Money Making Articles

WHAT IS A DOMAIN? UNDERSTANDING ITS ECONOMIC PROPERTIES

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:56:00 +0000

To try and understand a domain in terms of its technical properties is to understand only half of what it really is. In order to appreciate the benefits of owning a domain, you have to dissect its economic advantages to comprehend why anyone doing business on the Internet, must sooner or later, have their own domain.

Therefore, aside from giving you the short textbook definition of what a domain is, we will use the following pages to explore the financial opportunities intrinsic to owning a domain. In the process, we will try to answer questions like: What do I really own if I own a domain? What opportunities are available to me? Can my domain really make money for me?

DIFIFERENT KINDS OF DOMAINS The Internet is made up of (or shared by) different types of domains, each of them identified by the three-letter code that follows the domain name:

.com Commercial (Business & Industry) .edu Education Institutions .gov Government (Non-military)
.mil Military and Defense (Military Research, Etc.) .orgOrganizations (Non-profit operations) .net Network (Service networks)

For obvious reasons, we will limit our discussions to commercial domains, which by themselves are diverse in format, structure and purpose. To illustrate this quickly, here are three different commercial domains, with different formats, structures, and purposes.

www.lycos.com This domain serves as a search engine. Its purpose is to help web users locate specific files or topics anywhere on the web. It is supported through grants and a small amount of corporate sponsorship.

www.toyota.com This domain serves as an advertising site for Toyota. Its purpose is to promote its products and services to people who use the web. The cost for maintaining this domain is financed by Toyota, as a public relations and advertising expense.

www.adpages.com This domain serves as a public advertising venue. Its purpose is to provide a medium wherein small businesses can place their corporate and product advertising on the Web. It is financed 100% by advertising fees by these small businesses.

Some domains are designed for profit. Others serve as a PR or a customer-service tool. Some domains are successful because they are artsy; some are successful because they are practical. Some domains are already profitable, while some expect to become profitable soon.

THE DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM (DNS)
A domain is the highest form of address on the World Wide Web. The reason is primarily the direct result of what is called first-position addressing. To illustrate what first-position addressing means, here is a comparison between a Domain address and a Website address.

Let us say that you own a company named, MYBIZNES , and you want to use this name as your domain name. This is how your address would look ...

http://www.mybiznes.com

If you don't want to have your own domain, you can rent website space on someone else's domain. Let us say you rented a website space from Brandel's ADPAGES.COM domain. Your address would be ...

http://www.adpages.com/mybiznes

Originally, computers connected to the Internet were identified only by their IP numeric addresses. For example, the numeric address of ADPAGES.COM is 204.91.84.76. Using IP numeric addresses can be confusing and difficult to remember. As a solution, a text-based addressing system was developed, called the Domain Name System (DNS).

The DNS system takes care of translating domain names into IP numeric addresses. When YOU type on your web browser the address "http://www.adpages.com", the DNS system knows that you are actually trying to call "http://204.91.84.76".

A VARIETY OF METAPHORS For people who consider the World Wide Web in terms of electronic real estate, a domain is considered a commercial building and a website is compared to an office space or a store within that building. Likewise, domains have been packaged in a variety of metaphors, such as virtual malls and electronic shopping centers.

What you do with your domain is entirely up to you. For example: If you already have an existing business and you are already successfully marketing your products through conventional distribution channels, you can use your domain two ways:

(1) To promote and sell your existing product on the Web, and
(2) Encourage other businesses to place advertising within your domain, giving you two sources of revenue fromyour domain.

In the same manner that you can build any type of building on a piece of real estate (a mini mall, a movie house, an office building, a hospital, a car dealership, etc.), you can design your domain to be anything you want, depending on your skills and your business objectives. You can build your domain as a search engine, as a technical showcase, as an online magazine, a catalog, a 24-hour customer service bulletin board, an automated order taking service, a package tracking service, an advertising placement service, etc. Since the Internet market is extensive and varied, the ideas and the opportunities of what you can do with your domain are limited only by your imagination.

In this report, we are going to explore your options for establishing a cost-effective Internet business presence, and building your own power domain.

TURNKEY OR DO-IT-YOURSELF DOMAINS You can design your domain from scratch and maintain its day-to-day operations. Or you can buy a pre-designed domain, with an existing business structure already built-in to it. In this report, you will see the advantages and disadvantages of both.

This report will also discuss domain management strategies that can guide you in creating your own domain, using your ideas and doing it on your own, regardless of your technical expertise. The web has an abundance of talent, extremely capable of providing you technical services in areas where you may need assistance. (For example, we at Brandel farm out some of the work that comes to our shop. Aside from our in-house staff, we also use the services of a virtual staff of HTML typesetters, programmers and designers from all over.)

IS THERE A FUTURE FOR DOMAINS? We at Brandel believe that "domains" are the future of the World Wide Web. For instance, a March 11, 1996 Time Magazine article outlines AT&T's introduction of its new Worldnet Access service. At first glance, the news of AT&T's entry into the already overcrowded access-provider business may appear like it was no news at all. After all, this is one rumor a lot of Internet watchers were anticipating to happen. In short, it was inevitable.

What is most amazing, though, is AT&T's rate structure. AT&T announced that it would offer its regular residential telephone customers - all 80 million of them - five hours of Internet access each month - FOR FREE.

In a single stroke of its marketing wand, AT&T will deliver the Internet to 80 million people. And a price that the market can't say "no" to. This will simply speed up the growth of the World Wide Web. As a domain owner, this means that the World Wide Web will eventually become ubiquitous, and its use as a vehicle for mass information will be commonplace.

OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS This report covers key topics sufficient to give you a well-rounded glimpse at domains, as well as your opportunities and responsibilities as a domain owner. What we will not cover in this report are the technical aspects of creating a domain. That's the job of a programming book, which this is not. Instead, we will cover management and marketing issues by which you can chart the direction of your domain. Remember, creating a domain on the World Wide Web is a complex process that requires careful navigation through ever-changing, intertwining technical, financial and management issues.

Whether you want to build your domain on your own, or decide to purchase a turnkey Power Domain package, the opportunities domain ownership brings remain the same. The race is on for virtual commerce on the Internet. Having your own domain is your hot ticket to this new economic bonanza.

Good luck.

Next Article : DO-IT-YOURSELF DOMAIN BUILDING FROM SCRATCH WITH YOUR IDEAS

HOW TO WRITE HTML IN 10 MINUTES OR LESS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:19:00 +0000

This report is an introduction to the most fundamental language of the World Wide Web, HTML (Hyper Text
Markup Language). With the use of HTML, you will be able to create documents that can be seen on the Internet
World Wide Web. Hence, the understanding of HTML empowers you to use this new medium of mass
communication that is now accessible to over 100 million people worldwide.

In its basic and most practical form, HTML is painless and extremely easy to learn. All you have to do is memorize
specific sets of tags and understand what they mean.

For example, to make a word or a string of words turn bold,
you need to put a tag before the word and
a tag after the word.

 HELLO 
*********
HTML SOFTWARE The popularity of HTML has ignited a barrage of packaged software that write HTML documents on WYSIWYG format similar to that of desktop publishing. All you have to do is type the words and the software automatically inserts the HTML tags for you. These new programs enable you to create webpages without having to learn a single HTML command.
When reviewing this type of software, our programming team found three programs worth recommending:

Front Page
HotDog
Spider

Out of these three programs, I like NaviPress the best. It offers extensive design maneuverability and is very intuitive. You can create your first webpage even without reading the manual. The retail price of NaviPress is under $100.

LEARNING THE BASICS In spite of the availability of HTML programs, it is still quite helpful to learn the HTML language in its most basic form. Your knowledge of basic HTUL tags and commands will help you better understand how the Web works. In fact, it is probably easier to create simple webpages using a few HTNE tags, than to use HTML software.

WHERE THE MONEY IS Learning HTML can benefit you financially, giving you the skills you need to communicate to mass audiences via the World Wide Web. You can use your HTML know-how to create marketing and sales information materials to market products and services on the Internet.

Another way to profit with HTML is to offer your services to others. The going rate for HTML typesetting is around $35 for 1,000 words. This means that if you type a 1,000-word document in half an hour, you can make $35 every half hour, the equivalent of $70 per hour. This is one reason more and more people are learning how to write HTML. It has become a lucrative field that adds a premium to an otherwise ordinary skill, typing.
This report promises to teach you how to write HTML in ten minutes or less, so hold on to your keyboard. Just follow the step-by-step instruction that follows, and you will be set to create your first webpage.

Quick Start:
Write Your First Web Page Using HTML

TURN ON NOTEPAD...To write your web page using HTML, we are going to use Notepad, which you
already have if you have Windows. To get started, under Program Manager,
open the Accessories program group and click on Notepad.
(FOR DOS USERS: At the C:> prompt, type EDIT to open the "Edit" program.)
TYPE THE FOLLOWING..Simply type the following commands and text, line by line, just as you see it.

<HTML>
<BODY> <LEFT>
<TITLE> My Company, Inc. </TITLE>


<HEAD><Hl> Welcome To My Company, Inc. </Hl></HEAD> 
Believe it or not, My Company specializes in designing webpages using HTML. At this point, it really does not
matter whether or not I really understand what I was doing. I am just learning a new skill that will enable me to put
stuff on the World Wide Web - for others as well as for My Company. Thank you. </BODY> </LEFT>
</HTML>

3. SAVE ITSave what you just typed as "company1.htm" (Since anything typed on Notepad
is automatically saved as a . txt file, it is important that you change the default .txt to .htm )

4. CONGRATULATIONS!You have just written your first webpage, called "company1.htm". If you load this file into a web server, this is how
it will look on the World Wide Web.
(Use your Netscape browser to view your webpage.)

FIRST-TIMERS...
The objective of this report is to show you how to create simple webpages using basic HTML. To a large extent,
the exercises contained in this report are designed for individuals seeking to create webpages for the very first
time.

The acronym HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is the language used for writing documents
designed to be viewed via the World Wide Web.

HTML COMMANDS...
HTML is comprised of < commands > which instruct the computer on how to display your text and graphics on the

World Wide Web. All commands are typed enclosed between the less-than sign " < " and the greater-than sign
" > ".

Example: <BODY>

CANCEL [ / ] COMMANDS...
To terminate or cancel a command, simply put a forward slash [ / ] symbol before the command word within the < >
signs.

Example: </BODY>

FASTEST WAY TO LEARN HTML.
The exercises found in this report use HTML in its most basic and practical form. This, we believe, is the fastest
way for you to learn HTML and create your first webpage.

BASIC COMMANDS.
Exercises used in this report will primarily focus on the following HTML commands and their usage.

<HTML> </HTML>
All HTML documents must begin and end with these two commands respectively.

<TITLE> </TITLE>
Give your HTML file a title which automatically appears on the title bar of a web browser.

<BODY> </BODY>
Aside from the title, the rest of the text you type comprises the body of your HTML web page.

<LEFT> </LEFT>
Alignment commands include <right> <center> and <justify>.

<HEAD> </HEAD>
Use this to format text for headlines.

<HI> </Hl>
Use these to assign headline sizes...
H1, the largest, is approximately 24 points. H6, the smallest, is approximately 8 points.

 Render enclosed text bold using these.

 Make a text or a string of text italic.
May be combined with for bold italic

 Makes It Bold And Italic At The Same Time 
<UL> </UL>
Use this to begin and end a list. Each item on the list uses the <LI> command.

<LI> </LI>Use this for each item on your list

 
A forced break, indicating a carriage return, creating a line space.


Paragraph. Indicates the end of one paragraph and the start of a new one.

SAMPLE
This is the HTML file of the webpage shown below.
If you have Internet access you can view this page on http://adpages.com/mywebsite/product3.htm

************************

<HTML>
<TITLE> PRODUCT ONE </TITLE>
<BODY> <LEFT>
<HEAD> <HI> SAVE BIG BUCKS ON MY PRODUCT </Hl> </HEAD>
<H4> IT'S THE BEST PRODUCT YOU WILL EVER FIND </H4> 
Your search is over. My product is here and it can solve all your problems. It's really the best product money can
buy; and it's really cheap.
Imagine, you can buy my product for about half what
you pay for other products. 

Just think of all the things you can really do with my product.<UL>

<LI> You can use it in the morning </LI>
<LI> You can use it at night </LI>
<LI> You can use it during rainy days </LI>
<LI> You can use it during sunny days </LI></UL> 
In parting, I would like to stress that my product has been voted The World's Leading Product of It's Class 
by the Product Consumer Board.

So, please do not waste time! Order my product right now. </LEFT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

***************************

ADDING GRAPHICS & HOTUNKS TO YOUR WEBPAGE

What makes the World Wide Web attractive over any other branch of the Internet is its capability to display
graphics and offer hypertext links, generally referred to as hotlinks. Because webpages are written in HTML, it is
easy to include graphics and hotlinks, a feature that makes webpages not only visually pleasing, but also
interactive.

Graphic or hotlink insertion has a format similar to that of basic HTML commands, whereby it uses the same [< >]
greater-than / less-than signs to distinguish the commands from the rest of the text that appears on a webpage.

ADDING GRAPHICS.
The key command for adding graphics is <IMG SRC=......... > wherein you
place the URL or address of the desired graphics between the two [ "... " ]
quotation marks. In the example below, we are adding a photo, previously saved in our web server, of a pile of
money to our Product1.htm webpage. Hence, we add this line to our HTML file...

<IMG SRC="http:adpages.com/mywebsite/money.gif>

INTERPRETATION:
This command line means that you want your webpage to use the graphic file
named money.gif which is already saved on the domain called adpages.com and
under our website called mywebsite. This graphic file is a photo of a pile of money, as shown on the next page.

ADDING HOTLINKS...
The key command for adding a hotlink is <A HREF= " .... " > </A> where in you have to put between the two [ "... " ]
quotation marks, the URL or address of where you want to link to, and the hotlink word or words that you want your
readers to click on to activate the link.

In the example we have below, we are adding to our Product1. htm webpage a
hotlink that will link our readers to our first webpage (called company1. htm) which tells our reader a little about our
fictitious firm, called My Company, Inc. Hence, we added this line to our HTML file ...

<A HREF="http://adpages.com/mywebsite/companyl.htm"> about our company </A>

INTERPRETATION:
This command line means: when someone reading the webpage called Product1.htm clicks on the words "about
our company", they will automatically be linked to the webpage called Companyl.htm - which is a webpage about
our fictitious firm, My Company Inc.

NOTICE: Next page consists of the HTML files and the sample screen of Product2.htm, which is an expanded
version of our Product1.htm webpage. What we did was add graphics and a hotlink and then gave it a new file
name (Product2.htm) in order to distinguish it from our Product1.htm file.

Next Article : WHAT IS A DOMAIN NAME ? UNDERSTANDING ITS ECONOMIC PROPERTIES

Is There Money To Be Made In The 900 Business?<

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:18:00 +0000

Advertising single 900 Extension numbers is risky business. As the volume of calls made to 900#s continue to
decline, owning 900 Extensions can be the fastest way to lose money. Think about this ...

FACT: 900#s are the most over-regulated business on the face of the earth.
Congress, the FTC, the FCC, the Attorney General, State and Local government agencies all have their hands on
regulating what 900 can and cannot do.

FACT: 900#s are the most restricted business you'll ever find. Imagine, even the phone company itself offers the
general public "Call Blocking" for 900#s. This is like the phone company protecting the public against 900#
operators.

FACT: Some of the best money-making programs in the 900 business
(Adult, Work-At-Home, etc.) are now BANNED from 900.

FACT: 900#s nationwide call revenues are down to around 1/10th its projected earningsin 1992.

There is, however, one other FACT that works very well in favor of 900 Numbers: As a business opportunity,
900#s have the appeal of @ Money. It is the lazy man's business. This is why, in spite of its declining revenues,
people continue to buy 900 Extensions for $99 and then spend several hundred dollars advertising their lines.

SO... SELL 900 EXTENSIONS!!!
If you are an entrepreneur who is already heavily vested in the pay-per-call business, or someone who is just
seeking to get into the business for the very first time, this book is for you. In the following pages, you will learn
about new treads that will help you make money in the pay-per-call business.

RESELLING 900#s
Although advertising 900 Extensions is dead, there are still a lot of people who buy 900 Extensions. In this book,
you will learn where and how to get 900 Extensions for as little as $2 each and then resell them for $99.

You will learn how to become your own service bureau and get your lines direct from the phone company. (Did you
know that MCI 900 numbers are free?)

If you do not have the money to invest in your own voice processing equipment, you will have to contact service
bureaus and buy Master Lines with extensions. You will also learn how to deal with Aggregators who put together
deals and acquire large blocks of 900 numbers from which you can buy a part of. You will also learn how to buy
Extensions in blocks of 10 and 20 at a time, for as little as $19 each. Sell each one for $99 and you'll make a
$1,600 profit.

809, 011, AND 500 NUMBERS
You will also learn the ins and outs about these three new types of pay-per-call numbers and how they compare
against 900#s. Because 900 is highly restricted and heavily regulated pay-per-call entrepreneurs seek out other
ways to offer information and entertainment programs via the telephone, using other vehicles by which they can
bill & collect from callers.

These amazing new numbers, which are still in their infancy and still having some difficulties, are a promising new
breed that you may want to explore and consider for your pay-per-call business. In this book, we will show you
how and where to get 809, 0ll and 500 numbers. We'll tell you how much they cost, and what types of payout to
expect from them.

FREE ADVERTISING This book also includes Ad Placement Forms that will allow you to place up to $600 worth of FREE ADS on the Classified Ads Section of the INTERNET for a period of one year. If you already have a number that you are already operating, you may advertise your numbers to potential callers regardless of the type of program you are offering. If you are (or when you become) a 900 Reseller and want to offer 900 Extensions for sale, you may use your FREE ADS to advertise in the Business Opportunities category of the INTERNET ADS.

THE PAY-PER-CALL CONFUSION How 011, 809,1-500 and 1-900 Numbers Work & Compare Against Each Other. In the early 80's, the pay-per-call business expanded to allow individuals and businesses to provide and to charge for information offered via the telephone. The first forms of pay-per-call numbers were local in scope and the numbers 9-7-6 became the designated prefix used specifically for this purpose, based on a rate structure that governed its application.
ABOUT THESE NUMBERS The Pay-Per-Call Business operates with the use of special telephone numbers (that are easily recognizable) specifically developed to accommodate independent Information Providers to offer information and entertainment programs to telephone customers on a pay- per-call basis.

There are two kinds of Pay-Per-Call numbers: Those sanctioned by the Phone Company and recognized by US telecom regulators, and those NOT sanctioned by the phone company, called BY-PASS numbers.
SANCTIONED NUMBERS There are two types of pay-per-call numbers sanctioned by the phone company: These are the regional 976 and the national 900 numbers.

976 NUMBERS In the beginning, the pay-per-call business was simple and limited to the use of a special seven-digit phone number with a specially designated prefix of 976. (In some regions of the country, instead of using the numbers 9-7-6, the local phone company may designate 540 or 303. They all work in the same way, however.)

To call that number, you simply dial 976 and the remaining 4 numbers. You get connected to a recorded information or to a live person, and you are billed a set rate of $2, out of which around 50 Cents goes to the Information Provider - the person who rented this fine from the phone company and is providing the information or entertainment service via the telephone.
900 NUMBERS Because 976 was limited in geographic coverage, the phone company introduced a new pay-pet-call number that can be called from anywhere in the country. The phone company assigned the area code 9-0-0 to identify these calls and charge 900# callers accordingly.

Another favorable feature of the 900 number is the flexible rate system. The Information Provider who operates the 9009 can set his own rates. He can go to the phone company and say "I want to charge my callers $4.25 per minute", or whatever rate the Provider decides to charge.

With 976 numbers, this feature is generally not available. The local phone company offering the 976 lines sets a standard rate for all 976, numbers, and regardless of the type of information you sell, you are bound by that rate. Likewise, as you will see, non-sanctioned pay-per-call numbers are also faced with the same limitations.

NON-SANCTIONED NUMBERS Due to still government and phone company regulations governing the use of 900 numbers, pay-per-call entrepreneurs have been, for the past five years, experimenting with alternative ways to setup telecom systems that will allow people to call their numbers and be "automatically" billed for the usage.

Furthermore, since Adult programs, which are the most profitable type of pay-pet-call service, are banned in the USA, pay-per-call entrepreneurs are forced to circumvent these laws to stay in business. Hence, they use foreign gateways to set up their equipment, creating a whole new slew of pay-per-call numbers, including 809, 011, and the new 1-500 numbers.
809 NUMBERS The numbers 8-0-9 is the area code for the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. It is an ordinary area code people use to call up the Virgin Islands or the Bahamas. It is not normally used for pay-per-call.

However, there are now a small group of entrepreneurs who have set up shop in the Bahamas, got some lines from the local phone company there, and connected to a so-called "magic box" that allows these entrepreneurs to charge their own rates for long distance calls coming into their magic box. (This so-called "magic box" is a simple computer system similar to those used by small, independent telephone companies who resell long distance service.)

When a caller dials a pay-per-call 809 number, the call goes to this magic box in the Bahamas and is metered based on rates established by the pay-per-call service. The call is then forwarded back to the USA, to a specified phone number which is being answered by a live operator providing the Adult program.
809 operators make their money on the difference of the long distance rates, between what they charge and what the phone company (like AT&T or MCI) really charge.

The bill that appears on the caller's phone bill is structured around what the pay-per-call entrepreneur wants to charge. (For example, if the pay-per-call entrepreneur wants to charge $5 per minute, the phone company has no choice but to reflect this amount on the phone bill. After collecting this amount, the phone company deducts its normal long distance charge to the Bahamas which can be as low as 75 Cents per minute. The difference of $4.25 is rebated back by the phone company to the pay-per-call entrepreneur operating the 809 Number.

011 NUMBERS Again, if you notice, the numbers 0-1-1 is actually an access code for dialing long distance to most foreign countries. For example, if the call is going to the Philippines, you will have to dial 01-1-632-XXXXXX, because 632 is the code for Manila, Philippines, and XXXXXX represents the local phone number used by the pay-per-call entrepreneur in that country.

Again, like 809 numbers, the scheme with 011 is to have the caller dial a phone number that is connected to a magic box in that country where the magic box is located. That box enables the pay-per-call entrepreneur to do two things: (1) set their own long distance rates that they want to charge their callers, and (2) forward the call back to the USA where it is answered by live operators who provide the Adult entertainment program over the telephone.
500 NUMBERS This new type of phone numbers has been designated by AT&T primarily as a "personal" roaming number. You can make it forward anywhere in the country and your callers will be able to reach you, anywhere you may be, by simply dialing your 1-500 number.

For example: Let's say you are from Minnesota and you are going on vacation to California. Once you get to your hotel in California, you dial a special code on the telephone to "forward" your 1-500 number to your hotel room phone. If your business associate dials your 500 number, it will ring in your hotel room phone. You don't have to tell people where you and what phone number you have. All you have to do is give them your 1- 500 number once and they will be able to reach you wherever you are.

Because 1-500 numbers are in effect "transparent" (i.e. people who call the number do not know where the call is going to), many pay-per-call entrepreneurs use the 1-500 and have it call-forward to their magic boxes that are usually in the Bahamas or other foreign countries. These pay-per-call entrepreneurs use 1-500 to mask the call, making the caller think that they are calling somewhere local.

HOW ARE THEY SIMILAR Caller-Paid Service. Both Sanctioned and Non-Sanctioned numbers deal with Caller-Paid services. Callers get charged an access fee every time they dial a 976 or a 900 number, as well as when they call the 8-0-9 area code or the 0-1-1 and 1-500 numbers. The call fee or the long distance rate is automatically charged by the phone company, and is added to the caller's monthly phone bill.
HOW THEY ARE DIFFERENT Accessibility. 900 Numbers can be accessed nationwide; 976 numbers can be accessed only within the state where the service operates. On the other hand, 809, 011 and 1-500 numbers can be accessed from any phone with long distance access.

Pricing. 900 Numbers are designed for flexible sponsor-set pricing, enabling the IP to determine how much they want to charge their callers; 976 numbers follow a fixed rate chart. 809, 011 and 1-500 make their money from the margin between the (higher) rates the pay-per-call entrepreneur charges and the (lower) rates from the phone company
To better understand how these numbers compare against each other, and why one type of pay-per-call number is better than the other, it is best for you to get a more in-depth understanding of how 900 numbers work. After all, the 900 number is still the grand daddy of all pay-per-call numbers, although - as of late - it's have some serious health problems.

HOW 900#'S WORK
Compared to the new pay-per-call access (such as 809, 01 1, and 500 numbers), 900#s are more stable, cut-and-dry, and, in spite of its inherent limitations, are better structured. However, since very little is written about how 900 numbers really work, it is saddled with a lot of myths, particularly where pricing is concerned. For example, there are still some people in this business who think that 900 numbers are extremely expensive, believing that they cost around $5,000 to $ 1 0,000 each. This is hogwash.

Long distance phone companies who offer 900 numbers offer 900 numbers at different service levels. For example, MCI does NOT charge any installation fee, and does not have any monthly recurring service charges for their 900 numbers. On the other hand, AT&T may charge around $ 1,000 for setup, plus $175 a month per line.

More misinformation plagues this business when it comes to 900 Numbers that use Extensions. 900 Extensions are produced when a Service Bureau subdivides a single 900 Number (called Master Line) into multiple extensions, selling each unit as a business opportunity package. People who buy this package get nothing more than one Extension of a single 900 Number which is shared by hundreds of other users.

A single 900 Master Line can produce UNLIMITED number of extensions. A service bureau can break a Master
Line into as many Extension as it wants to sell. If an Extension uses 3 digits, this means that a single 900 master
line can have as many as 999 extensions (from 001 to 999).

If an Extension uses 4 digits, this means that a single 900 master line can have as many as 9999 extensions (0001
to 9999). This approach of breaking up a single line into multiple extensions is one of the biggest money-making
opportunities in the 900 business.

900 Extensions are good and bad depending on which side of the business you belong to. If I were selling 900
numbers, I will sell them as extensions, if only because I can have more lines to sell out of a single 900 master line.

However, if I were to acquire a 900 number, I will not consider buying an extension.
To begin with, I will not feel comfortable having a hundred or a thousand other people
advertising the same 900 number that I have, and the only thing that sets us apart are our)
digit extension numbers. (If I own extension 234, and the caller dials 243, I'm cooked.)

The use of 900 Numbers is probably the simplest, easiest, and the most affordable
business opportunity ever invented!! It is commonly compared to owning an electronic
vending machine with unlimited sales potentials.

It is the ultimate business opportunity for the small entrepreneurs, and those seeking to
operate a business on the side, on a part time basis.

With a 900 Business, you do not need a lot of capital to get started. And because, once
properly started, it almost runs by itself You can inform, entertain, announce, help,
advise, consult, promote, discuss, educate, sell - in fact you can do almost anything.

In order to create a highly profitable 900 business, all you need is your 900 Numbers.
There are no equipment or furniture needed. No computers, no gadgets, and no employees.

You don't even have to over a telephone. There are no office hours. And you usually don't have to work at all
because you can setup your 900 number to be answered
automatically by either a machine or by an outside five operator service.

You cannot afford to pass this opportunity by - whether your objective is to increase your
present income, or to free yourself from a dead-end job, 900 numbers represent a
business opportunity that can truly help you secure your financial Future.

ADVANTAGES OF 1-900#s.

When 900 Numbers were first introduced over 6 years ago, the built-in features made it a
dream tool for people seeking to sell information or entertainment. Imagine people
paying an average rate of $2 per minute for information over the telephone. That's
more that what anyone would pay per minute for a movie, pay-per-view or for a college
degree.

900 numbers became an instant winners! People seeking to make a fast buck were easily
attracted to and gobbled up 900 numbers by the dozen. Here are some inherent advantages that attracted
entrepreneurs to 900 numbers when they first came out.

ACCESSIBILITY 900#s can be accessed from anywhere in the United States, by simply dialing "1", and then 9-0-0 which serves as the area code, and a seven-digit phone number. They can be dialed from any touchtone phone without incurring additional toll charges. The caller only gets billed the rate of the call set forth by the Information Provider.
NATIONAL MARKET BASE 900#s have wider geographic coverage. It covers approximately 82.5 million homes from every area code across the United States.

MARKET AWARENESS 900#s were widely used by thousands of line holders, creating a rush or bonanza-effect and have therefore gained more exposure nationwide. More and more people are becoming aware and more familiar with 900#s and their uses.

VARIIETY 900#s have a wider program base. Nationwide coverage means many interest groups can be reached and the type of information that can be provided is limitless.

PROFITABILITY 900#s use flexible sponsor-set pricing. As an Information Provider, you are allowed to charge your callers as much as you feel your information is worth to your callers.

AVAILABILITY 900#s are immediately available and are relatively easier and cheaper to get than other types of pay-per-call numbers.

HOW CALLS ARE HANDLED 900#s operate the same way 800#s do in that they can be accessed and terminated anywhere in the country. Their principal difference lies in the billing process. With an 800 number, the party who receives the call pays the per-minute transport cost of the incoming call. This is why 1-800 numbers are also known as Toll-Free numbers, because they are free of charge to the caller.

With 900#s, the reverse is true. More than just being a caller-paid service, charges for a 900 call are based on what is called sponsor-set pricing. This simply means that the Information Provider (Sponsor) who operates the 900 service dictates how much the phone company must charge the caller, either on a per- minute or per-call basis.

The call is handled in 3 simple steps:
1. Caller Dials Number. The caller dials 1-900 and the seven-digit phone number of the program the caller wishes to access.

2. Phone Company Switches Call. This activates the phone company's switching center which directs the call to the city
where the service bureau handling this 900# is physically located. Simultaneously, it
activates the phone company's computers which then identify the caller's phone number,
measure the length of the call, and compute charges based on prescribed rates.

3. Service Bureau Gets The Call. The call is sent to the Service Bureau's Voice Processing Unit which then plays the
pre-recorded information or connects the call to a live operator, if such were the program
being offered.

WHERE TO GET 900#'s

Although Long Distance phone companies are the principal source for 900
numbers, entrepreneurs seeking to get their own 900 numbers are better off by getting their lines from a Service
Bureau who have their own equipment used for handling calls
to 900 numbers.

PHONE COMPANIES
There are two major national long distance carriers that offer 900 numbers: AT&T and MCI. You can order a 900#
direct from these phone companies. However, if you do not have your own call-handling equipment, the phone
company may have to refer you to a
Service Bureau.

SERVICE BUREAUS
Unless you can afford to purchase sophisticated telecommunications equipment to handle
inbound 900 calls, you will require the services of a qualified Service Bureau.
SB's get their 900#s from the phone companies in large quantities and can assign you any
quantity of 900#s for your programs. Ordering your 900# from an SB means a lot of
set-up time saved, since their lines are already physically connected to their call
processing computer.

Some Service Bureaus specialize in selling individual 900 Extensions for $99. Others
specialize in selling dedicated 900#s (undivided 900 numbers where you can offer your
own custom information programs) as well 900 master lines which can be subdivided into
multiple extensions.

When securing a dedicated 900# or a 900 master line, make sure you are clear about
all the charges involved. Since all bureaus have variable front-end and back-end charges,
it's best that you shop around.

SET-UP FEE.
A one-time fee for having you as a client. This may or may not include the cost of
acquiring and activating your 900#.

PROGRAMMING FEE.
A charge for programming your 900 Number in their system. Interactive or multi-
menu application are usually more expensive than live programs. Average rate can range
$200 to $1,500.

VOICE CAPTURE.
If you want to "capture" your callers' messages (name, address, etc.), this feature can cost
from $50 to $150 or more.

LIVE TRANSFER.
This may or may not be included in the programming fee. If a live transfer is optional
for the caller (must press a number to activate live transfer), then this feature is made
available to you at extra charge. SBs will also require you to get your own 1-800 through
which the call will be transferred to your live operator.

BUREAU ACTIVITY CHARGES.
These charges are usually determined by the actual performance of your 900#, based on the volume of calls it generates

MONTHLY SERVICE FEE.
Same as Maintenance Fee. This is a fixed cost regardless of your actual call traffic.
Can cost from $10 a month to $500 a month.

CALL QUOTAS.
A minimum call volume you must produce on your 900 Number to avoid any penalty.

ACTIVITY CHARGE.
A fixed amount (usually from 10Cents to 75Cents). charged on a per-minute or a
per-completed cal I basis, depending on the SB's accounting system.

SERVICE COMMISSION.
In lieu of a Service Fee, Call Quota, and Activity Charge, some SB's charge a
percentage rate contingent on the Gross Value of all calls your 900# generates.

Types Of Pay-Per-Call Programs

The following are some of the most popular pay-per-call programs, as well as some of the
most popular services that are being offered using 'regular phone numbers and
pay-per-call numbers.

DATELINE
Millions of men and women of all ages and lifestyles place personal ads, and millions more
answer them nationwide by area code and sexual orientation.

Telephone dating offers everyone a convenient and immediate means of contact.
There are no delays, no questionnaires to complete, no personal interviews, and no long
winded correspondence while you wait to arrange your first meeting.

The central database has the capability of storing all personal data and matching them with
others in the network, while notifying them of messages and matches. A caller may first
go through messages left by others and respond to any or all of them. The caller may also
record their own personals ad for others to respond to.

All callers are required to call back each time they want to retrieve their messages. This
feature of Dateline programs generate profitable call minutes. The Dateline is a favorite
of all ages and lifestyles, making it a top dollar producer in the pay-per-call business,
with calls running an average 8 minutes each.

PARTY LINE / CHAT LINES
Most Live Party Lines can accommodate 12 to 24 simultaneous callers who talk to each
other all at once. Successful chat lines always have a live host (called monitor) on the fine to keep the

conversation clean and flowing.

Vulgarity and explicit sexual language is never allowed. The live monitor makes sure
there is never a dull moment. While Party Lines are meant for younger audiences, callers
under 18 are not allowed.

With most Chat Lines additional privacy is offered to callers who wish to speak to each
other "privately". Most callers may choose to leave the party and go into a private
conversation with another caller.

Terms Of The Trade
Glossary of Pay-Per-Call Jargon

Every industry has its own jargon, its own collection of terms and expressions that have
become standard lingo of the trade. The 900 business is no different. Therefore, I
recommend that you become familiar with these 'Terms of the trade"

APPLICATION
May be interchanged with the word, "program", referring to the application for which a 900# is to be used.
(Examples: Dateline, Psychic, Sports, One-On-One, etc.)

AUDIOTEXT
Refers to any information program delivered in "audio" form as opposed to videotext or
"visual" programs. It is common among trade professionals to refer to the pay-per-call
business as the "audio text industry".

BLOCKED CALLS
Phone customers have the option to disable his/her line so that all 900 or 976 calls may be
dialed from his/her telephone.

CALLCHARGE
A per-minute or per-call rate the person who owns the 900 line wants to charge people
who call his 900#. (See Gross Call Value)

CALL COUNTS
Number of calls received by a 900il over a period of time.

CALLER-PAID SERVICE
As oppose to a toll-free service, this term is descriptive of 900#s wherein the caller is
charged a predetermined fee for calling a 900#.

CHARGEBACK
Chargeback is a 900 call for which the 900 line holder does not get paid. There can be a
number of reasons where a call is chargeback. (1)They refuse to pay the bill;

(2) The caller is unable to pay the phone bill; (3) The service bureau decides that your advertising is in violation of their policy and refuses to pay you for the calls generated by your 900 line. There can be several more reasons, making chargeback’s the most critical element of the business, an area which make or break the profitability of your operation.
CHARGEBACK RESERVE
A portion of the line holder’s earnings that is withheld either by the service bureau as a protection for themselves. It
serves as a buffer should your 9004 experience excessive chargeback’s.

CUSTOMER
The person who called the 900 number.

DEDICATED NUMBER
A single 900# assigned exclusively to a specific program that can be accessed by dialing
1-900 and its seven-digit number. It is the same as a master line, except for the fact
that dedicated numbers are not subdivided into extensions. They are used as a whole number, and do not require
the caller to dial an extension.

DETAILED CALL SUMMARY
A monthly report issued by the phone company for every Dedicated 900# and 900
Master line. (Please note that individual Extensions do not get a copy of this detailed report.) If you have a Master
line or a Dedicated 900#, your Service Bureau must send you a copy of this report which shows the total calls, total
minutes, and total dollars your 900# generated over a billing period which is usually a month.

EXTENSION NUMBER
This is created when a regular 9009 is subdivided into "extensions", commonly used by
Service Bureaus in order to market more lines than they actually have. (it's like breaking
down a single phone number to have extensions in every room in your house.)

GROSS CALL VALUE (GCV)
The gross amount of one call, based on the established Call Charge. A 10-minute call with
a call charge of $2 per minute has a GCV of $20.

INFORMATION PROVILDER (IP).
Descriptive name for any business or individual who "provides" information and
entertainment programs via 900#s. (Do not confuse with "Line holders" who have nothing
to do with the content and operation of the information or program offered via the
900 number.)

INTERACTIVE
A programming feature that allows a caller to choose information topics from a
'Menu" by pressing designated digits on their telephone keypad.

LOCAL EXCHANGE CARRIER The local phone company that provides telephone service to residents and businesses.
(Example, General Telephone, Centel, and Nynex, SNet, etc.)
LONG DISTANCE COMPANY
The national long distance telephone company who owns and maintains the actual 900#s.
The two remaining LOCs are AT&T and MCI.

LOC BILLING & COLLECTION
Usually a 10% surcharge imposed by the LOC for billing & collection services performed.
This surcharge is computed and deducted from the gross revenue of all calls generated by all 900#s during each
monthly billing cycle.

LOC RATE CAP.
The maximum amount an IP can charge on a per minute or per call basis, depending on the LOC's policy.

LOC RATES
The per-minute rate the LOC deducts from the gross revenues of each 900# as its fee for
handling the call. Example: MCI 900 numbers are subject to a rate of $0.30 per minute.
This amount, among other charges, is deducted from the gross amount or per minute charge that your callers pay
for calling your 900#.

MENU
Various choices and functions a caller is offered in an interactive 900 program.

PASSIVE
Also known as "announcement-only" lines. These 900 programs simply provide a
single straightforward, pre-recorded information piece which the caller listens to.
(See Interactive.)

PAY-PER-CALL
Descriptive term for people who pay each time they call. It is the correct terminology used to identify the business
of charging people for information or entertainment provided via the telephone hue.

PAYOUT
The revenue check paid to a 900 line holder.

PROGRAM
The information or entertainment material offered through the 900#. (See Application.)

RESELLER
An independent marketing company that acquires large blocks of dedicated 900#s and
re-sells them for a profit. Some re-sellers specialize in Extensions. They go to a service
bureau, buys a 900# Master line which they ask the service bureau to subdivide into
Extensions, and which re-sellers market by the unit or in blocks of I 0 to 20 Extensions at
a time.

SERVICE BUREAU A technical support company that owns and operates telecommunications equipment capable of handling inbound calls.

SB ACTIVITY CHARGE The amount a Service Bureau charges for processing calls generated by a line holder’s 900#. Charges may be based on number of calls AND number of minutes. In many cases, this charge is actually a combination several different charges which include the following:

= Monthly Line Lease = Monthly Line Maintenance = Per Call Charge = Per Minute Charge = Program Usage Fee
SB SET-UP FEE A fixed, non-recurring Service Bureau charge for setting up a 900 Master line of a 900 Extension. Some Service Bureaus charge $49 to $99 for each 900 Extension. Those who sell Master lines sometimes charge as much as $2,500 per 900 Master line with 999 extensions in it, bringing down the cost to around $2.50 per extension when acquired in blocks.
The Business Of Reselling 900 Extension Numbers
And Why It Is The Most Profitable Way To Get Into The Pay-Per-Call Business
The following is a brief summary of different ways you can make money given the current structure of the pay-per-call business. Based . on information from previous pages, you can compare these opportunities against each other, and conclude why reselling 900 numbers is the most profitable among the following:

900 EXTENSIONS Getting a 900 Extension is certainly the most difficult and the riskiest way to get into the pay-per-call business. After investing $99 for a line, you are required to invest more money for advertising. And after you realize that few people are going to call your 900 Extension (people don't call 900#s anymore), you're out a few hundred dollars.

809 & 011 NUMBERS These numbers are international access numbers not primarily designed for pay-per-call services. The only way promoters make money with 809 and 011 #s is from the long distance charges. The difference between what promoters charge their callers and the what they pay the phone company is where they make their money. There are two ways you can get your own 809 or 011 numbers:

SET YOUR OWN BOX
You can become a long distance reseller, and make all arrangements with the phone
company to set-up your own relay computers (magic box) in a foreign country of your
choice, and start charging your own rates to people who call up your phone numbers
in that country. (This can cost in the millions, considering the guarantees you have to make with the long distance
phone company, the local phone company in the foreign country of your choice, the equipment and the travel
cost.)

GET A LINE FROM A PROMOTER
You can buy (actually you are leasing because technically you do not own the phone
number because it sits on foreign soil) an 809 or 011 number for around $750 each,
depending on who you buy them from and which foreign country the call goes to.

WHAT TO PAY. If you are getting the numbers direct from the promoter who owns the
line, you may pay $500 or less if you buy them in huge blocks of numbers. However,
from a middle man, expect to pay $750 to $1,5 00 - the highest so far I have seen these
numbers being sold for.

WHERE TO SHOP: To shop around for 809 and 011 numbers, you can read the
classified ads pages of the USA Today on Mondays or Fridays where a slew of resellers
place ads selling ready-to-go numbers with programs already attached to them.

PROGRAMS: When you buy an 809 or a 011 number, chances are the numbers are already set up in such a
way that they are answered by five operators who provide "adult"
entertainment services.

Because 809 and 011 numbers fall into the cracks and are not under the microscopic tenses of the various
agencies that police 900#s, people who operate 809 and 011 are a lot more aggressive. Don't be surprise to find
809 or 011 numbers that offer hard core adult programs.

PAYOUTS: The problem with 809 or 011 numbers is not the cost of acquiring the fine
or the type of programming that usually goes with them. The biggest problem is VERY
LOW PAYOUTS. Because the money made in the call comes only from the long
distance charges, there is not really much room to make a large profit margin.

After paying the long distance phone company, after paying the local phone company
in the foreign country, after paying the adult operators who answer the calls, and
after the promoter gets his cut, the usual payout is around 20 CENTS Per Minute.
With these kind of payouts, 809 and 011 can be as risky as advertising 900 numbers,
making it extremely difficult for line holders to make a profit.

Just think about it: If the average call is 15 minutes long, at 2OCents per minute, you will
get $3 per call. If you spend $150 for a simple newspaper classified ad for one week, you
need to get 50 calls just to break even on the advertising cost. Now, that's a lot of calls to
expect from a classified ad!

1-500 NUMBERS As discussed in a previous chapter, 500 numbers operate in the same manner as 809 and 011 numbers, except for one distinct difference: The person calling the 500 number has no idea where the call is going.
Because 500#s are used and known as "Follow Me" numbers, they can be forwarded to ring anywhere in the world, and for that reason, it can be made to forward to an 800 number in the Bahamas without the caller knowing what really happened.
This "unauthorized" use of 500 for pay-per-call is playing with fire. It's rampant use for this purpose may taint the image of 500 numbers and defeat the real purpose for which the phone company created them.

As a result of this conflict, it is imminent that the phone company will take hold of this activity and regulate against entrepreneurs using 500 for pay-per-call, particularly those offering adult programs.

This makes 500 numbers extremely risky, It is quite scary to invest a lot of money on a 500 number that the phone company can take away from you or deny service at any time because of unauthorized use.
Nonetheless, because they are relatively new in the market, there is a lot of hype about 500 numbers that attract entrepreneurs to explore their potential. If you are shopping for a 500 number, here are a few things you should consider.

WHAT TO PAY Ready-to-go lines with built-in live adult programs sell for as little as $750 each when purchased direct from a promoter or line consolidator. However, from a middle man, expect to pay $1,000 to $2,000 - generally higher than 809 or 01 I numbers because 500 numbers are newer and hotter, making them easier to sell.

WHERE TO SHOP: To shop around for 500 numbers, you can read the classified ads pages of the USA Today. You can get your very own 500 number direct from the phone company for around $5 a month. Just send your registration card back to us and we'll send you all the details to have your own 500 number installed immediately.
RESELLING 900#s

Although operating individual 900 Extensions is dead, selling these 900 Extensions is very much alive. In fact, people who SELL (not operate) 900 Extensions are about the only ones-who make money in the 900 business.

A 900# Master line can be sub-divided into as many as 9999999 Extensions. However, although it has unlimited capability, Resellers would rather limit extensions to have a maximum of 3 digits. If you have a 900# Masterline with extension numbers from 0-0-1 up to 9-9-9, you'll have a total of 998 extension numbers. If you paid $2,000 for your Masterline, you're average cost would be around $2 per extension.

If you buy your own Masterline, be prepared to pay an extra $500 to $800 for set-up and programming charges (usual service bureau fees to subdivide your Masterline into Extensions.)
THE $99 FACTOR
For the past three years now, the price of 900 Extensions has been sitting steadily at $99.
The three biggest sellers of Extensions in the country have pretty much stayed with this

number and forcasted their business based on the $99 factor.

However, you don't have to do the same! You can sell your 900 Extensions for $79 or $59, or as little as $49.95.
Since you do not have any major investment on equipment and
personnel, you can be very competitive and market the same products at a discount.

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How To Succeed With Your Own Money-Making Ad Sheet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Publishing and distributing a mail order ad sheet can be very profitable. They are simple and easy to produce, with most quick print shops able to handle the printing at fairly low cost. The important consideration is that you can use them to pull in advertising dollars for yourself, as a free advertising media for your own products, and as an exchange medium with which to get greater exposure for you own ads.

Before starting an ad sheet, you should plan it all out - decide on an interesting, informative title, choose a masthead, lay out your columns for size, determine if it is to be a simple 8 1/2 x 11 single sheet of paper or an 11 x 17 sheet folded in half. you'll also need to know your production cost for the number you intend to have printed, and the postage cost to mail them out.
Most of the ad sheets start out as single sheets of paper, 8 1/2 x 11, printed on both sides. Usually, the front side is divided into three equal columns about 2 1/4 inches wide, with a 1/2 inch margin from the edge of the paper on both sides and top and bottom.

Assuming that the space occupied by your title, masthead and listing of rates for advertisers interested in placing an ad with you is two inches deep, this leaves you about 24 inches of advertising space to sell on the front side. Figuring a cost of $50 for 1,000 copies of such an ad sheet, printed both sides, and a third-class bulk-rate postage of $110, this means that your 24 inches of ad space will have to be sold at a rate of $6.25 each in order to break even. This means: You have to sell all of the ad space on the front of your ad sheet at $6.25 each in order to break even. This means: You have to sell all of the ad space on the front of your ad sheet at $6.25 per ad - and then expect to make your profits from the sale of the back side of your ad sheet. Actually, it would be feasible to charge $7.00 per inch for the space on the front side, and carry you own full page ad on the back side. At any rate, don't box yourself into a loss situation where you can't afford to place your own ads in your ad sheet.

You get ads by making up an advertising solicitation sales letter and sending it out to as many mail order dealers as you can find. You can also run ads in other people's publications, inviting the readers to check with you regarding placement of an ad in your publication. And of course, you'll be wanting to work out some exchange advertising deals (whereby another publisher runs your ad in his publication, and you run his in exchange). From the experience of many, many publishers, this can be one of the most effective ways of getting your ads run, at low/no cost, and it is recognized to be successful in the field of Mail Order.
You probably won't be able to fill up all of your available ad space with paid ads until you're well established - but no problem - first you fill your ad space with paid ads, and then you fill in the empty space with ads of your own. Some beginning advertisers fill a part of their empty space with complementary ads for other mail order operators, send them a

copy of the issue in which the complimentary ad appears, and invite them to continue the ad on a "paid" basis from there. Many of them will appreciate the favor and send you a check or money order to continue running the ad.

If you undertake the publication of an ad sheet, be sure to consider the possibilities of sending out 100 to 1,000 copies of your ad sheet to other mail order operators to rubber stamp their names/addresses as co-publishers and mail out for you. Thus, if you had 50 other mail order operators sending out 100 copies each of your ad sheet, you'd be talking about a circulation of 5,000 copies plus the number of copies you mail out. If you can get this kind of program going, you'll quickly build your reputation as well as your circulation, and at the bottom line, your profits.

Some ad sheet publishers, once they've established themselves and are putting out an impressive publication, set up distributor networks. Generally, they run ads calling for distributor/dealers and asking for a $5 to $10 registration fee. In reply to the registration application, they send out a letter explaining that each distributor can buy at half price, so many copies of each issue of the ad sheet, rubber stamp their name on each copy, and send them out as their own. In return, the distributors usually get 50% of the incoming advertising orders, a half-price ad for themselves, and an opportunity to sell subscriptions.

The bottom line relative to becoming a successful ad sheet publisher has to do with keeping your production costs printing and mailing - as low as possible, while putting out a quality product that other people in the mail order business will want to advertise in - while at the same time using it as a advertising/selling vehicle for your own products.

My advice is that almost everyone involved in mail order selling should have some sort of ad sheet - if for no other reason than as a means to an end - an advertising vehicle for your own products, an extra income form advertising revenues, and as an exchange media with which to gain greater exposure for your own products in other people's publications. Once you've got an ad sheet, or any kind of publication set up and being seen by other mail order operators, you'll quickly gain stature and a certain amount of prestige.

As with any business, your ultimate success depends on your own feasibility studies, and your "sharp-pencil" planning completed before you order your first issue printed. Think about it, weigh the pro's and con's, then go with your decision.

How To Recruit Dealer/Distributors To Sell For You

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:59:00 +0000

Everyone dreams of owning a super money-making business where other people do all the work, and their only duties involve the approval of sales and bank deposit slips. It's the only way to go as a business owner.
The problem is however, not too many people seem to know how to " put together" such a business. What you're really talking about is an operation where you supply the product and other people do the selling-A prime source with a dealer or distributor network.
Assuming that you have the product, you'll also need a sales kit and plenty of impressive, eye-catching promotional materials. If you don't supply or offer to supply materials with which your sales force can sell the product, you'll have a hard time enlisting people to sell for you, and you probably won't set any sales records relative to your product either.
Let's assume that you've just written a book-HOW TO MAKE $100,000 PER YEAR AT HOME, WITH YOUR TYPEWRITTER..Okay, in order to sell this book, you've got to get the word out to the people that you have such a book available. Advertising on your own is going to cost you money, and unless you've got a good understanding of the advertising business, you may never reach your full sales potential-besides, the time and effort expended in finding the "right" place to advertise, the placing of your ads, monitoring your returns, and the frustrations of dealing with the curiosity seekers, will quickly wear you out. Such is not the way you envisioned your life when you got the idea to write the book, get rich and enjoy a life of leisure.

So, just as soon as you've got your book written-the book is your product-get some "bids" out to the advertising agencies in your area, the freelancers, and the advertising department at your local colleges. What you want these people to do is make up an advertising circular promoting and selling your book. Now then, in a different-maybe smaller-type, and kind of like an afterthought-at the bottom of this circular, you include the phrase: Dealer Inquiries Invited...
Look over all the submitted circulars and choose the one (s) you consider the best. then have a supply of these printed up at your local print shop, obtain a mailing list of opportunity seekers, and get them in the mail.
Just as soon as you've dropped these first circulars in the mail, start writing your dealer/distributor letter. This should be simply an explanation describing how you will drop ship orders for their customers, allowing them a certain commission on each sale and, the price per copy you'll sell your book to them in wholesale quantity lots. At the same time, this letter should include a copy of your advertising circular, and an explanation, reassuring these dealers that they can reproduce this circular with their name/address in place of yours on the order coupon.
You might even include a brief note that you will pre-print these circulars with the dealer's name/address and ship them to him for a wholesale printing price. All of this boils down to your supplying him or her with whatever is needed to promote and sell copies of your book for you. The bottom line is simply that you can only reach so many people, and sell so many books yourself. With 1,000 people helping you-mailing out advertising circulars and running small ads in hundreds of opportunity seeker publications-your costs of running your business will be minimal while your book sale skyrocket.
Remember though, you need an impressive, eye catching advertising circular or mailing package for your sales force to use as their own, and you need a clear easy-to-understand books in wholesale quantity lots, and the availability of advertising materials for your dealers.
The advertising circular should be dual purpose- you send it out to solicit sales of your product, and at the same time, recruit dealers who are impressed with your advertising materials and feel that they can make some money for themselves by promoting product. Again, this needn't be much more than a simple "throw-way" line at the bottom of the circular: Dealer Inquiries Invited...
Now that you're organized thus far, the next thing is to contract to run as many small DEALERS WANTED ads in as many of the mail order publications as possible. Such ads can be either a classified or a small, but eye-catching one inch display ad:
DEALERS WANTED! Outstanding new book. Sells like wildfire! Everybody wants a copy! Make $10 profit on every $15 sale! Details for SASE to:
Basically that's all your "dealers wanted" ad needs to say, and then with plenty of exposure in all the mail order publications over a period of six or eight months, you should have hundreds of people all over the country selling your book for you. Simple, easy, almost cut and dried, but it works!
In building my own business from scratch over the past 10 years, I've found that once you've established a basic dealer/distributor network-or a list of people selling for you,you can add hundreds of related products, and the orders just keep coming in. Give it a try and see for yourself just how easy and profitable it can be for you!

Money-Maker's Guide To Easy Mail Order Riches

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Selling products and/or services through the mail is one of the fastest growing methods of doing business in the world today. It's estimated that sales for 1983 will top the 100 billion dollar mark!
Millions of people from all walks of life, and in all parts of the world are "into" mail order, with more coming in every day. Some of them are grossing in the millions, others are chalking up sales figures of several hundred per month, and there are others who only give it a quick try, make a few dollars and drop out।
Mail order selling appeals to almost everybody with a desire to get rich. Generally, it doesn't require complicated equipment, a lot of start-up capital, or an expensive office. Mail order is a kind of business that can be run by anyone from the comfort of his or her own home.
About all that's required for success in mail order is selling is an understanding of what you're doing--it's not a game or kind of thing you want to just give a quick try...It's a way of doing business, a requires a good understanding of what people buy, why they buy, and an operational plan that will lead you to success.
In order to make it big in mail order, you must understand that it's a selling business. Thus, you've got to decide on what you want to sell--who your buyers will be--and know why they buy, and then, program your selling efforts in such a way that these people will buy from you.

The best, and the easiest selling product or service--because it has the greatest appeal to the most number of people--is information that gives people knowledge or instructions that will enable them to get rich. The bottom line is simply that everyone in the world wants to know how they can get rich--without putting forth too much of an investment in either money, time or effort.
So, the first thing that you should do is some marketing research: Look in all the publications running mail order advertisements and opportunities--get a good understanding of what they are doing--how they are doing it--and then formulate a business plan of your own that will allow you to duplicate what they're doing.
With get rich information or instructions--and knowing that to make the really big money you have to be the author or a prime distributor--there are two ways to go. You can become the author with all the involved headaches and demands upon your time, or you can buy the reproduction rights and re-sale or distribute them as your own.
As the author, you'll have to do the research, the writing, the printing, advertising, and order fulfillment.
As a prime source distributor, you can pay a one-time fee for the reproduction rights--then spend your time and money on selling efforts. You still have to handle the printing, the advertising, and order fulfillment--but you have the advantage of "choosing and picking" only what you feel will make money for you.
With most writers, only about 10% of what they spend hours, weeks, even months researching and writing, ever sells for them. Writers are just not geared to the profitable marketing of their materials.
Your initial marketing research should give you a good idea of what is selling--what the people are buying--and which titles of any particular author you want to promote and sell for your own profits.
The next thing is to look through all the publications you can find that carry mail order ads--those that run issue after issue (but not those run as fillers by the publisher) are usually the ones that are not making money for the people selling them(or you can bet they wouldn't still be running them).
Decide which kind of program you want to run, and how you want to make money...The best ad to run is one that offers a free report relative to a money making plan. Your ad might read: FREE REPORT! Insider's Secrets to Your Own Million Dollar Multi-Level Empire. Send SASE to (your name and address).
In reply to each of the responses you get to this ad, you send them a one page report that briefly explains your multi-level secrets, with an invitation at the bottom for those really interested in multi-level marketing, to send in another $15 or $20 for your complete multi-level marketing "how-to" manual. You can then fill up their SASE with other offers, such as the availability of mailing lists for rent, a multi-level program of your own, and a listing of other business success reports you're offering.
At the same time, you compile the names and addresses of all the people sending for either your free report or their own materials, and you have the beginning of a mailing list of your own that you can rent out over and over again at huge profits to yourself.
Clip the stamps off the envelopes as you receive them, and save them in an old shoe box. When you have a box full, you can sell them to any number of stamp collectors, and pocket an easy $10 or $15...
Save all the envelopes with return addresses, and when you've accumulated a thousand or two of these, you can send them in to list compilers and pocket another $50 to $100...
The other way of advertising is the offering of your report or book for sale from the ad. Such an ad would read about like this: Insider's Secrets to Your Own Million Dollar Multi-Level Empire. Dynamic new reports shows the easy way. Send $3 to (your name and address).
It's very difficult to sell anything directly from a classified ad because there just isn't space enough in which to do a complete job of selling. Thus, if you try to sell from a classified ad, be sure to keep your selling price under $5...
A $3 item should pull well with a classified ad--A $5 item will take at least a one inch display ad--a $20 item will take a well written sales letter.
When you're just getting started in mail order selling, stick to small classified ads--test the pulling power of your ad, and your product, as well as the publication your ad runs in...
Analyze and practice rewriting some of the ads other people are running--experiment, and run a few ads in only one or two publications--and then build upon your success. In other words, if your first ad costs you $30, and you take in $90--take that $90 and run the same ad again, not only in the same publication, but in a couple of other publications as well. Use your profits to expand the exposure of your offer--let as many people as possible see it.
It's important to note that you cannot expect to "live off" the income from your beginning efforts. You have to have "other" money to pay your lights, water, and gas bills.
Mail order success is built upon the wise investment of your advertising dollars. Take $100 and run a classified ad for your reports in one of the big national publications. Figuring that from that first $100, you can take in $300, run the same ad again in that publication, and at the same time in two other publications. Thus, your real profits should triple--and if you keep on reinvesting your profits in additional advertising exposure--conceivably within six months or less you should be hauling in several thousand dollars per month in profits.
For complete reproduction and re-sale/distribution rights on this report, as well as a list of other reports that will make money for you, just drop a line to the mail order dealer from whom you bought this one.

The Dos And Don'ts of Profitable Mail Order Ads

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:52:00 +0000

Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect of any successful mail order business is its advertising. In fact, mail order success is wholly dependent, and even predicated upon good advertising.

First of all, you've got to have a dynamic, spectacular ad that attracts the eye and grabs the interest of the people you're trying to sell to. Thus, unless your ad really "jumps out" at the reader, your sales won't live up to expectations, and your ad money will be wasted.

The eye-catching appeal of your ad must start with the headline. Use the headline to very quickly create a picture in the minds of the reader--a vision of all their problems being solved, and attainment of the kind of happiness they seek. If your headline fails to catch the attention of your prospect, you cannot hope to capture him with the remaining of the ad, because it will go unread! So in writing your advertisement for just a little while, so you must quickly interest him in your offer, show him how he can get what he wants, and then cause him to send immediately for your "solution" to his problems. Your copy must exude enthusiasm, excitement, and a positive attitude. Don't be afraid to use a hard-sell approach! Say what you feel and believe about your offer. And use common, "everyday," but correct English.

Even so, you can and must remember to be honest. Don't exaggerate or make claims you can't back up. Never make promises you cannot or don't expect, to keep. To do so could get you in trouble with the Federal Trade and Fair Practices people.

Stress the benefits of your product or service. Explain to your reader how owning a copy of your book (for instance), or receiving your services will make his life richer, happier, and more abundant. Don't get involved in detailing all the money you've spent developing the product or researching the information you're selling, or you're selling, or your credentials for offering it. Stress the "sizzle" and the value of ownership.

It is important to involve the reader as often as possible through the use of the word "you." Write your copy just as if you were speaking to and attempting to sell just ONE person. Don't let your ad sound as a speaker at a podium addressing a huge stadium filled with people, but as if there were just one individual "listening."

And don't try to be overly clever, brilliant or humerus in your advertising. Keep your copy simple, to the point, and on target toward selling your prospect the product or service because of its benefits. In other words, keep it simple, but clear; at all costs, you don't want to confuse the reader. Just tell him exactly what he'll get for his money; the benefits he'll receive; how to go about ordering it. You don't have to get too friendly. In fact, becoming "folksy," and don't use slang expressions.

In writing an ad, think of yourself as a door-to-door salesperson. You have to get the attention of the prospect

quickly, interest him in the product you're selling, create a desire to enjoy its benefits, and you can then close the sale.

Copywriting, whether for a display ad, classified ad, sales letter or brochure, is a learned skill. It is one anyone can master with a bit of study, practice, and perhaps some professional guidance.

Your first move, then, is to study your competition, recognize how they are selling their wares. Practice rewriting their ads from a different point of view or from a different sales angle. Keep a file of ads you've clipped from different publications in a file of ad writing ideas. But don't copy anyone else's work; just use the ad material of others to stimulate your own creativeness.

Some of the "unknown facts" about advertising--and ad writing in particular--tell us that you cannot ask for more than $3 in a short classified type ad. Generally speaking, a $5 item will take at least a one-inch display ad. If you're trying to sell a $10 item, you'll need at least a quarter page--perhaps even a half page of copy--and $15 to $20 items require a full page. If you are selling a really big ticket item (costing $50 or more) you'll need a four-page sales letter, a brochure, separate order coupon, and return reply envelope.

If you're making offers via direct mail, best to get into the postal system with it on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, to be sure it does not arrive on Monday, the first and busiest day of the week. And again, unless you're promoting a big ticket item, the quality or color of your paper won't have any great effect on the response you'll get, but the quality of your PRINTING definitely will, so bear this in mind when you place your printing order.

One final point to remember: The summer months when people are most apt to be away on vacation are usually not good months for direct mail. But they ARE good for opportunity and advertisements in publications often found in vacation areas, and in motels and hotels.

Again, it cannot be stresses too much or often: Success in mail order does, indeed, depend upon advertising, and as with anything else, quality pays off in the long run. Read this report again; study it; let it sink in. Then apply the principles outlined in it. They have worked for others, and THEY CAN WORK FOR YOU!

How To Write Profitable Classified Ads

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:50:00 +0000

Everybody wants to make more money... In fact, most people would like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth, is mail order or within the professional circles of the business, direct mail selling...

The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to the basic ingredient of selling by mail--the writing of profitable classified ads. If your mail order business is to succeed, then you must acquire the expertise of writing classified ads that sell your product or services!

So what makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must appeal to the reader, and as such, it must say exactly what you want it to say. Secondly, it has to say what it says in the least possible number of words in order to keep your operating costs within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired results whether inquiries or sales.

Grabbing the reader's attention is your first objective. You must assume the reader is "scanning" the page on which your ad appears in the company of two or three hundred classified ads. Therefore, there has to be something about your ad that causes him to stop scanning and look at yours! So, the first two or three words of your ad are the utmost importance and deserve your careful consideration. Most surveys show that words or like this. MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer. Send $1.00

These are the ingredients of any good classified ad---Attention--Interest--Desire--Action...Without these four ingredients skillfully integrated into your ad, chances are your ad will just "lie there" and not do anything but cost you money. What we've just shown you is the basic classified ad. Although such an ad could be placed in any leading publication and would pull a good response, it's known as a "blind ad" and would pull inquiries and responses from a whole spectrum of people reading the publication in which it appeared. In other words, from as many "time wasters" as from bona fide buyers.

So let's try to give you an example of the kind of classified ad might want to use, say to sell a report such as this one...Using all the rules of basic advertising copywriting, and saying exactly what out product is, our ad reads:

MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS! How to Write winning classified ads. Simple & easy to learn-should double or triple your responses. Rush $1 to ABC Sales, 10 Main, Any town, TX 75001.

The point we're making is 1) You've got to grab the reader's attention...2) You've got to go "further stimulate" him with something (catch-phrase) that makes him "desire" the product or service...4) Demand that he act immediately...

There's no point in being tricky or clever. Just adhere to the basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the best ways of learning to write good classified ad is to study the classifieds--try to figure out exactly what they're attempting to

sell--and then practice rewriting them according to the rules we've just given you. Whenever you sit down to write a classified, always write it all out--and then go back over it, crossing out words, and refining your phraseology.

The final ingredient of your classified ad is of course, your name & address to which the reader is to respond--where he's to send his money or write for further information.

Generally speaking, readers respond more often to ads that include a name than to those showing just initials or an the number of words, or the amount of space your ad uses, the use of some names in classified ads could become quite expensive. If we were to ask our ad respondents to write to or send their money to The Research Writers & Publishers Association, or our advertising costs would be prohibitive. Thus we shorten our name Researchers or Money-Makers. The point here is to think relative to the placement costs of your ad, and to shorten excessively long names.

The same holds true when listing your post office box number. Shorten it to just plain Box 40, or in the case of a rural delivery, shorten it to just RR1

The important thing is to know the rules of profitable classified ad writing, and to follow them. Hold your costs in line.

Now you know the basics...the rest is up to you.

How To Develop A Worldwide Distributor Network

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:24:00 +0000

When you select a product, your choice should be based upon your knowledge of how and to whom you're going to sell. You may have the greatest bargain in the world, but it will be of no value to you if you don't know who's going to buy it, or how you are going to get the word out about it.

The first rule of achievement of a fortune is to produce or buy your product for pennies and sell for dollars. So after preliminary market research to determine who'll buy your product, the next question to answer is: How munch will the majority of this market be willing to pay for your product?

For the sake of our discussion, let's say that you've written a "How TO" manual on how to make $100,000 a year compiling and selling mailing lists. You check with a number of printers and get a production cost of $1.50 per book in lots of 1,000. You figure that with sharp advertising, you can "sell a million" of these books at $10 per copy, but that advertising will cost you $1.50 per book. Thus far, the basic cost of your book is $3 per copy.

Even though you will probably be the one selling most of your books, you must realize that it will take you an awfully long time to move out a million copies of this book. It will keep you busy 25 hours a day, 8 days a week to do it all by yourself. So the thing to do is recruit as many other people as you can to help do the selling. This means setting up a dealer distributor network.

To do this, you must make it worthwhile for other people to sell your product. You offer a percentage of the sales price to each book they sell for you. Generally, this is about 50% for each single copy sold; 60% when purchased in quantity lots of 25 to 99 copies; and 75% when purchased in lots of 100 copies or more. The important thing is to shave your profits to a minimum when you have other people doing the work for you.

Let's use, the, our example of a $10 book that costs you $1.50 to produce in lots of 1,000. For people who buy from you in lots of 100 copies, you could cut your profit to $1 per book, sell it to them for $2.50 per book, and let them do all the advertising, as well as the selling. Don't offer more than 50% on single copy drop ship sales, because you'll have to furnish this type of dealer with selling materials, and continue to do most of the advertising yourself.

Setting up your distributor program will require advertising and a sales kit for the sellers. Thus, you should make up a series of "Dealers Wanted" ads and place them in as many different publications as you can.

The national "opportunity" magazines are the best place to place your advertising for dealers. Remember, the ad should be a call for dealers, distributors and independent extra income seekers. Do not try to sell your product in this ad. Use it only to enlist or recruit people to sell for you. Remember too, the more you run your dealers wanted ad, and the more different publications you run it in, the more people you'll get to sell your product for you. The easiest way to go is with "Dealers Wanted" advertisements in as many worldwide publications as possible.
You'll lose your shirt attempting to recruit sales people via direct mail, and you'll never make any headway with just a "Dealers Wanted insert" in each book you sell. If you want sales people, you must advertise for them.

To actually get these interested opportunity seekers to sell your product for you, you'll need a dynamic sales letter and seller's kit to send out in response to the replies to your advertising. This kind of sales letter is usually four pages in length, printed on 11 by 17 inch paper, to sell the prospect on the idea of selling for you, use the amount of space and paper that's necessary.

If you've written sales letter properly, that's all there is to it. Some people charge an "up-front" dealer's registration fee. We don't recommend this, for a number of reasons--mainly because it immediately eliminates a great many people who might want to least try to sell the product for you, but are not willing to "pay" to sell for you.

Some sellers charge $1 to $5 for details and complete dealership set-up to offset the cost of the initial seller's kit and postage. This is what we recommend at the start. If you offer your program for nothing, you'll get as many responses from curiosity seekers and opportunity collectors as from bona fide prospects.

If you charge for the dealership set-up, you should include a sample of your product. For the more elaborate sales kits and expensive products, most people ask for deposit, which is refunded after a certain number of sales are made by the dealer. Any charges more than $5 should not be mentioned in your "Dealers Wanted" advertisements, but held over and fully explained in your sales.

This is how you set up a dealer/distributor network: Get other people to sell your product for you! You can, and should be prepared from the start, before you place your first dealers wanted ad, and proceed only as you can afford the advertising costs from the profits of sales of your product.

It's simple, and it's easy, and, it can make your rich! You had to have real interest to have ordered this report. We hope that it has motivated you with the entrepreneurial spirit, and that you act on it!

Electronic Marketing For Everyone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:54:00 +0000

Most people who are prospering from this form of marketing are selling the sizzle and have forgotten the steak. This article will provide the facts behind the hype. You will get the straight truth from someone who uses online marketing personally and who isn't trying to get rich by selling direct response techniques as realistic BBS marketing concepts.

Marketing Electronically is a hot topic especially in these days of instant gratification. There are advantages and disadvantages to any form of marketing, but lately all I hear are the advantages.

Let me first mention the benefits as expressed by others and then I will provide the negatives that have been unvoiced.

(1) You can reach millions of people.

(2) Lower lead costs.

(3) Quickness of response.

(4) Lower inquiry fulfillment costs.

All of this sounds great huh?

The disadvantages include:

(1) You must consistently market, more than with direct responseadvertising or direct mail.

(2) Trying to keep your material on the boards.

(3) Your material can t be sales related.

(4) Finding out if there is an audience for your product orservice involves searching the online networks to determine if it's large enough to even bother uploading your material to.

One major disadvantage to online marketing as I mentioned in item three is:

You can t blatantly promote your material, your product, or your service. With conventional advertising you can go right after your potential customer with a salesletter, but, with bbs marketing you have to provide up front information in the form of a how to article and at the closing of your article you can include a resource box which invites the reader to respond to an offer that you make within it.

There are two advantages to utilizing a how to article. (1) You are considered an expert on the subject that you have written about. (2) Your material if information rich could remain on the boards for years.

You cannot provide information that points the reader to your product or service. In effect it must be generic. Give plenty of information up front. This is what the system operators want on their board and this will be what determines whether your material stays on the board.
The online services are like magazines, readers call back again and again if there is valuable information. If you re not providing valuable information that they can read and download, then your material won't remain up on the boards. Packaging Is Everything
One of the best ways I know of keeping your material on the boards is in a newsletter format.
You accomplish this by using a software program. I recommend Writers Dream (available from Infopreneur publishing for $5) It s an easy but powerful program. You can create up to forty five individual chapters, each chapter can be a separate article, a portion of a book, manual, directory, etc. The online publication once created can be compressed with PKZip and uploaded onto the boards. When you place material as an online newsletter your chances are greater that it s going to remain up on the boards. I have a business associate who has had his material in this format on one large commercial network for over a year. One important point, you can't put your sales letter (water-down or not) into this online publication format and expect for it to stay on the boards.
If you create an online newsletter in this IBM software driven format, also create an issue that is in a straight ASCII format. This can be accomplished with a simple text editor or word processor. This will cover all the bases and allow additional computer platforms such as Macintosh, Amiga or Unix to read it.

Direct Response Techniques Don t Work!

I must keep emphasizing that you must provide solid information. This form of marketing can not be approached using direct response marketing techniques. It won t work! I warn you to be careful if your following the advice of those who have a direct response marketing mind set. You need to listen to those who use the computer bulletin boards personally and know how to operate a computer. Such as myself.

Listening to those who don t market electronically or know how to use a computer is like trying to take advice on how to run a successful business from someone who has never started one. It s simply foolish!

Direct response marketing involves hype in print, you don t tell a lot, instead you sell a lot, offering the reader plenty of benefits that spell out wants in it for them." With online marketing you need to tell a lot and I don t mean tell them what they re going to get if they buy your product or service. What do they need to do to accomplish specific objectives. If you re writing a report on 25 ways to make money staying at home, you can t write order my book and I will reveal these 25 ways. No! You need to write an article that details the 25 specific (workable) ways to make money at home and within the resource box at the close of this article you can mention that there are also an additional 75 other ways to make money at home and if they would like to receive this valuable report simply contract you.

An Effective Method

Focus on building a list by lead generating. Offer something for free. Generate the name and address. Then follow-up with direct mail. This approach allows you to present the salesmanship, the professionalism (straight ascii text is not very nice looking) the potential customer is getting your sales message.

You cannot do this on the boards, without gathering the names and addresses and mailing to them. This is the method that I prefer to use, and one method I see working.

If you don t have a computer then you need to get into the computer age. You can't utilize this new marketing method without one. Actually, this form of marketing is not new it s been around for quite some time. It s just been brought to the general publics attention most recently. However, it s been presented in a false and misleading way. All the hype and misinformation that has been given as fact has confused a lot of people.

Through a great deal of online research I have found that some things are down right false, yet they are still being presented by some individuals as fact. For your own benefit I highly recommend that you research this technology. I will tell you, from my own research that you re not going to make thousands of dollars just uploading your sales material on the boards.

There are realistic methods that can make you one, two, three, or four thousand dollars or more a month. But, it s not going to be instantaneous. You re not going to put your material up on these bulletin boards one time and then overnight get flooded with orders. I have discovered that online marketing is a method that must be consistent and met with strict regulations. Each board has it s own rules and you must adhere to them. Otherwise spending time uploading your material onto these boards isn't going to do much good. Your material will get kicked right off. Ignore the hype associated with this marketing method and do some research to determine what is true and what isn't.

One truth that will ring loud is that there are plenty of inconsistencies being promoted. If you do your homework you'll have an advantage over those who are still being taken for a money stealing ride.

Your first step should be of course to get a computer if you don't have one.

If you are going to get serious about online marketing get a computer if you don't ave one. I have dealt with clients in the services end of my business (placing their material on the boards) and I can honestly say that if you want to get involved in online marketing you need to do it yourself.

The online tools that are needed for electronic marketing success can actually do a better job in your hands than mine or another. It s similar to marketing a book that you have written, you have a love for it because it s your creation. Only you can promote the book and sell it with the enthusiasm and intricate details that nobody else an. It s your own pride and joy. Its the same way with online marketing.

E-MAIL & CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

E-mail is a powerful tool to use. It s instantaneous delivery of your on-line classified ad inquiries. A lot of the boards like CompuServe, America On-Line, Delphi, Genie all except classified ads.

Classified ads on the various commercial on-line services are inexpensive. I placed a classified ad on CompuServe ( a user base of 2 million) to run for 26 weeks and it's under fifty dollars. A benefit with on-line classified advertising is; readers of you ad can automatically respond to your ad via E-mail instantly. E-mail is faster than the postal service, even overnight delivery is slow compared to e-mail! The simple steps that it takes to place an ad on CompuServe for example include:

(1) You type your advertisement into a classified section(exactly like those found in magazines), (2) The money is electronically pulled out of your bank account or charged to your credit card for your advertising order, (3) Your ad is posted usually 24 hours later on the board, (4) Within minutes of it being posted you can start receiving replies in regards to your classified ad.

Once you receive your replies. You could E-mail back to your inquiries your sales literature. This eliminates printing and postage. However, I have found that orders increase if you actually mail them your material by snail mail (first class). I believe that the professional hard copy appearance is a better selling device then straight ascii text.

Detailed Know How Cheap!

If you want to make money marketing online, then you need to order a new 90 minute audio tape and special report (it s not a salesletter) entitled Electronic Marketing Bootcamp This is truly a need to listen to resource that will get you started making money on the information superhighway. Send your order to: Infopreneur Publishing, Box 20412, Dept EMBC-R, El Cajon, California 92021.

A word of caution, don t become overly enthusiastic about online marketing that you forget other forms of marketing such as direct mail and print advertising. Online marketing is just another form of marketing not an end in itself. I would continue to do your print advertising and direct mail, but also utilize online marketing.

Electronic marketing like I've already mentioned is much more demanding. Your not in complete control. You have to overcome a lot of obstacles (as I have personally found out). If you cannot be patient and you cannot be consistent with this form of marketing I would not market electronically. As a simple starter, place classified ads on the boards. Lead generate, gather names and mail your offer.

Use this simple online marketing method. Gather your inquiries by placing a lead generating (offer something for free) classified ad or article. When you retrieve all your requests send out by first class mail your sales literature.

The following article was taken from The Infopreneur Report Newsletter which also discusses: Fax on Demand, voice mail, sending your sales material via E-mail, how to put together an online newsletter, how to create an disk based catalog and how to package your how-to-reports, articles, or books that you can sell at a high mark up, but produce for under a $1 postage included! If your current information products are costing you two to five dollars to produce. They can be produced for 23 cents. This information and more is available in the pages of this insightful newsletter. You can get 4 issues for just $5 by sending your subscription request to: Infopreneur Publishing Box 20412-IRR, El Cajon, California 92021.

I want to mention one important and almost over looked point. Focus on the commercial boards, don t waste your time with the little boards. A great deal of these little boards don t have the funds to promote their service in the massive scope that CompuServe, America On-Line, Delphi and Genie can and do.

They also don t have many callers as the larger broads have. Even if you got your material on 70,000 of the smaller boards, it still would dwarf the number of callers on the larger boards in a 24 hour period. You want a lot of people calling
the board if your material or classified ad is on it. I would only utilize the smaller local bbs for practice and fun. For serious online marketing the only way to go is the larger commercial networks.

How to Increase Your Business with an E-Mail Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 11:30:00 +0000

It is an accepted fact that a newsletter sent to your regular customers is an excellent way to keep in touch with them about new offerings, special sales, etc. Newsletter publishing is not an easy process, though. You have to write or find articles, lay it out, get it printed up, mail it... it takes time and money, enough that it may not pay off if you do it the traditional way. However, if you publish a newsletter that is delivered by email, you can accomplish the same goals while eliminating most of the time and expense. This report will show you how to put together an email newsletter, how to maintain your database of subscribers, and how to deliver it reliably via email.

First, you need to decide exactly what the intent of your newsletter is. Do you want it to be a line of communication with your present customers? Do you want it to generate new customers? Do you want it to be content only, or include advertising from other companies? How frequently do you want to publish? Monthly? Weekly? No regular schedule? Answering these questions will go a long way in planning your newsletter.

The content of your newsletter is the most important consideration. Articles should pertain strongly to the type of business you run, and the needs of your customers that you address. You, yourself, should be in an excellent position to write articles for your newsletter, if you know your business, products, and services. Write about new developments, new uses for your products, etc. Make sure the articles you write aren't weighted down with sales spiels. It's alright to occasionally put a short sales message at the end of an article, but that's what the rest of the newsletter is for. Your articles should contain a lot of "meat" that your customers will WANT to know about.

What if you don't want to write articles? Then solicit them from your customers, your suppliers, members of related associations you belong to, etc. Let them know that you won't be able to compensate them monetarily, but you can print contact information (their name, address, phone, and a short paragraph about what they do) at the end of their articles. In this way, their articles in your newsletter can draw business for them. Remember, though, it's extremely important to keep the articles concise, beneficial, and on-topic with your customers. Otherwise, they'll gradually cancel your newsletter!

Once you've assembled a collection of material, it's time to assemble your first issue. It's not necessary to use a fancy word processing or desktop publishing program, as people will be receiving this via text-only email, with no graphics. So, you can use a simple word processor (such as Windows Write or Windows Notepad) to put together your newsletter. Be sure to set the left and right margins wide (1.75 inches or better). Otherwise, some people will receive your newsletter with longer lines of text wrapped around to partial second lines, making it hard to read. A good newsletter consists of an "editor's letter," two to three decent articles, and a few ads at the end. Any more than this and the newsletter will be too long.

How should you get email addresses to send your newsletter to? Ask for them. Ask your customers for their email addresses, so you can send them a free newsletter. (IMPORTANT: A customer will be more likely to give you their email address if you assure them that you will not rent or sell it to another company. People, in general, don't like unsolicited junk email. Don't do this to your customers, or you'll lose business.) You can use a database program to store your email addresses, but it's just as easy to use the Windows Notepad program. Just type them in a continuous line, separated by commas. The method of how you send your newsletter to a long list of people will vary, based on what email software you are using. You may be on an online service, such as America Online, and be stuck using their included email program. Or, you may be using an email program such as Eudora with a regular Internet provider. Regardless, your email program should provide a space for: your return email address; the send to email address; the subject line; and (this is important) cc: (carbon copy - where you put a list of people who should also receive the same message) and bcc: (blind carbon copy - similar to a regular carbon copy, but the recipient will not see the list of other people who received the same message) spaces. If your email program does not have an explicit space for cc:/bcc: entries, check your instructions, or get another program!

When you want to send out an issue, you will want to put YOUR email address in both the return address AND the send to address spaces. Then, copy and paste your mailing list from the Notepad program into the BCC: space. Finally, copy and paste your newsletter copy into the message body space. When you send this email out, everyone on your list will get a copy, as well as you. Nobody will get your mailing list, as it won't be listed in the email.

Some final tips:

Put a write up about your free newsletter on your webpage, along with an email link, so visitors can subscribe. Put this same information on your stationery, business cards, press releases, etc. The more people on the list, the more business you generate.
Prepare a welcome message to new subscribers, detailing how they can "unsubscribe" (remove themselves from the mailing list), what the goals of the newsletter are, how to submit items for publication, etc. Send this to new subscribers, along with the latest issue.
If a person wants to leave your subscription list, promptly take them off without complaint. Send them a final email message telling them that they have been unsubscribed, as well as how they can re subscribe, if they choose to.

How to Get People to Visit Your Website

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:46:00 +0000

If you want to make money in any sort of way with a website, you have to get people (and lots of them) to visit. Whether you have paid advertising at your website, or products to sell, or just information designed to generate leads or orders, its all a numbers game. The more people you get to travel through your website, the more income you'll make. Thus, its crucial that you do two important things with your website: provide content that people will want to make the effort to see, and get the word out about your website.

PROVIDE IN-DEMAND CONTENT Lets suppose that you want to make money not by selling products or services from your website, but by selling advertising space to other businesses. You could easily create a classified ad website, or even a website with display ads. Big deal. Would you visit a website that was only classified ads more than once, out of curiosity? Probably not, unless...

A. Its devoted to a particular special interest. There are many websites with general classified advertising, very little focus. I don't look for many of these to generate a lot of long-term income for the person(s) who runs them. There are a few websites, however, with highly focused specialized advertising. These will, more likely, be successful (as long as they cater to a large enough group). For example, you could start a classified ad website devoted to buying and selling musical instruments. This would greatly interest any musician, who would tend to visit from time to time. The average person will, by nature, visit websites that cater to their individual interests more frequently than a generalized website that may or may not hold anything of interest to them. But, if the website only contains ads, just how often would they visit? Once a week? Once a month? You want them to visit as many times as possible. So, you need to provide...

B. Free worthwhile content. If your website is only ads, nothing else, then the only time people will want to visit is when they want to buy or sell something. That's ok, but wouldn't it be better if they wanted to visit ALL the time? You can accomplish this by providing good FREE informational content on your website, in addition to your ads. After all, this is how a traditional printed magazine or newspaper works: they provide information with the ads interspersed.

So, for the Musical Instrument Buy & Sell website, you could include relevant how-to articles written by yourself or others (put plenty of notes in your website requesting articles from readers - youll get submissions you can use, in return for free advertising or some other remittance that is low cost or no cost to you), short items of interest, etc. Change these frequently (and note on your website how frequently they change - this is important for drawing people back), so your visitors will have a reason to keep coming back.

To sum this section up, in order to have a website that people will want to keep returning to, you need to gear it towards a specific interest that appeals to a specific group of people (called targeting), and you need sprinkle it liberally with solid information that changes frequently. This will help take care of getting people to return. Now, how to get them to visit in the first place?

GET THE WORD OUT When you want to find a plumber, where do you look? In the phone book, of course. What if you want to find websites that have information about a subject you're interested in?

Luckily, the web has many phonebook-like databases which are relatively easy to get listed in. That way, when your potential visitors consult the phonebooks, your website will pop up in the list of their choices. The process of getting yourself listed in a search database varies from database to database. Usually, though, its just a matter of filling out a form with information about the content of your website, the URL (address), your name, etc. Each database is fairly clear about how to do this, with a link on their opening page to their respective how-to instructions.

Internet Marketing The Right Way

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:20:00 +0000

As with anything in life, there's a right way and a wrong way to use the Internet for marketing. It's especially important to know the difference at the beginning. Otherwise, you may make some mistakes which may jeopardize your chances at ever using the Internet for your business. Literally, you can be banned from the Internet. It's happened before. Don't let it happen to you promote your business the correct way, and you'll have a far better chance at finding success on the Internet.

MARKETING VIA EMAIL Email is the easiest method of Internet marketing for the beginner to understand, as it is so similar to "traditional" marketing methods. You're sending the prospect a marketing message, but instead of sending it through the regular mail, you're emailing it directly to them. It's quicker, cheaper, and more efficient.

Where do you find people to email your marketing message to? From other Internet marketing techniques that will be discussed later in this report. There is, though, one particular technique you should avoid. In the "real world," it's easy to rent a mailing list of people with a specific interest in the type of product or service you're selling. You can then send your marketing materials to the people on this list, feeling relatively sure that they may be interested in what you have to offer. It's hard to do this on the Internet, though, because of the sheer number of people accessing the Internet.

There are companies, though, that will do mass emailings for a price. One particular company advertises that they will send your marketing message to 6,000,000 email addresses for under $200. This naturally sounds attractive to the marketer in us how else could you contact so many people at such a low price?

Let's think about this, though. Is this a good deal? Maybe, maybe not. This is akin to sending your marketing message to everyone in the phone book. Probably 80 percent of the people will have no interest whatsoever in what you're selling. It's highly untargeted, which will result in low conversion percentages. More important, is it the right thing to do? NO

Mass emailing is called spamming, and it is the number one offense you can commit on the Internet. Most people have to pay for their Internet access, and many of them pay by the hour (and, thus, by the minute). Another large group of them have to call long distance, since they have no local access phone number. In other words, most of the people you send your mass email to are paying to download it and read it, without having requested it.

Now, most levelheaded people will see the first few lines of the email, recognize it as an unrequested marketing message, and will delete it without thinking twice. There are people out there, though, that take it as a personal affront, an invasion of their privacy, and a waste of their money to receive your spammed email. They will respond vigorously with pranks and threats. If you've put your phone number in your email, you will receive a ton of phone calls at all times of the night. If you've included your mailing address, you may find that your address has been passed on to military recruiters, religious organizations, pornographers, and all other kinds of people whom you may not want to receive mail from. At the very least, you should expect a flood of email full of complaints and vulgarities to your own email address. I've even heard of people replying to spammed emails with hundreds of pages of the same four letter word repeated over and over, so the "spammer" can get a taste of their own medicine.

It's up to you whether you want to market your business this way. I acknowledge that a marketing message going out to 6,000,000 people is bound to bring in some sales. However, you take the risk of receiving a lot of complaints and wasted time, as well as the possibility of losing your Internet access completely. How? You could receive so many replied emails that your service provider's computer system will get jammed up, preventing other customers from being able to use the Internet. Your provider will politely ask you to go elsewhere for your Internet access, and your name will go on a list of spammers which is circulated amongst Internet providers. You may find yourself unable to get Internet access in the future. It's up to you.

MARKETING VIA USENET NEWSGROUPS Usenet newsgroups are individual special interest bulletin boards. You can post a question, an answer, information, whatever, to a newsgroup, and anyone else can read it. Likewise, you can read anyone else's postings. This is a heavily used area for information sharing. Used correctly, it can also be a successful marketing opportunity.

Before we go on, you should know that very few newsgroups accept blatant advertising. This is a very subtle

Technique that may take a few tries to perfect. The key is to frequent the newsgroups that have a connection to your products or services (if you're selling information that is helpful for small business owners, for example, then you should look for newsgroups that small business owners would read), and present pertinent useful information or answers to questions, and include a short marketing message in your sig. Your sig is your "signature" at the end of your posting. It can be up to six lines long (though a four line maximum is more universally "acceptable"), and can contain information on how to contact you (email, phone, and otherwise), as well as some short information about your business. Readers who are interested in hearing more about what you have to offer can then contact you. At that point, feel free to give them whatever marketing information you'd like; they requested it.

You will have the most success with this technique if you: a) stay "on-topic" in your postings - don't answer someone's question with a one-line answer, only to launch into a two-page sales letter, let your sig do the work; and b) don't overdo it - you should have the mindset that you are trying to help the readers of the newsgroup, and, afterwards, get the word out about your business, not the other way around.

A good idea would be to request and read the FAQ (frequently asked question list) from every newsgroup you plan to post in. That way, you will know their exact policy on advertising, information that may be included in a sig, the exact topics they cover, etc. This will prevent any postings that are "against the rules."

MARKETING VIA WORLD WIDE WEB The World Wide Web offers the most flexible solution for marketing on the Internet. You are free to put up whatever information you'd like, in whatever quantity you'd like. After all, you're the one paying for the space. Plus, you can put links on your pages so people can instantly send an email to you for more information, you can have forms for them to fill out, you can even take orders on your pages.

Preparing content for the web can be very easy. In many cases, you can use the same materials you use in your printed mailings. Of course, they will have to be converted to the HTML document markup language that web pages are made of. This is not difficult to do yourself, once you've learned how. If you don't want to learn how, if you don't have a scanner for importing any images from your marketing materials, or if you want a sophisticated website with forms and product order-taking and/or delivery capabilities, you should choose a professional website designer to take care of it for you.

Of course, there's more to it than just putting up your website: you need to promote it. Luckily, this is easy to do. There are over a dozen "search engines" (databases of websites) on the web, each of which you can submit information about your website to. All it entails is accessing the website of each search engine, and reading the details on submissions. If you have a professional design your website, see if they include this in their services - a good web designer will make this a part of the package. And don't confine your publicizing to online. Be sure to promote your website in the "real world" through paid advertising, press releases, etc., just like a product. You will need to ensure that people who visit your website will want to come back frequently. Do this by changing your content on a regular basis. For example, if you have informational reports that they can download for free, rotate the reports so new ones are available at least every two weeks. Contests can be a good idea, too. For example, give a free product to the person who collects all the clues that you sprinkle throughout your website over a two month period.

Put these techniques together, and you'll have an Internet marketing machine!

E-Mail, Auto responders, Information-on-Demand

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Anyone who's used a fax-on-demand system knows how wonderful they are for both the customer and the business. If you need information, you can get it 24 hours a day with one phone call. If you're a business, you can provide your customers with detailed documents anytime they want, with no intervention on your part. It's a win-win situation.

There's a similar win-win situation on the Internet, and it's called an auto responder (some people also call it a mail-bot, as in mail-robot). This is basically a fax-on-demand system, but it communicates via email instead of over the phone line.

Here's an example of how an auto responder works: Suppose you sell audio cassettes and compact disks over the Internet. Rather than putting an extensive catalog on your website or as a printed booklet in the mail, you can make your catalog available from an auto responder. If someone wants your catalog, they just have to send an email to your auto responder's address ( catalog@musicstore.com, for instance). Within minutes (usually, within seconds, in fact), your catalog is automatically emailed to the customer. It doesn't matter if it's 2:00 pm or 2:00 am, or what corner of the world they're in - it's totally automatic.

Here's the best part. Most auto responders will, at the same time, also send an email to you with the customer's email address. That way, you have a record of how many people requested your catalog and when, and you can follow up via email. Fax-on-demand can't even do that!

How much does this cost? Well, like anything, the cost varies from provider to provider. An auto responder may be included with your basic Internet service. If not, you can purchase the use of an auto responder on a monthly basis from literally dozens of sources. You should figure on a $5 to $10 setup fee, and $5 to $10 per month for each auto responder you rent. If you pay more than this, you may be paying too much. Shop around.

So, how hard is it to set an auto responder up? Not hard at all. Once your provider has everything ready on their end, all you need to do is provide the information that will be sent to inquiries. This can be done by sending a printed document to your provider, by emailing the information, or by FTP'ing (uploading) the document directly. Check with your provider for their individual policy. Once your document is in place, there may be an activation code you need to send. After that, you're ready to go. That's it! What if you want more than one auto responder? There are two options. First, you can rent more than one auto responder. If you do this, each will have a separate email address (your catalog might be catalog@musicstore.com, your return policy might be return@musicstore.com). This is the usually the easiest and least expensive option, if you only plan on having a few documents, at most.

If you'd like to have many documents that your customers can access, you consider using a mail server. These are generally more expensive, however, they have a number of unique advantages. First, each document will have the same email address. To signify which document to send, the customer puts "send" and the document name in the body of the email (for example, send catalog or send return). This is an advantage, as customers don't have to remember a bunch of different email addresses.

Second, if you have twenty documents, and you want to add another, it's usually far cheaper to add the document to a mail server than it is to get another auto responder. Economy of scale is the advantage here - you're using a larger quantity, so you get a better deal.

Mail server pricing varies wildly, and the setup charge can be high, so, as with auto responders, shop around. Also, be sure this is what you really want to do. If you're starting out with one or two documents, and you aren't sure that you'll have more, go with individual auto responders instead of a mail server. You can always upgrade.

To find auto responder/mail server providers, check the various search databases (Yahoo, etc.). Use these words for your searches: provider, auto responder, mail server, and email. If your Internet Service Provider doesn't offer them, at least ask them for any recommendations or referrals, as they may have someone they regularly work with that can give you a price break.

Should I Do Business on The Internet?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:27:00 +0000

The popular news media has been glutted with stories about the Internet, so glutted that many people are
skeptical about what the Internet can do for their businesses. This is understandable. Everyone is saying that the
Internet is the "market of the future," that if you don't get your business on the Internet, you'll be left behind. What
none of them seem to want to tell you are the real reasons you should do business on the Internet. Before I do
that, though, let me dispel some inaccuracies that I've seen in many ads, flyers, and sales letters.

The most common piece of information quoted about the Internet, particularly by people who are trying to sell
Internet "home pages" to business opportunists, is that the Internet is the most expansive market in the world, with
estimates of 30,000,000 people or more currently using it, and tens of thousands more joining in weekly. Well, this
is partly true, but not really 100% true.

The first question you have to ask is where the 30,000,000 number came from. Personally, I don't know. However,
I do know that studies are showing a truer estimate is closer to 12,000,000. Where are the missing people?
Well, a lot of hypesters count every single person who's on an online service such as America Online or
Compuserve as being on the Internet. Unfortunately, not everyone on the online services uses the Internet. Many
of them are content to remain in the "enclosed" portion of the online services, rather than venture out into the web.
If they're only interested in stock quotes, or downloading files, they may never access the Internet (though they
should - they'd find more and better material!).

Also, many people try online services, find they aren't interested, and drop the service after their "free trial month."
The hypesters count these people as being among the fabled 30,000,000, as well as being part of the tens of
thousands signing up weekly. They shouldn't.

Another interesting tidbit I've seen frequently is something along the lines of "you can easily sell anything on the
Internet." Well, I don't know about that. While I've seen plenty of success stories about people selling tons of
personalized T-shirts, coffee mugs, books, cookies, vacuum cleaners, antiques, and other "hard goods," I know
that the percentage of success stories on the Internet are still far lower than in the "real world." The truth is, if you
want to sell a product on the Internet and be successful, you should be able to not only sell the product, but also
deliver the product on the Internet. Thus, information products are the best items to sell over the Internet. You can
sell the other products I named above, as well as a myriad of others, but it's tougher. Why? Because of the number
of people on the Internet, that's why.

Many hypesters make a point of the huge numbers of people on the Internet. This can work against you, because
it makes it tough to target your market. Just because there's 12,000,000 people out there doesn't mean that all
12,000,000 are interested in buying an antique chair from you. In fact, maybe only ¼% would be interested. That's
still a very respectable 30,000 people, and if you could sell 30,000 antique chairs, I'm sure you'd make a great deal
of money. However, you need to reach those 30,000 people with your message.

In the "real world," it might be easy to reach those people wanting an antique chair by advertising in
antique-related publications. That's targeted marketing. However, on the Internet, things work in reverse. In the
real world, the antique publication is delivered to the people. On the Internet, those people need to seek you out.
Thus, if you want to market on the Internet, you'd better be willing to work the "publicity machine," with entries in
online databases, advertising, press releases, etc. It's just like in the real world. Just because you put a home
page on the Internet, you aren't necessarily going to get rich overnight.

So, now that I've probably discouraged you, I'll again ask the question that's posed in the title of this report: should
you do business on the Internet?
YES!

How can I say that after sounding so much doom and gloom? Well, even if there are only 12,000,000 people on
the Internet instead of 30,000,000, that's still a large group of people, and thousands are joining their ranks all the
time. There's bound to be some people who are interested in what you have to sell.

Plus, it's the way of the future. Wal-Mart has just announced that they plan to make all of the products you'd find in
a typical Wal-Mart store available for purchase over the Internet. It might be awhile before that happens, but if it's
ok for Wal-Mart, it should be ok for you.

Another good reason is the equalizing factor of the Internet. Even if you're just running a small business from a

single bedroom in your house, you can compete on even ground with a large corporation. If your website is designed well, you can be as impressive looking and as technologically advanced (maybe even more - there are a lot of major corporations with crummy looking websites out there).

If you're on the Internet, you're poised to have instantaneous contact with your prospective and current customers. Through the use of email and autoresponders, you can deliver product information around the world for little or no cost 24 hours a day. You can't do that on the phone or through the mail.

If you're on the Internet, you can greatly expand your market. If you're only marketing locally, you can now market nationally. If you're currently marketing nationally, you're now in the International market with the Internet. As long as you have a product or service that is useful to people in other countries, you have a chance at expanding your profit base. Don't forget the publicity factor behind being on the Internet. Having an Internet website for your business is still a status symbol, if you will. Once you're online, put your email and website addresses on your business cards, your letterhead, your envelopes, everything. Also, send out press releases to your local press and any other publications applicable to your line of work, letting them know about your website. It might be deemed newsworthy, and you'll get some free publicity for your website, as well as a bit of status from being "technologically advanced."

Finally, if you are selling information products, you can deliver the product immediately to your customer, and you'll have no printing expense, no delivery expense, nothing. That's a great profit margin. You need to go into the Internet with a clear head. Forget those overinflated promises and numbers that the hucksters are spouting. If it sounds like hype, and it smells like hype, it's hype, pure and simple. And very few things have generated the unadulterated hype that the Internet has. However, there are a lot of good, solid reasons to have your business on the Internet. You can be up in a week... so start today!

How to Find Anything on The Internet (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:26:00 +0000

FILE SEARCHES

Searching for a website is fairly easy. Searching for a single file or program across the wide expanse of the
Internet is another story.
Suppose you want to find a specific program, say a budget calculator you read about in a magazine review. You
know the name of the program (for this example, "budcalc.zip"), but you forgot where you could download it from,
and you can't find the article. Time to use a file searcher such as Gopher, Archie, Veronica, or WAIS.

Gopher is a document search and retrieval system on the Internet. It's fairly easy to use and doesn't require
special software. Basically, it's a menu-driven system that narrows down what you're looking for, then tells you
where you can find it. It is by no means comprehensive, and the results vary from Gopher listing to Gopher listing
(there are hundreds of them), but you'll usually find something close to what you're looking for.

To use Gopher, you must first access a Gopher site. Gopher site URLs look similar to website URLs, with the
exception that "gopher" replaces "http." You'll commonly find Gopher sites through university and government
Internet sites. The University of Southern California's Gopher site is a good one to start out with:
gopher://cwis.usc.edu

When you access a Gopher site, as noted earlier, you'll be presented with a menu of choices. Select the choice
that is closest to what you are looking for, and you will be presented with another menu of choices. Each menu you
reach will be narrower than the preceding one. In this way, you can manually "zero in" on the information you're
looking for.

For a complete guide on how to use Gopher, access this FTP site:
ftp://ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu/internet/gophern/

If you want an automated search that you don't have to manually work through, try Archie. Archie is a system
developed by two graduate students that scans FTP sites (which contain downloadable files) for the program you
want. In order to use Archie, you'll need Archie software. America Online and Compuserve are implementing
Archie, and should have it by the time you read this. If you are accessing the Internet on your own through a
SLIP/PPP connection, check with the manufacturer of your Internet software and/or your Internet service provider
for the program you should use. You should be able to get an Archie program as shareware.

Be forewarned, an Archie search can take a long time. Also, when our example search is completed, we have a
list of FTP sites that contain any file called "budcalc.zip." We won't have any descriptions, so we just have to
access an FTP site from the list, download "budcalc.zip," and hope it's the proper program. If not, try another site.

Veronica is an Archie-like search tool that works with the Gopher system. When you go through the Gopher
menus, you'll probably see references to Veronica searches. If you select a Veronica search, you will be Telnet'ed
into a computer containing Veronica software. You can then execute a search as you would with Archie.

The final file search tool is WAIS, which stands for Wide Area Information Servers. A WAIS search produces
results that are scored as to the similarity with your search criteria. For example, if you were searching for a
particular phrase ("To be, or not to be, that is the question," for example), your first reference in the results might
have a score of 1000. That means that the reference (probably a Shakespeare-related site or file) contains the
exact phrase you entered. Other references with less precision will follow.

Finally, if you don't want to use a search tool, and are just looking for files, there are a number of Internet sites that
contain huge numbers of files ready for downloading. Many of these sites include file descriptions, but some do
not. Here are just a few examples of some of the "file dumps" on the Net:

C-NET SEARCH: http://www.shareware.com
FILEPILE: http://www.filepile.com
JUMBO: http://www.jumbo.com/
SHARE: http://www.fagg.uni-lj.si/SHASE/
SIMTEL MIRROR: ftp://oak.oakland.edu

How to Find Anything on The Internet (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:25:00 +0000

Millions of people are accessing the Internet, and at least half of them put up "home pages" and websites, as well
as information files. That being the case, you'd think that the Internet would be a veritable encyclopedia, and you'd
be right. However, there's one small problem...

The Internet is somewhat of a chaotic mess.

This can wreak havoc on the inexperienced Net surfer who needs information and needs it now. However, if you
know the secrets, you can get around pretty well on the Internet, with the bonus of being able to find the
information you want, when you want it.

Website Search Databases

The first stop on your information-gathering expedition should be a search database. These are like the cardfiles
(or, more likely, the computer terminals) at your local library, and contain the URL's, or addresses, of thousands of
websites. You can search for websites simply by entering a word or words pertaining to the information you want
to find.

For example, suppose I'm writing a magazine article on the deforestation of South America, and I'd like to see
what information I can find on that subject on the Internet. My first stop would be the most often used (and,
arguably, the most comprehensive) search database, Yahoo. You can access Yahoo by typing this URL into your
web browser: http://www.yahoo.com
Yahoo is very simple to use. When you access this website, you will be presented with a box to type your search
words in, and a clickable button which will start the search. In this example, I might type "deforestation" into the
box and would then click the button. In a few seconds, I will be presented with every record in the Yahoo database
that contains the word "deforestation," whether or not it deals with South America (since I didn't specify South
America in the search box).

At this point, I can manually look through the entries for the ones I want to investigate further, or I can do a new
search (by typing "deforestation South America" in the search box) to weed out the records I don't want. If I see a
record I want to investigate, I can click on the record, and I will be transported to that website. It couldn't be easier!

A few guidelines to keep in mind while using search databases:

>Be as specific as possible in your search criteria, or you will be presented with a ton of records to look through.

>No search database contains every reference to a particular subject. In most cases, the only way a database will
have a record on a particular website is if someone specifically submitted information to the database. So, it pays
to search more than one database, if you want more information.

>Be careful with the words you search by. Some databases will look only for records that contain all the words you
typed in, some will look for any record that contains one or more of the words you type in. In the example above, if I
used a database that uses the latter method, I would receive all the records that contain "south" and "america"
anywhere in their description. This would be a ridiculously long list!

Here's a list of the most commonly used search databases, and their URL's:
APOLLO: http://apollo.co.uk/
GALAXY: http://galaxy.einet.net/
HARVEST: http://harvest.cs.colorado.edu/
INFOSEEK: http://www.infoseek.com/
LINKSTAR: http://www.opentext.com:8080/
LYCOS: http://www.lycos.com/
PRONET: http://www.pronett.com/
STARTING POINT: http://www.stpt.com/
WEBCRAWLER: http://webcrawler.com/
WHAT'S NEW TOO: http://newtoo.manifest.com/WhatsNewToo/
WHOLE INTERNET CATALOG: http://gnn.com/gnn/wic/index.html
YAHOO: http://www.yahoo.com

Common Internet Myths

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:24:00 +0000

As with any other "hot topic," the Internet has been the victim of more than its share of myths, superstitions, and falsehoods. The media hasn't helped, to be sure, but uninformed people are just as much at fault. These rumors, if left to fester, will do nothing but damage the reputation of the Internet and those that use it. This report will debunk three of the most common rumors being spread about the Internet.

>Myth #1: The Internet is just a garbage dump of pornography, pedophiles, and other miscreants.

Untrue! While I will concede that there is some unsavory material available on the Internet, it is nowhere near as prevalent as the rumors would lead you to believe.

First, the percentage of material that would normally be considered objectionable is quite the minimum. While it's impossible to estimate the exact amount, my guess would be 1/2%, at most. In other words, no worse than your local bookstore that might have a copy of "The Joy Of Sex" and Playboy for sale. While even that much is too much for some people, most people would agree that it really isn't a problem.

In 1995, though, Time Magazine cited a study by a university freshman for their cover story on Internet pornography. This article grabbed headlines everywhere with its statistics showing huge amounts of child pornography, bestiality, and other sickness travelling across the Internet. What the article didn't tell you was that the statistics weren't based on any credible study, but were estimates that this one freshman, who went on to write a book about how to "pick up women online," had pulled off the top of his head. The study that the article was based on has been 100% discredited, and Time even published a large correction and apology soon afterward. Unfortunately, the rumor was in place by that time, and the retraction didn't get as many headlines as the original article did.

Second, a good percentage of people can't even access areas of the Internet that contain objectionable material. This is because those areas are blocked out by many Internet service providers. These providers either have a moral objection to making those areas available, or they don't want to leave themselves open for any legal issues. Thus, the people who have their Internet connections via these providers don't have to worry about encountering material they dislike.

Finally, if you have a child in the house who's allowed to access the Internet, parental responsibility comes into play. Just as you would make sure that your child isn't at the bookstore mentioned earlier, reading materials you would find objectionable, you should make sure that they aren't able to access raw areas of the Internet. How can you accomplish this?

>Use a service provider that does not allow access to these areas.

>Only allow your child to use an online service such as America Online, which has parameters you can set in order to screen out areas you don't like.

>Use a software program such as SurfWatch, which blocks out areas of the World Wide Web and other parts of the Internet that contain objectionable materials. SurfWatch has a subscription updating system that makes sure your child is always blocked from those areas.

Unfortunately, if you don't like sexually-oriented material, there's not much you can do to prevent it from being posted on the Internet. The Internet is a true bastion of free speech, and with that, comes that possibility that something you might not like will occasionally appear. If you attempt to censor the areas you don't like so that others can't see them, others will censor areas they don't like, so that you can't see them. These might be politically-oriented areas, or other socially acceptable areas that promote opinions others don't like. If it were even physically possible to censor the Internet (and it isn't, whatever politicians try to tell you), there would be such an outcry that it would never happen. Suffice it to say, though, that the sexually-oriented materials online are a severe minimum of what's available, and little, if any, truly perverted material ever makes it online.

>Myth #2: It isn't safe to send your credit card number across the Internet.

Yes and no. This is another area that has been unfairly exploited by the media. There are certain precautions you can take to ensure safety when paying for a product online. The advent of secure servers stands to change the way commerce is conducted on the Internet. The server is the primary connection to the Internet at your service

provider's location. Secure servers use encryption to ensure that anything that might be intercepted would be useless, as it would be scrambled. If you're accessing a website stored on a secure server, there will be some indication, which varies from program to program, that shows it's secure (Netscape Navigator, for example, has a broken key in the lower left corner for non-secure servers, unbroken for secure).

One thing to realize, however, is that you really aren't that much at risk if you transmit your credit card number through a non-secure server. Here's what someone would have to do in order to steal your credit card number from an email message: they'd have to intercept the single message that contains your information at the exact right time. Chances of that actually happening are low.

In fact, after doing some independent research, I wasn't able to find any instances of this happening. The credit card thefts that have occurred over the Internet have been mass thefts from banking and online service computer systems that contain databases of customer information. Wouldn't that make more sense, anyway? If you were a thief, would you rather spend a large amount of time trying to intercept individual emails, or spend a short amount of time accessing a single source where you could get hundreds or thousands of card numbers, all in one shot? True, criminals aren't always logical, but most of them want to do as little work as possible.

What it boils down to is that sending your credit card via email probably is no riskier than giving your information over the phone to an operator at a catalog company. After all, someone could be listening in on the phone call, or the person at the other end of the line (or someone else in that office) might be running a credit card fraud business on the side. Secure servers just enhance the safety.

>Myth #3: The Internet is a hostile place for newcomers. False, false, false! The only way you'll catch any guff as a newcomer is if you don't use common sense and jump into things without knowing the proper procedures. As long as you know some basic information, you'll do fine on the Internet.

Just like in the real world, if you don't know how to do something, read the directions first. Almost all Usenet groups and email lists have what are called FAQs, which stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These documents will contain all the basic information you need to know before participating in that discussion group.

For example, suppose you want to participate in the fictitious Usenet discussion group Alt.Fan.Redbirds , a group which talks about your favorite rock group, the Redbirds. The FAQ for that group might have the biographies of each member (so people won't be asking the same "where was the lead singer born" questions all the time), a list of all their records, and any other basic information about the group. Having this information in an accessible document prevents discussions from getting bogged down with the same subjects over-and-over. Also, you'll find information in the FAQ about who the moderator (basically, the boss) of the group is, procedures for posting messages, subjects that are welcomed or should not be discussed in that group, etc. You'll save yourself a lot of grief by reading through the FAQ first thing!

How do you know where the FAQ is? That brings us to the second important skill Internet newcomers must have and use: the ability to ask. Just ask someone in the group, they'll tell you. They won't "bite off your head" or make fun of you because you're new. In fact, almost all discussion groups on the Internet welcome newcomers, because they bring with them a fresh perspective on whatever topic is being discussed. Just post your first message as a short introduction of yourself, along with a request for directions to the FAQ. Check back tomorrow, and you'll probably have a response, whether by email or posted in the Usenet group itself.

Read through this FAQ. If you need more help, contact the group's moderator by email. Either the moderator will volunteer to help, or you'll be given an email address of someone who can help you.

The Internet is, for the most part, a friendly place. And, if you're still nervous about dealing with the "old timers" on the Internet, remember this: they were "newbies" once, too!

Netiquette - Watching Your Online P's & Q's

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:22:00 +0000

An easy mistake that many Internet "newbie's" make is to forget what the Internet is. The Internet is, for lack of a better way to classify it, a computer network that many people are using all at once. The key word is people.

It's very easy, since you aren't face to face, to forget that people make up the entire Internet. And, as such, you should conduct yourself as good as, or better than, you would when face to face. Manners are just as important online as in the "real world."

Probably the easiest way to give guidelines for good Internet etiquette, or "netiquette," is to show some examples of the wrong way to act. First, and foremost, the worst thing you can possibly do online, that will rile the most people, is spam.

When you talk about spam in connection with the Internet, you aren't talking about the meat product by Hormel.

Spamming is sending large quantities of unwanted, unrequested emails, usually containing marketing messages, as well as mass postings to Usenet groups (commonly called cross-posting). It's the online equivalent to sending a mass mailing via carrier route, so that everyone at every house gets a copy. The difference is that, in the offline world, you pay for your mass mailing. Online, the recipient pays, whether through the wasted time it takes to receive your email, or through the fee they pay to access the Internet. While spamming is easy to do, and sounds attractive to the marketer in us, it is definitely the wrong thing to do, and you will be retaliated against, if you do it.

Retaliation for spamming comes in a variety of flavors. For one thing, your mass Usenet group postings may be cancelled by some self-appointed guardians of the Internet who have the technical wizardry to intercept your unwanted messages. They will always send you an email explaining why they did what they did, and, for the most part, they are very fair in doing what they do.

Individuals who are aggravated by your postings and emails may encourage others to reply to your emails en masse, filling your email box and clogging up your service provider's computers. This has happened many times, with spammers receiving literally thousands of email replies and service providers closing the spammer's account.

Even worse, some individuals with the proper know-how will look up whatever information they can get on you (personal phone numbers, etc.), and will mass post it, so other aggravated individuals can pester the life out of you. True, it's vigilante justice, but, in the unregulated world of the Internet, it works, and most people don't frown on it one bit. So, in other words, don't spam!

How else can you irritate large numbers of people online? Well, one way is to overtly criticize other people's opinions, taking things to a personal level. This is known as flaming. Here's an example: entering a Usenet group consisting of Macintosh users, and posting a message calling them idiots for using a Macintosh. You're going to get the same treatment as a spammer, and for good reason: they feel the same way you would if someone called you an idiot for using a PC. As I said earlier, never forget that there's a person on the other end of the line. It's alright to have a lively discussion online, but focus on the subject, and think before you post. It's a lot easier to say

something degrading to or about someone when you're online and not face to face.

One of the things you will undoubtedly do while online is download files. Some of these files will be large. If you download, for example, a large game file at 2:00 in the afternoon from a University computer, you're tying up a spot where a student could be. Use your head, and download unimportant and/or large files outside of regular business hours, the time when others have important work to be done.

When you send email, you can have what's called a sign (short for signature) at the end of your message. This should be no longer than 4 to 6 lines, preferably as short as possible, and can include information on how to contact you, a very brief description of your business, etc. Want to really get people's goats? Make your sign larger than the emails message itself. Make it a whole page long with all kinds of cute graphics made from letters, and lines of witty sayings. See, the longer the email, the more bandwidth (the capacity of the network at any one time)

it takes, and the longer it takes for the recipient to download it upon receipt. The Internet, vast though it is, only has a limited capacity for carrying data. Even though one person could never fill up the bandwidth, excessive junk in your email is still frowned upon.

Another great way to hog bandwidth is to place huge, unnecessary graphics on your Web page. Graphics take a long time to download, and, besides chewing up bandwidth, it frustrates the person trying to view your website.

You must remember that most of the people accessing the World Wide Web are still using 14,400 bps modems (many still use 9,600 bps), and graphically intensive web pages can take five minutes or longer to download, all on the recipient's dime. This is an easy sin to be guilty of - even corporations do it (see the Oracle Corporation website at http://www.oracle.com for a good example - unless you have a fast connection or your turn the images off in your browser, it will take you forever to get anywhere).

Suppose you receive an email from someone, and you want to reply to it. In most email programs, you have the ability to include in your reply parts of the message you received. This helps fight confusion as emails go back and forth. However, be sure you delete any nonessential parts of the original message. If your reply deals with one paragraph out of the entire message, then keep that paragraph, but don't include the entire email you received in your reply! This just wastes the recipient's time. Taking care of this problem is simple: judicious use of your delete

key while replying to emails.

If you are posting a message to a Usenet group or an email mailing list, in which multiple people receive messages, be sure to identify your opinions and humor. If you make a strong statement, preface it with "in my opinion." If you use sarcasm, make sure that it's verbally understood that you are being sarcastic and not degrading or disagreeable. Remember, people can't hear your tone of voice online, and they can't see your facial expressions, both of which are key factors in understanding underlying meanings to what we say. Express yourself, but also define your expression. This takes practice, but it's easy to learn.

What should you do if someone sends you a derogatory message (whether or not they have a good reason)?

Here's what you shouldn't do: get all riled up and reply with as much vitriol as the sender used. I know, in the section on spamming, I said that people will do just that. Well, only a few people will, and those people would really probably be better off to ignore than respond. However, it will happen. Maybe you said something in a message that didn't quite come across the way you meant it. If that's the case, look at the problem with a clear head (sleep on it, if you have to). Then, reply with an apologetic message that explains what you were trying to say. Or, maybe

the person who emailed you is just a jerk. In that case, it's better just to ignore the email. Delete it from your system. Just like in the real world, some people online get their kicks from riling up other people.

Have you seen any trends emerging in this report? The trends are friendliness and consideration for others. The Internet is just like a big community and, like true communities, you need to work together. Keep things friendly, and if you make a mistake, own up to it with an apology. And don't take advantage of others online. This will only get you labeled as a troublemaker, and you could potentially lose your Internet access, or worse. People are even starting to get arrested for harassing others (or even stalking) online. Don't do it. Treat others the way you'd like to be treated yourself. It's the golden rule, and it applies as much online as offline.

How to Choose an Internet Service Provider

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:54:00 +0000

Choosing the computer hardware and software for Internet access is the easy part.

Selecting an Internet provider is the hard part. There are literally thousands of "onramps" to the Internet, each with their own pricing structures, advantages, and disadvantages. I'm not going to recommend any specific provider in this report.

Instead, I'll go through the steps you should take in order to weed out the providers who won't do the job for you, and find the ones that will.

First, you should know about the different types of accounts you can get. Not all service providers will be able to provide all types of accounts. The most common types of Internet accounts are (in relative order of expense):

>Email Only - As the name indicates, these accounts are only for sending and receiving email.

These accounts are rarely found today, accept in academic institutions.

>Terminal Dial-Up - A connection to another company's system, which, in turn, is connected to the Internet.

An example of this is the type of Internet access you have when you use a service like America Online or CompuServe.

SLIP/PPP Dial In - A more direct form of connection, you are connected to a computer with a dedicated connection to the Internet.

Dedicated - The most expensive type of connection, you are directly connected 24 hours a day to the Internet backbone with a phone line.

Which should you choose? It depends on your needs. I would recommend staying away from Email Only accounts, even if that's all you want, as you can usually enroll with America Online or CompuServe for the same money.

If you're only going to occasionally browse the World Wide Web, and will be putting very little, if any, material up on the Internet for viewing or downloading, your best bet may be America Online or CompuServe. However, if you plan to do more serious work on the Internet, including a website for your business, you should get a SLIP/PPP account.

To identify which SLIP/PPP Internet provider to sign up with, you should start locally. Check with local computer stores and computer user groups for the phone numbers of Internet providers within your local calling radius. Call them and get all the details on their services:

>How much they charge - Many will charge a flat rate per month, others will charge a per hour fee, still others will have a combination of both. Some offer lower rates if you pay in advance.

>How many hours of access you get - Most will have a time limit per month, while others offer unlimited access.

>How much storage space - If you want to have a website for your business, you'll need storage space on your Internet provider's hard drive. How much you need depends on your plans, but 58 MB should be sufficient for most people.

>What "extras" do they offer? - Do they provide all the software you'll need, or are you left to fend for yourself?

What kind of technical support is available? Do they have a "secure server" (one that can safely be used to send and receive credit card numbers and other sensitive information - important if you want to do business on the Internet)? Do they have auto responders?

Write all of this information down for each local provider. Next, check the "big" national providers. They can be found advertising in computer and Internet-related magazines. They may have lower rates than the local providers, but they may have two disadvantages: you may have to make a long distance call, which negates the lower rate; and, technical service may be hard to reach, due to volume of calls.

If you have friends who are on the Internet, ask for their experiences with their providers. And, if you can get on the Internet locally (at your library or a local school, for instance), check out The List, which can be found on the World

Wide Web at http://www.thelist.com

This database contains information on thousands of Internet providers nationwide and worldwide, including pricing, features, local calling information, even comments from users (the most valuable information). Weigh all this information, and take your time. Which provider to use is an important decision.

More Internet Terms & Definitions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:42:00 +0000

MODEM: Modulator Demodulator. The card that allows your computer to connect to the phone line and communicate with other computers. Mosaic: The first major browser, now losing popularity to Netscape Navigator. Netscape: Makers of Navigator, the most popular and most flexible browser. Highly recommended. Newbie: Someone who is new to the Internet. PPP: Point To Point Protocol. Faster than SLIP, this method of communications sends TCP/IP information across a line attached directly to the Internet. Protocol: A method or language of communication. Search Database: An "address book" for the World Wide Web. In general, you type in the topic you're interested in, and the database will provide a list of all of the locations it has that meet your requirements. The most well-known search database is Yahoo. Server: The computer hardware that stores your home page, and sends and receives information through the World Wide Web. This hardware is maintained by the Webmaster at your Internet Service Provider. Shockwave: A helper co-developed by Netscape and Macromedia, which allows animations and interactive Programs to be embedded into HTML pages. Requires Netscape Navigator browser for viewing "Shocked" Documents, and Macromedia Director, a high-end multimedia development program, for developing "Shocked" Documents. Sign: Your signature at the end of an email or Usenet posting. Signs commonly consist of up to four to six lines, and can contain whatever you'd like, usually your email and/or other contact information, very brief information about Your business, even just a witty or humorous phrase. SLIP: Serial Line Internet Protocol. Communications method that allows a computer to use TCP/IP over a telephone line. SPAM: Unwanted, unrequested mass "junk" email. TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. Software that allows your computer to communicate on the Internet. Telnet: A method of remotely "logging on" to a computer system across the Internet, as if your computer and the other were directly connected. Upload: Transferring a file from your computer to another computer. URL: Uniform Resource Locator. Simply put, this is the address of a site on the World Wide Web. Here's an example URL: http://www.schma.com/home/index.htm The "http" stands for "hypertext transfer protocol"; "://" signals the beginning of the address; "www.schma.com" is the domain name, similar to a street address on the Internet; the "/home" tells the computer to look in the directory called "home"; and "index.htm" is the name of the HTML document to access. Usenet: A section of the Internet divided up into "newsgroups," or individual special interest bulletin boards. You can post a question, an answer, information, whatever, to a newsgroup, and anyone else can read it. Likewise, you can read anyone else's postings. This is a heavily used area for information sharing. VRML: Virtual Reality Markup Language. A still experimental website language developed as a replacement for HTML. At a VRML website, one can explore environments in three dimensions, and can interact with other people who are visiting the same site. VRML requires a special browser. Webmaster: The person at your Internet Service Provider who is responsible for maintaining the server. This is the person who can answer your service-related questions, such as what CGI scripts are supported. Website: A collection of HTML pages. Wide Area Network (WAN): Large computers linked together over a long distance via phone or wireless communication. World Wide Web (WWW, or Web): A section of the Internet containing "pages" of information, including text, photos, graphics, audio, and video. You can search for documents by using one of the many search databases. To access the web, you must use a browser. Yahoo: The most famous and, arguably, the most comprehensive of all search databases on the World Wide Web. Yahoo's URL is http://www.yahoo.com.

Introduction To Internet Terms

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:35:00 +0000

The Internet brings with it a whole language of its own. This report explains the meaning of the terms most

commonly used. Many of these definitions rely on other terms for their explanations, so terms defined elsewhere in

this report are in italics.

There are a lot of terms here, and some can be a bit technical. If you don't understand them at first reading, keep

this report handy as you start using the Internet. As you gain experience, the terms will begin to make sense.

Autoresponder: An email robot that sends replies automatically, without human intervention. For example, if you

had a page of marketing information, you could ask prospects to send email to " info@yourname.com," the address

of your autoresponder. The autoresponder will automatically email the person your information document. Many

autoresponders will, at the same time, send an email to you, listing the requester's address and the document they

requested. This is an important tool for conducting online commerce.

Backbone: The primary WAN of the Internet.

Browser: A program that allows you to access and read hypertext documents on the World Wide Web.

CGI Scripts: Programs that perform certain functions in connection with your HTML documents. For example, a

common CGI script is a counter, which keeps track of the number of people who access your home page. Many

CGI scripts are available for free use on the World Wide Web. Always check with your webmaster before using a

new CGI script.

Download: Transferring a file from another computer to your own.

Email: Electronic mail, a message sent to another Internet user across the Internet. An email address looks like

this: jimsmith@schma.com, whereas, "jimsmith" is your user name, your unique identifier; "@" stands for "at";

"schma.com " is the name of your Internet Service Provider. The most common email names of Internet Service

Providers are " aol.com" (America Online users), "compuserve.com" (Compuserve users), "prodigy.com" (Prodigy

users), and " ix.netcom.com" (Netcom users).

FTP: File Transfer Protocol. This is the Internet communication method that allows the transfer of a file from one

computer to another.

Gateway: See Internet Service Provider.

Gopher: An Internet tool that searches and retrieves specific documents based on your specifications.

Helpers: Programs that work together with your browser. For example, if you download an audio file, a separate

audio player (such as the Media Player that comes with Windows) is needed in order to play the audio file.

Home Page: Your primary HTML page, the first page anyone would see in your website.

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language. The primary "language" that World Wide Web documents are created in.

HTML documents can, with practice, be created fairly easily from scratch in a simple word processor, such as the

Windows Notepad, or with the aid of specialized programs created for such a purpose. Many advanced word

processors, like Microsoft Word and WordPerfect, have "add-ons" which will translate a typed document into

HTML.

Hypertext: A hypertext document has references to other documents sprinkled throughout. If you click on one of

these references, you are transferred to an entirely different document. For example, if this report was a hypertext

document, you could click on any italicized word, and you'd instantly be transported to the definition of that word.

Internet Service Provider (ISP): The company you call from your computer to gain access to the Internet.

IRC: Internet Relay Chat. A section of the Internet that lets users enter a "room" and communicate with others in

the room via the keyboard.

Java: A new programming language developed by Sun Microsystems for developing software applications that

work over the Internet. Java is, at the time of this writing, only starting to gain popularity, with its greater capacity

for animation and graphically interesting effects. Java requires a browser compatible with Java.

Local Area Network (LAN): Computers linked together in a central location, such as a business or government

organization.

MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. Allows an email message to contain non-text data, such as audio

and video files.

What Exactly Is The Internet?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:56:00 +0000

If you read newspapers and magazines or watch television, youll probably agree that the Internet is one of

the hottest topics to come down the pike in a long time. Businesses are especially urged to get on the

Internet. But what exactly IS the Internet?

First, hares what the Internet is NOT. The Internet is not an online service, like America Online or

CompuServe. The Internet is not a big computer you can call up with your computer and modem. The

Internet isn't even really a computer network, in the truest sense of the word.

The Internet's backbone is an interconnected series of wide-area networks (WANs). These are large

computers linked together over a long distance via phone or wireless communication. These huge WANs

link tens of thousands of smaller WANs and local-area networks (LANs, computers linked together in a

central location, such as a business or government organization) around the world. In this sense, the

Internet IS a network of computers. It just isnt a directly connected network; its more roundabout, more of

a simulation of a network.

When you access the Internet, you can send email to anyone else in any part of the world, provided they

have an Internet connection. You can download (receive) and upload (send) files and programs to and

from any computer that's connected to the Internet. You can chat with other people who are currently

connected to the Internet (you type what you want to say, they'll see it on their screen, and vice versa). It's

just like you're on a network of computers in a single office, for example, but the computers are spread

apart worldwide.

You aren't accessing the other computers directly; you only access the single computer you're dialing into

for Internet access. That computer processes your request (say, an email message you're sending), looks

up the "address" of the computer you're sending it to, then "routes" your message through the necessary

series of other computers out there in the network, until your email gets to its destination.

A common question is: where did the Internet come from? Most people had never heard of the Internet

before that last year or two. The Internet, though, has been around for quite some time, just not in the

general usage we see today.

Today's Internet that is linking people from different cultures worldwide ironically got its start as a

defense project. In the late 1960's, the U.S. Department of Defense began researching defense

communications via computer. One of the projects that grew out of this research was called ARPANET

(Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the forerunner of today's Internet.

The overall idea was to have a communications network that could be maintained, even if part of it was

destroyed in an attack. If a communications network was housed in one location, and that location was

destroyed, communications would cease. However, if a huge network with no central control center could

be constructed, a destroyed location could be "routed" around through another location, and

communications would continue. This is how the Internet works.

By the early 1980's, all U.S. military sites were connected to the ARPANET. Computer scientists at major

universities and large businesses had also connected in, using the network as a means for sharing

information. This was thanks to the CSNET (Computer Science Network) project conducted by the

National Science Foundation (NSF).

The NSF saw the great strides that were being made in computer science due to CSNET, and began

constructing a high-capacity, high-speed WAN. Completed in 1988, the NSFNET was so successful that

the number of computers accessing it quadrupled to around 80,000 in less than a year. This number

increased to almost 300,000 by 1990, creating the need for the final "backbone" network, which exists

today, with over 2,000,000 computers connected.

So, now you may have an understanding as to why the concept of "what is the Internet" is such a hard

thing to explain. It's a computer network, but it's not. You dial in to the Internet, but you really don't.

And no one really owns it or controls it, except for the supercomputers that form the "backbone." One thing's

for sure, though: the Internet will change, and, to some extent, has already changed, the way we

communicate with each other.

Better With XHTML (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:40:00 +0000

XHTML merupakan generasi penerus dari HTML, meskipun tidak banyak orang yang memakainya, tapi XHTML merupakan masa depan bagi internet.

XHTML merupakan kepanjangan dari eXtensable HyperText Markup Language. XHTML diciptakan berdasarkan pada dua alasan :

Untuk menciptakan standard khusus dalam pembuatan suatu halaman web, agar kompatibel dengan semua jenis web browser.
Untuk menciptakan standard khusus yang bisa digunakan pada semua jenis device tanpa merubah.

XHTML tidak jauh berbeda dengan HTML, jadi jika anda sudah menguasai HTML, anda tidak akan mendapat kesulitan untuk beralih ke XHTML.

Kesalahan kecil dalam menggunakan HTML ( seperti lupa menutup tag ) akan di abaikan oleh web browser, hal ini jelas akan mengurangi atau membuat web content anda tidak terbaca oleh user.

Dalam XHTML kesalahan ini tidak boleh terjadi,

XHTML adalah bahasa standard dalam membuat suatu halaman web yang telah disetujui oleh W3C, anda mulai bisa beralih sekarang juga jika ingin web site anda menjadi lebih baik. Alasanya adalah :

XHTML akan menjadikan website anda lebih baik dengan kode yang lebih teratur dan mudah dimengerti
Dengan XHTML web anda akan lebih mudah untuk di akses, baik saat ini ataupun di masa mendatang karena semua jenis browser bisa menampilkan halaman web anda dengan baik dan benar.
XHTML akan menggusur keberadaan HTML4.

Beberapa Perubahan Utama

Ada beberapa perubahan utama yang terjadi dari XHTML ke HTML:

Semua tag harus lower case ( huruf kecil semua )
Semua document harus memiliki doctype
Semua tag harus ditutup
Semua attibut harus dilengkapi
Penulisan attibut tidak boleh disingkat
Semua dokumen harus berbentuk

Jika sekilas mungkin terlalu banyak perubahan, tapi jika anda teliti lagi, sebenarnya hanya sedikit yang perlu anda rubah jika anda ingin beralih ke XHTML.

Doctype

Perubahan pertama yang akan terlihat pada web anda adalah doctype. Sangat dianjurkan sekali menggunakan doctype pada awal kode anda, meskipun hal ini optional.

Be Wi-Fi with HotSpot

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:03:00 +0000

Wi-fi atau Wireless fidelity adalah sebuah koneksi tanpa kabel seperti handphone dengan menggunakan teknologi radio sehingga para penggunanya bisa mentranfer data secara cepat dan aman.

Wi-fi tidak hanya bisa digunakan untuk mengakses internet, akan tetapi juga bisa dipergunakan untuk membuat jaringan tanpa kabel dalam sebuah perusahaan. Istilah wi-fi sering diindentikkan dengan “kebebasan”. Bisa diterima juga, karena tekhnologi wi-fi memang benar – benar memberikan kebebasan bagi kita untuk menerima dan mengirim data kapan saja dan dimana saja, hotel, kafe, dan tempat – tempat yang bertanda wi-fi hotspot.

Kelebihan lain dari wi-fi adalah kepraktisannya yang tidak memerlukan pemasangan kabel jaringan (network). Dan untuk kecepatannya sendiri sangat bergantung pada sinyal yang diperolehnya. W-fi hanya bisa diakses dengan menggunakan peralatan yang mempunyai teknologi wi-fi, seperti laptop, PDA ataupun CellPhone. Untuk laptop keluaran terbaru sudah terdapat w-fi onboard, dan jika belum tersedia bisa memakai USB wi-fi atau engan menginstall wi-fi PC Card.

Bagi pengguna PDA dapat diinstall compact flash format wi-fi radio pada slot yang telah tersedia. JIka menggunakan windows XP, maka akan mendeteksis secara otomatis jaringan wi-fi yang ada.

Untuk memastikan piranti anda men-support tekhnologi wi-fi, pastikan terdapat logo wi-fi certified pada kemasannya.

Akhir – akhir ini banyak fasilitas umum seperti kafe, hotel, bandara, yang telah menyediakan fasilitas wi-fi secara gratis untuk kenyamanan para pelanggannya.

Di kafe misalnya kita bisa minum – minum sambil browsing ataupun chat secara gratis, dengan membawa laptop tentunya (harus laptop bukan PC).

Nah bagaimana jika tidak punya laptop …???

Apakah kita musti angkut CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, dan semua –semuanya ke kafe atau tempat lain yang ada fasilitas wi-fi…????

Jika harus, bayangkan saja sendiri…..

Tapi tidak usah berkecil hati, berterima kasihlah pada tekhnologi WAJAN BOLIK.