| LED Digest 1496: The Inside Guide to Catalogs |
|
|
|
================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest ................................................. January 15, 2003 Issue #1496 ................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= <Moderator Comment> -=Do's and Don'ts for Catalogs?=- ~ John Smart "We signed up with FreeColorPrinters.com..." ~ Ronni Rhodes "...you might consider offering your catalogue in a CD-ROM format." ~ Bill Silcox "...make real sure the result [of producing a catalog] will be worth the time, trouble and cost." -=Search Engines & Frames=- ~ Brian Douglas "All modern browsers...take full advantage of something called image caching..." -=Search Engine Optimization (SEO)=- ~ Bill Davison "Don't become a sucker who pays through the nose for some SEO clown to get you a top ranking..." ==== BILLBOARD =================== -=Internet Casino Links?=- ~ Steve Knilans ~ Peter Warnock ===== CONTINUING ================================= <Moderator Comment> Greetings -- LED archives are now functioning: http://list.adventive.com/archives/led.html . Older issues will be uploaded over time. Have a great week! Your moderator, Adam Audette | This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it --------------------- From: John Smart 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... - Yuwanda Black, Daily 1492 A thought that may help some of you with color printing is printing it yourself. We signed up with FreeColorPrinters.com. After looking closely, because this did sound like something not fully legal, we realized it was genuine. The printer is Tektronix brand - which is a division of Xerox. You get a free* dye-sublimation duplex network printer, that holds 700 sheets of paper, and prints beautifully. *Black ink is supplied free of charge (okay, there is a shipping / handling fee, but it is not a silly one). You HAVE to buy the color ink from them and the maintenance kits (one per year at $75, or one for four years at $150 I think - do check before you sign up) You also have to print a minimum of 2,000 sheets per month. If you do not, then you pay them $75 for that month. You can return your printer at any time, canceling the contract. Stick with them for 5 years and you own the printer, and still get black ink free plus you can get your color ink from wherever you want. (In looking around we found color ink from other suppliers was only a little cheaper). We got rid of ours after our company changed direction a little. We were no longer printing so much, and to meet our target we had to print manuals and books!! It came to a point when we knew it was not worth us going on with it, but the first year the printer paid for itself many times over. Other upsides include USB and Parallel ports along with the network port. Downsides include you cannot laminate the printouts - it makes the dye blur a little. I have to be careful with this recommendation. If you can meet the targets, and want high-quality, high-speed printing, this is probably for you. If not, stick with what you already have! I hope this is of help John Smart, Technical Director InternetDesign.com www.internetdesign.com JSmart[AT]InternetDesign[DOT]com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Ronni Rhodes Subject: Catalogs As you're an online business only, Yuwanda, and know that your visitors have Internet access, you might consider offering your catalogue in a CD-ROM format. Once the catalogue is initially completed, it's extremely easy and cost effective to update the document and keep it current. CD mailing, via first class mail, is significantly less than mailing a full size printed catalogue. With a CD, you can have direct links to the product pages and order forms on the web site which makes it very easy for the customer to buy when a product entices them. Just another way to achieve your sales goals! Best regards, Ronni Rhodes Ignite Your Site with Sound and Motion! http://www.wbcimaging.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Bill Silcox Subject: Catalogs Hello All, If my site is any indication, catalog requests are not too unusual. I'm sure that some people request them for people that don't have access to the internet. Others request them because they just like to have a hard copy of what you're offering. And some, well, they just like to be different. I've decided not to do a catalog for a couple of reasons. First off I don't get that many requests. Second, and more important, I'm guessing very few, if any, would order from it. What do I base that on? Well, I get quite a few requests for custom work. This requires that I contact the craftsman to see if they can fulfill the request and then going back and forth between the customer and the craftsman to make sure everyone is on the same page. The result of all this?? Lots of problems and very, very few orders. I'd guess that less than 5% that request this service actually place an order. My hunch is that would be the average who ordered from a catalog, if I produced one. That's the joy of working with the public. Before you get into that long and involved process of producing a catalog, make real sure the result will be worth the time, trouble and cost. Sincerely, Bill Silcox My Uncle Buck www.myunclebuck.com unclbuck[AT]zoominternet[DOT]net ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Brian Douglas Subject: Frames > The advantage of using frames is that the loading > of your pages goes much faster than if you have to > reload... over and over again. - Martin Kersten, Daily 1488 Martin: I think you've got your stance on frames all wrong. You're basing your entire argument on the premise that a framed site will load much faster - due to the page / site not reloading the same graphics each time a visitor travels to a new page. While, I will agree that a framed site *can* load faster - we're really talking about a few fractions of a second here, at most. All modern browsers (and just about all of even the very old ones) take full advantage of something called image caching. So, the individual files that load into the browser on the first page are already downloaded to your computer and load very quickly for the second, third, fourth, etc. pages. I don't have a problem with any designer using frames for their site. But, I can tell you that there are very few things that look more unprofessional than finding a site through a search engine and then *only* seeing a single frame load into your browser window. I can only imagine how many sales have been lost because of this fact alone! Brian Douglas TradeShowJoe.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Bill Davison Subject: SEO I'll try one more time on the subject of SEO. While there are some SEO companies who are reputable (and very, very expensive) most are not. Most companies offering this service use a software application called a "keyword analyzer." Don't become a sucker who pays through the nose for some SEO clown to get you a top ranking only later to discover they did it using coffin nails, Britney Spears, sex, pornography, etc. for keywords. Here's the truth about search engines. Not ALL rank you via meta tag keywords! Some rank you by the number of links - some openly by how much cash you bribe them with - some allow hidden spamming techniques, others do not. Some add the domain name - plus the keywords - plus the headers - plus the page text that contain simultaneous words and / or phrases. Although it's one client marketing only one product, the better SEO companies build a unique separate site before submitting it to each search engine. They then tinker with their keyword analyzer until the ranking reaches the top. And yes, the better SEO's also look at such things as pleasing aesthetics and downloading speed, etc. Smaller one product or one service website owners cannot afford to pay a house full of designers to build 40 unique sites and pay them full time wages while they tinker with a keyword analyzer until they get a top ranking. Of course, rankings frequently change. Unless you are Mr. Megabucks who can afford a large IT staff or you can do you own SEO work... just forget it! Use off-line advertising instead - you'll a lot more bang for your buck. So please, let's stop beating this dead horse. Bill Davison bizwebpage.com ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Steve Knilans Subject: Casino links > ... I have a links page for increasing traffic and > building link popularity... What's the overall opinion > on internet casinos, are they widely accepted or > should you stay away from them? - Toon Eppink, LED 1495 1. Affiliate links MAY hurt your position. That depends. 2. Linking to a casino MAY hurt your position if your site isn't a gaming / gambling site. 3. Some engines won't even index you if you link to a casino (not many, but some). 4. It isn't considered a good thing. Steve Knilans wisebooks.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Peter Warnock Subject: Casino links Where's the first place we see casino ads? It's usually those annoying pop-ups. http://www.hanktheknife.com/ [Toon's site] is professional looking site, but in my opinion it's appearance would be damaged by a casino ad. The links page needs a significant amount of help with organization -- it scrolls and scrolls and scrolls. I suggest focusing on affiliates that would appeal to the site's target market. Mass shopping sites already exist (i.e. Yahoo, MSN, eBay); our job as an affiliate marketers is to weed out the junk and focus on products of interest to our customers. Peter Warnock webstruction.com ------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1995-2003 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Linus: I guess it's wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow. Maybe we should think only about today. Charlie Brown: No, that's giving up. I'm still hoping that yesterday will get better." |
