JimWorld Gazette Issue #89 04/24/2000

JimWorld Gazette - Issue #89 - April 24, 2000

Internet World
A Helpware Site That Has It All
Let's Have Dinner
The Joy Of Telecommuting
Creating A Benefits Web Page
Snippets

Link to this issue of the Gazette as http://gazetteworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=g89

INTERNET WORLD

Just back from the Los Angeles Internet World conference. My feet still hurt.

This year the show was huge. Last year's show was only about half the size, but that was a year of refocusing in the industry. This year, the refocus is obviously completed and the Internet companies are out in force.

The trends continue towards infrastructure companies rushing to the Net. Attorneys, CPAs, fulfillment services, back-office systems and all of the other products and services that have evolved to keep the brick and mortar world running smoothly. They've all discovered the Internet and are playing catch-up.

Next week I'll start covering some of the more exciting things I found at the show.

Until then, I just wanted to compliment the Guiding Fathers of Los Angeles for their outstanding efforts on Thursday during the show.

With 365 days to chose from, they determined that the day 50,000 attendees were trying to reach the convention center would be the absolute best day of the year to launch a massive road word job surrounding the convention center and stretching for several blocks.

What a joy to find that EVERY road with 10 blocks of the show had been closed down to only one lane. Imagine the fun of trying to navigate that obstacle course.

I'm officially closing the year 2000 competition for the Bonehead of the Year Award. Los Angeles wins hands-down. No need to wait to recognize excellence of this magnitude.

A HELPWARE SITE THAT HAS IT ALL

We all know that "personal" Web sites are low-tech, boring places to visit.

Right?

More and more, the answer is just the opposite. Interesting personal sites are becoming more common than you might imagine unless you've been visiting them on a regular basis.

While reviewing submissions for the Helpware Directory I discovered a little gem of a site that has more going for it than most "professional" sites I visit.

The site is The Woodburner at < http://www.woodburner.com/ >

On the home page you are greeted with:

"I'm more interested in showing people how to get started in wood burning and to have fun while doing it. You don't have to worry about being intimidated here: I'm not that good!! I just love creating what I can with a hot iron, a piece of wood, and maybe a little color. And I hope you will love it also!"

The site clearly shows the passion for wood burning that drove Ralph Dulaney (the owner) to develop the site. The site has everything needed to nurture a healthy, growing community of enthusiasts.

An e-newsletter that is produced often enough to bind the community together and keep them involved in the site and the community.
Archives of each issue of the e-newsletter.
An extensive, free on-line course of lessons in basic and advanced wood burning.
An e-book containing the lessons that can be downloaded and studied off-line.
A discussion board (UltraBoard driven) that is active and interesting.
A page full of samples of Ralph's wood burning work to entice you into taking a stab at it yourself.
Human Click is installed on the site to allow you to talk directly to Ralph when he is on-line.
A resource links page to help visitors find more information and products needed to enjoy the hobby.
A gallery of wood burning samples contributed by members of the community.
A bookshelf of books to order for more information about wood burning.
Downloadable patterns that can be used for projects.
A good FAQ page.
A privacy policy!!
Evidence of actual promotion. Meta tags, Helpware button.

If you've visited the site yet (which you should have) then you know it is simple in design, easily navigated and clearly written.

Your first impression might have been "where's all the cool graphics and animations" until you started reading and exploring the site. Ralph's site loses nothing my being simple. It focuses on the subject, communicates in an interesting and engaging manner and gets the visitor involved in the subject. Plus, it downloads quickly. Bandwidth is saved for the drawings and photos that are meaningful to the visitor.

Ralph's site makes the case for content over style. A site so full of content with easy navigation and easily discerned passion for the subject have allowed him to build a healthy, active community that obviously enjoys returning to his site.

I don't know about you, but I wish that all of my sites were as thoroughly developed as The Woodburner.

LET'S HAVE DINNER

On May 24, 2000 Copenhagen hosts the first Scandinavian conference on Internet marketing with a focus on search engine optimization and other evolving, cutting edge marketing strategies.

Search engines are the best source for motivated, quality traffic. Remarkably many Internet based businesses do not optimize their sites for inclusion in the search engines.

At this event you will meet some of the world's leading experts in this field, and also representatives from the leading search engines. Speakers are coming from the USA, France, Sweden, Denmark and England.

The day is divided into several themes. Each theme starts with one or two lectures followed by a panel discussion.

The day ends with a dinner party with time for networking, free bar and a summarization of the day.

There is only room for 200 participants to attend this unique event. Register before May 1 and save up to 20%.

In addition to the many leading experts in the world, the sponsors of this event needed something to offset all that knowledge, so they invited me.

I haven't chosen my subject yet, but maybe I'll talk about how to get someone to buy you a ticket to Denmark.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and I'll buy you a drink at the free bar.

http://www.internetmarketingconference.com/ims/uk/default.asp

THE JOY OF TELECOMMUTING

On the lighter side of working from home:

As I sit here at my 'puta, in a very comfy chair (molded perfectly to MY tush), I muse on the advantages of working from home rather than an office. Here's just a few of the goodies I enjoy as a trade off before I would have hit traffic:

This morning I did NOT have to:

rush to get 3 kids and a hubby off school and work
convince said kids that left over lasagna IS a nutritious breakfast (ran out of milk - again)
run to Dairy Barn for milk
find an outfit that fits, is clean and is ironed (in that order)
find panty-hose without a run
find shoes without scuffs that accommodate my swollen feet
find bag that matches shoes (I am over 40 - this is a Law)
wash, blow dry and style hair
shave legs
spend 1/2 hour to apply make-up that masks under eye circles
scrape ice off windshield
curse hub for leaving me on fumes... again
budget cash in purse between gas & lunch (one kid waited until 7:30am to ask for $25.00 to cover a field trip - no checks accepted; no ATMs between home & office)
pray the car starts (yes, I'm married to an excellent mechanic. Big whoop. Ever heard the story about the shoemaker's children?)
Due to growling stomach, pray I make it to work before running out of gas

This morning I DID:

enjoy great coffee
with fresh half & half
while sitting on my couch with a spectacular view of the sun rising over the iced sparkling trees in my backyard (I know it's April - but it is snowing on Long Island... again!)
played tunes on radio that I like
sang along (maybe danced a bit too) without being laughed at or booed
had a cigarette at MY desk without the accompanying lecture
chatted with my Mom without rushing
received mail BEFORE the kids went through it and misplaced it
got a lot of work accomplished
with my cat curled up on my lap :-)
only answered the phone if it was for me

Hmm, It's noon already and my morning work is done.

Maybe I'll go take a nap now.

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Julia G. Del Gatto, Paralegal
http://hometown.aol.com/juliagdg/myhomepage/business.html
ParaServe; Paralegal Support Services to the Long Island Legal Community
Assignments Accepted from Attorneys Only

CREATING A BENEFITS WEB PAGE

One of the most powerful methods of marketing your products or services on the Internet today is to create a benefits web page. Let's face it, customers are interested in knowing how they will benefit from purchasing your products or services.

Most companies waste precious space in brochures, pamphlets and web pages writing about themselves and not enough about the potential customer. Do you really care if a web hoster has been in business for ten years? No, not really. What you do care about is whether they can provide you with unlimited 24 hour support in case you have a problem!

Most customers want to know "what is in it for me?," if they purchase your products and services. You will quickly find potential customers tuning out to your sales message if you do not talk enough about how THEY will benefit by doing business with YOU!

Creating a benefits web page will also help create a perceived difference from your competitors. You and your competitor could be providing the exact same service that benefits the potential customer, but you could gain a huge advantage by directly spelling it out to the customer.

An example of a benefits page for an Internet Service Provider could be as follows:

<-- Example Starts Here -->

Here are five good reasons why you should get your Internet access through Dave's ISP service:

We will provide you with unlimited 24-hour telephone support through our toll-free 1-800 line.
We guarantee that you will never get a busy signal trying to connect to the Internet or we will give you one month of free Internet access.
We will personally install the latest Microsoft or Netscape browser on your personal computer.
We will provide you with ten megabytes of free web space on our servers for your own personal web space with up to five different pop email accounts.
We have fast and reliable T1 lines, therefore your connection to the Internet will never be slow.

<-- Example Ends Here -->

This benefits web page explains specifically how a potential customer will benefit by doing business with Dave's ISP service. Ken's ISP service could provide exactly the same benefits listed above and even more, but without specifically stating it anywhere; Dave's ISP service will get the sale.

Think about the products and services that you sell. How does your potential customer benefit? Once you get those points down on paper, create a web page where your customers can view those points. It does not necessarily have to be about the products or services that you sell. It could simply be about your business or the services your business provides.

For example:

"You will always receive friendly and courteous treatment from our expert staff here at Dave's ISP service."

Some advertisers do not realize how powerful a simple statement like the one above can be in persuading a customer to do business with your company. Tap into the human mind and make the customer feel confident about doing business with you rather than your competitors.

I have used this strategy when it comes to selling advertising space in my ezine with great success. I specifically state why an advertiser should advertise in my ezine rather than a competitor's. This has dramatically increased my conversion ratio from a simple prospect to a satisfied customer.

Do not let your competitors steal your sales away. Gain a competitive advantage by setting up your benefits web page today!

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Gauher Chaudhry is the author and publisher of a new book "EZ Money With Ezines." Gauher teaches you step-by-step how you can make a fortune in the ezine publishing business using proven techniques. For more details, please go to < http://www.freecoolcash.com/ads/ez1.html >

SNIPPETS

Job Opening
mailto:jim@jimworld.com

There is now a job opening for a Perl programmer with HTML skills to help maintain and evolve the JimWorld community of sites. If your skills are up to satisfying a demanding community of friendly users, drop me a line. Location not important.

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JIMWORLD MODERATOR TEAM PAGES
http://www.dianev.com/client_websites/jimworld.html

Read Diane's explanation of the process behind the creation of thenew Moderator Team Pages. It's interesting and a good quick guideto the Web design process.

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Free Stuff From Ulead
http://www.ulead.com/easter/

* Free Spring and Easter animations
* Free PhotoImpact Web Components
* Free PhotoExpress templates
* Free VideoStudio templates
* Free stock images of flowers, plants, and other green stuff

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The Link Controversy Page
http://www.jura.uni-tuebingen.de/~s-bes1/lcp.html

A good spot to drop in on frequently. Stay up-to-date on the legal problems of using hyperlinks, inline images and frames in the WWW. Right now, this site covers problems in the area of copyright and trademark law as well as unfair competition law.

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Adgrafix Custom Headlines
http://www.customheadlines.com/index.html

With Adgrafix's customheadlines.com you can create images of newspapers containing your headline that you can e-mail to friends and print out for your own personal enjoyment! This is a free service and takes less than a minute so have fun. Instead of using the same old free clip art GIF image for your news page link, why not create a custom one just for your site?

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'Spammers' New Calling: Cell Phones

Not content with filling up our email boxes, spammers have discovered the joys of send text messages to cell phones and beepers. Imagine, now you can get the latest news about spare batteries for your cell phone while in the middle of a sales presentation. I can hardly wait.

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Swish
http://swishzone.com/

I have just begun testing today, but you may not want to wait. Swish is a powerful desktop program to generate text based Flash animations for you after filling in a simple form. The output can contain a wide selection of effects and the resulting animation is compact and reliable.

If you've tried generating text animations with Flash 4, you know it is not a simple process. With Swish, even I can do it.

The program is only us$30 and you don't need to have Flash 4 installed to use it. Take a look and download the free demo. I'll get you the review in a couple of weeks.

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E-Commerce Bill Passes in Maryland
http://www.currents.net/newstoday/00/04/11/news14.html

Maryland has passed a powerful, restrictive bill into law that has the potential to bring e-commerce to a screeching halt in Maryland. This is just another example of the fragmentation of the U.S. Internet. Laws passed all over the country by people with little knowledge of the effects they will have, and of course none of the laws have anything in common. If this trend continues without Federal intervention, it will soon become impossible to offer products and services to customers in the U.S. without breaking at least one law every time a transaction occurs. Just to make sure that nobody will want to sell in Maryland, the law requires you to defend yourself in the Maryland courts each time you are sued for some real or imagined transgression.

This growth of unwieldy laws might account for the fact that during 1999 and 2000, the number one category of new domain registrations, according to Network Solutions, is attorneys.

Don't you just love election years?

Maybe next year we can get some relief from these random acts of legislation.

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Bridging the Gap: Information Technology Skills for a New Millennium
< http://www.itaa.org/workforce/studies/hw00execsumm.htm >

According to an extensive just released by Information Technology Association of America, there are more than a million good reasons to consider a career in the Information Technology (IT) industry today. That's because employers will create a demand in the United States for roughly 1.6 million IT workers this year. With demand for appropriately skilled people far exceeding supply, half of these positions--843,328--will likely go unfilled. In a total U.S. IT workforce of 10 million, that shortfall means one job in every dozen will be vacant.

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FlipDog
< http://www.flipdog.com/ >

If you doubt the crushing demand for qualified employees in the U.S., just drop in at FlipDog and check out their database of over half a million current job openings.

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Newsletter Authors Reap Banner Profits
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1615817.html?dtn.head

The e-zine advertising model is growing more rapidly than you might think. Major e-agencies are launching e-zine advertising networks and advertisers are lining up to take advantage of response rates several times higher than current banner click-through rates.

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Web Ads Gaining Momentum
San Francisco Chronicle

Trends for e-advertising continue to climb, while results per dollar spent
continues to decline.

$1.9 billion was spent on Web banners in 1999, an 85.9 percent increase from 1998.
In the mid-1990s, about 2.5 percent of viewers clicked on the average Web ad.
Last month, the average click-through rate had declined to 0.36 percent, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Read the article to find out more of the trends in e-advertising.

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AARP National Survey on Consumer Preparedness and E-Commerce
http://research.aarp.org/consume/ecommerce.html

The national AARP telephone survey of 1,000 computer users age 45 and older, conducted in February, found that nearly four in ten (39 percent) are not confident about executing business transactions, including 24 percent who are "not at all confident."

Older computer users (65 and older), those less highly educated (high school or less), and those earning $50,000 or less express doubts about their proficiency significantly more often than younger users, the study said.

Download the full study if your target market includes the 45+ group.

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Second Digital Gold Rush To Be Led By Women
http://www.angusreid.com/MEDIA/CONTENT/displaypr.cfm?id_to_view=1006

For the first time ever, women will lead global Internet growth this year, helping close the gender gap that has typified the Internet since its inception, findings from Angus Reid Group's The Face of the Web study show. As well, more Boomers than teens and young adults will log on for the first time this year. But contrary to other studies, The Face of the Web sees little growth potential from the over 55 age group, which not only has the smallest segment intending to go online but the most people who say they have no use for the Internet. Read the full report from Angus Reid Group.

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Forbes Covers Email List Administration
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/00/0417/6509428a.htm

Lyris Technologies, the leader in permission email marketing software, announced today that the April 17,2000 issue of Forbes Magazine will include a detailed profile of Lyris in an article about electronic mailing list campaigns. Lyris software drives the Gazette.

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Promote Your Tutorials
http://www.findtutorials.com/

Got a tutorial or two on your Web site? Want the world to beat a path to their door?

Submit your tutorials to Find Tutorials. They'll review them and add them to their directory if the tutorials pass muster. Free, of course.

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GolfHelp.com
http://www.golfhelp.com/

Got a golf related Web site? Submit it to be included along with 10,000 others at GolfHelp.com. They'll review your submission and add it to the directory if it is approved. Free.