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¶ If you are launching your business onto the internet, discover some amazing techniques and "dirty little tricks" that will boost your business click here.
BizMove have compiled free guides and tips for starting and managing a small business - click here for more information!
Learning how to be a successful on-line entrepreneur - on the fly - can be expensive if you make mistakes, so try
BizMove.com
¶ Oh yes, when you're a blogger you're a member of a family. For mine, see: BlogTree.com.
¶ I was reading Jon's blog: MoreAwayofLife and enjoying myself - as per usual - when I thought "I wonder if I should have a random image displayed on my slashhair site?" How would I do it? Jon uses PHP, you can see how he did it at: DeveloperFusion. I might do the same thing with a Perl script. Although, I could use simple JavaScript:) I'll explain how, so there is no need for you to learn Perl/PHP scripting or what chmod 755 is. OK. let's start off with five naughty pictures of Pamela Anderson Lee (whoever she is?). All the pictures are: .gif and width=200 height=300, for this example.
Explanation:
'ref_image' = (the actual number of images you will be using minimum number=2)
'images[1]="directory/first_image.gif"' (change [#] each time, for as many images in array. list images!)
'document.write' (displaying the image. image attributes need changing to suit, they can be removed.)
Here's the code:
<script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript">
<!--
var ref_image=5;
var randomize_it=Math.random();
var rand1=Math.round((ref_image-1)*randomize_it)+1;
images=new Array
images[1]="image_file/Pamela_Anderson_one.gif"
images[2]="image_file/Pamela_Anderson_two.gif"
images[3]="image_file/Pamela_Anderson_three.gif"
images[4]="image_file/Pamela_Anderson_four.gif"
images[5]="image_file/Pamela_Anderson_five.gif"
var myimage=images[rand1]
document.write('<img src="' + myimage + '" width="200" height="300" border="0" alt=" Pamela Anderson Lee ">')
//-->
</script>
Insert the code into the <body> of the page where you want the random image of 'Pamela' to appear. Each time the page is loaded or refreshed the image changes. Important, make sure the 'ref_image' number synchronizes with the image array numbers.
¶ You may be reading this because you are looking for someone to host your new website. Well it's a very important decision for you. Infact, I'd say it's one of the make or break decisions for a new entrepreneur/webmaster. Get it wrong and it could cost you. So which is the best web hosting company to choose. I recommend two: Hurricane Electric and IPowerweb. Now before we go any further, ask yourself one question: What am I trying to do with the new website? You should have a list of answers. With that list in mind read on. There are four points I consider important when choosing a web hosting service. A; Price. B; Technical Support. C; Reliability. D; Professionalism. Of course there are a plethora of different types of web hosting accounts for you to choose from. I'll cut the crap and say there is only one way to go for the serious businessman, a 'Virtual Domain'. For 99.99 times in a 100 it is your best option. What do you get? You should expect this:
¶ Why should you go with Hurricane Electric when you can get unlimited traffic elsewhere? You get what you pay for! For example, some of Hurricane Electric's web servers cost about $6500 each. Also, about 1,000,000 hits per day will consume a full T1 (if you don't continually saturate it). Given that these two things are base costs, a flat rate service will not have the incentive to put you on to a server with as few as 3 other people if you are generating 300,000 hits per day. Whereas, Hurricane Electric would have the incentive to give you the high performance platform you deserve. Hurricane Electric pride themselves in high performance web servers that deliver.
* No setup fee if you're moving a domain name from another ISP.
** Does not include InterNIC registration fee. You'll receive an invoice from InterNIC via email.
*** Includes master POP3 mailbox associated with the shell account.
If you are serious about doing business get a '.com' address. And get the site hosted in America. I am a VAR (Value Added Reseller) for Hurricane Electric. Should you wish to order an account, please enter ian@w3b-ink.com in the Rep Email address box. Then I will be your first point of contact if you get into any difficulties or just need some information. BTW, I only get a 'small' commission with Business Virtual Host and VIP Virtual Host clients, everyone else, I support for free.
Hurricane Electric / info@he.net
¶ Thread navigation is the quickest root to achieving your primary goal. Thread navigation is about the lack of choices, you take the surfer by the hand and lead them through your website to the Holy Grail. Thread navigation is not asking the question "which of these five buttons do you want to choose?", thread navigation will always take the surfer to *the* place of action so the surfer can make a yes or no decision. It is one of the most effective ways to sell a product or service.
"A seven-month research project by Abbey National and market analysis firm Taylor Nelson Sofres has revealed that companies have only 20 seconds to grab the attention of web shoppers. During that 20 seconds, consumers must be able to see that a page has almost loaded, that it is relevant to their needs and looks easy to navigate".
"Often, web shoppers are thrown by abrupt changes in the way they navigate around a page or if they are forced to scroll around the screen to find what they want".
"Consumers do not want to prod around for ever to get at what they want, this is not Lord of the Rings" says Ambrose McGinn, Abbey National. Full story here.
It is vital to achieve the right navigation structure to guide the surfer through your website.
¶ If you want to get ahead, try some of this ...
free web hosting. links, they can make money wholesale for you. promote search engines promotion software for big bucks. classified business advertising directories. a domain name. download professional shareware databases. sell freeware to the uk marketplace directory for easy dollars. a marketing opportunity registering product designs. showcase for email distribution programs. help Webhosting tips and tools. w3b-ink, w3bink is a bit of a marketing pirate. the know-how to design a retail sales register. websearch for a market trader or a merchant. submit a tool at w3b. Yes that's all code, but what for? Search engines.
¶ I've been writing these marketing tips for a year now. I didn't think I would last!
If you are tucked-up for space on your website, use this very compact and simple example of a drop down menu for navigation. Change the link destination in the options. For more links add more <option></option>. Copy the code to your clipboard. Paste the code into your html page or wherever you want this navigation menu to be located. Change the address of the links. It's that simple. There are no spaces within the javascript, it's continuous.
<form name="nav">
<select name="link" onChange="location=document.nav.link.options[document.nav.link.selectedIndex].value;" value="GO">
<option selected>Select your destination</option>
<option value="http://www.ccflights.com/">Cheap Flights</option>
<option value="http://www.ccflights.com/henley/">Henley</option>
<option value="http://www.ccflights.com/pensacola/">Pensacola</option>
<option value="http://www.slashhair.net/">SlashHair</option>
</select>
</form>
This is what it looks like:
¶ The web site must have a visual impact. I think there is more of a trend towards simplicity in web design these day's, thank god. I'm disappointed in how the sites are being used though. Multimedia is mainly shit. I tend to hate it. Maybe the next learning curve will be a more appropriate use of multimedia (on web sites). For instance, Flash is generally irrelevant. It's almost lucky for the internet that we don't have full broadband yet, because it focuses attention on more useful services and delivering information users need. With broadband it's somewhat easier to get away with irrelevant multimedia and slow loading crappy Flash. When more people have broadband in five years or so, when it will be everywhere, we will also have evolved a better understanding of good multimedia design.
¶ I've made three pages of links! One of personal links, another of links that are useful for the small business and lastly links for a new webmaster. So click away and have some fun.
personal links ::
business links ::
webmaster links
Have I missed any links that you think I should have included? Tell me then.
¶ There are so many search engines, but these I love:
Google of course
RagingSearch by AltaVista is fast
KartOO is a metasearch engine that draws fab web maps
Gigablast new and fast
Add your URL to Gigablast (for all you LinkSluts)
if you want fame and fortune from your blog/web site, you'd better be ranked highly in all of these.
¶ Create a simple one word link to a search engine like Google uses basic javascript. here's some code:
<a href="javascript:def=prompt('Enter your search word or phrase:','');if(def)location.href='http://google.com/search?query='+escape(def)+'&num=20'" onmouseout="window.status=' '; return true" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.google.com/'; return true">Google</a>
Why would you want to do this? I don't know! But, there are three useful tips within the code.
¶ Getting the right sponsor for your web site is important. Search through a myriad of merchants here:
¶ Create a linear path that takes you through the site step by step. Provide a non-linear navigational structure that is: a. easy to understand, b. easily recognizable and c. consistent
¶ 'The' key factor in making money from your web site - (site management is important, so is selling products, and building partnerships) - is repeat traffic. A commercial web site has to attract repeat visitors in order to make a profit. Simple, that's told you. It's back to the old content thing again!
¶ Does your text focus on emphasizing the benefits and the results the customer will get from purchasing and using your product. · Does your website convey all the benefits of your product. · Does your text get the juices flowing. · Does the headline grab your attention and draw you in. · Do you have a call to action i.e. buy it here now. · Is your web site fully functional. · Do you have testimonials from satisfied customers. · Do you take a credit cards. · Are you absolutely sure there's a market for your product. · Is your web site easy on the eye. · Is your product guaranteed. · Can you compete with your competitors? It's got to be all yeses. Then it's just a matter of constant fine-tuning until you get a decent level of sales.
¶ Ask yourself the question "Can I make enough money to survive from forty-five sales per month". Because that may well be all you can realistically hope for. The calculation:
High: (500 visitors per day) x 30 = (15000 visitors per month)
Low: (150 visitors per day) x 30 = (4500 visitors per month)
Average: (325 visitors per day) x 30 = (9750 visitors per month)
about 1% of visitors buy:
High: 150 visitors buy per month
Low: 45 visitors buy per month
Average: 97.5 visitors buy per month
It is all a guestimate. But, if you are selling 45 products per month with a 30% profit margin and you must earn about £2,000 per month to keep soul and body together, your product must retail for around £148.00! So getting your Marketing Strategy to hit the target is vital.
¶ Closing the sale is easy if you are not afraid to ask. Ask for the order then make it easy to buy. Don't lose the sale because you have not provided the right environment. If someone visits your site and leaves with a free gift, but they do not purchase your product, make sure the free gift reminds them how good you are. Trade everything. Their e-mail address for your free gift should be the most common and basic trade. Keep the surfer ‘hot' by sending them an e-mail saying something like: "Are you finding the free gift useful. Visit our web site on Friday, because every Friday there is a new free gift". The more the surfer is impressed with the help / advice they get from you, the less likely they are to look for trouble elsewhere. One can multiply by ten the degree of difficulty of selling on the Internet to conventional methods for most products. Simply because of current awareness. Win the surfers confidence then sell the product. You must be able to accept credit cards online if you are planning to do any sort of business from your web site. This means you will need to set up a method for secure payments using CGI/Pearl scripts. POP3 accounts - the normal dial up account with x megabytes of free web space - almost always - do not provide a CGI programming capability, you need to have a commercial or business account - or get yourself an account with charge.com. Keep your product base small, offering too many products does not work very well. If you are thinking of being a "Reseller", don't just display their banner advert and hope for the best. Their product must become part of your product base and you must adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. Regularly update your web site, keep it consistent and highlight "new content". A key part of getting the sale is showing how much your product costs - the final price - what they have to pay... Everyone hates hidden costs. "Selling expensive products to rich people produces the biggest profit." So it's said.
¶ Giving something away free on your web site works because of the pay off. A good free gift can do wonders for your hit rate. Free - Hmmn - Nothing on the Internet is really free. Nothing for nothing! There is always a pay off; I give you free information - you read my detailed advert. The problem is, how much to give away? The decision of how much to give away is yours alone. How much can the product afford? What is the product worth? What are you aiming to achieve? From one point of view free gifts create future sales, although from another point of view past sales create the free gifts' budget. Ball Park figures on how much to 'give away' are sold by Consultants - One might call them charlatans! Ball Park figures based on mathematical models, are often suspect because they have trouble with cause and effect and subjective matters like what it looks like! In fact there is very little that is really helpful. When you have something free to offer, tell your competitors! They can give it away free too (Now the pay off) and make a link to your site:) The free gift should be directly related to your business / product. Let it be an appetiser to the main meal and leave them wanting more. Make sure the free gift is easy to find and simple to get, but don’t forget the pay off. The best place to put your free gift is on the Sales Page. You've just read my free gift, so why not put a link to my site?:
<a href="http://www.w3b-ink.com">Web Hosting and Marketing Ideas</a>
¶ It's very difficult to charge for information on the net, partly because there are so many web sites giving it away free! Therefore (if you want to earn a bit of extra cash) you need to find a complimentary product. Books are almost the perfect complimentary product to 'information'. They are fairly cheap for the purchaser to buy, easy to store, easy to catalogue and postage and packing doesn't cost an arm and a leg. That's one reason why Amazon and Barnes and Noble bookshops have been so successful - in a nutshell. Yes you guessed it. It's that old affiliate nut again. What's the bottom line? Commission rates are based on the total sales you generate for each product type per year. This means you will have different commission tiers for each of barnes & noble's product lines: books, magazines etc. You can earn up to 7% on all books, but you've got to sell a lot, 5% is more normal! Commission rates apply to all sales during the year, so if you move up from one commission tier to the next, the higher rate will be applied retroactively to all prior sales that year. Your next commission cheque will contain the adjustment. When will I be paid? I hear you ask. You will be paid quarterly (every three months), the first quarterly period starting on the date you are accepted into the network. If your commission for any quarter is less than $100, the total amount will be carried to the next quarter. Once it passes $100, a cheque will be sent to you at the end of the quarter for the complete amount owed to you up until the end of that quarter. And that is for Barnes and Noble; Amazon - I'm not sure. I think the main reason why I like Barnes and Noble, is that they will actually create a seasonal "bookshop / web page" for you. So whether it's Christmas or the start of the summer holidays, there is always a relevant bookshop waiting to be down-loaded. Or, of course, you can choose individual books to compliment your web site. As I've said before, you will not get rich. But, if you can have a free booze-up four times a year, who's complaining.
¶ If yes, you could be victim of an email spider. These nasty programs trawl the Web, archiving email addresses. Just about every website is vulnerable to this kind of hack esp. well-known blogs. But, there is a way to stop these bastards from gathering your email address. Their spiders read the source code of your site. By breaking down the components of the href="mailto:..." tag into separate pieces using basic and simple Javascript, you can foil those nasty hackers. Here is the script:
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
<!--
var showlink = "Contact Me";
var showname = "yourname";
var showhost = "yourhost.com";
document.write("<a href=" + "mail" + "to:" + showname + "@")
document.write(showhost +">" + showlink + "</a>")
//-->
</script>
and this is what it looks like »
¶ The Net was not designed for privacy - Actually you have no Privacy. When you surf the web, send email, chat, and post to newsgroups, your computer leaves behind a digital footprint called an IP address. Footprints in the real world fade with time, but in Cyberspace, your IP address is recorded permanently. Even if you provide false information to website registration forms, your personal information can easily be tracked down. Remember, the Internet was designed for computers to exchange information, not hide it. You may as well get used to it.
Your life is an open book - Internet traffic, such as email messages, are just like postcards. Anyone who intercepts them, discovers who you're talking to and what you're saying. Live chat and password-protected websites also give the illusion of anonymity, but your IP address is still recorded alongside your chat transcripts and stored in company database logs. You can never take back what you say online.
You are the target (market) - Marketers want to know as much as they can about you, and the Internet is the perfect tool for compiling detailed personal profiles. Increasingly sophisticated profiling technology has emerged to harvest as much personal information as possible from the Net. Your name, address, employer, salary, marital status, religion, hobbies - it's all collected and placed in a growing profile with your name on it. If you think this sounds far-fetched, think again. This kind of surveillance is happening now.
So what if they eavesdrop? - You're a good person with nothing to hide, so why should you care if your personal information and communications are vulnerable? Lots of reasons. Beyond the annoyance of being bombarded with marketing messages, your profile can be used to discriminate, harass, or even perpetrate crimes against you and your family.
Who can you trust? - You can Trust me and w3b-ink. Many companies take advantage of consumer concern for online privacy by providing so-called "identity and relationship management" services. They ask you to fill out forms with ALL your personal information, and then hand out pieces of it to partner merchant sites. Merchant sites themselves post privacy policies they can't or won't enforce when push comes to shove. And others still leave personal information in poorly secured databases, vulnerable to hacker attacks. This is the opposite of privacy.
So what can you do about your general lack of privacy? - Stop giving it away! Stop filling out questionaires or applying for things you don't need! I recognize that w3b-ink customers are concerned about online privacy. To address these concerns, I have affiliated with Zero-Knowledge Systems, makers of Freedom -- an Internet privacy software solution that provides complete control over your personal information.
Freedom is easy-to-use software that works alongside your existing Internet applications to ensure that all your Internet traffic remains completely private. No one can learn your personal information unless you want them to - not even Zero-Knowledge.
So if you don't want to provide any information to w3b-ink and wish to remain completely anonymous (to me anyway) then don't visit my site, or check out the folks at Zero Knowledge. Just by visiting you are giving me information about you. Information I log, and store, and look at, and analyze and drool over while I drink copious amounts of Stella Artois. Yep, I lead an exciting life. To learn more about what Freedom can do for you and how it works, please click on this link download Freedom now
The following policies are in effect for all of the Web pages owned and operated by me and w3b-ink and are in place to demonstrate my firm commitment to your privacy. w3b-ink may ask for personal information about You and/or your Company. This information maybe required as a necessary part of completing your request and will not be sold or provided to any third parties whatsoever. Do I do anything with this information? No. I do use it internally sometimes to verify when / if a person is trying to send me bogus information and to protect my systems.
No Spam - w3b-ink maintains a strict "no-spam" policy. Your e-mail address or mailing address will not be sold or rented to a third party. If you sign up for an e-zine or purchase a product through w3b-ink, you may receive occasional follow up e-mails from w3b-ink to inform you of recent changes or news.
Remove yourself from a mailing list - If at anytime you wish to be removed from my e-zine or mailing list you may request to be removed by e-mailing Ian Robson. Removals are usually done on Sundays as is everything.
Change/Modify your information - If at anytime you wish to review, change or update any personal information provided to me, simply e-mail Ian Robson. To better protect the security and integrity of your information, I will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections to your information.
Cookies - Yep, w3b-ink may send a cookie to your computer. This information is collected to identify your account or to personalize your browsing experience. Don't worry about it.
Testimonials - Any testimonials that appear on the w3b-ink web site (I don't have any at the moment!) have all given permission to be included. All information that is presented to me will not be posted unless permission is granted.
IP address - When a visitor requests a page at the w3b-ink site, my Web servers automatically recognize the browser's domain name and IP address as most Web sites do. This information is collected for statistical and diagnostic purposes only.
¶ in a world where image is important - obvious statement - why did i choose w3b-ink as a domain name? it's a password, isn't it? is my name going to impede my progress? i would have thought so once, but now i think it will not make a jot of difference. we'll see. "revenues on the web are determined almost completely by usability." says jakob nielsen of the economist 28:04:01. i read it and agreed with him, usability's important.
¶ version 5 of this web site was called "hacking for promotion" and was aimed at newbie webmasters who were attempting to promote / market their new creations. my goal was to produce simple html source code with successful promotion as the net result. this site is about the creation and design of web sites too. it's also where i exhibit "friends" web sites when i'm developing them and it's my *experimental platform*. 
here's a marketing tip for you; find out how many web sites link to yours:
[ link: www.your-site-address.com/ ]
o.k. here's what you do, obviously replace "your-site-address" with your web site address! just type it as you see it here (without the []). what do you do with it? enter it into one of the search engines like altavista's raging search.
Actually in Google all you need to do is type: www.your-site-address.com, then press the option 'link'.
¶ what sort of site do you run? most people have a simple site promoting themselves. just like this site! well, why not earn a little extra cash from your "window" that's open 24 hours a day. an idea that most people have is to become an affiliate. yep me too. your never going to get rich though, so for god's sake don't hold your breath waiting. but, selling other peoples products / services is a simple way to earn a little extra cash. i.e. you should get 100$ per month. so once a month like me you can get pissed-up.
about 30% of the half a billion (approximately and rapidly increasing. 1.8.2000) web pages on the internet are home-spun businesses trying to sell home-made products. they sell their products locally, not world wide!? because they can not accept credit cards. weird. if you run a business, you can not compete with others unless you are able to accept credit cards. accepting credit cards is The essential part of beating the competition. let me introduce you to...charge.com. they are, imho the best. i would use them if i had a product to sell, but i don't, so i can't! but i would, if i could, if you see what i mean! click here for more information
¶ "marketing is concerned with making sure the direction is right. and the right direction is the one the customer would chose for himself. marketing is about customers, not producers; demand, not supply."
the whole subject is now a gigantic paradox. a simple statement of philosophy has become so confused with techniques, mystique and jargon that the get rich quick con artists are calling it "The Hottest Topic On The Internet" and are getting away with it.
the root cause of all this trickery is confusion, originally created by "the professionals" who have lost their way in the labyrinth of marketing techniques, they should have kept to the straight and narrow path of the simple philosophy. the paradox is, that virtually all those who express the biggest doubts about internet marketing would accept the basic principals without question. which are - "the customer is always right", and the belief that "a man who takes a business risk is entitled to make a profit as a reward". in short, we are basically concerned with making a profit by giving customers what they want. sounds obvious, doesn't it?
2002 journal end see archives for more