I’ve been trying to install and run Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 on my Windows Vista 64-bit laptop. The install would go fine. I could launch the program. It would show in my running processes but never display. Perplexing to say the least.

After fiddling with this for the better part of the morning I found a solution here:

http://www.vistax64.com/software/146706-photoshop-cs3-dreamweaver-cs3-work-vista-x64-sp1.html

The solution in a nutshell is:

Before installing in Vista Ultimate X64
Click Start in bottom left
Search for cmd
Right click and run as administrator
type or copy and paste
cd C:\Windows\SysWow64
then copy and paste
regsvr32 jscript.dll
then copy and paste
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
now you can install Photoshop CS3 by double clicking on setup

Those instructions say Photoshop but it worked fine with my Dreamweaver 8.

More details at the link above.

What are your big three?

Here as promised is the rest of the story on what happened to
the business update. Plus a discussion of the big three.

First I want to thank you for being a subscriber. Moving forward
I anticipate publishing at least every other week. Possibly
every week. Our focus will be on how you can increase the
business you currently have. If you do not already have a
business you can apply the ideas to getting one started.

This all started after a series of unfortunate events. I
personally was in a car fire, a bomb threat, a tornado in a high
rise building, and more in just a short span of time. Then the
company I was working for moved to Houston, TX. Not wanting to
move to Houston I found myself with my own little companies to
work with.

Since that time I have been refining what I do. Focusing more on
the big three. Working through some personal things that were
holding me back. Moving my activities more toward the things I
want to do and less of what I “have to do”. We have also been
blessed to welcome three precious children into the world in
that time period. All of this combined turned my thinking more
and more toward a concept I vaguely had in the back of my mind.
I call it “Lifestyle Business.”

——- Brief Commercial Note ——
My most recent book “Quick and Effective Internet Business” is
the beginning of a larger work on this concept of Lifestyle
Business. The book shows you how to start a business and create
a product around the things that interest you. You can read
about it here:

http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/p/quickbiz/
——————-

You can only focus on so many things in your life. For most
people three major things are about all you can handle. I have
started calling this concept “The Big Three”.

Say your big three are work, family, and a hobby. Then you
decide to start a business on the side. Now you have work,
family, hobby, business. Things go well for a while but at some
point the stress kicks in, your time gets crunched, frustration
and all the rest. How do you avoid the juggling act?

First identify your big three. You really have more than three.
Simply make a list of all the things you like to do. Then pick
the ones that give you the most enjoyment. With a little thought
you will find ways to combine some of the items. Did you find
two you can combine? Congratulations – you have expanded your
enjoyment and satisfaction while keeping yourself focused on
your big three.

How does this apply to your business? Make your business an
extension of your life. Sounds obvious doesn’t it? It is – until
you try to apply it.

Have you heard the expression “do what you love and the money
will follow”? It is true. The problem is sometimes you do not
love what it all becomes.

In the past I pursued my hobby (sleight-of-hand) as a business.
That went well for a while. Then the things I enjoyed about my
hobby were not so enjoyable any more. It lost it’s fun for me.
I’ve talked to other people who have had similar experiences
with their hobby/business – golf, photography, quilting, cooking
- it is all the same. Once things got going it just wasn’t the
same.

Am I saying you should focus on something outside your hobby?
Maybe. Maybe not. That puts you right back in the too many irons
in the fire scenario. I am saying approach the whole thing with
a different focus.

That different focus is the core of what I will be sharing with
you How to take the things you love and start a business. How to
incorporate the your big three into your business without
loosing the passion you already have. In fact you will find more
enjoyment for the things you already enjoy. You business will
become an extension of your life.

Sound good? Stick with me and we will all grow together. I have
some ways we can share our knowledge and grow together. It is
exciting. I will still share my observations about business in
general and tools in particular along with ways you can apply
the Lifestyle business concepts to your business and your life.

Talk to you soon!

~ Dan

p.s. I put a copy of this note on the TNPC blog. Why not share
your thoughts?
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/

All products and services have many features and more importantly,
benefits. You spend time discovering these and crafting a sales
letter or presentation for selling the product. How do you know
which features and benefits are really pulling the sales in? Simple
- ask your customer.

I know answers like that seem obvious but you would be surprised
how many people don’t do it. In fact this lesson took me a long
time to learn. See I would find a product I liked then write up the
features that appealed to me. Turned out people often found feature
I overlooked more interesting.

At the most basic level you simply ask your customer why they
bought your product. Then keep asking people the questions until
you start to see some trends.

I recommend you pick up the phone and call a few of your customers
just after they order. Tell them who you are then ask them why they
bought your product today. Note their answer then ask them what
about your product they found particularly interesting. For each
answer they give you ask them if that influenced their decision to
buy. Finally ask them what information they would have liked to
know but weren’t able to find.

You are asking question from general to specific:

* Why did you buy?
* What specifically did you like about the product?
* Was there anything else that you liked? (repeat as necessary)
* Was there anything you wanted to know but didn’t learn?
* Thank you!

Easy and it won’t take you more than just a few minutes for each
call.

Another effective question to ask is “If you were the owner of my
business what would you do differently?”. You will get amazing
answers to this question. This question is powerful – but – you
have to ask it after you’ve asked the other questions. If you try
to start with this question they will answer “nothing” or “I don’t
know”. So ask the other questions first. Then try this magical
question.

As you take your little survey certain features and benefits will
come up more frequently. Make a note of these trends then review
your presentations and sales letters. You want to make sure that
your top features and benefits are covered enough. Rewrite the
letter if necessary. Of course you want to test any changes against
your previous results.

For Internet, mail order, or phone purchases you will want to do
your survey before your customer receives the actual product. I
know this isn’t always possible. Since they don’t have the actual
product yet their answers will really be referring to your sales
letter. After they have the product you won’t be sure.

The first time you try this I think you’ll be very pleased. The
person on the other end of the line will be pleasantly surprised
that you called. The fact that you are actually interested in their
opinion will surprise them even more. To really seal the deal send
them a nice handwritten thank you note for their time.

I urge you to give this survey technique a try you will be very
pleased with the results.

(c) 2005 Dan Butler
Originally published in the DButler Update 27 May 2005

A recent project I was working on reminded me how few people
begin with the end in mind while building their website. In
this particular instance a Web “designer” was brought in to
redesign a Web site. The end result? Sales leads from the Web
site plummeted. I’m mean they went completely to zero. These
leads were worth about $500,000 in sales every month. The
sudden drop is what prompted the company to call me.

The company called me in to evaluate the situation. I asked
them one question. Armed with the answer to that question I
analyzed the sites statistics before and after the
reorganization. The answers were painfully obvious.

Not only did the redesign kill sales but the “designer” renamed
every page on the site breaking many links for visitors coming
from search engines. All the visitor saw was “404 Page Not
Found”. Not a great first impression. The sites internal search
engine produced the same result. Seems the designer didn’t know
how to update internal search engine after he was done. Worse
he didn’t want to admit that he didn’t know.

It gets worse! The “designer” was completely at a loss as to
why sales had stopped. He charged them his hefty fee and had no
solutions to offer the company who’s primary sales source was
now dried up.

He was very resistant to my suggestions on how to rectify the
situation. After all he designed it and it worked – for him.
Too bad the paying customers couldn’t make heads or tails of
things. The company is no longer in business.

Was this result avoidable? Absolutely. Is there a lesson in
this for all of us? Absolutely.

A good thing for you to do now is ask yourself the same
question. What is the question? Glad you asked. When I tell you
it will sound so simple that you might put it off. Don’t make
that mistake. Here it is:

“How do you know when you’ve had a successful visitor to your
web site?”

There you go. I told you it was simple.

In other words what result or outcome do you want from your
visitors? Do you want to sell them something? Gain a subscriber
to your newsletter? Solve an existing customers problem?
Persuade someone to your point of view? What do you want? Until
you can answer that question how can you efficiently design
your web site?

Let’s look at a few examples.

Say your outcome is to gain a new subscriber for your
newsletter. Anything that detracts from this outcome should be
avoided. Before you put a nifty graphic on the page advertising
some product ask yourself – “Will this graphic help my visitor
decide to subscribe to my newsletter?” If the answer is no -
don’t put it on the page!

If your outcome is to make a sale don’t waste time making fancy
buttons, graphics, and menus. Unless your audience expects it.

One reader of this newsletter runs a site that sells Wedding
and Baby gifts. In her case the design carries a lot of weight.
It sets the mood. Now I don’t mean you should have an ugly web
site. Far from it. Just don’t let the design detract from your
purpose.

Is your outcome to give out information? Design your pages
around that information and concentrate on making the
information easy to find.

View every page and every page element on your web site in
light of your outcome.

Your web site may have several outcomes. Can you still be
effective? Yes. But it isn’t easy. Start by thinking of your
site in terms of little “pockets”. Each pocket has it’s own
outcome. You might have a sales pocket, a “contact me” pocket,
a “sign up to my newsletter” pocket, etc. The outcome for your
main page now becomes “quickly help my visitors find the pocket
they need.”

What if you are using an outside designer? Make sure they know
and understand what your ultimate outcome is. If the designs
they bring you do not show a *very* clear understanding of your
outcome drop them immediately and find someone who can. You
don’t have the time or money to spend on someone who doesn’t
understand how to work toward your objectives.

We’ve talked about two concepts here – outcomes and “pockets of
functionality”. You’ve also seen how they relate to each other.
Spend some time on your outcomes. Define them fully. Not just
“make a sale”. Get specific – what do you want to sell and how
will you know when you have reached your outcome.

It’s easy to say “I’ll know I’m selling when I see the sales
come in!” But if you don’t get more specific than that, how
will you know when you reach your outcome? Perhaps it is
“selling my product at full price to Doctors.” Maybe your
outcome is “my customers come in on Tuesdays with my latest
offer printed out.” Being specific gives you a sharp focus.
That sharp focus lowers your stress and saves you time.

Now you have it. A core step to building a web site that meets
your outcomes. Notice that I said simple – not easy! Building
to your outcome is essential and will help you later when you
are deciding what to implement.

So discover your ultimate outcome for your Web site. See what
your visitor does that makes it successful. Hear what they tell
you that makes them glad they stopped by. Feel the burdens
lifted as you solve their problems. Make that outcome real to
you and the people who help you. Then make everything on your
site contribute to that outcome. And I do mean everything. Then
your outcome will become real for your visitors.

Dan Butler
Originally published in the DButler Update 19 May 2002

http://www.dbutler.com/

Copyright 2002 – Dan Butler. All Rights Reserved.