ADLANDS'   DIGEST
                  A Free subscribed Discussion List
                            of 2400 subscribers
                   on web marketing and promotion
                       Bogdan Fiedur,  Publisher
                    mailto: Bogdan@softfornet.com
                    Vol. 1, #53, December 03, 1998


      POST AND UNSUBSCRIBE INFO AT BOTTOM

_____________________________________________________________

Topics in this issue:

        Sponsor Message
        Word from publisher
        ================

        S i t e  R e v i e w  R e s p o n s e s
        ===========================
                ~   Michael Bryant

        R e q u e s t    f o r  R e v i e w
        =======================
            ~None

        O l d   T o p i c
        ================
        1.  marketing a product
            ~Joseph Jobst

        G u e s t   A r t i c l e
        =======================
            Small-budget CyberMarketing
                        Article by Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing


======= ADLAND  TIP OF THE DAY ===============

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earn 20% commissions. Click on this link
http://www.adlandpro.com/become_an_affiliate.asp
and find out how.
If you  happen to be one of the first 5 subscribers,  your ad will
be submitted once a month  for six  months to 500 search
engines. To be eligible for the prize, type word  (digest)  in the
email field  when you apply for Adland Affiliate Program.


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

How many times have you signed on to that FREE hosting of yours and
gotten disgusted at that stupid pop-up banner? Or maybe at the SLOW
loading of your page?
Now you can make the change! MaxHost offers 24 hour sign-up and NO
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============ Word from publisher =============

~ None of the requests for site review  followed guidelines.
    If you want your site to be reviewed you have to state
    what is your problem or what is unique about it.

~ I would like to thank Michael Bryant for his time in reviewing
    sites for each  Adland issue. At the same time I invite other
    list participants to donate a little of your time and  make this
    letter more useful for everybody.
    I think that very interesting question was asked by Kevin Farris
    in last issue of Digest.
    What  are other ways to promote the product beside Free
    Classifieds?. We have one very good  response in this
    issue, but this is exactly topic we want to talk about  in this
newsletter.
    Let's have more views  on that and help each other.


~ I started working on page called "Traffic builders" at
    http://www.adlandpro.com/trafficbuilders.asp
    Please visit this page. This is just start. I will include
    any other worthy resources if you can suggest some.


=============Review  Responses (1) ==============
From: Michael Bryant <stormkeep@yahoo.com>


Hi Adland subscribers!

   I have been changing and updating servers for my MaxHost
Productions and almost forgot to do this subscriptions review! Luckily
I was reminded by a little elf.
   This week I took a look at Susan Nichols's : Advanced Real Estate
Listing Service. Located at: http://www.homeportfoliojunction.com
   Nice site. very full of information, fast loading and lots of
resources. The pictures, especially of the property listings, are
small in size , yet clear and impressive. Nice transferring.
   Here are the suggestions I have. Use a theme for the site. This is
a common mistake I see all the time. Web masters create sites that
have wonderful "front doors" but the remainder of the site is done in
plain colors. Once an image is loaded, ie.. your background image on
your home page, it will not have to reload on the other pages. Your
visitor can flip through the pages of your site without waiting for
that image to load. A constant theme makes a professional statement
and allows the customer to concentrate on the site's information and
not what color combination will be next. It's also easier on the eyes.
Why not run the background throughout the whole site?
    As far as HTML goes, nice job. You have most of the bases covered
with your keywords and description. However, you could use a longer
title. Search engines look at a pages title, description, and
keywords. The more words that are similar in all of that , as well as
in the pages text on page, the higher the ranking. There is a limit.
You don't want to put twenty words that are the same in all three.
Your site would get bumped, however the more "keywords" that are on
your site that match, the better. Just don't go overboard.
    Also, I noticed that you didn't bother putting in keywords or
anything else on your listings or award pages. I'm a firm believer in
utilizing all my pages. Some search engines, like HotBot, spider web
sites. This means they index "all" the pages. Why not make them work
for you?
    I hope this helps. All in all, not a bad site.

Until next issue,
Michael Bryant
MaxHost Productions
http://www.max-host.com
webmaster@max-host.com


============ O l d   T o  p i c ==================

Subject: Marketing a product
From: Joseph Jobst <webmaster@linz1.net>


Responding to Kevin Farris' question in Adlands' #52:

Hello Bogdan,
Kevin,  and fellow 'adlanders'!

The first thing you need to do in order to be successful on the Web is
figure out who it is that will buy your product. This may seem like an
obvious thing to many of you, but day after day I speak with business
owners who have, at best, nothing more than a vague idea of who their
market really is!

Is your market *network marketers*? Or is it really people who have an
interest in ie. books and posters, the very products your network marketing
company offers? The answer is simple, right? You really want the person
who is passionate about the product, not the industry!

Next, all you have to do is get out on the Web and figure out where these
people are. Where do they go when they are online? What do they do?
What do they read? Can you reach them regularly and at a low cost?
This is where you will make decisions about what vehicle(s) you will use to
reach your market. Do you use the search engines, e-mail, advertising,
links, etc
These choices largely depend upon YOUR market and your budget.
(More Info: <http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/5735/>).

There is no point in trying to sell to a particular market if you can't
easily identify them on the Web and if reaching them is a costly endeavor.
What I mean is that if your market is so specific that in order to reach
just one potential customer you have to advertise to thousands of people
who would never buy what you sell, then the Internet may not be the way you
want to go to advertise.

Next, take a look at your web site. Is it loaded with powerful benefit-laden
copy that compels your prospect to buy now?  If not, it may be time to get
some professional help with your copy. Experience has shown that the design
of your Web site is much less significant than the words you use.
After all, it's the words, not the graphics that sell your products!
Especially on the Web!

One thing I really like to see in a Web site is that the words, the most
powerful part of any site, download almost instantly. The graphics can
take a few seconds longer, but the entire home page should be on your
prospect's computer screen in less than 20 seconds.
If it's not, you risk losing them! Yes, it happens that fast!

Is it easy for your prospect to order online? Do you accept credit cards?
(More Info: <http://www.mktmkt.com/cgi-bin/programs/link.cgi?0078>)
Do you offer them a way to order other than online? Some people will never
enter their credit card number online, so it's important that you have
another ordering method. You can use a fax number, or toll-free order line.

So the next step is to design a back-end sales program. Once a customer
buys from you, it's just that much easier to sell to them again in the
future,
so make sure you keep their information and that you keep in touch with them
on a regular basis!
There is no need to be searching for new clients every time you come up
with a new product or new offer! You've done that part already.
Now, it's time to take advantage of what you've already created and reap
the profits! (More Info: <http://www.aweber.com/?842>

Never before has it been cheaper, faster, and more profitable to
advertise than it is today thanks to the Internet.

Simply put, catch all the information you can get, but beware of scamsters.
There are tens of thousands sites on the Web revealing 'insider secrets',
and selling the 'ultimate marketing tips'. I've bought a few, and you may
rest assured that 98% out of them are needless, outdated, quackerish,
unsubstantial ..... straight for the trash!

BUT there are some precious grains of sand out in the infinite dessert of
information, and at the best available for FREE.

Good Luck!
Joseph Jobst
Editor "GIM - Global Internet Marketing News" newsletter
Visit <http://linz1.net/ehom.html> and download free reports




==================Guest Article  ===================

Small-budget CyberMarketing
by Jim Daniels


Like many small business owners, I work with a small marketing budget.
Okay, truth be told, I hate to spend money on advertising! Especially if I
can get better exposure at a very low cost, sometimes even FREE!

During the past three years online, I've learned some great ways to do
just that. I wrote this article to share them with you.

Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to spend days and days at free
classified sites or newsgroups. The methods I'll be sharing with you are
much more powerful.

So how does the cost-conscious marketer get the best free and low-cost
exposure? Simple. By utilizing various forms of the best free marketing
tool ever invented...  Email!

There are many ways to utilize email marketing. For the most part, email
marketing can be broken down into two distinct categories ... Targeted and
Untargeted. Let me first touch on untargeted email, just to show you why
it is a waste of time.

UNTARGETED EMAIL MARKETING

Untargeted email marketing on the internet usually takes on the form of
"Unsolicited Bulk Email". Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring one
of the thousands of email blasting companies online, it makes no
difference.
Bulk email is NOT a smart way to market.

Let me explain exactly why...

"Spamming", or sending mass email to "unqualified" email addresses is
considered bad "netiquette". If you send unsolicited email to addresses
that
do not want commercial email, not only do you risk the reputation of your
business, you can get into more trouble than you would expect.

What kind of trouble?

Well, since many ISPs do not allow this activity, they will discontinue
your
account as soon as the inevitable complaints start to trickle in.

If you want better results without the risk, consider using methods from
the "other" category of email marketing...

"TARGETED EMAIL MARKETING"

Targeted email marketing works. Truly targeted email means getting your
email to recipients that HAVE approved of it. Not only do your get better
results, you won't have to worry about ISP cancellation and more
importantly, the reputation of your business.

Here are the best targeted email marketing methods I've used during the
past three years. They really work. I've listed them from most expensive
to least expensive.

- "Opt In" email list rental.
- Ezine advertising.
- Ezine publishing.
- Email Discussion group participation.

Here are details on how I utilize each...

- "Opt In" email list rental

Did you know that you can actually rent email lists of people who have
approved email about certain topics? (Just about any topic imaginable!)

This method is not the cheapest form of targeted email marketing, but it
works! On average, you'll have to spend about ten to fifteen cents per
address. The companies that rent the addresses even do the mailing
for you. You just sit back and wait for the orders!

When I released my book, "Insider Internet Marketing"
<http://bizweb2000.com/insider.htm I used this method and sold a few
thousand dollars worth of books in a two day span. The company I used is
called PostMaster-Direct at <http://www.postmasterdirect.com. Here
are three more companies that offer direct "opt-in" email marketing...

Bulletmail: <http://www.bulletmail.com
Htmail: <http://www.htmail.com/customer.html
Targ-It: <http://www.targ-it.com


- Ezine advertising

I'm a big fan of ezine advertising and regularly utilize this low budget
technique. I'm not just saying that to drum up advertisers for my own
newsletter, actually I have a waiting list of about a month just to get
an ad in mine. Why? Quite simply, email advertising works!

Take a look at the advertising section of your favorite email ezine. The
reason there are so many ads there is because the advertisers get results.
Not only do you reach your target audience, you reach them by the
thousands. Of all the online marketing methods available, ezine
advertising could be the most effective.

Many larger companies are just starting to realize this and are entering
into this exciting new advertising medium. Compared with the high costs
of web site banner advertising, ezine advertising is a real bargain.


- Ezine publishing

One step better than "advertising" in ezines, is actually publishing your
own. If you are not already publishing your own e-newsletter, I highly
recommend you do so. It is much easier than you might imagine.

Your customers and prospects will constantly be "in touch" and your
ezine can keep them abreast of new products and services as you make
them available. You can also generate income offering classified or
sponsorship advertising if you wish.

Unlike traditional newsletters, there are no printing or postage costs.
Since your own cost is zero, you can offer free subscriptions, thus
insuring a steady flow of new prospects.

To get started publishing your own ezine, you do not need to pay for
list management. You can manage and deliver your ezine yourself with a
good email program like Qualcomm's Eudora or Pegasus Mail by David
Harris. These are available for free at the following URLs:

<http://www.eudora.com
<http://www.pegasus.usa.com

Once you have your email program installed, practice mailing to a few
people at once by using the BCC (blind carbon copy) feature. It's
important
to use the BCC field when mailing to a list. This insures that everyone
on the list does not see the other email addresses on your list. No one
wants their email address publicized all over the net.

After you've perfected your emailing skills, you'll need to drum up some
subscribers. That's easy too! Simply post a message announcing your
newsletter to the "NewList Announcement List". All the details are
here:<http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/new-list/format.html


- Email discussion group participation.

An email discussion group is delivered via email like an email newsletter.
But a discussion list is different in one major way -- you are allowed to
voice your own opinions, usually through a moderator.

Discussion lists also allow you to ask for help from others with similar
interests. What's more, you can assist people in need while your sig file
(the footer you include at the end of every email message you send)
invites readers to your site. Discussion group marketing works because
the posts are delivered directly "TO" a targeted audience. Like all the
other forms of email marketing above, discussion lists are a perfect
example of push marketing at it's finest!

In addition to "posting" to discussion groups you can "pay" for exposure.
Many discussion lists offer "sponsorship" advertising, and since
readership
is usually high on these lists, advertising results can be excellent.

No matter what you are marketing online, participating in discussion lists
makes sense. Not only will you learn some valuable information, it's is a
great way to soft-sell some of your wares.

To find some discussion groups on your particular area of interest, visit
<http://www.e-groups.com/. While you're there you can even start a
group of your own!

Now that you are armed with the facts about low-cost email marketing,
go out and start your email marketing campaign today!


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

Article by Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing.
You can read more of Jim's articles at:
<http://bizweb2000.com/articles.htm




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