Vol. 01 :: issue 05 :: 18 Feb 2002 (Revised 18 Aug 2006)
© 2002 to 2007 Kenneth G Woolcock - All Rights Reserved Worldwide
It's Never Too Late
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If you're following these messages in sequence you'll soon see, as you might expect, that the format started to change as the writer's confidence grew.
Looking back and updating these messages reminds me how long it seemed to take to get presentable content online. Especially for a technophobe, which was my mental state back then.
The exact sequence of events is a bit fuzzy but, the truth is... it didn't really take that long for things to take shape. It just seemed that way. This was a new experience in an alien environment and I was one scared bunny.
The writing was the most enjoyable and rewarding part... shame it was left to slide. Later, you'll learn why. But I've slipped this note in as a reminder that these were the first few months online. Maybe these recycled series will jog your memory of your first steps. Hopefully they will show Internet Newbies that the doing is possible, and rarely as bad as the fear of doing.
Let's get back to the original. Read on...
Hello, again
...and a warm welcome to all.
What's In Store For This Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Apology.
- Web Hosting, and How Not to go about making your selection.
- Prescription for Sick Surfers.
- Subscriber Contribution.
- USA Service Providers - Ken's Latest Rant (i.e. Having a Moan).
- Guest Article.
- Poverty Mentality vs Abundance Mentality.
First off, apologies for disappointing you by failing to publish any news last week. I'm afraid events get the better of me. That's life, I s'pose. Truth is, I've been trying to finish my long-awaited website. What's that you said? "Long awaited by whom?"
Ouch! That hurt.
Yep, OK... Long awaited by me, then. And if only you knew!
It's a bit of a story and could prove to be a great benefit to prospective webmasters if I take a few minutes to share this with you. And give you a laugh (or maybe a shudder) at my expense.
How *Not* To Go About 'Getting Online'
- Back in October 2001, when I was really 'green' (haha - sound of manic laughter) I thought of some names which might stand a decent chance with Search engine positioning. Mistake #1.
- The names were available, so I bought them, Mistake #2 and...
- ... hastily (with a confidence that can only come from ignorance)...
... I went ahead and registered them... Mistake #3.
- ... thinking that I'd be able to 'knock up' a quick website. Mistake #4.
- I also arranged hosting with a random provider... Mistake #5.
- ... for hosting at $14.95 each per month for 4 sites. Mistake #6.
(to protect those involved I won't mention any names in open press)
==========
Memo.
Now, this business was christened NervousNewbies as a direct reference to the owner recognising his own shortcomings at the time it was started. He also recognises there are others who share this perceived weakness, and it's to those people that this article is addressed.
In fact, the main reason for this website and the newsletter's existence is to give hope, inspiration and inspire confidence in others wanting to develop a presence on the Internet... business or otherwise.
Experienced subscribers, please don't feel you're being snubbed or ignored. I'd never do that. As I grow in my own experience and become 'one of you', the content of this weekly message will reflect the change.
Memo Ends.
==========
Why were these 'Mistakes'? I'll tell you. Listen.....
- There's nothing wrong with thinking up names that are favourable for positioning by the Search engines. The mistake was not knowing enough about all the factors considered by the SEs. Names are not enough. A good targeted name helps, but keywords, site content and links to your site are all part of the picture.
- Home business is probably the most competitive field. Guess what my chosen words were for site names. You got it... 4 variations of xxxx-home-business.com - can you believe it?!!? Far too broad a market.
- There's nothing wrong with registering a name, even if you're not quite ready to use it. Choose a good name and register it, then get it hosted when you're ready.
- It's just not possible to 'knock up' a quick *first* website. It will be possible with the benefit of experience, but if a web site is to be, or to do, any good it needs thought and planning. Neither had been given much time by me at that stage.
- As with #3 the mistake was to take hosting before being ready to use it. This was compounded by #6.
- Last, and by no means least, is the biggee. Hosting ...
... and this is where I get a bit warm!
Look, you can do what you like, and no doubt you will, but in so far as I'm concerned the best (if not the *only*) products and services to buy online are those recommended by someone you know and trust.
Hell, it's a minefield out there for inexperienced surfers and web users.
By the time I started this Newsletter (early January 2002) I was more aware of the facilities available. Knowing it would take a week or two before I'd be ready with anything like a website, I emailed my hosting company.
I explained my situation and asked what options were open, if any. They offered each domain one month of free hosting to get things sorted out. Other questions went unanswered and, as their phone number was nowhere to be found, I asked them to send it by email.
Their reply was not forthcoming and still no answers to my questions. Rather than bore you with all the details I'll just say it took 6 weeks to finally get a half-decent response. Did my questions get answered? No, not really.
What did you do then, Ken? I did what any sensible person would do. Cancelled my hosting contract, went to a hosting company recommended by someone I have come to know *and trust* .......and saved myself almost $50 USD per month in hosting fees.
So, where did you go for hosting, Ken?
I followed Ade's advice and checked out Robert Walker at httpme.com
Lessons to be learned from my (in)experience are obvious. Happy to share my mistakes with you in the hope that, for you at least, fore-warned is fore-armed. An advantage I didn't have.
One last thing before we move on. Looking back, the writing was on the wall from day #1 with that hosting fiasco. When they registered 4 names I'd actually requested 6 URLs. They sent 5 confirmations when all 6 names were available, but only registered and charged for 4.
Lucky is the word that springs to mind. This fiasco cost $279 USD (down the tubes) for 4 names. Just as well they are (or were) totally inept. One can only hope they've changed. This whole situation felt distinctly like a classic case of 2 kids trying to run a business from a shed in grandma's back yard.
Update:- June 2007 the domain name still exists, but it seems the site is now an ads portal and the name of the actual host I got hooked by doesn't appear in their list of URLs. Hmm... Wonder why?
Other lessons to be learned.
Have I been put off by this experience?
Definitely not!.....and neither should you.
Have I learned from it?
Most definitely.....and I hope you have gained something.
What have I learned?
Anyone wishing to establish an online presence, especially in building an online business, must be aware of these things:-
 It takes time to learn what needs to be learned.
It takes time to find someone you feel comfortable with.
It takes time to find someone you can trust.
It takes time to find the best teaching materials.
It takes time to build a decent website and do it properly.
It all takes time but time invested now can save you a lot of money,
 grief and frustration - and, best of all ... save you time!
Doctor Ken's Prescription For A Healthy Online Start
How do I go about taking my time in order to save my time and still get going? There's really only one surefire way I would recommend. To solve all the above, go to Sitesell.com
Playing eMail 'Catch-up' - Subscriber contribution
Expanding on a previous item about saving time and disc space, Judy shared this with me for all our benefit.
"As far as downloads are concerned, I only keep Ade's gifts on my desktop... cleared out the unwanted and unnecessary. That only took me 3hours. Now anything I see in text of value that I
want to keep I paste to notepad and save to my cd of notes, and put extra links using my A disks. Another tip for deleting email... trash it when subject just says subscribe and nothing else."
Thanks to Judy for that little snippet, I've been into Tools on Outlook Express and laid down some email message rules.
As I'm not really into MLM and feel I've got sufficient on the burners at the moment, rules have been made to send any body text with the words 'MLM, opportunity, residual income' straight to a special folder. This can then be checked and only open those I recognise. Remainder can be dumped without opening.
There's always the possibility that emails I want to receive may contain words selected for Spam filter. That's why the special folder was created, to review before dumping. Suggestions will be gratefully received.
Judy's tip about saving clips of useful stuff onto Notepad is one which I also use but it prompted another thought. Judy and myself are both sifting and sorting, it seems... but she's way ahead with the desktop. ~( ;- ))
Useful Tip
When sifting and sorting, create Folders on the Desktop labelled for items of interest, such as eBooks, eZines, eMail, etc. As I find the odd treasure relating to these it goes straight in the appropriate folder.
When I first started collecting "stuff" I put it in folders setup for the person I got it from. Some of my sources deal in many interests, so you can guess what the chances are of finding any specific item without going to Start/Search/Find.
Seems that Judy and yours truly have learned things the hard way. Decide what you want - Plan - Organise - Dump - Prioritise. Slower can often be Faster in the long term. We don't mind revealing our mistakes and what we learned, so you don't have to make them.
A Quick Moan
Before we start, I'd like to remind you that I'm in the UK. OK? Right.
I'm not xenophobic in any way, least of all toward our trans-atlantic cousins. In fact, I wish the British were more like them (you?). Why wasn't I born in the USA?
It's widely accepted that the largest mass of internet users probably reside in USA. What niggles me is the mistaken assumption of (legitimate - are they?) businesses who email the world with their *spam* offers, that the only nation on the 'Net is the American nation.
Thankfully, I've reduced the emails I get these days but I'm still interested in certain selected services. There's no bigger time-waster than to open an email on the chosen subject, go to their site and, after reading for ages, to find their service is only available to US residents.
Recently I've been mailed daily by merchants2go.com and requested details, telling them I'm in the UK. They've not replied but continue to send emails. The email has a link to their page. The page loads but a link on the page is dead. I've since mailed them again...still no reply. Looks a bit like VirtualBizHosting to me.
Maybe, if I hadn't told them I'm in the UK, they would have replied. Then I could have searched their site to find for myself that their service is only available to US residents.
Now I'm being cynical... anyway, their website doesn't work!!
In a nut shell:-"All internet users live in the USA" is a wrongful assumption and suppliers who offer goods and/or services exclusively to USA residents should have terms stated as such up front. It wouldn't cost them anything, they are hardly likely to gain anything by having their offers read by people they are either unwilling or unable to supply, and they wouldn't be wasting your time or mine! So, there!!
Right, that's it. Moan over.
Do you know, some people have a hard time with Americanisms. Things like "I'd like to *share* this with you". Sounds reasonable to me. Much warmer than saying "I'd like to tell you something". And easier on the tongue than "I would like to impart to you certain knowledge that I have recently acquired".
Another one that's not easily accepted is "Have a nice day".
What's wrong with that?
Surely it's the same as the stiff upper lip greeting "Good Morning", etc..
Personally, I go one better "Have a truly Wonderful day".
Guest Article
The Death of Positioning?
by Mark Joyner - CEO, Aesop.Com
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I always get a bit nervous when I start talking about the less testable theories of marketing. I call this "touchy-feely" marketing. I'm a real "show me" kind of person, and I will rarely make a statement about marketing without having tested a theory on real products I'm selling myself.
This is one exception. It would be quite difficult to test some of the ideas I'm about to put forth here. Nonetheless, it's an important concept that will change the way you think about your web promotion efforts.
For years it has been believed that for a product to succeed it must "position" itself properly in the mind of the consumer. Ries and Trout (the best known spokesmen of this theory) make a powerful case. They claim that the overall mass of information with which a consumer is bombarded every day makes it hard for him to remember any information at all.
However, the way our brain categorizes and stores information helps to determine which of these bits of information are remembered. The Law of Primacy, for example, states that it's easier to remember the first of any list.
For example, can you name the following?
- Your first kiss
- The first President of the United States
- Your first day in your current house
- Your first day at your last job
Now, try to name your second kiss, the second President, the second day... Do you follow? It's obviously much easier to remember the first. It almost goes without saying.
According to Ries and Trout, this phenomenon accounts for the success of many of today's continued successes. Coca-Cola, Levi-Straus, IBM.... These companies have a primary position in the minds of the consumer because they got there first.
Now, there is more to it than that (there are a great many other psychological factors that affect the position of a product in one's mind- see 1,001 Killer Internet Marketing Tactics for more details), but you get the general idea. This concept has been a decisive one in shaping the ad campaigns of the last 20 years. The only problem is, the whole field of marketing and advertising itself has been turned on its head by the Internet. The rules have changed. We have had the great privilege of witnessing a "paradigm shift".
A paradigm shift occurs when a new invention or discovery completely changes the way we look at the world. The Internet has not only caused a paradigm shift itself, but it is the catalyst of other paradigm shifts by increasing the rate at which we exchange information. So, we have to be willing to let go of certain beliefs when this occurs.
The million dollar question is, is Positioning one of these concepts which we will have to discard?
My answer is a resounding "no", but there is a new concept that will greatly affect the importance positioning will play in determining who buys. The position of a product in one's mind will always have a great impact on whether or not one chooses to purchase that product, but, I propose that on the Internet, there is one single factor that is of even greater importance:
Timing
This states that the marketer must deliver the Right Message to the Right Consumer at the Right Time.
These days, when your average net consumer wants something, he wants it fast. For example, some time ago I was looking for a web host for one of our web sites (to protect those involved I won't mention any names). For various reasons, we had to move and we had to move fast. I really didn't want to have to spend a lot of time talking to prospective companies. I just wanted to get the site up and running on a new server so we didn't lose traffic. An acquaintance linked me up with a company that reportedly could get the job done quickly and do it well. There were even a few things that bothered me about this company from the start, but I was assured all would be well.
I hate to admit it, but I'm just plain lazy. We decided to go with this particular company because of the Timing of the whole deal. At that time, this was more important than a company name. There were a number of big name companies that had a better Position in my mind, but that just didn't matter. The decision was a mistake, for sure - one I will always regret - but, it is the decision I made at the time. This inferior company got my business because of timing.
Now, if one of the big name companies had been there at the right time, there is almost no doubt in my mind that they would have received my business. But they weren't. So, in this case, Timing was more important than Positioning.
If you spend a few moments thinking about this, you'll surely find a few examples in your past experience where this theory has held true.
Now,
here are a few ways you can apply this principle to your online business:
1. Offer Speedy (If Not Instant) Fulfillment
Have you ever had to make a decision between two similar products - one that could get it to you right away and another that would take a few days? Personally, I've chosen products of lower quality based on their delivery times. (OK, now you know. I'm lazy and impatient. But, you'd better love me. I *am* Joe Six-Pack.)
2. Find the Right Consumers in the right place
There are places online where people ripe for your product are hanging out right now. Seek those places out and get your message there one way or another. An obvious example would be someone searching for your type of product on a search engine. Or, perhaps you sell saddle-soap and there is a forum or newsgroup all about horse saddles. Maybe you offer rare books and you find someone that owns a newsletter dedicated to rare book finding. These are the places where you want to get your message seen.
3. Create the Right Time
Sometimes you get the Right Message to the Right Consumer, but at the wrong time. Maybe the consumer just isn't ready to buy right now. That's no problem. Create a sense of urgency by explaining what would happen if the consumer didn't purchase your product today. What would they stand to lose? Do this and it will become clearer to them that the right time is now.
Copyright 1999 Aesop.Com
Article by Mark Joyner, of 1,001 Killer Internet Marketing Tactics. Mark is also the CEO of Aesop Marketing Corporation. 1,001 KIMT is an absolute *must have* for anyone serious about Internet marketing. It will dramatically boost the results of any campaign in a very real and measurable way.
Author's byline published as it was in 2002.
The link to the featured product is no longer active and has been removed.
Grabbing the Freebies and Procrastination
Those are 2 sins that I've been guilty of, as mentioned previously. Have you ever stopped to think why we do this? Maybe this is true for you, it certainly is for me, and it goes right back to my upbringing.
Hang about, this ain't gonna be no deep psychology thing. But when you give it some thought you'll see that the above activity and, at the same time, lack of action, fit together like a hand in a glove. It's perfectly logical, it's true and it's really quite understandable.
You'll remember, in my first newsletter, one thing I said was "Get your mind off of the money". That's because some of us have seen and lived through times when there was not an abundance of money or anything else in our personal circumstances. In other words, we've been skint!
For some of us it was worse than just being skint. Most times being skint is only a passing phase. Easy to get out of. We recover.
Other times there's a whole different ball game going on. The 'baby-boomers' will know what I mean by times of austerity, goods in short supply and a feeling of 'lack'. Parents had to skimp and save just to get by. If things got broken or simply wore out, the parents had to make do or mend.
It's a well known fact that things we experience in our early years can influence our behaviour throughout our life. The result can be harmful, hold us back and perpetuate the scarcity myth. Because it IS a myth.
When you look around you, you'll see that everything's in abundance. Maybe not in our own situation at this particular time, but abundance is all around us.
How do we tend to behave with this ingrained mentality? We tend to look at everything that comes before us, grabbing every Freebie and "special offer"... afraid we're going to miss out on the next "big deal".
Indiscriminately reading every email in case we miss out. Discipline goes right out the window to the extent that, by looking at everything, we lose sight of, not only what we've already got, but where we're going.
"Acres of Diamonds" rings a bell here. God Bless Dr. Russell Conwell for giving us that bit of wisdom. Sort of like 'The other man's grass is always greener'. I say, "Beware the greener grass".
Because we've looked at so much stuff, and so many "opportunities", we get confused. What to do? Where to start? Which project? Who to ask?
End result... Anxiety... Procrastination... Fear... Inactivity... Worry.
Cure??? Face the fear and do something.
What if I fail? So what...You'll learn from the failure... pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start over. Thinks, Thomas Alva Edison.
How do we go about overcoming the scarcity myth? Quite easily. The only tools required are the awareness that it is a myth (I've given you that) and discipline (which you already have - you just need to develop it).
The human mind can only hold one thought at any one time, so make sure that the thoughts you hold are the best thoughts for getting you where you want to get. Your predominant thoughts dictate what you're most likely to receive. Simply put... you get what you most earnestly think about.
None of us will ever get out of the rut if we keep thinking about the rut itself, or what we haven't got (and remember a rut is only a grave with the ends kicked out). A slippery slope is a slippery slope and nothing more. You can overcome it... but only if you concentrate on what's at the top. Providing, of course, that you really want what's at the top.
Focus on what you want to have, swap the Poverty mentality for the Abundance mentality... and watch what happens. If you've got money that's not in circulation, get it back in circulation. If you've got money in a drawer or in a sock --- get it moving. Make it work for you.
And STOP collecting "stuff"!
Words of Wisdom from George Zalucki
"It's ironic how those who are most afraid to lose, often have the least... and what they do have isn't much anyway."
Maybe not verbatim but I'm sure you get the message.
That about wraps things up for another week. Looks good to me, prepared with loving care, as always. Comments or suggestions are always welcome. Hope to be with you again soon. Thanks for reading.
And until next week(ish)...
...Take care - but don't take any wooden nickles. ~( :- ))
Kenneth G Woolcock
Don't worry if it will work... Just DO it!!
Closing notes...
Just a reminder that the above text is an updated version of a newsletter issue posted in 2002. Although it's not formatted here as it was for eMail, it was eMailed as well as being posted online. Please remember, it reflects my thoughts as applicable to early days on the web.
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