WEBSITE101: READING LIST
A Short Weekly Tip-Sheet for Small Business Web Masters
August 30, 1999 Issue #9
Mike Valentine, Editor, learn@website101.com

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By subscription only Welcome to the August 30, 1999 issue of

"WEBSITE101: READING LIST".

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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Sponsor: Directory of Ezines
=> Feature article: Awards bring Rewards
=> Our Guest Columnist Bob Leduc
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information
=> Classifieds
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SPONSOR of this issue
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WHERE MILLION OF EYEBALLS ARE ROAMING!

The Secret to Success is the ability to reach MILLIONS
OF READERS right from your finger tips and without
spamming!

CUSTOMIZE Your Search Results! NEW enhanced searchable
database for the Directory of Ezines just got better!

New Advanced Search Option, advertisers can really ZERO-IN
to find the BEST ezines & BEST value for their advertising needs.

Find exactly what ezines you need, in less time and with better
results. Ad rates, circulation, ad rules, which accept articles,
and a whole lot more!

What do you get when 16 MILLION EYEBALLS
are looking at you? Results!

http://sunmoments.com/rewards.html


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Awards bring Rewards

WebSite101 has been recognized as a "Best Of The Web" site by
Surfers Choice and applications for our A+ Award at WebSite101
have soared! If you are among the applicants, rest assured
that your site will be reviewed and you will be contacted.If
you believe you may have slipped off the bottom of the list
of applicants, feel free to apply again.

The above note was included in last week's WebSite101 Reading
List and since then I've reviewed dozens of applicants for the
WebSite101 A+ Award. Our traffic analyzer shows that many of
our applicants come to us from "Award Lists" and others come
from the Awards Web-Ring that we belong to. This Web-Ring is
dedicated to sites that offer awards. Stop by and take a look
http://www.chariot.net.au/~astroman/ring.htm .

For those of you who wish to increase traffic, both winning and
presenting awards bring great benefits to your web site and can
increase site traffic dramatically. There is another resource
called the DVWorksheet at http://websiteawards.xe.net/ that
lists - and links to - over 800 awardsites worldwide! That'll
keep you busy for awhile. Why is this such a popular thing to
do?

Most awards require links back to their site when they reward
you with that award. Some award sites require verification and
provide certification numbers. All of that linking increases
the search engine relevancy and popularity of the award site.
But the award site most often links back to all the sites they
have honored as well and this does the winner even more good.

The high traffic award sites often send more traffic to their
awardees and thus increase applications at those sites listed
and linked as winners. This never ending spiral of linking and
awarding is the driving force behind much of that activity. It
is another traffic generator for all awarding and all winning
sites. Some awards are created just for this reason and are
quite often meaningless as awards because they are given to
all comers.

WebSite101 believes in and supports only quality awards and
offers our A+ Award to only the sites that meet our listed
criteria. We apply only to those sites that we believe offer
the best awards that are meaningful to display. That's the
reason we proudly display the Surfers Choice Best of the Web
Award on our front page. We encourage others to apply by
hosting the Surfers Choice Directory submission page at
http://www.website101.com/scdmv07.html . If you get listed
in the directory, apply for the award. It's a good one.

If you are interested in the WebSite101 A+ Award for small
business self designed websites, visit our application page
at http://www.website101.com/Award.html and see if you can
qualify for what we hope will become a highly coveted award
among small business webmasters. We do require a link back
to WebSite101, but we link to you as well. Good luck!

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SIMPLE, LOW-COST MARKETING METHODS
OFTEN PRODUCE THE BEST RESULTS
Copyright 1999 By Bob Leduc

Simple, inexpensive marketing methods often produce the best
results. I discovered this by accident many years ago while
trying to find a better way to get sales leads. We were
mailing hundreds of direct mail letters and brochures every
week to new business owners promoting our service. Folding
all those letters and brochures, inserting them into
envelopes, sealing the envelopes, addressing the envelopes
and putting stamps on them was expensive and time consuming.
But, it produced enough qualified leads to be profitable.

AN EASIER WAY

One week I decided to test a simple and less expensive way
to get my leads. I had the following benefit statement
printed on 1,000 postcards: "I can help you increase your
profits, save taxes and reduce financial risk." I added my
name and phone number at the end of the message, addressed
the postcards and mailed them. Printing and preparing the
postcards took only 1/5th of the time it took for the
letters and brochures. Plus, the Postage and materials cost
only 1/3rd as much.

To my surprise, I got over 40 inquiries that week from the
postcards instead of the usual 20 to 25 inquiries I got from
my letters. Almost overnight my sales and commissions shot
up by over 50%. I was soon getting so many inquiries every
week that I began selecting only the best ones to use myself
and passed the others on to reps who didn't have enough
appointment for the week. They were happy to pay me a
percentage of the commissions they received from sales
produced by my leads. The results from that first postcard
mailing taught me a valuable marketing lesson I never
forgot. Simple, inexpensive marketing methods often produce
the best results.

A LOW-COST WAY TO TEST CLASSIFIED ADS

About 5 years ago I discovered another simple and
inexpensive marketing tool while looking for a quick way to
test some new classified ads. The deadline for accepting ads
submitted to printed publications is usually 3 to 6 weeks
before publication. It often takes 2 months before the ad
starts pulling... or before you find out it doesn't work.

I discovered how to reduce this 2 month delay to less than a
week. Simply post the ad on one of the online services such
as America Online and place it in several email magazines
(ezines) distributed to your targeted market. A 3 line ad in
a well-known ezine with over 300,000 subscribers costs less
than $40. Many ezines with a smaller number of subscribers
will accept ads for $5 or $10 per run. Best of all, your ad
runs a few days after you submit it.

After developing a profitable ad online, place it in the
print media. Be sure to use print publications read by
people in the same targeted market you tested online. That's
how you can be assured of getting the same successful
results offline as you got online.

DON'T LIMIT YOUR MARKETING TO THE INTERNET

The low-cost and fast results of online advertising
encourages some new businesses to restrict their marketing
exclusively to the internet. They completely ignore
traditional marketing methods. That's a serious mistake.
There are a huge number of people without internet access.
You're missing a large part of your potential market by
ignoring these people. Use the internet to test new
advertising. When you have a proven ad, continue it online
and also place it in the print media. Don't limit your
profits by ignoring any part of your potential market.

Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales
Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business
owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With
Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help
small businesses grow and prosper. For more information...
Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards".
Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time)
Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
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CLASSIFIED ADS
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Order them for your next fundraiser or public event as
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Copyright © 1999 Mike Valentine

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Mike Valentine
WebSite 101
learn@website101.com