Dr. Wilson's Articles
on Web Marketing

Core Concepts

"The Five Mutable Laws of Web Marketing," 4/1/99. Suggests 5 essential principles of web marketing: (1) The Law of the Dead End Street, (2) The Law of Giving and Selling, (3) The Law of Trust, (4) The Law of Pull and Push, and (5) The Law of the Niche.

"The Web Marketing Checklist: 27 Ways to Promote Your Site," 6/1/99. A comprehensive annotated checklist of 27 methods of website promotion. Use this tool to evaluate stimulate your thinking to strategies you are not currently using.

"Understanding the Opportunities for Doing Business on the Web," 4/1/99. Sees some of the prime business opportunities of the Web centering around: (1) a branch office capability, (2) a world-size market, (3) direct sales, (4) networking, (5) a segmented market, and (6) a competitive advantage for small business.

"Make Your Website Purposes Crystal Clear," 5/1/99. Underscores value in clarifying purposes of a website: (1) brand development, (2) revenue generation, (3) cost savings, and (4) customer support.

Analyzing Site Traffic

"Unmasking the Dreaded Traffic Logfile," Web Marketing Today, 12/1/99. Describes the various elements of the NCSA combined logfile format.

"Golden Marketing Intelligence Mined from Traffic Logs," Web Marketing Today, 12/1/99. Describes the nine kinds of information you can glean from logfile analysis.

"HitBox.com - The Lazy Person's Traffic Log," Web Marketing Today, 11/10/99. Describes the features of HitBox.com, a painless method of learning about site visitors. Discusses pros and cons of this approach to traffic analysis.

"Analyzing Your Web Site Traffic," Web Marketing Today.

Banner Ad Design

"Made-to-Order Banners," Web Marketing Today, Issue 50, 11/1/98. Provides several online sources for quick banner production.

Banner Ad Revenue

"Ins and Outs of Displaying Banner Ads (Banner Serving Programs)," Web Marketing Today, 9/1/99. Outlines the basic functions of banner serving programs, also called ad management software. Explains why this is necessary to serve ads, unless you are part of a banner network.

"Review: WebAdverts 2.02 Banner Serving Program," Web Marketing Today, 9/1/99. Assesses WebAdverts as a good choice for small stores. Good functionality for low $50 shareware price.

"8 Steps to Developing Ad Revenue from Your Site," Web Marketing Today, 9/1/99. Steps include: (1) Provide dynamite content, (2) Determine your site's income potential, (3) Prepare your site to display banner ads, (4) Conduct a demographic study, (5) Set prices for banner ads, (6) Register with the ad directories,(7) Contact advertisers and media buyers, (8) Go to the beach.

"Pros and Cons of Banner Exchanges and Banner Networks," Web Marketing Today, 9/1/99. Discusses how banner exchanges work, highlighting LinkExchange. Explains how banner networks provide revenue, profiling ValueClick.

"Review: Central Ad 4.0 Ad Management Software," Web Marketing Today, 9/1/99. Positive review of Central Ad 4.0. Explains special features, a couple of weaknesses, and why this is a good buy for the money.

"Generating Revenue through Banner Ads on Your Website," Web Marketing Today, Issue 38, 11/1/97. Outlines how to begin to sell banner ads on your site. Includes info on finding a banner serving program to help administer the process.

Banner Ads (General)

"Review: Advertising on the Internet," Web Marketing Today, Issue 37, 10/1/97. Advertising on the Internet by Robin Zeff and Brad Aronson. Comprehensive look at banner advertising.

"Using Banner Ads to Promote Your Web Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 16, 6/22/96.

Branding On The Web

"Book Review: The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding," Web Marketing Today, 6/12/00. This book on Internet Branding is provocative, but falls short of being convincing. Nevertheless, it's worth reading.

"Positioning Your Company in the Consumer's Mind," Web Marketing Today, 5/1/00. Methods for positioning your business first and favorably in the consumer's mind.

"Differentiating Your Company's Products and Services," Web Marketing Today, 4/11/00. To succeed online, make your company and its products distinct from similar Internet businesses. Needed are a USP (Unique Selling Proposition), a memorable name, distinctive packaging, a distinct voice, and clear focus.

Building Communities: Chat, Forums

"Review: Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.38," Web Marketing Today, Issue 58, 7/1/99. Positive review of Ultimate Bulletin Board, a BBS that allows multiple sections, multiple moderators, and superior user and administrative interfaces. $152, though a free version is available.

"Building Communities that Promote Your Business," Web Marketing Today, Issue 59, 7/1/99. Describes functions of communities on the web. Types of communities include newsletters, discussion lists, bulletin boards, and chat rooms. Gives essentials for a successful community, and how it affects a business's bottom line.

Business Website Design

"Review: Web Design in a Nutshell," Web Commerce Today, Issue 18, 1/15/99. Web Design in a Nutshell by Jennifer Niederst. Positive review of this book. Many comparison tables that show which features are supported by versions of Netscape and MS Internet Explorer. Handy compendium of information and HTML info.

"Review: Web by Design: The Complete Guide," Web Marketing Today, Issue 49, 10/1/98. Web by Design: The Complete Guide by Molly E. Holzschlag. A website design book with an emphasis on design and color features rather than HTML information. Excellent textbook material.

"Navigation Systems for Business Websites," Web Marketing Today, Issue 47, 8/1/98. The larger the site, the more important the navigation system. Discusses design factors, left-side menus, image maps, site search engines, etc.

"Review: WebDeveloper.com Guide to Search Engines," Web Marketing Today, Issue 47, 8/1/98. WebDeveloper.com Guide to Search Engines by Web Sonnenreich and Tim Macinta. A rather technical guide to several available site search engines. Designed for webmasters.

"Server Side Includes (SSIs) and Navigation Systems," Web Marketing Today, Issue 47, 8/1/98. All sites are built inside of templates which supply HTML code for the top company graphic, the left-side menu, and bottom contact information. Article explains how to use Server Side Includes (SSIs) to greatly ease site updates and redesign.

"7 Debilitating Diseases of Business Websites (and their cures)," Web Marketing Today, Issue 41, 2/1/98. Examines the major business website design flaws. Diagnoses using memorable "disease" nomenclature such as "browser bloat" and "monitor myopia."

"Web Marketing Where Content Is King," Web Marketing Today, Issue 26, 12/12/96. Many siteowners pay to bring traffic to their site. But sites that thrive are those that offer superior content that pull links from many other sites, directories, and search engines. Explains how to develop winning content.

"12 Elements in Planning Your Business Web Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 23, 10/14/96. Outlines the planning process for designing business website.

"Should You Outsource Your Web Pages or Do Them Yourself?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 15, 6/10/96.

"How Much Can You Get on One Web Page?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 1, 11/6/95.

"Redesigning a Low Performing Web Site for Strategic Marketing Success," Web Marketing Today, . Highlights typical problems with early stage business websites, and suggests changes to boost graphics download time, navigation, readability, etc.

"12 Web Page Design Decisions Your Organization or Small Business Will Need to Make," Web Marketing Today, . This interactive lesson on Web design provides you with a custom set of parameters for your website.Selected by Netscape's "What's New". Used by many companies and departments as the basis of their planning. Please remit a $2 photocopy fee if youcirculate this article in your business. Thanks.

Case Studies/Models (Not E-Commerce)

"Dot.Com Countdown: 7 Steps to E-Business Launch," Web Marketing Today, 12/13/99. Explains steps involved with e-business launch, using as an example JesusWalk.com

Collecting Customer Information

"Preparing a Customer Profile for Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 4/1/00. Suggests information to collect for customer profiling: geographic, cultural and ethnic, economic conditions, power, size of company, age, attitudes, knowledge and awareness, lifestyle, buying patterns, media used, more.

"What Good is Insight about Your Visitors?," Web Marketing Today, 11/1/99. Describes how you can improve your website and develop your web business as you gain more information about your site visitors. An example of how data helped increase subscriptions to Web Commerce Today.

"8 Ways to Learn about Your Site Visitors," Web Marketing Today, 11/1/99. Describes 8 techniques to learn about site visitors: (1) e-mail inquiries and complaints, (2) online questionnaires, (3) e-mail questionnaires, (4) cookies, (5) order files, (6) site personalization, (7) traffic logs, and (8) JavaScript programs.

"Collecting and Using Data from Your Website Visitors," Web Marketing Today, Issue 46, 7/1/98. Outlines strategies to use HTML forms to collect information from site visitors. Suggests using "qualifying questions" to help determine how good a prospect the visitor might be.

"How to Get Customer Data AND Newsletter Subscriptions," Web Marketing Today, Issue 46, 7/1/98. Describes a two-step process to signing visitors up for a newsletter: (1) a box that takes only their e-mail address, and (2) a subsequent optional form that takes more information from those willing to give it.

Customer Service Online (Gen)

"Save Money with Customer Support on the Web," Web Marketing Today, Issue 29, 2/17/97. Outlines simple ways websites can provide customer support through FAQs, troubleshooting guides, etc. These help save money in telephone or e-mail support.

Domain Names

"Are Long Domain Names a Big Deal?," Web Marketing Today, 1/1/00. Contends that long domain names up to 67 characters are overrated, except for search engine positioning. Short, simple domain names are much better. Gives examples.

"How to Select a Good Domain Name or Two," Web Marketing Today, Issue 56, 5/1/99. Guidelines for selecting domain names: (1) short, (2) memorable, (3) related to your core business or business name, and (4) hard to misspell.

"Does Your Business Need A Custom Domain Name?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 4, 1/3/96.

E-Mail Marketing (Gen)

"Software Needed for E-Mail Conferencing," Christian Articles Archive, 6/17/05.

"Review of Free Mailing List Programs," Web Marketing Today, Issue 59, 7/1/99. Review of four mailing list programs: eGroups.com, OneList.com, Topica.com, and ListBot.com. Explains main features, points out differences and advantages of each.

"Sales Transactions via E-Mail," Web Commerce Today, Issue 14, 9/15/98. High end database driven e-mail programs such as Revnet UnityMail provide the capability to make purchases without even going first to a merchant's website. A heads-up on things to come.

"Using E-Mail with Your Company's Domain Name," Web Marketing Today, Issue 37, 10/1/97. Explains how to forward mail from your company's web hosting service and company domain name to your local dial-up account. This allows you to advertise an e-mail address with your company's URL and maintain a professional image.

"E-Mail and Web Marketing," Web Marketing Today, Issue 32, 4/23/97.

"Marketing via E-Mail Newsletters and Mailing Lists," Web Marketing Today, Issue 17, 7/13/96.

"Majordomo Newsletters for the Novice," Web Marketing Today. Tips on how to work around majordomo's quirks.

Handling E-Mail

"Where Lyris Fits in the Listserver Food Chain," Web Marketing Today, 1/12/00. Describes the relationship of Lyris E-Mail Listserver, to others: Majordomo, L-Soft Listserv, MessageMedia UnityMail, and free e-mail lists eGroups, ONElist, Topica, and Listbot.

"Review: Lyris E-Mail List Server 3.5," Web Marketing Today, 1/12/00. A positive review of the Lyris E-Mail Listserver program, with a special emphasis on using Lyris for e-mail newsletters.

"Review: MailKing 1.3.5," Web Marketing Today, Issue 48, 9/1/98. MailKing 1.3.5 Revnet Systems, Inc. Inexpensive e-mail merge program that uses MS Access (native), Excel, and other database sources to merge with text and mail through an SMTP server. $99.

"The FAQ Answer to 80% of E-Mail Overload," Web Marketing Today, Issue 44, 5/1/98. Much time responding to e-mail messages can be saved by developing FAQ (frequently asked questions) documents for your website.

International Marketing

"Should You Computer-Translate Your Website?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 57, 6/1/99. Quotes a number of non-English readers' comments about the poor but humorous translations produced by machine translators such as AltaVista BabelFish from Systran. Not ready for prime time business use.

"The Birth of the Euro and its Impact on E-Commerce," Web Marketing Today, Issue 52, 1/1/99. Examines how the new Euro currency will affect e-commerce, by making it easier to sell to a more unified European market, and increase competitiveness of European merchants.

"Review: Using the Web to Compete in a Global Marketplace," Web Marketing Today, Issue 52, 1/1/99. Using the Web to Compete in a Global Marketplace, edited by Browning Rockwell. Mixed quality of chapters contributed by various authors, but supplies much information needed for international marketing strategy development.

"Preparing Your Site for International Shoppers," Web Commerce Today, Issue 6, 1/15/98. Suggests a variety of ways to make shoppers from other countries feel welcome in your online store, such as page translations, currency converters, shipping information, etc.

"Going Global with Your Business -- Building an International Web Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 22, 9/22/96. Provides a number of strategies to make your site friendly to international visitors. Discusses translation, currency conversion, etc.

Introductory Web Marketing Articles

"The 4 Ps of Marketing Adapted to Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 5/1/00. The 4 Ps of Marketing has been a standard way of describing marketing programs for 40 years. But do the 4 Ps work on the Internet? Yes, but with some necessary explanation.

"Review: Internet Marketing Goldmine," Web Marketing Today, 11/10/99. Marty Foley's Internet Marketing Goldmine offers lots of practical tips to help a small business entrepreneur set up a successful Web business.

"Make Your Website Purposes Crystal Clear," Web Marketing Today, Issue 56, 5/1/99. Underscores value in clarifying purposes of a website: (1) brand development, (2) revenue generation, (3) cost savings, and (4) customer support.

"Understanding the Opportunities for Doing Business on the Web," Web Marketing Today, Issue 55, 4/1/99. Sees some of the prime business opportunities of the Web centering around: (1) a branch office capability, (2) a world-size market, (3) direct sales, (4) networking, (5) a segmented market, and (6) a competitive advantage for small business.

"Cultural Clues: Tips to Tailor Your Business to the Internet Culture," Web Marketing Today, Issue 55, 4/1/99. Discusses Internet cultural values such as: free, information, and intimacy with privacy.

"The Five Mutable Laws of Web Marketing," Web Marketing Today, Issue 55, 4/1/99. Suggests 5 essential principles of web marketing: (1) The Law of the Dead End Street, (2) The Law of Giving and Selling, (3) The Law of Trust, (4) The Law of Pull and Push, and (5) The Law of the Niche.

"Multiple Streams of Revenue for Your Website," Web Marketing Today, Issue 52, 1/1/99. A single revenue source may not be the only possibility. Suggests cultivating multiple revenue sources, such as: referrals, advertising, direct sales, leads, entertainment, information sales, affiliate programs, etc.

"Review: World Wide Web Marketing (Second Edition)," Web Marketing Today, Issue 51, 12/1/98. World Wide Web Marketing (Second Edition) by Jim Sterne. Excellent resource on marketing on the Web.

"Five Circles of Relationship Marketing on the Web," Web Marketing Today, Issue 51, 12/1/98. Looks at 5 different audiences, and explains the web marketing objectives for each, leading to a trusting relationship where sales can occur. These are: (1) the world, (2) the community, (3) the website, (4) the first-time customer, and (5) the regulars.

"Review: Essential Business Tactics for the Net," Web Marketing Today, Issue 48, 7/1/98. Essential Business Tactics for the Net by Larry Chase with Nancy C. Hanger. A multitude of clever marketing insights and strategies for businesses on the Web.

"Review: Online Marketing Handbook," Web Marketing Today, Issue 43, 4/1/98. How to Promote, Advertise, and Sell Your Products and Services on the Internet (1998 Edition, Wiley, March 1998), by Daniel S. Janal. In my opinion the best single all-around resource on Web marketing.

"4 Elements of a Web Marketing Philosophy," Web Marketing Today, Issue 31, 4/1/97. Recommends (1) focus on your customers, (2) offer excellence, (3) keep tweaking your web strategy, and (4) schedule marketing time and money.

"11 Reasons Not to Have a Web Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 30, 3/6/97. A tongue-in-cheek look at the excuses sometimes made for not needing a website. Punctures most myths.

"Review: Strategic Internet Marketing," Web Marketing Today, Issue 25, 11/25/96. Strategic Internet Marketing by Tom Vassos. An early examination of the principles of marketing on the Web.

"Web Interactivity Chart," Web Marketing Today, Issue 20, 8/25/96. Shows the variety of ways you can interact with customers on the Web, including forms, chat, etc.

"Web Interactivity and Customer Focus," Web Marketing Today, Issue 20, 8/25/96. Explains how your site can move on mere provision of information to allow interaction with customers through forms, etc.

"Billboard or Branch Office?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 19, 8/10/96. Compares a business website to a "place" of doing business, such as opening a branch office, rather than just an advertisement or billboard, I.e., another advertising channel.

"Is Your Product a Good Candidate for Web Success?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 14, 5/25/96.

"Niche Marketing on the Web," Web Marketing Today, Issue 12, 4/27/96.

"Give Something Away, Sell Something: the Classic Web Marketing Strategy," Web Marketing Today, Issue 11, 4/15/96. One of the most effective ways to attract visitors is to give away free content. When you also offer something for sale, you create an effective Web marketing rhythm of giving away and selling.

"Can Small Office, Home Office (SOHO) Entrepreneurs Really Compete With Big Corporations On The Web?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 10, 4/1/96.

"Why in the World Should Anyone Come to Your Web Site?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 7, 2/21/96.

"What's the Purpose of Your Web Site?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 6, 2/8/96.

"How to Attract Visitors to Your Web Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 2, 11/20/95.

"Review: Guerrilla Marketing Online: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Earning Profits on the Internet," Web Marketing Today, Issue 1, 11/3/95. Guerrilla Marketing Online: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Earning Profits on the Internet by Jay Conrad Levinson and Charles Rubin. An early book outlining ways to market on the Web. Now in its second edition.

"What a Web Site Can Do for Your Business," I/O Magazine, 10/15/95. Basic article explaining the advantages to a small business of having a website to promote the business.

"Questions Small Businesses Ask about the Internet," Web Marketing Today, . A very basic article for those new to the Internet, to explain how the Internet can help a small business.

Justifying Website Expenses

"Review: Measuring the Impact of Your Web Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 39, 12/1/97. Measuring the Impact of Your website by Robert W. Buchanan, Jr. and Charles Lukaszewski. Includes strategies, formulas, and examples for several approaches to ROI (return on investment) justification for your company's website.

Legal Issues (Copyright And Trademark)

"Protecting Your Business Information from Web Theft and Copyright Violation," Web Marketing Today, . Describes basic copyright laws, and explains how to protect yourself with a copyright designation, and how to find renegade webmasters who steal your content without permission or payment, and often without any attribution at all.

Marketing Research

"Review: Make Your Price Sell!," Web Marketing Today, 5/9/00. Ken Evoy has developed a one-of-a-kind web service. If you're an entrepreneur trying to set prices for your products, you literally can't afford to miss this one!

"How to Segment Your Internet Customers," Web Marketing Today, 4/11/00. Explains how to segment your online site visitors into clear and distinct groups of customers with similar buying interests and characteristics.

"Determining Customer Lifetime Value for Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 4/1/00. Explains how to calculate Customer Lifetime Value for your Internet Marketing Plan. Knowing the CLV allows you to design a plan that breaks even on the first sale but makes much more money on later sales.

"Analyzing the Competition in Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 3/13/00. Explains how to conduct a competitive analysis for your Internet Marketing Plan. Three step plan to identify the major competitors, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and then summarize their place in the market vis-a-vis your company.

"Doing a SWOT Analysis for Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 3/13/00. Describes how to conduct a SWOT Analysis to build into your company's Internet Marketing Plan. Studies strengths and weakensses, opportunities and threats.

"Conducting an Industry Analysis for Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 3/13/00. As you create your Internet marketing plan, you must be aware of where your particular industry is going, and track the trends that are taking place so you position your company ahead of the curve rather than behind it.

Miscellaneous Web Marketing Articles

"P4: Pricing Strategy as Part of Your Internet Marketing Plan," Web Marketing Today, 5/9/00. Every site on the web has a pricing strategy, but most are guesses not deliberate marketing choices. And most will lead to business failure. Here's how to develop your own clear pricing strategy.

"Web Examples of Deliberate Pricing Strategies," Web Marketing Today, 5/9/00. Here are examples of three pricing strategies -- commodity, penetration, and profit.

"The 4 Ps of Marketing in Your Internet Marketing Plan -- 1. Product Strategy," Web Marketing Today, 5/1/00. The concept of "product" in Internet space so you can market it.

"Just Who Are You Anyway? Developing a USP," Web Marketing Today, 3/1/00. Explains how to develop a Unique Selling Proposition for your online business to differentiate it from your competitors, as part of your Internet Marketing Plan.

"Core Competencies Undergird Your Online Competitive Advantage," Web Marketing Today, 3/1/00. If you're going to design a marketing plan, you first need to know what your competitive advantage is, and that flows directly from what you're good at.

"Clarifying Goals for Your E-Business," Web Marketing Today, 3/1/00. Explains how to set challenging non-financial and financial goals for your website as part of an Internet Marketing Plan.

"Book Brief: Customers.com," Web Marketing Today, 1/1/00. One of the most popular business books of 1999. Seybold outlines eight critical success factors, each illustrated with case studies and summarized with "lessons learned".

"Finding a Webpage with an Obsolete URL," Web Marketing Today, 10/1/99. Explains how to locate the webpage you're looking for, even if you encounter a 404 Page Not Found Error.

"Marrying Traditional Advertising to Online Sales (Part 2)," Web Marketing Today, Issue 53, 2/1/99. Sees traditional ads as a way for entrepreneurs to find untapped niches. This is an especially useful approach for single-product sales.

"Using Print Display Ads to Point to Your Online Brochure (Part 1)," Web Marketing Today, Issue 53, 2/1/99. Examines how to use small display ads in targeted print periodicals to point to a fuller brochure and sales ordering system on your website. Several examples.

"Review: Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants," Web Commerce Today. Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants by Don Taylor and Jeanne Smalling Archer. Strategies for competing with megastores. Many of the principles can be applied to survival of online small webstores.

Newsletter & Discussion List Marketing

"Sending HTML and Plain Text E-Mail Simultaneously," Web Marketing Today, 4/11/00. Describes what is going on with the MIME multipart alternative that sends both a text and an HTML message in the same e-mail.

"Ways to Increase Your E-Mail Newsletter Subscribership," Web Marketing Today, 3/13/00. Explains four ways to increase an ezine subscriber list, through (1) good content, (2) multiple subscription forms, (3) viral techniques, and (4) ad barter with similar ezines.

"A Marketer's Peek at HTML E-Mail Newsletters," Web Marketing Today, 1/1/00. HTML E-Mail is taking off, but it's not easy for marketers. Here's a look at HTML e-mail's promise and problems from a designer and marketer.

"A Simple Way to Format HTML E-Mail Newsletters," Web Marketing Today, 1/1/00. Outlines a simple way to format HTML e-mail using Word 97, FrontPage 2000, and Outlook 2000.

"Free E-Mail Mailing Lists Feature Comparison," Web Marketing Today, Issue 58, 7/1/99. Compares feature-for-feature some of the free mailing list program leaders: eGroups, OneList, Topica, ListBot, and CoolList.

"The "Ideal" E-Mail Newsletter Width," Web Marketing Today, Issue 57, 6/1/99. What is the "best" width for ASCII e-mail newsletters. The author examines several approaches and settles on 65-characters per line for Web Marketing Today.

"Review: Managing Mailing Lists," Web Marketing Today, Issue 48, 9/1/98. Managing Mailing Lists by Alan Schwartz. Gives detailed instructions about set-up and management of Majordomo, SmartList, LISTSERV Lite, and ListProc.

"How to Develop an E-Mail Newsletter," Web Marketing Today, Issue 45, 6/1/98. Basic instructions on how to plan, develop, and publish an e-mail newsletter for your business. This is a marketing strategy with a very high return, though consistency is difficult to maintain.

"Newsletter Mailing List Programs," Web Marketing Today, Issue 45, 6/1/98. Describes various options in publishing a newsletter, including majordomo, Lyris, LSoft Listserv, Revnet GroupMaster, and others.

Privacy Issues

"Taking Privacy Seriously," Web Marketing Today, Issue 46, 7/1/98. Discusses the importance of developing and strictly observing a privacy policy in order to increase customer trust, and ward off regulation threats from the FTC and the EU.

Promoting Your Website (Gen)

"Outsourcing Website Promotion," Web Marketing Today, 6/12/00. Article contends that you should not outsource strategy development and direction of the marketing program. Explains which marketing functions can be outsourced, and to what kind of website promotion companies.

"The Eight Essential Types of Internet Promotion," Web Marketing Today, 6/12/00. Describes the 8 basic types of Internet promotion: search engines, linking strategies, viral strategies, public relations, traditional media, networking, and paid advertising.

"Developing an Effective Internet Promotional Mix," Web Marketing Today, 6/12/00. Explains that you must try various approaches in order to see which methods work best on your particular site. Warns that your website should be in good shape before beginning a promotional campaign.

"Book Brief: 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site," Web Marketing Today, 6/12/00. Includes two chapters on search engine considerations, as well as chapter-length treatment of marketing in newsgroups, signature files, e-mail, discussion lists, newsletters, link trading, award recognitions, meta-indexes, online advertising, affiliateprograms, cybermalls, encouraging repeat visits, press releases, e-zines, web rings, offline promotion, traffic analysis, webcasting, and launching a website. Appendices, glossary, sample implementation and maintenance schedule. Rich in providing URLs for hundreds of sites that provide additional information.

"Review: Differentiate or Die," Web Marketing Today, 6/1/00. Review of a significant book on company/product differentiation by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin. Relates to branding and positioning in the consumer's mind.

"Review: Dan Janal's Guide to Marketing on the Internet," Web Marketing Today, 1/31/00. 28 chapters provide remarkably specific help with chapter titles such as: "Writing Interactive Ad Copy," "Promoting Your Web Site with Search Engines," "Measuring Return on Investment," "Building Relationships with E-Mail and Private Mailing Lists," and "Buying and Selling Banner Ads." The first book to read for a business person trying to get a basic grasp of doing business online.

"Stimulate Repeat Traffic with Bookmarks," Web Marketing Today, Issue 57, 6/1/99. Recommends asking visitors to bookmark the site. Explains how a MSIE 5.0 feature allows putting your symbol next to visitor bookmarks, favicon.ico.

"The Web Marketing Checklist: 26 Ways to Promote Your Site," Web Marketing Today, Issue 57, 6/1/99. A comprehensive annotated checklist of 26 methods of website promotion. Use this tool to evaluate stimulate your thinking to strategies you are not currently using.

"How to Advertise Your Site on a Slim Budget," Web Marketing Today, Issue 50, 11/1/98. Notes the high price of banner ads, and suggests 6 less-expensive approaches: (1) PR, (2) low-cost banner ads, (3) newsletter advertising, (4) keyword purchase, (5) pay-per-click, and (6) search engine positioning.

"Adding Value: The Key to Securing Links to Your Website," Web Marketing Today, Issue 43, 4/1/98. Explains how to secure reciprocal links. You won't get many links to your site if you don't offer any free services that will interest others. Content drives links to your site.

"Multiplied Marketing on the Web," Web Marketing Today, Issue 40, 1/1/98. Examines ways of multiplying one's perceived presence on the Web through multiple articles, multiple webpages, multiple URLs, and multiple companies.

"Review: Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend," Web Marketing Today, Issue 39, 12/1/97. Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend by William R. Stanek. Now somewhat dated guide to promoting your site and optimizing webpages for search engines.

"Increasing Visitor Flow to a Sluggish Website," Web Marketing Today, Issue34, 6/25/97. General tips on promoting your site.

"The Link Site Web Marketing Strategy," Web Marketing Today, Issue 13, 5/11/96. Becoming a center for links to industry information can drive traffic to your site. Discusses the pros and cons of this strategy, and how to use hyperlinks.

"Multiple Doors of Entry," Web Marketing Today, Issue 8, 3/5/96. A strategy to increase visitors.

Search Engine Techniques

"Gateway Pages and How to Make Them," Web Marketing Today, Issue 54, 3/1/99. To boost a site's ranking in the search engines, sometimes special gateway or doorway webpages are needed. Each is finely tuned to score high for particular search words or phrases on a particular search engine.

"Don't Obsess Over Search Engine Positioning," Web Marketing Today, Issue 54, 3/1/99. Instead of obsessing over top ranking in the search engines, know when to call it quits. Moderation recommendations from Danny Sullivan and Jim Daniels.

"Review: WebPosition Gold 1.0," Web Marketing Today, Issue 54, 3/1/99. WebPosition Gold 1.0 from FirstPlace Software. Reviewed this product very highly for its range of capability, strength, and ability to stay updated with knowledgebase as search engine algorithms change.

"Outsourcing Search Engine Positioning," Web Marketing Today, Issue 54, 3/1/99. Recommends outsourcing search engine positioning rather than doing it in-house. Though WebPosition Gold is an excellent tool, it requires a great deal of time to achieve good results.

"How to Get Higher in the Search Engines: The Science of "Gateway" Pages," Web Marketing Today, Issue 49, 10/1/98. Overview of how search engines determine which sites are ranked highest. Explains why gateway or doorway pages may be necessary to achieve a higher ranking for select keywords on selected search engines.

"How to Write a Compelling Web Page Title," Web Marketing Today, Issue 40, 1/1/98. Tips on making your webpage title attract attention when it shows up as a hypertext link in a search engine. Explains how to select words to go between the TITLE tags.

Trust Enhancement

"Real People Build Trust," Web Commerce Today, Issue 19, 2/15/99. Recommends using photos and a personal tone in order to build trust in a small business online store. Based on the premise that shoppers prefer to purchase from "real people" rather than faceless institutions.

"Building Customer Confidence on the Web," Web Marketing Today, Issue 28, 1/27/97. The single most important barrier to doing business on or off the Web is trust, customer confidence. This article explains how to build trust through the design of your website on a relatively low budget.

Web Hosting Services

"How to Choose a Web Hosting Service (ISP) for your Business Web Pages," Web Marketing Today, Issue 27, 1/6/97. Tips on selecting a professional web hosting service. Explains why most dial-up access providers do not provide the full range of services businesses need for their web presence.

"Does Your Company Need Its Own Web Server Computer?," Web Marketing Today, Issue 6, 2/8/96.

"How to Shop for an ISP for your Business Web Pages," Web Marketing Today, Issue 3, 12/4/95.