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================================================================ 

 

The Promotion World Informer 

Issue #65      April 12, 1999 

 

================================================================ 

 

This issue of the Informer is sponsored by: 

 

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================================================================ 

 

Contents Of This Issue: 

 

        - Editor's Notes 

        - Cool Quotes 

        - Friendly Advice from the Editor 

        - Fatal Attraction by Jennifer Johnson  

        - Sponsor Message 

        - Bookmarkable Bookmarks 

        - The Discussion Board 

        - What's New At Promotion World 

        - How NOT To Promote Your Site 

        - A Small Request 

        - Misc. Information 

 

======================== Editor's Notes ====================== 

 

Hi everyone! 

 

My apologies to Renee. Last week I featured her article... but I got her  

signature file all wrong. Sorry. My fault. You really should visit her site,  

there are many free resources (as well as some for pay ones) there.  

<http://www.thewritemarket.com>. 

 

Enjoy the issue! 

 

The Informer is sent only to those who have expressly requested it.  

If you no longer wish to receive it, simply follow the simple  

unsubscribe instructions at the end of this newsletter. 

 

============================ Cool Quotes ======================== 

 

Ours has been the first, and doubtless to be the last, to visit this  

profitless locality. 

        - Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.  

 

The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of 

the bread. 

        - Unknown 

 

The most accurate predictor of a person's future behavior is their character. 

        - Character Training Institute 

 

Download all the past Cool Quotes by sending any email to 

<mailto:quotes@promotionworld.com&> Enjoy! 

 

================= Friendly Advice from the Editor ================= 

 

How many of you have ever visited a website, and then visited it again a month  

later, and found that nothing had changed? How many of you would visit that  

website again? 

 

Probably not many of you, I would bet. I rarely visit sites that are "stagnant". 

 

A website needs to have regularly updated content. This can be a challenge, I  

know! At the moment I am having a hard time just keeping up with renovating the  

old sections of Promotion World, let along trying to add new content. Many of  

the 550 some odd pages around Promotion World are over a year old.  

 

However, I have discovered a way to keep a regular flow of new content going  

through my site.  

 

Several months ago I set up a discussion board system. It has proven to be an  

invaluable addition to my site. 

 

What are the benefits of having a thriving discussion board on your site? I can  

see several ways in which Promotion World has benefited. 

 

1. It builds an excellent base of content for Promotion World, that I didn't  

have to go and create myself! If you do a search on my site search engine at  

<http://www.promotionworld.com/xav/search.cgi> you will find that invariably  

some messages from the boards come up with answers to your questions. 

 

2. It builds a core base of visitors to Promotion World. There are seven or  

eight of us around there now. We have all been learning a lot. When any of us  

need a favor (some advice, web design help, etc), we are all more than willing  

to help each other out. On top of that, when I need honest feedback about  

changes the website or in this newsletter they are always quick to provide it.  

You could call them my advisory board. 

 

3. It gives lurkers something to come back for. Yes, I know you are out there!  

My server logs show me that many visitors come through and just read the posts-  

but never posting themselves. They keep coming back, though, and this is a good  

thing for my website. 

 

Discussion boards are not easy things to get going, however. I had tried  

building a community before, but they never really took off. This time I put a  

lot of work into building it, trying to make it the best I could. I was also  

privileged to have several friends (and a couple of new ones!) help out with 

the  

intent of keeping the conversations going. Without my initial helpers, the  

boards probably wouldn't have lived for very long (thanks Duncan, Jim, David!). 

 

I also started adding moderators to the different sections of the boards. These  

moderators have been doing a great job, trying to get conversations going, and  

answering questions. 

 

If you are planning on setting up a community, it would probably work best if  

you already have a large amount of traffic, or have a number of friends that  

would be willing to help out until things get running smoothly and the boards  

get popular. 

 

Now you may be excited to start a discussion board on your site. You will need  

some software first! If you are serious about setting up a thriving 

community, I  

recommend you set up a discussion board on your own site, and not have it 

hosted  

elsewhere. That way you can serve your own banner ads, customize the boards the  

way you want them, and just generally have more control over the way things  

operate. 

 

I can highly recommend Discus script, which is the program I have been using for 

some time now with a large amount of success. 

<http://www.chem.hope.edu/discus/> 

 

The Ultimate Bulletin Board software is also quite good.  

<http://www.ultimatebb.com/> 

 

Expect to put quite a bit of time into setting up your community. However, once  

you have established a regular visitor base, you will start to discover the  

benefits! 

 

By the way, my discussion forums can be found at 

<http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/> 

 

Joshua 

Editor/webmaster/ad sales guy/everything else at Promotion World. 

<http://www.promotionworld.com> 

 

===================== Fatal Attraction ====================== 

 

Fatal Attraction  

by Jennifer Johnson  

 

We've all been guilty of it at one time or another. Having an overwhelming  

attraction, but at the same time, knowing it's just not right for us...it's  

going to cause problems...it will never work...we shouldn't get involved.  

Once it's reached that point, though, the allure is just too much; we *have*  

to do this, no matter that our loved ones, friends, colleagues, or even  

casual acquaintances tell us: "This is no good for you! You need to make a  

clean break and the sooner, the better."  

 

You've been in that situation, right? If you haven't, chances are you will be  

sooner or later. Oh, by the way, I'm talking about web design, not romance.  

"Web design? Fatal attraction? Are you nuts?!?" Well, that depends on who you  

talk to but, in this situation, I'm dead sure I've hit on an all too common  

problem.  

 

Think back to the first page you designed. It was so exciting finally getting  

the hang of HTML, installing a counter, picking out just the right  

background, and then finding graphics, clipart, applets, animations, etc.  

that you just *had* to include on your page. "That [fill in the blank] is so  

cool! I've got to have it." This is where the problem usually begins.  

 

This isn't so much a problem with personal pages; we sort of expect them to  

have animated kittens grooming themselves or an iguana with sunglasses  

holding up an envelope while he's doing the Macarena to signify the clickable  

link to send email. With business sites, however, these elements tend to  

lower visitors' perception in terms of professionalism. Think  

water=professional image; including these kinds of things on your site is  

like dropping a water balloon from a 50 story building...on the surface of  

the sun.  

 

Now please don't think that I'm saying that your page should be devoid of any  

kind of animation, graphic, or applet; I'm not. If you're running a business  

site, though, you must be selective in what you choose to include. Conveying  

a professional image should be very high on your list of priorities.  

 

Here are a few warning signs that could indicate you have a problem in this  

area:  

 

1. You like a particular element so much that you rearrange your entire site  

in order to include it.  

 

2. You've installed anything on a business site that involves a small mammal  

running, hopping, slithering, or using any other means to travel from one  

side of the page to the other.  

 

3. You've lapsed into a delusional form of thinking that allows you to  

justify a two minute download time because, "Hey people will appreciate the  

fact that they'll know exactly what day and time it is when they view my  

page."  

 

4. You've included so many dancing birds, singing ferrets, or  

anthropomorphized objects that you feel the need to add a disclaimer similar  

to the following: Be patient while the page loads. It will be worth it!!  

 

5. Friends, when commenting on your page, always mention "that cute disco  

weasel" in the same sentence as "you're overworked" or "how long has it been  

since you've had a vacation"?  

 

If you use any of these kind of elements on your page, please don't be  

offended; I've done this kind of thing myself, and who knows? those elements  

might possibly work in your situation. For the most part, though, I don't  

believe they have any place on a business site. Your main focus as a business  

owner shouldn't be to dazzle them with your site's appearance, it should be  

to convince them to buy your product or service.  

 

PromotingYourSite.com 

<http://www.promotingyoursite.com> 

Free info on how to effectively design and promote your site. Join the "Rate 

My Site Newsletter" (delivered 3-5 times/week) by sending any email to: 

ratemysite-subscribe@listbot.com and find out how to submit *your* site for 

other webmasters to review. Contact Jennifer directly at: 

jennifer@promotingyoursite.com. 

 

======================= Sponsor Message ======================= 

 

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to your website, boost your sales, and let you see the results immediately! 

 

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Or, Call 800-304-0166 (mention ad# 1574) to speak with a representative 7 

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==================== Bookmarkable Bookmarks ===================== 

 

SendFree 

This looks like an interesting concept. This is a combination of a free  

autoresponder system and an ad exchange system. Get a free autoresponder  

and free advertising... sounds good too me! 

http://www.sendfree.com/ 

 

Domain Name Registries Around the World 

A very interesting little page that includes links to almost every country  

specific domain name registrar out there. Want to look into registering a .md  

domain? Check here for the right address. 

<http://www.uninett.no/navn/domreg.html> 

 

SiteLaunch 

I mentioned this site a while back, but got the URL wrong. I still highly 

recommend it, as it has quite a number of interesting articles. 

<http://www.sitelaunch.net> 

 

===================== The Discussion Board ====================== 

 

This week's quote from the discussion board: 

 

"If anyone wants to submit to some FFA links pages quickly, and still for free,  

submit to these sites:  

 

1) The Webmasters free search engine submission  

<http://submit.thewebmasters.bc.ca/>  

Submits to 265 link pages.  

 

2) VirtualPROMOTE FFASUBMITTER  

<http://virtualpromote.com/ffapenance/>  

100+ FFA pages.  

 

3) Linkchain Submitter  

<http://www.icestorm.net/linkchain/>  

60+ pages submitting to.  

 

4) LinkOMatic  

<http://www.linkomatic.com>  

Submits to 10 sites to free.  

 

You can submit to them all at once like this once a month. If you're interested, 

give it a try!  

 

David Handlos  

Crosslinkz: Free promotion, email, and awards!  

<http://www.crosslinkz.com> " 

 

Get in on our discussions! At least stop by too see what you are missing out 

on at <http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/> 

 

================ What's New At Promotion World ================== 

 

~ I have completely revamped the Promotion Resources section. Dozens 

  of new resources have been added, and the format has been changed  

  significantly. I will be adding more to it as the week goes on. 

  <http://www.promotionworld.com/directory/> 

 

================= How NOT To Promote Your Site ================== 

 

How NOT to Promote Your Site 

by David Handlos  

 

Electronic mail. Email. You use it, I use it. Millions of people use email 

to communicate with each other. In fact, you're probably reading this 

article in an email. Fun, isn't it?  

 

Email's great for communication, and essential for promoting your site. 

Getting feedback, trading links, contact info, you need email to make it 

all work. All that being said, one of the best ways not to promote your 

site is to forget one simple feature about email. "Reply". 

 

EXAMPLE:  

 

The best example I can think of for this is, well...me. After checking my 

mail, I've gotten into the habit of skimming all of the messages, intending 

to reply later.  

 

I'll walk away from the computer to run some errands, come back and check 

my mail for any new messages. But do I reply? No, by then I'm too busy 

reading the new messages to reply to the old ones. Before I know it, there 

are messages a week old still in need of a response! 

 

Don't get into this habit. You may forget to reply, and lose chances for 

reciprocal links, a partnership, or a new affiliate. If you can, keep track 

of all of your messages, and don't delete them until you've responded.  

 

Replying to a message is easy to do, but also easy to forget. Keep this in 

mind, because when you're working on the Web, the last thing you should do 

is fail to communicate.  

 

Happy promoting,  

 

David Handlos  

  

David Handlos <mailto:webmaster@crosslinkz.com> 

Crosslinkz: Your FREE Web Directory! 

<http://www.crosslinkz.com/> 

Website promotion, email, chat, and awards, all for free! 

 

========================= A Small Request ======================= 

 

If you enjoy reading this newsletter each week, why not tell a friend  

about it? Even better, why don't you recommend The Informer on a  

discussion list? After all, you wouldn't want to keep all this free  

information to yourself. 

 

Just tell 'em all to subscribe by sending a message to 

<mailto:informer@oaknetpub.com> with SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of their message. 

 

======================== Misc. Information ======================= 

 

To comment on the issues covered in this week's newsletter, use the 

appropriate forum on our Discussion Boards. 

<http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/> 

 

Browse the archives at <http://www.promotionworld.com/informer/archives.html> 

 

If you are looking for some good advertising deals, you might like to 

consider Promotion World and the Informer as places to advertise. 

<http://www.promotionworld.com/sponsor.html> 

 

To subscribe put SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of an email to 

<mailto:informer@oaknetpub.com> 

 

To unsubscribe put REMOVE in the BODY of an email to  

<mailto:informer@oaknetpub.com> 

 

I appreciate all your mail with your comments and suggestions! 

<mailto:webmaster@promotionworld.com> 

 

Newsletter Credits: 

 

Joshua Reimer, Editor 

<mailto:webmaster@promotionworld.com> 

<http://www.promotionworld.com> 

 

Jennifer Johnson, Feature Writer 

<mailto:jenny@promotingyoursite.com> 

<http://www.PromotingYourSite.com> 

 

John S. Rhodes, Usability Specialist 

<mailto:john@WebWord.com> 

<http://www.WebWord.com/> 

 

Hayden Mitchell, Search Engine Specialist 

<mailto:hayden@webthemes.com> 

<http://www.webthemes.com> 

 

David Handlos, What Not To Do Specialist 

<mailto:webmaster@crosslinkz.com> 

<http://www.crosslinkz.com> 

 

And now for the mandatory legal stuff: 

 

This newsletter is copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 Joshua Reimer. No part may be 

reproduced in any way without prior permission.

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