December 13, 1999
Issue 66
Theme: E-Business Launch Principles
Dear friends,
This issue goes out to 80,344 subscribers around the world. I hope you'll take some time from your Web marketing activities this season and spend more time with your family. Ten years from now you won't be saying, "I only wish I hadn't spent so much time with my spouse and children." You'll be glad you did.
I wish you every Christmas joy on the eve of the new millennium.
God bless you,
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Editor
Dot.Com Countdown: 7 Steps to E-Business Launch
Describes
the 7 steps involved in getting a new e-business off the ground. Dr.
Wilson uses his new site JesusWalk as an example of techniques which can
be used. READ THE ARTICLE.
Book Brief: Customers.com
Dr. Wilson reviews one of the most popular business books in 1999, written by Patricia Seybold. It has been on Amazon.com's hot list of business books for many months. READ THE REVIEW.
Are Long Domain Names a Big Deal?
Recently it became possible to register domain names up to 67 characters in length, up from 23 characters maximum previously. How important is this? Discusses ideal domain names and how to find them. READ THE ARTICLE.
E-Mail to the Editor
Keywords and Referring URLs
Dan Dycke of Comox Valley International College, School of English (www.cvic.bc.ca) asked two good questions that might have occurred to you, too.
Question 1: My logfile shows keywords used by people to find my site on search engines. How do I find out what other keywords are being used direct a searcher to a competitor's site?
Answer: There's no way to determine what search words take people to a competitor's site, except, perhaps, to look on search engines for what banners pop up when certain search words are inserted. Also look at http://www.GoTo.com to see what words your competitor may have selected. But this is tedious work, since you have to guess to begin this competitive analysis.
Question 2: Very often I have visitors where my log file shows the referrer as my own URL. I put my URL as a link on the bottom of each of my pages so that if a person stores a page for future reading they can reconnect to my site without any difficulty. Could this be the referrer source?
Answer: If someone's following a link from a page they've saved offline or bookmarked, your logfile will show no referring URL. Your home page URL will commonly show up as the referring URL when your visitors are using your home page menu to look at pages in your site.
More Pinball Wizardry
In her description of me as one of 12 speakers for the Billion Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Super Summit in Los Angeles, January 20-23, 2000. co-organizer Audri Lanford labels me as "the pinball wizard of Web marketing." Paul Myer correctly observes that the original reference to me as the "pinball wizard of Web Marketing" comes from "Ask the Surf Guru" in Yahoo Internet Life, October 19, 1998. Paul writes,
"As far as the reference, I think they're referring to the song, rather than the story. Some of it goes:
'Ain't got no distractions, can't hear no bumps or bells.
Don't see no lights a flashin', he plays by sense of smell,
Always gets a replay, never tilts at all,
That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball.'
Tommy is the best there is, plain and simple. And no one else can see how he's so good at what he does. That's why he's a wizard. ;)" -- Paul Myer
Aw, gee, Paul, thanks for clarifying that. And thanks, Audri, for your kindness. And remember, you'll want to sign up right away in order to get a seat at the once-in-a-lifetime Billion Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Super Summit. January 20-23, 2000 in Los Angeles.
Hey, folks, don't take this pinball stuff too seriously. We're just having fun. :-) You can read the full lyrics of "Pinball Wizard" by Pete Townshend, (Copyright © 1995, Fabulous Music Limited) at http://ej.kylz.com/songs/pinball.wizard.html
Odds 'n' Ends
Our
E-Commerce Research Room (http://www.wilsonweb.com/research/)
was featured in an article entitled, "Your E-Commerce Link in the
Supply Chain," by Julie Murphree, editor of Purchasing Today
(November 1999 issue), published by the National Association of Purchasing
Management. We're honored.
This
month I'm part of the expert panel of Web Marketing experts for the AskNetrageous
newsletter, edited by Audri Lanford. I'm proud to be featured alongside Delcan Dunn and Jim Sterne, who will
also be speakers at the Billion
Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Super Summit. January 20-23, 2000
in Los Angeles.
