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Why You Should NOT Pay For An Expert's Advice by Chris Kilian Send this report to me by auto-responder Why would you pay for something that can be had for free? Have you looked on the net lately at all the "experts" who are willing to improve your site for a fee? The more you look, the more you see. They are everywhere, or so it seems. These experts will examine your site for content, navigation, colors, and other attributes. After careful consideration, they will tell you EXACTLY what you should be doing to make your web page more: successful, attractive, profitable, direct, descriptive, inviting, inspiring, useful, thought-provoking, commercially viable, enjoyable, frequently visited, content rich, and so on. You get all that for only $XXX.XX dollars or for some reasonable hourly rate. Does it help? Of course it does. ANY set of new veiwpoints about your web page will be valuable to you. You are too close to the work you have been doing on your site to reconsider your choices. You can benefit from constructive criticism. Anyone can. I have enjoyed the benefit of expert information. I have learned many things, reconsidered other choices, and added value to my website visitors' experience by tweaking and supplementing what I had to offer. I have been told to pull mouse-over buttons that took forever to load. I was advised to insert color here, delete color there, explain myself in detail about one item and to cut to the chase on another. I was told my site award looked stupid and that my page reminded the viewer of a bleary military manual. My navigation system, my hundreds of free for all page, classified links, the extensive award worksheet and more all have their start in the advice from the best experts online. And I didn't pay them a penny for it. How? I encouraged feedback, and feedback is free. Much of what I have learned about what is helpful to my visitors is a direct result of what people have said they wanted, needed, liked and disliked. I could pay for expensive advice, but I have not felt the need for it yet, because I have had enjoyed a steady flow of comments from others. My users, visitors, and clients are the very best source of insight about what should and shouldn't be found on my web page. Your visitors are the experts about what you should have on your page and how you should make it available to them. All it costs is a feedback form, which anyone can have, including folks who are using free "borrowed" space. Adding an ability for anyone to contact you by email gives more comments, and visiting some discussion forums (especially a few with lots of blatant pleas like "Review my web page, Please!") will provide more. For the experts who get this list, please don't get upset with me. We all know that there is a place for experts. This is especially true when you begin to consider some of the less-visible aspects of a web page, like search engine positioning for example. We are providing that service to our clients now like some of you, and visitor comments rarely describe problems with meta tags or keywords. There is room for expert advice. In fact, it is a booming online area, because of the herd of new users who are charging online as surfers or vendors even as we read this. What we consider second-hand information is part of a new, confusing cyber landscape that someone needs to clarify for new arrivals. Our work is safe for years to come. The only point I want to get across to you this week is that many of the best, most valuable bits of advice you will ever get about your site will come from the very people you hope will return again. Make getting expert advice one of your main goals. Don't hide your email contact information. Ask for feedback, both at your website and at appropriate web discussion boards. Online, make the feedback form easy to reach and to use. Create as many funnels as you can to create a steady stream of comments. Once you have feedback, read those comments. Thank the people who tell you things, especially those who make comments about what they dislike. The pain of hearing the truth in the short run about your background, or images, or text, will bring you long term success. That is what we are all after, isn't it? Comments are good. Compliments are nice, and they can really lift once's spirit at times. However, if I had to filter out every variety of comments except one, I would take complaints. Not because they are fun, but because they challenge what I think about my presentation and content. Even if I quickly decide my complaining visitor was simply blowing hot air, my web page benefits because I must shift my perspective for at least an instant to see if the complaint is legitimate. If you can entertain the possibility that a complaint is valid, you are willing to experience growth, and growth is the only way to advance. If you want to disagree with me about this article or my site, feel free to drop by and tell me so. Come by whether to comment, compliment or complain. I am listening. I promise. Are you? If not, you may be wasting the most valuable expert advice you can get. Copyright © 1998 Stealth Promotions Chris Kilian operates Stealth
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