Here is one I think rates among the top of these articles from wired magazine:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.05/ff_well.html

IM software lets me only target customers which specific demographic criterias.
There are millions online icq users and they see the message instantly.
It uses anonymous proxys to send so there is no privacy problems. I can send to 20000 people every day on modem.

I want to advertise to MSN users also, anyone know a shareware that can send advertisement to MSN users?

[Note: This message has been edited by Janet Berg]

BraveNet now charges a $99 fee to upgrade your account to be able to send out HTML newsletters that you have made (if you don't, you can only send out their "template" HTML newletter). I don't have a problem with this fee, HOWEVER, BraveNet has informed me that I must pay this $99 fee to "upgrade every account with 500 emails in it. This would cost me thousands!! So I guess my question is this:

Does anyone recommend an online email list storage and sending service that supports sending HTML newsletters? Thanks!

Read the thread: "I Need a Prize Idea" I posted a month back. There is helpful info. there and Angie on this board was very helpful. She runs the PathwaytoDarkness.com site and that seems to be right up your ally.

Good Luck!
Stephanie

As for promoting the site:

You should look into posting an announcement on the news group comp.infosystems.www.announce (read their FAQ first so you understand the posting rules -- it's a moderated group).

I think you should also join several automated link exchange programs to set up reciprocal links with other sites. You'll get some traffic from those links and broaden your exposure. There is curently a thread in one of the Search Engine Forums listing several services (but I don't recall which forum as I write this). I can think of linkstoyou.com, the Buddy Links on searchenginewatch.com (I believe that's where it's hosted), and linkme.com

The more sites you can get reciprocal links with, the better. Keep in mind these reciprocal link programs may or may not help you with search engine rankings. Any other sites you can get linked by will help you. But a jobsearch resource site is one of those "universal appeal" sites that just about any surfer might decide to click on no matter where they find the link.

You might also look into setting up one or more forums where job seekers can share ideas about how to prepare themselves for interviews, what to expect from placement companies, etc. I would restrict advertising to 1 or 2 Help Wanted and Help Available forums. What you want is a place where people feel they can turn to for good advice. Free ads will just get you spammed to death if you don't monitor them.

Once you've got some traffic coming in, sign up with a banner exchange if you cannot afford to buy advertising. It actually helps to host the banners as soon as possible, but don't submit your own banner until you've 1-2000 credits stored up so you can come out of the gate with a bang (it may take a month or two to build up the credits). You can get credits from Lycos' affiliate program for the SmartAge banner exchange, but I don't know if that's a good exchange for you or not. You'll want to look around and see what you can find.

It wouldn't hurt to place classified ads in several major newspapers, as well. They don't have to be big. Just put in something like, "Tons of job-hunting resources at your fingertips! http://www.yoursite.here".

You might also see about forging alliances with a few placement firms by exchanging links or banners with them (the more prominent a mention they give you, the better).

The software has a complex autoreponder filter.
You setup the software to only respond back if they IM back "Yes" with your product details. And apologizes if they say go away.
Otherwise, you never contact them again because it never repeat the same message again to that person.

In most cases, the recepient has no idea that he is not talking to a human.

Do be careful with too many advertiser buttons on your page. I personally feel they can clutter and ugly a page but they can be worthwhile. All in moderation.

slideboxer

That makes it spam and likely to get you shut down.

IM is more like telemarketing, when someone call you up, you can say "go away, I am not interested" instantly.

Even in the most strict country such as USA, the FCC only defines SPAM as unwanted e-mails.

Instant messaging advertisement is currently legal to use by internet businesses all over the world.

Also, when an ICQ user click that little box saying OK to receive message from person not on my contact list, do you think that also imply consent to receive message from me which is not on their contact list?

1) It has a ICQ user blocking list where you can put in your affliate sponsor's ICQ numbers so your sponsor will never never never receive your messages.

2) If your autoresponding filter is complex enough, targeted user never realize you are not a human, so nobody will complain. Especially if you don't bombard them with messages, and only say polite things such as "Hi, I am *****, are you interested? "

I'm not the only person to have removed ICQ due to your type of spam.

I use MSN exactly because this spam isn't possible.

Tell you what, whether I thought it was a computer or a human, I'd still do my best to report them to their ISP. If I haven't asked for your message, I certainly wouldn't appreciate receiving it.

--
IM is more like telemarketing, when someone call you up, you can say "go away, I am not interested" instantly.
--

Here in the United States, comparing your advertising method to telemarketing is not likely to garner a very positive response. 99% of Americans loathe telemarketing calls, myself among them.

This sounds like spam to me...whether the FCC defines it as such or not.

There are likely far better ways to reach your audience without irking so many potential customers.

"A message is unsolicited if it is sent to a recipient who has not requested or invited the message. Mass mailing is mailing of messages in quantities exceeding reasonable personal use. For purposes of this provision, merely making one's e-mail address accessible to the public shall not constitute a request or invitation to receive messages."

renee

Anyone know other good online articles about forum building...