Fatburger closed

I think it's a California chain, obviously named before fat-aversion became a major meme in the public consciousness. But when N'omi and I saw the sign, we knew we'd love it - "fat" and "burger," two of our favorite foods - what's not to like?

And we did. The store was spartan, the burgers made to order, and we quickly got to know the staff. We were frequent visitors.

But we noticed that the place was never full, and we were concerned that the store wasn't doing what was necessary to pull traffic.

Sure enough, less than a year after opening, they closed their doors.

Now, I can't do a full business-case analysis for you; I didn't interview the owners or the managers, and I don't know if there were corporate issues at play. But I can tell you this: We saw it coming.

And frankly, we are not great noticers of such stuff. But a very obvious need of a restaurant is a steady stream of customers. My guess is that they closed because they didn't have that.

That's true of your website, too. You need traffic! As Ken Evoy of SiteBuildIt points out in his simple formula, C-->T-->P-->M - in English, Content creates Traffic; Traffic gives you an audience for Preselling; Preselling leads to Monetization.

Most newcomers to Internet marketing try to build traffic without much thought for content. Then, when they have traffic, they sell, sell, sell.

That approach works - but it is generally expensive (you have to buy traffic in one way or another), and it is hard to sustain (you have not made your customers know you, like you, trust you; you've gone after sales, not customers.)

Personally, I think Ken's approach is more respectful. It doesn't rely on continuous hyperbole, on always manipulating people into buying.

When I say, "Ken's approach," I'm referring to the SiteBuildIt service - a comprehensive package that takes you from nothing to a full-fledged business, slowly but solidly. Visit this link to learn more about it. It costs $300/year - but you will not find a cheaper education in Internet marketing, nor a better one.

But whether or not you decide to try SiteBuildIt, the formula still makes perfect sense. And if you try to shortcut it, you will only get frustrated.

Love to hear your thoughts about this.