My 2¢ Worth

arch is slipping away and we will soon find ourselves in April. April is the quintessential month of Spring and will soon give way to May flowers.

his of course means that tomorrow is April Fool's Day also known as All Fools' Day. This pseudo holiday has been around since the 16^th century and while no one knows for sure how it evolved, it apparently has something to do with the new year.

rior to 1582, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

any people refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.

pril Fool's Day is really only a half-day, for traditionally, jokes have to be played before noon, after which the victim is entitled to turn the tables by shouting, "April Fool's gone past, and you're the biggest fool at last."

e that as it may, I agree with Mark Twain who once said that the first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.

Feature Article

How to Avoid Sloppy Web Site Copy

by: Herman Drost iSiteBuild.com

If your web site visitor can't find the information on your web site, within 10 seconds or less, you will lose them. Two of the largest factors that contribute to this, are the lack of clear purpose and poor layout of your web pages.

Let's look at how you can resolve each of these issues.

Lack of clear purpose - the first page of your web site must have a clear title and description, which immediately states what your site is about. If you need help to determine the purpose of web site, read:
"How To Build A Web Site That Sells" (www.isitebuild.com/buildingA.htm)

You must include a clear benefit of your product or service in your description. For example if you are a web design company, your title may be "How to Build a Web Site That Sells". Your description may be something like:

"Let us save you precious time and hassles, by designing a professional web site that WILL sell your product or service".

Realize many others may be competing to sell the same product. Focus on something unique you may have to offer, that stands out from your competitors. If you are setting up an affiliate program, make sure it is a reputable company with a good track record with lots of help available from others involved. Don't recklessly jump in - you will waste a lot of time and money. This is the number one reason, why many entrepreneurs give up so quickly.

1. Alignment - There are 3 kinds of alignment for your web page - left side, right side and centered. Choose one, then use it on the entire page or even throughout your other web pages. Don't try to mix alignments, because this will make your web page look unprofessional.

One such example, is to align all the text on your page to the left. This will create a strong edge and make it easier for your visitors to navigate and read. Avoid bumping up your text to the navigation bar or graphics. Create an equal amount of space between all the elements on your page. If they are bunched up, it will create a cluttered appearance.

2. How To Use White Space - Visitors do not appreciate useless clutter and masses of content on Web Pages. Most users prefer a page with well distributed content resulting in less clutter. Users quickly scan pages and the more that they must scan through, the more information they will miss.

This does not mean you should not provide a lot of information. Just do not provide it all on one page. Each page should contain approximately 50 per cent less text than a printed version of the same information.

If you have a lot of copy on your web site, try to have only 4-6 sentences per paragraph. Split the page up into different topics, with the subject title close to the accompanying text.

3. Repetition - each page of your web site should look like it belongs to the same web site, the same company and same concept. For example, navigation buttons, colors, style, illustrations, format, layout can all be part of the repetition that unifies the entire site.

4. Contrast - this is what draws you into the page and pulls you in. Pages that just have all text and no graphics, or vice versa and have no contrast can be very boring (unless it is an article or book). If elements on your page, such as type, rules, graphics, color, texture, are not the same, make them very different.

Be aware of what you want the visitor to focus on. What will be the first thing that a person will be attracted to when that person first enters your site? If your site is not well organized, it will be difficult for your visitor to find what he is looking for.

5. Graphics - graphics should be used to illustrate the benefit of your product (this is why there is the popular saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words"). You should use them to enhance the experience of your visitor. If it does not have a clear purpose to be there (other than just to have a pretty picture on your site), don't use it.

6. Spelling and Grammar - bad spelling and grammar can destroy the professional effect of your web site. Don't just use the spell checker for correcting your copy. Read through it yourself several times or get a friend who is a proficient proof reader to check your work, before you launch your site for the world to see.

With a clear purpose and layout to your web pages, your visitors will easily find the information they are seeking, rather than your competitors. Doing this, will help to increase sales from your web site.

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

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of www.iSiteBuild.com
Affordable Web Site Design and Low Cost Web Hosting
Subscribe to his "Marketing Tips" newsletter for more original
articles. subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more
of his in-depth articles at: www.isitebuild.com/articles

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Second Article

Your Next Camera - Cheaper and Faster

by: Derek Vanderbilt

I'm sure you've noticed this: Digital Cameras keep getting cheaper and cheaper, or better and better at the same price. It depends on how you look at it. It's sort of like what's been happening to computers.

In fact, it's exactly the same as what's been happening to computers! Therein lies a tale that began in 1965, when the co-founder of Intel, Gordon Moore, (one of those "Intel Inside" folks) made a prediction. He said that computers would double in power every year and a half.

Now, this prediction was made when the first personal computer chips were still just a glimmer in Moore's eye. However, nearly 40 years later, we're right on schedule. The latest Intel Itanium 2 processor has almost 410 million transistor components which fit on a piece of purified sand that's only two thirds of an inch square. That's smaller than a postage stamp! Unimaginable!

You might wonder what this has to do with your digital camera? Easy. Camera technology has been working the same way as Moore's law except that the doubling time seems to be closer to two years. This is because there are more miniature "mechanical" components in cameras.

So what will your next digital camera purchase be? Possibly about a year ago, after shopping around carefully, you bought a 3 mega-pixel camera with the features you wanted for about $350.

Now, let's speed ahead to 6 months from now. There you are once again, lusting for a new digital camera. When you start to search, you find that you can buy your 3 mega- pixel camera for about half as much as you did then, now. (This already happened to me when I recently bought a reconditioned one.) You also find that now you can get a 5+ mega pixel camera for the exact same $350 you paid for the 3 mega pixel model.

Looking even further ahead, by 2008 we should all be able to get a 5 mega pixel digital camera for under $100 at Wal Mart. But, if you wait till then to buy a camera, you'll miss being able to take an awful lot of pictures.

And then there's the problem of printing your pictures on your own printer. You can bet that won't get cheaper and cheaper. Often, printers are inexpensive or even free. However, when you go to replace your color ink cartridge, you can have a very expensive experience. Then, after you've paid all that moolah, if you don't use the printer for a month, the cartridge usually dries out and you have to buy a new one! And, even if you do manage to print the pictures, the quality is usually quite marginal.

The alternative, of course, is to email your very best pictures to an online photo developer who will print them on quality Kodak photographic paper and mail them back to you.

So keep clicking away! It'll only get better and cheaper.

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