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Webmaster Tips (1) (Email)
I use pegasus mail and I find that some email messages do not wrap,
with the result that each paragraph is displayed as a single long line.
If the email looks interesting I will try to read it.
Scrolling each line takes ages. I have tried to send a copy of
the email to myself - this reformats the email and makes it
readable but marks the message as having been replied to,
which can cause problems later.
A better way of dealing with these long lines is to
forward the mail to yourself - this way the mail can
be read without marking the email as having been replied to.
If your email program is sending out these long lines - check your
email settings: switch on 'Allow Reformatting' or switch of
'send as shown', or you could insert hard returns into your
email message.
Webmaster Tips (2) (Email Signatures)
Create a good email sig file to advertise your website etc.
Keep it short: two or three lines only - make it descriptive
and enticing, below is an example that I use.
As usual feedback is encouraged:
Notes on above sig file:
5 lines is too long (any suggestions on making it shorter?).
The target customer is the business owner who know what he
is doing in his business and knows that it is more cost
effective to use an expert to build his web site rather
than spending his time learning and doing it himself.
The first url shows the customer that I know what I am doing
and the second tells him what he will get and how much it will cost.
My email newsletter selections
This is a regular slot - each issue I will review an
email newsletter that has recently got my attention
with some good or interesting material:
My current favourite can be accessed at any time
by sending a blank email to my autoresponder at
mailto:goodnewsletter@amcho.com
or you can see the text version at
http://www.amcho.com/goodnewsletter.txt
There are two newsletters that I would like to
bring to your attention in this issue:
Success 4U Ezine - My $3 Check 14 September 1999
Internet Marketing Chronicles Issue 166 -- September 22, 1999
_____________________________________________________
My email newsletter selection:
Success 4U Ezine
dgeer@dgeer.com http://dgeer.com/
Subscribe: mailto:dgeer@dgeer.com?subject=Subscribe
14 September 1999 - My $3 Check
How to Earn Bigger Commissions with Affiliate Programs
By Jim Daniels
This article goes into detail of the difference between affiliates
who only make the $3 cheques and those that make a reasonable income:
To make peanuts do the following:
1. sign up with every affiliate programme going
2. put at least 20 banners on your home page (animated ones if poss)
3. go for expensive products that you do not use yourself
To make a reasonable income:
1. sign up with a few selected programmes
2. these must fit in with the main theme of your site
3. do not promote the affiliate website
4. promote your own website (rather than affiliate site)
5. build a simple site that focuses on YOUR area of expertise
6. reasonable commission (25% or more commissions on sales)
7. actually "recommend" the products, services and program(s) you're in.
8. the product must be great in its own right.
9. recommend it from your own experience
Whenever you consider an affiliate program
think not 'what is in this for me?'
but rather 'what is in this for my visitors?' |
____________________________________________________
My email newsletter selection:
Internet Marketing Chronicles
I have found the articles in the Internet Marketing Chronicles newsletter are
usully worth reading:
http://www.MarketingChallenge.com
Issue 166 -- September 22, 1999
1. EDITORIAL: Publish Now Or Perish Later
2. FEATURE ARTICLE: Starting An Opt-In Mailing List
3. GUEST ARTICLE: Bringing Everything Into Focus
4. CHALLENGE TIP OF THE WEEK: Free Is The Key
5. FEEDBACKS AND TYPEBACKS: The Subscribers' Section
The newsletters from IMC regularly get into my 'worth keeping' folder.
Issue 166 was of particular interest as it was addressing opt-in mailing lists.
To paraphrase some extracts from the newsletter:
People are constantly bombarded with commercial messages everywhere they go.
But a constant supply of solid information that attempts to educate
rather than promote will place you above your competition
in your prospect's mind.
The difference between success and just getting by is focus.
You must have a clear image of who your target market is.
Your target market must have a clear image of who you are.
_____________________________________________________
Associate programmes and MLMs
It is interesting that many associate programmes do not
allow you to buy products using your own link while
many MLM companies go to the opposite extreme and will
only pay you commission if you also purchase the product.
Why is it that if you buy via your own store
it will damage the affiliate program owner's profits,
while MLMs try to persuade you to buy the products.
Could it be that the associate programs are promoting products that
will sell in their own right while some MLMs can only sell items to
people in their downlines?
One test I would apply before joining a programmme is
'would I buy the product at the price?'
If the product is not worth buying in its own right than dont get into the MLM.
_________________________________________________________________
Swap - a - Link
http://www.amcho.com/swapalink.htm
I have tried quite a few banner exchanges with disappointing results -
low click through rates, and animated banners that as well as distracting
from my content also slow everything down: A lot of effort for minimal results.
Asking for reciprocal links from other webmasters is also a lot of work.
So far submitting to search engines has been the
best way of getting traffic to my website.
I have just started developing 'Swap a Link'
(I am still open to suggestions for a better name.)
To show how it works lets take an example -
You have a great web page that promotes a number of your affiliate program.
I am also an affiliate in one of these programs but I like your page
and would like to link to it.
Rather than asking for a reciprocal link,
I set up a link via the 'Swap a Link' system.
Now, whenever my visitor clicks on the link to your page
the affiliate id on your page is changed to my id
so I get credited if my visitor purchases through these links on your page.
This is great from my point of view, I can link to your web page
knowing that I can still earn revenue if the visitor makes a purchase.
But my visitor may decide to explore your website further
or click on one of your other affiliate links - so you also benefit.
But whatever the visitor does, without the link,
he would not have been on your site anyway.
If you want to give it a try create a link on your webpage to any of the following
(beware of line wrapping and substitute your own MYSS affiliate id in place of the xxxxx below):
http://amcho.com/cgi-bin/scrunch.pl?page=amcho.com/swapalink.htm&afcode1=sitesell.com/xxxxxxxx.html
http://amcho.com/cgi-bin/scrunch.pl?page=amcho.com/mmss-workshop.htm&afcode1=sitesell.com/xxxxxxxx.html
For further details or to submit your own page please go to
http://www.amcho.com/swapalink.htm
At the moment the script will only convert Make Your Site Sell links
if you are not yet a MYSS affiliate you can join up (free) at:
http://www.sitesell.com/amcho.html
As this is a brand new idea any feedback would be very much appreciated:
mailto:feedbackSaL@amcho.com
___________________________________________________
Make your Site Sell Sweepstake
http://www.sitesell.com/amcho.html
On the subject of the 'Make Your Site Sell' e-book,
There is now a contest / sweepstake on the MYSS website:
There are many prizes to win from $500 cash to a years free hosting.
All you need to do is think of someone who could benefit by
buying the MYSS book or someone who may be interested in becoming an
affiliate. Give it a try - click on the link above - then click
on the sweepstakes button. Good Luck!
____________________________________________________
Help-Me Help-You (free advertising)
I expect that almost everyone who receives this newsletter
has a web site or business that is selling goods or services
(If this is not true tell me?)
So all my readers have goods or services to sell
at the same time we are also consumers.
So this is the offer:
In exchange for a free advert I want you to make
a free offer to the readership of this newsletter.
The items will be available on a first come first served basis.
________________________________________________________
Y2000 Bug? (Will next year be
0000 or 1900 or 1920 or 2000 or 2020)
If you are not worrying about the predicted 'End of Civilisation'
here is a little buglet to give you a few more grey hairs.
Go to MyComputer-RegionalSettings, in the short date settings
you will notice that the year is just a two digit year.
Come the millenium it will roll over to 00.
You may be tempted to change this to 4 digits so that it
rolls over to 2000, and in most cases this will probably be OK
but if a program reads this date assuming
it will only receive a 'short year' it may think it is
2020 if it is 'compliant' or 1920 if it is not.
If you leave it unchanged the year will roll over to 00,
giving any one of the following: 0000 1900 or even 2000.
But the real answer is 42.
________________________________________________________
Totally unrelated to anything
How do you eat a kiwi fruit?
I used to painstakingly peel the skin of the fruit,
getting my fingers all sticky, with juice running up my sleeves,
with the more adventurous and slippery bits escaping off the plate.
There is a better way - just cut the damn thing in half
then eat the contents with a tea spoon!
© 1999 Amcho Computer Services Ltd. All rights reserved.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you want to.
but please check with us before reproducing the content,
normally all we will ask is a link to our website.
All feedback is welcome: mailinglist-feedback@amcho.com
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Mike Choroszewski
Amcho Computer Services Ltd
Little Honeycombe, Tamar Way, Gunnislake, Cornwall, Pl18 9DH. UK
phone: 0870 740 7683 UK National Rate (or 01822 833 690)
UK fax number: 0870 124 6863
US fax number: (916) 314 8961
www.amcho.com/newsletter199911.htm
November 1999
www.amcho.com/newsletter199910.htm October 1999
www.amcho.com/newsletter199909.htm
September 1999
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