make money online

2011-04-04T23:58:00.000-07:00

top 100 tips for doing business online

make money online

be summarized using words; but your identity is also

accompanied by many intangible qualities. Brands are as much about attitudes, feelings, and
emotions as they are about factual information. The overall look of your Web site must support
these defining factors. Is your brand identity best served by hard edges or softer, rounded shapes? Do
primary colors capture the company philosophy or would earth tones be a better match? Experiment
and find the right fit before settling on a design scheme.
2. Forget Cool, Think Useful
You can’t compete with TV, you can’t compete with movies, you can’t even compete with
entertainment Web sites. Luckily there’s no need to compete, though, because what really counts is
making your site useful, not cool.
3. Lead Visitors Where You Want Them to Go
While your content may fulfill the needs of your visitors, your site design should guide them
naturally to the places you want them to go. For instance, before visitors can download a sample
chapter of a book, they might be shown a page that makes them aware of the full-length version and
how to order it. Determine your goals and find a way to deliver value to your visitors while also
getting what you want.
4. Offer Clear, Limited Choices
Some Web sites are so cluttered with navigation bars, banner ads, links, promotional blurbs, image
maps, and the like, it’s difficult to choose what to do first. Make it too hard for your visitors and
they may decide to go elsewhere. Decide what information is most important for your visitors,
particularly on your home page, and resist the urge to add more information.
5. Let Visitors Know What Your Site is About
The worst thing you can do is promote your Web site, get curious people to take a first look, and
confuse the heck out of them when they arrive. View your home page through the eyes of a new
visitor. Does it spell out exactly what you offer and what your brand stands for? If not, redesign it so
it does. Also, remember that many people will arrive at your site through a secondary page, especially
if they hear about it through a search engine or recommendation. Therefore, every page needs to
explain what your site is about.
6. Avoid Long, Scrolling Pages
Sites overdo page length on both sides of the issue. Some sites make visitors scroll through endless
reams of announcements, news items, articles, and more—all on a single page. The solution is to
break things up. As a general rule, design with one item or concept per page. Provide a menu to
related pages. On the other hand, don’t break things up too much. Some experts contend that Web
pages shouldn’t be any longer than one screen length. As a result, many Web sites force readers to hit
a Next button and wait for a new page to load before they can continue reading a relatively short
article. If the content on a single page takes up only two or three screens, it’s easier to do a little
scrolling than to keep hyperlinking to more pages.
7. Use Simple, Clean Layouts
Basic is better when it comes to Web site design. That doesn’t mean your site has to be boring. Your
goal is to keep your pages clutter free, using lots of white space to allow visual breathing room. Have
fun with your page layout; but make sure every design choice you make helps you communicate
your brand identity.
8. Keep a Consistent Theme Throughout
Most designers start by creating the home page, since that’s the page most people see first. That’s a
smart move as long as you carry the home page’s look and feel throughout the rest of your site.
Wherever the navigation menu is positioned on your home page, make sure the menu is in that same
spot on every other page. If you use a fuchsia-colored border under the logo on one page, use fuchsia
on all pages. Got it?
9. Think Big—Type, That Is
Along with creating a simple, clean design, you also want a site that is easy to read. Don’t make
surfers squint to absorb your information. Make it as easy as possible for people to get the details
they want. Avoid putting small text on colored or busy backgrounds.
10. Use Color Tastefully and Sparingly
Color is a funny thing. Used properly, color can have a good impact. Used irresponsibly, it can look
ugly, scream “amateur site, run for your life,” and cause thousands to get queasy instantly. Make sure
your Web site color choices lean more toward the former.
11. Provide Navigation Along the Top, Left Side, and Bottom
When people surf the Web, they love to slip and slide from site to site and page to page. Make sure
each of your pages has easy-to-find navigation options along the top and bottom of the page. When
visitors come to the end of an article, don’t make them scroll all the way back up to the top to get to
their next destination. Most well designed pages also have menu options in a left column. In this
column, you can either duplicate the navigation options you offer at the top and bottom or create a
separate set of links to pages directly related to the content on that page.
12. Adhere to the Three-Click Rule
Many experts advise that any piece of information on your site should be no further than three clicks
away from your home page. I suggest you go further and limit the rule to two clicks. Think of your
home page as the first level. All pages you provide a link to from the home page would be considered
the second level. Any additional pages you direct people to from the second level would be
considered the third level. Third-level pages are two clicks away from the home page. Don’t create
pages that go any deeper than the third level, if you can help it.
13. Stay Away From Autoplay Sounds
For some reason, many Web site owners love heaping musical ditties on visitors the minute they
arrive. It may seem like a good idea; but autoplay sounds take extra time to load. They can also come
blaring out of someone’s speakers when he or she least expects it, for example, at work near the boss’s
office or at home when the baby is sleeping.
14. Check for Browser Compatibility
The most common Web browsers display pages in pretty much the same way; but there are
variations. The last time I checked statistics; close to 80 percent of Internet users listed Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer as their browser of choice. You definitely want to make sure your site is designed
to accommodate Bill Gates’ favorite browser. However, Netscape Navigator is still used by a
significant number of people, as are many other, lesser-known browsers. Try to view your Web pages
using different browsers to make sure everything displays correctly. Three sites that can help you
determine the browser-friendliness of your pages are Net Mechanic
(http://www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm), Web Site Garage (http://websitegarage.netscape.com/),
and AnyBrowser.com (http://www.anybrowser.com/).
15. Update Your Site Often
While your goal should be to make your site appealing to first-time visitors, you also need to give
visitors good reasons to return. Keep your site fresh by adding new content on a regular basis. That
doesn’t mean you should make radical changes to your design all the time, but you can add new
articles, products, giveaways, and so on.
16. Go Easy on the Gizmos.
Though the free-enterprise system is trying hard to make it one, the Web is not currently set up to be
a multimedia entertainment center. I once heard morning radio jock Howard Stern joke about how
he waited an hour to download a movie clip that eventually played in a grainy frame about twoinches
wide. He suddenly realized that in the next room was a life-size TV hooked up to 120 clearchannel
cable stations. Why do people continue to squeeze basketball-size media files through a
connection the size of a garden hose? Your visitors will reward you if you chill out on the special
effects and don’t force them to download dozens of plug-ins to view your pages.
17. Make Good Use of Page Titles
This is a simple but often-overlooked design tip. The words you put between the <Title> and
</Title> tags show up at the top of your visitor’s browser. Those words are also indexed by many
search engines. Make sure they describe the specific page, your name, and some reference to your
brand image. Commercial HTML editing programs generally provide an easy way to insert page
titles.
18. Stick With Standard Link Colors
Certain standards have developed on the Web. One of those standards concerns the colors given to
various types of hyperlinks. Blue is used for unvisited links, red for an active link as it is being
clicked, and purple for links that have been recently visited. With all the skepticism that exists on the
Internet, your brand will benefit by providing your visitors with some surfing standards they can
count on.
19. Use Hyperlinks, Especially Within Your Site
One of the most appealing aspects of the Web is its interconnectivity. Some of the best sites
encourage visitors to bounce around from page to page within the site—or even section to section on
the same page. One article can reference a topic covered in another article. Instead of plainly stating,
You’ll find more information on Labradors in my FAQ on hunting dogs, make the words FAQ on
hunting dogs an active hyperlink that takes the reader straight to that page.
20. Conduct Informal Usability Research
Once you’ve come up with a site design plan you’re happy with, invite a few friends over who know
little about your planned site. Have them visit your home page. Ask them to tell you what the site is
about; then ask them to browse around and click what interests them. Observe the pages they go to
and which navigation links they use to get there. Next, give them specific tasks: Place an order;
subscribe to the newsletter, and so on. Note which steps come easily and which ones reveal obstacles.
This isn’t rocket science; but this kind of casual research will help you find your site’s strengths and
weaknesses quickly.
5 QUICK AND EASY WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SITE
1. Find and Fix Broken Links and Other Errors
There are a number of online services that can check your site for problems. You can set these to run
automatically on a schedule, and to send you a report. The checkers can do various things, from
checking links to spell checking and HTML checking. Most of these services provide free demo
reports, by the way—they’ll check a few pages, maybe even 100, on your site and send you the
report so you can see what you’ll get when you sign up.
LinkAlarm: http://LinkAlarm.com/
Doctor HTML and RxHTMLPro: http://www2.imagiware.com/
NetMechanic: http://www.NetMechanic.com/
Web Site Garage: http://websitegarage.netscape.com/
Tucows Library: http://www.tucows.com/
Dr. Watson: http://watson.addy.com/
And more ...
http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Data_Formats/HTML/Validation_and_Checkers/
2. Make Sure Your Site Looks Good in All Browsers
One of the biggest frustrations for anyone creating Web pages is the fact that what looks fine in one
browser may look terrible in another. It’s an unfortunate fact that not all browsers are equal. How,
then, do you avoid problems? Really the only way to be sure is to check your work in different
browsers. Which? Well, there’s the problem. There are so many different browsers, versions of
browsers, and operating systems, that there’s no way you’ll be able to check all the possibilities.
NetMechanic at http://www.NetMechanic.com/ has set up a service called Browser Photo. This
service tests your pages on 14 different browser/operating system combinations, a combination of
AOL, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, WebTV, and Opera (including 11 different Explorer
and Navigator versions), a variety of different screen sizes, and three different operating systems: PC,
iMac, and WebTV.
3. Add a Heading or Tag Line to Your Name Plate
The name of a product or a company is rarely in itself a compelling marketing message. Therefore
you should hardly ever head a Web page with the name of the product or company. Instead, craft a
compelling statement of the benefit someone gets out of buying the product or doing business with
the firm. After that hook you can introduce the identity of the Web page’s sponsor.
4. Include a Guarantee and a Privacy Statement
If you’re selling something on your site, a guarantee will help take away the feeling of risk. If you’re a
smaller, relatively unknown company you need to establish credibility fast. Offering a guarantee will
increase orders more than it will cost in returned items. You also should include a privacy statement
when asking visitors to provide information, namely their e-mail address.
4 EXCELLENT ENHANCEMENTS FOR YOUR WEB SITE
1. Add a Search Engine to Your Site in 10 Minutes
Here’s a system you can use to add a search engine to your site with just a few minutes work. The
system provides search reports, so you can see what visitors are searching for; automatically generated
site maps (a “tree” showing the relationship of pages); automatically generated What’s New lists; and
scheduled re-indexing. You can omit certain pages, or even parts of a page, from the search, modify a
page’s ranking, and so on.
There is one catch. When a visitor to your site is using the search system, ads will be displayed on
the results page. If that’s okay with you, visit http://www.FreeFind.com/ to see how it works and to
sign up for service.
Here are two other similar services:
Atomz: http://Atomz.com/
SearchButton.com: http://www.searchbutton.com/
2. Run Auctions at Your Web Site... With Free Software
Have you considered setting up an auction program at your Web site? I ran into an open source
program recently for managing auctions. “Open source” software is free software—you can use it
without paying for it. It’s software that is created by programmers who come together—in a
metaphorical sense, because often these programmers never meet each other, or even talk with each
other on the phone. The interesting thing about Open Source is how it develops almost organically.
Programmers add things that interest them—instead of having a long-term development plan, the
program develops in an unforeseen direction, dependent on the whims of the programmers involved.
The program in question is EveryAuction, and you can find it here:
http://www.everysoft.com/auction/
3. Add “Viewlet” Content to Your Site ... Free
Viewlets are little Java-based animations that can be used to demonstrate a process of some kind. At
the Qarbon.com site http://www.Qarbon.com/ you’ll find viewlets demonstrating how to use AOL
menus and tools, how to work with Web browsers, how to use PowerPoint, how to work with
Linux, and so on. (At the moment they’re mostly used for demonstrating software, but you could
put any kind of images into them to demonstrate any process, really.)
As the viewlets are Java applets, they won’t work in all browsers, but they will work in most: Internet
Explorer 4.0, Netscape 4.06, AO1 4.0 and later on MS Windows (unfortunately they won’t work in
Mac versions of Netscape until Netscape upgrades its Java support for the Mac).
Creating viewlets is very easy. Qarbon.com provide a special tool to help you drop images into the
viewlet and add your own text callouts; you can use voice-overs, too.
4. Set Up a Discussion Group on Your Site
Many Web sites use discussion groups (also known as a bulletin boards, message boards, and
sometimes a Web forum) as a way for people to discuss your products or simply as a service to
people—a way to attract them to your Web site. For instance, setting up a discussion group for
people interested in emus is one way to make your emu-lovers’ site stand out. A discussion group can
be part of an overall package that makes a site popular with a certain group of people, just one more
element that attracts people to your site and keeps them coming back. You can even set up several
groups for different purposes; once you’ve set up one, it’s quite easy to set up another.
Here’s another way to use a discussion group. Set up a weeklong discussion with a celebrity or wellknown
person in your field. Your emu site might invite a successful emu farmer, a music site might
invite a musician, a company selling software might invite the author of a book about their software,
and so on. For one week, or however long this person is willing to take part, people can visit your
site to pose questions and read the celebrity’s responses.
There are a number of ways to create discussion groups. FrontPage has a wizard that helps you build
one. If you’re not using FrontPage, you might use a utility service to set one up—there are a number
of places that will allow you to build discussion groups at their sites, and link into them from your
own so that it appears to be part of your site. Here are a few such services:
Cybersites, http://www.cybersites.com/
Delphi, http://www.delphi.com/
eCircles.com, http://www.ecircles.com/
EdGateway, http://edgateway.net/
EVine, http://www.evine.com/
Excite Communities, http://www.excite.com/communities/
FriendFactory, http://www.friendfactory.com/
InterClubs, http://interclubs.com/
JointPlanning, http://www.jointplanning.com/
Lycos Clubs, http://clubs.lycos.com/
Network54, http://network54.com/
Yahoo!—Clubs, http://clubs.yahoo.com/
8 ESSENTIAL THINGS YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE DOING TO
PROMOTE YOUR WEB SITE
1. Publish an E-Mail Newsletter
But why distribute an e-mailed publication instead of (or alongside) putting up a website? Think
about your own web surfing habits. Do you visit new sites everyday? Do you visit sites frequently?
Which sites do you frequent most often? Which sites are most interesting to you? What do those
sites provide to you that is of value? These are the things to keep in mind when you go to design
your own page, and/or your own e-mail publication.
When individuals visit any given web page, they might stay there for 10-20 seconds before their
attention span fades away. Either their attention is drawn to something else, they click on another
link which leads them away from your site, or they simply get bored. So, your first (main) page
needs to have enough information to entice that user. Unless you have something worth returning
for, they’re probably never going to return. Sure, they might bookmark it, they may even put a link
to your site on their own web page, but the chances are slim that they’re going to keep coming back
to you regularly.
However, if you can show visitors what you have to offer up front and get them to subscribe to your
e-mailed publication, then you’re going to have them as captive audience members until they decide
to unsubscribe. You don’t have to count on them to revisit your website at all; they’re going to
receive your e-zine whether or not they’re online when it arrives in their e-mailbox. Get them to
join, and then send them on their merry way.
2. Offer Free E-Mail Courses
Once you write and set up an email course, it becomes an incredibly easy and effective way to
promote your site and your products. An e-mail course is a short series of lessons delivered, of
course, by e-mail. Interested students sign up by sending an e-mail to an autoresponder address of
your choice. To set one up, you’ll need to use an autoresponder service that has follow-up message
capabilities. Many autoresponders that come with basic Web-hosting packages are often of the oneshot
variety. That means the autoresponder will send only one return message and that’s it. You can
either ask your Web host if it offers a multiple-message option, or you can use a free online
autoresponder service, such as
GetResponse.com, http://www.getresponse.com/
SendFree, http://www.sendfree.com/
FastFacts.net, http://www.fastfacts.net/
What type of material should you offer in an e-mail course? The best source of ideas is the list of
articles you have written or are thinking about writing on your area of expertise. Let’s say you’re a
wedding planner and you just wrote an excellent article called Five Steps to Planning a Memorable
Wedding Reception. Each step consists of at least three or four paragraphs. Instead of offering this
wonderful advice as another free article, split the steps into five lessons to be delivered via an e-mail
course.
To go the e-mail course route, simply insert the wedding reception planning steps into your
autoresponder files and instruct the system how to deliver them. Lesson one will always be delivered
instantly whenever someone sends an e-mail to ReceptionPlans@autoresponder.com (or whatever your
autoresponder e-mail address is). You determine when follow-up lessons are sent. You could send
one lesson every day for five days or send them every other day to spread the course out over 10 days.
If your course requires recipients to do a week of activities between lessons, you’d have the
autoresponder send out messages seven days apart. The beauty of autoresponder e-mail courses is
that, once they’re set up, all these messages are sent to interested people without any effort on your
part.
3. Submit Articles to other E-Mail Newsletters and Sites
It should be easy for you to position yourself as an expert that other Webmasters and e-zine editors
will want to expose to their audiences. You should already be creating content for your own site and
newsletter. While you may decide to make select portions of your content exclusively available
through your own vehicles, most of your content should be freely shared with the world. I’m not
talking about material you write that’s sold in books and other formats; material from those projects
should be reserved for paying customers. What we’re addressing now are the many articles, columns,
and tips you publish with the sole intent of spreading them far and wide.
Why will Webmasters and e-zine editors be interested in the free content you have to offer? Here are
some of the reasons:
· E-zines need quality content that inspires subscribers to open their e-mail and read it.
· Web sites need useful content to draw first-time visitors.
· Webmasters need to update their sites constantly to get return visitors.
· Good content is hard to find.
· Experts on specialized topics are even harder to find.
· Most marketers offering free content are turned down because they fill their articles with
self-serving hype.
Starting today, begin viewing your written expertise as a valuable, in-demand commodity you can
use to help others while meeting your own needs. In return for the use of your material, Webmasters
and e-zine editors give you access to their audiences—the type of exposure that plants mental seeds
that will soon sprout into full-blown recognition of you and your brand identity. When your
articles, columns, and tips carry the right type of author attribution, this exposure will also motivate
thousands of people to subscribe to your e-zine and visit your Web site.
Here are a few places to announce that you have free articles available:
Ezine Articles, http://www.ezinearticles.com/
FreeSticky.com, http://www.freesticky.com/
Idea Marketers, http://www.ideamarketers.com/
4. Set up an Affiliate Program
There are two sides to the affiliate game. Most people are playing the game by signing up with
affiliate programs, then linking from their Web sites to the site running the affiliate program ...
hoping to make money in the form of commissions. It’s very easy to get started, and hundreds of
thousands of people have already done so. Amazon.com claims to have 400,000 affiliates (or
“associates,” as they call them), for instance.
Of course there’s another way to play the affiliate game ... you can set up an affiliate program
yourself, linked to a shopping-cart system, then recruit other Web sites to send business to you.
One of the largest directories of affiliate programs on the Web, AssociatePrograms.com, lists just
2694 different programs. Of the millions of businesses operating on the Internet, just a few thousand
have managed to not only set up a shopping-cart system of some kind, but to also integrate an
affiliate program into it.
Why? Because it’s difficult to do so. There are a number of programs available to help you do it (a
few are listed in the Links page mentioned above), but in general they are either expensive, or
complicated to install ... or both. Some e-commerce systems have very crude affiliate systems,
systems that require, for instance, that you add each affiliate by hand. You really need a system by
which affiliates can sign up for themselves—everything should be automated.
If you’re looking for a good affiliate program, you might check out AffiliateTracking.net,
http://affiliatetracking.net/. It’s a great little program, with features such as these:
· Automatic affiliate signup and assignment of affiliate links
· Affiliate statistics page, so affiliates can see the number of click throughs, sales, and
commissions
· The ability to pay commissions based on click throughs, sales, or “sub affiliates” (when
an affiliate signs up another affiliate)
· A series of reports and tools to help you track who you owe and how much you owe
· You can specify how many days an affiliate “owns” a visitor that the affiliate site has
directed to your site (if the visitor buys from you after the expiration period, you don’t
owe the affiliate a commission)
· Each time an affiliate order is logged the system can, if you wish, send a notification to
the affiliate and to you
· A payment tracking module, to help you pay the correct commissions
· A mail system for sending an e-mail to all the affiliates at once (great for announcing
special promotions!)
5. Giveaway E-Books
Free e-books are growing in popularity on the Internet for good reason. Here are just a few things
you can do with a free e-book:
· Give it away from your site.
· Convince other Web sites and e-zines to give it away.
· Offer it as a freebie for new e-zine subscribers.
· Give it away to your current subscribers as a token of your appreciation.
Give your e-book an attention-getting title and fill it with lively information that focuses on your
specialized area. By encouraging your fans to share your free e-book with others, your brand identity
may spread faster than a chain latter. The following sites are e-book directories, e-book search
engines, or sites that in some way compile lists of available free e-books. Visit them and get your title
listed.
Bizinfocenter.com, http://www.bizinfocenter.com/free-ebook-directory/
eBook Directory, http://www.ebookdirectory.com/
Ebook Giveaways, http://www.ebookgiveaways.com/
EBooks Portal, http://ebooks.searchking.com/
Ebook Shop, http://ebookshop.bizland.com/
Free-eBooks.net, http://www.free-ebooks.net/
6. Participate in Mailing Lists and Discussion Groups
Mailing lists allow a group of people to exchange messages with each other in such a way that
everyone participates. Messages are delivered by e-mail. Discussion groups are more like static online
bulletin boards. Both present an opportunity for you to promote your product or services. However,
it is very important that you post properly; you will not benefit by posting blatant advertisements.
Here are a few rules to follow:
Before you start posting messages you should “visit.” Unless you take a look, you don’t know for
sure the slant of the group.
Create a good signature. The signature is the block of text at the end of a message that says
something about the person who sent the message. Signatures are often used to carry little
promotional ads, and this seems to be more or less accepted, as long as the signature isn’t too large.
Be sure to include your URL, email address of an autoresponder (many people still have slow
Internet connections and prefer to receive information via email), the email address of a real person
to which questions can be directed, and a reason for people to visit your site.
Do not post messages that directly sell something. Pure ads (Buy! Buy!) irritate people. “Ads” in
which you give people something are usually acceptable.
Do not post the same message over and over again. If you do so, your chatty announcement turns
into a blatant ad. That doesn’t mean you can’t remind people about your Web site. You can
announce new services now and again.
7. Enter your Site to Win Online Awards
Awards started off slowly. There was a Cool Site of the Day, The Top 5% of All the Sites on the Web,
and so forth; but Web site awards have exploded. There’s a Cool Site of the Second, for crying out
loud, a site devoted to cataloguing the best “page not found” errors online, awards for Best Dog
Sites—there are all kinds of awards available.
As you might guess from the fact that there are so many awards, they’re not quite as meaningful as
they used to be. Reams of meaningless awards can be bought for the price of a few e-mails. Some
sites will give you awards simply if you link to them. You probably want to avoid these; they don’t
do you or your site a lot of good.
On the other hand, there are some great awards that can have a big effect on traffic. We’ll point you
to some good ones, and, if you really want to learn about every available award, we’ll give you some
links to those too.
Submitting Your Site
The most popular awards get lots of nominations. You want your nomination to stand out even
before an editor looks at your site. Keep these rules in mind when nominating your site for an award:
· Abide by the guidelines for submitting your nomination. If they want a 50-word essay in
purple text, give them a 50-word essay in purple text. And don’t nominate your site for an
inappropriate award—your consumer-protection cat-litter site will not be served by
winning a “Cool Dog Site” award, and you’ll waste everyone’s time by nominating it.
· Create a precise description of the site that you can send with your nomination. Make sure
it’s free of spelling and grammar errors.
· Double-check, triple-check, quadruple-check the URL you submit! You don’t want it to be
incorrect.
· If your site requires anything for optimum usage (like RealPlayer, Shockwave, and so on.)
make sure the editors know about it. (You don’t want them to visit and then leave because
they don’t have the right software to make the most of it.)
Really Good Awards
Might as well start at the beginning. Let’s look at some particularly useful awards.
Project Cool, http://www.projectcool.com/sightings/ is a great award, but it’s not for sissies. Make
sure you’re good, and darn good, before you submit here (and if you have a pornographic site, a site
glorifying crime, or a site that’s just a link list—don’t bother). Project Cool judges sites on the basis
of content, use of the Web as a medium, and well-thought-out navigation. Once you’ve submitted
your Web site, explore the rest of the Project Cool site. You’ll find some great resources for site
developers and a community for people who build Web sites.
USA Today Hot Sites, http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ch.htm are won by a wide variety of
sites—new search engines, educational resources, media, or whatever; but they all have a lot of great
content, and more than occasionally a good sense of humor. The USA Today technology editor
chooses the sites on the basis of content and appearance, sites that “push the envelope,” and etc. If
you do win a USA Today Hot Site award, your site has a chance to be listed in the offline, print
version of USA Today—another great perk, probably more valuable than the Hot Site award itself.
Regularly reading the USA Today Hot Site Awards gives you a good feel for what’s out there and
can point you to some sites that are making great use of online technologies.
Yahoo Picks of the Week, http://www.yahoo.com/picks/. When Yahoo really likes a site, it puts a
pair of sunglasses next to it in the directory. It also lists its favorite sites in the “Pick of the Day.”
There is an e-mail address at the bottom of that page, so you can suggest your site as a Yahoo pick.
Get mentioned in Yahoo! What’s New, and the number of visitors to your site could skyrocket.
Netguide’s Internet Sites of the Day, http://www.netguide.com/. Each of NetGuide’s various
subject guides has a Site of the Day. Go into each guide and look for an e-mail link to submit your
site. These are the guide subjects: Computing, Entertainment, Health, Internet, Living, Money,
News, Shopping, Sports, Travel, Women, and so on. If you’re really lucky, eventually you may end
up in the overall Net Guide.
Lesser-Known Awards
There are literally hundreds of Web-site awards, and it would take another couple of books to list
them all. Unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t worth the electrons on which they’re printed. Anybody
can make a little banner for an award, but that doesn’t make it useful! Furthermore, an award that’s
impressive to your target audience—that Yak Stalking Site of the Day award, perhaps—is
meaningless to a different group of users.
You’re going to have to judge a lot of awards for yourself. Some are not going to do you any good,
yet some specialized awards may turn out to be well worth having. There are a couple of enormous
directories you can use to check out what’s available:
Awards Emporium, http://www.momsnetwork.com/aemporium.shtml
Awards Sites!, http://www.awardsites.com/
Website Awards, http://websiteawards.xe.net/
8. Advertise in E-Mail Newsletters
We’re not talking about spam. We’re talking about advertising to people who have signed up to
receive e-mail for some reason. There are essentially two types of e-mail advertising: opt-in lists and
e-mail newsletters.
Opt-in lists are lists of people who have signed up to receive advertising. Some people sign up for
“I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine” plans. In other words, they agree to receive e-mail in
return for something else. For instance, a company may hold regular drawings, giving away
computers to the winners. To be included in the drawing, participants must be on the company’s
mailing list. Of course, the problem with this sort of list is that the people who sign up may have no
interest at all in receiving the e-mail, and may delete it without reading it. All they want is the
chance to win a prize.
The other reason people sign up for opt-in e-mail is because they have a genuine interest in getting
information. For instance, hundreds of thousands of people who are trying to learn how to do
business on the Internet have signed up to receive e-mail about doing business on the Internet, in the
hope that some of the mail will lead them to information and services that will help them.
The other form of advertising is in e-mail newsletters. In this case people subscribe to a newsletter
and, if it’s a good one, continue to receive it because they find it useful or entertaining. The
newsletter has ads embedded into it. If it’s a plain-text newsletter, the ads are plain-text ads—
generally six or seven lines, about 65 characters wide. If the newsletter is an HTML-mail newsletter,
the ads may be banner ads or some other kind of graphic.
To find newsletters to advertise in, see these directories:
Advertising.com, http://www.advertising.com/
Direct E-mail List Source, http://www.copywriter.com/lists/
E-Zine Ad Source Directory, http://www.ezineadsource.com/
Lifestyles, http://www.lifestylespub.com/
MeMail, http://www.memail.com/
Places to Register Your Email Newsletter special report
http://www.poorrichard.com/freeinfo/special_reports.htm
4 PROBLEMS WITH E-MAIL ADVERTISING
E-mail advertising really can work. E-mail advertising is getting a good reputation these days, as
people realize that it can be affordable and effective, but not all e-mail advertising is such a great
idea. There are four main problems to watch out for:
1. Classified Ad E-Mails Don’t Work
Some newsletters sell classified ads. You buy a few lines and your ad runs along with scores of others.
These ads almost never work. Few people read these ads—in fact many of these newsletters probably
aren’t read at all, having been subscribed to in order to enter a drawing. Even if they are read, people
tend to quickly scroll past the classifieds.
If you can find a newsletter with cheap classified ads, go ahead and try it. Create a doorway page to
track incoming visits and see how many people hit that page. Probably very few. Remember, the best
way to place an ad in a newsletter is in the editorial content, separated from any other ads the
newsletter may be carrying. The better the content and the fewer ads in the newsletter, the better
your ad is likely to work.
2. Ads Sent Solo to Opt-In Lists Don’t Work
E-mail message ads sent by themselves to opt-in lists probably won’t work well. If the message carries
nothing but an ad, people will read the subject line, and unless it’s a really good subject line, just
delete the message. Remember, people are flooded with e-mail, so they’re using the Delete key a lot.
3. E-Mail Advertising Isn’t Always Cheap
Some opt-in lists are way too expensive. We looked at a number of opt-in lists recently and found
that prices seem to be from as little as eight cents up to as much as thirty cents a name. Eight cents
per name is a CPM of $80, which is toward the high end for banner advertising. Thirty cents a name
represents a CPM of $300!
Can you make money at those rates? In many cases the answer is clearly no! It may be possible if
you’re selling a high-cost item. For instance, if you are selling Web-hosting services and expect each
customer to bring you $300 in the first year, you may find it effective. If you’re selling a book that
costs $19.95, however, the chance of you making money with this sort of advertising is slim to none.
It’s quite possible to find advertising in newsletters at much lower rates. The CPM for targeted
newsletters is often around $35, but rates can be much lower, around a dollar or two.
4. The “Real Numbers” Issue
The numbers problem is tricky, and right now, there’s no easy answer. If you buy advertising in a
newsletter, how do you know you’re getting what you paid for? If you pay for 50,000 subscribers,
how do you really know that you’re getting 50,000, and not 40,000—or 10,000? We can tell you
that some newsletter editors are inflating their numbers … at least, that’s the rumor among
newsletter editors, and after all, it makes sense that some would be doing so. It’s too easy to get away
with.
Right now most newsletter-advertising money is being spent on faith; people are simply taking the
seller’s word. In a lot of cases numbers are inflated. Many list owners probably don’t clean their lists
often, for instance, and a large list can quickly build up thousands of bad addresses.
6 TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING WITHOUT SPAMMING
1. Don’t Stay Silent
The very first thing on your list should be to get in touch with all your service providers to let them
know what you plan on doing. This list includes (but is not limited to) your local ISP, on whom you
rely for your Internet Connection; your Web site host, who is most likely running your mail (POP3)
server; and your list host, which will be the company that enables you to distribute your epublication
(as well as provide subscription database storage). You need all three of those providers
supporting you 100 percent of the way. Just about every legitimate e-mail publisher has been
wrongly accused of distributing junk e-mail messages. Instead of contacting you directly, offended
users will probably get in touch with any or all of your service providers. If your service providers
know you and trust that you’re not doing anything on the sly, they’re going to defend your position
and inform the whistleblowers that they are incorrect in their assumption. My providers have gone
to bat for me more than once, and that kind of support is priceless.
2. Don’t Impose
Don’t force yourself into user’s Inboxes unless they invite you first. Remember, the Inbox is a very
sacred place to them. Wait for them to sign up for your e-publication. The easiest (and best) way to
get subscribers is to publicize the offer on your Web site, and let related Web site and list owners
know what you’re doing.
3. Don’t Buy
A database of qualified subscribers cannot be purchased—that’s a fact. If anybody tells you
otherwise, he doesn’t know his lips from his belly button. Your money will be better spent on other
things (like advertising, marketing, and/or candy bars). People who sell e-mail address databases are
often referred to as list brokers. Believe it or not, this business is very lucrative (and legitimate).
4. Don’t Use Certain Words
In the subject line of a message, a few words, characters, and conventions tip me off to the message
being spam: money, sex, girls, free, opportunity, sale, power, powerful, new, invest, investment,
maximize, profit, buy, and special are the words (in no particular order); dollar signs and
exclamation marks are the symbols; and if the subject line is written in ALL CAPS, I delete it
without thinking twice. As an added measure for optimal recognition, I strongly suggest inserting
the name of your company and/or publication in the subject line of a message before writing
anything else.
5. Don’t Hide
In your own e-mailings, use your real name, if possible. Not only will it show your subscribers that
you’re easily accessible, but it will also make them aware that you’re a “human being” and not just
another employee in the cold, corporate world. If using your real name is too much to ask, then
make one up. There’s nothing wrong with a pseudonym, as long as you use it consistently in
conjunction with your e-publication.
6. Don’t Invite Removals
Personally, I throw the unsubscribe directions at the bottom of every mailing. It’s out of the way, but
not completely hidden; it’s the last thing users would read in an issue. Why invite them to remove
themselves from your mailing before they even have a chance to read it? You’re indirectly telling
them that your stuff isn’t worthy enough for their Inbox. Nothing could be further from the truth, I
hope.
5 POINTERS TO SCORE MORE POINTS WITH YOUR E-MAIL
COURSES
Multipart e-mail courses can be more powerful than online articles and e-zines because customers
give you permission to contact them repeatedly in a concentrated period of time. If you deliver highquality
content in your follow-up mailings, you have a real opportunity to embed your brand image
quickly. When setting up the individual messages of your course, keep these five points in mind and
you’re sure to score more points with your students.
1. Use Consistent Subject Headings
If your first lesson carries the subject line “Search Engine Ranking Tactics: Day One,” don’t use
“More Search Engine Tactics” for the second lesson. Be consistent and use “Search Engine Ranking
Tactics: Day Two.” Readers will recognize your course much more easily when the lessons are
consistently labeled.
2. Start with a Short Reminder Notice
At the top of each e-mail message, tell recipients why they are receiving it. Especially if your
segments are delivered days apart, this notice will remind people that they requested multiple
mailings from you. Believe it or not, some people will forget and accuse you of sending spam. A
simple notice like this should do: “This message is part of the five-step Hula dancing course you
recently signed up for. Enjoy!”
3. Include Your Course’s Title and an Author Byline
Reinforce the name of the course and what the reader is about to absorb. Using the same wording
that’s used in the subject line would be ideal. Right below the lesson title, put an attribution like “by
Fred Jones—The Geometry Geek” or “by Penny Smith, author of 50 Ways to Cheat Your Lover.”
In other words, get brand identity established early in each message.
4. End with a Teaser for the Next Lesson
Always conclude your lessons with a line such as, “Tomorrow, I’ll reveal the five things the IRS
doesn’t want you to know about medical deductions. See you then.” Create some excitement and
give your readers another reason to look forward to the next segment of your course.
5. Include a Final Brand-Building Blurb
Use the end of your message to once again squeeze in a brand-related message. For instance, I might
include a final blurb that reads, “Brought to you compliments of Bob Baker and The Buzz Factor.
For more resources, tips, and tools on how to promote your band or record label, visit
http://www.thebuzzfactor.com/. Have a question about today’s lesson? Send Bob an e-mail:
bob@bob-baker.com.”
10 TIPS FOR WRITING ATTENTION-GETTING ARTICLES
1. Craft a Strong Title
The title you attach to an article can mean the difference between it being widely read and
completely ignored. Which is more appealing: Tax Tips for Individual Filers or Nine Things the IRS
Doesn’t Want You to Know? What about How to Have a Successful First Date compared to First-
Date Maneuvers That Will Have Him Begging for More?
2. Address Problems and Provide Solutions
Readers are attracted to articles that promise to help them reach a desired goal; but articles that tell
people how to avoid or overcome a problem are even more in demand. What solutions can you
provide to help them deal with problems?
3. Provide Ordered How-To Steps
How-to articles are one of the most popular formats. Let readers know what procedure to take to get
from point A to point B.
4. Supply How-To Details with Your What-to-do Advice
Too many how-to articles tell readers what to do without telling them how to do it. You’ll impress a
lot more people with your articles if you go beyond simply telling them obvious, surface-level facts.
Your true expertise will shine in the details you provide.
5. Use Concrete Examples and Quotes
You’ll get your points across more forcefully by providing examples to back them up. Regularly
weave in a combination of personal anecdotes, stories of other people’s experiences, and quotes from
people who can validate the tips you offer.
6. Include Relevant Links
As you write each section of your articles, ask yourself if there’s a place you can send readers to get
more information. You don’t have to supply a link in every paragraph, but most articles you write
should contain at least a couple of online resources.
7. Avoid Jargon and Twenty-Dollar Words
Too many beginning writers feel they need to write to impress. Don’t use twenty-dollar words when
a fifty-cent word will do just fine. If you clearly communicate your expertise and truly help your
readers, they will be plenty impressed.
8. Keep Sentences Short
Try to keep many of your sentences short. Sometimes, very short. Like this. Readers process your
ideas more efficiently when you keep your sentences on a leash.
9. Make it Personal
Speak directly to your readers through your articles. Have a personal conversation with them. You’re
not reciting a thesis. You’re chatting it up with someone who shares similar interests.
10. Self-Promote Sensibly
Too many experts gratuitously weave in awkward plugs for their products and services for no other
reason than to promote themselves. Concentrate on giving your readers what they need to know. If
your article’s topic is focused on your area of expertise, readers will think you’re cool even if you
don’t go out of your way to point it out.
6 RULES FOR WRITING GOOD E-BOOKS
1. Good Writing is Essential For a Good E-Book
First things first, and this might seem trivial: You want an e-book that’s as good as a printed book,
which means you want something that is just as well written. Before you write your e-book, study
the nuts and bolts of professional writing. Read a few writers’ guides, practice your writing skills, and
sign up for a writing course or two.
2. A Good Editor is Worth a Thousand Misspelled Words
A good edits job versus a bad edit job can make of break your book, whether it’s printed or in
electronic format. Having no edit at all is likely to kill it completely. So hire an editor or get a friend
to be your second set of eyes.
3. Don’t go Overboard With the Hyperlinks
Since your book is online, and not just printed, you should consider adding certain online features
such as hyperlinks. However, consider this before you venture in and add a gazillion hyperlinks in
your document: It’s easy for people to get lost or confused if there’s too much bouncing around
within a book. Jeff was reading a book online and the page he was reading was filled with
underscored words, each one a hyperlink to another page in the same book. As he got to each one he
wasn’t sure if he was expected to click on the hyperlink so as to understand the rest of the chapter.
“Click here or you’ll be confused” was what it seemed like, although it wasn’t clear. So he clicked the
first one and ended up on another page somewhere in the book, and that page was filled with
hyperlinks. Soon it felt like he was surfing the whole Internet, bouncing from page to page and
getting completely lost, yet staying within the one book. It was frustrating. He eventually realized
the people who made the book thought it would be nice if the every word that had any relation to
another page of the book were hyperlinked to that page. But the truth is it made for a very messy,
unmanageable book. So here’s the moral: Don’t go overboard on the hyperlinks. You might think
you are doing your readers an extra service, but really, you aren’t.
4. Make Sure Your Book is Still Useful When Printed
Another tidbit about the online experience is this: Make sure your e-book is still useful when
printed. Plan that eventually it might find its way into a printed medium, whether it’s your
consumers’ own home printers or an actual print publication with a first run of 10,000 copies. If you
add hyperlinks where the user is required to click, or if you refer to the hyperlink without giving the
address, you could have a problem when it’s printed. Have you ever printed up a Web site? You
might see something like this: Click here to send me mail.
Go ahead, click it. Obviously you can’t if you’re reading this on a printed page. But the online
version has my e-mail address hidden behind it. What’s my e-mail address? When the page is printed
it’s gone and nowhere to be found. A better approach would be something like this: If you want to
send me e-mail, my address is jeffcogs@yahoo.com.
The e-mail address is clickable in the online version, and for the print folks, it’s clearly written out.
5. Don’t Just Save the Files for the Printed Version in Hypertext
The same book that had too many hyperlinks also had another problem: It was clear the publisher
had simply taken the files for the printed version of the book and saved them in a hypertext format,
adding a gazillion hyperlinks. Whoever did the deed overlooked a problem, however. The whole
thing was arranged in order by page, with no notion of chapters. There were statements such as See
the next chapter for more information all over the place. And wouldn’t you know, this time ... there
was no hyperlink! So how could one get to the next chapter? There were no chapter headings,
nothing, only page after page after page. In other words, there was absolutely no way to know where
the next chapter was. All you could do was read on and hope to one day see it on the side of the
road.
6. Watch Your References
In an e-book, it’s okay for the author to refer to what someone just read in the preceding paragraph.
But because of the possibility of repagination, it’s best not to refer to the next page or the preceding
page. Instead, refer to section and chapter headers. It’s also unwise to refer to images by their
position in the text. Don’t say, “The figure to the right shows—.” Instead number your figures and
refer to them by number.
8 REASONS TO CREATE YOUR OWN ONLINE COMMUNITY
1. To Discuss a Topic That No One Else is Discussing
If there’s no online community discussion about your favorite topic, start one! Say you collect
antique glass insulators and you’d like to talk about them, but there’s no one else in town that shares
your interest. You can bet that there are folks on the Internet who do!
2. To Provide an Online Way for an Existing Community to Get Together
An online community can be a great way for your extended family, your church, your club, or
another existing group to communicate. Several Web sites are specifically designed to allow families
or alumni groups to form communities.
3. To Create a Community With Your Own Personal Style
As the creator and manager of an online community, you can make the rules and set the tone of your
group.
4. To Market a Product or Service
A Web site is a good first step for marketing online. But providing an online community can help,
too. Your community can be directed at the types of people who might want to buy from you. If you
demonstrate that you are knowledgeable, provide helpful information, and don’t use a hard-sell
approach, people will get a good impression of you and your products.
5. To Provide Support for Customers of Your Product
If you sell something or provide a service, you can let your customers support each other, and
support them directly, via an online community.
6. To Convince People of Your Way of Thinking
Got an opinion? You can create a community to discuss it and to try to convince people that you are
right. However, if you are too strident or don’t allow other people to express their opinions, no one
will stick around to listen.
7. To Share Experiences with People
If you’ve got a medical condition, family problem, or other life situation; you’re fighting with a
particularly stupid computer program; or you’re dealing with some other situation, you can find
other people who are in the same boat. You may have some useful advice for them—or they may
have some for you.
8. To Make Money
The manager of an online community can make money by selling ads that are displayed to
subscribers. But remember—no one will come to see the ads unless you have useful and interesting
material to offer!
8 WAYS TO MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS IN MARKETING AND
PROMOTIONS
You’re spending a lot of time and energy, and perhaps even money, to promote your products and
services on the Internet. How do you know if it’s all working? How do you know which bits are
working and which are not? How can you measure the results of your efforts?
One of the nice things about operating on the Internet is that it’s possible to track things much more
closely than you could in the real world. There are tools you can use to see when people are talking
about you, how people are arriving at your site, which sites are linking to you, and so on. This
information can be useful if used properly, or a great distraction if not.
1. Check Your Search Engine Position
Want to know how you’re showing up in those search sites once you’ve been added? There are
independent services that focus solely on showing you how you’re doing with the search sites. Check
the following Web sites for more information.
MetaMedic: http://www.northernwebs.com/set/setsimjr.html
MyRank: http://www.myrank.com/
Position Agent: http://www.positionagent.com/
ScoreCheck: http://www.scorecheck.com/
SmartAge SiteRank: http://www.smartage.com/rank/
WebPosition: http://www.webposition.com/
2. Using Your Hit Logs
Most Web-hosting companies provide logs. Some companies e-mail you a log regularly; with others,
you have to go to a specific Web page to view your logs. If you want more statistics than your Webhosting
company provides, you can add your own logs programs. These programs can tell you things
like, visitors by country, top requested files, monthly statistics, and server errors. The following are
some programs to check out:
AccessWatch: http://accesswatch.com/
Net.Analysis: http://netgen.com/
Web Page Access Counters and Trackers (A list of programs and services):
http://adbility.com/ba_counter.htm
3. Looking at the Referrer Report
Most logs will contain a referrer report or something similar. Take a look at it; it can be a great way
to find out where people are coming from.
When a browser sends a message asking for a Web page, the message includes information saying
where it found the link; it sends the URL of the page containing the link the visitor clicked. (Of
course if the visitor typed the URL into the browser’s location box, no referrer information is sent.)
This information is saved in the log. As in the previous report, only the top referrers may be saved,
so if you have a busy site, some of the referrers that brought you few visitors will drop off the
bottom.
You can often find interesting stuff in these logs. You may find sites linking to you that you hadn’t
found any other way, and even if you use some of the other methods in this chapter for finding out
who’s linking to you, the referrer report shows you something more important. A link is nice, but
much more important is a link that is actually sending visitors to you.
Note: Your Referrer Report Won’t Be Complete—Because privacy issues are becoming more
important these days, not every visitor to your site will have a referrer. Some firewalls, for example,
block referrer information from being sent to a site. Accept the information in your logs as helpful
but not complete.
4. Backlink Checking
Another way to check your results is to find out how many people are linking to you. The referrer
report shows one method—or rather, it shows you the 100 or so links that are sending the most
people to you; but backlink checking gives you the same kind of information.
Here are a couple of examples of how to backlink search—at AltaVista and Google:
Google—Use the link special syntax, like this: link:http://www.poorrichard.com.
AltaVista—Use the link: keyword (we talked about AltaVista’s keywords in Chapter 2,
What You Need Before You Start), like this: link:poorrichard.com. (Don’t include the http://
bit. Don’t even include the www. bit; you may reduce the number of hits if you do.) Of
course you’ll want to omit links to the page from the same Web site. You can do that by
using -host:, like this: -host: poorrichard.com. So the complete search string would be
link:poorrichard.com -host:poorrichard.com.
You’ll find that you get some good results, a few great results, and a few results that aren’t any good
at all; but you will get enough that you’ll find some places that would look good with your site
linked to them.
Here’s a really neat little service you can use to automate this backlink process: LinkPopularity.com
(at, you guessed it, http://www.linkpopularity.com/. This site has a form into which you enter your
URL—or the URL of some other site you’d like to check up on. The system does a backlink search
at AltaVista, HotBot, and InfoSeek at the same time.
You can use backlink checking to see who’s linking to your site and what they’re saying about your
site. Maybe they’re saying, “This is a great site!” If they are, drop them a note and thank them. If
your site is just part of a list, don’t worry about it. Just check to make sure everything’s spelled
correctly and send a note to the site owner if it’s not.
While backlink checking, look for other promotional opportunities. Perhaps a site reviewed one of
your products … ask if it’d like to review another. If you have an affiliate program, ask if the site
would like to sign up. Maybe you can find sites to do drawings. There are many ways you can work
with sites that have linked to you, so keep an open mind.
5. Using Automated Search Utilities
If you’re looking for ways to track changes to search engines and Web sites, the Web has a few great
resources for you.
TracerLock http://www.peacefire.org/tracerlock/ is a free service, sponsored by Peacefire, which
allows you to monitor AltaVista for the occurrence of up to five sets of keywords.
Each day TracerLock will search AltaVista for pages that matched your search term and were
indexed exactly three days previously. If there are results, the first ten will be sent to you in an email.
TracerLock only searches AltaVista, but AltaVista has a big database. If you want to track your
company, this is an excellent addition to your toolbox.
The Informant http://informant.dartmouth.edu/ works a little like TracerLock, but covers a lot more
ground. Here’s what happens. First you have to register (the service is free) and specify how often
you’d like to receive search engine updates—once every 3, 7, 14, 30, or 60 days. Next, you specify
three queries—sets of words where you’d like to find all the words in the set (an AND query) or any
word in the set (an OR query). We don’t recommend using OR queries unless the keywords are
unusual. For each query, you’ll have the choice of searching Excite, AltaVista, Lycos, or Infoseek.
After that you’ll be given the option of monitoring five specific URLs for changes—that is, The
Informant will take a look at these pages to see if any of them have changed, and inform you if so.
Now, at the interval you specified, The Informant will find the top 10 Web pages that are most
relevant to your keywords. If there is a new page in the top 10, or if any of the pages in the top 10
have changed, you’ll get an e-mail. It’ll also look at the five pages you specified to see if there are any
changes.
Since The Informant checks out only the top 10 pages at each search engine, you won’t get the
comprehensive results that you’ll get with TracerLock, but you have more search engine choices and
you can monitor specific URLs. (Hey, they’re both free, so there’s no reason you can’t use both
services.)
SpyOnIt http://www.spyonit.com/ doesn’t specifically query search engines; instead, it tracks changes
to particular pages. You can use this resource to check on competitor’s pages, check on pages
important to your industry, and so on. You give it your e-mail address and tell it the URLs to watch.
SpyOnIt can alert you to page changes in several different ways, including by pager or instant
messenger.
Of course you can also use this system to track changes in the search engines for you. In a different
browser window, enter a query on a search engine—like AltaVista—and click the Search button.
After you get the results, you’ll see a strange-looking URL in the URL location box at the top of
your browser.
6. Employing Web Clipping Services
Perhaps you have more money than time. In that case, you should check out the for-pay Webclipping
services, such as:
CyberAlert http://www.cyberalert.com/ uses a combination of software and human review to conduct
a daily search for topics (keyword sets) on feeder sites (any searchable Web entity—general search
engines, online databases, specialty search engines, and so on). The clippings generated by this
service are gathered, sorted, and the duplicates eliminated. They’re saved in an in-box accessible to
you when you log in to the Web site.
CyberScan Internet Clipping Service http://www.clippingservice.com/ has a per-clip fee of $1, but its
base rates are much lower than CyberAlert (and you can limit the number of clips per report that
you receive). This service searches the Internet for the keywords you specify and returns clips to you
every business day, weekly, or monthly via e-mail, fax, Federal Express, or postal mail. CyberScan’s
costs start at around $200 depending on the services you want and the frequency with which you
want to be sent clippings.
A variety of other services offer online monitoring. Check these:
EgoSurf, http://www.egosurf.com/
EWatch, http://www.ewatch.com/
URL Minder, http://www.netmind.com/
Webclipping, http://www.webclipping.com/
Yahoo!—Clipping and Monitoring Services
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Corporate_Services/
Public_Relations/Clipping_and_Monitoring_Services/
The services and sites described in the previous list can search mostly the Web, but can also search
Usenet in certain cases as well. Many search engines, including AltaVista offer searches of Usenet,
but there are tools that are specifically designed to search mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups. See
the next section for more information about mailing lists and newsgroups.
7. Monitoring News Groups and Mailing Lists
DejaNews is probably the most famous newsgroup-searching tool. A number of Web search sites
also provide the ability to search newsgroup messages, too. Yahoo, for instance, allows you to search
newsgroup messages … but in fact it simply links to DejaNews to actually carry out the search.
DejaNews, http://www.dejanews.com/usenet/, offers access to over 80,000 newsgroups, with simple
searching and advanced searching that allows you to search archives all the way back to 1995
(though at this writing archives before May 1999 are not available). You can even specify a particular
newsgroup to search, and search for messages from a particular e-mail address or with a specified
subject line. You can register on DejaNews to get free Web-based access to newsgroups, and a free
DejaNews e-mail account.
It’s difficult to find out what’s being said about your products in mailing-list discussion groups. If
you had the time, you could check with individual groups. Many groups have archives, often stored
at a member’s Web site. If there are one or two important mailing-list discussion groups that you
track, you can search those archives now and then. Topica in particular (http://www.topica.com/) is a
must-see for searching mailing lists.
8. Checking Offline Publications
Some Internet tools are useful for tracking what’s being said in offline publications, too. Plenty of
free and pay resources are available, and even the pay resources are reasonably priced. The free ones
usually track only a few weeks’ worth of news. The pay services, not surprisingly, track much larger
collections of news.
Free Tools
Several search engines offer tools for tracking news in offline media. Excite and Northern Light are
two of the biggies.
Excite’s NewsTracker http://nt.excite.com/, tracks the news from around 300 online newspapers and
magazines. You can do a search from the NewsTracker site or you can set up a clipping service that
allows you to track up to 50 different topics (your company name, the name of your industry,
competitor names, etc.). Every time you log in to NewsTracker, you’ll be able to access your
customized clipping file.
Northern Light http://www.northernlight.com/news.html has a premium search service that allows
you to search through publication articles for a fee (we’ll discuss that in the next section), but its
“Current News” service is free. The Current News service searches through a two-week archive of
news from over 50 sources, including newswires and press release wires.
There are several other free places online where you can search through news archives:
InfoJump, http://www.infojump.com/
HotBot: News Channel, http://www.newsbot.com/
MagPortal, http://www.magportal.com/
Moreover, http://www.moreover.com
Newshub, http://www.newshub.com/
TotalNEWS, http://www.totalnews.com/
News Hunt (a collection of links to newspaper and other publication archives)
http://www.newshunt.com/
15 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL NETWORK
A successful network will allows you to communicate more efficiently with your employees, manage
your Web site and promotional activities from the road, and save time and effort so you can focus on
other aspects of your business.
1. Spend time deciding whether you really need a network.
While a network is a highly practical tool for most small businesses, it turns into financial nightmare
for others.
2. Design your network carefully.
The more time you spend looking at various needs before you spend any money, the less money
you’ll waste on items you didn’t need in the first place.
3. Be prepared to work at your network.
No one is going to offer to perform the required work for free and consultants are extremely
expensive. Relying on your own abilities is one way to reduce the total cost of the installation and
ensure you can maintain the network once installed.
4. Always look at your needs before you decide on software.
Use the software as a basis for other items like the operating system and hardware.
5. Don’t bite off more networking that you can chew.
A network you don’t complete is money wasted. Even a small network will save money and you can
always expand it later if necessary.
6. You don’t need to have a vast knowledge of computers to repair system
problems.
Consultants fix many problems with careful observation and patience, not with technical expertise.
7. Networks require consistent care.
Perform maintenance tasks as often as required to assure worry free operation.
8. Always look for the low-cost solutions to your networking problems.
For example, alternative networking technologies provide flexible networking support for home
offices and other small networks.
9. Use the right networking technology for the job.
An infrared connection works great for line-of-sight applications, like transferring data from your
laptop to your desktop machine, but won’t work for other applications.
10. Avoid getting a central server unless you need one.
Peer-to-peer networks operate efficiently and cost less to maintain than client/server networks do.
However, once you do decide on a client/server configuration, ensure you spend enough to create a
workable network.
11. Allocate bandwidth wisely.
Don’t allow users to waste bandwidth on collaboration or video applications unless the user needs
these applications to perform useful work. Make sure all users will have the bandwidth required to
get their work done and that you keep some bandwidth in reserve for future needs.
12. Purchase an uninterruptible power supply
Consider an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) as cheap insurance against lightning strikes and
power outages. The data you save may be your own.
13. Look for the best deal when buying software.
Sometimes last year’s product contain all of the features you need and at bargain bin prices.
14. The best password is easy to remember, yet hard to guess.
Making passwords long and hard to remember only encourages users to write them down—
something that crackers just love to see.
15. Computers don’t understand or care that you’re frustrated.
Getting angry with a will only wears you out and thwarts any effort at repair.

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