ADLAND'S   DIGEST
                  A Free subscribed Discussion List
                            of 2005 subscribers
                   on web marketing and promotion
                       Bogdan Fiedur,  Publisher
                    mailto: Bogdan@softfornet.com
                          Vol. 1, #43, November 7, 1998

      POST AND UNSUBSCRIBE INFO AT BOTTOM
_____________________________________________________________

Topics in this issue:

        1. Sponsor Message
        2. Word from publisher
        3. New to doing Internet Business.
        4. Guaranteed visitors to your web site.
        5. Anyone like a great FREE Start you Net Business Booklet?
        6. Internet Advertisings Bottom Line!
                    Guest Article by Kenny Glover
        7. Adland Tip



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

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

I had few responses regarding my suggestion
to  include free classified ads in the digest.
All of them were approving this idea.
In next issue I will send you format and  rules
about submitting free classifieds to digest.


============= CONTINUING  (3) ==================

Subject: New to doing Internet Business
From: CorpAlt@aol.com


>Dear Judy
>I saw your post in the adland Digest and thougt you might be interested in
>my
>program..We help you build your business & your downline..
>...........
>...........
>I would love to talk with you and see you reach your financial goals.
>Contact
>me today and we will discuss how YOU can retire in 4yrs with a 6 Figure
>Monthly Income !!


I thought you said no ads!!  Can I post a message like this?  I was under
the
impression that it should be "helpful" info and not advertising.  Please let
me know!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor note.

I'm glad you've  inquired about that.
I had myself doubts if I should include this message. As you see
there are two doted lines. I removed about 95% of this message.

In case of this subject I had relay hard task to determine which
messages to include. The question was about suggestions of
doing business on the internet. Almost any message could apply
to it. I only included  those which authors made some attempt to
add  at least few thoughts or sentences in relation to the question.

Answering your question.
No,  don't post  messages like this one.
Classified ads in next issues will give opportunities for
such messages.


============= CONTINUING  (3) ==================

Subjec:New to doing Internet Business
From: Bob Cortez <bobak@eagle.ptialaska.net>

Judy Kruk wrote:

>I'm just started out. I'm trying to find a business I can do from home.
>I would everyone to visit my webpages and give me their comment to me on
>what they think of them and How I might do them better.

Hi Judy and all,

I was where you are now, just starting out, about two years ago.  Some of
the things I am going to say may not seem nice, they may even seem mean,
but it is only intended to help... not hurt.  But no matter what anyone
tells you (including me) the most important thing for you to do is NEVER
QUIT!

Ok, first of lets talk about your web page at GeoCities.
(http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Chasm/4906/)   No matter how good your
site becomes, as long as you have an address like that you are fighting an
uphill battle.  Fair or not, right or wrong, that is the simple fact.  Some
search engines and directories won't even bother listing them.  Fine for a
hobby site or home page, but if you are serious about making money online
that is the first area you need to address... your address.  If you really
can't afford to pay for a host or $70.00 for a domain name then go to
http://www.hypermart.net/ and get a free site there.  At least then you
will have an address that will look like http://yourname.hypermart.net/ and
you won't have as many problems with the directories and search engines.
Plus, when you do get ready for your own domain, Hypermart can host it for
you (for free) so you won't have to move to a for fee host.

Now, for the page design itself.  Frankly, you have a long ways to go Judy.
The page loads way to slow, there is no central theme, and no real
content.  All you have is a series of links going somewhere else.  Why
would anyone want to come to your page.  Why would they want to stay or
come back?  You must offer something of value and interest, otherwise your
web site will be nothing more than a revolving door (and a quick one at
that).  You need to either learn HTML or get one of the WYSIWIG editors
like FrontPage98 (my choice) Hot Dog, or even check out Navigator
Communicator from Netscape (FREE download
http://home.netscape.com/computing/download/index.html )

Finally, what kind of business do you want to have?  What do you know about
financing? (debtzapper)  If you had a financial information site then
perhaps an association with debtzapper would make sense.  Why would
visitors to your site care about Debtzapper or Myfreeoffice for that
matter?  Start with what you know and love.  You like gaming?  Make a great
gaming site and figure out what products gamers would buy.  Books and
magazines on gaming or new games.  Are you really good at any particular
game?  Write and sell a tips booklet. (http://www.tipsbooklets.com).

The way to making money on the internet is through adding value and
creating relationships with people.  Even though this seems like an
impersonal medium, people still buy from people that they know and trust.
Even if they only know you from online.

Some other Free resources that I would like to share with you.  An article
"Starting a home business?  Start with what you know"
mailto:start@tqm-online.com .  A list of 24 FREE money making opportunities
mailto:bizlist@tqm-online.com and a list of additional resources to help
you with web design, content and promotion. mailto:total@tqm-online.com

I also have other free resources at my site including links to additional
training material, books and sites.  The best advice I can give you is to
just keep reading, looking and learning.... and remember... NEVER QUIT!

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


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

Editro Note.

Thanks Bob for your contribution to Adland Digest.

I would suggest that everybody who is new to the internet
looks how Bob gets your attention. He posted several
messages and all of them were great help to those
who inquired.
This is best advertising. He demonstrates understanding
of issues on the internet and takes the time to look into
problems of others.

If you are new to the internet,  ask questions and as you see
there are  people here, who can help you and point you in the
right direction.



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

Subject: Guaranteed visitors to your web site.
From: Daniel Moe  TellMoe@aol.com


Hello Adland members.

Just wanted to let everyone know about something really
neat I just learned about. It's called ClickThru Network and
offers Guaranteed Click Thrus to your web site FREE.
http://www.click-thru.net/referral?ref=103797
All you do is put their small icon on your web site. Then you visit
other people's web sites who have done the same thing. For
each members site you visit the ClickThru Network will Guarantee
one visitor to your web site. This is especially useful for those of
us who don't have much of an advertising budget. If you have a
little extra time to surf the web and visit
a few web sites every day this is perfect for you.


           Sincerely , Daniel Moe
More than 1500 sites to Advertise on the Internet.
http://members.aol.com/yourads/pagetwo.html

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

Subject: Anyone like a great FREE Start you Net Business Booklet?
From: de <de@iol.ie>

Good Morning Everybody!

I'm enjoying all you good folk contributing to Adland List no end. The
endless variety of your Net experiences is just terriffic!

Since this posting is just to introduce myself - i'm writing this in the
middle of green field in Ireland with Autumn mists and glooms settling in.
.....
.....

Anyhow, just to introduce myself, i'm offering to send anyone interested a
free copy of this super booklet i have (about 12 pages) , a START YOUR
INTERNET BUSINESS KIT. I ;think it's great and I'm going to sell it for
about $40.00 to generate my SANTA MONEY. But this morning, i'm offering it
to all you good folk FOR FREE. Just to say, how'ya from Ireland. Just
mailto:de@iol.ie and put I love Adland! in the Subject (so i'll see your
mail immediately and get back to you.

I love FREEBIES on the Net. I love the generosity and the openness. We
succeed on the Net by being generous. As in life.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to continuing to enjoy all  your contributions.

Viv.

=============================================================
Viv Abbott, MA, MPhil. FinstCM, Editor: HOME BIZ LIFELINE
==============================================================

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

Subject: Internet Advertisings Bottom Line!
From: Kenny Glover kennyg@wwisp.com

People rarely talk about the bottom line when it comes to web site
advertising, marketing, and promotion. Why? The people doing the talking
want your advertising dollar whether or not it is in your best interest to
spend it. Who is making money on the web (other than the adult porn sites)?
Those people who claim for a fee they can magically generate traffic,
redesign your site, get you placed in the top ten of your category in every
search engine..yada, yada, yada. These people are feeding off the need of an
American society where over 400,00 workers have been laid off this year with
many more to follow suit.

The need is to find a way not to depend on Big Brother and corporate America
for your livelihood. The IBM "sunglasses commercial" with two
entrepreneurial women ending up in a half million dollar cigar boat has not
helped the perception that the web is the Yukon Territory of the 90's. In
other words: "Build it and they will come", as Dave says.

The reality is if you build they may not come since you are one of 100
million web sites. The reality is even if they come they may not buy if you
do not have a merchant account, a well designed site, consumers who feel
comfortable using a credit card online, and a myriad of other problems that
can crop up.

If not now, when will the web be profitable? One or more articles read
recently have eluded to the fact that those who stay in the ball game for
the long haul may reap huge rewards. The glut of new web pages cannot
continue infinitum. Eventually as with all things there will be a bottoming
out. The day will come when more sites are dropping off the www than are
being placed on it. Mail order shopping is today's market: consumers freely
give their credit card number and all personal information to a complete
stranger over an unsecured phone line. In five years will shopping on the
internet be this prevalent? I would venture to say yes. Am I saying it will
take that long to be profitable? No.

What I am saying is to spend the $900-$1200 a year it takes to stay online
but, do not spend thousands of dollars on advertising that you understand
little about in the hopes of reaping huge rewards.

First, get listed on Yahoo-contrary to what the other search engines say
about their content and traffic there is a reason Yahoo has more traffic
than any other site. The category listings at least insure that your site
will actually be listed. It makes sense to choose a domain name that starts
with one of the first letters in the alphabet since categorical search
engines will be the wave of the future. I was lucky in the fact that my
domain name http://www.amerikanpie.com just happened to start with an A,
since at the time I knew nothing about the internet.

Second, make sure every page has the correct META tags included in the html.
If you need help with this don't spend a penny just visit:Search Engine
Watch This site will explain META tags usage and even has a META tag html
text builder online.

Third, visit http://www.mmgco.com/top100.html and submit your search engine
to the top 100 engines and directories for free. Why spend hundreds of
dollars on a service you can perform for free? Besides who is better suited
to write tailored descriptions about your site, you or a complete stranger?

There is continual debate over how much energy, time, and money should be
spent on getting your site highly listed. Once the above steps have been
taken I would move on to other areas of promotion unless the category has
under 1000 pages listed in a search. For example my site amerikanpie.com
markets framed photos, prints, and freelance services. Do a search on
AltaVista for photography and you will see that there are 3,927,597 pages
for photography but, photography galleries only lists 842 pages. It might be
worthwhile to try and get a higher listing as a photography gallery but as a
photography site it would be like getting the needle in the haystack to
always appear on top.

Banners are a complete waste of money with an average click through rate of
1-2%. The quick math: 15,000 banners equals 150-300 hits or individual
customers to your web site. The cost will run anywhere from $1.50 to 3.00 a
hit. If you are spending more than $0.50 a hit to bring customers to your
site off of any promotion it is too much.

The key is to get your average daily traffic up. This is done by getting
listed in search engines, directories, yellow pages, web site listings for
your business, and anywhere else that will generate free traffic. Let me
stress the free in traffic. For example my average daily traffic is 35
original hits or visitors. The monthly traffic is roughly 1000 of which 250
is foreign. The key for myself and others who have decent traffic numbers is
not to pour thousands of dollars down the drain, but to get the 750
consumers that are visiting for free to make a purchase or give them a
reason to return next week or next month.

What does that mean for my web site? The next major investment will not be
banner ads, search engine positioning, email newsletter ads, or any other
type of promotion. It will be obtaining a merchant account and purchasing
the software out right to save money in the long run. It is evident that
consumers do not want to pay by check online with real money but prefer as
in the real world to charge it. A merchant account will also give me access
to the 250 foreign consumers a month that visit my site. If you do not have
a merchant account and instant online payment by credit card do it now.
Spend the money you were going to waste on advertising on making your site
more consumer friendly.

There is a time and a place for everything. In the near future what does and
does not work for advertising web sites will be well documented. Then a
carefully spent ad dollar may generate revenue. Until that time save your
money and find every inexpensive and free way to promote your site!



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

Article by Kenny Glover kennyg@wwisp.com of   Amerikan Pie Galleries.
Kenny is a freelance photographer with a commercial web site
that markets his commercial services and photographs for sale.
You can visit his site at http://www.amerikanpie.com


======================ADLAND TIP (7) ====================

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                    1. Once for each new visitor from your link
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                        as a result of clicking on your link.
                    You can get custom link after submission of your ad and
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