| LED Digest 2334: Contest Promos for Non-profits? |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. January 26, 2007 Issue no. 2334 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Quickbooks 2007 & Google ==-- ~ Eva Rosenberg "...some Google guys having a drink...started talking to some folks at Intuit one day..." --== Contest Promos for Non-profit Events ==-- ~ Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian "Anyone else using this technique in a non-profit situation? Can you share your experience with it?" --== GoDaddy Gets a Black Eye ==-- ~ GJ Berg "Something to be followed in the coming days..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== European Sales [was: PPC Trademarks] ==-- ~ R. Neilson "I think the biggest fear is being unable to confirm the address..." --== Presenting a Trustworthy Image ==-- ~ Nancy Cardinali "I was shocked to find anyone could get the seal if you pay the price..." ~ Jaime Ospina "If someone questions your integrity you can always refer them to the BBB research..." --== Browser Compatibility Help ==-- ~ Mark Roberts "...not really sure if it is possible to make something compatible with 'every' browser." ~ Dave Mead "Can you narrow down which browsers it's happening with?" --== PayPal Changing Things w/o Notice ==-- ~ Philip Scriver "No business ever stands still..." ~ Tom Aman "Be *very* careful when you start reading posts on a site such as paypalsucks.com..." =========== NEW ================================== From: Eva Rosenberg Subject: QuickBooks 2007 Dear Adam, While we're all putting so much energy in SEO techniques for getting good placement, did you know that there's a new way to get in? Through QuickBooks 2007. And if LEDers are interested, I'm inviting you to replay a workshop we had this week to learn how to use this new marketing tool. This is the first time Intuit has presented it to the end user. And the guy presenting it is in a position to accept your input on how to improve it and make it work the way you think it should. What is the Google-Intuit Connection workshop about? It turns out that some Google guys having lunch or a drink or something casual started talking to some folks at Intuit one day. And they dreamed up this interface between QuickBooks 2007's inventory system and the Google search engine, Froogle and certain other tools. They developed a way for you to put a product into your QuickBooks accounting system, with descriptions and even pictures - and to have it appear online with good placement. There is a monthly charge for this It sounds complicated. But from what they showed me, it's not. So...the developers taught us how to do this! You'll be able to access the replay at http://taxtwist.com/ . Note: You will have to sign in as a member. Membership is complementary. Sorry about not inviting you to the live workshop. My tax subscribers have been aware of this for some time. But, I just realized that LEDers could benefit even more. You actually understand what placement is about! Best wishes Eva Rosenberg www.taxmama.com - where taxes are fun! P.S. If this doesn't get you to do your bookkeeping, nothing will! ;~) -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian Subject: Promoting Non-profit Events w/ Contests Who else uses 'contests' to promote non-profit events? Dear LEaD'ers: I've read a lot about how effective 'contests' are in getting higher inter-activity and more interest in promoting non-profit events and organizations. However, even after trying out many different versions over the years in getting my subscribers, customers and friends to help with promoting the "Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day" event I support every Feb.14th, none have been very 'successful'. In fact, the few times I've gone AWAY from any 'contests' and asked directly for support in helping spread the word, I've got better response from people. Anyone else using this technique in a non-profit situation? Can you share your experience with it? It is possible I'm doing something wrong - and fixing it might fetch the higher response others have claimed to achieve. Here are just some of the 'contests' I've run before: * gift reports and ebooks (with real retail value) for people who refer the most visitors to the CHD awareness website * special 'lucky-dips' where referrers of every 100th visitor wins a gift pooled by other donors * links from my high traffic / frequently spidered website in return for mailing a note to their lists * co-featuring their sites / logos on paid promotions done for the event (or listing as 'featured partners' on a special section of the website, in return for spreading the word * some interactive events which teach a new technique (like profitable blogging, in a "10 Day Blog Challenge) or using a new service or technology (like the "Squidoo for CHD Awareness" event - link in signature below) While each attempt gets a small group of my list excited and eager, overall results remain just about the same. Any thoughts, ideas and suggestions are most welcome. I can use them during the February 14th 'Day of Hearts' event too. :) Thanks for your help. All success Dr.Mani Join me and 'Squidoo for CHD Awareness' http://www.chdinfo.com/squidoo.htm -------- new post - new topic --------- From: GJ Berg Subject: GoDaddy Gets a Black Eye http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/01/myspace_alleged.html Apparently, MySpace didn't like content (one page out of 25,000) on a domain hosted by GoDaddy and instead of contacting the owner of the domain went to the service provider and then GoDaddy removed the entire site (before contacting domain owner). Something to be followed in the coming days. (FWIW, I've been using ReadyHosting through at least two mergers for those considering other servers. They're much improved WRT CS than when I first started with them. Nominally $99 /year for the first domain hosted, $49.50 for each additional) GJ Berg ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: R. Neilson Subject: European Sales [was: PPC trademarks] > James, we had a lot of problems when we shipped > to the U.K. in years past, so we stopped. Mainly, the > credit card companies told us we were on our own > accepting foreign credit cards. - Sandy Keller, LED Digest 2332 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1721/55/ In dealing with Europe I have had little problems with credit card customers in UK or Norway. Other countries I usually have customers using PayPal accounts and have had no problems. I think the biggest fear is being unable to confirm the address a shipment is going to is the same address as the cardholder... which for US Customers is no problem. Once we go outside of the US it is. With the rise of identity theft world wide we as business are being much more cautious in how we deal with credit card sales. R. Neilson H.L. Supply Co. -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Nancy Cardinali Subject: Trust > I have a question about presenting a trustworthy image > online... Do you think the BBB Online seal is important? - Tom Anson, LED Digest 2331 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1720/55/ Tom, I too looked into getting the BBB seal. I was shocked to find anyone could get the seal if you pay the price, so what's the point? Granted, the casual surfer, the ones who buy from spam emails, don't know this and may be impressed, but I don't think it's worth the time or money. However, you may want to make sure you are NOT in the Bad Business Bureau database! Then you have a problem! Nancy Cardinali www.cardinalidesigns.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Jaime Ospina Subject: The Issue of Trust Not worth the money. If someone questions your integrity you can always refer them to the BBB research company search which will: 1. note you are a not a member 2. show you have no complaints 3. read story about BBB at http://ripoffreport.com Regards, Jaime Ospina -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Mark Roberts Subject: Browsers > There is great difficulty in getting our Web site to > work in all browsers, resolution settings, and types > of monitors [dentalquarters.com] - Kim Yeager, LED Digest 2331 Hi Kim, First of all, not really sure if it is possible to make something compatible with "every" browser. Whenever, I do a page for a customer, I always validate it through the W3C validation Script (http://validator.w3.org/). I ran your home page through there and noticed that it had 23 validation errors. I have generally found that if I can get it to pass this validation test, it will work properly in all of the major browsers. Mark Roberts Roberts Computing Systems -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Dave Mead Subject: Browsers Dear Kim, I tried looking at your site in Firefox 2 & IE7 on a Win XP PC and the column didn't move. There's a lot going on there (both visually and in the source code) and even though you have badges to say it's valid XHTML & CSS the HTML returned 23 errors. Can you narrow down which browsers it's happening with? Dave Mead http://www.dmwebsites.com Web Design | SEO | Consulting -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Philip Scriver Subject: Paypal alternatives > A call to PayPal about this has so far not resulted > in the promised email with instructions on fixing this... > Does anyone have suggestions on an alternative to PayPal? - Susie Redfern, LED Digest 2331 I'm not sure why you are waiting for an email from PayPal to give you the code. Just go to your PayPal Account - select merchant tools and then PayPal Shopping Cart. Follow the steps and you are back in business selling your books. No business ever stands still (mine as well as PayPal's) and it is a good idea I think to click on any sales buttons every so often, JUST to check things are working. I don't think it matters who you are using as a provider they all change something, sometime - if only to beef up security. Cheers Philip Scriver Explore Britain http://www.xplorebritain.com/default.asp Guided & Self-Guided Tours -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Tom Aman Subject: Paypal alternatives > (Personally, I do not use PayPal after reading > this http://www.paypalsucks.com ) - John Cooper, LED Digest 2333 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1727/55/ Be *very* careful when you start reading posts on a site such as paypalsucks.com and don't believe everything you read or at least take it with a grain of salt. While I know that PayPal may not be perfect, very often the *problem* is not PayPal, it is the user or the user's perception. The Number 1 problem with a site like this is that you are only hearing one side of the story. Would help a lot if there was some place you could read the other side. Number 2 problem with this particular site is that they seem to be intent on flogging Cardservice International - links appear all over the place - on the main page, at the end of practically every post, etc. They would be a lot more believable if they gave a variety of alternatives instead of just one. (Cardservice International may be legit but there application form for a merchant account only seems to be for the U.S. - not very international to me.) I had a look at some of the posts and, as luck would have it, ran across one where I know the other side of the story. I don't want to go into details on this one, but the facts as given in the post leave out and / or ignore a few very important details and, in this particular case, while the poster would disagree, I believe that PayPal and the buyer are right, the seller (poster) is wrong and the actions taken by PayPal were appropriate. Tom Aman Aman Software http://www.cyberspyder.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/120/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/77/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/86/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to sharpen." - Eden Phillpotts |
