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  Vol 4 #29
Web Sm@rts
from Paradigm Web Design
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Welcome! to all new subscribers this week. I hope you enjoy this publication and find it an integral part of your weekly reading!

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In This Issue

  • My 2¢ Worth.
  • Feature Article.
  • Rate our Feature Article on a 5 point scale.
  • Our weekly Web design tip.
  • Comic.
  • Second Article.
  • Download of the Week.
  • Comment on this publication.
  • Recommend us!
  • Unsubscribe information.

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My 2¢ Worth


his week I'd like to issue a challenge to all of you.


he challenge is this:
I want you to invite as many friends and associates as possible to subscribe to this E-zine. You already know Web Sm@rts is great. Why not share it? Let them read this issue. Then invite them to subscribe by pointing their browser to paradigmwebdesign.net/subscribe.html.

eanwhile, I know many of you are wasting your time submitting your site to every search engine and directory. There is no need to do this. You only need to submit to a handful to get listed in all the major search engines.

oogle provides results to Yahoo! for now. However, I expect that to change since Yahoo!'s acquisition of Inktomi. Google also provides results to AOL, Netscape, iWon and a handful of others.

nktomi provides results to Looksmart, MSN, Hotbot and Overture.

ast provides results to Lycos and AllTheWeb.

he crawler results for Ask Jeeves are provided by Teoma (which Ask Jeeves owns).

ltaVista is owned by Overture which is in turn owned by Yahoo!. Its future is unknown. But by all means, submit to them.

y the way — these are the big three:
Google - 29.5% of searches.
Yahoo! - 28.9% of searches.
MSN - 27.6% of searches.
AOL comes in at fourth place with 18.4% .







Software we use
Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Thumbs Plus
Paint Shop Pro 7.0
Spot IT 2.0
CoffeeCup Image Mapper
Net Studio 2000
GIF Movie Gear
Animagic GIF
Xara 3D 3.0
Banner Maker Pro
WS_FTP LE
CSE HTML Validator
QuickFTP
Net Sketch
Pixel 3D
Just Buttons
Dispenser
Art-O-Matic
PhotoMix 1.00
GIFfyBatch
ShoeString Picture Dicer
BrowserMaster
Zip Office 98
EditPlus
Anchek FontPeeper
Screen Calipers

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Feature Article

'What's Your Virus?'


by: Kem Thompson
Days of Success!

The term ‘viral marketing’ is the current buzzword in the business world. It refers to a method of marketing in which a product is spread fast and wide (similar to an infectious virus in medicine) by a ‘carrier’ other than the originator of the virus. In most cases of viral marketing, the carriers of the virus are satisfied customers. Other products act as self-propagating viruses - the viral product is its own carrier.

Viral marketing works best when the product or service (or idea) in question is of high value. Think of hotmail, a perfect example of a virus. Hotmail offers free email. What a great idea! In each email you send or receive however, notice the small ad encouraging you to get your free email account from hotmail.

That way the virus propagates itself.

Because it’s free, though, you get all your friends to sign up for it as well - you’re acting as a ‘carrier’ for the virus now.

In each case, notice that Microsoft is not spending much extra money in advertising. Yet hotmail has over 40 million users today.

This is the beauty and power of viral marketing: it is very cost effective. Instead of spending tons in advertising, give away something of value to ‘prove your worth’. Happy users of your product or service will spread the word for you. Remember, people are more likely to use something recommended to them by a trusted friend than by some stranger.

This brings up another benefit of viral marketing: with your product in the hands of someone who’s got it through a friend’s recommendation, the user gets to know you.

The more word spreads about how good your product is, users begin to trust you (and associate your name with quality products or services) and they ultimately like you.

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Once you’ve got someone to know, like and trust you, you have become their friend, and thus are very likely to successfully sell to that person whenever you want to.

A further benefit of viral marketing is that it gives you a chance to seek permission to market to prospects.

People don’t like to be sold to, but they do want to be informed about something that might be of value to them. If you include a feedback form or further information request form on your viral product, then anyone who sends you the forms is a hot prospect for you to sell to. They have indicated to you that they are interested in your product or service.

These are the easiest people to sell to, as opposed to cold prospects. Permission marketing is more effective than 'interruption' marketing.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having a good quality product to use as a virus, though.

If your product is of poor quality, it won’t ‘catch on’ as a virus. Worse than that, the wrong sort of word of mouth could spread about it, ruining your chances of making a sale of that product.

Other examples of viral marketing strategies include Blue Mountain and their free electronic cards. ICQ and their free chat system. Adobe acrobat and their free pdf file reader.

As a consultant/business owner , what can you use as a viral product?

There are many examples such as e-books, email newsletters (ezines), reports, articles, postcard sites, services - be creative, and you can come up with many more. Aim for high quality.

Remember, ‘give first to prove your worth’.

Information products such as e-books are some of the best viral products because in addition to the benefits of viral marketing mentioned above, info products increase your credibility and place you as an expert in your field. This makes it easier for people to buy from you, because they respect you as well.

Do you have an article for Web Sm@rts?
Send to Web Sm@rts


Placing your article in Web Sm@rts is a great way to gain exposure for you and/or your business!
Each article is published with your name and web site, plus a short 'resource box' at the end of the article.

At this point you may get concerned if you feel you can’t write. Not to despair. You can get someone to write for you. As long as the quality of the material is good, it’s well worth the price when you think of the return on your investment. Also consider the long lifespan of information products.

Viral marketing and permission marketing are the future of marketing. People are getting wise to sneaky sales gimmicks and ‘switch off’ the moment they sense you’re trying to sell to them. Viral marketing gives them a chance to experience you, to ‘try before they buy’.

This builds trust, which is a vital ingredient in the sales process.

Viral marketing is also very cost and time effective, as you only have to send out the virus once and watch it spread by itself or by happy ‘carriers’. It is a powerful form of word of mouth marketing.

This year, develop a viral product to start spreading. You can’t afford not to, actually. Find something of good value you can give away to prospects. Then they will be happy to spread the word for you.

What more could you ask?

Here’s to a successful and prosperous year, and best of luck in your marketing!!

**************

Dr Kem Thompson is a Personal and Business Coach. She also offers Business Writing Services to Consultants and other Business owners. For information on starting your own ezine today, send a blank email to ezinebiz@daysofsuccess.com.          www.daysofsuccess.com

**************

As part of our ongoing commitment to provide quality content, we
would like you to take a moment to rate this article on a five point scale.
Not useful 1.   2.   3.    4.   5. Very useful
Too short 1.   2.   3.    4.   5. Too long
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This week's TIP

Creating a Stationary Background

Stationary background images remain in one place even when scrolling through the page. Only the text will move. To create this effect, place the following code within your <body> tag. Be sure to change yourimage.gif to the name of your image.

<body background ="yourimage.gif" bgproperties="fixed">

When selecting your background image, keep in mind that your text will be moving over your image, so try to select an image that won't make your text difficult to read.


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Second Article

How To Clean Your Computer Inside and Outside


by: Angie Boldwyn

Clean The Outside Of Your Computer:

Gather the following supplies:

  • Two 100% cotton cloths
  • A spray bottle with cleaning liquid such as a small amount of dish detergent. No ammonia based liquids should be used around electronic equipment. Static Free Computer Cleaner is recommended.
  • Cotton swabs
  • Several 3x5 index cards or pieces of tagboard
  • Toothpick (plastic if possible)
  • Toothbrush

Always log out (IBM) or shut down (Mac) the computer before starting to clean the machines.

Unplug the keyboard and mouse from the machine. Be careful when pulling out the cables. Always pay close attention to where you unplug the cables.

Begin with the monitor:

Check and be sure that the cloth is clean and free of any particles that could scratch the screen.

Always spray the cloth, not directly onto the computer.

Watch to see that you aren't spraying the liquid at someone or near your own face.

Clean the screen first. Wipe the monitor going around the whole screen. Be sure to clean the small lip that frames the glass section. Look carefully to see that it isn't streaked when you're finished.

Now wipe the plastic case:

Clean the lips of the CD rom drive and the disk drive.

When cleaning the top, back and sides, wipe the areas that allow air to circulate. Optional: a small vacuum cleaner can be used to get more dust out of circulation vents.

How to clean the keyboard:

Tip the keyboard over gently. Tap the keyboard and watch the dust & paper particles drop on the counter. Don't hit it too hard, but don't be afraid to tap it to loosen the dust particles.

Clean the frame. A little extra rubbing may be needed on the spacebar, Enter (IBM) and Return (Mac) keys.

Wrap one finger with the cloth and walk the keyboard, going over each indivdual key.

Spray a cotton swab. Use your fingers to wring it out so it's not too wet. Use it to go between the rows and clean the sides of the keys.

Optional: All Keys with the exception of the space key can be removed and cleaned. Be careful and remember to spray your cloth, not your keyboard.

Cleaning the mouse is vital:

Remember: spray the cloth first.

Clean the outside of the mouse. This is done by taking an index card and folding it in half vertically. The small open ridge around the mouse is a dirt collector. Use the index card and go into the ridge area and remove the dirt.

Turn the mouse over and remove the plastic plate at the bottom (The arrows usually tell you which way the plate comes off). Use the toothpick to get the dirt off the wheels on the inside that the trackball uses.

Spray the rag again, place the ball into the rag and clean the track ball.

Reassemble the mouse.

Clean the workspace:

Use the toothbrush to dust off the mouse pad.

Lift up the keyboard and mouse. Clean the areas they rest on.

Lift the monitor and clean behind and under it; repeat the process for the CPU.

Reconnect the keyboard and mouse:

Now, reboot the machine (turn the power back on) and be sure that the monitor, CPU, keyboard & mouse are all working properly.

Clean The Inside Of Your Computer (PC):

A cluttered computer can cause you unnecessary interruptions and problems.

Go through your document files and software and delete or uninstall those you no longer use or are outdated. Note: If you're unsure whether your computer will run efficiently without a software program, it's best to leave it on the computer.

Scan Disk. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scan Disk. Choose the thorough option and check the "automatic fix errors" box.

Defrag Your Computer. This can speed up your computer considerably. If you have never done this before, it can take a few hours. After that, do it regularly (such as weekly) and it will take just 10 minutes or so. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. It will ask you if you'd like to defragment Drive C, D, or E (depending on your computer), click yes or OK.

Disk CleanUp: Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. Select the drive you want to clean up, usually drive C. Then check the boxes for Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, and Temporary Files. Click OK to delete these files.

Disclaimer: I have used these techniques myself over and over with no problems and trust that you will do the same but I cannot accept the responsibility if something goes wrong with your computer. Use and follow these instructions carefully.

**************

Angie Boldwyn - Successful Life Enterprises
Contact Email boldwyn@accessus.net
Webmaster www.slife.com/

**************

Download of the Week

AlphaCuts swiftly displays, in alphabetical listings, ALL your programs on your start/programs menu, ALL your favorites in Internet Explorer and ALL documents in the My documents folder. It lists the relevant directories and categories and the items they contain, to help you quickly find (like lightning!) what you are looking for. It is also possible to search for full or partial words.

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