ADLANDS'    DIGEST
                    A Free subscribed Discussion List
                               of 5370 subscribers
                      on web marketing and promotion
                 supported by Adland World's Classifieds
                        at http://www.adlandpro.com
                         Bogdan Fiedur,  Publisher
                     mailto: Bogdan@softfornet.com
                          Vol. 1, #81,  Mar 30, 1999


      POST AND UNSUBSCRIBE INFO AT BOTTOM


================A D L A N D    T I P=====================

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Topics in this issue:

         Sponsor Message
         Word from Publisher
         ===============================

C o n t i n u i n g   D i s c u s s i o n (0)
=============================================


N e w    P o s t s   (5)
==========================
1.)  ST Ooi <doreme@po.jaring.my>
       ~ Effectiveness of banner advertising

2.) Judith <trabar@mail.trabar.com>
       ~ Some questions and site review request

3.) William Brett <admin@market-pulse-services.com>
       ~ Here's an idea about a new type of FFA links page

4.) John Assante <jaygee@gate.net>
      ~ Feedback on site reviews  and new  request

5.) Dave <Cards@catchadream.com>
      ~ What is the most effective promotion method?


Site Review Responses (1)
==========================
1.) http://www.powerup.com.au/~hird/nutrigen.htm
     ~ Michael Bryant


Site Review Requests (3)
===========================
1.) http://www.quickrich.com/
2.) http://www.honeywilldo.com
3.) http://www.angelfire.com/nc/howpro



G u e s t   A r t i c l e (1)
================================
Your Unique Selling Position
By Paul Robison


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

Joke of the day
=========================




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=========================== Word from publisher ========================

Greetings All

Welcome  159   new subscriber who joined list since last mailing.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you think,  you have an interesting success story to tell, please send
it to digest as usual and indicate as such.
At the end of 1999  I will create web page and will invite everybody
to vote for the "Success Story Of The Year"
Best voted story will receive one FREE year of advertising
in the form of  small button at the bottom of each Adland page.
Adland  receives  260,000 page viewings , 48,000 unique
visitors  and grows on average 20% each month.

To be eligible for the prize,  this story has to be from your own
experience.

BF.



==========C o n t i n u i n g   D i s c u s s i o n (1.1)=============




======================N e w   P o s t (1) ===========================

From: ST Ooi <doreme@po.jaring.my>
Subject: Effectiveness of banner advertising

Does anyone know how effective is banner
advertising in promoting business?

I'm about to setup a domain name for my
own company which deal with website reviews.
I would decide several ways to promote my
new website. One of it is banner advertising,
but I don't know how effective is it.
So, I anyone has any data or prove on
effectiveness of banner advertising would
be appreciated, thanks.


ST Ooi
Doreme Marketing
Publisher of
Doreme Site Review Ezine
FREE website review deliver to your mailbox every Sunday
Subscribe by mailto:DoremeSiteReview-subscribe@listbot.com


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note from publisher.

Commonly used measure of effectiveness of banner advertising
is called CTR(Click-Thru Ratio). This is percentage of clicks
per 1000 impressions. E.g.  10 clicks per 1000 impressions
will give you  1% CTR.

Most advertising experts agree that current average CTR is about
0.5% to 1%.
This factor is not enough though to determine if your promotion
is successful. You also have to consider cost of  1000 impressions.
If you buy 1000 impressions for price of $35.00 (current industry
average) and get from it 10 visitors and one of them buys your service
or product,  you have to charge at least  $35.00 to cover your advertising
expenses not counting your service/product cost and your time.

Another important aspect of your advertising is targeting.
You can target your potential visitors in man ways.
One which I find very effective is buying advertising from smaller
site which provide product or service to  your targeted  audience.

On  these sites you can achieve much higher CTR .
E.g. some of advertiser at Adland are achieving easily CTR between 5%-9%
by just offering services similar to Adlands or concentrating on services
which potential Adland (Classifieds) visitor could use.
See this page for current CTR at Adland and their Ad headings.
http://www.adlandpro.com/help/results.asp

Smaller site are also charging less than sites which large traffic.
E.g. at Adland currently you can purchase advertising for  $3 to $7 per
1000 impressions which is much less than  $35 on most search engines.

Also on smaller sites you can  purchase smaller quantities of banner
impressions, which gives you opportunity to test your banner effectiveness
with lower  price before you decide on larger scale advertising.

So there is no simple answer  how effective is banner advertising.
You have to consider many factors and do some testing.
Sometimes changing one word on your banner might increase CTR by 1%
It is proved that compressing size of your banners will also improve
response to your ad by 1%.

Also ads displayed  on front page and then repeated further on other pages
get better response. From my experience you can get almost double response
to the same ad which is presented on the first page as opposed to ads never
displayed on the first page.

This is the same like with ads in this digest. Ad which is on the top of
that letter gets 30% more hits than ad in the bottom part.



B.F.

======================N e w   P o s t (2) ===========================

From: Judith <trabar@mail.trabar.com>
Subject: Some questions and site review request


I am an artist/author/sculptor and my site is at http://www.trabar.com.
I have only been on the Internet for two months but I have spent 12 hours
a day, 7 days a week learning the do's and don'ts of marketing and web page
design.  Needless to say, as I learned something new I immediately revamped
my site. But the one thing in I did right in my original design was think
lateral instead of vertical.  As an art site, I have loads of graphics but
by only filling up one screen on each page, my site loads fast and people
do not have to scroll down the page.

Most people use a text editor to create web pages but I used MS Publisher 97
which doesn't make pretty HTML but allows me to place objects where I want
them in the least amount of time.  Then I published my site to a folder and
tweaked the pages with HTML code before I published to the web.
Reading Adland Digest has been an immense help but now I would like
feedback on my site.  In particular, I have started an art newsletter called
"Arti-zine" with a sample art lesson.  I also offer a free booklet "Loving
Your Teenager (In Spite of Themselves).

Whether through dumb luck or whatever, I chanced upon a free software
program called Hotsend which can be downloaded from http://www.hotsend.com . 
It allows me to send out my art lesson newsletter and/or my free booklet without the
person at the other end needing the software I created my documents in.
It is a viewing program.  Being on a limited budget, it was a godsend.
As my newsletter grows, I am wondering what other type of software I should
be using because emailing takes about two minutes or more depending on the
size.  If anyone has a better way, I'm very open so long
as it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  Thank you for any help you provide.

Judith



======================N e w   P o s t (3) ===========================

From: John Assante <jaygee@gate.net>
Subject: Feedback on site reviews  and new  requests


Hi Bogdan,

After all the reviews, (good, bad and mostly very helpful) I received about
my website from your Adland Digest readers a month ago, I went back to the
drawing table and re-worked my site.

"What A Difference Website Reviews Make!"

I would like to tell your subscribers how important they really are by
responding to reviews requested in the Adland Digest.

I have learned a great deal from this. Not just to better my website, but
to see how people pull together when needed.

It also made me realize how important Adland Digest is: "You give the
people the opportunity to ask other people for help." And they really
respond! Why? Because everyone needs help in something, but are too proud,
embarassed or ashamed to ask for it!

Well, I'm proud to say that "I need help again!" I would like my updated site
reviewed again. Firstly, to show your readers how much they helped me! And
secondly, "How Can I make it better?"

The URL is: <"http://fantasticfinds.hypermart.net">

Thank you in advance to your response to this matter.

John Assante, Webmaster
Fantasic Finds Inc.
Boca Raton, FL 33487
Phone: 561-989-9616
Fax: 561-997-8506
Email: jaygee@gate.net
Url: <"http://fantasticfinds.hypermart.net">



======================N e w   P o s t (4) ===========================

From: William Brett <admin@market-pulse-services.com>
Subject: Here's an idea about a new type of FFA links page


I've been looking for an FFA links page that is a little different.
How I think it should work is this:

*Totally Free to submit or to operate
*Displays your banner at the top
*Has autoreponse thank you/confirmation
*Will accept automatic submissions
*Gives full control of layout (header and footer text, bgcolor or GIF)

When you give one of these pages away it would show your banner at the
top of the first category and the banner of the person that
you got the page from at the top of the second category, and so on, up
to 5 or 6 different levels. Of course this part should be
automated to prevent anyone from cheating.
I do not posses the skill to create one of these system, but I'm sure
someone reading this probably does.  Please contact me if you
have a solution or if you know of someone who already has something like
this in place.  I think this would be a good way to get
your banner put on potentially thousand of sites.

To Success,
William Brett
admin@market-pulse-services.com
http://market-pulse-services.com



======================N e w   P o s t (5) ===========================

From: Dave <Cards@catchadream.com>
Subject: What is the most effective promotion method?

Hi,
I'm new to direct product marketing on the Internet.  I have several years
experience in marketing MLM's on the net but do not think this is the way
to promote/advertise with a traditional type business.
My question is:  What is the best or most effective marketing method to
reach your intended audience?
I have been posting in the classifieds (both free and fee based), ezine's,
search engine submissions, press release (professionally prepared and
submitted).  Although I've been getting 75 -90 hits per day in the first 3
weeks of advertising sales have been less than inspiring.
How do you know if you are reaching your intended market?

Tks,

Dave

http://www.catchadream.com
Hand Crafted Greeting Cards


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note from editor.


I won't attempt in this note to answer your question
"What is the most effective promotion method?" as this can only be answered
in context of your particular product/service.

Your second question
"How do you know if you are reaching your intended market?" is bit easier
to address.

>From my experience if you are selling items not exceeding $50,  you should
consider one sale per 100 visitors very good result and if you are not making one
sale per 500 visitors you should concentrate on better targeting.

In an effort to better target your audience you should look at your competition.
Whatever your market is,  there is competition  already for it.
Watch what your competition is doing. How they are trying to attract visitors to their sites
and how they are getting them back.
They already did some testing and know what works what doesn't.
Buy their service/product to see how they do it and how they later follow up.
Subscribe to their newsletter and get notified about their new ideas and
use it on your site.
Subscribe to related newsletters  and use free knowledge they offer.

Ask if your competitor would like to advertise your products.

Look for sites which have related service or product to yours.
E.g. If you are selling health products, try to advertise on sites
which provide information regarding health or fitness, but if you are
offering business opportunities related to your health products these sites will be
disappointment for you. Look then for sites dealing with business opportunities
to promote these ideas.

Subscribe to affiliate programs. They will give you tools to promote them.
This tools can be applicable to your area.


In addition: To get people to the  site is one thing but to get them back
and convince them to buy  something is totally different issue.
These  are  the areas where each business should concentrate on to take
full advantage of visitor already arrived to their site.


1. Simplicity of site design
2. Easy navigation
3. Clear presentation of your product/service
4. Ease of purchase (secure order forms)
5. Guaranties
6. Testimonials
7. Access to past clients
8. Offer of purchase in context of your presentation not necessarily on page 8
9. Gather contact information from your visitors
10. Periodical updates of new features and products of your site.
11. Branding of your name (e.g. have your own unique URL)
12. Offer freebies on your site
13. Read today's guest article  for his explanation of
     "Your Unique Selling Position"


B.F.





=================Site Review Responses (1)=============================

From: Michael Bryant 'Max Host Productions' <mrb71m@yahoo.com>

>From: "Annette Hird" <homeshop@excite.com>
>
> Hi Michael
>
> I would love you to review my site at:
> http://www.powerup.com.au/~hird/nutrigen.htm
>
> I'm from Australia and we market a range of
> nutritional health food
> products manufactured here.  We can mail our products
> all over the
> world so I thought that marketing across the internet
> would be the
> perfect way to let people know about our wonderful
> products.
>
> I am very interested to hear what you have to say
> about our web page.
>
> Regards
> Annette Hird
>


Well Annette,
   Don't like the sounds of that huh?  LOL! Don't
worry. Actually your site is pretty well put together.
'META TAGS' are all there, though you are allowed more
characters for title, description, and keywords.
   Here is the big problem....That background and
link,text combo does not work. For my poor eyes
anyways. I had to drag my mouse along your text and
highlight the words to see what they said. Try another
text, link color theme.
   Other than that, get to advertising! Health products
are a big business nowadays.

Keep up the good work,
Michael Bryant
webmaster@max-host.net







========================Site Review Requests (1)========================

------------------------------(1)--------------------------------------
From: Bruce Ian Coy <minotaur@soltec.net>



I've also got a fair start on my website, and I'd appreciate any tips
that you and your readers could give me.  It's
http://www.quickrich.com/  There's a lot of free information on
affiliate programs, scams to avoid, and marketing, plus some other
freebies.

Thanks,
Bruce Coy


------------------------------(2)--------------------------------------
From: "Walker" <walkert@pdx.oneworld.com>

I am starting a new page on my website for crafters/artists to display
and/or sell their products. Since so many crafters don't really get
attention to their "prize projects" so if anyone is interested in this
kind of stuff, stop by and visit. I would love to hear from others
crafters/artists to exchange stories, etc.

here's my website: http://www.honeywilldo.com



------------------------------(3)--------------------------------------
From: "Richard  Howard" <howpro@beachlink.com>

Hello Adland,

I just started a website offering Gift Products at Wholesale Prices.
This is my first website.  I was wondering if you could review it at
www.angelfire.com/nc/howpro .

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Richard Howard
Howard Wholesale & Promotions
5044 The Woods Road
Kitty Hawk, NC 27949
(252) 255-2063




====================S p o n s o r   M e s s a g e ==================

               Y    O U R    O W N  S U B M I S S I O N    S O F T W A R E

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===================G u e s t   A r t i c l e (1)=====================

Your Unique Selling Position
By Paul Robison

One of the most import exercises any business operator can do it to define the business uniqueness and present it to potential clients in a way that captures their interest.

This is called the Unique Selling Position (USP) and is the heart of all your marketing strategy.  You might also see this as the expression, Unique Selling Proposition.   The concept is the same.

Positioning is simply causing your target audience to view your products or services as different from and more valuable than those of the competition.  In a world where there is more and more competition, customers are often on advertising overload.  To
break through this clutter of competing messages, they will pick something and hang on to something to believe until something convinces them to change.

Positioning is an attempt to gain the high ground in the customer's head and hold it against the competition.  There may be very little substantive difference between competitors. Your USP creates a special difference in the target audience's mind, withou
t regard to reality.  If you can't find a way to communicate your uniqueness and connect it to your target's needs, you might as well quit fighting the competition and sell out to them.

The last sentence, above, may seem harsh, but, in fact, it is part of the reason so many entrepreneurs break off from their former employers and start their own companies:   They recognize an inherent difference in the way they think the business should be
operated and want to do it their own "unique" way.  What is this uniqueness?

Positioning is vital for distinguishing your business from everybody else's.

Remember:  Your position reflects your uniqueness.  It is what makes your products or services more valuable to your clients than what is being offered by the competition.  Remember. Also, that it has nothing to do with reality.  It is only what your pote
ntial customers perceive as reality.

So...How will your business be perceived as different from the competition?  Since you can't be all things to all people, you must strive to be the vendor of choice to a group of them.  To determine how to become the vendor of choice, you do not have to r
einvent the wheel.  I'll give you a simple exercise to help you determine how to rise to primacy in the mind of your customers.

First, look for your best customers.  Who are your best clients and what caused them to "buy" from you?  Think about this.  Ask them.  Why did they choose you.  Identify you best and most satisfied clients and call them.  Ask them why they used your servi
ces or bought your products.  You can even fax them a simple questionnaire, get their permission to use the comments and use these testimonials in your marketing.

I can't emphasize the importance of your USP, enough.  It will become the basis for all your communications:  Web site, press releases, newsletters, public relations, advertising - in short, it will become your identity.

You must do the necessary work, now, to establish the right position for now and the future.  Otherwise, you will miss an opportunity to sow confidence in the minds of your target audience.  Develop a clear position for your business relative to the compe
tition.

Now that you have a wonderful Unique Selling Position, how do you communicate it to potential customers?  Good question.  The short answer is:  Define your own uniqueness and present it in a memorable way - A Tagline!  (Things go better with Coke)

Some business owners will recognize that they have more than one benefit to offer customers.  That's a good thing.  Just as we can't be all things to everyone, we probably don't want to be only one thing, either.  Well, that depends on your business, but
most business will have several benefits, each of which may attract different customers - but remember, for your USP, think about your best customer.

Sometimes we confuse features with benefits.  Let's take a look at how we can change features in to benefits.  (We want to do this because customers buy the benefits - not the features).  Make a list of all the features of your products or services.   Feat
ures are how big, how soon, what color, what size, etc.  The house may have five bedrooms - that is a feature.  It means that each of the children will have their own bedroom - that is a benefit.  The benefit isn't always so obvious.  The way to convert f
eatures into benefits is to put yourself in your client's position and ask the question, "What's in it for me."  The answer is the benefit.  Marketers use the acronym:  WIFM.  Another way of looking at it is to ask the question, "What is it about this fea
ture that give it value in the mind of the customer?"

Look at the following example. 
Feature:  Our insurance agency handles family, business, and accident insurance.
Benefit:  At home, at work, or at play - We have you covered!

As a starting point, answer the following questions about your business.

What does your business do?

For whom? (Describe your target market)

What is you biggest benefit to them?

To what do you attribute that benefit?

How will your customers perceive this benefit, relative to the competition?

To summarize:
There are three components to determining your USP.
1. Features/Benefits
2. Target market
3. Competition

The time you spend, thinking about these things now, will pay dividends in the long run.

====================
Paul Robison has been helping new entrepreneurs, MLMers, and small businesses succeed in both online and offline marketing since 1994.  You can email him at paul@bizopz.com, or subscribe to his FREE newsletter at http://www.bizopz.com or by sending email
to  subscribe@bizopz.com with SUBSCRIBE in either the subject or body of the message.
===================







======================Joke of the Day=====================

Jokes provided by  Bruce Ian Coy.


It's Friday and an Irishman walks into a bar (don't all the best stories
start this way?) in Boston and says to the bartender: "give me three
shots of your best Irish whiskey!"

The bartender says: "How 'bout I just pour you a triple?"

"NO NO NO," says the customer, "Three single shots, IF YOU PLEASE!"

The barkeep mutters to himself about washing three glasses when one
would do, but 'the customer is always right'.

Well, this goes on for about the next four Fridays and finally the
barman can't stand not knowing and says:

"Why the heck do you have to have three single shots when one triple
would do?"

The Irishman smiles and says "well, if you must know, back home in
Dublin, my brothers Seamus and Danny and myself have a tradition of
going to the local pub for a drink on Fridays, and having one for each
keeps them in my mind and my heart."

Well, as you might imagine, this softens the bartendeer's heart and no
longer will he grouse about the washing, so you can imagine his concern
when the Irishman comes in the next Friday and says: "G'day to ya, Jim,
set me up TWO whiskeys."  With a frown, the worried barman says:

"I'm so sorry has something happened to one of your brothers?,"

"Heavens no, thank you," says the Irishman, "I just had a checkup and
the doc says 'no more booze for me'."

====================================================================

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