JimWorld Gazette Issue #96 07/20/2000

JimWorld Gazette - Issue #96 - July 20, 2000

CONTENTS

• From Our Sponsor - RocketLinks
  
• You're Not Alone
  
• From Our Sponsor - blaxxun
  
• Ezine Response Tracking System
  
• JimWorld Update Report
  
• Fighting Off Discouragement: Entrepreneur Health
  
• Snippets

Link to this issue of the Gazette as http://gazetteworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=g96

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YOU'RE NOT ALONE

I got the following from a Gazeteer and thought you'd enjoy reading it. Sometimes it's nice to know that everyone burns the midnight oil and many get the job done. Barry's done himself proud and I think you'll enjoy your visit to his site.

For those of you just starting out, this is a peek under the hood of an operational site. It will give you an idea of what it really takes to "go on -line" as opposed to the popular myths on that subject.

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Jim,

We have 1140 pages and growing.

Our site started with 5 pages done by a "professional." The professional went broke and I've done everything since. We are a small mail order company and the Internet has definitely made a difference, but if we had to pay someone to maintain our site the way it is being done now, it would eat up any additional profit. I learned HTML using Elizabeth Castro's "HTML for the World Wide Web". I am always interested in improving the site, but am wary of anything that takes away our control.

I enjoy your newsletter and find it contains useful information.

I use WebPosition, and we generally fare pretty well in our category. Our server has "getstats" on it, but I haven't found any useful information using it and am looking for another program. I am also making another web site using NetObjects Fusion, but this is slow going as I am learning the program as I go and plan to create pages from a MSAccess database (took MSAccess last semester at the college.)

We have a bulletin board (Matt's script), guest book, and order form. Our ordering procedure is very poor and I hope to get a MIVA shopping cart installed by the end of the year (once I figure out how to do it).

I'm not sure if you are interested in all of this, but I thought you might like to hear about our "model."

No venture capital, consulting firms, banner ads, affiliate programs, and we're still reaping the benefit of the Internet.

It might be relevant to say that I am almost 60, so this isn't just a young man's game.

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Barry
webMASTER
Glen-L Marine Designs
< http://www.glen-l.com/ >

FROM OUR SPONSOR

blaxxun develops powerful multimedia, multi-user products and applications enabling customers to create next-generation immersive, 3D online environments, or worlds, for purposes of commerce, community and collaboration.

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Start building YOUR Virtual World, or visit the blaxxun booth at Siggraph 2000 in New Orleans, July 25th-27th, 2000.

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Jim Note: You really should take a look at this site. We all know that 3D environments are coming to the Web as bandwidth increases. blaxxun seems to be pretty well out in front of the pack and you'll get an eye full.

I hadn't looked at this technology for a while and I'm surprised to see how far it has evolved. Many of the problems faced by the early attempts at this market have been nicely overcome.

Can JimVR be too far in our future?

EZINE RESPONSE TRACKING SYSTEM

At last, I am done (mostly) with testing and evaluating ways to track responses to articles and advertisements in ezines. You've seen the Gazette used as a test bed for the flailing around necessary to work my way through all of this, and for your patience, here's how it all came out.

First, a little background.

Why do we need to track our responses in the Gazette? There are several reasons, but two are compelling reasons>

1. Keeping the quality of the Gazette current with constantly changing needs within the subscriber community. In the past my only gauge to what you found the most interesting in the Gazette was to watch my email inbox for comments. While that's not a bad way to do it, it missing the vast majority of the readers. If I can track how many people visit each resource and product reviewed in the Gazette, I can keep publishing information that you find interesting, instead of just guessing.
   
   
2. Validating the response to advertisements. Let's face it. Finding quality advertisers for any on-line project is not easy, but if you can show the ezine's track record at delivering responses to past advertisers, the job gets a lot easier.

When I first started working on this project, I downloaded 37 different scripts and systems for tracking click-throughs. Most of them involved way too much processor overhead when redirecting and accounting for a click-through. Out they went.

Several of the ones left proved inaccurate in their tracking of clicks. Out they went. Several were so hard to install and secure they went out, too.

Now I was left with my remaining... none. Bummer.

I fell back on an old, old, old copy of Hyperseek which did everything I needed but is unfortunately no longer available for sale. I ran it for several issues just to refine my wish list and then went shopping again.

I found an acceptable solution at < http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=LnkinLite >

The script is called LnkinLite from Australia. The advantages are that it is very fast, accurate, puts minimal load on the server and it's free.

The downside items are: it's tough to install and get running and it doesn't keep track of the click-throughs based on ezine issue number. It keeps one running total for each URL you want to track.

The program has a good administration system built in to let you add, delete and update URL's that you want to track. It also has a display of each URL you are tracking and the number of click-throughs.

The developer offers installation on your server for only about US$22.00 and I STRONGLY suggest you have him do the installation unless you started writing Perl on the walls of your crib.

Keep the script name and the name of the directory you install it in as short as possible. Remember that our goal is to provide short, simple URL's for people to click on in your ezine. I installed LnkinLite in the directory "go" and changed the name of the script to "to.cgi" so a typical link will look like < http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=LnkinLite >

Cute, huh?

Once you have the script up and running you will be able to do several other things with it which we'll get into in future issues. One use would be to track clicks coming in from banners you are running on other sites, accounting for clicks from different FFA pages and to track your ads running in other ezines.

This type of system has value for both the salesperson and the buyer in you.

While this script is not the system I would want to do the job, it is perfectly functional and reliable.

As to the longer-term solution, you'll just have to wait until John Cokos at Hyperseek comes up for air and we develop the JimTool Tracker.

Until then, start tracking those clicks.

If you need to find an installer in the event the developer gets buried by this article, check into the thread at < http://gethighforums.com/Forum9/HTML/000630.html > or if you offer installation services, feel free to post your contact information there.

A quarter of a million readers can generate a pretty serious traffic jam.

JIMWORLD UPDATE REPORT

JimTools < http://jimtools.com/ >


>>Position Checker:

The JimTools Position Checker has now been "unbroken" and expanded. It now allows you to check your position for any keywords on any or all of 16 different search engines and directories. As luck would have it, this past week every major search engine made a structural change to their search results pages and broke all my position checking toys... I mean tools. That was a fun week.


>>Search Engine Submitter:

The Search Engine Submitter which submits your URL to 51 different USA and international spider-powered search engines is so server intensive that it was timing out when many people were using it at the same time. I upgraded it to make its submissions in three steps which has completely eliminated the problems. I saw it running submissions for 73 users yesterday at the same time and doing OK.


>>Directory Submitter:

The new directory submitter continues to evolve with new directories being added almost daily. It currently offers 174 directories and will grow as time permits.


>>WAP Directory Submitter:

WAP, or Wireless Application Protocol is sweeping the Web. It's that stuff that people can browse from their digital cell phones. JimTools has now deployed the world's first WAP directory submitter. If your site offers WAP access, this is for you. If your site doesn't offer WAP access, using this submitter to send out useless submissions will get your access to JimTools revoked. Unfortunately, 9 people have lost these rights. Use JimTools professionally or I'll be breathing down your neck.


>>Link Popularity Analyzer:

A much-requested tool has now been added to JimTools: the Link Popularity Checker. Enter your URL and the Checker will tell you how many links are shown to your site by AltaVista, Google, HotBot, Infoseek and Lycos.


All JimTools are FREE for your use. Enjoy and grow your sites. Make me proud.


>>Extractor Upgrade Available
< http://jimtools.com/extractor/ >

Version 1.4 has been released of the JimTool Extractor. Several little (but important) bug fixes plus another pair of enhancements for all of you users. Download the upgrade patch and double click on it to install.

New This Version:

• First, it can process very large files that may contain upwards of 32,000 unique email addresses or URLs.
  
  
• Secondly, when extracting URLs, you can now limit the results to top level domain names meaning only one entry for each unique domain will appear in the results file.

If you operate a directory or mailing list, or otherwise ever need to extract URLs or email addresses from any type of file, download the free trial and find out why I keep getting Thank You letters from users. It will save you hours every time you use it.


>>Free Site Templates FAQ

< http://www.freesitetemplates.com/ >

Free Site Templates continues to grow in both content and traffic. We now offer 62 different templates for complete web sites that you are welcome to download and use. Like the title say - FREE.

I received a new version of the FAQ-IT! software that I've reviewed in the past and decided to kill two birds with one rolling stone. I installed it as the FAQ system for Free Site Templates.

The system is available from Online Arts at < http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=onlinearts > for US$75.00 and you can try it free for 7 days before you have to pay the registration fee. It's on an honor system, which I know the Gazeteers will honor.

The system installs easily and offers some amazing administration features. Questions are submitted by visitors or the site operator and added to a pending queue for review.

When the administrator answers the question, it can be posted in the FAQ files or simply emailed back to the person asking for the information.

If you don't have an FAQ system yet, you'll love this one.


Something I hear about in my email all the time is "I didn't know you had that on JimWorld!"

This happens because so many thousands of you have bookmarked the areas of JimWorld that you use daily and you forget to stop in at the home page to see what's new. You're going to miss a lot of powerful tools and resources, so stop it. Visit the home page at least a couple of times each week.


Well, that's about all I had time to accomplish this week. Maybe I can do better next week. For now, I'm beat.

FIGHTING OFF DISCOURAGEMENT: ENTREPRENEUR HEALTH

Many glitches arise for the Internet entrepreneur ranging from the frustration of one's web site being inaccessible to the disappointment in seeing one's ezine ad not being "clickable" due to having left out the "." in the address. There seems to be so many things that can go wrong like your discussion board post getting buried by 5 other ones, your download page being given away to others or the see-saw ambivalence of whether one should work online harder and sacrifice even more time away from the family.

Discouragement is very slippery and slides it's way into our energy and moods. It can crush our hopes, create enervation and have subtle effects on our actions and relationships. Here are some effective ways to fight off this "virus":

1. Catch the "inner story " you are telling yourself. The book "Breathwalk" by Dr. Singh has a very interesting section on this: " Once we form our internal story, we live our life through the lens of that story. If we want a great life, a fulfilling life, then we better have a story inside ourselves that can lead us to it."

See the story you tell yourself when you are discouraged and "rewrite" it so it has a victorious outcome. A lot of our negative stories that discourage us were formed from the opinions of others, outdated information and thinking small.

1. Change the channel: Do something that will change the channel. Just like a radio, as the channel changes, so does the music. Even if you feel you don't have the energy to change the channel, switch it and the new thinking will uplift you. Whether it's getting a massage, jogging or vigorous exercise, this creates a shift in one's consciousness. You can see this often in doing even a few laps of swimming: It takes you outside of yourself and your former limited beliefs.

Here are some thoughts on this from the great minds of the West and East:

"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. "
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

"Failure is nature's plan to prepare you for great responsibilities."
~ Napoleon Hill ~

"Money is a singular thing. It ranks with love as man's greatest source of joy and with death as his greatest source of anxiety."
~ John Kenneth Galbraith ~

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Debra Cohen, LCSW is a Licensed Social Worker in Florida. Get Inspirational Quotes in your inbox Free. Visit http://www.outside-the-box.net or send an e-mail to: philosophyquotes-subscribe@listbot.com Read her Free Ebook "Gems of Wisdom- Quotes to Ponder" by writing gemsofwisdom@sendfree.com OR download from http://www.outside-the-box.net/freeversion.html

SNIPPETS

How to Accept Online Payments Without a Merchant Account
< http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=creditcards >

A nice article with links to resources that will let you get started immediately accepting credit cards. Getting a merchant account can be such a pain that these services are a first choice unless you intend to sell millions of dollars worth of stuff this year.

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Perl Regular Expressions
< http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=regularexp >

Eric at BuildACommunity.com has been pounding regular expressions into my head as I work on the JimTools. Once you master these powerful search expressions you'll be able to find anything on any page or file. For all you Perl coders, go read about it.

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Godado
< http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=godado >

Have you seen this Pay Per Click directory from the U.K.? Nicely done and clicks are pretty cheap right now.

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"AOL and Intel will pay you to forward this email"

This tired, old myth is making the rounds again. Thought I'd better mention it since I've gotten about 50 copies forwarded by a bunch of people that haven't seen it before.

Folks, this is a HOAX. AOL and Intel are not going to pay you thousands of dollars to forward an email (spam) to all of your friends.

Just like Microsoft doesn't need your help to spread the word about a vicious new virus. Maybe they would use one of the TV networks they own?

Please. Think before you buy into these hoaxes.