| LED Digest 1493: Using Print Catalogs |
|
|
|
================================================== bCentral Daily Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising" ================================================== List Moderator: Supported by: Adam Audette bCentral aa @ le-digest.com http://g.msn.com/0NL48253/548 ................................................. January 8, 2003 Digest #1493 ................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= -=Do's and Don'ts for Catalogs?=- ~ Joe Herring Jr. "...I believe that color outperforms black and white..." ~ Brigitte Burchett "[We learned] to charge a small fee for the catalog which is refundable with the first order..." -=Experience with WhenU.com?=- ~ Joe Lachiana "Pop-up ad scams are not the answer." -=Search Engine Optimization (SEO)=- ~ Donald Nelson "...careful attention to the methods used by optimizers can bring good results." ==== BILLBOARD =================== -=How to Create HTML Email?=- ~ Philip Chave ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Joe Herring, Jr. Subject: Catalogs > Many customers have requested a catalog... My > question is: Are there any absolute do's and don'ts > for a catalog? As we are strictly online, this is a > different outlet for us which we don't know much > about. - Yuwanda Black, Daily 1492 Hi there, some ideas about catalogs. First off, I am a printer (URL below) and we produce catalogs for a variety of clients. Some of the best (and free) advice on catalogs and mail order comes from the US Postal Service, in the form of free books you can order online ( www.usps.gov ) about using direct mail to build your business. There are several important points to remember as you develop your catalog, and cost is certainly one of them. However, most consumers today expect full color catalogs, and I believe that color outperforms black and white (or black and a spot color) in sales more than enough to justify the cost. So, as you're concerned about costs, remember to be also concerned about effectiveness. These and many other ideas are discussed in the booklets provided by the USPS. Hope this helps. Joe Herring Jr. www.herringprinting.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Brigitte Burchett Subject: Catalogs This is a part of the market that we also opened last year. One of the things we learned rather quickly is to charge a small fee for the catalog which is refundable with the first order. Without this small fee requests were so numerous that we simply could not afford to produce that many catalogs (full color catalogs even just a few pages long are expensive). Requests for the catalogs are now more manageable while orders are growing which led us to believe that those truly interested in purchasing are still requesting the catalog even if they do have to pay a small fee for it. Brigitte Burchett www.pondmarket.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Joe Lachiana Subject: WhenU.com > [WhenU.com] is a program that comes installed > on many new computers that sends pop-ups and > pop-unders whenever certain criteria is entered > in your browser, if a similar company's site is > visited... - Ivan Jimenez, Daily 1490 Yeah I think you should use this because we only hate the pop-ups that other people use. Your's will be welcomed with open arms and will be money well spent. Ok sarcasm aside, when are people going to learn. Pop-up ad scams are not the answer. A product or service of value is the answer. Why are people so willing to sacrifice their name for something as tired as pop ups? I was thinking of starting this site where a person would Paypal me $2 and then I would send them $2 and we'll all be rich within a year! STOP WITH THE SCAMS! It's getting boring, really. If people are still wondering which opt-in list to buy or PPC scams to throw away money on then the internet is not for you. And for you few that do make money with these schemes good for you. Why don't we try comparing the Internet to a huge mall. When you walk into Gap are you hit by cheapo ads to the dollar store? Nope they advertise THEIR products cause that was the purpose of putting up the store in the first place. Unless the pop-up is advertising a site of yours forget it! Joe Lachiana Arnoldcalls.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Donald Nelson Subject: SEO Dear All, In digest #1492 James Kalassery questions the efficacy of search engine optimization and poses the hypothetical situation in which many sites are optimized in exactly the same way, asking what would the search engines do, how would they differentiate the sites? Actually this is not a hypothetical situation, because it happens all the time. There are many highly competitive categories in which there are several sites with the same products and services and with very similar metatags and body text, yet one site will be number one and a very similar site may be number 101. The difference lies in other factors, one of which is link popularity. The top site may have been in existence longer, and through the efforts of the webmaster or through its reputation as a good resource, now has hundreds of other sites linked to it. Certainly it deserves its place as number one. Link popularity is just one factor separating the sites, and it is the job of search engine optimizers to look at a client's website, discover the strengths and weaknesses of the site and make the necessary changes. Sometimes this can be done by changing the structure of the site or presenting the contents in a better way. Sometimes, as in the case of link popularity, it may take some hard elbow grease. While search engine optimization is not an exact science, careful attention to the methods used by optimizers can bring good results. All the best, Donald Nelson a1-optimization.com ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Philip Chave Subject: Flashy email > I have been trying to create flashy email to send > to my client list for some time. But whenever I put > HTML in email it simply doesn't work. - Franko Mandato, Daily 1485 Hi Franko Highlight the fancy, colourful message in your email client and right click on it. Select Properties. Click on Details, and click on Message Source. Assuming you understand the code, this will immediately tell you how the mail is created. To send one just like it, go to Tools menu - click Options - click the Send tab, and look for the mail sending format. You've probably got it set on Plain Text, the default setting. Click on the HTML radio button - then Apply and OK. Now, when you launch your New Message, you will notice a very different set of options to a plain text email. You can change Font / Size / Colour, add images and lots of other attributes that were previously unavailable. Unfortunately, it's not all good news, as many of your client list will have problems reading it, unless they know it's coming. If the recipient's mail or newsreading program does not read HTML, the message is displayed as plain text with an HTML file attached. Therefore, it's always wise to give your readers the choice by putting a copy online also. A plain text email with a link to the online jazzy version is a good way to make sure your message gets through. Hope this helps, Best regards, Philip Chave Antique Collector ------------------------------------------------------- The bCentral Daily Digest is edited by a third party moderator, Adam Audette. As such, bCentral does not control which postings are accepted into the digest for publication. The contents of the digest do not necessarily reflect the opinions of bCentral, Adam Audette, or his company, Adventive. bCentral, Audette, and Adventive make no warranties, either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy of the contents of the bCentral Daily Digest. |
