5 Ways to Fix a "Broken" Website

Issue #2351

• WEALTHY: 4 ways to find hot real estate deals (Julie Broad)
• HEALTHY: A 3-part plan for losing fat fast (Craig Ballantyne)
• WISE: Jakob Nielsen on online shopping

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• 5 ways to fix a "broken" website (David Cross)
• If you’re not good with people, can you still make it in sales? (Michael Masterson)
• It’s Good to Know… what’s the appendix good for, anyway?
• Add "deliquesce" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

Your Personal Invitation to Join a Small Cadre  Of “Freedom Fighters” In Our Nation’s Heartland This July!

Coming this summer, Early to Rise presents a five day challenge for you, should you decide to accept it…

The stakes? Reclaiming your personal liberty… declaring your self-reliance… and seizing financial independence forever.

This July 8th to 12th, we’re going to take a small group of ETR readers and work alongside them to build their own Internet business – the whole shebang, from soup to nuts – in an intensive, 5-day, business-building program better than anything we’ve done before.

You’re going to walk in with nothing – no product, no marketing skills, no technical know-how – and you’ll walk out with your own online business

What you will learn flat-out works. You will build a professional, popular, and profitable Internet business. When you walk out the door, you’ll be super-prepared for success in a way that very few entrepreneurs ever are, online or off.

ETR’s “Five Days in July” Internet Business-Building Conference is going to deliver success. Actually, it will OVER deliver. And your success, of course, is the bottom line. Sound good?

Okay, then let’s get going… let’s build something that WORKS… your own, REAL Internet business.

The countdown click is ticking – and the details have been posted. Set your alarm for today at 12 Noon EDT, Friday May 9.

It only takes a few minutes to take that first key step. Find out how easy it is to join us and get all the details here.

Looking forward to seeing you there as you build your own online business!

- Charlie Byrne

Real Estate 101: Making Money When You Buy

By Julie Broad

My husband and I have built a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in eight years, in our spare time. We’d have done even better if it weren’t for a few very big mistakes – which we now spend a lot of time helping other beginner investors avoid.

The properties that have given us enormous appreciation and excellent returns are the ones we bought in areas that we’d been watching for at least six months, sometimes even for years.

When you get to know an area intimately, you can spot deals and snap up a property before anyone else. We bought our current home for $20,000 under market in a time of bidding wars by buying it two days before it was listed.

Here’s how to find hot deals like that:

1. To see what’s on the market, go to open houses on a regular basis for all kinds of properties. (These are usually scheduled from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and/or Sundays.)
2. Get a sense of asking prices by looking at local listings in the newspaper or online (MLS.ca for Canadian investors, Realtor.com for U.S. investors to find properties for sale by a realtor). 
3. Drive by – or, better yet, go for walks along – the streets you’re interested in. Chat with the people you meet. Find out what they like and don’t like about their neighborhood. Look for signs of change. (People who are cleaning up their yards and painting may be getting ready to sell.)
4. Ask questions of the agents at the open houses to find out what other houses are selling for in the area. Ask them about the places they think are the real gems.

Over time, you’ll develop a keen sense for what various types of property should sell for in the area. You may even get wind of one that is going to be on the market before it gets listed (like we did). It’s worth the extra effort, because then you will be more likely to make money on your property the day you buy. 

[Ed. Note: Julie Broad is a real estate investor and a member of ETR's Internet Money Club. In eight years, Julie and her husband have built a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in their spare time with minimal cash resources. They publish a free monthly newsletter to help other rookie real estate investors achieve their investment goals. Check it out here.]

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"Online shoppers spend most of their time and money at websites with the best usability."

Jakob Nielsen  

Are My Great Expectations Just Wonky?

By David Cross

Our 180-pound English mastiff and our sons can make short work of most furniture. For instance, a poorly made sofa will buckle and crack very quickly with the dog’s weight on it. And dining room chairs that don’t have strong joints will split if my sons lean them back on two legs. That’s why I’ve learned to keep an eye out for weaknesses when I’m shopping for new furniture. And it turns out that most furniture stores do most of the work for me in revealing the weaknesses inherent in what they sell.

A lot of in-store display models not only look disheveled but also have parts that are loose, unstuck, or "wonky." And this isn’t at just one store. I’ve found broken, wobbly, uneven model furniture at IKEA, Home Depot, Best Buy, Fred Meyer, and Babies "R" Us.

This is great for me. If something has failed or broken on the display piece, I can be pretty certain the version I buy will have the same problems after a while in my home. So if I see an obvious fault in the model, I do not buy.

It’s no surprise that my marketer’s sensibility abhors this brazen show of weakness. The store is, after all, trying to get me to buy a piece of furniture. And the worst way to accomplish that goal is to display something that’s broken, shoddy, or wonky. Listen – I’m all for "showing your warts" and being transparent about how you are working to improve your business. But showing your customers faulty products is not the way to do it.

If you run an Internet business, you may feel pretty safe. "No faulty products to display here," you may think.

But even online businesses run this risk.

You see, my eye for flaws extends beyond floor models in stores. I can usually spot the weaknesses in software within moments. In fact, one of my primary jobs is to test new and updated software – Web-based, server-installed, and desktop- or PC-based – to make sure it works properly. And I am amazed at the amount of software – and especially the "demos" or "working examples" located on a company’s own servers – that are down or broken or fail within seconds of using them.

Studies by experts such as Dr. Jakob Nielsen have shown that when software or websites "break," many users blame themselves. "It must be something I did," customers think. And then they give up on the task in hand, which, if it is spending money on your site, isn’t good for you.

Programmers and software developers have a habit of saying it is the user’s fault. For instance, a programmer for one of my clients insisted that the security warnings on a "secure" shopping cart that customers had been complaining about for months were their fault. All they needed to do, he said, was "right mouse click, select properties, and view the secure certificate to show it was really encrypted."

Erm, hello?! Customers want to spend money, not worry about things like this.

So if you or your programmers are claiming that some problem is the customer’s fault, remind yourself: It’s not. If your users are giving up and leaving because your site or software isn’t working… it’s your fault.

That’s why you have to test everything on your site – and not only with your Web developers and programmers. Test with "normal people" to see what happens.

First, ask yourself what could be done to make it easier for your visitors to use your website, forum, shopping cart, etc. Have you made any assumptions about the way things "work"? Are the servers that host your website available and usable by customers 100 percent of the time?

Second, go through your website with an eye to making it more usable. Here are some techniques you can try:

• Don’t develop behind closed doors.
  If you put marketers and programmers together without considering what is good for your customers, you are going to open the door for problems down the line. If your customers are primarily older or rural, for example, you have to consider that they are probably on a slower Internet connection. So don’t include lots of whiz-bang features like heavy graphics or video on your website. At best, your users will avoid them. At worst, they’ll be irritated and leave your site for good.

• Have your customers pre-test your website.
  As soon as you release a new website or add software to it, your customers are testing it… live. Instead, ask a group of customers to test your website while it is in development. Ask some to place an order for a specific product, and ask some to order and then select an "upsell" or additional item. Have others test your contact form.

  Ask for – and reward them for – specific, honest feedback. Then incorporate their suggestions.

• Ask customer service for input.
  For honest feedback on what your customers really think of your website, ask your customer service folks. They’ll probably have a list of suggestions, complaints, and frustrations that your customers have shared with them.

• Monitor uptime and responsiveness.
  You need to know when your website is "down" or unresponsive… and you need to know quickly. Use a service such as websitepulse.com to monitor it and give you updates. This can show you not only how the website appears "live," but also whether people can place orders at any given time.

  If you don’t know with certainty through objective, third-party measures that your website is available and useable, you cannot be sure that the person about to place that $500 order will be able to do it. The websitepulse.com system is quite comprehensive, and even allows you to simulate shopping cart transactions that mimic what your customers may be experiencing at any point.

• Follow Jeff Bezos’s lead.
  I recall an interview from around 1999 with Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. He said he checks Amazon on weekends and looks for 10 things they’re doing right and 10 things they need to change. Looking at your own website with fresh eyes and trying to make incremental improvements will reap rewards over time.

[Ed. Note: David Cross is Senior Internet Consultant for Agora Inc. There's a lot you may not know about building an Internet business. David has the answers - and he'll be sharing them with an exclusive group of business builders at ETR's 5 Days in July conference. Registration for the conference opens at noon today. Get the details here.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

The Billionaire Way

I just wanted to say thank you for putting The Billionaire Way together for others to learn from as well as myself. I have made it a mission in my life to learn from the greatest minds in history and business.

I came from a humble beginning… searching. I found what I needed to know in The Billionaire Way. My most important lesson was they are all human just like you and me. They had special skills which anyone can develop to attract that bit of luck we all need in life… that extra edge.

These lessons can be learned in The Billionaire Way and you don’t have to spend your whole life as a mission, as I have, to find what I found here in The Billionaire Way.

I enjoyed our call. It put the final touches together that I have needed. If I do happen to get stuck on something thanks for saying I can contact you again. People look to me for advice. It is reassuring to ask and receive advice and have an enriching conversation… I find it is rare.

Thank you

- Aaron Kaggie

President. of Kaggie Holdings, Inc.

Kearns, Utah

Please click here for all the details on this unique program.

Dear ETR: "My biggest dilemma is if I’m right for the job."

"First, ETR is dynamite! I have learned so much from it over the years, and continuously look forward to each issue for more knowledge.

"Second, I have a perplexing situation, and I’m hoping you can give me some help with my decision making process. Recently (yesterday), I was given a lucrative job offer, doubling my current salary. As I am weighing out the pros and cons of staying with my current employer or moving on, my biggest dilemma is if I’m right for the job. These people obviously think so, because the offer came about based on our working relationship.

"More background: I’m a purchasing agent, and the new position would be in sales – the ‘other side of the fence’ for me. You frequently write about how to grow income, and that you have to know how to sell. But I’m not good with people. I told these folks that I’m not patient and I’m not tactful, but they are still excited to provide me with an offer. It’s a door of opportunity, and quite a compliment that these folks solicited me. But I have been with my current employer for 16 years, make a ‘competitive’ salary, and love my work. If I were independently wealthy, I would not work here, though, which leads me to think about the money factor.

"Any thoughts, suggestions, or other ways of evaluating this situation?"

M.S.

Dear M.S.,

I think you underestimate yourself. If you were so bad with people, they wouldn’t have offered you the job. Your letter shows you to be a person who has integrity, honesty, and humility. These are traits that will make you stand out as a salesperson.

You don’t need to be slick. You don’t need to be pushy. All those negative images you have of salespeople come from bad movies that are based on bad companies and bad people. Most of the selling done in the world is done by people just like you – ordinary folk who want to do a good, honest job and get paid well for it.

Learning to become good at selling is simply learning technique. If you are smart enough to learn to ride a bicycle or use a computer spreadsheet, you are more than smart enough to learn the techniques you will need to be an excellent salesperson.

There is only one reason not to take the job: if the company courting you is unethical. If they are selling bad products by bullying customers or lying, then you should pass. But if they are selling legitimate products and are willing to let you sell honestly (with enthusiasm, of course!), then they are giving you the opportunity of a lifetime.

Check them out. Talk to their customers. If you like what you hear, grab that job and start learning the selling game.

- Michael Masterson

[Ed. Note: Send your questions to AskETR@ETRFeedback.com. Include your full name, your hometown and state, and the ETR team may answer you in an upcoming issue.]

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The Perfect Fat-Burning Workout

By Craig Ballantyne

If you’re like most people, you don’t have a whole lot of time to work out. Not to mention, you’d rather exercise in your home gym than pay monstrous fees to a local health club. If you want to lose fat fast at home, here’s an easy-to-implement plan.

• Bodyweight Circuit (3 to 5 minutes)
  Do 10 repetitions each of squats, push-ups, and step-ups. Rest as short a time as possible between each exercise.

• Strength-Training Supersets (about 20 minutes)
  In a superset, you do two exercises back to back, without resting. Pair "non-competing" exercises together in the supersets – for instance, upper- and lower-body exercises, or pushing and pulling exercises. Non-competing supersets allow you to get more work done than traditional supersets. I recommend using dumbbell or bodyweight exercises.

• Interval Training
  Finish with 10 to 20 minutes of interval training. You can use traditional cardio machines, kettlebells, and/or bodyweight circuits at this time. Fast, fun, and effective.

Get in, get out, and get on with your life!

[Ed. Note: Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne is the creator of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system. For a free online source of information, motivation, and social support to help you improve your health, lose weight, and get fit, sign up for ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

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It’s Good to Know: What’s the Appendix Good For, Anyway?

If you have to have your appendix removed, it won’t have much of an effect on your health. In fact, you probably won’t notice anything different, except for the surgery scar, of course. So why do we have an appendix in the first place?

Its purpose has baffled scientists for hundreds of years. But a team of surgeons and immunologists at Duke University think they have the answer. They have proposed that the appendix stores beneficial bacteria. They say that when a person’s stock of "good" intestinal bacteria, which helps digestion, is decreased by illness, the appendix steps in to replace it.

(Source: Discover Magazine)

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== Highly Recommended ==

What If There Was A Way To Legally Beat A Traffic Ticket?

“When Attorneys Get Speeding Or Traffic Tickets, This Is What They Do… No Points, No Increased Premiums & Definitely No Stupid Driving School. These Tricks Work Like Magic.”

If you’re like me then the simple sight of a police car in your rear-view mirror is enough to send shivers down your spine, but…

When the lights start flashing…

There Goes That Safe Driver Discount… Right? Not anymore…

Click here to read more.

Word to the Wise: Deliquesce

To "deliquesce" (del-ih-KWES) – from the Latin for "to be fluid" – is to melt away or disappear as if by melting. The word is related to "liquid" and "liquor."

Example (as used by John Simon in the National Review): "His entire countenance seems to deliquesce into a splotch of spreading goo."

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

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