It was almost a year ago that I took my fateful step by launching the Connection Bank Web site. I remember the anticipation I felt as I carefully FTP'd each page, testing link after link, bolding and underlining with care. Little did I know, as my entrepreneurial heart raced with excitement, that it would be the beginning of the end for my long anticipated venture.

You see I had been building The Connection Bank for months prior to its Internet debut. Heck, the concept itself changed at least six different times before I settled on the final theme. By the time d-day came I was convinced that this site was going to be the best thing since sliced bread.

The Connection Bank was supposed to be a place where business people from around the world could exchange business leads and collaborate with one another on a variety of activities. For example, you might have joined The Connection Bank because you were looking to share booth space at a trade show with a colleague. It was structured networking, without having to participate in an online discussion group, and with no regards to geographic proximity.

So with all my planning and testing what went wrong with my killer concept? I believe three key things contributed to its downfall.

1) "The Name Was Confusing."

Whenever people looked at my business card and read 'Connection Bank,' the first thing they thought was that I ran an actual bank. Not just a few people here and there. I'm talking about EVERYBODY!

Then I would have to give a long-winded explanation of what The Connection Bank actually did. Sometimes people understood it right away, and sometimes I would get a little too detailed and people would get confused.

It made perfect sense to me - (I called it a bank because you put in a lead in order to take some out... almost like a bank) - but in reality it was way too esoteric.

The name also became a real loser with the search engines. Sure, it would pop up within the top 20 if the user typed in 'bank.' But a top ranking like that is utterly useless since it wasn't actually a financial bank, which is what people were looking for.

LESSON LEARNED- When choosing a name for your site/business, choose something straight forward, instead of trying to be cute or clever. People will remember your Web site much easier if they can associate the name of it, with what it actually features. For example, (www.AssociatePrograms.com), (www.CommunityBuilding.com), (www.SmallBizSearch.com), are all pretty self-explanatory, and they're easy to recall.

2) "It Wasn't 100% Automated."

When people signed up for The Connection Bank, they had to enter several fields of information on the form. Once their application came to me, I would have to re-key the information into one or several sections of the directory.

This was okay when there were one or two people signing up per day. But the week when my marketing really took off, and I started receiving 5-10 applications a day, I should have known I was doomed. It was virtually impossible for me to keep up with all those new entries - and so I didn't.

LESSON LEARNED- If your site is information intensive, and/or relies on input from visitors, hire a techie to automate the process for you. Later on I learned that I could have gotten a database built exactly the way I envisioned it, for under $500. Literally hundreds of hours could have been saved, and the site might have survived if I wasn't trying to be a jane-of-all-trades.

3) "Even Though it Was a Community Site, I Didn't Encourage Interaction Among Members."

'Online Community' is one of those buzz trends that everybody seems to be striving for right now. Yet, what most folks don't realize is that you can't just call your site a community by throwing up a Web forum, and asking visitors to offer some feedback, or chat on your message board.

I figured that people would sign up for The Connection Bank and automatically take it upon themselves to interact with other members. Boy was I wrong! I probably received more compliments praising the actual concept, than I did requests for other members contact information.

LESSONS LEARNED- Creating an online community means that you must devote a lot of hours to helping your members connect with one another. Take the time to develop activities that will actively encourage members to communicate. Never assume that people will jump right in to the scene.

Well, I have to say that even though my site flopped, I'm happy that I know what works, and what I have to put more effort towards. This year I'm sure my new site, Online Sales Power! is going straight to the top. You live and learn.

Monique Harris is the author of "How to Successfully Sell Information Products Online," which features dozens of tips and ideas for creating and marketing e-books, booklets, manuals, audio/video tapes, and other brain food, on the Net. Check out her Sell Your Brain Food! Web site for more information:
http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?IM6502_MYKS

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