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======================================================== The Promotion World Informer Issue #68 May 3, 1999 ISSN 1488-1675 Edited by Joshua Reimer - http://www.promotionworld.com ======================================================== This issue of the Informer is sponsored by: ---------------------------------------------- A SERIOUS E-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITY: *************************************** Hand Technologies is looking for Technology Consultants to sell top-name computers and accessories made by IBM, Compaq, HP and more! Over 5000 computer products in your personal e-commerce store. Join now - open for business in 48 hrs. Click here: http://ph-ad08.focalink.com/SmartBanner/page?14722.9 ---------------------------------------------- Now with over 6010 subscribers! Advertising Information --> http://www.promotionworld.com/sponsor.html ================================================================ Contents Of This Issue: - Editor's Notes - Cool Quotes - Friendly Advice from the Editor - Contest Drawing - Sponsor Message - Lightening Yout Email Load With Autoresponders - Bookmarkable Bookmarks - The Discussion Board - Sponsor Message - Shaking Hands with the Internet Community - A Small Request - Misc. Information ======================== Editor's Notes ====================== The Informer just keeps on getting bigger! We just broke 6,000 subscribers this week. I wonder how quickly we can break 7,000? Why not take a moment to forward this issue to your friends? Today is the first drawing for the big "Link to Promotion World Contest". Keep reading to discover who won! 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 ======================== Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing. - Mark Twain Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people. - Giordano Bruno Download all the past Cool Quotes by sending any email to <mailto:quotes@promotionworld.com&> Enjoy! ================= Friendly Advice from the Editor ================ Becoming More Interactive by Joshua Reimer Today I am going to talk a bit about how to make your website more interactive. If you think about it, the web can be pretty one sided, can't it? People just go surfing around, rarely having two way interaction. I have found, however, that the sites that make an effort to create some interaction with and between their visitors often do much better than those who don't. This is part of what is commonly called "building community", and is a subject that I have touched on in the past. You don't believe that having an interactive site plays a large part in determining if a visitor will revisit a certain website? Okay, then. Let's take a look at one of the most popular sites on the 'Net: <http://www.cnet.com>. I am sure you have all been there at some point or another. What has made this site as popular as it is? You could put it down to many things, I suppose... for one thing, they have been in existence since the beginning of the Net as we know it. For another thing, they have huge content creation teams, with lots of fresh content every day. They also have lots of interactive elements to their website. At first glance these interactive elements may not seem very obvious, but after spending just a few minutes there you will find yourself using them. Let's go through the main page. When I loaded the page I saw all of the following interactive elements: - Link to a large and active message boards system - Interactive "PC Scoreboard" - Real time poll on a current issue - Sign up form for a free newsletter That was only the main page. Can your page boast the same level of interactive components? Note here that I am not implying that we all try to become another Cnet. I am saying, however, that we need to try to find ways to make our websites more interactive and useful for our visitors. Key word: Useful. I have seen sites trying to be interactive when in reality they have just ended up wasting my time. Creating an interactive site is not in and of itself a goal that we should set out to achieve. It can, however, offer your visitors a more profitable stay at your website, which is an important goal to try an achieve. For example, the Online Tools section of Promotion World at <http://www.promotionworld.com/tools/> has been a major success. Hundreds of people have used the site submission program, and many more have taken advantage of the Meta Tag generator and Search Engine Position Analyzer. The key here is that these tools helped to increase my visitors productivity. This keeps them coming back time and time again. How do you add nifty interactive features like this to your website? Well, generally you will need to have access to a CGI-Bin. Most website hosts include CGI-Bin access for free these days when you have your own domain hosted with them. I recommend you spend a few hours browsing around <http://www.cgi-resources.com>. They list hundreds of excellent CGI scripts you can use to make your site more interactive, many of them free or low cost. If you don't have CGI access, don't despair yet. I found a section at another excellent site that lists sites that give you access to premade and preconfigured scripts that you can imbed into your site. Although you will not be able to find such a wide range of services, and the ones you do find may not offer a huge amount of features, it is much better than nothing. Have a browse around at <http://www.scriptsearch.com/pages/l13.html> I hope this article has helped you get thinking about what you can do to create a more interactive experience for your visitors. Joshua Editor/webmaster/ad sales guy/everything else at Promotion World. <http://www.promotionworld.com> ======================== Contest Drawing ======================= It is time for the monthly random drawing for the winner of 25,000 banner impressions across the highly recommended LinkBuddies network at <http://www.linkbuddies.com/start.go?id=100041>. This month's winner is: Jim Conley II from the Electronic Card Service <http://www.acceptvisamastercard.com> Want to be eligible for next month's drawing? You don't have to do much. Just include a link back to Promotion World! More information at <http://www.promotionworld.com/contest.html> ======================= Sponsor Message ======================= ***LIST YOUR SITE & ONLY PAY FOR RESULTS -- GoTo.com*** When you list your site on GoTo.com, you can get the top search listing and targeted sales leads for pennies per click. You only pay when someone clicks on your listing, and you control your siteis ranking in the search results! Itis keyword advertising for pennies per click! Sign up now with a minimum of $25 and GoTo.com will add $5 to your account. If youire not happy, do nothing. If youire happy with the results you get with GoTo.com, just add more money to your account when it gets low. Click here: http://www.goto.com/d/advertisers/p/generic/?o=22&Promo=promoworld_C ========== Lightening Yout Email Load With Autoresponders ========== Lightening Yout Email Load With Autoresponders by Jennifer Johnson Do you remember the early days of your site? The times when you would check your mailbox 10 times a day only to be greeted with, "Sorry! No new mail"? After your site had been online a while, you started to get a few emails a day - unfortunately, most probably had multiple "X"s or dollar signs in the subject line. Slowly but surely, however, genuine email from visitors began to trickle in. Fast forward to the present time; now you're beginning to see the wisdom in the saying, "Be careful what you wish for...", aren't you? I think almost all webmasters live for email; after all, we want to hear what people think of our sites. Soon, the flood of mail can be overwhelming and if you're not careful, you can spend the majority of your time responding to email messages. A nifty way to reduce some of your workload is to utilize autoresponders. If you aren't familiar with the term, an autoresponder is a means of replying to an email automatically. In other words, you don't have to "do" anything for the a reply to be generated. Why would a site owner want to do this? Is there one question that is asked time and again in the email you receive? Would you like a way to allow visitors to receive more detailed information on your product or service if they so desire? Would you like a way to offer visitors the chance to receive articles, tips, or anything else of value as a "bonus" via email - WITHOUT having to do any of the "work" yourself? If you answered "yes" to any of the preceding questions, I would suggest you consider setting up an autoresponder. To illustrate how an autoresponder works, I'm going to give you an actual example of one way I use autoresponders in my business. I have two services which offer webmasters the chance to submit a site for a free site review. I "advertise" this fact in the resource box that accompanies many of my articles. The problem is that the resource box doesn't afford me enough room to explain to people how to go about submitting a site. To solve this problem, I have a small document containing a set of instructions on how to submit a site for review that is sent out automatically when anyone sends mail to this address: freereview@promotingyoursite.com - it's sent out automatically, I don't have to do a thing. You see, the email address freereview@promotingyoursite.com is the address for one of my autoresponders which will respond to any email directed to that address by sending out the document I've specified. This saves me tons of time and it gives the visitor the information almost immediately; he doesn't have to wait for me to read and respond to his email. Autoresponders can be used in lots of ways; for site FAQ, copies of articles, etc. Unfortunately, they can be used in lots of not-so-good ways as well (such as in SPAM). I always try to use my autoresponders like so: "if you'd like more information on [anything], send any email to something@somedomain.com". By this time, you've probably thought of a few ways you could use an autoresponder and you may be wondering where you can get one. There are several companies that offer free autoresponders. Of course, much like everything else, expect to have to display some sort of advertising in exchange for this free service. There are also companies that sell autoresponder services. Many web hosting companies offer autoresponders with an account; mine offers unlimited free autoresponders with a domain account. I take advantage of the free autoresponders offered by my web hosting company, so I don't feel comfortable recommending any of the free or paid services. What I would suggest, if you would like to check into getting an autoresponder set up, is to contact your web host first. You may have free autoresponders available to you there. If not, try performing a search on any of the major engines for "autoresponders" or "free autoresponders" and you'll be presented with lots of options to sift through. I am an advocate of responding personally to visitor email, but there are certain situations when an autoresponder may benefit you AND your visitor. 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. ================== Bookmarkable Bookmarks =================== Reciprocal Link A new database of sites that are wanting to find link partners. Looks like a very handy tool. Also includes articles on the subject of reciprocal linking. <http://www.reciprocallink.com/> BizBot A nice business directory. You should get listed if you run the right type of site. <http://www.bizbot.net/> MailSwap An interesting new free email provider. Instead of providing the usual "get your free email at" tagline at the end of all your messages, you will have the opportunity to trade those advertisement spaces with other members! If ads in your messages doesn't bug you, you may want to try this service. <http://www.mailswap.com> ===================== The Discussion Board ====================== This week's quote from the discussion board: "Jim started the conversation with how to make doorway pages more effective. Now I'm wondering, does anyone know if doorway pages will take more work to keep them in the engine? What I mean is - it takes a lot of work to optimize pages in the site. A doorway page may be a simpler solution - but do they take more maintenance - I mean do you have to continually go back at doorway pages? At least with optimizing the actual content, I've found that it seems to stick in the engines. Once I optimize a page - I rarely go into it again to change words. Unless I decide to change keywords altogether. Just wondering. Renee free web development resources: http://www.thewritemarket.com/webmasters.html " Read and comment on the full discussion online at: <http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/messages/16/76.html> Get in on our discussions! At least stop by to see what you are missing out on. <http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/> ======================= Sponsor Message ======================= Boogie Jack's - goofy name, excellent resource. For webmasters: eye-popping graphics, easy-to-understand html and graphics tutorials, a color machine to find the code for that just right color, and a free newsletter to help you tweak your pages and promotional efforts. Browse selected articles online. For everyone: Guess the Celebrity is a contest like no other, photo warps, humor and more. All original content, growing rapidly, wildly popular, and best of all - it's FREE! Get jacked! Boogie Jack's Graphics Plus. http://www.boogiejack.com ============== Shaking Hands with the Internet Community ============== 10 Reasons NOT to Do Your Website In-house by Julie T. Meyer and Ray Katz 1. Objectivity Itis human nature to have the least perspective when it comes to the your own dilemmas. A website design firm both specializes in and has extensive experience to draw from when it comes to meeting your businessis internet objectives 2. Focus And itis pretty tough to develop any type of perspective when youire juggling a website with the day-to-day responsibility of keeping your own clients happy. On the other hand, your site becomes a top priority for an outside web design specialist. 3. Technology These days, no one can keep abreast of all the technology out there. However, website specialists who utilize applicable technology every hour of every day are more likely to provide you with the knowledge and experience you need for cyber-success. 4. Expertise And thereis more than just technology to the web -- the rules aren't the same as on-site retail or mail order! Only specialists know, from their own extensive training and experience, the best ways to close sales on the web, present information on a web site, interact with users, advertise for optimal traffic, design navigation, etc. 5. Resources Do you really have numerous and qualified in-house marketers, technologists and writers with enough hours in their schedule to get you online, within budget and on schedule? 6. Politics Sites designed by outside specialists focus on your objectives and target audience without being derailed by competing departmental agendas. 7. Maintenance Launching a site is only the beginning of a successful cyber-campaign. Website maintenance requires hours and a skill set different than site development. Will your in-house resources be willing to retrain for "Phase 2"?? Quality firms that specialize in website design maintain dedicated maintenance staff to support their clients 24/7. 8. Unforeseen Glitches In house web site developers and administrators tend to be reactive. Outside web developers are out of business unless they are proactive when it comes to everything from minor technical issues to major shifts in user habits and requirements. 9. The Wheel Those outside specialists have already invented and tweaked it. Why start from scratch? 10. Your competitorsi horror stories about in-house site design. If you haven't already heard, just ask! Julie T. Meyer has developed and implemented comprehensive marketing plans for a broad range of businesses including leading accounting, law and technology firms, and numerous divisions of the University of Pennsylvania. She also has years of product development and sales experience. Ray Katz is one the founding partners of i-site (www.i-site.com) which has been specializing in innovative web development and consulting to leading healthcare, pharmaceutical and publishing companies, since 1995. Ray directs the ongoing development and implementation of online technologies and standards, and R&D, an awesome task in the face of the rapidly evolving technology. Julie & Ray are delighted to provided complimentary copies of "Guidelines for Web Site Writing" to all requests received at info@i-site.com ========================= 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? The more subscribers there are, the more time I am able to justify spending on creating valuable content for you all! Just tell everyone 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. The only exception being you may freely forward this newsletter to your friends and associates *only if* it is in its unmodified entirety.
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