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======================================================== The Promotion World Informer Issue #69 May 9, 1999 ISSN 1488-1675 Edited by Joshua Reimer - http://www.promotionworld.com ======================================================== This issue of the Informer is sponsored by: ---------------------------------------------- WIN $1000 CASH - Sign Up Now! Have you heard about the new personalized, practical e-mail services called LifeMinders? It brings you FREE e-mail messages every week about your home and garden, family, entertainment, auto, personal finances, pets and personal events. Sign up now and enter to WIN $1000 CASH! http://lifeminders.com/l/index.asp?MKTG=LLQE153 ---------------------------------------------- Now with over 6032 subscribers! Advertising Information --> http://www.promotionworld.com/sponsor.html ================================================================ Contents Of This Issue: - Editor's Notes - Cool Quotes - Friendly Advice from the Editor - Sponsor Message - SIG Files - Bookmarkable Bookmarks - The Discussion Board - Website Usability - A Small Request - Misc. Information ======================== Editor's Notes ====================== Hi everyone! Sorry, but there will be no issue next week as I am going to be out of town for the weekend. Meanwhile, there are some interesting articles in this week's issue, so keep reading. Have you received your free website review from the folks around the Promotion World discussion boards? No? Why not? All you have to do is review two other websites, and you get a number of in depth reviews of your own site back. <http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/messages/244/244.html> 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 ======================== They give you a round bat, and they throw you a round ball. And they tell you to hit it square. - Willie Stargell This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. - Western Union internal memo, 1876. In this world there are two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst. - Oscar Wilde Download all the past Cool Quotes by sending any email to <mailto:quotes@promotionworld.com&> Enjoy! ================= Friendly Advice from the Editor ================ Becoming More Interactive, Part II by Joshua Reimer I received a reasonable amount of positive feedback over my last article on how to make your website more interactive. I particularity enjoyed reading a letter from Laura DiFiore on the subject. In it, she tells us about some of the things she has done to make her site more interactive. I always like practical ideas like these. Anyway, she gave me permission to reprint it here, so here it is: ____________________ Hi Joshua! Great article in this week's Informer. My site is already very interactive, but earlier this year I went a bit further. I wanted to share the two newest ways I made my site more interactive. Neither are "original" ideas but both have been hugely successful. 1) I built a script that allows people to email themselves a copy of the information they are looking at. My site is a database of scholarships - when doing a browse or search of my database, they can choose to email themselves a copy of any scholarship they are reading. This has been a HUGE hit - 43,520 people used it last month alone! I've had many compliments on this feature, especially from people without printers! I place a copy of the information they are looking at in the email that is sent, and I also place the answer to some of the most commonly asked questions in the email. This HAS helped reduce somewhat the huge amount of email I get (*grumbles* nearing 2,000 a day now!) and is a great "service" to offer. What's more, I can place an advertiser link in the email, too, if I want to :) 2) The other way I made my site more interactive is to put a "comment" box at the bottom of all the articles I have on my site. It's a simple "What did you think? Fantastic, Just OK, Sucked" form with an optional "comment" box if people want to elaborate. The best thing about this comment box is that now, when people write me complaining about an article or with a question about an article, I know EXACTLY what page they are referring to now!! Completely ended the mysterious "I didn't understand this" emails :) It also allowed me to improve the pages that were of lesser use to my visitors. Anyway, thanks, as always, for your terrific website and newsletter! Laura FreSch! The Free Scholarship Information Service http://www.freschinfo.com ____________________ Laura mentions some excellent ideas for adding very useful, interactive features for your visitors. Depending on how fancy and elaborate you want to get, you can implement these ideas relatively easily. Having a "email this article to me" has also been a very popular feature around Promotion World. It is very easy to implement this feature. I wrote an article about how to set one up in just a few easy steps a while back. You can find it at <http://www.promotionworld.com/button.html>. Having your visitors rate your content is also a great idea. It helps you get a feel for what your visitors like and dislike. This feature could be easily accomplished with a simple form set up. If you have never learned the basics of creating forms, I recommend you read through Joe Barta's excellent tutorial on the basics of creating forms. <http://junior.apk.net/~jbarta/tutor/forms/index.html>. I hope this has helped to get you thinking about the many simple and practical things you can do to interact a bit better with your visitors. Many thanks to Laura for her ideas! Joshua Editor/webmaster/ad sales guy/everything else at Promotion World. <http://www.promotionworld.com> ======================= 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 site's 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 you're not happy, do nothing. If you're 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 ============================ SIG Files ============================= SIG Files by Jennifer Johnson There's a very simple promotional tool that many people either aren't aware of, or don't take advantage of. It's called a signature file or SIG file. A SIG file can be "attached" to the end of email messages. You've probably seen SIG files on email you've received; they look like short little "ads" - in fact, that's exactly what they are. If you haven't been using a SIG file, there's no time like the present to start. It's very easy to construct one and if you have an email program that allows you to automatically append a SIG to the end of your messages, all you have to do is set it up and save it and your email program does the rest. Eudora Lite is a free email client, available for download at <http://www.eudora.com>, that supports SIG files. For you AOL folks out there and for anyone else whose email program doesn't support SIG files, you'll have to create a file and then do it the old-fashioned way: copy and paste. Now let's discuss the actual "construction" of the SIG file. There are a few things you should keep in mind; first and foremost, don't try to get too cute with ASCII art. Depending on the email client, your masterpiece could look awesome or could leave people wondering what the heck it was supposed to be. I feel it's better, especially for businesses, to stick with a more basic approach. You should include: your name, your company name, your URL, and a brief description of your business or your slogan. This is the bare minimum, you can expand on this basic formula if you desire. Here's a sample SIG file to illustrate: Wilson Wylde, Certified Meerkat Trainer Meerkat Training School, Inc. <http://www.meerkat-trainer.com> Your pet needs to learn how to become his own meerkat; we can help him break out of the mob mentality! Of course, as I said, you can embellish on the "basics" if you want, just don't make it too long. You can experiment with what to include; perhaps listing any specials you may be running, etc. SIG files are a simple way to get a little free advertising for your business. 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 =================== Eboz Has some excellent tools for webmasters. <http://www.eboz.com/> The PR2 Course Although the course is rarely sent out, the website has some excellent articles and resources available. <http://www.pr2.com/> SearchZ A directory of thousands of promotion and marketing related resources. <http://www.searchz.com> ===================== The Discussion Board ====================== This week's quote from the discussion board: "We all know the importance of trackers to a Web Site's success. But I'm having trouble finding a service to fit my needs. Most free trackers record the stats for one page. I'm trying to find one free tracker that will track the entire Site (containing multiple Pages). The only free service that I can find that will track a whole Site makes you put an ad banner on each Page. Now, I don't mind a small graphic, but I don't have room for anything more than that. Also, I can't look at server logs, because I use a free hosting service. I'd be most grateful if anyone could let me know about a free Web Site tracking service like this. Thanks. Sincerely, Jeff Gerard, Webmaster Mysteries of Space http://www.galaxycorp.com/mystery mystery@galaxycorp.com " Read and comment on the full discussion online at: <http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/messages/1/381.html> Get in on our discussions! At least stop by to see what you are missing out on. <http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/> ====================== Website Usability ====================== 11 Email and Newsletter Ad Tips by John S. Rhodes I recently used this advertisement in an email newsletter: ----------------------------------------------------------- * Do you want a user-centered, user-driven web site? Start reading the WebWord.com Usability Newsletter. It's private, it's effective, and it's free. * Subscribe now to learn more about web site usability. <http://webword.listbot.com> ----------------------------------------------------------- I didn't think that the ad was too bad. However, after seeing it in print I realized that I neglected a few usability principles. Rather than going into the psychology of my advertisement, which is interesting, I thought that I would instead offer you 11 useful tips. Please learn from my mistakes so that you can create more user-centered email-based advertisements. Since you are probably pressed for time, here is your quick, bulleted list: 1. Make sure that you offer something worthwhile. If possible, offer something for free. Give the readers a reason to visit your site, or to subscribe to your service or newsletter. 2. In almost all cases you want your message to be very short. People don't have time to drill into your ad for meaning. Tell them what you have to offer and how you can help them. Remember, people often scan for information, they don't actually read very much. 3. Be sure to use whitespace effectively. That is, make sure you make your ad easy to scan, for URLs and email addresses especially. Also, be aware that you can't use boldface or italics. Good organization is critical. 4. Don't use ALL CAPS. It is bad form. And, it is hard to read. 5. Don't make any outrageous claims. Don't lie. Don't trick people. Ever. 6. Try to avoid selling to the readers. Instead, offer tools and services that will make readers' lives better. Tell them how you can solve their problems. Tell them you can help simplify their work. 7. You simply must include a URL or email link. Be sure to effectively use links in your email ad, or your advertisement will be lost in cyberspace. 8. Do every thing you can to match your ad to the various interests of the readers of the ad. Furthermore, use the appropriate language, style, and tone. 9. Make sure that you don't use more than 60 or so characters per line. If the lines of your ad wrap, it will look unprofessional. 10. It is a good idea to use a special URL or email address so you can quickly view your logs to see how well the ad worked. Also, with a specially made incoming page, you can welcome those exact readers to your site and aid them accordingly. 11. Read the newsletter or newslist you are advertising in. Subscribe to it, and take time to understand the nature of the readers (and writers). This can help you know how many other ads you are competing against, and if the readership is appropriate for your message. Advertisements get a bad reputation because they are poorly written and because they target the wrong users. Here's a big hint: If an ad is well thought out and if the content reaches the right group, the ad will actually be of great value to readers. =========================================================== John S. Rhodes -- mailto:john@WebWord.com Human Factors Engineer and Usability Professional Internet Usability and Web Site Development: http://www.WebWord.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 free 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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