My 2¢ Worth

verheard recently — a bedtime conversation between a father and his daughter. Bedtime Conversation

 think this says a lot about the United States and her attitudes toward the world in general. First we befriend an evil dictator and pump millions of dollars into his country's economy and then turn around and invade him! Now I ask you, does that make sense? Sure. If you're the United States it does. I guess "might makes right" as they say.

owever, lest anyone misunderstand — I love my country. There's no other place I would rather live and I have been around some. What I am saying though, is that recognizing that a problem exists is the first step toward correcting it.

ell enough of my political ranting. On with this weeks issue. Enjoy!

Feature Article

"Hey! Where's My Ad?"

by: Peg Bastin bastinmarket.com

Have you ever wondered why you didn't see the free ad you submitted? I bet you thought you had the perfect ad! Why isn't it there? Well, let me give you some idea of why newsletter publishers get gray hair!

You MUST follow the guidelines. Guidelines? What's that mean? Is that like RULES? YES!

There is only so much space available for advertising in a newsletter. To accommodate as many free ads as possible there are limits on ad size.

Let's take a look at some of these guidelines:

1. Spelling and typing errors.

If you want to be believable, check your ad for proper spelling and typing errors. Use capital letters at the beginning of sentences, not through the whole ad. Don't use all caps as it makes your ad hard to read, and reminds me of salespeople yelling at me to buy their product. Not likely!

2. Making your links clickable.

URL's must begin with http:// and email addresses with mailto: in order to be 'clickable.' If readers can't just click on your URL or email address to see your offer, you will lose their attention. Most are too lazy to 'cut and paste' your URL into their browser window. Make it easy for them to view your offer.

3. Formatting your ad.

When you get to the end of your 60 or 65 character line - you do a 'hard return' (for you Newbie's - that means you hit the Enter key) to go on to the next line of your ad. This 'hard return' will keep the lines from running all the way across the page, which the publisher must take the time to correct.

4. Characters per line.

The most popular choice is 60 to 65 characters per line. Some list servers can only accept a certain number of letters per line. If your ad exceeds this limit, it will not look the same as you typed it. It will be one long line and a one word line, then another long line and so on.

5. Lines per ad.

Some publishers allow 5 lines, others 2, 3, or 4 lines. This may or may not include the URL or email address. This does not mean you can send 6 or 8 or more lines and expect to see your ad! Personally, I like a 2 or 3 line ad best. It is much easier to read than a very long ad.

6. Unacceptable ads.

Most publishers don't accept ads dealing with hate, adult, racial or gambling content. Avoid these topics if you want to see your ad published.

7. Use the proper Ad Code.

You will have to actually read the issue to find the ad codes! Yeah! You might actually enjoy it too! Some ad codes are found on a certain day every week, others are in every issue. Some you have to hunt to find, and others are with the ad guidelines of that newsletter.

But.... you must use the correct code of the week. If you use an outdated ad code, you will not see your ad.

How do I know when to post my ad? How often can I send my ad?

When I submit an ad I write the date I posted, and that week's ad code next to it. Also, I put the date I can send my next ad. This will reduce your chance of accidentally submitting your free ad too soon and having it deleted. Even with all this I have been known to submit a duplicate ad. Then I have to send an email to apologize!

Follow these easy suggestions and you will see your free ads published. I am grateful that free ads are still available. They are a lot of work for these editors each week. Wouldn't it be a nice surprise for these editors if we all submitted ads that are correctly formatted, spelled and typed?

Mmmmmmm! Is that the sound of cheering I hear? The publishers thank you!

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

Written by Peg Bastin LEARN to UNDERSTAND YOUR P.C. in SIMPLE language! If your PC is a Pain in the ya know where - Learn "How" and "What" to do! www.bastinmarket.com
peg@bastinmarket.com

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Second Article

10 CD Burning Tips For the Computer-Savvy

by: Mark Goggin CD Sleeves.com

1. The #1 thing you never want to do is put a CD-R or CD-RW in direct sunlight. Unlike CD-ROMs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs are light sensitive. In some tests, CD-Rs left out in the sun for as little as 2 hours, were completely erased of the music, data and photo files on the CD-Rs. This is especially important if you listen to CDs in your car. Putting a CD-R on the dashboard in the summertime, or in the direct sunlight can quickly destroy a CD.



2. If you are going to burn a CD that you want to last for years, you need to use an archival quality CD. If you only have a short-term use in mind for the CDs you are burning, almost any CD you buy that works with your computer will be fine.



3. In labeling a CD for a short-term use, almost anything will suffice. Paper labels are fine; but at times, a bit tricky to apply. If the paper labels are not applied perfectly, they can unbalance the CD, delaminate the CD, or even damage the CD Reader. However, if you want a CD to endure for years, your choices are more limited. The most cost-effective option is to use a CD Marker. There are several of these out on the market, and their inks have been specifically formulated for CD use. Markers with alcohol in their formula are not recommended, such as a permanent marker or even a ballpoint pen.



4. When you burn a CD-R or CD-RW, always do a quality check to make sure it contains all the information you wanted burned onto the CD. Never assume that your CD Burner will always burn properly.



5. Short-term storage of CD-Rs and CD-RWs is very forgiving; vinyl and paper sleeves are fine to use. For the long-term use, the only storage options I recommend are the Tyvek sleeves and Jewel Cases. Only these two media will be benign and chemically inert over time. Jewel cases are especially recommended because they protect against accidentally dropping as CD or something being dropped on a CD, which let’s face it, happened to us all.



6. When mailing CDs, you need to be aware that the U.S. Post Office can easily damage CDs. With the new regulations as of July 2002, the U.S. Post Office now imposes a surcharge on all CDs. One possible way around this is to mail one or two CDs at time. Hand addressing mailers containing CDs is also likely to get them processed so that they are not sent through the OCR sorting machines where most of the damage happens. But, if you are sending a large number of CDs or you simply want to be sure that nothing happens to your CDs, you have to use a stiff cardboard mailer. These cost more than ordinary envelopes, but they do get the job done. I have a customer who mails religious CDs to 143 countries using one of my very rigid mailers, and as a result they all get through to his customers intact.



7. Catalog your CDs as you burn them. By cataloging your CDs, you will know: when you burned your CDs, what was on your CDs, what program you used to burn your CDs, and anything else that will make your CDs easy to retrieve. It doesn’t take long to have so many CDs burned that you lose track of what’s what-trust me. That’s why we offer a number of CD Freeware and Shareware cataloging programs as part of a book we‘ve put together, that is available for download on our website.



8. Always update any CD you’ve burned when you install a new version of any program you used to first create the CD. It doesn’t take long for a program "migrate" to the point where you cannot open a CD you burned with an earlier version.



9. Be sensitive to the environment in which you store CDs. I had a customer from Boston write me when I was creating my book on CD handling and storage. He said he’d burned some music onto CDs and brought them onto his boat. Within something like 6 weeks the sea air had delaminated the CD. This could have been the fault of the CD brand he was using, however it points out the general principle that in order to keep data, music and photos files on CDs that you burn, you have to be aware that they should be stored in a reasonably stable environment, which includes a stable temperature and stable humidity levels. Extreme vibration is also recommended against.



10. Finally, be aware of the "human error" factor. Human error can constitute for a high percentage of mistakes made when burning CDs. Be sure to always have a backup CD if the data on the CD is important. Also be sure to keep a copy of the original program used to create the CD.

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

Mark Goggin is the owner of CD Sleeves.com.
Mark has been in business for over 28 years, 5 of which have been with CD Sleeves.com. Mark is an expert in the area of storage, archival and burning of CDs. Because of his expertise, Mark has written articles for publications such as Target Magazine, Studio Photography & Design, Rangefinder, REPRO Report, amongst others. Mark loves to speak to those wanting more information on his articles at the following number: (818) 865-7942

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