Jack of All Trades, Master of None?

A recent post in Treehugger about Organic Style magazine shutting down (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/organic_style_m.php) is at first sad to me, as I think the original concept of the magazine was a good one - promoting organic clothing, food, building materials, etc. But, it's also a lesson. The reason for the not-long-ago popular (and growing quickly in popularity) publication is essentially that it got too big for its britches, so to speak, and no one (readers, sellers) really knew what the magazine was about any more. Was it about recipes, fashion, women's issues, etc.?

There is a useful tie-in to what I see on many websites these days. I often can't tell what a website is "about" - i.e., its focus is not evident. A lot of businesses, especially smaller home-based types  and/or healing professionals try to be "all things to everyone" on their website (e.g., a therapist who lists 100 different issues that they work with). This just doesn't work. Your site will be much more effective if it helps a specific target market (for one or a few specific products/services), rather than a bit of everything.

It's fine if you've got a few sub-businesses running at one time, but in that case, I'd strongly recommend that they each have their own website, rather than integrating them all into one. You'll come across as the expert on each of those specific areas, rather than someone who's spread her/himself too thin!