Affiliate Storefronts, Website Design

Fri 8th Sept '00 In this issue: 1. INTRODUCTION ==>Dot com shakeout, Affinia no more 2. PLACES TO VISIT ==>Web sites for you to visit. 3. TIDBITS ==>Business news and other interesting snippets. 4. TOOLS AT NOWSELL.COM ==>Useful tools to make your life easier. 5. VIEWPOINT ==>What's your opinion? 6. MARKETPLACE ==>Check out special offers and deals here. 7. FEATURE ARTICLE ==>"How To Design Your Web Site Right" by Azam Corry. Scroll to the end for subscription details. o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x SPONSOR'S MESSAGE x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o "PC AND INTERNET NEWBIES: END YOUR PC RAGE FOREVER!" The Newbie Club has been described as the best PC and Internet Newbie Site ever to hit the Web. Our revolutionary Learning System will absolutely amaze you with its simplicity and Jargon-Free language. Free Tutorials, Free eBook, Free Magazine, and Free 2 Tier Affiliate Program ... it's all there! Get over there NOW to http://www.newbieclub.com?details Wow!!! o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X INTRODUCTION X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X Hi, The online climate sure has changed a lot since this time last year. These days, dot coms seem to be folding almost as fast as they are launching. And if they're not closing down, many seem to be cutting staff or relocating to reduce expenses. The reasons are many. One is that the Internet itself has changed. Concepts that worked in the past have become outdated, leaving those unable or unwilling to change in trouble. In addition, competition has increased greatly. The factor most blamed however is the drying-up of funding, or "Nervous VC's." But the reluctance of investors to continue pumping cash into ventures lacking a sound business strategy, is a good thing. And one that will eventually lead to a more stable, healthier marketplace; weeding-out the garden so that real businesses can thrive, and protecting the small business owner from competitors that don't need to make money. BB Last week Affinia.com closed. As an Affinia affiliate, you could create your own free storefront to sell a wide range of products on a commission basis. There was no warning. No notification was sent to affiliates. They just pulled the plug. Visit the site and all you'll find is the contact address: affinia@yahoo.com. So what went wrong? Apparently sales volume wasn't as high as expected, and as a 'middleman' earning a relatively small amount on each sale, it seems that Affinia simply weren't making money. In addition, several changes of direction would seem to indicate an uncertainty that probably did little to help matters. Ironic really. Less than a year ago they were boasting how much better their business model was than Vstore's, which operates a similar program (one Affinia later copied to a degree, when it moved from its pay-per-click commission structure, to a regular percentage-per-sale). If you're one of the 70,000 plus affiliates left in the lurch, get your store down pronto. Endless 404 'page not found' errors won't do much for your credibility. I suggest you pop over to http://www.Vstore.com . You can setup a replacement store in minutes. BB Tell me what YOU think! Send your feedback, comments, what you like, what you hate, etc., to me at: mailto:azam-nowsell.com TTFN Azam PS - Did you remember to get your 21 FREE Net Profits audio files and course notes? Declan Dunn tells you what works and shows how to do it. Get Your Free Course Now: http://www.NowSell.com/r/profit ----------------------------------------------------------------- Your Privacy: I greatly value your trust in me. I will never, ever, under any circumstances give or sell your email address to anyone. Period! ----------------------------------------------------------------- o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o "POWERFUL ADS AND SALES COPY MAKE MORE SALES!" Get "Make Your Words Sell!" The definitive guide to writing copy for the web. From the essentials before you write a single word to the polishing of your final draught, "Make Your Words Sell!" covers it all. In DETAIL and in lanuage you understand. Learn how to think like your visitor, with your visitor, and ahead of your visitor. Read it NOW ... BEFORE your competition does! Click Here! o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X PLACES TO VISIT X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X

http://www.Phone-Enable.com/ By adding one line of HTML to a web page, site owners can enable visitors to place calls from their PC's to regular telephones.

http://websearch.about.com/library/blses00.htm Comprehensive coverage of the Search Engine Strategies 2000 conference. Ranking tips and other useful information.

http://www.FreeTelephone.com/ Information on free International long distance. PC to telephone, PC to PC with video, calling without an internet connection and free phone cards.

http://www.Worldbid.com/ International business trade site. Newly redesigned to make the posting, viewing and receiving trade leads easier.

http://www.Atomz.com/ Add search capabilities to your easily, without software. Can also index Adobe PDF files and interact with sites created with Adobe GoLive 5

o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o TAKE CREDIT CARDS ONLINE, HANDS FREE! Confused on how to accept credit cards at your website? Click here to learn about e-commerce and a company that can set up EVERYTHING for you. Increase YOUR sales by as much as 317% or more! http://www.marketingtips.com/creditcards/ o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X TIDBITS X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Man Arrested In Hoax That Used Bogus Press Release And An Internet Service To Drive Down Price Of Emulex Corp.; SEC Moves To Freeze Assests Made During Scheme. Less than one week after a fabricated press release led to a publicly traded company temporarily losing more than $2 billion in market value and investors to suffer millions of dollars in trading losses, federal authorities have arrested an El Segundo man on fraud charges for allegedly causing an Internet news service to publish a false news report and then using the subsequent market instability to make a quarter million dollar profit. http://www1.internetwire.com/iwire/iwpr $2 BILLION SPENT IN Q1 ON ONLINE ADS According to the latest edition of the Internet Ad Revenue Report published quarterly by the Internet Advertising Bureau , online advertising spending reached $1.953 billion during for the first quarter of this year. The report, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, also stated that Q1 2000 revenues were up 9.9% over Q4 1999 and 182% up over Q1 1999. Consumer-related spending was again the top category, accounting for 31% of spending. http://www.emarketer.com/estats/20000808_iab.html eCOMMERCE MATURES According to ActivMedia's report, Real Numbers Behind 'Net Profits 2000, e-commerce activity for year 2000 will reach $132 billion worldwide, double the $58 billion reported in 1999. This figures includes revenues from B2C, B2B and internet services. ActivMedia points to changes occuring as e-commerce continues to mature globally. The report notes that although most new sites are based in the US, proportionally its share of new sites has shrunk in the past relative to Europe and Asia. http://www.emarketer.com/estats/20000808_activ.html ePUBLISHING HAS COMPANIES RUSHING TO ALLY Electronic books are getting a lot of hype lately, but many aren't quite sure what to do about that -- and how. Inside.com summarizes recent moves -- Barnes & Noble + Microsoft, Adobe's acquisition of Glassbooks, etc. http://www.inside.com/story/ Story_Cached/0,2770,8842_8_11_1,00.html DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE NET GETTING OLDER The number of seniors online will more than triple from 11.1 million in 1999 to 34.1 million in 2004, and they will account for 20 percent of all new users, according to IDC. http://cyberatlas.com/big_picture/ demographics/article/0,,5901_448131,00.html ALTAVISTA'S HEAD ROLLS The chaos surrounding AltaVista's failure to launch an unmetered Internet access service in Britain claimed the head of Andy Mitchell, the company's U.K. CEO. It was a hard fall for Mitchell, who was applauded by the press and members of the British government when he announced plans for AltaVista's unmetered service in March. However, after admitting the group had never fully costed its plans for the service, he resigned with immediate effect on Wednesday. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,18084,00.html HOW NOT TO MAKE MONEY If World Online's experience is any indication, Internet service providers in the U.K. are going to have a hard time staying in business. Heavy users of that ISP's service are costing it more than 1,000 euros a month in some cases, while paying it just 10 euros each month for the favour. Both World Online and AltaVista say the privatised former state monopoly, British Telecom, is continuing to charge high rates on the section of the dial-up connection it controls, making their services uneconomic. A World Online spokesman said it's prepared to take a loss at present before moving customers up into its broadband services. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,18129,00.html WRECKING EUROPE The European Commission is threatening to block or dramatically scale back Time Warner's plans to link up with EMI Group, over fears the combined business would quash competition in the global music industry. The Commission's worries are compounded by Time Warner's plans to merge with AOL. European officials and senior executives of the companies are due to meet next week. http://www.financialmail.co.uk/20000901/nm19878.html POWER TO THE MOBILE According to research house IDC, WAP-based applications are coming of age in Europe, which could result in a shifting of the Internet power-base in favour of the mobile operators, such as Vodafone, Orange and Telecom Italia Mobile. IDC believes the mobile operators have the potential to be the Yahoos and AOLs of the future in terms of content and access. In Japan, for example, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode wireless Internet service has over 10 million subscribers, making it the second biggest ISP in the world. In a few years it could be the biggest ISP in the world in terms of subscriber numbers, possibly followed by Vodafone and France Telecom's Orange. http://www.idc.com EUROPE Far from being a technological backwater, Spain will rank fifth in Europe with 15 million Internet users by 2004, according to Merrill Lynch's quarterly report on the Net. Germany , the UK will be the top four. However, by Internet penetration, Spain will rank third by 2003 with 44 percent of the population connected to the Internet. Greece and Portugal, with 33 percent and 30 percent respectively, will rank bottom. The Nordic countries will be the nations with the highest Internet usage rates. At the start of the year only 9 percent of Spanish Internet users had made purchases on the Web, placing Spain in last position in Western Europe. But Spain will rank eighth in Europe within four years in pure business to business e-commerce. http://es.internet.com/es/ YAHOO SINKS, MARKET RISES Yahoo tumbled 10 percent in one session last week after Lehman Brothers analyst Holly Becker questioned its revenue model. Becker said the Net advertising that accounts for 80 percent of Yahoo's revenue could dry up as more dot-coms go bust. Yahoo's stock couldn't shake her doubt, ending the week down 15 percent. The Nasdaq went the other direction, however, on a strong showing by semiconductor and fiber-optic stocks. The Nasdaq is in positive territory for the year. http://www.thestandard.com/ ACCESS FOR ALL The U.S. Internet population will more than double by 2004, reaching 210 million, according to IDC. Older adults will be the fastest growing group of surfers. By 2004, there will be 34 million people online over the age of 55, up from 11 million in 1999. http://www.thestandard.com/ JOY TO E-RETAILERS Worldwide online holiday sales are expected to reach $19.5 billion in 2000, an 85 percent increase over 1999 according to Gartner Group. North America will represent more than half of worldwide holiday revenue, bringing in an estimated $10.7 billion, up from $6.3 billion in 1999. http://www.thestandard.com/ ASIA RACES ONLINE Forty-six percent of adults in Singapore went online last month, making Singapore the most active of five markets studied in Asia, according to French-based Internet measurement company NetValue. Runners-up were Korea with 42 percent online, Taiwan with 36 percent online and Hong Kong with 29 percent online. http://www.thestandard.com/ ALLADVANTAGE STILL DISADVANTAGED AllAdvantage.com, a company that pays people to look at ads while they surf the Net, announced plans on Friday to lay off 100 workers, about 18 percent of its staff. The Hayward, Calif.-based company cut 60 jobs in July. http://www.thestandard.net/article/display/0,1151,18194,00.html STICK WITH LOTTO A new promotion sponsored by E-Trade and AT&T has raised legal concerns. At issue The entry form for the $20,000 Dream Account Sweepstakes includes a prechecked box that gives AT&T permission to send marketing messages to entrants. Removing the check from the opt-in box disqualifies an entry. http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article/0,,12_451371,00.html GLOBAL GROWTH FOR NET AD SPENDING Online ad spending in Western Europe will grow 1,600 percent during the next five years, compared with a growth rate of 600 percent in the U.S. 2000 2005 North America 5,921* 39,117 Caribbean, Central and South America 76 1,925 Western Europe 1,293 20,700 Central and Eastern Europe 15 445 Central Asia 123 2,668 Asia-Pacific 804 17,067 Middle East and Africa 116 1,318 * in millions of dollars Source: "Interactive Advertising New Revenue Streams for Fixed and Mobile Operators," Ovum, 2000. http://www.thestandard.com/ ONLINE PRICES NOT CREATED EQUAL http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,38622,00.html Variable pricing has hit the Web. Amazon charges different prices for the same products depending on who visits, and that's hacking off some loyal customers. By Craig Bicknell. SEGA SEEKS NET PROFITS http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,38326,00.html It's No. 3 with dark-horse Microsoft fast approaching, so Sega turns to ISP services to put them back in the black. SegaNet adds head-to- head play to games such as Quake. By Dennis McCauley. AOL DEAL UNDER FTC SCRUTINY http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,38596,00.html FTC staffers worry that a combined AOL-Time Warner would wield too much clout in major cities. Also WorldCom acquiring Intermedia.... Losses mount for Lycos Europe. AMAZON'S PRIVACY POLICY ALTERED http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38572,00.html In an update to its privacy policy, Amazon.com tells customers their personal information could be shared with other companies. WIRELESS PHONE HACK ATTACK http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,38557,00.html Nokia handsets are frozen for up to 60 seconds by what appears to be a malicious short messaging service code. By Elisa Batista. MICROSOFT LOADS UP FOR PIRATE RAIDS http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2610696,00.html Microsoft's other search engine isn't for web surfers. Instead, it helps the company track down pirated software. o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o YOU CAN WRITE A PROFITABLE EBOOK! Yes - *even if* you've never written before! Turn everyday knowledge into a product in demand ... and Sell It! Comprehensive hands-on guide to Writing, Publishing & Marketing ebooks. Detailed, step-by-Step instructions. Surprise yourself! NO RISK 1 YEAR GUARANTEE PAYS 10 TIMES YOUR MONEY BACK! Click Here! o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X TOOLS AT NOWSELL.COM X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X Promotion Tools * Keyword Research Tool * Meta Tag Maker * Free Automatic Search Engine Submit * Rapid Manual Search Engine Submit Tool * Position Analyzer to check site rank in the SEs * Link Generators * Multi Search Tool HTML Tools * Multiple Pop-up window code generator * Multiple MouseOver image generator * Frames code generator * Simple CSS template * 216 Web color palette and codes * HTML Special character codes * Useful cut & paste Javascript, and more X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X VIEWPOINT X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X This week: ~~~~~~~~~~ What do you think about the problems many online companies are facing? Does it worry you? Send your comments to: mailto:viewpoint-nowsell.com ***************************************************************** Do Your Bit! If you haven't already done so, please forward this issue to one or two of your friends or colleagues. Thanks so much! ***************************************************************** Last week: ~~~~~~~~~~ Do free classified ad postings work? Reader Comments: Will you place a hundred ads and get a thousand orders? NO. If you're GIVING something away--like, say a free subscription to a free ezine that links you to 25 free biz resources in every issue--a hundred ads will bring you a handful of subscribers. I've found that classified "blasting" is virtually worthless--if people don't have to visit the site to post, they won't read any ads. While posting to classified sites one at a time gets SOME response--personally, I feel that the best use for free classified sites is testing headlines--if a headline gets a response there, it will REALLY get response elsewhere. Judy Wogoman, Publisher NetNuggetz Newsletter--25 FREE Biz resources in every issue! mailto:bizansrfindr@netscape.net?subject=subscribe Fast, free content at http://sites.netscape.net/bizansrfindr X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X MARKETPLACE X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X ----------------------------------------------------------------- Marketplace Available In Email Version Only. ----------------------------------------------------------------- X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X X FEATURE ARTICLE X X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X ----------------------------------- "How To Design Your Web Site Right" ----------------------------------- by Azam Corry Your first step is to answer a fundamental question: What is the purpose of the web site? It could be to directly sell a product, or perhaps to get people to join your mailing list, take part in a game or competition, or even call a sales representative. Whatever it is, you must identify it clearly. Every part of the site should be designed to reach this goal. Identify your customer. Who are they? Picture them. What's their job? Income? How old are they? What are their interests? Their personality types? Write this information down and refer to it often. Build your site for THEM. Not you. Now you know the site's purpose and it's intended audience, you can think about various sections you will need, and the topics to be covered in each. Aim for a maximum of five or six main sections. More than that and visitors will have trouble remembering them. Draw a plan of your site on paper, with arrows to show how the sections will link together. Links should fan out from the home page like branches on a tree. Visitors should be able to reach any page within three clicks (and return home in one). Sketch the different page layouts you will need. Keep these to a minimum for continuity within the site. You might have one layout for your homepage, a generic layout for each of the section indexes, and another standard design for sub-pages. Try several alternative styles and select the best. If using a tables-based layout, put navigation links and drop-down menus, etc., to the right of the page. If you put them on the left, the code will appear at the top of your HTML file. Search engines place a lot of emphasis on the information there. You want it to be keyword-rich content, not links. Identify components of your layout that will be repeated across many pages. Things like navigation menus, page headers and footers, etc. Mark these to be added to your pages through the use of SSI (Server Side Includes). With SSI, a simple CGI command is used to tell the browser to reference another file, and write it into that location on page load. This way, if and when you need to modify, say, the navigation menu on every page, you only have to change the contents of a single file. To learn more about SSI visit: http://www.ora.com/www/info/cgi/ch05.html Open your HTML editor. Using your sketches, create a template file for each of your chosen layouts. Include everything that will be the same on each page. <--- Side Note ---> SSI's can only be viewed when pages are online, so unless you have an advanced editor, I suggest you make two templates for each page type. First create an entire page as you intend it to appear in a browser. When you've finished, add an identifying comment tag at the beginning and end of each SSI section. Save the file. Use it for reference and testing modifications to these included sections. Now select the area between the first pair of comment tags. Cut and paste the HTML into a new file of its own. This will be the include file the browser will reference. Replace the cut section with the appropriate SSI link to this file. Repeat for each SSI section and then use the 'Save As' command to save what you are left with as a new template. Use this template to create pages. <--- Side Note ---> Don't use FONT tags in your HTML. Instead use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to specify font face, weight and color, etc. The vast majority of surfers are using browsers that understand the basic implementation of CSS that covers font information. The file size of the page will be much smaller if it isn't full of FONT tags, making it download faster. Plus, if you ever want to make adjustments, you need only modify a single line in your style sheet file to effect the font styles on every page. To learn more about CSS visit: http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ Keep the number of graphics on each page to a minimum. Compress them as much as you can, until the image begins to distort. Specify their exact sizes in your HTML code. When the browser knows the size of an image, it can continue drawing the rest of the page while it downloads. Otherwise it must wait. Avoid large pictures. If their usage is central to your site's theme, compress and save them in interlaced format. This will cause them to gradually 'fade' into the page, so your visitor isn't left staring at a blank space. Research keywords your target audience will type into the search engines to find you. Spend some time on this. Create a list of words and their synonyms. Divide them into topics. Highlight the most important words and phrases in each. Write the copy for each of your topics. Initially, just let the words flow. Write down anything that comes into your head. Go back over your copy and refine it. Again and again. Work your keywords into the text and identify possible headlines. Use short sentences and make it as crisp as you can. Write in a language and style that will appeal to your target audience. Now you're ready to start creating pages. Paste your copy into the appropriate template. If it's a sales letter, allow the copy to run its entire length on a single page. Otherwise, look for a suitable break point at around one-and-a-half screen lengths. Short pages can be annoying to visitors. If they have a slow connection, they will spend a lot of time waiting for pages to load. However, with very long pages its harder to get good search engine rankings. Use a level one heading (H1) containing your most important keywords at the top of each page. Search engines consider these important in determining relevancy. Have plenty of keywords in the first paragraph or so of text. Keywords in file and directory names may also help your ranking a little in some search engines. © 1999-2000 Azam Corry "Do it Better, Do it Faster, Do it Right!" Azam Corry owns NowSell.com A mine of helpful information, tools and resources for budding Netrepreneurs. Rated 3-star by Go.com. Recommended by About.com. Visit: http://www.NowSell.com/?WSRight ==> If you are doing business online, you'll enjoy his Biz Bits ezine. Subscribe today at: mailto:bizbits@nowsell.com o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o "Submit URLs Fast and Safely from your PC!" Unlike other auto-submitters, our revolutionary "smart" software submits and monitors daily like a person, following search engine rules to assure safe, accurate control. It even scans HTML pages on your PC, saving you from typing in all those URLs! Click to Auto-Submit! o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o To subscribe to Biz Bits, send a blank email to: mailto:bizbits@nowsell.com Should you ever wish to unsubscribe (hopefully not!): mailto:BizBits-unsubscribe@topica.com To subscribe on the Web please go to: http://www.nowsell.com Archives: Biz Bits Internet Marketing eZine Posts to Biz Bits FFA [mailto:FFA@topica.com]: This is where you can send all of your ads, sales letters, promotions, offers, etc. You may post once every day. Subscribe with a blank email to mailto:FFA-subscribe@topica.com ================================================================= Information on sponsoring Biz Bits: mailto:bbads-nowsell.com ================================================================= Biz Bits is Copyright © 1999-2000 Azam Corry. All Rights Reserved. No part of Biz Bits may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission, though it may be freely redistributed in its unedited form. All guest articles are copyright their respective owners and reproduced with permission. Biz Bits is an internationally registered weekly publication.

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