' WEBSITE101: READING LIST
Reaching Great Minds Online
October 15, 2001 Issue #113
Mike Valentine, Editor, learn@website101.com
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WEBSITE101: READING LIST
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Editor's Corner:
Each week for the past three years or so, I've sought out a
great guest article to run in this ezine and that has resulted
in some online friendships and business relationships as I've
contacted writers to contribute articles. Back in October of
1999 it occured to me that many ezine publishers were doing
that same shuffle for every issue they published.
I was familiar with multiple so-called "announcement lists"
where writers sought out ezine publishers by offering very
specific pre-written articles for publication in dozens of
small business online publications. Rather than have dozens
of places for article submissions, I thought, Why not a single
repository where subscribers are made up of both authors and
publishers looking for their work on a regular basis.
We all want our articles published across the web as it leads
to additional traffic to our web site from readers of those
ezines and web sites that published our work. I established a
list at the former "Onelist" (Now become YahooGroups) to offer
a list of small business articles to publishers. It was a hit!
Authors contribute to this source to gain exposure to many of
the largest small business publications on the web with exposure
nearing the 2 million sets of eyes mark as a real possibility.
Todays guest column was drawn from that source. Interestingly,
the author is giving advice about how to get published online
but doesn't reference that resource that he uses himself. Hmmm.
You can contribute your own articles by visiting and joining
nearly 800 writers and dozens of publishers at the following URL
http://yahoogroups.com/group/Free-Content/
Even if Mr. D. Doesn't want to share that resource. I sure do!
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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Little Guys want Advice from Monsters? Not!
by Mike Banks Valentine
I was sipping my morning "wake-cup" of coffee over the Sunday
San Francisco Chronicle this weekend when I came across an
article by staff writer John Batteiger referencing web sites
useful to small business. Great, I thought, I'd love more of
those valuable resources. Silly me.
Although I think this is an example of a reporter not doing
his research and glossing over an important subject, I can't
even begin to comprehend the absurd references provided by
that reporter! The SBA, the FTC, the Yahoo Small Business
Information section, which although they each have some small
part to play in helping the little guy, don't provide a great
resources for small business information beyond their own
meager references to other web sites.
I've faced this oddity for three years now while trying to
gain links across the web for the WebSite101 Small Business
Ecommerce Tutorial I provide online. Nobody wants to listen
to those of us that practice what we preach each day and go
daily to maintain the house payments and bills by earning our
living online. Everyone wants to hear what the Monsters have
to say about being a little guy! David doesn't want to BE
Goliath, David Wants To SLAY Goliath! Hello! Anyone home?
I dashed off a letter to that reporter which I've included
below and realized that my own 2000 subscribers could benefit
from hearing this stuff as well. So I've attached my note to
that reporter here.
John,
(You'll note that I've sent copies of this letter to each of
the sites I referenced here, who I'm sure will have thoughts
of their own to contribute.)
I'm fascinated at how folks consistently look to Goliaths to
learn how to be an effective David! When I saw your article
today at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/14/BU222086.DTL
I thought I might see some links to things such as
http://www.freeagentnation.com a book by Daniel H. Pink
(he relies on praise from the big boys in his reviews but
did confide to me that he'd consider quotes from little guys
like me.) My raves about his book are online at:
http://www.WebSite101.com/arch/archive100.html
The Chronicle is quoted on *his* site in an article by your
colleague George Raine, but you don't return the favor?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/02/BU147439.DTL&type=business
Come on John, if you were about to go out on your own, would
you rely on the sources you quote in your story and wade deeply
through the mire of that bureaucratic gobbledygook to get to
the occasional gem? How about true home business based sites like
http://www.ahbbo.com (short for "A Home Based Business Online"
run by Elena Fawkner).
How about truly valuable stuff for independent professionals at
sites like
http://www.learningfountain.com
run by Paul Siegel where valuable community among freelancers
helps all become better business owners?
One of your listed sources is http://ecommerce.About.com
Where I used to have a link to my web site until they began the
requirements of the new http://lunanetwork.about.com/ which
requires that linked sites cross promote About.com and that
partners must serve a minimum of 150,000 pageviews a month
from their own sites. Now you must be a Goliath to be listed
by Goliaths.
The same happened at the former small business section of
about.com where the entire category was dropped and merged
with the ecommerce section, which then dropped all of the
Davids from their Goliath-only links list!
Now we see all over the web how Goliaths are courting business
from Davids as they suddenly realize that we make up almost
50% of the US economy. Oh really? What a surprise! Big
business falters after absorbing all of each other's money,
then begins luring smaller fish when they've eaten all the
big ones. I did a piece on that as well at:
http://website101.com/arch/archive96.html
I have a much better list. Here's a few additional sites for
you to review so you can gain a true understanding of what the
little guy truly needs to survive as a small business.
http://www.ideacafe.com
http://www.guru.com
http://www.elance.com
http://www.allbusiness.com
http://www.website101.com I'm not too proud to list my own site.
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Mike Valentine does Search Engine Placement for the Small
Business http://website101.com/Search_Engine_Positioning.html
WebSite101 "Reading List" Weekly Netrepreneur Tip Sheet
Weekly Ezine emphasizing small business on the Internet
http://website101.com/arch/
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Guest Article
Publishers note: Another answer to this readers' question
can be found in today's "Editor's Corner" above - even used
by Mr. D for his own article Distribution without mention.
Hmmmmmmm. How odd things seem sometimes. I guess he wants
an edge on those he's providing advice to. See my comments
above.
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Ask Mr. D
by Bill Daugherty
Dear Mr. D,
How can I get an article published in one
or more of the many ezines that are out
there? I have written an article and sent
it to several publications, but so far I
haven't had any luck. I'm not a great
writer, but I think my article is as good
as a lot of the ones I read everyday in
many ezines.
So, what is the secret?
Signed,
Unpublished
_______________________
Dear Unpublished,
If there is a secret to getting published,
I don't know what it is, but there a few
things you can do to improve your chances
of having your articles accepted.
You should learn the "article submission
guidelines for each ezine before you submit
your article. Most publications have very
strict guidelines as to subject matter, article
length, maximum character count per line,
etc. If your article doesn't meet these guide-
lines, most editors will not even consider
your work.
This information is available for most ezines
in various Ezine Directories. Some of these
directories are free, some cost a few bucks.
Go to any major search engine and search
for "ezine directories."
Be sure to run your article through a spell-
check program. Misspelled words can ruin
an otherwise good article.
Last, but far from least, is to compile an
email list of hundreds of ezines. Getting
published is a numbers game. The more
ezines you submit your article to, the better
chance you have of getting published.
One final word. Don't give up, persistence
is the most important "secret" of all.
Best wishes,
Mr. D
___________________________
Do you have an advertising or marketing
question you'd like to see published in this
column? Send it to mailto:MrD@epm.zzn.com
You can visit Mr. D's website at:
http://www.freeadsgalore.com
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Copyright © 2001 Mike Valentine
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ISSN: 1527-5094
Mike Valentine
WebSite 101
learn@website101.com
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