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The Promotion World InformerIssue #12 November 17, 1997Contents Of This Issue:
Editor's NotesThis issue is kind of short, but there is a lot of good information in it. But remember, quality is better than quantity! So anyway... here is today's issue. Some people have been wondering why they are receiving this newsletter. There are only two ways you could have been subscribed: Either you asked me to add you to the list, or you filled out the form on Promotion Worlds homepage at http://www.islandnet.com/~jreimer/. That's all there is to it! If you don't want to receive this newsletter anymore, then just follow the unsubscribe instructions at the end of this newsletter.
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Feature ArticleI have had many people email me and ask me questions like, "do you know where I can find email addresses to do bulk emailing?" and other such questions. I hope this article will help you out... ****************
Bulk E-Mail Has Penalties Anyone who has, or is thinking about starting, an online business knows how tempting the marketing strategy of sending "bulk e-mail" can be. And why not? It's free, it's easy, and it's fast. However, it's cost in the long run can not even begin to compare. Disguised as a "definitive target list," bulk e-mail is defined as "spam" by the people who matter the most - your potential customers, your Internet Presence Service reps, and your Virtual Host Service administrators if you have one. Originally, the term "spam" referred to repetitive postings about a particular subject broadcast to numerous and sometimes unrelated discussion groups. However today, the term "spam" has grown to mean, "Anything I don't want to read," and the steps taken against receiving spam can be dangerous to your business if you decide to use bulk e-mail as a promotional tool. >From your target market's (i.e. those who'll receive the contents of your bulk e-mail efforts) point of view, spam is not bulk mail. It is not mail offering something for sale. Nor is it a combination of these two. Instead, spam is ANY message sent to a person who ***did not ask*** to receive e-mail period. This can be a single piece of mail, or a group of messages offering the greatest product in the world at absolutely no cost. ISPs call this UCE (unsolicited commercial e-mail). You call it target marketing. But those who received it and did not ask for it, call it spam. There's nothing wrong with spam really. It only causes problems when you send it and people get it. And if these folks take the notion to make a complaint (either to your ISP, virtual host service, or their own ISP) for sending them messages unsolicited, I can guarantee you WILL lose at least one of two very important accounts. Depending upon who receives the most complaints first, your ISP account can be suspended or terminated, in addition to your server host account. This means you will lose your connection to the internet, and your website will be down, along with any other internet configurations you have going, such as autoresponding messages for example. So you may say, "Big deal, I'll just get another ISP and virtual host server!" OK, easy enough, but this moving around can unnecessarily cost you anywhere from $50/month to $50/day. Most importantly, your reputation will be damaged. No one wants or can afford to be affiliated with what is labeled as a *spammer*. Let's say I join forces with you, and you decide to announce this merge via email. Let's also suppose your ISP and virtual host service has received a good 2-3 complaints about you sending unsolicited email in the past. After you send this announcement (which my friend is spam), you get a last complaint, your account and connection to the Internet is closed down, and I'm out of a partner and an explanation for an hour or two (assuming you'd be good enough to call me and explain what happened). Now I have to face the risk of being called a spammer and my ISP and/or virtual host service connection is threatened as well. I've received bulk e-mail promotions promising to advertise my business under their name only so that they will be the ones to loose the connection and/or be fined instead of me. Tsk Tsk. I'm no fool. Any mention of my URL in these spams, a quick jump to an internet "who-is" function, and then Wham! - There's my name, phone number, ISP info, and virtual host service information ready - aimed - and fired complaints to. As you can see, it's just not worth it. What was once a free medium for online promotion has turned into an ugly mess of "don't bother me" fines, suspensions, and Internet terminations. Your best bet is to not get involved, but instead promote with what is acceptable, such as banner exchanges, search engines, newsgroups ending with "announce" or "marketplace" (even here you must take the time to read the group's FAQ since some groups will accept posts only if they are "formatted" according to the group's preferences), paid classified ads, your own website, OFFline avenues (such as newspapers and magazines), and your signature file. Yes, this may take "longer". But what would you rather do? Take the time to do it right, or, pay the fine to do it anyway you can?
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Bookmarkable BookmarksSome more good links today!
Inspector Web
Finding Sponsors
"Shirley Giesler's Free Frequent Mile Quest"
BruceClay.com
The Internet Help desk
Rent A Geek
The Buisiness Place
Feature Article
"Have You Discovered WebRings Yet?: If you haven't heard of a webring before, you're missing out on something big! Webrings are basically a collection of related sites linked together in the shape of a "ring". Navigation of the ring is simple. Visitors may click on the "previous" or the "next" buttons to visit sites in order, or they may "skip" around the web ring visiting various sites in no particular order. The benefits of joining a webring are of course, increased traffic to your site as a result of people surfing through the webring and free targeted advertising. Since webrings are organized by content, you'll be able to zero in on your target market by joining a webring appropriate to your product, service, opportunity, or interest. There are currently over 15,000 active webrings on the Internet today. Topics range in scope from the "X-Files Webring" to the "Veterans of Foreign Wars Webring" to the "Friends of Rodeo Webring". There are also a number of webrings dedicated solely to entrepreneurs. Some of the business related webrings are: the "HomeBiz Webring", the "MyLink Webring", the "Netrepreneurs' Web- ring, and the "Homebiz Opportunities Webring". Webrings are free to join and very simple to implement. If you see a webring that you'd like to belong to, you just click on the link for instructions. Usually, there are just three simple steps to complete to get set up: 1.) Copy & Paste the html from the instructions page onto the site you'd like to add to the webring. 2.) Fill out a simple form with your contact information, URL, web site title, keywords, & description. 3.) Change the "mailto:you@yourdomain.com", "siteID#__", and "this webring site is owned by___" to include your actual information. Your site ID # will either be emailed to you by the webring manager or it will be generated when you fill out that simple form. That is all there is to it folks! It's simple & free to join a webring. A perfect example of "Synergy".
You can find examples of these entrepreneurs' webrings at
the following sites:
http://www.freeyellow.com/members/bizonline/index2.html If you would like to search the entire database of Webrings, go to http://www.webring.org/ringworld/ Article compliments of Tandy Stepp, editor & publisher of the Synergy Marketing Solutions Ezine. Free Subscriptions: mailto:listserv@wasi.com BODY of message must contain the words, "Subscribe SMSezine" (without quotes). Advertise for free to our growing 100% opt-in subscription base of entrepreneurs & opportunity seekers around the globe. Copyright 1997 by Synergy Marketing Solutions. All Rights Reserved. This article may be freely copied and distributed subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice, URL, email address, & sig file. http://www.SynergyMS.com, mailto:admin@SynergyMS.com *********** Editors note: There are other webring systems aside from Webring.org. Have a look at the webrings section on Promotion World at http://www.islandnet.com/~jreimer/webrings/. We review many of them there.
Ask JoshQ. I had a question about submitting my website to searchengines: do you know if there's any good software (for windows 3.x !! I do know some for win 95) which I can use to submit my site to multiple searchengines. I've been looking for it quite a while but haven't been able to find it. Do you know where I may find some good software? BTW, you're list is great, it has already given me soom good advice. A. You can use software, but I prefer using online submission programs. No, let me change that. I prefer submitting by hand. See why at http://www.islandnet.com/~jreimer/se/submit.html. I have a small list of submission programs at http://www.islandnet.com/~jreimer/se/programs.html. I know there are a few programs for Windows 3.1, but I think you have to pay to use all of them. Send in your questions to mailto:jreimer@islandnet.com!
Promotion With Eat MorHaving trouble winning awards? Have you ever felt the boost of traffic after your page is recognized? To win awards, you must submit for each award. The more information you submit, the better off you are. For instance, your description (unless told not to) should include why you think your page deserves that award. Its important that you understand what types of awards that your page is most likely to win. Look at previous winners to see what types of sites they are looking for and make sure to read any information about submitting and the types of sites they are looking for. Most awards are all round, and the judge looks at everything such as graphics, content, usefulness, and correct HTML. Other awards, might look more at graphics than content, and of course, the other way around. A few might be completely on correct HTML. Effects on web page traffic are not long term, but keep in mind that most major awards have faithful visitors that go there to find interesting web sites. The amount of traffic depends on what kind of award it is. A "Site of the Day" will give lots of new visitors for one day. On the other hand, a "Site of the Month" will be more spread out. The most traffic will come from awards like "Starting Point Hot Site" http://www.stpt.com/ which put the winners into a directory. Whether you want the traffic or just the recognition, an award will do wonders for your web page. Just be patient and keep on submitting for those awards. For a list of sites offering awards go to Yahoo!'s list at http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Best_of _the_Web/ and start submitting. Wanted! Any information leading to a new search engine, directory, or anything else useful. So if you know of anything, please let us know via e-mail.
Misc. InformationI hope you have found this issue of the Informer helpful and enjoyable. If you really want to unsubscribe from this newsletter, (shame on you!), send email to informer@oaknetpub.com with REMOVE in the BODY of the message. If you want to get your friends to subscribe, tell them to email informer@oaknetpub.com with SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of the message. Thanks! Newsletter Credits:
Joshua Reimer, Editor (Big Boss)
Eat Mor, Official Tip Finder I am hanging out for your emails! Email is what every webmaster looks forward to. Send me your comments and suggestions! They will be much appreciated. And now for the manditory legal stuff: This newsletter is copyright 1997 Joshua Reimer. No part may be reproduced without permission. Joshua Reimer and Promotion World are not responsible in any way for any loss or damage that may befall you if you use the tips and tricks contained in this newsletter. Hopefully none will, but we just have to cover all our bases! This newsletter is "Made In Canada"!
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