Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly Newsletter

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Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #10 Jan. 25, 2002
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter.
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
Online Marketing: Part 7 - SPAM / Mass-Email
Marketing
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
The Top 10 Scams for 2001
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
Online Marketing: Part 7 - SPAM / Mass-Email Marketing
By Aaron Turpen of Aaronz WebWorkz

Editor's Comments: This is the last of the series.
------------------------------------------------------------

This is the last installment of my Online Marketing series
of articles. Hopefully, they've been of some use. The
entire series can be read online on my website:
http://www.aaronzwebworkz.com/Newsletter/newsletter.html

I've undoubtedly saved the most controversial subject for
last. The title of this article shows the fine line
between a morally criminal way of thinking and a viable and
useful marketing tool. Sending SPAM (officially called UCE
or Unsolicited Commercial Email) is wrong - I will go into
the reasons for this later. However, sending commercial
email for advertising is an effective and low-cost way to
market your business or products.

Email marketing will probably be around for as long as the
Internet is alive and supports email protocols (or any
similar type of communication). Contrary to what some
would say, it also has its place. Advertising is a form of
communication. However, just like any other form of
advertising, there are rules governing this medium as well.

No matter what country you live in, some sort of free
speech law probably governs you. No matter which country
you're in, however, that free speech law does not give you
the right to take over the local newspaper and force them
to print whatever you want printed on the front page
because of your right to free speech. They are under no
obligation to pay for your free speech. The same applies
to the Internet. With email, the people receiving the
email or that person's ISP (and most likely several others
along the way) are flipping the bill for your message.
This is akin to walking into the newspaper and demanding
they print your words for free.

In addition to all of these moral issues, there are legal
ones to consider as well. There are several laws governing
the way that you are allowed to advertise anything anywhere
in the United States and elsewhere. Since government is
just a large committee of people making decisions (in most
places), it is always one step behind when it comes to
technology under the law. However, since the Internet is
really just a large cooperative of commercial and private
networks, it is a little more dynamic in its dealings with
"perpetrators." One network can effectively ban whomever
they deem a miscreant and others will eventually follow
suit as the offender moves through the different networks
to try and bypass the blockage.

With all of the hype and hysteria surrounding the use of
email as a marketing tool, why do people continue to use
it? Well…because it's effective. People wouldn't spend
the money to send junk mail through the post if it wasn't
effective and they wouldn't spend millions on a 30-second
commercial during the Super Bowl if it weren't effective as
well. If you follow some simple guidelines and use the
email marketing tool wisely, you can reap great rewards.

If you are selling a product or service which rarely leads
to residual sales to the same person or entity (i.e. they
buy it once and will probably never ask for it again -
coffins are a good example), then you can use email
marketing effectively. Why? Because you aren't building a
business name (aka "branding" your business) or consumer
trust. You are just making one-time contacts and make more
money by contacting en masse instead of by specifically
targeting customers. You aren't building lasting
relationships through your business.

There is nothing wrong with this business approach. For
some types of businesses, it is just a fact of life.
Customers don't need your product or service more than
once. There are still some rules of etiquette which you
should use when email advertising, however. Your
incentive for following them? Less negative feedback and
possibly higher return on your sales: more respect =
better chances of success.

The first rule to follow is to make sure that yourself or
the company you're paying to send out the emails includes a
short note to the recipient that explains where their email
came from. A hyperlink will suffice for this if you don't
personalize your mails from a database. Make sure that you
include the EXACT location they used to sign up for
whatever list they are on. Not only does this give them a
way to get off of that list, it also serves as a reminder
as to how they signed up to receive your emails in the
first place. If they opt-out of the list, then you're
better off for having an unresponsive customer off of your
list. Win-win.

If you're purchasing your list from someone else, get all
of the information before you buy. Where did the list come
from? How were the addresses culled? How targeted is this
list to your expected market? Has anyone else used this
list before? What is their guarantee as to the validity of
the emails on the list? Some of these questions make sense
from a marketing and business standpoint as well as a moral
one.

The next step is choosing how to convey your message inside
the email. If you visit www.scambusters.org, you'll see a
huge list of Internet scams in all categories of
"business." Everything from buying swampland in Florida to
sending used credit cards to be used as paint scrapers
instead of "filling landfills with environmentally nasty
plastic" - yes this con has actually been used. Why do I
bring up these scams? Because most of them have been
perpetrated using unsolicited email at one time or another.
Make sure your sales letter/email doesn't sound like one of
them. Nothing enrages SPAM-conscious email readers more
than a get-rich-quick scheme or any other senseless hype.

My next piece of advice is for you to get to the point.
Whether you're sending email advertising using text email,
HTML, or even Flash-embedded email to get the user's
attention, KEEP that attention. Don't waste their time
babbling on. Get to the point of your letter. You don't
have to be blunt or unimaginative, but don't write a
treatise on your great product either. People don't want
you to waste their time. Some people pay for their online
time by the minute, others are busy working or running a
business, while still others may be hogging up the family
phone to get to their email.

Everyone on the Internet has received one form of SPAM or
another. The best rule you can follow is: if you received
your email, would you respond to it? Would you really care
about the product? Why not test this theory? Open up a
free web-based email account somewhere and send your email
to a test group - people you know personally and who won't
hang you for using them this way-of five or ten people.
Then wait a couple of days and ask them if they got an
email about such-and-such product. If they remember
getting that email, you're doing a good job. If they
remember it and are mad or have bad things to say about it,
then you need to rethink your strategy. At this point you
can let them in on your scientific prodding. Be prepared
to duck and run at this point.

In closing, I hope that this series of articles has been
useful in some way. Remember that marketing is 80% of your
business. Also remember that proper marketing, using both
imagination and ethics, can carry you further and can help
solidify your business better than anything else ever will.

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From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

It's been another one of those short weeks where everything
took too long and nothing got listed as anything other than
an emergency. Basically, your usual fair.

Tax season is still creeping up on us. I plan to run more
articles on this subject in upcoming issues.

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Readers Talk Back!
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"Man - Joe's stuff is good."

--Rob K. (no website)

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If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com. All are welcome to give
their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

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The Top 10 Scams for 2001

Excerpt from Internet ScamBusters (tm)
The #1 Publication on Internet Fraud

By Audri and Jim Lanford
Copyright (c) 2002 Audri and Jim Lanford

Avoid getting scammed on the Internet. Sign up for a free
subscription to Internet ScamBusters, the #1 publication on
Internet fraud. Send a blank email to
subscribe@scambusters.org or visit:
http://www.scambusters.org/

Editor's Comments: I figured that, with the above article
and my mention of their site, I may as well include the
Scam Buster's latest!
------------------------------------------------------------

Scams on the Internet are growing -- and with the vast
selection, it was hard to only choose ten. We've tried to
soften this list with a bit of humor. But please don't let
the humor make these scams seem any less serious than they
really are.

Some of these scams are very dangerous.

A word of warning, so to speak. These aren't ranked by
dollars lost or people scammed. There's nothing scientific
about the list. It's just the ten scams that we find the
most disturbing.

You'll note that most of these involve spam. There's a
reason for that. The mentality of a spammer is exactly the
same kind of mindset as a con artist.

As we always say: "If it's spam, it's scam."

Here are the top 10 scams of 2001...

10. Herbal Viagra

This is really a whole category of scams, relating to the
sale of medical or "alternative" medical treatments online.
Usually using spam to get to the "customer."

If you're lucky, these products will do nothing at all.
Some of them are seriously dangerous by themselves. They
promise cures for life threatening illnesses, causing those
who buy the promise to delay proper medical treatment,
sometimes past the point where it would have helped.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before buying into any of
these nostrums. It'll save you a lot of headaches and
heartache later.

Folks, consider this: If you wouldn't trust a spammer to
handle your money, why would you take medical advice from
them???

9. Internet Investigator

"Be the first kid on your block to know all the dirty
secrets your neighbors are hiding! Find out what your
prospective mate has hidden in his past! Find the lost city
of Atlantis! Find your lost remote!"

This one is more an annoyance than a real problem. It
serves as a great example of the pure hype that you should
watch out for in online advertising.

Filled with promises of secret knowledge that's not
available to anyone else, it delivers nothing more than a
list of places you can pay to search for information. It's
the perfect example of a pitch that's not quite a scam --
but clearly misleads in its promise.

Ask yourself this: If this stuff was as easy as the ads
make it out to be, wouldn't you see these "secret
techniques" in magazines and on TV?

8. Pump and Dump

You've probably gotten these. The subject line or first
part of the email says that this is "Highly confidential
information."

This scam is based on touting "advance information" on
specific stocks in an attempt to drive up the price past
its true worth, so the promoters can sell at the higher
price.

They pump it up, and then dump it. Hence the name.

This is generally illegal. And certainly a bad way to get
investment advice...

Ask yourself: If it's so confidential, why are they
spamming it to millions of people?

7. Credit Scams

There are all sorts of these that prey on the desires of
people to repair or establish credit.

The worst are the alleged credit repair services. They
promise to help you to remove accurate but negative
information from your credit record, or to show you how to
get a federal Employer ID Number, usually in very
questionable fashion.

Not only do these techniques not work, they can get you in
deep trouble for committing fraud.

You're not going to fix your credit while you're in jail.

As far as easy credit, guaranteed approval credit cards,
and home equity loans that don't require equity in your
home... forget it.

This one should be obvious: Cheap money? From a BANK???

6. Auction Antics

You can get a lot of terrific deals through online
auctions, but you need to be careful. Before buying
anything that seems too cheap, or that shouldn't be on an
auction site at all, ask questions.

Look at the seller's feedback rating and comments. You'll
get a lot of clues from that. Check the retail price of the
merchandise. If it's new merchandise, you can probably
expect to pay 1/2 to 2/3 of retail, even at auction.

Remember the old story of the fellow who raffled off a
brand new Lincoln at a small town carnival? Tickets were $1
each, and everyone figured they had a good chance.

He sold a lot of tickets, and, as promised, he delivered a
brand new Lincoln... penny.

For more on auction fraud, you can check out the issue of
Internet ScamBusters called "Online Auctions: Deals or
Steals" at: http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters43.html

5. Chain Letters

"Add your name to position X, move the name in position Y
to position Z, send 200 copies of this letter to your
closest personal friends, and very soon you'll have no
personal friends left!"

Don't believe the claims about legitimacy, folks. These
things are illegal, immoral, and probably fattening.

4. Viruses

Get a good anti-virus program, keep it updated, and keep it
running.

Huh? What are viruses doing in the ranks of scams?

They're actually among the more clever of scams, if you
think about it. Deceptive subject lines, hidden code that
causes you to spread them to your friends, and almost
always appealing to the most common desires.

3. Nigerian Fee Scam

This is an oldie, and a real baddie.

The basic line goes like this:

"I represent some high mucky muck who wants to get a lot of
suspicious money out of my country, and we need help from
you to do it. We'll pay you stupid amounts of cash to be a
front person."

The system escalates until you've got money sunk into the
scam, and they want you to visit the country in question in
person. There have been people who played along with this
and never made it home alive.

Originally this was focused through Nigeria, but with
recent events, you may hear about Taliban leaders wanting
help, or people from other war-torn countries.

Don't respond to these people in any way. People die
falling for this one.

For more on this scam, check out:
http://www.scambusters.org/NigerianFee.html

2. Identity Theft

This is a VERY serious problem. We covered this in our last
issue of Internet ScamBusters. If you haven't read it, do
so now at:
http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters47.html

1. WTC Scams

The spams relating to the World Trade Center began within
an hour of the attacks. They range from appeals for aid to
the victims, usually sent through the spammers' web sites,
to fake news items concerning reported attacks.

There's nothing funny to be said about these.

Don't pass them along, and don't contribute through any
site that doesn't belong to a recognizable charity, such as
the Red Cross or the United Way.

You can read more about these scams at:
http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters46.html

When you consider doing any sort of business online, look
over this list and see if the appeal sounds like one or
more of these scams. If so, check it out carefully before
sending money.

Most online businesses are run by honest folks and are
quite safe. Just use a little common sense and caution, and
you should be fine.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2001 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
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questions to the editor (newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).

------------------------------------------------------------
Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #9 Jan. 18, 2002
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter.
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
Online Marketing: Part 6 - Banner Ads, Web Rings,
Etc.
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising -- Conclusion
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
Online Marketing: Part 6 - Banner Ads, Web Rings, Etc.
By Aaron Turpen of Aaronz WebWorkz

Editor's Comments: This is the sixth of the series of
articles focusing on online advertising. Next week we will
have the final article, which will deal with forms of
email marketing.
------------------------------------------------------------

As we continue to look at advertising on the web, we were
going to have to touch on the subject of banner ads and web
rings. Banner ads are graphics (usually of a set size -
more on that later) that act as the billboards of the
Internet. Log on to any large site (Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay,
etc.) and you'll see banner ads displayed in all kinds of
places. These portals have found ergonomic ways to place
these ads, though it wasn't always so. During the heyday
of the Internet (about two years ago), you couldn't go
anywhere without being flooded with banner ads, pop-up
banners, rotating banners, and animated sequences of all
kinds. Not so any more, except on the most amateurish of
sites.

Banner ads were touted as the best advertising on the web.
Find a site with a huge number of daily visitors, buy some
"ad time" for your banner and you'll be living large. Not
so any more. Except on a few rare sites, banner ad click-
rates have dropped below 1%. This means that if you spend
only $3 per thousand impressions, you may have 10 people
click on the banner to visit your site. So you just spent
three bucks to get ten people to visit your site. Not very
economical advertising.

Banner ads are usually created in specific sizes, the most
common of these are: 468 pixels wide by 60 high (full-
size), 234 pixels wide by 60 tall (half), 120 pixels high
by 240 tall (vertical), 392 pixels wide by 72 tall
(vertical "menu") and 125 pixels wide by 125 tall (button).

When you buy ad space on a website, you usually pay per x
number of impressions. An impression is a page load,
meaning every time someone loads the page with your banner
(whether they are loading the page for the first time or
not), the banner has made an "impression." Sometimes these
are measured in the hundreds, thousands, or even tens of
thousands. These rates are dependent upon several factors
including the site's popularity (number of visitors per
day/week/month), the spot in which your ad appears
(sometimes called "screen real estate" or "position"), and
a few other factors.

Despite the drawbacks, many businesses still use banners to
advertise their websites or products. Although most
marketers would advise smaller businesses and those on a
tight marketing budget to use a different method of
advertising, there are some merits to banner ads. Banner
ads are still one of the most popular and useful ways to
"brand" your business, product, personality, etc.

If you're still interested in banner advertising, then you
will need to know a few things to get started. The first
items are of basic marketing strategy. Who is your target
audience? Where do these people go regularly when they're
surfing the Internet? What other sites appear when
searching for sites similar to yours? Do those sites offer
banner advertising? It may seem sneaky, but this can be a
great way to increase your search popularity in a
roundabout way.

If you know most of those answers (especially the first
two), then you are ready to get your banner ad created.
First, brainstorm some ideas. Look around at businesses
similar to yours and how they're advertising. Most banner
ads are catchy in some way: either through animation,
"trickiness" ("Punch the Monkey & Win!"), or humor: or any
combination of those. If you can, create a story board or
at least a written description of what you'd like to see in
your banner. Once you know what you want, it's time to
create it. You can either do it yourself (probably not
recommended if you aren't an accomplished graphic artist)
or pay someone else to do it for you. Prices can range
considerably, but most will charge between $40 and $100 for
a basic banner. Shop around a little until you find
someone with the style you're after in their portfolio and
who's inside your price range. Before you hire them, go
through the steps in the next paragraph to find out where
you plan to purchase ad space. This way you'll know what
dimensions your ad should have.

Before you purchase ad space on site x, you should know a
few things about what you're buying. Does the site use
rotational software to move ads or change them periodically
so that user's don't get bored seeing the same ads all the
time? Does the site have third-party verification of their
purported hits per day/week? What options do they offer
for placement of your ad and can you time it by day of the
week or even hour of the day? Finally, what size of banner
advertisements do they accept and which one will you need
for it to fit in the spot you want to buy?

Now that you have the information, you're ready to get
started. Right? Well, maybe. You have another option for
banners besides just animated .GIF files. If you have
extra money to spend and the site you wish to advertise on
accepts them, you can have a Flash™ animated banner with
movement and even sound. They are expensive, but are
becoming more prevalent and tend to be "catchier" than
normal banners. The down side is that not a lot of web
sites will accept these types of ad and the ad placement
itself can be more expensive because of the extra bandwidth
needed to serve the larger file size. If you can overcome
these obstacles and do it, these ads will garner a much
higher rate of interest from prospective customers than a
standard banner ad will ever be able to.

Other forms of banner advertising are called web rings and
link cooperatives. These systems usually operate in one of
two ways. The most common is for a "hub" site to supply
the links, software, and to serve up the banners
themselves. Another is for each site to have the software
on their server and for banners to be "grabbed" from the
site they advertise. The first is easiest for everyone
involved and offers other options as well.

In a web ring, a "click" system can be used to give
"points" to sites which get someone to click-through to
another site in the web ring. The more points the site
has, the more often their own banner is shown on other
sites as advertisement. This works well for some sites,
but tends to be counterproductive for others. It is a fair
system in theory and usually in practice, but takes time to
build on. Most point systems clear or average the points
every month or so. This continues to give bonuses to sites
that have been in the ring the longest, but keeps the
system fair for new sites to build themselves up as well.

Another common option is similar to the first but is a one-
for-one system instead of a point system. In this setup,
every time someone clicks through your site to another in
the web ring, you get your banner shown x number of times
on other sites in the web ring. This is more of a reward
system for generating leads to other sites.

Either way, the biggest down side to web rings is that you
have no control over who's banner shows on your site (or
very little if they do allow filtering), the sites are
usually inter-related and therefore your competitors are
likely to show up, and finally they don't always look
professional and tend to draw visitors away from your site-
which is the opposite of your reason for advertising in the
first place.

Link cooperatives are a little more useful in building
traffic and recognition for your website and business.
Using this, sites of similar interest who are not competing
can trade links to one another using "flow-through"
software (which moves the surfer through the sites like a
storybook), straight links traded one-for-one (I put a link
on my site and you put one on yours), or with an inter-site
search engine which searches every site in the cooperative
and shows results to the user, with portal pages to the
search engine appearing on each site. Of the three, this
last one is hardest to find but most useful. You get to
trade content with other sites similar to yours AND you get
the benefits of inter-trading users who are genuinely
interested in your site.

Other systems similar to web rings and link cooperatives
exist, usually as a hybrid of the two. Each of these has
their merits, but they are hard to find and may or may not
be what you need in your quest for online marketing. It's
always a good idea to search out your options and find
what's best for your situation. Building a name for
yourself on the Web takes time, dedication, and
imagination.

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Happily, this has been a quiet week - a nice change from
the usual. Only three more weeks until the Olympics come
to town. It's about time to start stocking up on
provisions so we won't have to leave the house next month!

In reality, it will be nice to see the place get shaken up
a little bit and it's an honor to have the Games come here
to Utah.

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey another great issue! i like that Joe Bingham guy and
am glad you are still sending his articles."

--Eli J. (no website)

"Thanks for the fax and we all enjoy your newsletter,
Aaron. Hope that business is going well!"

--Ellen (Thrifty Nickel Want Ads, Salt Lake City)

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com. All are welcome to give
their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising -- Conclusion

Written by Joe Bingham, Editor of the NetPlay Newsletters
Subscribe to 1 of 3 Quality NetPlay Ezines, See which one
fits you at: http://www.netplaynewsletters.com

Need To Publish Your Own Ezine?
I'll Write It For You and Show You How to Make It
Successful!
http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/publisher.html

Editor's Comments: This is the conclusion of the article
I ran last week about e-zine advertising. Joe has done a
great job!
------------------------------------------------------------

Up until this point, we discussed the two methods of using
ezine advertising, playing the numbers, and targeting.
Then, we focused on targeting by discussing how to select
ezines based on content and audience, and how to analyze
those selected for the best advertising value.

Now, finally, we come down to the actual cost of purchased
advertising. How much is affordable and what is too much?

As I said in part three of this series, it just depends.
I don't mean to give a misleading answer with that
statement, nor do I mean to skirt around the subject. It's
just that price is a subjective item that revolves around
the product or opportunity you are promoting and the ezine
you are promoting in.

So, while I cannot give you a simple rule to follow, I can
give you a way to analyze the cost. However, there are
still a BUNCH of other factors that I'll bring up
afterward.

First, let's use the term 'ad hits' to describe the number
of people that view your ad in an ezine and then answer it
by either going to the site you want them to or emailing to
you or your auto responder.

Now, look at the following formula:

(# subscribers) x (% response) = Expected Ad Hits

Example:

1000 subscribers x 3% = 30

From there, naturally, it depends on how many sales you get
from the ad hits you receive and how much money you make
per sale. Getting 1 sale out of 30 hits is a 3.33% sales
ratio.

Now, if you can do at least that, consider how much you
make per sale as opposed to how much the ad cost you. If
you make $10 per sale and the ad to 1000 subscribers only
cost you $5, then there's your profit of $5.

So essentially the equation you need to use is this one:

Income for the ad =

(# subs) x (% response from ezine) x (sales % from
site) x ($ made per sale)

If that number is of greater value than the cost of the ad,
then it's good. Of course, all of this is assuming you
have an ad tracking system in place so you can see the
results of your advertising in different ezines. If you
don't, then either you advertise in only one ezine at a
time so you can track your results, or you make groups
based on ezines that are similar and you track your results
as you go through different groups. This may be done by
counting hits at your site, or merely by seeing what
results in sales.

Obviously, ad tracking can give you more data to work with
as far as seeing which ezines are getting you results.
However, that can be another expense you must figure into
the cost of your advertising.

So, that's it as far as figuring out whether or not
advertising is worth the cost a particular ezine is asking,
right?

Not hardly. Here's the deal.

In all my reading, I've seen most writers say you can
expect .5% to 3% response from an ezine, and occasionally
get up to 5% or higher even depending on certain factors.
I have no problem with those numbers.

What we have talked about before now becomes vitally
important. If you've done your job right and selected the
best ezines based on appropriate content and audience, and
analyzed them to determine the best ones to advertise in,
then you should have no problem getting the 3% response
rate. Plus, repeat advertising in the same ezine can get
you a higher overall response rate as the ad keeps drawing
hits from different people each time it's seen. Naturally,
then, you have to compare the cost of the repeated ad to
the number of additional hits it creates. However, often
ezines have package deals that reduce the cost per issue if
you buy an ad for multiple issues.

From here, you also have other questions to answer.

Is targeting ezines worth my time or should I just play the
numbers and buy bulk ads?

Is my ad going to be effective and pull the responses I am
seeking?

Is my sales site going to get the sales I expect after I
get visitors there?

Does what I make from sales over the cost of my ads also
cover the other expenses of my business so that I make a
profit overall?

This series focused solely on how to use ezine advertising.
However, as you can see there are other factors to be
considered. My goal with this series was not to provide
you with all the answers on how to do everything. I can't
do that anyway. I do hope, however, that I've enlightened
you to the choices you do have and started you to thinking
about what is going to work best for you.

It's not always simple, but there are things you can do to
improve your chances at success. I hope you've learned
some of those things with these articles.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2001 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
List Maintenance:
To subscribe
[newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com - subject: subscribe]

To unsubscribe
[newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com - subject: unsubscribe]

This newsletter is produced by Aaronz WebWorkz, a complete
online services provider. To view information or to see
back issues of this publication, please go online to:
www.AaronzWebWorkz.com. Please direct all comments or
questions to the editor (newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).

------------------------------------------------------------
Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #8 Jan. 11, 2002
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter.
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising - Parts 1-3
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:

=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising - Parts 1-3

Written by Joe Bingham, Editor of the NetPlay Newsletters
Subscribe to 1 of 3 Quality NetPlay Ezines, See which one
fits you at: http://www.netplaynewsletters.com

Need To Publish Your Own Ezine?
I'll Write It For You and Show You How to Make It
Successful!
http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/publisher.html

Editor's Comments: I was about to begin writing the next
installment of my series of articles on marketing. The
next one, #5, was to focus on ezine/newsletter ads and how
to use them effectively. Well, the prolific Joe Bingham
beat me to it! The next part of this article will appear
in next week's issue along with part 6 of my series, which
will focus on banner ads and webrings.
------------------------------------------------------------

Just for the sake of avoiding an argument, let's just say
that ezine advertising is the best form of advertising on
the Internet.

Now, let's move on to learning how to more properly make
use of the advertising available in ezines.

Essentially, and this holds true for all Internet
marketing, you have two options to choose from.

OPTION #1 -- Playing The Numbers

The Internet in general is a numbers game. So long as what
you are advertising is worth anything at all, there are
going to be people interested in it. One option you have
is simply to get an effective ad out to as many people as
possible.

This option, while it's less time consuming, is also less
targeted and requires more subscriber views per response
than using targeted ezine advertising.

The best approach for this method is to take advantage of
many of the bulk ad buying programs being offered.

Subscriber/Ad Programs are low cost methods of getting your
ad exposed to dozens of ezines and hundreds of thousands of
subscribers. Some of the best of these include:

2 Bucks An Ad
http://hop.clickbank.net/hop.cgi?phage/paaads

2 Dollar Ads
http://hop.clickbank.net/?phage/dollarday

$10 for 20 Ads
http://hop.clickbank.net/?phage/CashGalore

Other programs exist that do not require you to subscribe
to the ezines your ad will be placed in, but still cover
multiple ezines and many thousands of subscribers.
Examples include:

Ad Mistress $30 Column Ad available from any ezine
participating in the program.
See http://www.webventurist.com for instance.

Ad Mark Ad Sheet also available in multiple ezines and
claims to be sent to over 2.5 million readers. Try this
one:
http://www.shopmystate.com/logon/12-09-01/index-2.html

The point of these programs being that your ad is
immediately presented to many thousands of subscribers at
once.

The drawback to these programs is that you have little
control over which ezines your ads will be seen in, nor the
timing of when your ad runs. This could lead to your ad
being featured in ezines of an entirely different subject
matter, and also makes ads that pertain to timed events or
schedules difficult to deal with.

Again, the whole point to this approach is simply pushing
for the largest numbers possible in hopes of achieving
results.

OPTION #2 -- Targeting Your Advertising

While this approach takes more work, the idea is that since
the advertising is targeted it will achieve more response
per subscriber view and therefore be more cost effective.

The work involved in this approach lies in selecting the
best ezines to run your ad in. This involves searching out
appropriate ezines, researching ad rates and subscriber
bases for those ezines, and talking with the editors or
advertising agents for the ezines in question.

Part 2: SELECTING TARGETED EZINES

In part one of this series, we discussed the two options
available for advertising in ezines. The first of those
involved buying ads in bulk with the goal of getting
exposure to as many subscribers as possible without regard
to targeting the advertising.

The second option, which will be discussed here, involves
a little more work, but should bring back better results
per subscriber view. This option requires targeting your
advertising in ezines that are more specifically related to
the product or business you are promoting.

The first step in targeting ezine advertising involves
selecting the right ezines.

Ezine directories are excellent places to start. A good
ezine directory will allow you to look through ezines by
entering key words into a search. By entering words that
relate to your product or opportunity, you then will be led
to ezines that cover similar subjects. Since not all
ezines are listed in ezine directories, however, it's a
good idea to conduct a web site search as well and then
look into the ezines associated with web sites that are
related to your product or business.

From there, look closer into the ezines your search
uncovers by looking at a sample issue, if the ezine
directory provides one, or by visiting the web site of the
ezine, or simply by subscribing.

Definitely subscribe to those ezines you think will be best
suited for your ad. Get to know the kind of content the
ezines usually run. The fastest way to accomplish this is
by searching through archived issues if the ezine in
question provides this. If not, subscribe and read a few
issues to learn more about the usual topics the ezine
covers.

After you get to know some good ezines, see if they have a
recommended reading section that will lead you to other
good ezines. Many ezines put a recommended reading or
equivalent section right in the ezine. However, be sure
and judge them for yourself. Don't just follow the
recommendations blindly.

At this point, you will be able to make a short list of
ezines to further examine. That's right, you still have
some more examining to do before you will be ready to
purchase advertising.

One thing to realize, however, is that subscriber count is
not necessarily that important. Sure, it's great to find a
large ezine that fits your ad perfectly and doesn't cost
too much to advertise in, but quite often small ezines will
represent just as good of a value.

Part 3: ANALYZING EZINES

After having selected ezines to advertise your program in
based on how the content of the ezines relate to what you
wish to advertise, there is still another process to
choosing the best ezines for your marketing dollars.

Analyzing the ezines is a rather subjective process,
however. There are no hard and fast rules to follow that
give you a clear indication of whether or not an ezine is
worth the cost. However, there is an information gathering
process that can help you to make better decisions.

AD FORMATTING

One important aspect is how ads are handled in the ezine
itself. Where are the ads located in the ezine? Are they
made visible by being placed directly between or at the
start of the articles, or are they pushed all to the end of
the ezine or published separately in an ad sheet?

How many ads are run in each issue? Are the headlines of
the ads offset to attract attention, are the ads separated
in some way from each other, or does the entire ad section
look like one big chunk of text?

Naturally, anything the ezine publisher does to give
visibility to the ads is a plus for you as an advertiser.

SUBSCRIBERS: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?

Don't be afraid to contact the editor, publisher, or
advertising agent of an ezine and ask them some questions.
Find out not only how many subscribers they have, but get
their opinion of what type of markets their subscribers are
interested in, AND how they get their subscribers.

Some marketing practices, such as automatically subscribing
people that post to an FFA or ad site, may pull a lot of
subscribers for an ezine, but result in very little
readers. Ads for subs programs also have mixed results.
Some stick around and read the ezine, but many don't. The
best subscribers are those that are completely volunteer
opt in readers.

However, many ezines use multiple means of gaining
subscribers and while some use not so great methods, they
may also clean their lists of non-responsive subscribers
regularly. That's why it is best to ask and make a
judgment based on the answer you receive. This may take
some practice and trial and error, but at least if you have
the information you are giving yourself something to learn
from. So, ask where, how, and what type of subscribers the
ezine has. Ask how effectively they retain subscribers as
well. That is a good indication of many subscribers are
reading the ezine and viewing it as worthwhile.

FREE vs. PAID ADVERTISING

There are many ezines that do offer free ads to their
subscribers. Some of these are worthwhile others are not.
It really comes down to reader involvement. If people
are still reading the ezine and not just subscribed to put
their ad in every week, it may be worth your time. If the
ezine has passed all of you're other criteria up to this
point, it has to be worth a shot. At least this costs you
nothing but your time.

Paid advertising at this point where you have studied,
selected, and analyzed many ezines and come up with a short
list is definitely going to be worth the cost.

Let's just review what you have gone through in selecting
the ezines to advertise in.

1. Targeted Content that matches the product, service, or
opportunity you are advertising.
2. Acceptable Potential Market based on the content of the
ezine and what the ezine's editor says about his or her
subscriber's interests.
3. Acceptable Ad Formatting and Placement in the Ezine.
4. Acceptable Subscriber Base as described by the way the
ezine gets it's subscribers and keeps them.

Now comes the kicker, ad cost. What's a good price, and
what isn't?

Well, it just depends. That's not what you wanted to hear,
I know. You'd rather I provided a simple rule to go by
that made all of your decisions for you. Sorry, but I
don't believe that is possible. It is a big subject,
however, so we'd best save it for the final installment in
this series.

Look for it next week.

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, what a week. It's been busy and interesting all at
once - just how I like it. We had a little incident with a
UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email/SPAM) problem on the
server in the middle of the week. It was nipped in the bud
and, thankfully, wasn't anyone residing on the server. A
hacker, of sorts, was exploiting a loophole in the Apache
server operating system. That hole has been closed and we
are none the worse for wear, thankfully.

During the installation of the patch software to fix this
problem, I installed several others. Several Front Page
extensions that were not fully supported before have been
set up along with a few odds and ends to make things run
more smoothly. This means that the usual server reboot
which takes place every Sunday late in the evening will not
happen this week since it's already been done.

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
Pretty quiet on the home front this week. No comments were
sent for inclusion.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com. All are welcome to give
their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
Taxes - Getting Preparado
By Aaron Turpen of Aaronz WebWorkz

Editor's Comments: Since I let Joe have the spotlight, I
decided to try the other side of the fence and see what
it's like to be a guest writer for the newsletter.
------------------------------------------------------------

It's that time of year again. Time to start thinking about
the blood, sweat, and tears you'll be pouring over those
IRS forms and books. Unless you have an accountant; then
you'll only have to worry about the check you'll have to
write when it's all said and done. Either way, this is not
a fun time to be in business. Ben Franklin said it best
when he said, "Beer…proof that God loves us and wants us to
be happy."

The time to start digging up those receipts from 2001 and
organizing them in preparation for use is upon us. During
the year, I organize my receipts by the month in pocket
folders and keep an accurate log of them in a ledger.
Whether you use a pencil and a book, computerized
accounting software like Quicken, or through a medium with
your late Aunt Betsy, your system is about to pay off…or
not.

Once you have all those receipts gathered up, what do you
do with them? I always organize them into categories of
expense, using my ledger as a guide. Expenses such as
advertising, entertainment, purchases, acquisitions,
insurance, charitable contributions, office supplies, etc.
should be used. It all depends on your business and how
down-and-dirty you want to be.

Once that is done, I start looking for software. Why?
Because whether you write and file your own taxes or not,
tax preparation software is a great tool towards helping
you with your tax burdens. Not only is the software a
write-off (woo-hoo!), but good software can guide you
through and show you deductions and write-offs you may not
have noticed or even known about. If you buy software that
can coincide with your accounting software, you can be even
better off.

There are plenty of other resources to guide you through
questions you might have as well. The IRS has a lot of
helpful resources online. I know, I know, IRS? Helpful?
In the same sentence? Well, it's happened. New tax laws
you might not know about or changes you may have heard
about but want details on are all available there. A few
good links include:

http://www.irs.gov - The IRS home page.
http://www.irs.gov/smallbiz/ - The IRS Small Business Guide
http://www.irs.gov/news/foryou/ - The IRS page for new news
and tax laws.
http://www.sba.gov - The Small Business Administration home
site.

These four links should get you started to finding useful
information and tips! If you are already prepared or start
preparing early, tax time doesn't have to be so bad. Just
remember what Ben Franklin said and you'll be all right.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2001 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
List Maintenance:
To subscribe
[newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com - subject: subscribe]

To unsubscribe
[newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com - subject: unsubscribe]

This newsletter is produced by Aaronz WebWorkz, a complete
online services provider. To view information or to see
back issues of this publication, please go online to:
www.AaronzWebWorkz.com. Please direct all comments or
questions to the editor (newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).

------------------------------------------------------------
Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #7 Jan. 04, 2002
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter.
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
Online Marketing: Part 4 - Online Auctions
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
Organizational Skills for the Home-Based
Entrepeneur
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
Online Marketing: Part 4 - Online Auctions
By Aaron Turpen of Aaronz WebWorkz

Editor's Comments: Although short, it's the idea in the
article, not the walkthrough that's important. Next week
we will be focusing on advertising in newsletters/e-zines
online. This article will feature Joe Bingham instead of
myself.
------------------------------------------------------------

Many people have not considered the value of using online
auction houses, such as eBay and Yahoo! Auctions, to
promote their own businesses. No matter your business,
with a little creativity, you can use this tool to market
yourself.

There are three important pieces to the marketing puzzle
when using auction websites: your user name, your profile,
and your products.

When signing up, pick a user name that reflects your
business. Your business name is preferred, but anything
close (even your website name: yourbusiness.com) will do
well. For example, my username on eBay is
"AaronzWebWorkz."

The next focus is the "profile" page, which you will set up
as a part of the signup process with these auction
websites. In this profile, you are able to talk about
yourself (read: "market yourself") and link to your
website. This is fairly straightforward. Make sure that
your links are correct and that you haven't made any
spelling or grammatical errors. Short and sweet works
best. The majority of those who do come to this page will
read your information. If you make it too long, though,
they might skip it. After all, most people who load these
profiles are looking for other auctions, not your life
story.

The final issue to deal with is your products. Even if you
sell services (as I do), you can use these auction sites.
If you are new to the auction site, read several other
auctions and go through the posting process (without
hitting the final "post" button) to see how the auctions
are structured. Once you have an idea of how you should go
about posting your items and what kind of knowledge you'll
need, start writing your product information. Do this by
typing them into a text editor (Word, Notepad, etc.) and
running them through a spell checker. Then re-read them
once or twice to make sure you didn't miss anything or
fudge the description. Once you're ready, go back to the
auction site and post your ad. I'd suggest no more than
one or two to get started. Once you have a handle on
things (and have made a couple of sales), you'll be ready
to post more often.

The auctions themselves are unimportant. I usually take a
service that I perform for a minimal cost and post it at a
bare minimum cost. For example, I do domain name
appraisals normally at $5 each. I post them on eBay at $1
each as the starting bid. These don't take much time to do
and are something that many people look for. Even selling
at only a dollar, after eBay fees, I usually make about
sixty cents profit. That doesn't sound like much, and it
isn't, but I'm not in it for the money. A look at my
server logs says that the thirty minutes a week I'm
spending on my auction marketing is sending about 200
visitors to my site. This number has been steadily
building since I began using this form of marketing a few
months ago. The more you market, the more referrals you'll
receive!

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Well, the New Year is upon us. I've read a lot of articles
recently (in both print and online) about the current
recession and how many independents and contractors are now
going for regular, full-time jobs and either abandoning,
putting on hold, or converting their business to part-time.
Some of us are sticking it out. I know I could be doing
more business than I am, but I also realize that I'm doing
better than some. I'm not starving, so I guess I'll ride
it out.

The good news in all of this is that economists and fore-
casters are seeing an up-trend and believe that it will
only grow larger. The better news is that they expect the
IT industry to grow rather than fall further! For those of
us who're in or related to that industry, this is for sure
great news. The other bonus is that those who do survive
will only be stronger.

Since we're on the subject of the economy and the New Year,
I guess I'd better broach the tax issue again. I plan to
run articles starting in the next issue which focus on tax
time and its issues. If you have an article you'd like to
submit or know someone who does, please contact me.

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, Aaron, great stuff! I'm impressed with the series of
articles you've included about online marketing and I look
forward to reading the rest of them. Keep up the good
work!"

--Tom Di (no website listed)

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com. All are welcome to give
their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
Organizational Skills for the Home-Based Entrepeneur

Don Mehlhouse is Editor of The-Time-Is-Now Newsletter.
You can subscribe to TTIN by sending a blank email to:ttin@reply123.net?Subject=New_Subscriber or visit us at:
http://the-time-is-now.com

Editor's Comments: This is a good, short article which has
a lot of hints and tips for organization. I found it use-
ful and thought you might too!
------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, let's get organized!

Now, I'm not an organizational nut by any means. If you
could see the clutter on my desk right now you would find
some irony in me preaching about organization at all.

If you have children (or are young enough to remember your
own childhood) you're familiar with the phrase "But I know
where everything is!" in response to the "Your room is a
mess, I want it straightened up this instant!" demand.

Here are a few tips that may help you in your efforts to
get a handle on your day to day operations and, as a
result, make it less stressful.

I've broken down this article into 4 important criteria for
keeping your business organized. These are not the only
items that should be considered, but it's a start.

* Time Management
* Managing Email
* Expenses
* Keeping Current

I've singled out these topics because they seem to be the
ones that bog down and, inevitably, cause the demise of
many a home business.

Time Management
---------------
Managing your time effectively is the cornerstone to any
successful business. Everyone knows you need to manage
your time but what does that really mean? Whether you run
your business full-time or part-time you need to set aside
time each day to run it.

Only you know how much time you need to allot. Whenever
you decide to work, sticking to a schedule is important.
Routines are much easier to control than random attempts at
keeping the business afloat.

You need to treat your business seriously to get serious
results.

Managing Email
--------------
Email is a major component of any online business. Keeping
separate folders in your email program for different
categories is a good idea. Some possible folders can be:

* Downline/Current customer correspondence
* Newsletters/official messages from your business' parent
companies
* Ezines you are subscribed to
* Confirmations of ads placed
* Prospects - people who visit your sites and request more
info

These folders, like your room, will need to be cleaned out
every so often.

You don't have to be a veteran home business entrepeneur to
realize that many questions you get via email are basically
the same. Keeping a large text file (or a few smaller
ones) where you have 'canned' responses is a great time
saver. It also ensures you are giving out consistent
answers. Just copy and paste the appropriate portion into
an email and personalize it.

You should also keep text files with variations of the ads
you use. Make a note where and when they were placed.
These ads can be separated by size. 3-line ads, 5-line ads
and full page ads, etc. If you use any type of URL
tracking for your ads (you really should!), then noting
which ones are used here will be helpful.

Expenses
--------
Keep track of every dollar you spend. Sounds simple, huh?
Every ad, domain hosting, ISP, web promotion tool, etc.
should be accounted for. It might not seem like a big deal
now but as you start earning the big bucks you (and the
taxman) will be glad you have records.

This record keeping should be part of your routine. You
can do it as the money is spent, once a day or even once a
week. The point is to just do it. Thank you, Nike!

Keeping Current
---------------
As you know, the internet is an ever-changing place. You
must change with it.

You should try to spend a few hours each week searching for
new sites and resources. There are constantly new sites
popping up where you can advertise or that show promise in
helping you grow your business.

Maybe there was an article in an ezine you read that
mentioned a site. Maybe there was an ad that caught your
attention. Ezines are a great way to stay on top of new
trends in online marketing.

In Closing
----------
Well, that's it. You'll be surprised just how much you can
accomplish when you add a little organization to your
business.

Article Copyright © Don Mehlhouse All Rights Reserved.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2001 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
List Maintenance:
To subscribe
[newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com - subject: subscribe]

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This newsletter is produced by Aaronz WebWorkz, a complete
online services provider. To view information or to see
back issues of this publication, please go online to:
www.AaronzWebWorkz.com. Please direct all comments or
questions to the editor (newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).