Your Membership Community & Commentary, 06-22-01

['Your Membership' Editor]

Title: Your Membership Community & Commentary, 06-22-01

Your Membership Community & Commentary ��It's All About Making Money June 22, 2001�� in this issue There Is More To Protecting Your Business' Future Than Buying A Domain Name! Membership Showcase 10 Tips For Making Your Site More Usefull Today's Special Announcement: THE SECRET'S OUT! Million Dollar Earners & Leaders Worldwide Are Aligning Themselves With This Company. Why? Because of a product needed by the masses. A product ANYONE can market worldwide. A product that will create incomes never before seen. Official Pre-launch 7-01.. Check for details NOW! One Card --------------- * * To change your subscribed address, send both new and old address to Submit See below for unsubscribe instructions. Please send suggestions and comments to: Editor I invite you to send your real successes and showcase your strategies and techniques, or yes, even your total bombs, "Working Together We Can All Prosper." Submit For information on how to sponsor Your Membership Community & Commentary visit: Sponsorship Showcase Copyright 2001 AEOpublishing.com �� Information to provide you with the absolute best low and no cost ways of providing traffic to your site, helping you to capitalize on the power and potential the web brings to every Net-Preneur. --- This Issue Contains Sites Who Will Trade Links With You! --- There Is More To Protecting Your Business' Future Than Buying A Domain Name! �� By Bill Platt I bought my own domain name in March of 2000. I was in hog heaven; I was finally a real business. Now, I am a business in transition once again. When I bought my domain name, I checked the Whois network to make sure my selected name was clear. Much to my relief, it was. So, I bought the Domain Name, started building my site, and started promoting like a mad dog. Less than 2 months after moving to my own domain, I am generating over 6,000 hits each month to my site. I have firmly established myself under my domain name, and I have created an environment on the Internet where I have over 300 links pointing to my dot com site. I worked 16 hours a day to build the site to its current level and to get all of those links established. I am now starting to make some decent money from my website for the first time ever. And then BAM! It happened. I received a certified letter in the mail from a lawyer in Seattle, Washington. It seems a very large company owns the trademark on one of the words in my domain. I have managed to negotiate a settlement with them giving me 60 days to complete my transition, but after that 60 days, I must give up every single reference to the Trademarked word completely! Ouch! In the course of the last few days, I have learned some new things about protecting your business from a nightmare like this. Too bad I did not know this information two months ago! Fortunately, due to this article, you have the opportunity to not make the mistakes I have made. Just a few days ago, I would have told you that there are only three steps involved in getting started as an Internet based company. The first would have been to find a domain name that you are comfortable with. The second would have been to visit http://www.TotalNIC.net/whois.html to do a search to make sure your selected domain name was open. And the third was to find a reliable and affordable web host for your domain services. Of course, that is the simplistic view, because it does not take into account the design and the construction of your website. It also does not take into account getting your e-commerce set up or anything like that. Basically, this simplistic view was the three steps that you would need to take to get rolling. But, the events that I have dealt with over the course of the last few days has changed all of the forever. Now, I will insist that there are actually six steps in this simplistic view of the process. Steps four, five and six can be taken care of all in one website. That website is: http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/search.html Step Four: Learn about the Trademark and Servicemark laws. Basically, the way I so far understand it, anyone can purchase a trademark or sevicemark without the aid of an attorney, though they do recommend that you use an attorney for your own protection. Trademarks and Servicemarks are used for product based companies and service based companies, respectively. In effect, what they do is to protect a name or a certain word in the eyes of the business world. Now, Trademarks and Servicemarks are not entirely unique to the company who owns them. They also have product and service categories attached to those "marks". Thus, Nikon could not have challenged me using the name "F5" because I had "F5" attached to a computer based business, and they have "F5" attached to a camera product. Different types of product and service categories allow more than one company to own a Trademark or a Servicemark on a particular name. HINT: Don't trust my understanding of Trademarks and Servicemarks as the God-honest interpretation. Talk to an attorney who specializes in this industry for a God-honest interpretation. The general idea behind these "marks" is to prevent the consumer from getting confused between two companies offering similar products with similar names. Step Five: Visit http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/search.html and search for your selected name in one of the Trademark search engines. If your selected name is "marked" already, then check the "marks" to see what industry the "mark" represents. Step Six: If your "mark" is clear, BUY IT! The do-it-yourself Trademark will cost you a mere $325 for 10 years. If that seems like a lot of money, then stop to remember me. I have to give up my domain, and I lose the money I used to purchase it. Then think about my 16 hour days over the last two months. Then think about those hundreds of links out there that will be dead links in less than 60 days. Then think about the fact that I will be going from 6,000 hits a month to probably less than a hundred hits in my first month at my new domain. Then think about all of the work that will be required to move from one domain to the other, and change all of the references from my old domain name to my new domain name. $325 in comparison to all of the time and goodwill I will lose and have lost on this deal, is just a drop in the bucket of what it could have saved me. Let me put this another way for you. Do you remember the Dick and Jane stories we read when we were kids? See Bill do his homework. See Bill buy his domain name. See Bill in hog heaven. See Bill work hard. See Bill work long hours. See Bill promote the domain like a mad dog. See Bill do this for two months. See Bill check his mail. See Bill read his important looking letter. See Bill chew his nails. See Bill lose everything he had worked hard for in a flash. See Bill eat a bottle of aspirin in one week. Don't be a Bill. Copyright (C) 2000 by Bill Platt ------------------------------------- About the Author... Bill Platt is the Owner of http://WindstormComputing.com , a large computer support knowledge-base, & a free-reprint article archive. He is also the owner of "America's Icons - Best of The Web!" at: http://www.Americas-Icons.com , and he is the Director of http://www.GhostArticles.com , a site dedicated to bringing the power of Customized Internet Articles to businesses everywhere. Membership Showcase �� Examine carefully - Those with email addresses included WILL TRADE LINKS with you. You are encouraged to contact them. There Are Many Ways To Build A Successful Business - Just look at these successful sites & programs other members are involved in: ----------------------------------------------------- Visit Ward's Gift Shop! Here you can find all your shopping needs on line, and good quality products; Everyday low prices! We have Dolls, Angels, Novelties, and so much much more to choose from. Go to our site, and get your Free Catalog today; over 3,000 Products to choose from. http://www.wardsgiftshop.com Trade Links - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- EARN $100,000+ PER YEAR! - FULLY GUARANTEED! We do all the selling for you, 365 days a year! We also offer you a GUARANTEED INCOME of up to $100,000+p.a. - working just 2 hours a day. GUARANTEED http://www.ArmchairTycoon.com/profits2you Trade Links - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- CashPO is Paid E-Mail Central! Get FREE REFERRALS, _KEEP_ referrals when new programs are added; free advertising to other members, and soon chances to win cash! http://www.cashpo.net/CashPO/openpage.php4?c=2 ----------------------------------------------------- RETIRE QUICKLY--Free Report "Seven Secrets to Earning $100,000 from Home". Fully Automated Home Business. 81% commissions-Income UNLIMITED. Automated Sales, Recruiting and Training MACHINE. Join NOW! http://orleantraders.4yoursuccess.org Trade Links - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- Attention All Web Marketers-$30k-$100k CASH This Year No experience needed, No product to sell. The real go getters can make $100,000.00 CASH,in their first month This is very powerful, contact me TODAY [EMAIL PROTECTED] or goto: http://www.makecashonline.com GET EXCITED :) Trade Links - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- If you have a product, service, opportunity or quality merchandise that appeals to people worldwide, reach your targeted audience! For a fraction of what other large newsletters charge you can exhibit your website here, and trade links for only $8 CPM. Compare that to the industry average of $10-$15 CPM. Why? Because as a valuable member we want you to be successful! Order today - Sponsorship Showcases are limited and published on a first come, first serve basis. For our secure order form, click here 10 Tips For Making Your Site More Usefull �� By Carole Pivarnik People rely heavily on Web sites that are most useful to them. They go to Dictionary.com to look up or translate words. They go to BankRate.com to use financial calculators. They go to SmallBusiness.com to get and give business advice. They go to Coupons.com to save money. They go to 1800flowers.com to quickly and easily order gifts for loved ones. They go to HomeDepot.com to learn how to install a ceiling fan. All of these sites and others with a large, loyal visitor base have one thing in common: they provide a useful service or product to their visitors. Usefulness is one of the key factors in attracting repeat traffic. Here are some tips for making your site more useful and more competitive: 1. Teach something. There is a huge demand for concise, well-written how-to information. If you have a business Web site, you have an area of expertise. What can you teach your visitors? 2. Simplify a complex task. Many tasks are so complex that people have difficulty figuring out where to start and what to do. Some examples are buying a home, changing careers, or starting a business. By providing checklists, online wizards, or other tools to organize and automate complex tasks, you can make those tasks significantly easier for your visitors. 3. Offer extraordinary value. People calculate value by comparing what they get to how much it costs. Value exists for them when they perceive that they're getting more than they pay for. If you offer an expensive product or service, create value by showing how the benefits of purchase exceed the cost. If market conditions make it difficult for you to compete on price, increase the value of your offer by packaging it with "free" add-ons or companion products. 4. Provide superior quality. In today's competitive market, people simply expect high quality. To wow them, your site must provide that extra feature, service, or customer care that puts you in a different league than your competitors. 5. Offer unparalleled convenience. People take the path of least resistance. Make it a snap to find and use your Web site. Make it easy to remember. Design it for easy access. Make it clear what visitors can get from you and where they can get related material that you don't offer. 6. Assist with decision-making. People often have trouble sorting out the details that go into complex decision-making. Provide them with an organized, easy way to do that and they'll love you for it. For instance, a small business portal might offer a checklist or worksheet that helps entrepreneurs figure out what paperwork they must submit to local and state government to incorporate their business. 7. Invite participation. Allowing your visitors to participate in forums, share advice, publish articles, or otherwise interact with other visitors creates a sense of community. Since we all like to belong, sites that provide valuable communities for visitors tend to foster great loyalty among them. 8. Give something for nothing. People respond to getting good stuff free. Can you offer something free for which your competitors charge? Can you offer more or better free stuff than your competitors? 9. Differentiate. Take a close look at your competitors' sites. What do they lack? Set your site apart from theirs by offering a different mix, more content, better quality--whatever it takes to rise above the din. And then make sure you tell visitors why your site should be their first choice. 10. Diversify. Offer your audience as many different reasons as possible to find your site useful. Offer content, tools, and services for different levels of expertise, areas of interest, or professional focus. Conclusion By providing a more useful site, you encourage your visitors to not only return frequently, but linger. This can greatly increase the chance that they'll become paying customers. Take the time to carefully assess your site and make changes that enhance its usefulness. Doing so is one of the best investments you can make in your Web site and your business. ------------------------------------- About the Author... Carole Pivarnik manages audience development and affiliate programs for SureCode Technologies, Inc., which offers full- featured, customizable Web databases that plug right into any site with no programming. Email her: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sign up for her free newsletter, Working Web Sites, or learn more about SureCode at http://www.surecode.com . email us �::� visit our site This email was sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED], at your request, by Your Membership Newsletter Services. Visit our Subscription Center to edit your interests or unsubscribe. View our privacy policy. Powered by