__________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Merle's Mission Ezine- "The Best of the Net Straight to your Door" December 31st 2002 Issue #103 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 __________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 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. ****************************************** 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 ______________________________________________ TIRED OF PAYING TOO MUCH TAX TO THE IRS? New eBook reveals 29 little-known legal loopholes that will reduce your taxes by thousands for self-employed people and small business owners only!) If you are serious about paying less tax . . . CLICK HERE => http://tinyurl.com/3ywe __________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ One-Liners... "Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart." - Caryn Leschen Compliments of http://www.Coolsigs.com ----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>> E D I T O R' S N O T E ----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>>----<<>> Hapy New Year! OK, so it's only New Year's Eve and I'm a day late. What do you want for nothing . I've been a busy bee. How about you? Yes, I should have gotten this out yesterday but somehow it fell to the wayside. I think that's going to be one of my New Year's resolutions. No more procrastinating. I'm going to finally get to all of those jobs and websites I've been putting off for so long. Nah, maybe tomorrow. Anyone going out tonight? I like to stay home. Too many nuts running around for my liking. I guess I'm just a home body at heart. Give me a fire and my blanky on the couch and I'm one happy girl. My boyfriend on the other hand loves New Year's and always wants to make a big fuzz..So the dates changing, what's with all the excitement. It never has done much for me. Besides at my age those hangovers are killer and last for at least 2 days. Ouch.... How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Here in Ohio we've had rain for the last 2 days. If I was a duck I'd be digging this right about now. Unfortunately, I'm not. You did know that right? I don't quack or wallow in water. I do wallow from time to time but I think it's in booze. Never mind. I went off on a tangent there. So what are you doing for New Year's Day? Any traditions that you do every year? I think I need to start one. Maybe it would be more exciting to me then. Want to share your plans with me mailto:merle@merlesworld.com ***2 FOR 1 AD SALE- NEXT 5 DAYS ONLY** OK, In honor of the holiday and to start filling in ad spots for the new calendar year I'm offering a 2 for 1 sale on my ad spots for this ezine. That's right, buy 1 top sponsor ad get one free, Buy 1 classified you'll get one free, Buy 1 Solo Get 1 Free. You can't beat it. This offer expires on Jan 5th at Midnight so if your interested send for ad rates and ordering info now. mailto:advertising@merlesworld.com I've picked another winner for a free ad in this ezine. The winner is Sonny! If you're reading this reply to the email I sent to you with your ad copy and I'll get it in the next issue. If you'd like a chance to win a free ad in this ezine simply fill out the demographic survey whose link you'll find at the bottom of this newsletter. You really can win. Everytime I write a new article I send it out to a list I maintain of publishers and website owners for possible inclusion in their newsletters or on their sites. If you'd like to be included in that list, send a message to mailto:addmetothelist@merlesworld.com 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- "Is Your Company Name Killing Your Online Business?" => 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 -------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo Buys Inktomi http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/021223/media_inktomi_6.html ----- Town Sold for 1.78 Million on Auction Site http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=8244 ----- Hotmail, Yahoo Erect Roadblocks for S*pam http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,801775,00.asp ------- Common Sense Search Engine Optimization http://www.highrankings.com/commonsense.htm ------ Beginning Tip: Publishing Your Website http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol5/beginner_no24.htm ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv Web Design Secrets the Pros Don't Want You to Know... Finally! A COMPLETE Web design system that makes professional Web design easy...with 100s of copy and paste codes. Click Here to see what everyone is raving about... Web Design Mastery is quickly becoming known as the "Bible" for professional Web design... http://tinyurl.com/3ywj --------------------------------------------- 2. FEATURE ARTICLE --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ "Is Your Company Name Killing Your Online Business?" © by John Buchanan ------------------------------------------------------------ Ahhh... your company name. Your identity. What separates you from everyone else. I would be willing to bet that you spent a good deal of time coming up with the perfect name for your company. Am Iright? Something catchy, easy to remember, and unique. How am I doing so far? What if I were to tell you that your company name is possibly the single biggest hindrance to your business's success online. Unfortunately, for many companies it is. Choosing a name for your business online is much different than choosing a name for a brick and mortar business. You see, in the real world, a business with a catchy, easy to remember name will get traffic simply from people driving by on the street or walking by in a shopping center even if they have never heard of you before. Unfortunately, this is not how things work online. Online, there is no drive-by traffic, no people walking in to your business because they were next door shopping. Online, you must be found among a pool of tens of thousands of other businesses. Online, people don't casually browse with friends to pass the time. Online, people search... and unless your name is Microsoft, Wal-Mart, or another extremely well known and well branded name, people are not going to search for your company name. Studies show that approximately 80% of Internet users find what they are looking for by way of search engines (i.e., Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite, etc.), and I guarantee you, they are not going to be searching for your wonderful catchy name, they will be searching for the topic they want. Let me give you an example. Let's say you own a gourmet coffee business called "The Brewmaster" that you decide to take online. Of course you love your name and create your online identity around your offline name. You reserve the domain name "www.brewmaster.com," keep your company name,and title your site "The Brewmaster." You've submitted your site to Yahoo as well as all the other directories and search engines. Ahhh... life is good. Orders should start rolling in any minute now... Guess what? Unless you have a HUGE marketing budget for banner ads, etc., you've just doomed your business. Let's look at why. First, let's look at the... *Site Title* Whether you're dealing with a directory or a search engine, the site title is the single most important aspect of your listing. For search engines, the text found within the title tags of the page is given more weight than any other single factor on that page (i.e., keyword density, keyword frequency, heading tags, etc.). In a directory, your entire listing is comprised of two things, your title, and your description. In both cases, if the keywords related to your business are not found in your title, your chances of coming up in a search are virtually non-existent. If your site is about "gourmet coffee" then those words, or at the very least, "coffee," should be somewhere within your title. *The Company Name* Just as your site title should have your most important keywords within them, so should your company name. Why, you ask?! The answer... directories. In directories, when a visitor uses the search function (which is what the vast majority use) you will only be found if the search term the visitor uses is found either in your site title or your description. Unfortunately, virtually all directories require your site title to be your actual company name. Remember that directories are powered by humans, not software. A human reviews the site, and assigns the title and description that he/she decides is correct. Yes, they all let you suggest a site title, but ultimately, regardless of what you submit, your title almost always ends up as your company name. Looking again at the above example, this would mean that your title in almost all of the directories would be "The Brewmaster." This means the only place you would have left to put your keywords would be the description, and this again is up to the editor. This means that any site that has the search term "coffee" or "gourmet coffee" in both the title and description would come up far ahead of your site in the search results, costing you traffic and sales that could have been yours. *The URL* Here is another very much overlooked tool. Whenever possible, your URL should contain your most important keywords. Many engines and directories will give your site a boost if your keywords are found within your URL. Also, when you submit your site to the directories, if your URL, your company name, and your site title all match, that will virtually guarantee that you will get the title you requested. Let's tie the three previous areas together with an example of what you could have named your site instead of "The Brewmaster." Here's one possible alternative: "Gourmet Coffee Brewmaster." The above alternative would give you a company name that includes your most important keywords and the perfect title for your page. You could then reserve the domain -- http://www.gourmet-coffee-brewmaster.com... giving you a perfect trifecta. The same company name, page title, and URL -- practically insuring that you get the directory listing you want. Of course, this is only one possibility, but I think this should illustrate the point. To Summarize -Unless you have a huge advertising budget or are an extremely well branded business, DO NOT name your online business something like the above example. -Use a business name that contains your most important keywords. -Use this business name as your site title. -Use a URL that contains your most important keywords and whenever possible, is the same as, or as close as possible to, your keyword-laden business name. Follow these rules and you should have no trouble developing a very steady flow of large amounts of traffic from the directories, and you will be well on your way in the search engine arena as well. ------------------------------------------------------------ John Buchanan is the author of the book "The Insider's Guide to Dominating The Search Engines," and publisher of a FREE monthly newsletter "The Search Engine Bulletin." Visit us at http://www.se-secrets.com for more information or to sign up for the newsletter. ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ Learn How To Design Your Business Website In Less Than 10 Days! Webdesign for beginners to advanced. Milana shows you how easy it really is! Every Webmaster's Dream, everything you need to know! Milana teaches you how to set things up right the first time. In non-tech terms for beginning Webmasters. 17 Tutorials Included http://www.profcs.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=55659 (2X) ------------------------------------------------ 3. WEBMASTER RESOURCES ------------------------------------------------- FREE FOTO FreeFoto.com is the largest collections of free photographs for private non-commercial use on the Internet. http://www.freefoto.com/ ------- FREE HOSTING Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? How about free website hosting? It's still alive and well online. http://free.hostdepartment.com/ http://www.0catch.com/ ----- Dyro Pop Maker Dyro Pop Maker is a code generator that takes the drudgery out of reliably making pop-Up and pop- Under window code. Even veterans coders will appreciate this well-done utility; and newcomers to JavaScript coding just plain love it. http://www.dyro.biz/ ----- ONLINE COLOR CHART Here's a nice online color chart you may want to bookmark for the next time you're putting a site together and are stuck for colors. http://tntluoma.com/sidebars/triplecolors/ ====================================== Tip ====================================== WEBSITES AND FONTS Remember when designing your website you need to stick to basic fonts that most everyone has installed on their computer or your site will not show up as you intended. The Most Popular Fonts to Stick to are: Arial Verdana Times New Roman Comis Sans MS Courier New Impact Keep this in mind when selecting your fonts so people can see your site exactly as you planned. =========================================== ----------------------------------------------- 4. PROMOTIONAL RESOURCES ----------------------------------------------- "Only $10.00 to Advertise?" Sure you can, at EzineAdAuction.com it's EASY! You'll reach Thousands of prospective customers in the process.Why Waste hundreds of dollars on advertising when you can test your ad campaigns so inexpensively with us. The answer for a "small ad budget". Click Here to start Saving.. http://EzineAdAuction.com ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ Has Joe gone CRAZY?? He's offering software Partnerships for only $39 ONCE - with new software FOREVER at no extra cost! Get Over 50 Software Products, with more being added all the time! Software programs, e-books, games and more, most with RESELL RIGHTS. Sign up now! http://www.free-software-forever.com/sales/sale-92332002.htm ---------------------------------------------- 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 -------------------------------------------- CREATE CD Use this website to create a PDF file which can be printed and folded to create a paper CD case. If you don't want to fill in all of the tracks use the database and pick your artist and title to have the template automatically filled in. Print it out and follow the simple folding technique and viola, it's a instant cd case. http://www.papercdcase.com/ ----- FONT FREAK Welcome to FontFreak, the largest free-/shareware font archive on the net. The page keeps on growing and growing and now have fonts from over 300 different authors. http://www.fontfreak.com/ ---- 9.00 BANNERS Need a banner for advertising your website or to use in swaps? Get a really nice one for only 9.00, static or animated made in only 3 business days. http://www.safelistresources.com/ ---- UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE Ever wonder what happens to lost luggage? This is a fun site that actually sells the stuff found in luggage that was never claimed. You'll find everything from cameras to computers to=20 womans clothing. Very interesting. http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/ ------- 2 Alternatives to AOL Mail If you hate AOL's email interface and thought you were stuck with it think again. Here are two programs you can use that will check your AOL mail for you. http://www.EnetBot.com http://www.Eprompter.com ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ GET OVER 70 FREE PLACES TO PROMOTE YOUR EZINE Want to get more subscribers? Want to create an ezine that brings you more business? Learn how to do both! Discover how to create & promote your own successful ezine that brings qualified customers to your site. THREE FREE BONUSES! http://hop.clickbank.net/?dakota6969/sbsezine ---------------------------------------------------------- 7. E BOOKS AND THINGS OF INTEREST TO EZINE PUBLISHERS _________________________________________________ Do You Write Articles? If so why not submit them to one of the largest article databases online today. Imagine Free exposure of your work, as it's reprinted in ezines and websites across the Internet. Be seen by thousands by submitting your writings now to... http://www.Family-Content.com ------ Download this FREE e-book on how to "Write Winning Ezine Ads" http://www.ezineadauction.com/ebooks/greatezineads.pdf ------- FREE LISTS A service providing free, commercial-grade Internet mailing lists to all interested. These lists are all internet and technology-related. Thus, providing a free focal point for technology-inclined individuals and groups on the Internet. No ads are placed on your mailings at all in the process. http://www.freelists.org/ ---------------------------------------------- 8. FREEWARE- SHAREWARE- TRIALS TO DOWNLOAD ---------------------------------------------- HAMMERSNIPE POWER TOOL "HammerSnipe PowerTool is a specialized eBay and online auction browser and bid sniping tool that can place last-minute snipe bids for you even when you are away from your computer and not online. Use it to browse your favourite auction site. When you see something you like, a single click allows you to set up a last-minute snipe bid through a secure, fast, online web-based bidding service." Free. http://hammertap.com/HammerSnipe.html ------ COOL COLORED SCROLL BARS With Cool Web Scrollbars you can add cool, colorized scrollbars like the ones you see on my site (if you're using Internet Explorer 5.5 or later) to your webpages very easily and with no knowlege of writing CSS code. Free software http://www.harmonyhollow.net/cws.shtml ----- SHTML VIEWER If you have a website chances are you used SSI (server side includes) in your site design. The problem with web pages with SSI is that you usually have to upload any changes to your server to be able to preview any changes you make. Not anymore, this free software will allow you to edit your pages and see the changes on your local hard drive. http://toolsforselling.com/v1/2/shtmview.htm ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>> Please Support our Sponsors ---<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----<<+>>-----sponsor adv/ FREE Newsletters for All Your Interests! Explore business, health, shopping, entertainment, and technology email newsletters at HipLists! Sign Up NOW! http://www.hiplists.com/a.cgi?a=msmerle6 ------------------------------------------ 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 2,300- My list is clean as all email addresses are removed the very first time they bounce. 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You'll find the survey at: http://www.advancedsurvey.com/home.asp?SurveyID=901 -------------- 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 2001-2002-2003 All Rights Reserved