Poor Richard 13
#013/31-July-98
POOR RICHARD'S WEB SITE NEWS
Geek-Free, Commonsense Advice on Building a Low-Cost Web Site
Editor: Peter Kent
Top Floor Publishing
IN THIS ISSUE
- Beginner's Column: Announce Your Site Here
- To Advertise, or Not to Advertise, That is the Question: II
- Submission Programs: II
- Save Money on Computer Hardware/Software Purchases
- Netscape Changes the Domain Name Rules: II
- Advertise Affiliate Programs in Your Newsletter
- Three Real-Life "Advertising" Campaigns
- Poor Richard's Web Site in the Press
- Reading Back Issues
- In Future Issues
**** IF YOU FIND THIS NEWSLETTER USEFUL ... FORWARD IT TO FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ****
Beginner's Column: Announce Your Site Here
Here's another quick and easy place to announce your Web site. "What's New" sends out 40,000 email bulletins each month, announcing new Web sites. You can submit your site for a particular category, to be sent out to people how have chosen to receive information about sites like yours:
You can also get a few free links at this site:
http://www.linkomatic.com/submit.cgi?11115
It only takes a few seconds, and you'll get links placed at ten "Free For All" Web pages (these are long lists of links). Of course the question is, is it worth the time it takes to place the links?
If you sign up for the Link-o-Matic service (it costs $100, but don't do it yet ... I'll explain why in a moment), you'll be able to automatically submit your link to a list of 445 Free For All pages. You'll get 16,000 credits; that is, 16,000 individual submissions, so you can submit to this list around 40 times. In theory that's 6.25 cents per link. In practice some of the submissions fail for various reasons (you'll get a report telling you which ones succeeded and which didn't). The actual cost per link is probably more like 7 or 8 cents.
However, I suggest that you _don't_ use this service, at least not for the moment. I've wondered about these Free-For-All Link pages for a long time. I've always thought they probably don't work particularly well, but after reading Link-0-Matic's sales blurbs and testimonials from users talking about how much traffic they'd got by using the program, I just couldn't help plonking down one hundred tax-deductible dollars.
So wait a little and I'll let you know whether this service does anything for me. So far, I've got to say, it hasn't sent enough traffic to my site to even turn up on my hit logs (I set up a page to link to, so I could measure hits). Right now I'm feeling a bit of a sucker; I knew it wouldn't work, and so far it hasn't. I'm rationalizing the whole thing by telling myself that I'm doing research for this newsletter, but did I really need to test something I knew couldn't work? I'm just hoping I'll prove myself wrong ... but I doubt it. I'm just glad that the Internal Revenue Service is paying part of the cost. But in any case, I'll give it a while, use up all my credits, and then let you know the results.
To Advertise, or Not to Advertise, That is the Question: II
A couple of weeks ago I talked about selling advertising in Poor Richard's Web Site News ( http://www.poorrichard.com/newsltr/012.htm#advert ).
The newsletter now has over 4,000 subscribers, up 1,000 in the last month, so the idea of using it to carry a couple of small ads is beginning to look tempting. Well, I've had a lot of mail since then, and it was overwhelmingly in favor of advertising. (Some people even said they'd like me to carry ads, because they felt that I was more likely to continue the newsletter ... which was very flattering, thanks very much!) Only one person was against the idea.
So I'll probably go for it. For the moment I'll be taking a few ad swaps; other newsletter publishers that want to put an ad in this newsletter in exchange for one in theirs. I may also include affiliate-program ads, which I'll discuss later in this newsletter. Eventually I'll probably sell ads, too, once I'm set up to do so.
But I'm going to have a few self-imposed rules. First, I'm not going to load this newsletter down with ads. I'll have two small ads, three at the most. I've seen a number of newsletters that appear to be little more than advertising ... I don't want to "devalue" this newsletter.
Ads will also be clearly delineated, something like the following (which, incidentally, is a real ad):
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Buying a car? Want to save money on insurance? Visit CarPrices for FREE insurance quotes, FREE finance quotes, FREE new- and used-car price quotes. Check a used-car title before you buy -- avoid buying a lemon! Find out about the latest rebates, and get the lowest cost extended warranties. Order new-car brochures -- FREE. All this and more ... visit http://www.carprices.com/scripts/foxweb.exe/afp@car\hmpg?id=POORRICH
~ - ~ - ~ |advertisement|- ~
The editorial content will be completely independent of the advertising, too. If I run across a great product that I think you should know about, I may still recommend it, even if the owner advertises in the newsletter. But I won't be selling editorial space. The only information you'll see that has been bought, will be the information between the lines.
Submission Programs: II
In the last issue I provided a list of submission programs: http://www.poorrichard.com/newsltr/012.htm#sub
I don't think any of those programs works on the Mac. But one subscriber sent me information on another program that works on both Windows _and_ the Mac:
www.SitePromoter
http://www.sitepromoter.com/
That's it, that's the only submission program I've been able to find that runs on the Mac; let me know if you run across any more.
Save Money on Computer Hardware/Software Purchases
This little tip isn't directly related to running a Web site or Internet business, but I thought it was so useful I'd mention it anyway ... and after all, if you _are_ running a Web site, especially on a low budget, you'll want to save money on computer stuff.
For years I've been buying through catalogs -- Microwarehouse, CDW, Computability, and so on. But I've recently modified the way I buy, thanks to the Internet. Now, the first thing I do when I'm looking for something, is to go to priceSCAN: http://www.pricescan.com/
This service will look for the best price on almost any computer program or peripheral, across a wide range of Internet retailers. You may be surprised at the range of prices. (I just searched for a Microtek X6, and prices ranged from $152.80 to $179.98, with the well-known catalogs in the upper half of the range; the most expensive were CDW, CompUSA, and MacZone.) I also sometimes check with BUYCOMP.COM: http://www.buycomp.com/ This is a retailer with very good prices.
A few days ago I went looking for the new Microtek X6EL scanner. The catalogs are selling it for around $235 and up. I couldn't find it at priceSCAN (it's a new product, and I guess they haven't added it yet). I did find it at BUYCOMP, though, for $217.95 ... only problem, they didn't have it in stock. The problem with some of these online stores is that it's difficult to check stock information; I could email them and ask when it would be in stock, but might not hear for a day or two.
So instead I called a catalog I've used many times in the past, CDW (1-800-896-1340, http://www.cdw.com/ ). They were selling the product for $241; they also didn't have it in stock, but said they would have it within two or three days. When the salesperson realized I wasn't interested in buying it at that price, he asked how much I'd seen it for elsewhere. When I told him BUYCOMP had it for $217.95, he said he'd sell it to me at that price!
So I got a much lower price than the catalog price, yet I still bought from a company I'd purchased from in the past, a company I know and trust. The best of both worlds. So don't buy from the catalogs without checking online first ... and then bargain!
A few more places to check:
Big Computer: http://www.bigc.com/
CNET Shopper.com: http://www.shopper.com/
StreetPrice (UK): http://www.streetprice.com/
StreetPrices (US): http://www.streetprices.com/
Yahoo:
http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Computers/Retailers/Price_Guides/
Of course you might also remember the maxim, "be careful what you ask for, or you might get it." I did, indeed, order and receive the Microtek X6EL, which I installed earlier this evening. After inserting the SCSI card into my system, I discovered -- to my delight, as you can imagine -- that not only had my tape drive died, thanks to the fact that the SCSI card it was connected to would no longer work, but the serial port my modem was using was dead. It took me several hours to backtrack and get the modem working. And I'm not sure yet if the tape drive is functioning. The X6EL goes back in the morning.
Netscape Changes the Domain Name Rules: II
In the last issue I talked about Netscape's new Smart Browsing "feature" ( http://www.poorrichard.com/newsltr/012.htm#domain ). Navigator 4.5 Preview edition handles text typed into the Location bar in a new manner. If you type a full domain name, it simply looks up the domain name as usual, and transfers the Web page. But if you type a single word -- without the .com, .org, or .whatever bit at the end -- it sends that word to one of the Netscape Communications computers, which then decides what you want to see.
It turns out that Netscape has set up a series of ten huge databases. The computer checks the word you entered to see if it's trademarked, registered as an Internet domain, whether it has a directory area in Netscape's new Netcenter site, and so on. If it can't find it, then it will use a Web search engine to see what it comes up with.
When I wrote the article I hadn't yet checked the program; it had been released the day before, and I was basing the article on information I'd seen from people who had already worked with it. Since then I've installed Navigator 4.5 and found a couple of things.
First, the example I gave (typing in PoorRichard) isn't a good one. For some reason -- which I haven't quite figured out -- when I type PoorRichard I _do_ get to PoorRichard.com. However, I'm not sure if that's because it's already stored somewhere in a file as a domain that I've visited. Several subscribers have told me that they also found typing PoorRichard took them to PoorRichard.com; but again, as subscribers to this newsletter perhaps they have visited the Web site recently.
But I also tried typing akmail; I wanted to see if there was an update to my email program, AKmail. Now, with earlier versions of Navigator typing akmail would have taken me straight to akmail.com. Instead it took me to a search-engine page on Netscape's computer.
I tried akmail a few moments ago, but this time it took me to akmail.com. Why? Perhaps because I've now visited akmail.com. But there's another factor that is confusing the issue. Netscape is experimenting with the way these databases work. According to one press account, "the company is tweaking the order in which the databases field the words." Maybe they've changed the order, and the databases now check domains first.
So I tried another domain, one I know I've never visited; 4-writers. I went straight to the 4-writers.com domain. Then I tried one domain that's been mentioned a lot in the press, scripting. I typed the word scripting, and went to a Netscape Netcenter search-engine page ... not to scripting.com.
Here's another real-life example that Navigator screwed up. I was trying, for several days, to get to the Frankfurt Book Fair Web site. I typed frankfurt-book-fair into the Location box, and got a message telling me that the domain name couldn't be found. For days I was unable to get into the site; I figured it was down for some reason. But I recently saw the URL somewhere: http://www.frankfurt-book-fair.com. So I tried typing frankfurt-book-fair into the Location box again -- it didn't work, as usual. Then I clicked on the link, and low and behold ... I got straight into the site. It turns out that Navigator was being really stupid; while earlier versions would have checked frankfurt-book-fair.com _and_ www.frankfurt-book-fair.com, it evidently only checked frankfurt-book-fair.com. If I'd been using an earlier version, or even Microsoft Internet Explorer, I would have got to the site I wanted. Using this version, I was lost, and Netscape's system didn't even provide a search-engine match that might have helped.
So, there you go. Complete confusion. Here's a key software-design rule that Netscape's programmers seem to have forgotten; a program should be predictable. When you use a program, it should work in a manner that is predictable and consistent -- the user should know what's supposed to happen, and the rules shouldn't change from moment to moment. Not only does Smart Browsing cause the problems for site owners that I discussed in the last issue but, at least for the moment, it also causes problems for the user, because it's not even predictable; you can only guess at what will happen.
Advertise Affiliate Programs in Your Newsletter
I've discovered something interesting during my research into newsletter advertising. Not surprisingly, perhaps, newsletter publishers generally don't sell all their advertising space. A couple of publishers told me that they only sell about 50% of the space. (By the way, that provides an opportunity for advertising buyers; ask what the publisher's standby rates are. Many publishers will sell space at a low cost at the last moment.)
Let's say that you've determined your newsletter can sell x number of lines without upsetting your subscribers -- without turning your newsletter into a classified-ad message. Yet you're only selling 1/2 * x. What can you do with all those other lines?
How about selling products for yourself, through an affiliates program. An affiliates program is one in which a a Web store agrees to pay another person a percentage of any sales that come through that person's Web site or email newsletter.
There are hundreds of affiliate programs on the Web. You can make commissions selling books, music, clothing, even condoms. You may know about the Amazon.com and CDnow affiliate programs, two of the largest on the Web. (CDnow, the first company to use an affiliate program, currently has almost 30,000 affiliates, and Amazon.com has even more.) But there are many more to choose from.
So here's how a newsletter publisher might use these programs as supplementary advertising. First, you find a few good programs, ideally programs selling products that either have a very wide appeal or are of particular interest to your subscribers. You want to find programs that have good products, pay a good commission, and are run by trustworthy companies (some programs that are little more than a rip off). You set up an affiliate's account with several, and then keep an eye on the stores for special promotions. When you've got some free advertising space, create your own ad that links to one of the special promotions.
In effect you're doing what newspapers and magazines have been doing for decades; selling excess advertising inventory on a per-sale or per-lead basis.
Note, however, that some affiliate programs won't work unless you link from a Web page; the tracking method used requires the HTTP REFERRER information sent by the Web browser to figure out which affiliate is sending the visitor. Other tracking methods use links that have a built-in code identifying the affiliate; these links _can_ be used in email messages, but at least one major affiliate program -- CDnow -- bans affiliates from placing links in any kind of email (some affiliates have put links in spam, so CDnow is very sensitive about this issue). You can still get around this problem, though. You'll have to link to a Web page at your site, and put the banner to the store on that page. You could, perhaps, even make the page automatically forward the person to the store, as I described in an earlier issue ( http://www.poorrichard.com/newsltr/005.htm#begin ). I haven't yet tested to see if this would work properly, though I imagine it probably would.
How do you find a reliable affiliates program? Try this great little Web site, AssociatePrograms.com:
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/
Not only will you find hundreds of programs listed, but the owner, Allan Gardyne, discusses the pros and cons of many, and recommends ones that have worked well for him or others. He'll even tell you what he thinks are the ten best affiliate programs on the Web:
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/favourite.html
By the way, I plan to return to affiliate programs soon.
They're a great way to promote a product online ... but setting one up can be rather complicated.
~~~ Surfing the Net with Kids ~~~
Each week, syndicated columnist Barbara J. Feldman ferrets out the best of the Web for families, teachers and the young- at-heart. Her FREE weekly email edition rates and reviews five fun, educational Web sites on topics as diverse as Satellites, Roller Coasters, Fireworks and Creative Cats.
VISIT ONLINE ARCHIVE --> http://www.surfnetkids.com SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL EDITION --> mailto:join-surfnetkids@s1.net
~~~~|advertisement|~
Three Real-Life "Advertising" Campaigns
I've decided to run an article by Jim Daniels of BizWeb2000, because it matches some of my experiences with advertising, and because it directly compares three different ways to get the word out about your Web site. And the fact that I'm running the article is a good example of one of the promotion techniques he talks about. You'll see what I mean ...
"My Cyberspace Advertising Results: It pays to be cheap!"
by Jim Daniels http://bizweb2000.com
Exactly how does one go about "reaching the world" once connected to the Internet? This year alone, I've tried many online marketing methods. Hey, although there are plenty of experts online who know it all, I consider myself to be in the "still learning"stage. (That's right, even after 2 years of successful online marketing. I plan to be in this stage forever --it keeps me trying hard and my business growing!)
Today I'd like to share the results of my recent efforts with you. Here's what I'll be reporting on:
- My Yahoo! banner ad.
- A recent "Joke-A-Day" email list sponsorship.
- My most recent article release.
Note: One important factor in online advertising is your budget. If you're like me, and don't like to spend a lot of money on advertising, you are in luck! As you will see from the numbers below, the best results are sometimes acquired with the tiniest of budgets. So, let's get on with it...
-->1. Yahoo!
In February of this year, I decided to try running a banner ad at a major search engine. Why not go right to the top, I figured. I called Yahoo! and asked them what it would take to get a banner ad placed at their site. It was a breeze -- all I needed was a good banner and a minimum of a thousand bucks.
So, I spent a few hundred dollars having a couple nice rotating banners designed. Then, after speaking with their sales rep I settled on some keyword banner advertising. The banners ran for the entire month of February.
I was lucky enough to secure great keywords such as "home business", "business opportunities" and "online marketing" so when someone typed these keywords, my banner would pop up.
Cost: $1500
The results? After the campaign was over, I spoke to the sales rep and she said I had achieved a very good click-thru rate of about 8%. That is, for every thousand times my banner was displayed, I had about 80 people visit my site. Or, for the roughly 28,000 times my banner popped up, I achieved a total of just under 2300 visitors.
Now, since these stats were new to me, I had nothing to compare them to. So, I did what any business owner would do. I added up my sales and the total of new BizWeb Gazette subscribers (possible future sales) this campaign brought.
My monthly sales were up by about 7%, or $1200 -- just under the total I spent in the campaign. I also received about 220 new gazette subscribers who reported finding me through my Yahoo! banner. Naturally, many of these new subscribers could eventually add to my sales totals.
My rating on a scale from 1 to 5: (3)
Although I would do it again, I had expected a bit more action. It certainly wasn't a waste of money, but when I went a step further and figured out that I paid about 65 cents per visitor I didn't rush right out and renew my ad. My suspicion is that "branding" would be the best type of campaign for this advertising medium, and my business is still a little too small for that.
-->2. "Joke-A-Day" email list sponsorship
A month earlier in January, I had tried an email list called "Joke-A-Day" at http://www.jokeaday.com . Their daily email goes out to about 100,000 recipients, all of who have asked to be on their list. (no spam!)
Cost: I placed the following advertisement for around $100...
-----
EVER DREAM OF OWNING YOUR OWN HOME BUSINESS?
JDD Publishing has taught thousands how to do it online - they can teach you! Recently in publications by Inc. and PC Novice - Come see why...
No time to visit the site? Get their FREE weekly newsletter. It's full of Internet marketing help and business classifieds! Mailto:BizWebGazette@JDD-Publishing.com with "Subscribe 4 Free!"
-----
The results?
My sales for the week following my ad were up by about $300 -- well over the total I spent for the ad. I also received just under 100 new gazette subscribers who reported finding me through my jokeaday ad.
My rating on a scale from 1 to 5: (4)
I'll have to admit, going in I was a bit skeptical. After all, was this audience targeted enough? The answer was YES! I have since used their advertising twice and plan to continue advertising with them on a regular basis.
-->3. My most recent article release
On March 20th I released an article to my favorite ezine publishers. The article first ran as a "tip of the week" segment in my BizWeb E-Gazette. The article was called "Delete or Investigate" and it gave advice on how to get your email messages read instead of trashed.
Cost of this article release: Free
The results from this particular article release?
Many publishers ran the article in their ezine and a few are printing it in their real-world magazine. My website traffic for the 2 weeks following the release was up by 20% and my sales along with it. I also received over 250 new gazette subscribers each of these two weeks - an increase of about 35%. Many of these new subscribers will eventually become customers!
My rating on a scale from 1 to 5: (5)
This is my favorite online marketing method. Hey, I'm cheap, remember?
As the article runs in more ezines and magazines this year, more prospects will find my website and ezine. Therefore, it's hard to measure the exact results, but let's just say they were cost effective -- after all, I spent ZERO dollars!
Every month I now release one article that I feel would fit in well with other publications. Anyone can use this online marketing method. It's simple, you write a short article about your area of expertise and send it to ezine owners who publish related material. As a publisher myself, I'm always happy to receive submissions from authors.
I hope my results have enlightened you. I know first-hand that anyone can make a living online, even without a big budget. All it takes is effective marketing strategies and the willingness to try different things.
And remember, the best things in life are sometimes free -- even in the high-tech world of cybermarketing!
=====
Article by Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing. Jim's website has helped 1000's of regular folks profit online. Check out their FREE "how-to" cybermarketing assistance, free software, business opportunities, manuals, web services and more... Visit <http://www.bizweb2000.com> today! And subscribe to their FREE, weekly BizWeb E-Gazette...
mailto:subscribe4free@JDD-Publishing.com
Poor Richard's Web Site in the Press
- Richard Greene, writing in the The Kansas City Internet infoZine, said "This book is getting fantastic press reviews and I can see why. ... if you're thinking about putting up a website yourself or talking to a web hosting company to do it for you, read this book first."
- Brian Landel, writing in CIZone.com Books, said that "If you‚re planning on buying only one book about creating a web site, Poor Richard‚s Web Site is the book to buy."
For more reviews, and many readers' testimonials, visit ...
Poor Richard's Web Site is in many bookstores, and can be ordered by others; it can also be ordered on-line, through the mail, by fax, or by phone.
See ...
Order direct from the publisher, and you'll get a 100%, 1-Year Guarantee. If the book doesn't help you set up a low-cost yet effective Web site, send it back for a refund!
Reading Back Issues
If you need to refer to back issues of this newsletter, you can find them at the following location:
http://PoorRichard.com/newsltr/
In Future Issues ...
- "Buying" customers
- Using Web Cards to promote your Web site
- Setting up an email mailing list for newsletters, bulletins, product announcements, etc.
- Processing orders while you're out of town
- Setting up affiliate programs for your products
- You can't do everything
- Mail-merge programs and mailing list programs
- A quick way to inform Web sites when you change your URL
- Are people cheating at the award sites?
- Charging purchases to the buyer's telephone numbers
- The low-cost, intern-run, super successful Internet promotion
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