In This Issue
Words from Wonder
News from Around the Net
Sites Worth Seeing
Ezines Worth Reading
Guest Article - Do I Need A Feed?
So Long
Advertising Info
Hey Guys, Ladies and Gentlemen, and especially You!
I'm so thrilled! The voting for a new name for this erag is going great! At least it looks like it from my end :)
If you didn't get time to vote last week, the polls are still open. Please do.
Go Here.
I'd love to tell you who the front-runners are but, unlike the television news, I don't want to sway the vote.
I've been asked a few times how I find all the great links for the "Sites Worth Seeing" column. Thought I'd share how I found one of today's links with you and, in the process, give a few people a well deserved plug. It's a long story but I'll try to condense it.
I belong to an excellent email discussion list for publishers, Epublishers. This week I noticed someone had asked a question I need the answer to: "How do I get subscribers?" Naturally, I read all the replies.
There are some really smart, helpful people on that list so the answers were very interesting. Phil Thompson's reply, in particular, impressed me a lot because, not only was the advice great but he had taken time to visit the site. Phil had several suggestions of changes there that could help the person gain readers.
Of course, I visited Phil's site to see if he followed his own advice. He does and I was sufficiently impressed to sign up for a few of his lists.
I had a little fun while I was there too. Check out this page: Reflex test or, if you don't mind a bit of cussing, this one: Psychic Quiz.
In the process of checking the archives of his "Links" newsletter I stumbled across this: Native Peoples' Webring Links.
Now, that's the sort of thing I find interesting so I visited there. Well, no, I practically moved in. It's a great site! James Huggins does so much right on this site that I wanted to copy it all :) And, yes, I immediately signed on for his "irregular journal" Snippets.
I've already received, and enjoyed, a couple of issues of Snippets. I will also be implementing some of Mr. Huggins excellent site ideas. I don't think he'll mind. Like most good publishers, you can tell that his purpose is to help people and teach them better ways of doing things.
I'll make most of these changes when I redo our site for our new name. Which brings me right back to ...
I'm so excited!
So, let's get on with today's issue so it'll be next week and we'll have a new name :)
Today's "Avid Reader" is MIA so we're jumping straight into
it :)
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 Your ad could have been here.
Remember to send it next week and it may be.
Preference given to our readers' sites.
Not all ads accepted. 
These links are here for your convenience, enjoyment and education.
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"He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money." -
Benjamin Franklin
I already gave you this link up there in my cyber-babble but, just in case you skipped it, here it is again.
This is truly an interesting site. In particular, I like the way he deals with the legalities of publishing but the whole site is just, well, interesting.
Can't say that I really consider myself a "Senior Citizen" but I still found this news site interesting also.
If you have a website, or want to have one I think you'll appreciate the Web Devoloper's Virtual Library. A small, friendly forum also.
Here's an extra link today because I gave you the first one twice. Does that make sense? Yep, to me too!
If you use the Internet to do a lot of research, you may find your "library" a lot bigger after a visit to this site.
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"To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered." -
Voltaire
This is a "no-no", or so I'm told. Therefore, it's almost a given that I'm going to do it anyway, right?
When you have an ezine, it's a very bad idea to recommend other ezines. You might lose your readers to a "better" ezine or they might get overwhelmed with email and unsub from all of them! At least that's what the "experts" say.
This is what I say: there are some ezines I enjoy reading and find useful in my business. You might like them too, or not. In any case, I'm going to tell you about some of them that I read today. If they sound interesting to you, check 'em out.
If you have an ezine and I don't mention it here, that doesn't mean I don't like or read it. I'm just going to mention a very few of the many that I actually read and like. I'll do another list someday. If you feel left out, please let me know.
In no particular order:
Directory of Ezines Insider:
I enjoy Charlie Page's articles. He writes more or less about internet marketing from a "straight up" viewpoint. I've even gotten ezine advice from Charlie personally and he was right whether I listened or not.
The-Home-Grown-Biz-Advocate:
If not for Edward Thorpe, I wouldn't be writing to you today. Plain truth. Needless to say, I like him.
He's another "straight up" internet marketing publisher that takes time to personally help his readers.
Marketing Best Practices:
I probably use David Frey's excellent advice more in my offline business than online but, after all, marketing is marketing.
Research Buzz:
My biggest use of the 'net is research. I'm interested in a wide variety of things. I've learned more about doing reasearch from this ezine than any other place online. All information is also available in the blog if you don't want to subscribe to another publication.
Site Point - Web Design:
If you're interested in web design you might find any or all of Site Point's publications worth your while. Scroll toward the bottom of the page to check them out.
Web Page Design for Designers:
Another ezine, my favorite, about web design. If you're interested in ezines in this category, be sure and do a search on this site for "ezines", you'll find a lot of good recommendations.
Willmaster Possibilities:
This was the first "technical" ezine I subscribed to. Since long before I knew why I had to know this stuff. All about CGI and lots of other handy things to make your site work.
All the Write Stuff:
I'm interested in writing, I'll bet that's obvious :)
This ezine is about the written word and a whole lot more. I enjoy it.
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"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton
I've been investigating the possibilities of an RSS feed for quite awhile now. This is one of the better articles I've found that explains why I think I need to learn to do an RSS feed.
Copyright 2004 Sharon Housley
Do I Need an RSS Feed?
RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way.
Benefits for Publishers
- Avoid Spam Filters
Statisticians estimate that 70% of the email transferred each day is spam (unsolicited email). With that statistic, even opt-in users risk losing valuable messages in the cesspool of spam. RSS feeds effectively nullify spam as an issue. Requesting feeds allow users to maintain complete control over the content they view. Users can easily opt-in and out of feeds that provide content of interest or importance.
- Expanded Reach
RSS allows publishers to reach a number of new and different markets that typically are less crowded with competition. Many small businesses are often slow to adopt or learn new technologies, giving businesses that lead the way a competitive advantage.
- Content Syndication
Syndication of feeds increases exposure.
- Repeat Visitors
RSS is all about repeat visitors. Users who have previously visited a site often have a stronger connection to the site and are more likely to purchase or trust the information on the site.
- Free web traffic
As the internet has evolved, many webmasters have found that what was once free traffic must now be paid for in order to sustain decent visitor statistics. RSS is in a unique position to bring free traffic because they are content-driven, and if they include interesting or valuable information, will pique the curiosity of web-surfers and entice them to visit a particular site.
- Less Effort
Newsletters and E-zines undeniably bring visitors, but the effort involved in creating, distributing and maintaining a newsletter can be a burden. Maintaining the list, ensuring the list is clean, growing the subscriber base, updating and removing bad e-mail addresses, all take time. RSS feeds are not burdened with those issues. There are easy-to-use RSS feed creation tools that require little effort, allowing publishers to recycle content, often simply cutting and pasting into RSS feed creation software.
FeedForAll RSS feed creation
Consider supplementing existing communication venues with RSS. Place the contents of newsletters into feeds and measure the results. You might be surprised at the added traffic.
Examples of various feeds with different intended purposes -
- RSS feed
Establishing expertise in a specific field.
- Business Feed
Contains product and industry information.
- Marketing Feed
Builds relationships, endorses products in industry sector.
RSS has potential to help companies develop strong relationships with consumers and creating brand loyalty with customers. While the world will not end tomorrow, nor will business come to a screeching halt if you don't use an RSS feed, there are a number of reasons online businesses should consider using RSS feeds.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. and FeedForAll.
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"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire
If you've sent me email this week and I haven't responded, please resend it. I've been battling 'puter problems again.
Not only can my new computer read but it's a copycat as well.
I read an article about backing up your computer because of hard drive crashes early one morning last week. Don't you know the very next time I powered on my brand new machine it told me "back up immediate, hard drive failure imminent"?
Have to admit I was certainly impressed with HP's customer service. They had a new hard disk to me in less than 24 hours after my phone call.
However, I was totally "dispressed" with the fact that my hard drive failed in less than a month on the new Compaq though. I am also wondering what's up with their customer service center being in another country. I thought they were an American company. I'm pretty sure I won't be buying anymore HP products.
Anyway, that sure messed up a lot of what I had planned for this week's issue. I'm hopeful that I'll still be able to retrieve most of what was on my hard drive. At least, I hope we won't have to vote again.
Thank heavens I now have a back-up computer though. The "old workhorse" is a Micron PC and it's never had a problem that I or mother nature didn't cause.
Can't say that I anticipate needing another computer soon. After all, how many computers can one person use at a time? Think when I do need one, I'll try the "build your own" method.
I hope to be back on track by next issue. And I hope that we'll have a nifty, new name to boot!
I will be sending out a "Reminder Notice" again this week in case you don't get this issue. If you DO receive yours, please just delete the additional email. Your patience is much appreciated.
I really want to thank you for reading this today and remind you to be careful out there until I see you again.
Wonder
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We don't have a lot of readers but they're great!
Now, what do you want to advertise and how much do you want to pay me? :)
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