My 2¢ Worth

he big news in the Internet this week was the sentencing of Jeremy Jaynes, who was convicted of sending unsolicited E-mails, otherwise known as spam.

Loudoun County Circuit Judge sentenced Jeremy Jaynes to nine years in prison in the nation's first felony prosecution resulting from a spam-related case. However, according to ABCNews, the sentence is being delayed while Jaynes appeals the court's ruling.

udge Thomas Horne said that because the law targeting bulk E-mail distribution is new and raises constitutional questions, it was appropriate to defer the prison time until appeals courts rule.

'm all for due process, but it's still a heck of a note when a spammer gets sentenced to nine years in prison and I can't feel good about it.

Feature Article

How To Build a Successful Reputation Online

by: Herman Drost iSiteBuild.com

After running an online business (web site design) for a number of years I built a reputation online that helps me to gain and retain a continuous flow of customers. I had no online reputation when beginning my business, but was able to build it up step by step over the last few years.

Why is building your reputation important for your online business?

People tend to purchase services or products only from people they trust. For example you may have hired a contractor do a repair on your house, that did not deliver on what was promised leaving you very disappointed in his service.

So how can you build a reputation online which creates trust between you and your customers providing you with repeat business?

10 effective ways to build your reputation online

1. Provide courteous customer service - always be polite with each customer, greeting them (ie Hi, Hello, Dear) first and ending your communication appropriately (ie Best Regards, Sincerely, All the Best). I always try to do this in my email communication and postings in online forums.

2. Over deliver on your products - this is a great way to gain extra credit with your customers. People often take short cuts due to lack of time or impatience and therefore under deliver on their service, leaving the customer unhappy. A good example of over delivering is to provide quality bonus products when a customer purchases your e-book. Another effective way is to offer extra quality advice even after the client has purchased your service or product.

3. Become an expert - writing articles about my business and publishing it on the Web has been a very successful way to build trust and loyalty. I try to make the information easy to read, and provide the necessary steps to put the knowledge into practice. This saves a lot of time and frustration for people who want to find quality information quickly.

4. Display your full name, company name and contact information - when I visit a web site I want to know who is behind it and what they have to offer before I will make a purchase. Within your web site, include your full name, a picture of yourself, and contact information. Include a telephone number as well. I often have customers who call me instead of using email. They want to be sure there is a live person behind the web site (not just an autoresponder) that they can talk to personally. This helps build trust immediately by clarifying customers questions who may have hesitated to communicate with email.

5. Create a clean, navigable, and fast loading web site. You only have 10-20 seconds to get the attention of your web site visitors. Create a design that is easy to read with web copy focused on the benefits of your business. Don't try to wow them with a flashy design. Most visitors are simply looking for targeted information.

6. Be an active web participant - participate in online forums by offering quality advice, asking questions, giving testimonials and being courteous. When people see that you frequently help others in the forum, they will visit your own site (you can leave a link to your site at the bottom of each post, if they wish to contact you).

You may even want to create your own online discussion forum. This creates a supportive environment for people to share ideas and ask questions related to your business. This helps you to gain a lot of repeat customers.

7. Provide testimonials - ask for testimonies from satisfied customers and put them on your web site. Visitors are more apt to buy from you, if they can read about others' experiences that worked with you. Be sure to include their email and/or web site address so the testimony is believable. Don't create false testimonies (with no qualifying email or web site address). It only reduces your credibility.

8. Provide quality products and services - if you offer a high quality product or service, your customers are more likely to return in the future to do more business with you.

9. Keep in constant contact with your customers - send out a bi-weekly newsletter, create an online forum, use autoresponders, or other methods to stay in touch with your customers. Most people these days are simply too busy to remember to return to your web site for the new information you wish to share with them. Constant communication with your customers creates long term relationships that leads to building a strong reputation.

10. Be personable - be interested in what your customer is trying to achieve with your service or product. Don't try to take advantage of their inexperience and just sell them something. That action will come back to bite you later. Always be honest and upfront with your customers and you will reap many rewards.

Building your reputation online doesn't happen overnight. Therefore be consistent and patient in your efforts. This will create a solid pillar for establishing a successful business online for years to come.

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

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

Easy Image Rollover

Think mouse-overs are tough? Think again ... here's a totally easy way to change an image when the user hovers over it. The following code will require you to have two images, one that appears on page load, and one that appears when users hover or roll over the first image with their mouse. Finally, we also specify a return to our original image when the user mouses back out. customize the fields in red with your own links and images.

Step 1. Make a Link:

<a href="page1.html" onMouseOver="imagename.src='pic-2.gif'" onMouseOut="imagename.src='pic.gif'">

onMouseOut tells the browser that when the mouse is NOT over image imagename, then display pic.gif, which is the original image. If this piece is not there, you will get an error message.

Step 2. Add the Image:

<img src="pic.gif" name="imagename" border=0></a>. The NAME attribute is important - as the Javascript uses it.

You have now completed your image rollover. Pretty easy, huh?

NOTE: If you do not want the image to be clickable, remove "page1.html" and replace it with a "#" sign.

* Get these syndicated tip feeds for yourweb site, free. *

Second Article

How To Choose A Business Name

by: BB Lee Home Based Business Newsletter

Choosing a name for your home business is often a hard task for many new entrepreneurs. They want a cutesy catchy name that will get attention. But, alas, that cute catchy name might sound nonsensical and turn off potential clients looking for the services of an established, reliable, professional.

THINK ABOUT IT!

Your business name will have it's own identity. It's own bank account. It's own checking account. It's separate bills. It's own reputation.

 

 

 

So, in fact you are creating a brand new Identity with it's own' UNIQUE circumstances. Take this into consideration when choosing your business name.

Most business experts believe you should choose a name that expresses what your business is about. Therefore, if your name is Mike and you are a auto-repair man. You would call your business "Mike's Auto-Repair Service. Or if your name is Bonnie and you were a hairstylist, you might call your business "Bonnie's Hair Design. Our friend Artie is a free-lance web designer. Who's well known for his speed and accuracy. A good name for his business might be "Artie's Rapid Web Design. Any one reading his business card or Ad would know immediately what his business is about.

On the other hand you want to select a name that will not tie you down. Many entrepreneurs start out in one business area and wind up in another direction. Say you are like our friend Artie who started out designing web-sites for new businesses Online. Later on, Artie decided to teach web design and write ebook tutorials. Our friend Artie could easily expand his services and keep the original business name because it was general enough to fit the new direction his business took.

When you find a perfect name be sure to register it with state and local offices. This registration is called DBA. Doing Business As, this protects you from others using your perfect name and gives you the legal rights to do business using this business name.

Also, make sure that business name is not already registered to someone.

Contact your local city and state offices for the correct procedures and proceed to register your name.

Now, it is completely legal for you to open a bank account, credit account, arrange for checking accounts, lease equipment, setup a telephone line under your new business name.

Let's Review: -Decide You Want A Professional Name That Gets Attention. -Select A Name That States Exactly What Your Business Is About. -Make Sure The Name Allows Business Growth To Other Areas. -Make Sure The Business Name Is Available. -Register Your Name With Your Local City And/Or State Office.

 

 

 

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

BB Lee is Editor Publisher Of SmallBizBits FREE Home Business Newsletter. Subscribe Now For The Latest Home Business News And Advice.
Visit at: www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz

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