Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Transforming a site from good to excellent
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-054@...

One of the challenges of moving a web site up from good to excellent
is transforming it from just a bunch of web pages and graphics to an
interactive experience. Another term for this is community - a place
where people can come to communicate with others. The very best web
sites have mastered this transformation, thus attracting return
visitors again and again.

The whole point of a web site is to communicate ideas and concepts to
other people. If you are just putting up pages and graphics, then you
are performing half of a communication. You are telling people what
you think, want, desire or need.

The other half of communication is listening. That's why merely
adding an email form (or link) and a guestbook go a long way to
improve your visitor's experience with your web site. You are giving
them the opportunity to tell you what's on their mind. If you also
take the time to answer their messages and perhaps even get involved
in an online communication - then you may very well have a friend for
life.

You can add even more value (and get a few more visitors as well) by
adding a "tell-a-friend" capability to your site. This adds a third
and very interesting (although seemingly trivial) element to your
site: the ability to add others to the communication.

Look at it this way. Someone surfed to your site and actually found
something that was interesting.  That's actually not an incredibly
common occurrence on the internet (consider how many stupid, boring
or just plain silly sites you've visited). Okay, they've found
something interesting, perhaps very interesting, and they want to
tell someone. You would be very wise to give them this capability.
This is not just because it gains you another visitor, but it makes
people feel better. Why? Because people like to share good
experiences with each other.

You want to increase the ante? Include a message board! Now you've
added another form of conversation to your website. People can jump
on your board and leave messages for each other, answer questions and
generally have discussions about whatever subject appeals to you.
Some advice about message boards: be sure and actively moderate the
board. Why? Some unscrupulous people have a tendency to leave
advertisements, pornography, curses and flames on message boards.
Unless that's what your board is about, none of this serves your
purpose: to get people to talk about your subject and come back to
your website.

Another good reason to moderate the board is it puts you in control,
which is where you should be.  It's your board and naturally
conversations should be about subjects in which you are interested.
The purpose of the board is to improve your site and your visitor
experience - not ruin their good time.

Another great interactive feature which is not so obvious is running
an awards program. What this accomplishes is simple: you are inviting
people to submit their sites to you for review. By giving them the
opportunity to apply for the award you are increasing the value of
your site to them, and improving your chances of getting them back
for more.

Perhaps one of the very best interactive features is hosting your own
custom made e-cards. These are extremely popular and greatly improve
your visitors experience on your site. Better yet, they give your
visitors an opportunity to communicate (by sending cards) with their
friends - and their friends may visit your site also.

Other features which increase your site's desirability even more is
polls and surveys, interactive stories (to see our own interactive
story, visit http://www.internet-tips.net/cgi-bin/story/story.pl -
and add your own chapter), ezines and even chat rooms.

By adding these and other features, you are increasing your value to
people who visit your site. If there is one thing that people like to
do (and must do to survive well) it's communicate. By giving people
many different ways to communicate, you are making it more likely
that they will visit your site, stick around, and recommend it to
their friends.


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Publishers, please consider the following article for
inclusion in your ezine, ebook or website. The only
requirement is that you maintain the resource box at
the end and email me if you choose to publish this
article with a URL or copy of the ezine or ebook.

Note: To use this article on a website,
replace < with < and > with >

Thank you,
Dan Grossman
webmaster@...
~~

Fun CSS Tricks You Can Use!
By Dan Grossman


CSS or Cascading Style Sheets allow you to implement a few neat
effects on your webpages easily. You can implement these CSS
effects on your site by simply copying and pasting the code.


ROLLOVER COLOR TEXT LINKS
********************************

Have your text links change color when the mouse passes over
them by inserting this code into the HEAD of your document:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
A:hover {color:red}
-->
</style>


LINKS WITH NO UNDERLINE
********************************

Remove the underline from any or all of the links on your page
by putting this in the HEAD of your document:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
A:link {text-decoration:none}
A:visited {text-decoration:none}
-->
</style>

Or, remove the underline form individual links by forming them
like this:

<a href="page.html" style="text-decoration: none">link</a>


LINKS WITH A LINE ABOVE AND BELOW THEM
********************************

This is an interesting look that works especially well as a
hover attribute for your links, but can also be applied to all
of your links. It will show the normal underline and a line above
the link:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
A:hover {text-decoration:overline underline}
-->
</style>


HIGHLIGHTED TEXT
********************************

Highlight important text on your page or words you want to stand
out, easily:

<span style="background-color:yellow">highlighted text</span>

Try adding it to your link hover for a neat effect:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
A:hover {background-color: orange}
-->
</style>


BACKGROUND IMAGE THAT ISNT TILED
********************************

This will create a background image that doesn't repeat:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
BODY {background: #ffffff url(bg.gif) no-repeat}
-->
</style>

You can also center it, however it will be centered as the
background of the entire document, not centered on the screenful:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
BODY {background: #ffffff url(bg.gif) no-repeat center}
-->
</style>


*****************************************************************
Dan Grossman runs http://www.websitegoodies.com where you can
find over 250 hand-picked resources, articles, and tools! Dan
also publishes the free weekly "WebDevPortal" newsletter for
website owners! Subscribe today and get articles like this every
week: mailto:subscribe@...?subject=article-subscribe
*****************************************************************

Title: Creating Successful Banner Advertisements
Name: Brad Culbert
URL: http://www.webmasterslibrary.com
Words: 617
Note: I would appreciate an email if you decide to use
       this article. Thanks!

Banner advertisements are a very powerful way of promoting your website.
The difference between well designed banners and poorly designed banners
could see your site traffic go through the roof. This article will deal with
a variety of techniques which can be used to increase the number of clicks
your banners receive.

Banner advertisements are everywhere you look on the web. Internet users
are bombarded with web advertising on almost every web site they visit. It
is because of this that you must make your banner advertisements stand out
from the others. But before you start creating a banner which will generate
high click throughs, you must first decide what this banner is aiming to do.

Purpose of the banner:

Banners are usually used for one of two things.
  - To generate clicks and attract visitors to your site; or
  - For branding purposes

I will be dealing with the first of the two in this article. However, an
article on using banner advertisements for branding purposes may come at a
later time.

Creating banners to generate more click throughs:

Once you have chosen what you are aiming to achieve with your banner
advertisement, it is time to start designing it. When designing a banner
there are a number of elements which can be included to increase the number
of clicks the banner generates.

Using prompting words:

Using words which prompt the user to take action will have a very positive
effects on the results of a banner advertisement. Words such as "Click Here",
"Click to Visit" or, "Visit Now!" are examples of such words. Using the word
"Free" will also attract the visitors attention and make them more likely to
click on the banner.

Creating a sense of urgency:

In order for the visitor to click on your banner, it must convey the
message that visiting your site is more important than the information they
are currently viewing. This can be done by creating a sense of urgency in the
visitor. Phrases such as "Hurry!, only while stocks last" and "Quick!, Get in
before it runs out!" are both good examples which you have most likely seen
other advertisers use.

Keep it simple:

Try to keep your banners clear and simple. It is the banners job to get
the visitor to click on it. It is the web sites job to provide them with
information about your products and services. Limit your banner space to
techniques which will attract a click through.

Banner formatting:

Creating a colour scheme for your banner is very important. Choose colours
which stand out and attract the visitors attention while still complementing
each other. Once you have decided on the colour scheme, make sure you keep
it constant throughout the banner, especially when using animation. However,
you must be careful. Make sure your key words such as "Free" and "Click Here"
stand out.

Interactive Banners

One technique which I am sure you have seen around the web is to make your
banner look interactive. This can be done by adding buttons and objects the
user is familiar with clicking on. Banners which simulate the "Windows"
environment have become quite common.

Target your audience:

Targeting your audience is a very important aspect of banner creation. Be
sure to sit down and think about the kinds of things your target audience would
be familiar with and likely to click on.

By incorporating some of these ideas into your banner advertisements, you
could see a dramatic increase in the number of click throughs your banners
receive.
Another thing to consider is that the effectiveness of banners ware out after a
while.
It is a good idea to create new banners every month or so.

================================================================
Read more articles, tutorials, interviews, tips, tricks and reviews at
http://www.webmasterslibrary.com. An excellent new
resource for Webmasters!
Writers: Visit our site to submit your own content!
================================================================



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Covering Your Tracks
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-057@...

Did you know that you leave clues to where you've surfed all over
your computer?  In fact, if someone was to investigate your surfing
habits, they could find out just about every site you've ever
visited. Your personal computer records lots of information for many
reasons. Sometimes it is just to make it easier for you so you don't
have to type the same address over and over. And sometimes the
computer records information for it's own housekeeping purposes, or
at the request of a web site that you visit.

Want to know how your computer keeps tabs on you? Let's start from
cookies. What's a cookie? No, we are not talking about Chocolate Chip
cookies here - no, what we mean is small text files that are used to
record information at the request of a web site. Usually this is
simply an identifying value which the web site uses to be able to
look up information about you later.

Everything about cookies can be used to find out what you've been
doing. Just looking at the names of some cookies is an interesting
experience: yourname@... or
yourname@... might be listed as the names of some
cookies. Fortunately, you can delete these manually if you want in
Internet Explorer by selecting "Internet Options" from the Tools
menu, clicking the "General" tab and clicking on the "Delete Files"
button. Of course, this will delete all of your temporary internet
files. There is a similar technique for Netscape.

Internet Explorer and Netscape keep detailed histories of every site
that you've visited in the recent past. The URL of each and every one
is kept in a special folder called, naturally, "History". This is
very useful if you want to return to a cool site a few days later,
but the data could be used to pinpoint exactly what you've been
visiting online.

To delete your history manually in Internet Explorer, again
choose "Internet Options" from the Tools menu, click the "General"
tab and click the button marked "Clear History".

Something to be aware of is that every single file that you delete
from your hard drive is moved to the recycle bin. Thus, deleting
files is not enough - if you want to cover your tracks you need empty
the recycle bin.

Now, one small piece of data that is not generally known is that most
operating systems (including Windows 95, 98 and ME) do not erase the
contents of files when they are deleted. This means that you are not
safe even if you delete a file and empty the recycle bin. What you
need to do is erase the file - and you can only do that with a third
party product. (I wouldn't worry about this, but even the erasure is
not technically good enough - any super-talented James Bond-like spy
could, in theory still recover the data because the molecules
actually do remember their previous state. However, this is very
technical and is really only of concern to super-secret projects).
Other programs on your computer keep histories of their own. You have
the "Documents" menu, which records the last ten documents you have
opened. In addition, the RUN command keeps a history of the last
dozen or so things that you have typed. Even the Windows Media Player
remembers for you ...

To make it even worse, Windows makes copies of files in your Internet
Explorer temporary folder (Netscape has a similar folder). If you
have been surfing the adult sites, it would be easy to see exactly
what you've been looking at by viewing this folder. This includes
images, videos, sound files and even Java applets.

To top that off, Windows also occasionally makes copies of files in
your Temp folder, usually locating on your C drive. Files that you
download may be found in additional places buried deep in the windows
directories. In fact, virtually every program you run will put one or
more files in the temp directory at one time or another ... and these
programs are typically extremely bad housekeepers. They often forget
to clean up their messes - the result being the temp folder is often
very large.

As this should make clear, it's very difficult to completely cover
your surfing tracks on your personal computer. In fact, you should
now totally understand the dangers of surfing the internet for
personal reasons on your work computer - your boss, if he's
knowledgeable, will know exactly what you've been doing.

What can you do? Personally, I just prefer to stay ethical and avoid
doing things which I would be ashamed of admitting to other people.
However, if you really must do things on your computer that you'd
rather not have printed in the newspaper, you can purchase a product
such as HistoryKill or Window Washer. These programs do a reasonable
job of cleaning up your system.


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Changes In Services
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-058@...

To me, one of the most annoying things on the planet is how quickly
and abruptly things can change on the internet. It can be very
frustrating to maintain just a simple website with a few links -
within a short time a link will become unavailable, then another, and
then another. I've found that I have to run through all of my links
every once in a while just to make sure they haven't gone bad. I
guess it's an inevitable part of the web.

More annoying is services such as Webring.Org or Egroups.Com which
change totally overnight without so much as a how-do-you-do. Webring
was particularly annoying to me (and many other webmasters) because
the change was not only sudden but extraordinarily poorly managed. If
there is an award somewhere on the planet for the worst managed and
communicated changes, then the Webring changeover would most likely
win first, second and third prizes.

The Webring change was particularly galling because webrings are part
of so many websites. For example, my site is a member of well over
200 webrings, and I've created a special entry page for each one to
help direct visitors to the appropriate pages in my site. The change
(in mid-September 2000) caused all of these pages to become non-
functional for hours, days and even weeks at a time during the
changeover. I always find it interesting that a company can make
incredibly severe changes in a service which is used by so many
people (tens of thousands of websites at least) without asking any of
them if they wanted to change and what changes they would like!

The Egroups changes are just as galling, although not as critical to
websites. I know that I heard rumors of the changes for months, yet
never received an official change date or explanation from anyone.
Just one day I was required to get a Yahoo ID (which I didn't really
want) and convert my egroups over to it.

Another service used by lord knows how many thousands of webmasters
is now going through a massive change. The Netmind service, which
allows webmasters to provide a notification of changes to their
visitors, has announced it will become a paid service (and an
incredibly expensive paid service at that) in March. If you don't pay
their exorbitant rate by then, you will lose the service. To me, this
seems very hostile to webmasters and the internet community at large,
especially considering that the rate structure is so prohibitive that
no smaller sites will be able to use the service at all. It's as if
the company is saying "pay up or we don't care".

Yet another service raised it rates recently. The Atomz search engine
(one of the best search facilities that you can get for your own web
site) raised it's rates by about thirty percent. At least Atomz had
the brains and common sense to only raise the rates on new accounts.

Hitbot is a web page statistics service which allows you to find out
how well your web site is doing. It's a great service, but they just
made a change as well. This is a little more subtle than most - in
the past you added Hitbot to your site and you got a small "Hitbot"
banner. A while ago for a period of a week this banner was replaced
with one advertising flowers. I didn't receive any notification (to
my knowledge) and I was a little annoyed. I'm sure that their terms
and conditions gives them the right to do what they want, but I when
I signed up I didn't expect this to become a banner service for
Hitbot.

Yahoo Clubs is about to go through a similar change of it's own. It's
been announced that the clubs will be merged with the new Egroups
(converted in January to a new format). This means the clubs will
completely change, and most of the club members, if they even know
about the change, are completely against it. They are very happy with
their clubs and do not want any of these modifications. Yet no one
has even asked the club members opinions on the matter.Now, I do
understand that these services are all businesses and they must make
money. Software and hardware companies change their products on an
almost daily basis sometimes - and they do not ask our opinions. They
just make the changes they want to make. The difference is you don't
have to upgrade your Office 97 to Office 2000, and your system won't
stop working on the same day as Office 2000 is released if you don't
purchase the new software.

However, let's look at it this way - suppose we assume that the
webring is the equivalent of, say, the highway system. Netmind is the
electrical grid and egroups is the gas company. Now, if the highway
system owners decided that they were going to rip up all of the
freeways and replace them with bullet trains, and they did so without
telling anyone until the day it happened, you can bet there would be
an uprising! If the electric company decided it was going to raise
it's rates by 1000%, would you stand for it? And if the gas company
decided, well, you really don't need gas, now do you - would you
accept this without complaint?

That's exactly what's happening here - critical and vital services to
webmasters are being changed out from underneath them without their
input, opinions, permission or even, in many cases, notifications.
Prices are being raised not by reasonable amounts but by hundreds of
percent in some cases.

A webmaster whose webring no longer works (and the new, "improved"
webring system simply does not work) must modify his website to
accommodate the change or find a new service. In my case, I have over
200 pages to modify. If the webmaster also "owns" a ring, well, then,
he has many more changes to make.

The egroups list owner (and the Yahoo Clubs owner as well) will be,
you can be certain, spending much of his time for days or even weeks
helping people convert their groups over to the new system. Yet he
was never asked if he wants to make these changes.

I have received emails from dozens of webmasters so far about the
Netmind change, and not one of them will be paying for the service.
This means each of these webmasters must modify his web site to
remove all of the Netmind links. In some cases this could mean
thousands of pages need to be edited! This change was forced upon the
webmaster yet he was not consulted.

What I find most alarming about all of these changes is none of them
seems to be making anything any better. Webring changed overnight
from one of the most wonderful site-to-site navigation systems that
has ever existed to a piece of junk which could have been better
designed by a two year old. Netmind is now charging but they don't
seem to be offering anything better than when they were a free
service. Yahoo Clubs does not appear to be headed towards improvement
either. The only exception I've seen is the Atomz search engine -
this product seems to be getting better every day sometimes.

What is the answer? Stop using all of these services! At least that's
the tack that I am taking. I began with the Webring changeover - this
was such a disappointing and poorly managed change that I decided to
try my hand at installing a webring system on my own server. It
worked like a charm, and now I run a dozen webrings without needing
any other services.

To replace egroups, I've added a wonderful message board on my web
site. Now my visitors can visit my site and have conversations
without needing to get a Yahoo ID or giving out their personal data.

I'm still looking for something to replace Hitbot - or perhaps I will
have to write my own counter routines. Atomz is a good enough product
that I will keep it, but they allowed me to continue to use the
service at the old rate for a couple of years if I want. Netmind can
go to ... oh, you know what I mean.


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Please feel free to reprint this article in your
e-zine or on your web site. Please include
the resource box at the end.
----

10 Reasons To Sell A Fee Based Subscription Ezine!

by Larry Dotson

1. You will create residual income. For example, if
you charge a monthly subscription fee, you will get
recurring income every month.


2. You won't have to spend all your time marketing
to gain new subscribers. Just get and keep enough
subscribers to reach your monthly income goal.


3. You can figure how many subscribers it'll take
to meet your income goal. Note on your ad that
you'll only accept a limited number of subscribers.


4. You won't have any shipping or materials costs
like offline subscription publications. You'll just
have your internet access and web site expenses.


5. You can sell back end or upsell products inside a
fee based subscription ezine. It could be your own
products or affiliate programs you've joined.


6. You can start an affiliate program that will give
people residual commission. People will want to join
because it's residual instead of one time sales.


7. You could publish a free ezine and allow people
to upgrade to your fee based ezine. If they like your
free one, they'll likely subscribe to your paid ezine.


8. Your ad copy automatically builds itself into an
order pulling machine. Each issue you archive gives
you new benefits to add to your sales letter.


9. You could transform your fee based content into
another product to sell. It could be an ebook, video,
audio book, report, book, etc.


10. You could become known as an expert on the
topic of your fee based ezine. You may get hired
by other businesses to do speaking engagements.
----
Over 40,000 Free eBooks & Web Books when you
visit: http://www.ldpublishing.com As a bonus, Bob
Osgoodby publishes the free weekly "Your Business"
Newsletter - visit his web site to subscribe and place
a FREE Ad! http://adv-marketing.com/business

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Dumping Some Programs
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-059@...

Over the past couple of years, I have joined quite a number of
affiliate and other types of "money making" programs. I started
joining them because I had this dream that I could make money off the
web to supplement the income from my day job. I had no idea which
program would pay off, so I joined them all.

And believe me, I promoted every program. I submitted them to search
engines, made special pages promoting each one, wrote articles,
emailed friends and family and did everything else that I could think
of while still remaining ethical and moral. I did not spam or cheat
any program.

A couple of years ago I was desperate for money. My wife had been in
a coma for five days, which ate up some money, and her asthma problem
took care of a chunk more. Add on top of that a growing son and I'm
sure you can relate.

Anyway, I needed to make money. I signed up for pay-to-surf because
it all seemed so ... easy. Just load a pay bar on my system (which
didn't seem too inconvenient) and get a check each month. The checks
turned out to be small (if I received any at all), so I tried getting
referrals. That didn't help much, even though I got over a hundred
for some of the programs.

The problem was that the pay-to-surf programs (a) were very
inconvenient as they interfered with normal typing, and (b) they
didn't pay very much anyway. So most of my downline simply signed up
and never used the program. Since I would not cheat, I didn't make
any money.

I tried pay-to-read-email, and found that after reading over 100
emails I had made a whole dollar. These programs are incredibly
obnoxious, as they require you not only to get these silly
advertisements, but you actually have to click on a link to get paid.
Ugh.

I also signed up for the other programs: pay-to-listen-to-music and
pay-to-shop. These seemed to be good ideas but upon testing turned
out to be silly time wasters.

Then there were the affiliate programs. I joined everything. Hundreds
of programs. I made two page websites, ten page websites, canned
shopping sites and full blown shopping sites. With three exceptions,
not a dime from any of them. Not a single dime.

One of the major problems was the minimum payout. This was especially
true of one major affiliate system - the minimum applies to each
merchant and not the program. Thus, even though I had several hundred
dollars owed me from the entire set of affiliates, I never got
anything because none of them alone exceeded the minimum. Very
frustrating.

All of the wonderfully beautiful canned template storefronts turned
out to be exercises in futility. I spent hours in each program
setting up carefully selected sets of products, complete with
descriptions and references. Nothing. Not a dime.

Epinions made me some money before they changed their program a year
ago. It still made a few bucks after that change, but their most
recent changes are so ... restrictive ... that I am dropping out of
their program. They do not seem to understand the concept of a fair
exchange, their newly remodeled site is disappointing and their new
terms-and-conditions are obnoxious.

I did find a few things that have made me some money and I am
pursuing those rapidly. A couple of affiliate programs are starting
to pay off and my writing career is moving very well.

I cannot feel bad about any of these programs, as I learned quite a
bit about the internet and making money. I've learned what not to do,
and I've got some experience at what works. It would have been nice
to make some cash along the way, but as it turned out, it was not all
that critical.

So tonight I start a fairly large project which I expect to take me
several weeks. I will be removing myself from every program that I've
ever joined which is not paying. I will only remain in those programs
which are effective or which I have learned to sell and promote
effectively. It's a lot of work, but it's necessary to remove the
distraction of useless and ineffective programs from my life.


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
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Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
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Article Title: Censor The Internet?
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
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Autoresponder Address: article-060@...

When the internet was conceived in the last century (boy, that sure
makes it seem a lot older than it is, doesn't it?) it began as a free
and open exchange of information. The original intent was to connect
universities and military installations together to freely exchange
data. The invention of the web continued that intention.  This is
supported by the lack of security in TCP/IP and in the early web
specifications.

I know it seems strange now, but there was a time, not too long ago,
when there was no pornography on the internet. In fact, all of the
hate, pornographic and similar sites are actually rather new (less
than half a dozen years in most cases). There was no need or
tolerance for this kind of material when the internet was young and
of limited distribution. It was not until companies such as AOL,
Compuserve, MSN and others succeeded in getting the common man (and
woman) on the web that illicit materials began to become available.

Once this kind of material appeared on the internet, it exploded so
quickly that it absolutely boggles the mind. It seemed like one day
there were normal educational sites and a few personal home pages,
and the next there was pornography everywhere. And I mean
everywhere ... I remember not too long ago it was absolutely
impossible to perform a search in any search engine without running
into hundreds of sex sites. It didn't seem to matter what the search
was about, the same kind of sites were returned.

The search engines seemed to have largely solved this problem by
making their robots and indexing schemes more intelligent. I've
noticed that it appears to be safe to search again without having to
sort through bizillions of links that have nothing to do with what I
was searching for. I tip my hats to the engineers and analysts who
made this possible - good job.

This does bring to mind, however, the ethics of allowing this kind of
material to be available at all. There are many organizations
(religious and otherwise) which will preach to you endlessly about
the dangers of allowing anyone to view pornographic and hate related
materials. Many of them will tell you it should be illegal or at last
severely restricted.

One interesting fact to consider is the growth of the internet
exploded as a direct result of the availability of this kind of
material. Statistically, even today the vast majority of sites are of
an adult nature, and by far most of the money made on the web is due
to pornography.  I sometimes wonder how quickly the internet would
gave grown without this kind of material?

Think about it for a moment. Pornographic theaters died because video
became available (who wants to watch this kind of stuff in public
anyway?). Now, with the advent of the internet, you don't even need
to be embarrassed at the video store - you can just call it up over
your phone line! No one will know!

The major problem is this material is available to anyone - even
children. There are lame attempts to place restrictions (enter a
credit card number, for example) but they don't work very well and
many sites simply do not care. Oh yes, they do pay lip service and
pretend that they do not allow children to get into their sites - but
it's about as easy to get around as looking behind a curtain.

Which brings us to the theme of this article? Should this material be
available? And if so, should children be allowed to view it?

To me the answer to the first question is obvious. Of course the
material should be available. I do not believe in censorship at this
level. I will concede that some censorship is necessary - people do
not have the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, for example.

But wait a minute, you say? All of this material needs to be removed
from the net? It's the only moral and ethical thing to do!

I agree with you, partially. Pornography is one of the things that is
damaging this country. It weakens the bonds between family members,
especially between husband and wife. It makes people crazy (don't
believe me? Just observe a typical man after he watches an adult
movie - he is not the same person as before for a brief time) and it
is subtly damaging to the fabric of our society.

However, our society is based upon a higher ethics - that all adults
have the freedom to read (and by extension view) whatever we want. I
still remember when I was in high school and went into the library to
read Grapes of Wrath and found bits and pieces blacked out. When I
asked the librarian what was going on, she informed me that these
passages were not suitable for teenagers! This was only in the mid-
1970s in a high school in California, and it still shocks me to this
day to remember how close this kind of censorship is.

How did I feel those years ago when I was only 16 years old? I felt
like I was punched in the stomach! Man, I was old enough to make a
rational decision about what to and not to read! This was a classic
book, for heaven's sake!

However much we all believe (or not believe) that adult oriented
materials or al types should be available to adults, virtually all
rational people agree that access by children should be restricted.
This begs the question: how?

Currently, the law states is a credit card somehow proves a person is
over the age of 18. I don't know about you, but most kids I've met
are clever enough to get their own credit cards or perhaps "borrow"
their parents for this small purpose.

Technology has not yet reached the stage where a person's age can be
proven reasonably well. A credit card will not do the trick (at least
in my opinion) nor would a driver's license for the same reason - you
cannot be sure that the person on the other side of the screen is the
same as the person owning the credit card. At least when someone
purchases liquor or beer a person examines a driver's license and
compares the photo to the person. Even that small step doesn't happen
on the internet.

Until we come up with a solution to this problem (and I have no idea
what that solution will be), we are left with putting the burden on
the parents. I am a parent myself, and it is important to me that my
child (at least it was when he was younger) is not exposed to this
kind of material. As a parent is it my responsibility to ensure that
my child gains a sense of ethics and morals, and pornography (and the
way women are generally treated in that material) is about as far
from ethical and moral as you can get.

Once the child starts to become an adult he, hopefully, will have
gained a solid ethical and moral base on which to judge whether or
not he wants to view the material. And if he does decide to view it,
he will be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. That's
one of my primary goals in raising children - to give them the
ability to determine right from wrong and fantasy from reality.

Thus, to summarize, I believe the choice about what to view or not to
view belongs with each adult. I am thankful that the search engines
have done some work to keep people like me from viewing materials
which are not desired. And, finally, while I do ask that sites with
adult oriented materials take reasonable precautions to keep children
from their sites, I understand that they cannot do a perfect job.
Thus, it is my responsibility as a parent to ensure my children are
properly educated so they can make their own decisions when they are
older.


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Not Just Six Lines, 65 Characters

© 2001 Elena Fawkner

If you've placed advertising in an ezine, you've no doubt been
advised by the publisher of his or her advertising guidelines.
Typically these guidelines go something like this: "Six lines,
65 characters per line plus URL/email. No adult, hate,race."

Unfortunately, the publisher's guidelines typically don't go on
to require that the ad conform with the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission ("FTC") guidelines for advertising on the Internet.
As a result, many of the classified ads you see in ezines, on
classified ad sites and wherever else such ads appear are,
simply put, unlawful.

In this article, we'll take a look at what the law requires in
this area as amplified by the FTC's published guidelines on
the subject. And if you're not located in the U.S., don't
think they don't apply to you. The laws on deceptive and
misleading advertising are very similar from country to country
so this discussion probably applies to you too. Even if
your country's laws are different, if your ad is going to
readers in the U.S. that may be enough to catch you
anyway.


GENERAL PRINCIPLES

The basic legal principles that apply to advertising generally
apply equally to advertising on the Internet. There are three:

1. advertising must be truthful and not misleading;

2. advertisers must have substantiation for their claims; and

3. advertisements must not be unfair.


TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

In its policy statement on deception
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm)
the FTC notes that there are three elements that underlie all
deception cases:

1. there is a representation, omission or practice that is likely
to mislead the consumer. For example, "false oral or written
representations, misleading price claims, sales of hazardous or
systematically defective products or services, without adequate
disclosures, failure to disclose information regarding pyramid
sales, use of bait and switch techniques, failure to perform
promised services, and failure to meet warranty obligations";

2. the perspective of a consumer acting reasonably in the
circumstances or, if the representation or practice is directed
to a particular group, the perspective of that group acting
reasonably; and

3. the representation, omission or practice must be a "material"
one. This means it must be likely to affect the consumer's
conduct or decision with regard to the product or service.

In short, therefore, the Commission will find deception if "there
is a representation, omission or practice that is likely to
mislead the consumer acting reasonably in the circumstances,
to the consumer's detriment".

=> Role of Disclosures and Disclaimers

The FTC places particular emphasis on disclosures and
disclaimers when considering whether an advertisement is
truthful and not misleading. Now, obviously, in your ezine ad
you don't have room to go into all the ins and outs of your
product or service. But that's OK because the ad is not
really your sales pitch, it's what you use to try and generate
a click through to your sales pitch.

That's not to say that anything goes in your classified ad
and that it's only your sales letter that you need to be careful
with. Try using a headline like "MAKE $60,000 IN 60 DAYS"
when the product you're promoting sells for $20 a pop and you
yourself are lucky to make one sale a week and see how
far that gets you with the FTC.

But most "reasonable" consumers recognize puffery when they
see it and will not be deceived into believing a product or service
referred to in an ad with a headline like "CHANGE YOUR LIFE
TODAY!" is, in fact, a magic wand.

But when it comes to your salesletter or website, watch out.
This is where you need to be very careful about your
representations, and include appropriate disclaimers and
disclosures where necessary. Here's the FTC's guidelines for
effective disclosures:

"Disclosures that are required to prevent an ad from being
misleading ... must be clear and conspicuous. In evaluating
whether disclosures are likely to be clear and conspicuous
in online ads, advertisers should consider the placement
of the disclosure in an ad and its proximity to the relevant
claim. Additional considerations include the prominence
of the disclosure, whether items in other parts of the ad
distract attention from the disclosure; whether the ad is so
lengthy that the disclosure needs to be repeated; whether
disclosures in audio messages are presented in an adequate
volume and cadence and visual disclosures appear for a
sufficient duration; and, whether the language of the disclosure
is understandable to the intended audience."


=> Content of Disclosures and Disclaimers

Advertisers are required to identify all express and implied
claims that the ad conveys to consumers and, when doing
so, focus on the overall impression of the ad and not just
individual phrases or statements.

If those claims are likely to be misleading to the "reasonable"
consumer, then the advertiser must disclose qualifying
information to remove any possibility of deception. Such
qualifying information must be disclosed clearly and
conspicuously in a place where the reader of the claim will see
either the qualification itself or a prominent link to it.

Note also that a disclosure only qualifies or limits a claim to
prevent it creating a misleading impression. It CANNOT cure
a false claim. If the disclosure contradicts the claim, the claim
itself must be modified for it is deceptive.

For a full copy of the FTC's "Dot Com Disclosures" guidelines,
visit
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dotcom/index.html.


SUBSTANTIATION OF CLAIMS

If you claim that by purchasing your new viral marketing
product, the consumer can generate $50,000 in 60 days in
additional revenues, you'd better have a reasonable basis
for doing so. In other words, when you get an informal access
letter from the FTC asking for substantiation (or, if you fail
to respond, a formal civil investigative demand), be prepared
to produce documents and records that provide support for
your claim that your consumer's revenues will increase
$50,000 in 60 days as a direct result of purchasing and
using your product.

If you could not provide, if asked to do so, substantiation for
a claim you intend to make in your online ad, it is misleading
to include it.

The kind of evidence needed for substantiation depends on
the claim. A claim such as "9 out of 10 women lost an
average of 10 pounds in two seeks while taking ABC-
Metabolizer" will require competent and reliable *scientific*
evidence. Letters from satisfied customers do NOT
constitute adequate substantiation for this purpose.


FAIRNESS IN ADVERTISING

According to the FTC's policy statement on unfairness, to
justify a finding of unfairness, the injury to the consumer
must satisfy three tests:

1. it must be substantial;

2. it must not be outweighed by any countervailing benefits
to consumers or competition; and

3. it must be an injury that the consumer him or herself
could not reasonably have avoided.


=> Substantial

"Substantial" means more than trivial or merely speculative.
As the FTC notes, "In most cases a substantial injury involves
monetary harm, as when sellers coerce consumers into
purchasing unwanted goods or services".

On the other hand, "emotional impact or other more subjective
types of harm ... will not ordinarily make a practice unfair."
So, the mere fact that an ad is sexist, for example, and as a
result offends some members of the community, will not, without
more, render the advertisement "unfair" for the FTC's purposes.


=> Countervailing Benefits to Consumers or Competition

It is possible for an injury to be outweighed by higher interests.
An example the FTC cites is a case in point: "A seller's failure
to present complex technical data on his product may lessen a
consumer's ability to choose, ... but may also reduce the
initial price he must pay for the article. The Commission is aware
of these tradeoffs and will not find that a practice unfairly
injures consumers unless it is injurious in its net effects."


=> Injury the Consumer Could Not Reasonably Have Avoided

There is a fine line between freedom of choice and regulatory
intervention. Consumers are expected to survey the market
and the available alternatives and to make an informed
purchase decision. The Commission will generally only get
involved where certain sales techniques operate to interfere
with the consumer's ability to effectively make his or her own
decisions.

FTC examples of these types of sales techniques include
exercising undue influence over highly susceptible classes of
purchasers such as promoting fraudulent "cures" to seriously
ill cancer patients or dismantling a home appliance for
"inspection" and refusing to reassemble it until the consumer
signs a service contract.

For a full copy of the FTC's policy statement on unfairness,
see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-unfair.htm .


OTHER ISSUES

=> Refunds

Refunds must be made to dissatisfied customers if you promised
to make them.

=> Franchises and Business Opportunity Rule

If you are selling a franchise or a business opportunity, you must
give consumers a detailed disclosure document at least 10 days
before the consumer pays any money or commits to a purchase.

=> Multi-Level Marketing

MLMs should pay commissions for the retail sale of goods or
services, NOT for recruiting new distributors (pyramid schemes).

=> Free Products

If a product is advertised for free if another product is purchased,
the consumer must pay nothing for the one item and no more than
the regular price for the other. Such ads should describe all the
terms and conditions of the free offer clearly and prominently.

=> Jewelry

The FTC has a Jewelry Guide about how to make accurate and
truthful claims about jewelry you offer for sale.

=> Mail and Telephone Orders

Under the Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, you
must have a reasonable basis for stating or implying that a
product will be shipped within a certain period of time.
If not, you are implying that you can ship within 30 days and
you must have a reasonable basis for such implication.

There are various other rules that may impact on your business
including 900 numbers, telemarketing, testimonials and
endorsements, warranties and guarantees and the like.

For more information on these and other topics, see the FTC's
publication "Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of
the Road" at
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/ruleroad.htm .


PENALTIES

The penalties imposed by the FTC against companies or
individuals (via state mirroring legislation) that run a false
or deceptive ad depend on the nature of the violation.
Here are the possibilities:

=> Cease and Desist Orders

These are legally binding orders that require the company
to stop running the offending ad or engaging in the deceptive
practice, to have substantiation for claims in future ads, to
report periodically to the FTC about such substantiation and
to pay a fine of $11,000 per day if the company violates the
law in the future.

=> Civil penalties, consumer redress and other monetary
remedies.

=> Corrective advertising, disclosures and other informational
remedies.

=> Bans and bonds.

One effect of the prevalence of spam on the Internet that I have
not heard mentioned before is that it desensitizes us to
outrageous advertising claims. We EXPECT to see claims such
as "make $60,000 in 60 days" even though we have conditioned
ourselves to ignore them.

The danger, though, is the fact that we ARE so desensitized that
it's almost second nature to "reach" when writing our own ads. It's
easy to gild the lily, to make our opportunity, product or service
sound a bit bigger and better than it really is. That's the nature of
advertising after all.

But on the Internet, we have to be more careful than the offline
advertiser. Only on the Internet it seems, has hype been elevated
to such an art form, so much so that we begin to think that we
must do the same if our ad is to be noticed.

The challenge for us all, then, is to write winning ads that draw the
attention of the reader while at the same time refraining from making
claims that the reasonable reader may be misled by and by being
fully prepared and able to substantiate any claims made.

By following these, in essence common sense, principles, we will
go a long way to ensuring that OUR advertising practices don't
attract the attention of the wrong people!

------

Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ... practical
home business ideas, resources and strategies for the work-from-home
entrepreneur.
http://www.ahbbo.com

You have permission to publish this article electronically
or in print, free of charge, as long as the resource box is
included.
A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Copyright (C) Liz Palmer, 2001.
   You have permission to publish this article electronically
   or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.
   A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
   Please let me know if you use this article
   by sending an email to palmer19@...

   Article Title: The advantages of Themestream for the beginner writer
   Author: Liz Palmer
   E-mail address: palmer19@...



   I was recently asked what I considered the best website for those wishing to
break into the field of freelance writing.  Although numerous sites aimed at
freelance writers came into my mind, the first website I mentioned was
Themestream.  For a person just beginning to write as a freelancer, it is an
invaluable tool.

   It is indirectly because of Themestream, that I actually started to make money
doing something I love - writing.  Here's why I think it helped.

   Up until I discovered Themestream, I had never written an article.  I had
written many short stories, but no non-fiction pieces at all.  I'm not sure why
this was the case.  Perhaps I thought I was incapable of writing articles. 
Perhaps I didn't feel any real reason to write articles. When I registered as a
contributor with Themestream, I discovered a good reason to write.  I could
submit articles, see them online straight away and begin earning money on them
immediately.  Knowing that people are reading what you have written is pretty
good motivation to write.

   If Themestream gives writers a reason to write, it also gives writers a reason
to write well.  Readers rate and comment on your articles.  They give advice. 
They tell you when your article is badly written.  Unless you're satisfied with
receiving bad ratings on your articles (and I don't think many writers are), you
need to write well.  By writing for Themestream, you can learn what works and
what doesn't, what gains readers interest and what bores them.  After some time
writing for Themestream, you will find that your writing improves remarkably.

   But Themestream is not only a place for the writer, it is a place for the
reader.  Writers must read if they want to become good writers.  By browsing
through Themestream, you can find articles on a variety of different topics. 
Read them, learn from them.  You will find brilliantly written articles that
have a lot to teach you about how to use the written word.  You may also find
articles that are not so well-written, which teach you in a different way.  Read
about the subjects you want to write about and see how other authors tackle
them.

   Some of the topics invaluable for writers are Writing Techniques and Advice
and Writing and Journalism.  Here you will find material on many aspects of
writing.  There are some extremely good writers out there, with a wealth of
experience.  Many of them have their own writing columns.  Subscribe to them. 
Read as much about the craft of writing as you can.  They have a lot to teach
you.  Read and learn.  Also, many will be happy to provide you with further
information.  Use the e-mail author function on the article page.  Don't be
afraid to ask for advice.

   Themestream is so invaluable to the writer, that one could be forgiven if they
asked us to pay for it.  But no - quite the opposite.  Themestream will pay you.
For every view of an article you have written, you get paid 2 cents.  And those
2 cents do start to add up!  Now, you not only have started writing and improved
your writing, but you are receiving money for your writing.  I can guarantee
that gives you a big confidence boost.

   That's why Themestream helped me.  After writing for Themestream for a couple
of months, I finally got the confidence to start sending out query letters to
publications.  I don't know whether I expected anything to come from it, but one
of the first reply letters I received was a publication commissioning me for an
article.  So Themestream, although you didn't directly assist me in getting that
writing assignment, I wish to thank you all the same.  Who knows?  If it wasn't
for you, I may never have written an article at all.





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   article:
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   My Themestream authors page
   http://www.themestream.com/authors/47088.html
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   http://lizpalmer.terrashare.com
   Receive a weekly e-zine for mothers, with articles, handy hints, recipes and
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Copyright © Wee Kheng Marfell, 2001.
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free
of charge, as long as no changes are made and the bylines are included.
A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Please send it to:
contact@...

Lessons from a marketing guru
By Wee Kheng Marfell.

I am not an expert but I was fortunate enough to have a one2one with an
online marketing guru, Mark Amu. Mark's web site  http://www.TRAKtag.com is
top in Yahoo for his product-property marking.
Anyone who has achieved that sort of ranking is worth listening to.

Mark did an analysis of my original web site which was pretty-looking but
not producing any results despite 3 months' online presence.

Here are some of his suggestions which I am sure will apply to any web
master who wants his/her site to make an impact.

1. Search rankings
Use very well-defined Metatags.
Running out of ideas on what words to use? Do a keyword check from this
site:
http://www.analogx.com/
which will give you words that your potential clients are searching for.
Make a list of words relevant to your business and then go to
http://www.goto.com to find out the bid prices for these keywords. The
higher the prices, the more important they are and should be included in
your Metatags.
Concentrate on registering with the more popular search engines and
re-submit your site every 3 months.

2. Track your traffic.
Look up your server log file to have an indication of how many and who have
been visiting your site.

3.Aim for a niche market.
Who is your visitor? Who was your perceived visitor? Are they the same?
My original site was very generalised. On the Internet, niche markets are
more successful. Concentrate on targeting a selected group. Offering a rare
or more specific product will also help with your search engine rankings.

4. Sales copy
Do not just transfer the contents of your offline sales information/brochure
onto your web site. On line catalogues do not
do well on the net as people mainly surf for information. A good approach is
to offer a service that is initially information based and free by auto
responder. A free report on Hosting tips or free online consultation for
instance. This encourages people to click onto your call to action - its 'a
sprat to catch a mackerel' analogy. Why would the visitor want to visit your
site? What's in it for them?

5.Provide incentives via free offers.
Example: free hosting for the first 3 months, or free ebooks with valuable
information. Think about how to get the customer
and look long term  re backend sales. The copy has to emphasis benefits to
the client- as
your visitors will only stay and return if you make your site 'sticky' and
benefit-laden. Offering a free ezine is a good way of building up loyalty
and keeping in touch with your customers.

6. Web site layout and content.
Have a simple layout with relevant graphics
(absolute max 40k on front page)- and a personal interest story. Mark had an
interesting one about why he set up the business. Include information about
yourself. If you have skills, 'shout it out from the roof-tops'. Humility
has no place in online marketing.

7. Clearly define what you do on your homepage. You have 7 seconds to
convince a
visitor to go further into your site. You need a powerful call to action- do
not be embarrassed by telling the visitor to 'click here....' to take them
where you want to.

8. Responses/Feedback.
Web masters will get very few emails without a privacy policy on their site.
You also get better response if you have a form as opposed to an email
link - there are many free cgi forms available. Do one for your site, with
benefit laden copy. Have a complete address on the 'contact us' page, plus
telephone number- as well as one at the end of every page.

9. Strong call for action.
My original copy did not specifically ask potential customers to contact.
Mark pointed out that they would just read the page and go elsewhere. The
copy was later rewritten to gently nudge the site visitor towards the form
page and to prompt them to contact me for further information.


10. Links - Without realising it, I had spend two fifths of my original site
encouraging visitors to go elsewhere-I had to analyse how to have successful
links strategies-where to place them so they are not costing me visitors
(example by nesting them a few layers within the site) and who to include -
ideally someone who have exchanged links with you or an affiliate partner so
you are at least paid for visitors leaving your site to go to theirs.

You can compare the results of the facelift my web site had under Mark's
expert advice and guidance by looking at it 'before' and 'after' the
transformation at the respective addresses below:
http://freespace.virgin.net/wk.m/jade
http://www.jademultimedia.co.uk


-------------------------------------------
Jade Multimedia - Complete web site design and implementation service for
small businesses. Visit us at http://www.jademultimedia.co.uk
for tips on web design and promotion and free e-book on Internet Marketing.
Limited period only, FREE PRIZE DRAW - win a starter web site for your
business.
-------------------------------------------

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Don't Lose Your Money
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-061@...

Is it safe to purchase products on the internet? Depends upon your
viewpoint and how you make the purchase. If you follow safe
purchasing practices, it is perfectly acceptable to buy goods online.
If you don't, then your money may be at risk.

In order to be perfectly safe, you should make every purchase on the
internet with a credit card. This is very important, as credit cards
have numerous advantages over other forms of payment. Perhaps the
most important consideration is the credit card does not take money
from your wallet or checking account. So if there is a dispute it's
the banks money that is up in the air, not yours.

On the other hand, if you pay with a debit card the money is
immediately withdrawn from your account. While many banks will be
very helpful in a dispute, it is your money that is not available
until the dispute is settled. This may be a period of a few days,
weeks, or even months.

Be careful with debit cards for many reasons. Remember, you are
depending upon the honesty of software and webmasters to make the
transaction you request. There is really no technical reason why a
website could not display that it was debiting your account for $100
and actually charge $200. This could happen intentionally (in the
case of fraud) or by accident. In either case, your checking account
is down by an additional $100 until you can prove to the bank that a
mistake was made.

Another good habit is to always use a small limit credit card for
internet purchases. I use a card with a $500 credit limit for my
purchases. Thus, if there is some fraud the most that I can be
charged is $500. In addition, this card is not my primary credit
line, so even if the card is fraudulently charged it does not take
money that I might require for other purchases.

There are specific maximum liability limits on fraudulently used
credit cards, and there are no comparable laws for debit cards and
electronic checks. In these cases, you are depending upon the good
will and procedures of the bank, which may not be inclined to settle
in your favor. In the case of the credit card, they are legally bound
to a predictable set of rules.

Another good practice is to make sure you are using a secure
connection. You can tell by checking the web site address. An
unsecured connection begins with "http:" and a secure connection
begins with "https:". In addition, the browser will show a small lock
character at the bottom of the window.

This is important because it is possible (actually, to be more
precise, it is simple) to intercept a transaction on the internet. If
the transaction is secure, it means the information is scrambled so
that it can only be read by the intended audience. Unsecured
transactions are simply normal text that can be read by anyone who
cares to look.

It's also a good idea to be sure that you are actually doing business
with a reputable organization. It's so easy to perform a search on
the internet that it's worth checking a company in a few search
engines before giving them your money - especially if you have not
done business with them before. I usually head to Google or Altavista
and enter "better business bureau" and the name of the company. This
will often pull up some information of value. For example, searching
on "better business bureau don lapre" will display some very
interesting data which is useful to know before purchasing anything
from that organization.

Something very important to remember is just because an email says it
is from a company you recognize does not mean it is actually from
that company. For example, you could receive an email that says you
need to renew your "America Online" account and gives you a link to
click upon. You click and get to a web site which asks for your
credit card number. That website almost certainly has nothing to do
with America Online, and you will probably lose some money in the
transaction.

You should NEVER click on any hyperlink contained within a spam
(unsolicited) email. In fact, you should never under any conditions
do any kind of business with any company which sends you spam. Why
not? Well, in addition to the ethical considerations of spam, you
have no idea who these people really are and whether or not they are
honest. In addition, if you purchase something from them you are
reinforcing their belief that spam is a good practice.

It is also a very good idea to be sure that you are actually on the
website that you think you are on. There have been a couple of times
that I mistyped a URL and found myself on a website which looked like
the one I wanted but actually had nothing to do with it. For example,
you could have left the "t" off "microsoft.com" or added an extra "o"
to "yahoo.com".

Believe it or not, it is also possible to "hijack" a website domain
name. This means someone could change a domain name which is normally
perfectly valid to their own website. This, you might believe you
were shopping on your favorite retail store website, but you could
really be entering your credit card data into some criminal's look-
alike site.

How do you protect against all of this? Don't stop shopping on the
internet - it's too convenient and simple. Instead, shop smart.
Always use a small limit credit card - this way, if the site is
fraudulent you can use the credit card companies rules to your
advantage - and you are doing it on your own money.


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Please feel free to reprint this article in your
e-zine or on your web site. Please include
the resource box at the end.
----

10 Ways To Shift Your Sales Into Overdrive!

by Larry Dotson

1. Publish testimonials for your free stuff. It would
increase their value and if they're viral marketing
tools, you'll have more people giving them away.


2. Give your visitors a good time so they will visit
your web site again. Use a few jokes, humorous
graphics and funny stories.


3. Make money from web sites that don't have an
affiliate program, by doing a joint venture. Set up
the affiliate program through a third party for them.


4. Build rapport with your potential customers by
teaching them something new. Provide them with
free ebooks, articles, tips, courses, etc.


5. Allow your visitors to collect things from your
web site so they will stop back again and again.
It could be a series of software, ebooks or articles.


6. Keep each page of your web site consistent or
similar. Use similar text fonts, colors, graphics
and background on every page.


7. Build a popular directory of freebies. It will draw
tons of traffic to your web site and you can request
that submitters place your link on their web site.


8. Create traffic generators that people can add to
their site without doing all the work. It can be an
article directory, freebie directory, web tool, etc.


9. Challenge your visitors to buy your product or
service. People love a good challenge. Tell them
if they can find a flaw you'll give them a refund.


10. Form a strategic alliance with other related but
non-competing businesses. You'll be able to beat
your competition by selling to a larger audience.
----
Over 40,000 Free eBooks & Web Books when you
visit: http://www.ldpublishing.com As a bonus, Bob
Osgoodby publishes the free weekly "Your Business"
Newsletter - visit his web site to subscribe and place
a FREE Ad! http://adv-marketing.com/business

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Medical Resources On The Internet
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-062@...

During the past couple of years, my wife's physical condition has
forced me to become very educated about medical science. Before this
time, I knew enough to get by, just a few things that I picked up
here and there.  Afterwards, I researched several specific conditions
(especially asthma and Fibromyalgia) so heavily that I was able to
not only understand what my doctor was saying, but I could help him
create a better program for resolving my wife's condition. Due to
this research, the doctor/patient relationship has changed to a
partnership where we are searching for answers together.

My wife has had asthma for quite some time, and it occasionally
flares up into life-threatening strength. There were times, several
years ago, when I came home from work and found my wife laying in
bed, gasping for breath, her fingers and skin a beautiful shade of
purple. It got so bad sometimes that I was afraid to go to work for
fear that Claudia would suffocate before I could get home.

I started my research by reading as much material as I could. One
thing I discovered right away is medical books in general tend to
assume (a) the doctor is god and the patient is stupid, or (b) the
reader is a doctor. This was very frustrating, and asking doctors and
other medical professionals was no help at all - they didn't seem to
want educated patients.

A single event changed my life forever and directly caused be to
begin using the internet for my medical researches. This occurred in
the middle of 1999 - my wife went into a coma for five days due to a
kidney failure. During this time, I discovered the truth: most
medical professionals are arrogant and hide behind strange words for
a reason ... quite often they do not have a clue as to what they are
doing.

After Claudia returned from the hospital, I spent many long hours at
home watching over her. It took her months to recover ... and the
doctors could not figure out what to do about it. Thus, I turned to
the internet for help, and quickly discovered the resources that I
needed to help my wife return to health.

One of the first and best sites that I discovered was drkoop.com
(http://www.drkoop.com).  This wonderful reference contains articles
on just about everything that I needed to know. The most important
feature was a drug interaction tool. You enter the names of all of
the prescriptions that a person is taking and the tool tells you
about possible interactions.

Another excellent resource is WebMd.Com (http://webmd.com/).  This
wonderful medical resource has a doctor's only section and a patients
section. The articles for patients are very well written and
understandable - their target audience is people like me. People who
have medical concerns but are not doctors or nurses. I found this
site an excellent place to read about diseases and treatments.

The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete
Home Medical Guide (http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/texts/guide/) is one
of the very best resources that I have found in a long time. This is
more or less an interactive book containing much that you can use to
increase your knowledge before you visit the doctor.

Of course, the American Medical Association
(http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/3457.html) has it's own web
site.This is another good source of information, although it's not as
easy to understand as Drkoop or Webmd.

There are many, many other medical resources available. In fact, the
problem that I found was that there were so many sites available that
it was difficult to narrow down my selections to something
reasonable. However, after a few months I found myself using the four
sites mentioned above almost exclusively.

Other good resources include:

- Center For Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/),
the government web site on this topic. Excellent resource although a
bit technical at times.

- Healthfinder (http://www.healthfinder.gov/), a selection of good
health related resources.

- Healthweb (http://healthweb.org/index.cfm), a directory of health
related sites

- National Women's Health Information Center
(http://www.4women.gov/), a great source of medical information about
women.

Using the information gathered from these sites as well as a few good
books, my doctor and I were able to put together a program of
prescription drugs, herbs and vitamins which helped my wife get her
asthma under control. Perhaps the most useful resource was Drkoop's
drug interaction tool, which helped prevent some very serious side
effects from damaging my wife's health.

An important point about all of this is to use caution. In addition
to some excellent resources, there are plenty of quacks and fakes on
the internet, just as there are in real life. Be sure and discuss
everything with medical professionals before taking any course of
action.

The goal here is to become better educated, so you and your doctor
can work together as necessary to come up with a solution to what
ails you. The resources on the internet should never be used to
replace your doctor or other professionals.



NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Extreme Freebie for Small Business

It's hard to believe what you can get for free on the Internet
these days. In terms of killer apps for a small business, you
can't do much better than free intranet/extranet solutions.

CNET (http://www.cnet.com) calls these solutions "webware." ZDNet
(http://www.zdnet.com) refers to them as "digital solutions." We
call them the "extreme freebie."

Even if you had the in-house expertise, building these
applications yourself would cost you big in time and effort. With
a webware provider, in a matter of hours, you could have your own
secure intranet (for internal use) or extranet (to share
resources with select business partners).

The process is simple. You sign yourself up, define your
organization or work group, then invite other members to join and
contribute to your secure and easy to use site. In not much more
time than it takes to sign up for a Hotmail account, you can be
sharing resources, managing projects, and communicating like
never before.

Most webware suites offer some flavor of these applications:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Assign tasks, track them to completion, and
communicate issues and progress.

CALENDARS: Keep employees, team members, business contacts and
key customers informed of important events. Or, keep a personal
calendar that only you can see.

DOCUMENT SHARING: Instead of haphazardly emailing those Word and
Excel files to interested parties, use a central storage facility
so that files are always available to those who need them.

COMMUNICATION: Store information about and communicate with your
business and personal contacts. Discuss, brainstorm, and share
your thoughts with team members.

We've either used or researched the five free webware providers
described below. Though common features abound, there's probably
one provider better suited than the others to your specific
needs. Also, keep in mind that some offer even more functionality
and/or customization if you're willing to pay a monthly fee.

Your best bet is to tour or demo several providers. It's almost
just as easy, though, to sign up (it's free, remember!) and take
a real test drive to find the provider with the most useful and
relevant toolset. Here are a few you'll do well to consider:


OfficeClip.com (http://www.officeclip.com):

This site has a very intuitive interface, with easy
administration of members, groups and data. Of all the webware
sites we've seen, this one is near the top in most categories.

OfficeClip features a strong project management toolset, such as
automatic email notification of project task events and reports
that are exportable to MS Access and Excel. Check out the unique
CRM (customer relationship management) features.

Calendar information can be exported to the Palm Address Book, MS
Outlook, ACT! and more. One useful feature is the Time & Expenses
tool which allows timesheets to be exported to Outlook.


Intranets.com (http://www.intranets.com):

If your business doesn't need project management resources but
would benefit from strong communications and calendaring, you'll
like Intranets.com. For example, calendars and contact
information can be synchronized with your local Outlook and Palm
files. Highly customizable online polls are easy to create and
use. Discussions, file sharing and even instant messaging are a
breeze.

The site's interface is very clean, though an ad banner is always
present. The online Intranet Advisor and the monthly newsletter
full of helpful tips and new features announcements lend a nice
touch.


eProject Express (http://www.eproject.com):

This provider's claim to webware fame is its simple, no-nonsense
interface. This site won't wow you with fancy features, but it's
a piece of cake to use.

eProject Express offers basics project task management with
customizable email notification. Calendar events can be limited
to yourself, opened to specific individuals or to the entire
group. Intuitive file sharing and message posting features are
also part of the eProjects package.


Microteams (http://www.microteams.com):

This outfit from Singapore is worth taking a look at, if only
because they're a little bit different from the others.

The ability to create and email status reports is a project
manager's dream. The calendar tool allows you to send first and
second reminders a specified number of days before an event.

There's also a "Web Research Tool" where one user can cut and
paste information into a memo (like an online Notepad), and
others can comment on it or add to it.


OfficeTool (http://www.officetool.com):

OfficeTool offers the usual suite of solutions, but you might not
be thrilled with its look-and-feel. We weren't. The
administration interface is clunky, and help is hard to find.

One unique feature is its Company News section, where it's easy
for the admin to post items of interest.

Power Tools (Expense Reporting, Help Desk Management and more)
and Unified Messaging (toll-free voicemail and fax, access to
existing POP3 accounts) are options available for $9.95 and $4.95
respectively.


Summary

As with anything that's free, you'll need to take the claims of
these (and any) providers with a grain of salt. We can't vouch
for the sturdiness of their business plans. Heaven knows we've
seen enough dot.com failures these days to give pause to betting
the company store on a freebie site. As you review the offerings
of the providers listed here, take a look at their download and
archiving capabilities.

If you don't already have your own intranet, you could be doing
you, your co-workers and your business partners a great service
by taking advantage of one of these service providers.

For a mind-boggling list of other "extreme freebies" (as well as
many fee-based webware providers), browse CNET's Webware site at
http://webware.cnet.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author:

Keith Reichley is webmaster for WEBtheJOINT, the web resource
center for small business. Visit us at http://www.webthejoint.com
or contact Keith at keith@....

Subscribe to our free newsletter, WEBtheJOINT News, at
http://www.webthejoint.com/news/subscribe.php.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi-

The following article...

Scientific Advertising (is) for Dummies

...is freely available for reprint.

Linda Cox
lindacox@... - email
(310) 746-1541 x2937 - voicemail/fax
______________________________________

Scientific Advertising (is) for Dummies

By Linda Cox J.A.M.G.
(Just Another Marketing Guru)
http://www.LindaCox.com/


Perhaps the most revered of all marketing books is "Scientific Advertising"
by Claude C. Hopkins. And why not? It's been dampening enthusiasm, mauling
budgets and scuttling good ideas for nearly a century.

"Sacrilege!" I hear you cry. "'Scientific Advertising' is the bible of
modern advertising! Claude C. Hopkins is the founding father of modern
marketing!"

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

The main point of the book "Scientific Advertising" is that in advertising,
Testing Is Good, which raises an important question:

Is testing good?

Interestingly, no.

More accurately, no.

Well, okay, yes.

But not really.

Out in the real world, and here in cyberspace as well, testing is a dream
that quickly plummets into night terrors. By conservative estimates,
80% of (costly) advertising tests yield no usable or useful information
whatsoever.

Typically, frustrated bosses first stumble on Claude's book and wave
it around like a talisman to ward off artsy and unquantifiable marketing
voodoo. That's how it starts. Next comes a meeting where the unwashed
staff is introduced to the blindingly luminous (though currently idle)
mind of Claude C. Hopkins.

This is when marketers groan. They know what's coming and they know it's
gonna be ugly. The boss has had an epiphany. The clouds have parted and
Claude has shined down upon him: Testing is the Golden Key! Testing will
Set Us Free! Testing will Unlock the Vaults of Heaven!

Testing RULES!

For the marketers, this is a no-win situation at every level. First,
testing is a drag. Second, it's stupid. Third, it's dumb. Fourth, it
doesn't work. Fifth, when it works, it doesn't matter.

Before you left-brainers and accountants out there get all flippy-dinkled,
let me point out that there are exceptions where it does work and where
it does make sense.

Say, for instance, you're running a direct mail campaign, sending out
a million pieces a week to an AARP list to yank on the heartstrings of
old people and get them to send in donations they can't afford, two cents
on every dollar of which actually makes it through to buy beepers for
grotesquely impoverished but achingly photogenic children somewhere arid.

One of your copywriters will hemorrhage messily if the headline above
the picture of the distended-bellied little village boy too weak from
hunger to blink flies off his own eyeballs isn't "Hey, old person! How
can you let this go on?!?!" Another copywriter will open fire on the
secretarial staff if the headline isn't "Hey, old person! How can you
let this happen?!?!"

Your problem, unless you're looking for some turnover in the secretarial
pool, is which headline to go with. So, you run a test. With all other
factors being absolutely, gruelingly, microscopically equal, and with
some completely automated, totally foolproof, exhaustively planned tracking
method in place, you send 500,000 with one headline and 500,000 with
the other.

The result? You'll never know. The list guy bonked and sent one headline
to New York and the other to Fiji. The computer guy bonked because it's
part of his job description, so Data Entry had to handle tracking. Data
Entry didn't bonk, they just stared at their shoes while you explained
tracking and didn't do it.

The numbers you do get, however, paint a remarkably clear picture:

Testing is dumb.

So, how about the little guy? The guy whose budget doesn't have room
for wildly improbable, hugely inaccurate, utterly useless extravagances
like testing a free car deodorizer against a free closet deodorizer?


Here are a few suggestions:

1. Guess. That may not sound very scientific, but marketing is really
more art than science anyway.

2. Don't reinvent the wheel. Unless your product or industry just emerged,
you probably have vast archives of previous marketing successes and failures
to analyze for free.

3. Train your ear. Develop a sense of pitch that tells you when any element
of your marketing is off-key.

4. Try, try again.

On the net, keying your links, watching your stats, and borrowing liberally
from the competition is all most of us really need.

Yes. "Scientific Advertising" is a great book and a must-read. So is
the Old Testament, but that doesn't mean we should all rush out and stone
the wicked.

(Unless, of course, they're passionately expounding the virtues of boring
marketing books written by dead marketing guys.)

_____________________

Linda Cox (J.A.M.G.) was born in a speeding stagecoach amid the screams
of fellow passengers as insane, wild-eyed horses dragged them all crashing
toward the brink of destruction. That stagecoach was the planet Earth,
those passengers were the human race, and Linda Cox is Just Another Marketing
Guru. (The horses were just regular horses.)

http://www.LindaCox.com/
_____________________



__________________________________________________
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Hi-

The following article...

10 Health & Beauty Tips for Net Marketers

...is freely available for reprint.

Linda Cox
lindacox@... - email
(310) 746-1541 x2937 - voicemail/fax
_____________________________________


10 Health & Beauty Tips for Net Marketers

By Linda Cox J.A.M.G.
(Just Another Marketing Guru)
http://www.LindaCox.com/


One of the defining features of cyberspace is the lack
of boundaries, so it's not too surprising that some of
us net marketers don't know when to shut off the machine
enjoy the lifestyles we work so hard to create.

Family and fitness suffer the most, so here are a few
tips so you don't wake up fifteen years from now with
the uneasy feeling that something important (your life)
slipped away while you weren't looking.

1. The chair-bathroom-refrigerator-chair circuit
    does not constitute a lap. Take a real walk,
    outside perhaps, with the light and the air
    and all that nature stuff.

2. Those little people running around shrieking
    like demons aren't subversive agents. They're
    your children, fruit of your flaccid loins.
    Go introduce yourself. (TIP: Convert some
    photos to flash cards and memorize their names
    first. Hey, it's the little things....)

3. Around eighty-three percent of what you do as
    an internet marketer is a total waste of time
    resulting in absolutely no benefit whatsoever.
    Remember that the next time you schedule FFA
    ahead of PTA.

4. That new Abs-O-Matic machine and those "Diamond-
    Cutter Buns" videos were a great idea. Now all
    you need are some soiled baby clothes and a box
    of eight-tracks and you can have a garage sale.
    (Silly me... Ebay!)

5. That distracting light that makes your screen
    difficult to read is actually the sun, giver
    of life. It's okay if some of it gets on you.

6. Human warmth cannot be transmitted via ASCII
    text, and fondling your mouse does not
    replace physical contact. Have you hugged
    your pizza delivery guy today?

7. That sack of potatoes you call a butt once had
    muscles in it. The next time you're surfing
    the procreation-related websites, try some
    comparative analysis.

8. Tape a picture of yourself as a teenager to
    your monitor. Remember skin tone? Remember your
    waistline? Remember when you could tie your shoes
    without grunting?

9. Living on a diet of Hotpockets and Pepsi is the
    nutritional equivalent of watching a three
    day Baywatch marathon. Try eating something
    that was grown in soil, not Pyrex.

10. Crank up the Elvis and SHAKE IT!

--------

Linda Cox (J.A.M.G.) was born in a speeding stagecoach
amid the screams of fellow passengers as insane, wild-
eyed horses dragged them all crashing toward the brink
of destruction. That stagecoach was the planet Earth,
those passengers were the human race, and Linda Cox is
Just Another Marketing Guru. http://www.LindaCox.com/
(The horses were just regular horses.)










__________________________________________________
FREE voicemail, email, and fax...all in one place.
Sign Up Now! http://www.onebox.com

Hi-

The following article...

Better Marketing Through Modern Mind-Control

...is freely available for reprint.

Linda Cox
LindaCox@...
(310) 746-1541 x2937 - voicemail/fax
____________________________________


Better Marketing Through Modern Mind-Control

By Linda Cox J.A.M.G.
(Just Another Marketing Guru)
http://www.LindaCox.com/


There are two kinds of marketing: Direct Marketing and Brand Marketing.
Direct marketing targets wallets. Branding is about hearts and minds.


DIFFERENT BY DESIGN

Ads designed for branding are cool. They don't plead and beg and cajole,
they just sit there. They may be loud, but in a very smug way because
they already got what they want. They may tell you where to click or
who to call, but they don't really care if you do. You saw them... that's
enough. An impression was made.

Think Absolut Vodka.

Direct sale ads have a real do-or-die attitude that can make them a bit
annoying and undignified, especially amid their mellower counterparts.
By their directives shall ye know them: Call Now! Order Now! Click Now!

Think infomercials.

You can't track the results of a branding campaign like you can a direct
sales campaign, but you don't have to. You don't need to prove that an
ad performed its function when its function was to just sit there and
look cool.

But where does that leave the accountants who need those stats to further
trim the marketing budget?

Who cares.

THE NEW CUSTOMER

Say it's your friend's birthday and you buy her a t-shirt with the logo
of the Mikey Running Shoe Company emblazoned across the front. Does that
make you a Mikey person?

No. You're just some putz who bought something. As far as the Mikey Running
Shoe Company is concerned, you're irrelevant... a statistical aberration.


Frankly, Mikey would rather have their shirt back.

But say you buy ALL your friends gifts with the Mikey logo - plus most
of your own wardrobe. You don't even have to think about it, you just
do it. Now you're not an aberration, you're a customer, and that's a
whole different level of commitment.

You pay money to be a walking billboard for Mikey. You strive to represent
the Mikey ideal. You craft your self-image based on the models and sports
stars in Mikey ads (even if you're a pudgy smoker with a lazy eyeball
and a ten dollar-a-day twinkie habit).

IMAGE IS

But your adoption of the Mikey image runs far deeper. You're not just
a Mikey customer, you're a Mikey PERSON.

If someone bad-mouths Mikey, you set them straight. If someone speaks
well of a non-Mikey product, you respond with autonomic contempt. If
someone converts to Mikey-hood, you embrace them into the fold.

If it were a cult, it would be called programming.

If it were an ideology, it would be called brainwashing.

If it were a religion, it would be called a conversion.

But it's a shoe. It's called branding.

THE NEW WORLD ORDER

In any field, there are two brands and a bunch of off-brands or wannabes.
Democrat and Republican are brands. Reform, Libertarian, Green Party
and whoever else are merely Other.

It's a Yin Yang interdependence thing. Note how Democracy is diminished
without Communism for counterpoint?

In the new world order, stores and websites are clubs, brands are families,
and The New Person is defined simply as the combination of several dozen
brand settings, like toggle switches on a motherboard: Coke (not Pepsi).
Chevy (not Ford). Burger King (not McDonalds). Shaken (not stirred).
Catholic (not Protestant). White Sox (not Cubs).

And is there ever any real difference between the first and second place
players in any given category?

Sure. The one I prefer is like ten times better.

Duh.

--------

Linda Cox (J.A.M.G.) was born in a speeding stagecoach amid the screams
of fellow passengers as insane, wild-eyed horses dragged them all crashing
toward the brink of destruction. That stagecoach was the planet Earth,
those passengers were the human race, and Linda Cox is Just Another Marketing
Guru. (The horses were just regular horses.)

http://www.LindaCox.com/






__________________________________________________
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Hi-

The following article...

FAQ: How to Get Insanely Rich on the Internet

...is freely available for reprint.

Linda Cox
LindaCox@...
(310) 746-1541 x2937 - voicemail/fax
____________________________________

FAQ: How to Get Insanely Rich on the Internet


By Linda Cox J.A.M.G.
(Just Another Marketing Guru)
http://www.LindaCox.com


Welcome to the Total Idiot's Guide to Internet Success!

Let's begin:

Q: How long will it take me to get insanely rich?

A: Depends on you. Probably two weeks. Some people take as long as a
month.


Q: Does it take hard work or long hours to get insanely rich?

A: No. This is the internet.


Q: Can just anybody get insanely rich?

A: Yes. This is the internet.


Q: How do I proceed?

A: As you're surfing around the net you'll see banners and links that
say things like "Make Fourteen Million Dollars in Ninety Days, Click
Here to See How!" Simply click the link to get started.


Q: It won't really take ninety days though, will it?

A: Don't be silly. They just say that so you'll be pleasantly surprised
and so it doesn't sound like hype.


Q: Okay, I've found one that says "Retire to Your Own Caribbean Isle
in One Month!" Is that good?

A: Perfect.


Q: What does MLM mean?

A: Nobody really knows. Morons Lose Money has been snidely suggested
by the little-brains.


Q: I signed up and now I sell low phone rates. They say it's the easiest
thing to sell because everyone uses a phone. And since it's MLM, by the
time my third level is operating I'll be making $345,915.45 per week.

A: Conservatively.


Q: They say the first step is to get my mother into the program. Why
is my sponsor happy that Mom has Alzheimers?

A: Your sponsor is a shrewd business person. People with any sort of
memory disorder make the best targ... uh, clients. You can switch your
mother's long distance carrier for her, and then start calling the other
members of her support group.


Q: That sounds a little fishy.

A: The ends justify the means. You are offering people substantial savings
on long distance. It's for their own good.


Q: How else can I get new business?

A: Spam. Spam. Spam.


Q: I thought spam was bad.

A: No, spam is good. Anyone who says it's bad is just jealous because
their brains are too small.


Q: But won't I lose my web host and ISP?

A: In the get-rich-quick business, it's important to cultivate a zen-like
non-attachment to service providers.


Q: What else can I do to promote my new business?

A: Here's a list of suggestions:

--Sign up with a free website provider and fill your site with zany colors
and flashy banners.

--Join every free banner exchange.

--Get your own free-for-all links page.

--Join every opt-in email list with the word Money, Rich or Lackwit in
the title.

--Buy software that submits your site URL to the 15,000 most important
search engines.

--Buy software that submits your ad to the 50,000 most-read free classified
sites.

--Buy software that submits your link to the 100,000 most popular free-for-all
link pages.

--Hire a bulk emailer.

--Sponsor a golf tournament.


Q: Okay, I've done all that and I'm still not rich. I haven't even driven
my hitcounter to its knees yet. What am I doing wrong?

A: It's possible that you're not very bright. Consult one of your friends
who has retired on their internet earnings.


Q: What if I don't have any friends who have retired on their internet
earnings?

A: Then contact someone on the internet who has retired on their internet
earnings.


Q: What if I've never heard of anyone retiring from their internet earnings?

A: Well, then maybe you can be the first.


Q: You're pulling my leg, right?

A: Oops! Sorry, I thought FAQ stood for Facetiously Answered Questions!


Never mind.

------------------------------------

Linda Cox (J.A.M.G.) was born in a speeding stagecoach amid the screams
of fellow passengers as insane, wild-eyed horses dragged them all crashing
toward the brink of destruction. That stagecoach was the planet Earth,
those passengers were the human race, and Linda Cox is Just Another Marketing
Guru. (The horses were just regular horses.)

http://www.LindaCox.com/




__________________________________________________
FREE voicemail, email, and fax...all in one place.
Sign Up Now! http://www.onebox.com

Hi-

The following article...

The 10 Great Myths of Internet Marketing

...is freely available for reprint.

Linda Cox
LindaCox@...
(310) 746-1541 x2937 - voicemail/fax
____________________________________


The 10 Great Myths of Internet Marketing

By Linda Cox J.A.M.G.
(Just Another Marketing Guru)
http://www.LindaCox.com


Greetings...

For the purpose of illustration, let's use the superhighway analogy.
Let's think of your business as a hotdog stand located on the superhighway
along with millions of other shops, malls, cafes, stores, restaurants
and, yes, hotdog stands.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 1: Free Sells

So your hotdog stand offers something for free... what?

Napkins? Great. Wow. Excellent. But remember, sell the sizzle, not the
steak! So what excites you most about the napkins?

Are they printed with horoscopes? Are they recyclable? Extra absorbent?
Two ply? Then say so!

But remember that your freebie is kinda lame and everybody kinda knows
it and nobody is really forking over actual cash out of gratitude for
free napkins.

MORAL: Free is highly over-rated.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 2: All Traffic is Good Traffic

It would be more accurate to say that MOST traffic is POTENTIALLY good.

If you have a hotdog stand, virtually anyone can be converted to a customer,
whether they came for your ridiculously excellent napkins, clean washrooms,
or snappy banter.

But, if you sell '82 LeSabre windshield wiper screws, then you might
want to be a little more targeted in your efforts.

MORAL: Focus. Focus. Focus.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 3: All Businesses Should Be On the Net

The best advice I've ever given as an internet marketer was "Stay off
the net."

Nobody listens, of course. They know that the internet is the fabled
El Dorado where the rivers run gold and cash is common as dust-bunnies.


(Maybe the local bait shop owner just thought I wanted it all for myself.)

MORAL: Leap before you look, quoth the lemming.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 4: Drive Your Hit Counters Insane!

Hit counters don't actually go insane... netrepreneurs do. If you want
your hit counter to go insane, tell it about your childhood.

Any traffic generating trick that works will stop working next week when
everyone is doing it and no one is falling for it.

MORAL: Tricks are for dogs.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 5: The Great Marketing Secret!

Oxymoron.

In any type of marketing, if it's a secret, it's a failure... definitively.


MORAL: Stick to basics.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 6: It's Come As You Are

It's okay to work in your underwear in your partially remodeled basement
as long as everyone assumes you're wearing a suit in a high-rise on Success
Avenue.

It's NOT okay to broadcast your slovenly habits to the world at large
via ill-formatted email, poor spelling, sloppy grammar and inept punctuation.

If every second line of your email breaks after the first word, we're
done.

You see, if I'm gonna buy a hotdog from you--a scary prospect at best--I
wanna be pretty dang sure you're not a shortcut kinda guy, know what
I mean?

MORAL: Don't slouch.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 7: There's No Such Thing As Excess

There is.

Caps. Exclamation points. Red. Hyperbole. Blinking... (actually, ANY
blinking is excessive).

MORAL: It's a hotdog, not the second coming. Settle down.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 8: Banners Work

Banners should only be used by big companies for branding and for hyperinflating
IPO prices, not by hotdog stands for traffic generation.

MORAL: Banners suck. Free banners suck for free.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 9: Get Rich Quick

The internet is still real life. Cyber doesn't mean fantasy. WWW doesn't
stand for Whatever We Want.

Set up an honest business, cook a decent hotdog, pay for advertising
and don't quit your day job just yet.

MORAL: Get rich slowly.
_____________

GREAT MYTH 10: Free Marketing

I saved this point for last to emphasize it.

Overfondness for free marketing methods is the number one killer of happy
success stories on the net...

But wait!

You CAN send 100,000 spam-free emails a month with your own free-for-all
links page, right?

And you CAN reach tens of thousands with multisubmitters and free classifieds,
right?

And you CAN email millions by subscribing to hundreds of opt-in lists,
right?

And 94 million netizens WOULD swallow a little spam to get to one of
your hotdogs, right?

Sure! And you CAN save money by eating out of dumpsters, right?

Yeah, but DO you?

MORAL: Uh... don't eat out of dumpsters?

_____________

Linda Cox (J.A.M.G.) was born in a speeding stagecoach amid the screams
of fellow passengers as insane, wild-eyed horses dragged them all crashing
toward the brink of destruction. That stagecoach was the planet Earth,
those passengers were the human race, and Linda Cox is Just Another Marketing
Guru. (The horses were just regular horses.)

http://www.LindaCox.com/
_____________





__________________________________________________
FREE voicemail, email, and fax...all in one place.
Sign Up Now! http://www.onebox.com

Article Title: Don't Quit...De-Stress!

Author: Terri Seymour

Contact Author: mailto:ter02@...

Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published as long
as article and resource box remain unchanged.

Web Address: http://www.websuccesscentral.com

Comments:  Please drop me a note if you decide to use
this article.  Thank you.

Article:
                     Don't Quit...De-Stress!
               Copyright 2001 Terri Seymour

I recently received an email from a friend who was
considering quitting her online business.  She is
going through a stressful time, as we all do, and feels
her business is just not worth it anymore.  If this sounds
familiar to you, then join the crowd!  We are all human
and there are times when the everyday stress of life
just takes it's toll.

What you need to do when this happens is not to quit
your business, but to step back, give yourself some
breathing room and take care of what is causing the
excess stress. If you are having family problems, take
a break from your business and tend to your family.
When that problem is resolved you will be anxious to
get back to business.

Think long and hard before quitting.

There are times when I have felt the same way, but I
know that I would never want to quit my business.
Besides getting to work with so many wonderful people,
this business is now a part of me and my life. I am
sure that a lot of you feel the same way.

There are many things you can do to de-stress and be
ready to get back to business.

** Exercise is one of the best stress relievers there
is. Walking, aerobics, dancing, or whatever form of
exercise you choose has many more benefits also.

** One thing I do when business gets the better of me,
is to shut the computer down for the day and turn my
attention to other things that need to be done. Just
taking a small break from business can help. When
things are really stressful, we may need to take a
longer break.

** Another thing I do, is to take a few moments and
just reflect upon how lucky I really am. I have a home,
wonderful family, great job, my health and I also get
to live on this beautiful planet.  I do not take
any of these things for granted for even one minute
because in a minute it could all be gone!!

** As you are taking those few moments to think about
what you do have instead of what you don't, you should
also be taking some nice, deep cleansing breaths.
And also stretch out some of those tired muscles.
I guarantee doing these things will revitalize  and
refresh your mind and body.

** Take some time to think about why you started
your business and if those reasons still apply.
Are your goals still the same, do you still have
the motivation?  If the other areas in your life
need more attention right now, that is fine, it
happens to all of us.  Just do what you need to
do and then get back to business. Do not make the
decision to quit when you are stressed out or
trying to deal with other problems. Wait until you
can think clearly!

** Here are some sites that might give you some
more good ideas for de-stressing and life management.

http://www.stresscure.com/
http://www.stressrelease.com/strssbus.html
http://imt.net/~randolfi/StressLinks.html


Stress is a serious matter and should not be ignored.
But it can be controlled and reduced.  Do not make
any life changing decisions when you are over-stressed.
Take a break, clear your mind, de-stress and things
will look a lot different!



***************************************************
Terri Seymour is the publisher of Web Success Ezine
and owner of Web Success central. You can contact
her at: mailto:ter02@...  Subscribe to
Web Success Ezine and get two free gifts by sending
any email to  mailto:web-success-subscribe@egroups.com
or visit http://www.websuccesscentral.com for more
resources, moneymaking programs, and information.
***************************************************


Thank you,

Terri Seymour
Web Success Ezine
mailto:web-success-subscribe@egroups.com

Want to make money on the Web?
Need FREE Resources for your business?
Visit http://www.websuccesscentral.com

Free for reprinting. -JM




Ten Rules of Writing Good

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By Jed McKendrick
McKendrick@...
http://www.ngtools.com/fmain.php?D=omnicomm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In our hectic, word-based society, it's good to know
how to use words good. For instance, as a marketer on
the internet, it might be good if you could use words
good.

Because you might want to write an article with words,
so here are some rules about it:

1. Parts of Speech Add Zest!

Parts of speech include things like nouns, pronouns,
verbs, and proverbs. They can really spice up your
articles, so sprinkle them throughout your articles.

2. Don't Forget the Headline!

Without the headline, your article will just look like
a big lump of words. Or like a bunch of smaller lumps
if you use paragraphs. Try to choose a headline that
tells the reader something about the article, like
what it's about.

3. Know Something About Your Subject!

If you are not very smart about the subject of your
article, ask someone to read it who is or else it
could be really bad.

4. Sentence Length!

Readers get distracted by different sentence lengths.
It's not important how long your sentences are as long
as they are all the same. When you are done writing an
article, go back and take some words out of the long
sentences and put them in the short ones. This will
make your readers more absorptive.

5. Include Some Knowledge!

For instance, if your subject is How To Make More
Sales, you should actually include some information
about that subject so your readers will benefit and
buy something from you, hopefully something that
doesn't suck.

6. Don't Use Words You Don't Know!

One of the most horipulating things you can do to a
reader is use words semaphorically. If you're not sure
what a word means, just ejaculate it for another one.

7. Use Action!

Don't write limply. Let your reader feel the wind in
their hair with explosive, action-packed verbs, of
which I can't think of any right now.

8. Exclamations Get Attention!

HEY!!!!

See?

9. Involve the Reader!

Don't just talk AT your reader, try to get them
involved in a dialog even though you can't. Still,
it's a really good thing to do. One way to achieve
this is by asking questions.

Wouldn't you agree?

10. End On A High Note!

Try to say something really good right at the end so
readers are left with a good feeling about you and
want to buy something from you, hopefully something
that doesn't suck.

And don't forget to wrap up by reminding the reader
what everything you just said was, like that it's good
to write good because it can benefit you!

=====

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
Jed McKendrick isn't a real idiot, he just plays one
on
the internet (as do so many). If he could only promote

one cash generating program it would be:
http://www.ngtools.com/fmain.php?D=omnicomm
(Which doesn't suck.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-




__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices.
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

Free for reprint. -JM


Marketing as a Second Language

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By Jed McKendrick
McKendrick@...
http://www.ngtools.com/fmain.php?D=omnicomm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One of the defining features of Western civilization
is that we're all amateur marketers by default.
Regardless of what our mother tongue is, the second
language we are most exposed to is invariably Hype.

By the time a child is five years old he is probably
able to sing more jingles than songs and identify more
corporate logos than letters of the alphabet. No
wonder, since it can be very difficult to tell where a
hamburger or a toy or a movie leaves off, and where a
global marketing juggernaut begins.

Consider an average day in your own life. Because the
most precious commodity in our marketing-based society
is Consumer Attention, the fast and furious battle for
our awareness clobbers us during every waking hour.

Rather than list all the places and ways in which
marketers grab our attention, it would be easier and
more poignant to list the places and situations that
are free of any marketing message: to wit, none.

You pretty much have to leave society and head off
into nature to get away from it all, right? Wrong. The
average person dressed and equipped for the great
outdoors displays more corporate emblemry than a
Nascar racer. If that's not enough, they're probably
imprinting the earth with a shoemaker's logo with
every step.

The point isn't to decry this arguably greed-warped
and spiritually bankrupt situation, but rather to
sharpen our own marketing skills from it. For
instance, don't be fooled by the name - junk mail is a
goldmine of marketing intelligentsia. Collect it.
Become a student of it. Ask others to save theirs for
you, especially those items that they like and dislike
most.

Then, reverse engineer it.

By reverse engineering, I mean try to figure out the
reasoning behind every decision. Why this envelope?
Why this headline? Why this message to this recipient?


That's the great thing about marketing - there are no
secrets. If it works, it's out there getting in all
our faces. If it doesn't, you won't see it... at
least, not twice.

Try to get in the habit of reverse engineering all the
marketing messages that hit you throughout the day.
Each of those messages cost someone money - they
weren't taking potshots.

That's not to suggest that it's all good. Actually,
you can learn as much from bad or inept marketing as
from the good stuff, so don't dismiss schlock too
quickly.

If marketing is the second language of the Western
world, then speaking it fluently is just a matter of
developing some good listening skills. As with any
language, there's a science behind the art. Master the
underlying structure, and all the power-packed
headlines and spiffy taglines will follow.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -
Jed McKendrick is involved with several
marketing-related
products and sites, but the one that really pays the
bills
is: http://www.ngtools.com/fmain.php?D=omnicomm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -




__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices.
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

The following article may be freely published in your
ezine or on your website as long as the author bylines
(starred) section remains intact. Advance notification
is not required, but let me know where the article has
been published so I can see it.

Author: Dan Grossman - webmaster@...
~~

Banner Advertising Isn't Dead.. So Use It!
By Dan Grossman


Banner advertising surely isn't dead, if you know how to take
advantage of it. While an effective campaign for driving traffic
to your site through banner advertising can cost far too much for
any small business owner's budget, banner advertising can still
be used effectively. It is much more useful as a tool for
branding your site or product or attracting leads.

If you're thinking of letting the world know about your site or
product through banner advertising, consider these important
steps before you start:


1. PLAN YOUR CAMPAIGN

Thoughtful planning is the most important step in successful
advertising in any media. There are several things you must
consider before even creating your banners or choosing where
to advertise:

    o Is your goal to build brand awareness?
    o Is your goal to generate leads or clickthroughs?
    o Who will be most interested in your site or product?
    o How will you track the effectiveness of your ads?

Once you've answered those questions, you can start planning the
banners you're going to create and exactly what you're going to
do with them.

No matter what your specific goals are, targeting will be a very
important part of any campaign. With the high cost of advertising
with banners, getting them in front of the people you want to see
them becomes incredibly important. This involves identifying the
groups interested in your site or product and getting your ads
on websites that cater to that market. For example, a car
dealership would probably be interested in advertising on the
website of an auto magazine.

Before you spend any money, spend the time to choose the right
places to advertise. It may seem like the perfect idea to buy
targeted advertising at the first search engine you run into, but
researching into specific sites in your industry can lead to a
buy with results 20 times better. Check out the media kits or
advertising sections of some sites related to your site or
product for information about demographics, previous customers,
and any information they might make public about the
effectiveness
of previous campaigns.


2. DESIGN YOUR BANNERS

To maximize your campaign's effectiveness, you should rotate
between several different banners, possibly as many as 10 or
more. This way, you can appeal to different types of people
within your target group. It also allows you to compensate for
banners which don't perform as well as others, and to decide
which designs or ideas work best for you.

The banner creation process starts in a standard graphics program
such as Adobe PhotoShop or JASC's Paint Shop Pro, which comes
with Animation Shop 3 which will help you later on in the design
process (http://www.jasc.com/product.asp?pf%5Fid=001).

Assuming you're creating your own banners and not outsourcing to
a separate company or using a ready-made banner site (such as
http://www.readybanners.com/), you'll start by creating several
468x60 images in your favorite graphics program to use as the
frames in your final animated banner, or just one image if you
choose not to animate. Animated banners, even with a simple,
single element of animation tend to draw more clicks than static
ones. Then, use a GIF animation program to create your banners
from the static images. Some include Animation Shop 3 which comes
free with Paint Shop Pro, GIF Movie Gear (http://www.gamani.com/)
or ULead's GIF Animator (http://www.ulead.com/ga/trial.htm).

Here are a few tips to keep in mind for creating effective
banner advertisements:

    o Color Scheme: Choose only a few colors, maybe 3, to use in
      a single banner. Keeping it simple works best, and reduces
      image size.
    o Don't loop your banner animation more than a few times.
    o Use your best copy when writing the text for your banners.
      Choose important features and include words like "free" and
      "click here."
    o Use a simple, readable font.
    o Look at the banners that catch your attention on the web;
      see why you stop and look at theirs.
    o Optimize your banners' file sizes so they download quickly.
      Many graphics programs have functions to do this built in.


3. LAUNCH YOUR CAMPAIGN AND TEST IT

Now that you have several banners created and you've planned
where you're going to advertise and what your goals are, it's
time to launch the campaign; get those banners on the sites! You
should be tracking response with your web logs or other
statistics
so that you know when you are receiving traffic from the sites
you
advertised on. To make this easier, you may want to have your
banners point to a special page you've made on your site just for
those who click on them so that you can easily identify traffic
from your banners by how many times the page is seen.

You should also track which banner is referring which traffic,
either by the referring URLs in your web logs or by setting up
different pages for each banner to point to. This way, if certain
banners are working better for you than others, you know to
either
increase their exposure in the current campaign or use them again
in the future.

Hopefully your banners are now increasing your brand name
recognition to your audience on carefully selected sites, or they
are bringing you new traffic and leads you didn't have before!


*****************************************************************
Dan Grossman runs http://www.websitegoodies.com where you can
find over 250 hand-picked resources, articles, and tools! Dan
also publishes the free weekly "WebDevPortal" newsletter for
website owners! Subscribe today and get articles like this every
week: mailto:subscribe@...?subject=article-subscribe
*****************************************************************

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
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Article Title: Sins Of The Internet: Copyright Infringement
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-064@...

Just admit it. We've all done it. Knowingly or unknowingly. You know
what I mean - "borrowed" something for our web site which we did not
necessarily have the permission to use. In short, every single one of
us has, I am sure, been guilty of copyright infringement at some time
in our life.

I know, I know ... you've been careful. So let's look at some other
sites and see what's been done. A quick look at a Star Trek fan site
will get you dozens or even hundreds of copyright infringements right
off the bat. This has gotten so bad that Viacom has sent letters to
many sites demanding that they remove the materials or face legal
action. Of course the site owners are up in arms about this ...

Your average Simpsons site has many copyright violations on every
single page. Of course, that Heather Lockleer site that you liked so
much with all of the scanned magazine covers ... guilty of copyright
infringement.

How many of us have picked up a few graphics or postings from
newsgroups and added them to our website? That's not copyright
infringement, is it? Well, actually, it could be. I know it's a
common assumption that everything posted to a newsgroup is public
domain ... but guess what, just posting something does not mean you
give up your copyright.

In fact, here's how copyright in the United States works (I am not a
lawyer, so if you have specific needs you should consult trained
legal sources). You create something (written works, photography,
art, crafts and anything like that), you have a copyright on that
object, unless you have signed a contract or made an agreement that
says otherwise. You don't have to register that fact with anyone or
any organization ... you own the copyright from the moment that the
work was created.

Registering helps prove that you are, indeed, the valid copyright
owner. And placing the words "copyright (c)" on your works merely
states something that already exists - you own the copyright. You
don't need to say that you do - but it helps establish the fact if it
is ever in dispute.

Now, here's another interesting point, just because someone "borrows"
a work and say, posts it to a newsgroup, does not mean that the
copyright is invalidated. In addition, if you write an article and
post it in every newsgroup and message board on the planet, guess
what, you still own the copyrights (unless the terms and conditions
of where you posted it specifically say otherwise - always read terms
and conditions before posting). YOU have the right to copy as much as
you want. You also have the right to give others the right to copy -
as little or as much as you want. Creating copies does not cause you
to lose the copyright.

Well then, how do the movie reviewers get away with making a quote
from a film? Or what about a student who borrows a few lines from a
reference book? Are they violating copyright?
Probably not. You see, there is an additional part of the copyright
laws called "fair use". What this means is anyone can make "fair use"
of a copyrighted object. How is "fair use" defined? Very loosely, as
it turns out.

What it means it that in order for a reviewer to do his job, he has
to be able to quote a few lines from the work ... that's fair use. A
student needs to be able to include a few things from research
materials ... that's fair use. It might even mean that a review of a
piece of art might include a postage-sized photograph of that art ...
again, probably fair use.

If the reviewer copied a page or two from the script, now that would
be considered a copyright violation. If a student simply copied vast
portions of the encyclopedia into his paper ... that would also be
copyright violation (as well as a failing grade if he gets caught).
And the reproduction of the art might be considered copyright
violation, depending upon how it was used, how large it was and what
the motivation was in copying it in the first place.

So you see, creating a "Simpsons" site and using the word "doh" is
fair use. However, including copies of the Simpsons cartoons on the
site (without permission) ... that's copyright violation.
So is it okay to right click on a graphic on someone's website and
then include it on your own website? Most likely it is not ... but it
depends on whether or not the graphic is public domain.

What's public domain? These are creations for which the copyright has
(a) been intentionally released to the public or (b) expired.
Copyrights are only in force for a specific amount of time. Once that
time has passed the copyright can be renewed. If it is not, it passes
into public domain and is freely available for anyone to copy.

The creator of a work also has the right to say, "anyone can copy
this". After all, he owns the copyright, so he has the right to say
anyone or even everyone can copy it. He can also completely
relinquish the right and put it into public domain ... which means
everyone (or no one depending on your viewpoint) owns the copyright.

He can also state, "you can copy this but you must include a link
back to my site". Again, he owns the copyright, so he can state under
what conditions it can be copied. In fact, some sites say, "go ahead
and make copies, but send a postcard if you do". I've even run across
a site which states, "it's yours, but you have to care about
something for fifteen minutes". Guess what, legally, you must fulfill
the "contract" and care for fifteen minutes ... because that's the
terms of the agreement.

Okay, how do you know a creation is public domain? That's the tricky
part. You have to figure it out. Many old books are in the public
domain ... that's how Project Gutenberg (an attempt to gather up tens
of thousands of ebooks on one web site) is able to offer ebooks for
free. The books are old enough that their copyrights have expired.

That's also why many public domain clip art collections seem to be
Victorian or outdated. They are drawings and paintings from many
years ago, and the copyrights have expired. Thus, someone simply
gathered them up and packaged them as a clipart collection without
needing to pay any royalties on any of the art.

What about those huge one million file clip art collections? Can you
use them on your web site? Well, it depends upon the terms and
conditions which are included with the clip art. Look on the CD or in
the book that comes with the product. You should find a legal
document spelling out how the material can be used. If you read it
you will find your answer. In general, it seems most of these
collections are fine to use if (a) you purchased the product, and (b)
the usage is non-commercial. Please be sure you read the terms and
conditions, though, to get the exact conditions of usage.

That's all well and good, but you've just got a personal web site!
Can't you just scan a few pictures and post them? Copy a few
graphics? Borrow some television scripts? Well, no, that's copyright
violation. Why? Because you are making a copy of the material without
the permission of the owner of the copyright. Pure and simple. The
fact that it's a personal website is not relevant.

Well, so you want to create a beautiful site and you want some cool
graphics, sound files, videos and text. How do you get it without
creating it all yourself?

That's easy. First, you can use clip art, stock photos and other
materials from clip art collections as long as you obey the terms and
conditions of the product. It's a good idea to read them before you
purchase the package (you can usually find the terms on their web
site or they will be happy to get you a copy if you give them a call).

Next, you can ask the copyright owner if it is okay that you make a
copy. I do this often and guess what, a quick email gets me
permission more than three out of four times! Usually all the
copyright owner wants is a link back to his site and perhaps a brief
note expressing gratitude.

And remember not to get angry if the person says "no". He owns the
copyright, after all, and has the right to say no. In fact, he may
even have contracts with others that require him to refuse your
request. You will often find this with cartoons from newspapers, for
example.  The newspaper is the only entity that has the right to copy
by explicit agreement.

I like to include a page on my web site which explains, in detail,
exactly what permissions I have obtained. I do this because (a) it
removes all doubt in anyone's mind, and (b) I will forget so it's a
good place to record the data.

All right, all right, all right. This all sounds well and good, but
hey, who cares if you steal some stupid pictures anyway? Who does it
hurt, after all, to scan that photo of Heather Lockleer and post it
on your site?

To put it simply, it hurts everyone. It hurts the person who took the
picture, because he is not getting compensated for the use of his
work, nor was he given the opportunity to grant permission to use his
property. It hurts society because it is a crime. It hurts you, the
thief, because it is unethical. And you know the old saying ... "What
goes around comes around".  And yes, in a manner of speaking,
copyright infringement is theft - you are taking something that does
not belong to you.



NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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You have permission to publish this article electronically
or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.
A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hidden Treasures - Good or Bad?



Is your site full of hidden treasures? Let's hope not.

Treasures, good. Hidden, bad. If your site's visitors can't
navigate effortlessly through all parts of your site, your web
presence isn't as effective as it could be.

A well-designed navigation system is a critical component of any
successful web site. It should be persistent and consistent
throughout the site and should answer these four questions:

1. Where am I?
2. Where have I come from?
3. How do I get back?
4. Where can I go?

An effective navigation system not only answers these four
questions, it answers them quickly. The navigation must provide
clear visual clues that let visitors reach their destinations
with minimal effort.

For starters, consider the placement of your main menu. This
should consist of 5-7 high-level choices that represent the main
areas of your site. If your visitors can always pick one of these
choices, no matter which product or bit of knowledge they're
after, you're golden. Your main menu really sets the tone.

Since the natural tendency of the eye is to move from top to
bottom left to right, your main menu should be placed in the
vicinity of the top left of the page -- and not just the home
page, but on EVERY page.

Now to the four questions:

First, where am I? Each page should be labeled clearly as to the
content of the page. A larger font size, emphasized text or
different color should differentiate page's title from the text
of the body. The visitor shouldn't have to guess as to the focus
of the page.

Second, where have I come from? What main area of the site am I
in? It needs to be clear to the visitor which selections she made
to get to the current page.

This leads to the third question: How do I get back? At the very
least, your visitor should be able to one-click back to the home
page or to another main area of your site.

One classic way of answering questions 1-3 is with "bread
crumbs", or recursive navigation. Like the crumbs dropped in the
woods by Hansel and Gretel to mark the way back home, a site's
bread crumbs mark the path a visitor takes through the hierarchy.
Yahoo! and CNET are classic examples of sites that use bread
crumbs. Their bread crumbs not only tell me where I am (question
1) and where I've come from (question 2), they let me return with
one click to any of the previous levels (question 3).

Finally, where do I go from here? This is usually the toughest of
the questions to answer, and possibly the most critical to user
acceptance of your site. Proper site planning and organization
are key. In general, you don't want your site to be too wide (too
many choices on any given page) or too deep (too many clicks
required to reach the destination).

Take some time to site down and review your site, making sure
that you can answer all four questions for each page. For best
results, make this a regular event in your web maintenance
schedule to keep your treasures unhidden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author:

Keith Reichley is webmaster for WEBtheJOINT, the web resource
center for small business. Visit us at http://www.webthejoint.com
or contact Keith at keith@....

Subscribe to our free newsletter, WEBtheJOINT News, at
http://www.webthejoint.com/news/subscribe.php.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Please feel free to use this article in your newsletter or on
your website as long as you include the complete resource box
at the end of the article, including a link to
http://www.homemadebooklets.com


Get Rich on the Internet in 7 Easy Steps
by Michael J. McGroarty

Step #1.

Forget about getting Rich.  Instead concentrate on establishing a
  cyber business that you can be extremely proud of.
A business that you will be happy to tell your neighbors about.
A business that truly helps people in some way.

Look around you, in your hometown.  How many millionaires do
you know?  Look closely at how they made their money.  Many
people who are wealthy today got that way through small businesses
they started years ago.What do you suppose they were they thinking
when they started out? Was their goal to get rich?  I doubt it.

It is my guess that they had an idea for a business they could start.
Maybe it was something they were good at, and just thought it
would be fun to make money doing something they enjoyed.
Maybe they always wanted to own a business of their
very own, and once they got that opportunity they poured their
heart and soul into that business.

How did they treat their customers when they first started?  Did
they treat them like some kind of a machine that's only purpose
was to bring them cash?  Or did they bend over backwards
delivering world class customer service to make sure those
customers kept coming back year after year?

I think you know the answer.  The millionaires in your hometown
did not get wealthy because they set out to get rich from the onset.
They got wealthy because they did a lot of good, and
provided their customers with  the best service they could.
They treated those customers with respect, and went the extra
mile every single time they got the chance.

Forget about getting rich, and concentrate on establishing a
business that helps as many people as possible, and you will
eventually become rich.  You may never have a million dollars,
but you will be rich in ways you never thought possible.

Step #2.

Discover your passion.  What is it that you are passionate about?
There is one thing that you enjoy doing more than anything else.
What is it?  Baking bread, fixing cars, decorating mailboxes?
There is something that you are passionate about.  Take that
passion and give it a unique twist and turn it into an on-line business.

My passion is landscape plants and landscape gardening.  I'm
really good with plants and landscaping.  I own the worlds
smallest, most famous nursery.  It's only 1/20 acre, but because
I am so passionate about this little tiny nursery, people all over
the world not only know about my little nursery, but they are
trying to duplicate what we do in our backyard nursery.

How did our little nursery get so famous?  I made it that way.
It's my passion!  I created a website about it, I write articles
about it, I get magazines and newspapers to write about it, and
I even managed to get it featured on a television show.  I love
my little nursery, and I tell everybody about it!

Through my website and all this publicity I find other people that
share my passion.  They gladly pay me good money to learn
what I do, and how I do it.  I wrote a little book and a few
reports.  I made some homemade videos about it.  And I do
mean "homemade".

My customers love the videos, even when the screen goes
blank for a few seconds because I really don't know how to
make videos.  They don't care.  They love the videos.  Why?
Because my home brewed videos teach them how to develop
their passion into a small business.  My customers are extremely
grateful for what I do.

Forget about trying to get rich.  Instead find your passion, and
turn it into an on-line business.  No matter how much or how
little money you make, you will be rich in a way that most people
never get to realize.

Step #3.

Start writing about your passion.  Take a stack of 3 by 5 index
cards, and start writing ideas on them.  One idea on each card.
Write as fast as you can.  Just keep putting one idea on each
card, until you have at least 200 cards, 500 cards, or whatever
number you can come up with.  What kind of ideas should you
write?  Write an idea for everything you know about your
passion.  Every little detail that you've learned over the years.

For instance.

Did you know that the best wheelbarrow in the world is a
"Jackson"?  A Jackson wheelbarrow is designed in such a way
that you can load it so that the bulk of the weight rests on the
wheel and not the spine of the "wheelbarrow pusher".  I'll bet
you didn't know that did ya?  I know it.  And if I include that
one little tidbit along with a hundred others, I've got a saleable
product that others are willing to pay me money for.

Your brain is packed full of little tidbits about your passion.
Write them index cards.  Once you have completely
exhausted every possible topic for your index cards, begin
sorting and organizing your cards.  When you are done you
will have the outline for a product that others will pay you
money for.

Step #4.

Create a website about your passion.  Make it the best website
on the net about your subject.  Make it a fun and friendly place
for people to visit.  Make it so good that people who share your
interest will stop by at least once a day.  On my
http://www.homemadebooklets.com  website I've posted an
article, "Internet Secrets Revealed".  This article contains 51
tips that I believe can make any website successful.  Print a copy
of this article and use it as your guide.

Step #5.

Offer a few products for sale from your website.  On my
gardening site, http://www.freeplants.com  I offer a wealth of
gardening information free of charge.  I sell my book, but the
products that sell the best are the products that teach people
how to make money selling plants.  Design your site in such a
way that each page gently leads your visitors to your sales page.

My http://www.homemadebooklets.com  is a great example of
how this is done.  This entire website is designed to sell one
simple product.  But it is done in such a way that the visitors
learn plenty about selling on the internet as they are introduced to
my sales message.

Many people just browse, learn what they can, and  leave
without spending any money.  Others want to learn every
detail they can about how I sell tens of thousands of dollars
worth of my homemade products on the internet so they buy my
e-book, "The Step by Step Internet Success Formula".  I offer
plenty of free advice from the message boards at both of my
sites.  That's what keeps people coming back day after day.

Step #6.

Make your product digital.  Create a simple information product,
a 25 page report is great for starters.  My best selling
product is a 25 page report that sells for $19.95.  Then convert
it to a digital format that can be delivered electronically.  This
sounds really complicated, but it's not.  I was really intimidated
by the idea of creating a digital product.  When I finally looked
into it, I couldn't believe how easy it was using Adobe Acrobat.

Step #7.

Set up an affiliate program so that other internet marketers can
earn money for helping you sell your digital products.  This is
much easier than you think.  As a matter of fact, it is as simple
as can be.

I use ClickBank.  They handle the complete sales
process for me, including processing the credit cards.  They even
pay my affiliates for me.  All I have to do is let other internet
marketers know that I have an affiliate program, and that they
can earn money simply by putting a link on their website.  You
can learn more about ClickBank at my website.

This is the most incredible business in the world.  24 hours a day,
7 days a week, 365 days a year, people can visit your website,
order your digital product, take delivery immediately, and the
entire process is fully automatic.  You never lift a finger, except
to answer a few e-mails when people have questions.

You can have hundreds of other internet marketers sending you
customers.  They get paid for their efforts automatically, and you
just keep selling more and more products.  Business has never
been this easy!

The secret to making it work?  Pay a generous commission.  I
give my re-sellers 50%.  To learn more, visit
http://www.homemadebooklets.com and sign up for my free
newsletter, "How to Really Make Money on the Internet".

_____________________________________________________________

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of the E-book, "The Step by
Step Internet Success Formula" and the popular website,
http://www.homemadebooklets.com   Stop by today and sign up
his FREE newsletter, "How to Really Make Money on the Internet"
_____________________________________________________________



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Sins Of The Internet: Not Using Bcc
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-066@...

This is a little known yet very important issue on the web. Many good
people commit this every day without knowing that there is an
alternative, and without having any understanding of the very real
damage that they are committing.

How many times have you received or sent an email with an address
like this:

    To: You@...
    Cc: Yourfriend@...; Myfriend@...;

Looks fine, doesn't it? Except for some simple facts. By including
email addresses in the Cc field you are inadvertently helping
spammers. Even worse, you are violating the basic privacy of everyone
to whom you have sent the message. In fact, in the worst case, you
may have put all of these people in danger.

Huh? How can this be? This just a simple email!

Let's say you send this email to twenty friends. Each of those
friends will receive the email addresses of you and all twenty of
your friends. All of those email addresses will be conveniently
listed at the top of the message for everyone to see.

If one of your so-called friends is actually a spammer, you've just
given him the email addresses of nineteen other people. He can add
those to his lists and send spam messages to all of them. Even worse,
these are very valuable email addresses, as they are confirmed and
known to be good. They can actually be sold to some spammers for a
fair amount of money!

Okay, let's say your friends are all fine, upstanding people who do
not spam. You have still put all twenty people in danger. How? Email
is not private by any means. In fact, your message will wind up on at
least a couple of machines by the time you read it, and might
actually find it way to thousands of them!

Don't believe me? I worked as a consultant for a company several
years ago. One day one of my fellow co-workers called me over to his
system and asked me to look at something, a wide grin on his face. He
had been working on our clients email system to fix a problem and
accidentally listed out the email message file. He showed me a series
of several hundred very explicit emails that two employees had been
sending to each other for months! These two people would have been
very embarrassed, I am sure, if they ever found out that we read
every detail of their love affair - it was extremely x-rated in
places!

So you see, your email may actually be read by anyone at any of those
systems at any time! Thus, by including all of the addresses in
the "cc" field, you can easily give away them away to spammers.

Now, here is the dangerous part. What if it's not a spammer who gets
this message, but someone dangerous? There are many people on the
internet (as in the real world) who are not so nice. Someone could
send threatening messages to your friends. They could pretend they
were you, or they could forward your message to other unscrupulous
people.

Okay, that's the problem. Yet you want to send your message to
several people! How do you do so without compromising the privacy of
everyone else?

That's easy. You see, your email program has a special capability
called Blind Carbon Copy (bcc for short). This allows you to enter
the email addresses of anyone you want, without sending all of the
addresses to everyone else on the list.

It's basically a way to send a copy to someone without telling anyone
else that you did it. This is commonly used in a corporate
environment to send a copy to someone who needs to know without
alarming the rest of the people who receive the message. For example,
I might want to let the Vice President know about an issue, but I may
not want everyone else to know that I clued him in (in a office,
copying senior management tends to produce office politics very
quickly as everyone scrambles to protect their behinds).

Sometimes email programs hide this option. To find it, just go to the
help and look for "bcc" or "blind carbon copy". The help will tell
you how to turn it on. Usually there is some option to show the Bcc
field directly under the Cc field.

So be considerate of other people's email addresses. It's the ethical
thing to do.

Want to help spread the word? Include the following code on your
website to add a cool ribbon! The ribbon links to this article, which
will allow anyone to get the information they need.

     <a href="http://www.internet-tips.net/Daily/20010209.htm">
     <img src="http://www.internet-tips.net/images/BCC.gif"
     width=98 height=191 border=0></a>


NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
article:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@...

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets
and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Copyright (C) Richard Lowe Jr. and Claudia Arevalo-Lowe, 1999-2001.
Permission is granted to reprint the following article as long as no
changes are made and the byline, copyright information, and the
resource box is included. Please let me know if you use this article
by sending an email to articles@...

Article Title: Sins Of The Internet: Signup Junkie
Author: Richard Lowe, Jr.
Contact Author: articles@...
Publishing Guidelines: May be freely published w/bylines
Web Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Autoresponder Address: article-067@...

I admit it. I used to be one of those people who signed up for
everything on the internet. You name it, I signed up for it. For over
a year I must have joined at least two programs every single day. By
the time I regained my senses, I had over 700 accounts and passwords
recorded in my password book!

It's all so enticing! Ah, the thrill of getting something for free.
You know what I mean. A free mousepad to leave my email address with
that printer manufacturer. Another site had a free calendar which I
could put on my website ... all I had to do was enter my personal
information and add some hypertext to my pages. Yet another gave me
an email every day reminding me of my seven contest entries for the
day.

Oh yes, those were the days. It actually started with Yahoo! I fell
in love with Yahoo! in those naive times. What a great place to go.
And I got lots of "free" stuff in return for some simple personal
information. I didn't see any harm in telling them these things ...
after all, they promised to keep my information private and it
appeared like I was getting something useful in return.

I moved on to webrings. These are small fragments of hypertext which
you add to your website to form a kind of navigational system,
allowing people to hop from site to site until they return to the
site from which they started. Each webring had a signup page, and it
seemed harmless to give some information to the ringmasters.

Over the next year, I discovered sweepstakes and I signed up for them
all (dozens of sites). I found tons of free webmaster utilities, and
signed up for everything even though I couldn't possibly include all
of them if I wanted to! I even signed up for ten different types of
guestbooks (like I would use them), two dozen banner exchanges
(worthless) and hundreds of affiliate programs.

I admit it, I was a signup junkie.

It's so tempting to sign up for free stuff. Yet this has to be
resisted. Why? Because one fact that I've learned again and again is
you don't want to be giving out your private information any more
than you have to.

Why not? Because that information is valuable, and as such it will be
used. It does not matter what the privacy policy says - the data is
being used for something or they would not be asking for it.

Give out your email address too many times, and you will find it very
difficult to reduce the incredible amount of spam that you will
receive (I was getting over 500 emails per day when I finally started
deleting myself from all of these programs). You will find that at
least a few of these "free" sites will sell your email address (and
other information) to spammers.

The other information is equally valuable. Your address can be sold
for mass mailings of product information. Your phone number is
perfect for telemarketers. Your social security number and birthdate
are the most valuable of all - criminals can use these to steal your
identity.

But isn't all of that free stuff valuable?

Think about it for a minute. If it was valuable, would they be giving
it away? If that ebook about how to get rich was so valuable,
wouldn't they charge an arm and a leg for it instead of giving it to
you in return for your email address?

Don't get me wrong, some of these free things are of value. One item
that comes to mind immediately are free guestbooks. This is the
perfect freebie - it's simple, straightforward and useful. The only
problem is that to use the guestbook you have to send your visitors
off your site, but perhaps that's not a big issue to you. Personally,
I decided I would rather keep my hard earned visitors - so I
installed a guestbook script directly on my site.

So what's my advice? Simple. When you find a new program save the URL
in your favorites. Then sit back and think about it for a while. Read
through their mission statement, privacy policy and any other
materials on their website. Look for their site in the Better
Business Bureau. In other words, check them out. Once you've thought
about it either delete it from your favorites or go back and sign up.

Why not just sign up without thinking? Because your information is
valuable - or they wouldn't be asking for it. And if it's valuable
then you should not be giving it away willy-nilly. If fact, one way
to think of it is you are trading your personal information for a
product or service. The currency used in the trade is your name,
address, phone number and whatever else they want to get.

Others things to remember before getting that new doo-dad for your
web site are:

- Will this company be around in a year? Remember that you will be
incorporating this into your site - do you really want to have to
edit it out later if they go down?

- Do you really need it or is it just fluff? It's wise to be cautious
about adding too many bangles to a website - this tends to make
people click away pretty quick. Simple is generally better.

For other services, stop and think if you really need that free
thing. I know it's shiny and pretty and, well, free - but do you need
it? Just because you got a free ebook for giving out your email
address does not mean that the ebook has any value. Besides, if you
put the ebook title into a search engine, chances are you will find
it or the same information without having to give them anything.

What's the bottom line? Be cautious about giving out your personal
data, and don't sign up for every single program. Don't be a signup
junkie.

That's all I've got to say about that.



NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this
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List of articles available for reprint: article-list@...

Dear Subscribers;

Those of you who know me, know that I almost never send out
special notices to our group members. However, this one is
specifically for those building opt-in lists and is all ready
producing major results. This program has the potential
to not only assist you in building a massive opt-in list of 80,000
subscribers, but to also make a lot of  money at the same time.

Please read on...

SPECIAL NEWS FLASH

If you've been on the Internet for a while, then you know how
powerful an opt-in email list can be. The creators of  Links2U, a
highly successful Internet company with over one million
members, have created a new program that has the potential to
make a lot of people, A LOT OF MONEY. This program hasn't
been announced to their members, but will be in less than a week,
so time is of the essence.

http://www.mylistmaker.com/?1005809

I just received an email from Bob Wilson of Cashpromotions.com
and he has made over $1,000.00 in the past 3 days.

I received another email from Jeana Murray-Nieporte
. Her husband
Bill, is the publisher of a highly successful ezine with over 10,000
subscribers and they have made almost $8300 (thus far). They just
joined on February 4, 2001!

Here's a copy of their most recent notice from the company:

-- >>> A new operator has joined MyLISTmaker
>>> Here is their name and e-mail address to add to your list
>>>
>>> Name XXX XXXX e-mail address XXXXXX@...
>>>
>>> You have earned $10 commission
>>> Your total commission earned is $8260
>>> Your paid commission earned is $
>>> Your balance of unpaid commission is $8260

Jeana also received this message from a friend of hers:

>>> Good Morning... WOW, What a ride!
>>>
>>> >>>From 2/7/01 to 2/9/01 I have a confirmed report of--
>>> $3,260 and have a list of 553 that's growing by the
>>> minute. I'm getting so many conformations, I'm going
>>> to have to divert them to another mail box to keep
>>> them from Inundating my main e-mail. 6 have came
>>> in as I'm writing you.  What a blessing for everyone.
>>>
>>> I'm thankful to for sending me this fantastic list builder
>>> program.  In all my 43+ years in this industry, I've never
>>> been paid like this before.  These folks who created
>>> HitsToU and Links2U Are reputable business people
>>> who have had a tremendous success in putting millions
>>> in these programs.
>>>
>>> I have personally done business with these folks through
>>> the years and I highly recommend them and this program
>>> to build an in-house list very quickly and make a bundle
>>> doing it.
>>>
>>> My Sincere And Best Wishes Four Your And Our Success!
>>>
>>> Don Artis
>>> mailto:tristate@...
>>> Tri-State Financial

http://www.mylistmaker.com/?1005809

I also received a message from Phil Wiley -- the well-respected
Ezine editor and site owner from DOWN-UNDER in Australia.
Phil is editor of the popular "All The Secrets" Marketing Ezine
and is also one of those people I've learned I could count on
when he makes a recommendation--so I am forwarding this
opportunity to you.

This letter is rather long and a bit complicated--but bear
with me and read everything. If you do--and if you ACT
TODAY--you're going to end up very happy.

How would you like a way of building a massive opt-in mailing
list, and making some really good money at the same time?

Here's something that's going to BIG. In fact, my sponsor has
made over $1000.00 daily with this program--and gained nearly
700 new subscribers to his ezine in less than seven days.

This is still new, so the potential here is great!

Ok...let's get on with it.

I'm talking about a brand new list building program.

The last web business these people set up, Links2U, has
been ultra-successful, with over 1 million members.

This will be even better--and the quicker you get involved,
the more you will benefit.


==>REASON ONE FOR JOINING TODAY<==

(to give the early joiners, like you and me, a great head
start, they're not telling their 1 million + subscriber base
about it for another week )

http://www.mylistmaker.com/?1005809

Reason NOT to join-->
--> you might think opt-in lists don't work.

In fact, if you've tried the existing opt-in lists you'll
find on ListBot, Topica, Egroups etc, you know they
don't.

The problem: everyone posts and nobody reads.

WELL...

...this list is very DIFFERENT.

They are using a 3 x 10 forced matrix to create the lists.
For those of you who may not know what that means, it
simply means that you will have 3 people on your first tier
who will each have 3 on theirs and this goes on through 10
tiers giving you the potential of 80,000 subscribers.

"Forced" refers to them placing new subscribers into your
downline to fill up the empty spaces. Put another way, they
ask you to refer 4 people and they do the rest.


==>REASON TWO FOR JOINING TODAY<==

You'll be one of the first and you'll be building a mailing
list that people WON'T WANT TO LEAVE. Why? Because
they'll lose income.

http://www.mylistmaker.com/?1005809

It's true. People only stay on ANY opt-in list if it benefits them.
People unsubscribe from newsletters all the time, they leave
other mailing lists even quicker.

But they're not going to be leaving this one,
...which is why it's going to grow like crazy.

The people from Links2U have identified the problem of
people dropping out, and cured it by paying income through
the entire matrix. Stay on the list and you get paid.
Opt-out and you can kiss your income goodbye.


==>REASON THREE FOR JOINING TODAY<==

This list is going to grow incredibly fast. Maybe quicker
than anything before. Why? Because the quicker you sign 4
people up the more money you make. So people will bust a
gut to sign 4 people.

http://www.mylistmaker.com/?1005809

We all know that creating a mailing list is not something
that's done overnight and it can take many years. Obviously
that's daunting if you need to build your business this
year.

Well these guys have taken care of that as well ...

You have to refer 4 people personally. You cannot earn
anything or access your list until you have done that.
Already there's an incentive to get a move on, but it gets
better. In fact they have come up with a way to make it go
into hyperdrive!

Get this...

You have only 3 days to refer your 4.

If you do it you will be paid $10 for everyone entering your
matrix for the rest of your days. See what that comes to on
the site or play with your calculator. You should be
suitably impressed.

Fail to manage it in the 3 days and your income will reduce
to $5 per head provided you complete your 4 within 7 days
from signing up.

Go beyond 7 days and you will have to settle for $1 per head
but that's still $80,000 on a completed matrix ...and
there's nothing to stop you starting again on your 10th tier
using another email address.

Can you see how fast it will grow with such incredible
financial potential wrapped into the system?

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You need to act NOW if you're planning on joining.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||


==>REASON FOUR FOR JOINING TODAY<==

The cost to enroll is only $89 ( $150 Australian dollars )

Even without the income potential--this is a great price.

Wouldn't you spend $89 for the real email addresses of real
people who are willing to get your ezine and marketing
materials. Just one or two sales of an affiliate program you
might represent would pay-back this income several times over.


Here is your chance to expand YOUR contact base.

Click Here To Join Now...

http://www.mylistmaker.com/?1005809

Don't waste another moment.

Warmest Regards,

Shelley Lowery

PS - Remember... If you join during the next 24 hours, send me
your affiliate web address and I'll give you a free copy of Ebook
Starter --
A do-it-yourself ebook design kit containing over fifty predesigned
ebook templates and ebook cover templates, free. It sells for $39.95.