otherwise. What better time to learn 
how to use CSS than when designing a new website? When else would 
you find the time to really do it? I'm sure that many of you are 
stuck in your old ways, using the same exact elements you've been
using for years, and I'm guessing it's because you don't know if 
you can pull off something new. If you're not careful, you'll be 
one of the many website designers out there who is so far behind 
technology that you yourself will become obsolete. If you're not
learning all the time, you could easily find yourself forced to 
take a good year or so to catch up. can you afford that? I'm sure
that all of you webmasters out there have at least heard of XML,
but have you used it at all? XML is very widely used, but I would
be willing to bet that many of you don't have a clue how it would
be used in relation to one of your own sites. I'm really not just 
trying to scare you, I just don't want you to find yourself stuck
without the skills to compete in just a few short years. This is 
not the type of field where you can learn it once, you have to be
on the lookout for new technology and embrace it as it is being  
adopted. I know that a few website designs have taken me quite a 
while longer than they could have if I used my old tricks, but I 
also know that the 10 sites I designed after that would not have
been as good as they are now. Don't let yourself get left behind.

 
======================
Featured Guest Article
======================
 
Don't Use Yourself as Your Pricing Yardstick
by Marcia Yudkin

"I wouldn't pay more than what I charge now."

If you are not a member of your target market, toss
this thought about your own preferences out the window
this very minute.  What you consider a reasonable
price has nothing to do with how they spend money. 
Even if you are a member of the market you are selling
to, it's a fallacy to assume that everyone in that
group feels as you do.  Chances are, some feel that
your current rates are more than they want to pay, 
some feel you're charging just about right and others
feel you're a real steal.  You probably don't need to
sell to all three of those categories and can do well
by aiming at those who'd respect you more if you
charged more.

The belief that she couldn't charge more than she
herself would pay was a huge barrier for a friend of
mine who was a photographer.  She had to do a lot of
talking to herself about her customers' enthusiasm for
her work, her strengths as a photographer and the fact
that the few colleagues charging more in her town
weren't any better at their work than she was.

She also had to steel herself against customers trying
to bargain with her.  She reminded herself that when
she held firm on her fees, most customers did pay what
they'd just objected to.  Some people bargain mainly
as a habit or a game.    

Additionally, she joined a mastermind group of other 
photographers and picked up a few pointers on subtle
ways to increase the average amount a customer spent
with her.  For instance, photographers offering frames
in different sizes along with enlargements of family
portraits always sold the most of the next to largest
size on display.  By adding a larger size frame to
those hanging on the wall of her studio, she sold more
of the next-to-largest size, previously the largest.

Create a solid difference between yourself and
competitors to feel more confident about raising your
rates.  To separate yourself from colleagues, you can
emphasize selectivity (you accept only a certain level
or kind of client), specialization (you possess more
experience and expert knowledge on one aspect of your
industry), results (your superiority consists of a
spectacular success rate that you can document) or
concrete benefits of your work (results that your
colleagues also produce but never explicitly point
to).

Pricing is a psychological phenomenon primarily, and
the road to higher profits begins with getting your
own head straight about what's reasonable to charge.


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Marcia Yudkin  is the author of the
newly updated classic guide, 6 Steps to Free Publicity
(Career Press), and 10 other books.  As an author,
marketing consultant and coach, she has spent 22 years
successfully turning words into money.  By going to 
http://www.marketingformore.com/survey.htm, you can
download a free report, "Charge More & Get It," that
discusses five common self-sabotaging beliefs that
stand in the way of higher earnings.



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Marketing Tip
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Encourage people to follow their own path. Internet users are not 
all that different from traditional shoppers, they want to choose
how they go, when they go, and where they go. When setting up web 
sites, you should take into account that all users go about using
websites differently. I might like to use the top navigation bars
to move from page A to page B, but someone else might want to see
a link and click on it without scrolling up and down. Another user
might know exactly what they're looking for and expect to find an
easy to use site map, but do you have one? Your website should be
designed like a supermarket. There should be a handy map hanging 
from the ceiling for people who know exactly what they're looking 
for, they should be able to go up and down the aisles either way 
and without restriction, and they should be able to get from one 
side of the store to the other in a single shot. There's nothing 
worse than finding a great page on a website only to be lost when
trying to find it again. If I want to get to the aisle that holds
the soda, I don't want to have to go up and down every aisle just
to get back to the soda. Why should I be forced to go up and down 
each aisle in a pre-defined way just to get the soda, I'm just in
the supermarket to pick up a six-pack. As a supermarket shopper, 
if you aren't giving me the option to go where I choose, when and
how I'd like to get there, I'm going to find another supermarket 
to shop at. The same applies online. If I need to go to your main
page, then through your sales pages, then to the contact page on
my way to the FAQ's, I'm not going to bother. Believe me, there is
plenty of competition out there, and if you are not doing a good 
job letting your customers feel free on your site, they'll be more
than happy to let them browse away at theirs.

 
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