When I started Mint Digital, I was inspired by this article by Seth Godin. He suggests:
You say to the prospect: I will work with you to build a four-page engine of revenue. The idea: the client loads it up with targeted traffic that he buys by regularly trying and testing adwords and other relevant, measurable media. Then, I will regularly, constantly tweak (or redesign) the four page site to turn those strangers into friends (and maybe, if your product is great and your followup is appropriate, you can turn those friends into customers).
The thing is, it's probably cheaper to constantly measure and evolve and redesign a four page offer site than it is to build the annual 400 page website overhaul. And there's no question it's more effective.
It takes patience. It takes a lack of ego. It takes a willingness to be creative and to try new stuff, to measure what works and to do it more.
So far we haven't met anyone who'd be up for this approach. In fact, we've haven't found a client who it would be suitable for (though we have discussed the idea with a couple...).