__________________________________________ 互户互户互户互互户互)  Merle's Mission Ezine- "The Best of the Net Straight to your Door" Feb 15th,2003 Issue #105 ISSN: #1527-3105 Edited & Published by: Merle- Merle@MerlesWorld.com http://www.MerlesWorld.com/ Tell A Friend: http://recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=3463949 __________________________________________ 互户互户互户互互户互)  NOTE: This newsletter is by subscription only. The only way it could have ended up in your inbox was by YOUR subscribing to it. If you no longer wish to receive it please see the link at the very bottom of this ezine and I shall never darken your doorway again. ****************************************** Donations Wanted: If you enjoy this ezine and feel you have gained valuable information from it, please make a donation through Amazon's Donation Service. Your small gifts will help support the website and this newsletter (and bones for "the boys"). http://tinyurl.com/21se ______________________________________________ Sponsor ______________________________________________ More Traffic, Means more Business - for You! ------------------------------------------------------------ Increase traffic, sell more products, and generate new leads with cost-effective advertising from HipTraffic! We offer newsletter ads, popunders, banners and skyscrapers at affordable rates. Track your performance in real-time, and see how our network gets you noticed! Sign up now: http://www.hiptraffic.com/ __________________________________________ 互户互户互户互互户互)  Politics... "Join the army! Travel the world, Meet interesting people, and kill them." Compliments of http://www.Coolsigs.com ----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>> E D I T O R' S N O T E ----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>> Happy Sunday! Are you enjoying your day off lying around in your "jamies" with the Sunday paper? Of course you are. If this is your first issue of Merle's Mission, welcome. We've picked up many new subscribers in the past few weeks through hiplists.com Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy! How was your Valentines day? Did you get anything good? If you did, good for you. If you're sweety forgot you I hope he or she is in the doghouse for at least the next week. My boyfriend gave me this little red number...well, you get the idea. I went to the store on Valentines day to pick up a few cards for my friends and their sure wasn't much left. Talk about picked over. I wonder just how many cards are sold on that day? Anyone know? American Greetings must be in heaven. My head's a little foggy today. My boyfriend is Italian and he makes the best homemade red wine you've ever had. The wine has just come into full frutation and last night I was partaking in a little wine tasting. Well, maybe more then a little it was more like a whole bottle. Needless to say my head feels a little foggy today so bear with me if I ramble on. Teddy (my dog) is feeling much better after his last allergic reaction. Luckily we haven't had another occurrence of the neck swelling since. If anyone has any tips for me for allergic dogs, please share. Heads up for those of you using Hotmail or Yahoo or AOL please add this ezines email address of.... mmezine@merlesworld.com to your "friend list" or "approved senders" list. I recently changed the email address so if you were housing the old one please change it. In the future any and all bounces will be automatically taken off this list so if you want to keep every issue coming make sure you do this so we don't get bounced or stuck in your trash bin accidently. As usual I've rounded up some great resources for you so let's get started. If you have any comments you can send them to mailto:merle@merlesworld.com Merle http://www.MerlesWorld.com http://www.EzineAdAuction.com http://www.MCPromotions.com -------------------------------------------------- IN THIS ISSUE -------------------------------------------------- => 1. News From the Net => 2. Feature Article- "What Separates the "Haves" from the "Have Nots" Online?" => 3. Webmaster Resources => 4. Promotional Resources => 5. Other Ezines of Interest => 6. Just for Fun or Useful => 7. E Books and Things of Interest to Publishers => 8. Freeware and Shareware to Download => 9.Subscribe/Remove Information --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. NEWS FROM THE NET -------------------------------------------------------------- GOOGLE VOICE SEARCH Search on Google by voice with a simple telephone call http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html -------- Small Time Ebay Scams http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y203/m02/abu0089/s02 ------ Additional Domains for Search Engine Ranking http://www.searchengineguide.com/whalen/2003/0213_jw1.html ----- Perfect HTML http://webdesign.about.com/library/weekly/aa102797.htm ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv "Traveling and Can't Get Your Email?" Don't let this happen to you. With "WebMail" domain email accounts, you can access your mail 24 hours a day- 7 days a week. Usable ANYWHERE! Perfect for business or personal use. Why Take Chances? Go to.. http://tinyurl.com/5xcz --------------------------------------------- 2. FEATURE ARTICLE --------------------------------------------- "What Separates the "Haves" from the "Have Nots" Online?" By Merle http://MerlesMission.com Who says life is fair? Just as in the "real world," there are those online who just seem to have it all together. Their sites look good, they have brisk traffic,and their customer service is top notch. You can spot a site like this instantly when you stumble across it,as you stand in awe and admiration of one of the Internet"Haves." So what qualities does a site need to cross over to the "Haves" elite group? There are a few standard components they all share, so pay close attention, and I'll clue you in on their little trade secrets. 1) Good Design and Layout: OK, this may seem like a no-brainer but if you browse around the Net for any length of time, it's obviously not. Many people buy a copy of Front Page and voila -- envision themselves web designers. Many of these sites look like they were put together by a 5-year-old having a bad crayon day. If you don't know enough to put together a decent looking site, please hire someone to do it for you. Nothing will turn your customers off faster then a bad looking site. Remember to leave plenty of white space, and don't place white type against a black background, please. Don't use more than two or three colors for the entire site,use plenty of catchy titles and headers and keep your paragraphs short, as people read differently online than off. Most just scan pages instead of reading fine detail. For help with your site,check out Web Monkey..... http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/ 2) Good Navigation: You might not think this is too difficult, especially if your website is small. But it can become a real problem as your site continues to grow. If you use Javascript for your top menu, make sure to include a text link menu at the bottom of each page. This makes it easier for the search engines to index your paqes and for your visitors who may not want to scroll back to the top of the page just to make a new selection. Make sure you put a title or some other form of indicator on each page or within the menu itself, so your guests know where they are at all times within your site. Keep your menu consistent across all pages of your site (in other words, don't get them lost).You may even wish to include a search function to allow your visitors to find exactly what they are looking for quickly. A good free one is...http://www.fusionbot.com/ 3) Opt-In List: I'm going to say this one time, so listen carefully. If you're going to be doing business online you MUST HAVE a way of collecting your visitors' email addresses and build your own opt-in list. Usually this is done in the form of offering an ezine. An ezine is an electronic newsletter dealing with the topic of your website. For example, someone who sells pet products might start an ezine on pet care tips and tricks. If an ezine is too much of an undertaking for you, just start a list to notify your guests of updates, sales or specials. Most visitors will not buy from you the very first time they visit your site. You must have a system in place to collect their emails and contact them down the road for a future sale. An ezine helps you to "build relationships" which will lead to increased sales. 4) Update It: If you have graphics, links and forms on your website, make sure they work. Nothing looks more unprofessional then a site loaded with dead links and broken graphics. Keep your site fresh and updated on a regular basis. To check your site for broken links try http://www.lithopssoft.com 5) Contact Info: This should be simple enough but many times is overlooked. Nothing makes you appear as if you've got something to hide than not including some form of contact information on your site. Try to avoid PO Boxes, as many times they may make people suspicious. Try to offer more then one avenue of communication like an email, phone or fax number. Answer all of your email within 24 to 48 hours or you'll lose customers. 6) Fast Loading: Whatever you do, don't load your site with heavy bloated graphics that take forever to download. Also, take it easy with Flash and animation. Don't make your guests seasick with too many things that shake and move; it's cheesy and makes you look unprofessional. There are many services to help you compress your graphics, like http://netmechanic.com/accelerate.htm or http://www.jpegwizard.com 7) Who Are You?: One of the biggest mistakes I see site owners making online is not telling your guests who you are and what you do right up front. Web surfers are in a hurry with many places to go and things to see. Tell them in your opening site paragraph what you're all about. They'll appreciate the info and won't scratch their heads wondering what on earth you do. Tell them and tell them fast. So there you have it. How many of these faux pas are you guilty of? These are basic principles for any successful website. By implementing these qualities into your own site, you too can join the "Haves" of the Internet Community and leave the "Have Nots" behind. And that's one move certainly worth making. ********************************************** Merle http://www.EzineAdAuction.com "Where some of the BEST Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made" Buy & Sell Ezine Ads in a live auction setting! Publishers sell off your excess inventory and Buyers pick up some Fantastic bargains. Free E-book on how to write "glowing" ezine ads.....Download Now at http://www.ezineadauction.com/ebooks/greatezineads.pdf ************************************************ ------------------------------------------------ 3. WEBMASTER RESOURCES ------------------------------------------------- HTML HELP If you work on your own website and have been struggling with HTML here's a nice one to bookmark. Comes complete with all standard tag usage and tutorials. Nice and very helpful. http://www.html-html.com/ ---------- STYLESHEET SCRIPT Here's a nice Javascript that detects and loads a style sheet based on the persons resolution. Fr*e. http://tinyurl.com/5xcx -------- Nice tutorial on forms for your website http://www.web-source.net/html_forms1.htm ----- SAWPIT WEBMASTER TOOLS A handy service for webmasters. Bookmark this one and create pop ups, random text, drop down menus and many other cool things for your website all free. http://webmastertools.sawpit.net/ ------ FREE TOOL TO SP*M Proof your Email Address Need to keep the sp*mmers from grabbing your email address from your website and adding it to their list? Use this free tool to encrypt it. Fill in the blanks and they'll email you=20 the code to place on your site. http://tinyurl.com/5xd7 ====================================== Tip ====================================== COOL INTERNET EXPLORER TIP --------------------------- Have you ever been to a web page using Internet Explorer that has a cool effect when you first land on the page? This is easy to do and ignored by Netscape. Put this in your meta tag For different effects change the transition number in the above code to any number from 0 to 23. =========================================== ----------------------------------------------- 4. PROMOTIONAL RESOURCES ----------------------------------------------- "Unsold Ad Inventory?" Here's the quickest way to sell it and increase your ad sales on a regular basis. EzineAdAuction allows you to post your ad space in a fun auction setting. No fees to you unless a buyer is found. Hurry in today and find out why publishers love to sell their ad space at http://www.EzineAdAuction.com ------- TRAFFICOLOGY TRAFFICOLOGY is easily the best "How-To-Get-Traffic" newsletter on earth! If you're not reading it, you are completely out of the loop! Check it out... ... and prepare to be amazed! http://hop.clickbank.net/?dakota6969/trafficolo ------ SPECIAL NOTICE: To Our Readers - We want to let you know about a new resource filled with winning autoresponder messages to model, copy and swipe. It's called "Autoresponder Magic" and you can find out more here: ===> http://www.autorespondermagic.com/?14677 Stop Agonizing Over Your Autoresponder Messages! ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ GETTING TOO MANY EMAILS? Finally... A Powerful Program That Gets Rid of Those Annoying Emails WITHOUT Losing Any of Your Important Email - 100% Guaranteed - Free Download! Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/5xdg ---------------------------------------------- 5. OTHER EZINES OF INTEREST ---------------------------------------------- If you'd like to swap ads with this ezine please send your requests to mailto:adswap@merlesworld.com Please include your ezine name and the number of subscribers. --------------------------- Do You Know How to Get Traffic? M.C. Promotions Press Ezine is sent out twice a month featuring tips,tools,links, and marketing and promotion articles that will help you masterthe art and science of Internet Web Site Promotion. Containing the HOTTEST Marketing Techniques, traffic generators, SECRETS of search engines and much more. If you want more traffic and are trying to create an online presence, this ezine is for you.To subscribe send... mailto:subscribe@mcpromotions.com ------- ParentPreneur Weekly Ezine is geared towards parents working from home. Subscribe today and get HOT news & access to the latest tools & tips for home workers. All new subscribers will receive FREE gifts mailto:mcp-subscribe@parentpreneurclub.com http://www.parentpreneurclub.com?s00mcp ======================================================= <<<< T H E O R I G I N A L E Z I N E - R I N G >>>> Free Samples of the Best Internet Marketing Ezines ... Previous: mailto:mewsletter@autobots.net Next: mailto:2000fastracksample@sendfree.com *Full List and 3 Freebies: mailto:ering15@writead.com* ======================================================= -------------------------------------------- 6. JUST FOR FUN OR USEFUL -------------------------------------------- Learn to Make Candy Hearts for Valentines Day http://www.designsbymark.com/pstips/pdf/valen_candyhearts.pdf ------- SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY "SpyBot-S&D searches your hard drive for so-called spy- or adbots; that is, little modules that are responsible for the ads many programs display. Many of these modules also transmit information, including your surfing behavior on the Internet. If SpyBot-S&D finds such modules, it can remove them. In most cases the host still runs fine after removing the spyware/adware." Free to download but donations are requested. http://beam.to/spybotsd ----- MORPHEUS "Morpheus brings to its users robust search capabilities, faster downloads, and an overall better user experience. In development for over a year, the Morpheus application (client) allows users to search and find almost any type of digital file (audio, video, photos, reference data, reports, documents, etc.) through a secure peer-to-peer network." http://www.morpheus-os.com/ ------- PHOTOWOW Want to do something fun with your photos? Why not turn them into works of art with the help of PhotoWow. They offer a variety of custom items, from impressive pieces of art on canvas to personalized labels for champagne bottles. Very cool and different stuff....check it out at... http://www.PhotoWow.com -------- PUTT AND WIN Do you have a passion for golf? Then take a stab at this fun online gulf game that may keep you distracted for hours. http://centrum.co.uk/puttandwin/ ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ "Increase Your Subscriber Base Fast" If your e-zine list is taking too long to build, there are others that will build it for you, and for free. Get the details on how this system can start working for you in less than five minutes. http://www.subscriptionrocket.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi?r=3410 ---------------------------------------------------------- 7. E BOOKS AND THINGS OF INTEREST TO EZINE PUBLISHERS _________________________________________________ "How Any Small Business Owner or Self-Employed Person Can Save Thousands In Taxes." It's available as a downloadable PDF file at http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com/free-ebook.html ------ PDF9 95 If you have a need to convert docs into PDF but can't afford Adobe's solution you might want to take a look at this. Free software that will have you making those PDF ebooks in no time at all. A splash screen for the software maker is shown at start up with the free version or you can purchase it for only 9.95. Many features. http://www.pdf995.com/pdfedit.html ---------------------------------------------- 8. FREEWARE- SHAREWARE- TRIALS TO DOWNLOAD ---------------------------------------------- WIN DRIVERS BACKUP "WinDriversBackup Personal Edition is a free utility for personal,non-commercial use, provided by JerMar Software Corp.Specifically for backing up your Windows system driver files.It can identify all of your Windows driver files and save them to a secure location in two simple mouse clicks. Backing up your Windows driver files means they will be available to you the next time you need to reinstall the driver or the whole operating system. WinDriversBackup places the driver files in one organized location of your choosing." http://www.jermar.com/wdrvbck.htm -------- SERVER ALERT "Server Alert is a web site monitoring tool, aimed at web developers that need to be notified if a site cannot be reached. Server Alert will notify you by email when a site is unreachable and logs all monitors and errors. It is fully customizable; you can monitor many sites, modify the email alert, and choose site-monitor frequency and more. And even with all that included, it's free." http://www.thebittings.org/software/sysreq.asp ------- COPYRIGHT LEFT "CopyRightLeft is an image manipulation program oriented toward creating Internet image files.This program will help you add a copyright bar on or under a picture. There is a batch mode to process several files at once. It can also create a list of the selected images in an HTML file." http://www.lunerouge.org/gnu/crl_e.htm ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ FR*E: "SECRETS TO A SECURE FUTURE FOREVER COURSE" Build Wealth Without Risk. This FREE Course will show You how to build a Secure and Wealthy Future for Yourself and Your Family.You need security against all the bad things that can go wrong in life. Send a blank email to: mailto:34041@Ez-Optin.com ------------------------------------------ 9.IMPORTANT STUFF ------------------------------------------ Well, that wraps it up,once again thanks for joining me. If you have any comments please send them to comments@merlesworld.com or visit http://www.MerlesWorld.com For advertising rates for this ezine send... mailto:advertising@merlesworld.com Current subscriber base is over 4,400- My list is clean as all email addresses are removed the very first time they bounce. Back issues can be reviewed here... http://www.MerlesMission.com If you would like to be taken off our mailing list: PLEASE click on the link at the very bottom of this ezine. If you are not a subscriber and would like to be send mailto:subscribe@merlesworld.com *********************************** For more information: http://www.MerlesMission.com *************************************** For great web hosting or if you're in need of a programmer contact mailto:DavidBlack@SiteDesignandHosting.com He's wonderful and an expert at what he does. Tell him "Merle" sent ya. P.S. I am currently in need of testimonials for this ezine. If you enjoy it please let me know. Send to mailto:testimonials@MerlesWorld.com ========================== If you haven't yet filled in the subscriber survey, get your free gifts by doing it now..and be entered into a drawing for a free ad in this ezine. Winner pulled twice a month. You'll find the survey at: http://www.advancedsurvey.com/ when there put 901 into the survey number box at the top left to take the survey. -------------- I'm now offering my articles for syndication on your website All you have to do is paste SOME code where you want the article to appear and every 10 to 14 days when I update it on my end it will display a fresh article on web design/ maintenance on your site. Easy to do and gives you fresh content without any work whatsoever. For more info and to get to the code go to.... http://www.merlesworld.com/SyndicationColumns/syndication_columns.htm Thanks for being a subscriber and I'll see you next time! If you enjoy this ezine and would like to make a small donation please go to ... http://tinyurl.com/21se ----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>---- IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER ========================= Disclaimer: Merle's World does not accept any responsibility for any liabilities as resulting from any claims in this newsletter or by the advertisers in it. This newsletter is for informational purposes only. We respect your privacy and do not share our mailing list with anyone. All content provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Copyright 2001-2003 All Rights Reserved