ADLAND'S     DIGEST
                                A Free subscribed Discussion List
                                             of 1865 subscribers
                                 on web marketing and promotion
                                     Bogdan Fiedur,  Publisher
                                  mailto: Bogdan@softfornet.com
                                    Vol. 1, #39, October 25, 1998



                    POST AND UNSUBSCRIBE INFO AT BOTTOM

_______________________________________________________

              Topics in this issue:

                1. Sponsor Message
                2. Word from publisher
                3. Saying Hello
                4. Traffic builders
                5. Beyond Search Engines and Banners
                6. How Important Is Search Engine Rank?
                                  Guest Article by Jim Daniels
                7. Adland Tip



================Sponsor Message  (1) ============

              Sponsor: Make a visit and  patronize Icemall.

              Cost effective advertising solutions for all businesses.
              Visit Icemall's Advertising Center Today!
              ==> http://softfornet.com/icemall

================Sponsor Message ================











============Word from publisher (2)=============
Hi everybody.

It seems like our list is getting some fresh air.

I included again article regarding search engine placement.
Enjoy.
Again send  any thoughts or comments on engine
placements  and optimization.


=================New Post  (3) =============
Subject: Saying Hello
From: Susan Levin <speakers@deltanet.com>


Hi Bogdon,

I have been receiving your newsletter for the last month and have found
it extremely helpful to the growth of my online business.  I've gone to
many of the web sites you suggested and found terrific information for my
services.  The articles and resources you publish are will researched and
informative.  By the way I found you through Online Classified Club which
I am a member of.

Perhaps some of your readers might be interested in our service.  We are
Speaker Services: http://speakerservices.coy - we support professional
folks in growing their business through speaking.  We market to meeting
planners and decision-making personnel who are hungry for free and fee
speakers.  Speaking especially for free locally should be part of
everyone's marketing plan.  It is a great way to attract new clients,
sell products and fill seminars and to gain visibility and credibility.
We print a hard copy version called Speakers for Free Directory for S.
California.  Wishing you all the best and keep up the good work.

Susan Kevin, Publisher/Owner
Speaker Services



=================New Post  (4) =============

Subject: Traffic builders
From: Susan Norrad <fnorrad@nbnet.nb.ca>

I have listed some very good free Traffic Building programs at my
site. I have found them to be much more effective than the search
engines.

The URL is http://everydaybiz.hypermart.net/promote.htm

Set these up and then watch your web stats program to see where
your hits are coming from. You'll see that they do work!

If you don't have a web stats program on your site, get one here
for free http://www.superstats.com

Good luck in your online promotions!

Susan Norrad
Everyday Business Online
http://everydaybiz.hypermart.net



=================New Post  (5) =============


Subject: Beyond Search Engines and Banners
From: "Bob Cortez" <bobak@eagle.ptialaska.net>


At the risk of being accused of heresy I'd like to say this about
search engine optimization and banner advertising for most small
business enterprises - Don't Pay A Nickel For Either One.

There I said it.

First of all let's look at search engines.  How useful are they?
Why do you think all of the major engines and directories are
becoming portals offering everything they can think of  for
visitors?  Because they know there is no way that they will be
able to index the entire web.  Its too big already, and growing
faster than they can keep up with.  It already takes months to
get into some of them, and that is only likely to get worse.
Technology is also moving past them with the multi search and
desktop utilities like Express from Infoseek
(http://express.infoseek.com/download_express.phtml?dve_id=307 )
which provide the ability to search all of the engines and Yahoo
simultaneously, further diminishing the chance of getting traffic
even with a top ten listing.  Sure if you have money (time is
money) to throw away, spend it on optimization but there are
better ways to spend that time and money.

What about banners you ask?  Unless you can afford to buy
impressions in lots of 100,000 or more, don't even waste your
time.  With an internet average of 1% for clicks you will be hard
pressed to recover the cost of creating the banner, never mind
the $30 per thousand impressions.  Free Banner exchanges or
strategic reciprocal banners aren't a bad deal if you can get
them placed well.  The problem is I'm sure you have seen where
the banners end up, either all on one page or out of sight of the
typical visitor.

If you are determined to spend your money on promoting your site
here is one method that will get you visitors that are potential
customers... not just surfers.

Step 1. Test your headlines for classified ads using Free For All
sites. Use a service such as http://www.linksrx.com/?ref=akbob
where you can submit to over 1000 FFA sites at once.  I have
written an article that shows you how to measure your response
called "Tracking Online Referrals" mailto:tracking@tqm-online.com
.

Step 2. Now take your top 3 headlines and try them in combination
with different ad copy that you submit to Free classified sites.
Work smart here and use a multiple submission tool like Top 100
at http://www.becanada.com/$/?BodgMY27 using the same methods to
track results as you did with the headlines.

Step 3: Now with your tested headlines and ad copy you are ready
to submit your ads to the paid classified sites or pay for
advertising in *TARGETED* newsletters.  You can also use these
same tested combinations in your local print classifieds, or post
cards or card decks.

You should have something going in all three steps.  Constantly
raising the bar for better and better results.

This is just one way to produce better results than with search
engines or banners. (hey, I can't give it all away... I have to
eat too<g>)

Bob Cortez mailto:bobcortez@tqm-online.com
Total Quality Marketing http://www.tqm-online.com/tqm.htm
Integrated & Innovative Marketing Solutions For You

Business Bridges Discussion Board
http://www.tqm-online.com/wwwboard/



==================Guest Article  (6) ===================

Subject:How Important Is Search Engine Rank?
From: Jim Daniels Webmaster@BizWeb2000.com


Well, if you can never seem to find your web site
through search engines, you probably think it is
keeping you from success. Not true.

                        Confession #1:

                        There was a time when I felt that ranking
high in search engines was very important. I even spent
hours every week trying to get those top spots. I mean I
tried everything. And lots of the stuff I tried worked. I
enjoyed #1 rankings at Infoseek, AltaVista, WebCrawler
and more. I was in the top 10 of nearly all the major engines.

                        Then a funny thing happened. I wised up.

                        You see, I finally realized that there were
literally thousands of other folks promoting related products
and services. I knew that keeping those high search engine
positions would become quite a chore eventually. Hey, I'm just
one guy, sitting at my computer. If the few hours a week I was
spending on search engine ranking grew into ten, 12 or 15 hours,
something else would have to suffer.

                        Confession #2:

                        I dropped out of the game altogether. That's right,
I gave up the battle. And it was the best decision I ever made.

                        Not only did this decision free up time for more
important online marketing strategies, it helped me see the
bigger picture.

                        That big picture is this:

                        You need more than search engine traffic to make it
online. You need relationships. You form these valuable business
relationships by promoting your business in other ways. Regular email
contact, newsletter publishing, discussion group participation, offering
an associate program -these are the methods that have brought me
full-time income on the internet. They are also the methods that will take
me further.

                        I can honestly say that if the search engines all
closed up shop tomorrow (or started to rank pages by who pays
them the most - which is more likely) my cyberbusiness wouldn't miss
a beat. Why? I chose not to rely on search engines for web site traffic.

                        That's not to say I don't get traffic from search
engines. I just don't rely on search engines for *ALL* my traffic. Like
any wise internet marketer, I take what I can get - especially when it's
free.

                        Confession #3:

                        I now enjoy some of my best search engine ranking
                        ever!

                        "What's that Jim? You gave up the battle and you're
                          winning?..."

                        Actually, yes. Just this morning I went out on the
web in search of places to spend some ad dollars. As usual, I used
my favorite multi-engine search tool called the Dogpile at
http://bizweb2000.com/engines.htm. I searched on "ezine advertising"
and "direct email marketing" in hopes of finding a few good targeted
advertising opportunities.

                        What did I find? Well, uh, my own site.

                        Here's where I showed up...

                        "ezine advertising"
                        #1 on WebCrawler
                        #5 on Lycos
                        #1 on Magellan
                        #1 on Excite
                        #2 on AltaVista


                        "direct email marketing"
                        #1 on WebCrawler
                        #2 on WebCrawler
                        #1 on Magellan
                        #2 on Magellan
                        #3 on Excite


                        "How's that?", you ask. "How does a guy drop out of
the search engine battles and come up with top ranking?"

                        Simple. I said I dropped out of the battles, not the
war. You see, I still make sure that every web page I create is optimized
for good ranking. I do this by inserting meta tags, using a good title and
adding keyword rich content.

                        I recommend this as a minimum. It's simple. All you
have to do is create one good meta-tagged page, then use it as a template.
Every time you create a new page, paste in your template and adjust the
keywords for the content on that page. A quick tutorial on meta tags can
be found at my free help
area: http://www.bizweb2000.com/freehelp.htm

                        With this "casual" method, you can't help but get
some ood search engine raking. Plus, all the time you save battling for
those top spots can be better spent on REAL internet marketing!

                        So there you have it. Confessions from a once-hooked
search engine junkie. Are you caught up in the search engine ranking
battles?

                        Perhaps it's time to surrender some of the battles.
Who
knows, you may just win the war!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article by Jim Daniels Webmaster@BizWeb2000.com
of JDD Publishing http://www.bizweb2000.com/
Jim's site has helped 1000's of regular folks profit online.
Check out their FREE "how-to" cybermarketing assistance, software,
books, web services & more at Bizweb. No time for the web?
Subscribe to their FREE, weekly BizWeb E-Gazette


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