Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECTs:Labor Day - Back To Our Business The Internet 800 Directory - http://www.inter800.com The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter This issue is for Friday, August 30, 2002 Table of Contents 01. Labor Day 02. Back To Our Business 03. Netscape 7.0 04. Tip Of The Week *01 Labor Day When I was growing up the summer always began with Memorial Day and ended on Labor Day. Labor Day, the last long weekend before school opened and the pool closed. Then again Labor Day is more than the unofficial end of the summer season. At the end of the 1800's, labor organizations were petitioning state legislatures for recognition of Labor Day as an official holiday. Oregon was first state to recognize Labor Day in a law it passed on February 21, 1887. During that year four more states, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York also created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. On June 28, 1894 after 26 more states had adopted the holiday in honor of their workers, the Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday. Labor Day is observed not only in the United States and Canada, but also in most other industrialized nations. Here in the United States, our labor force has created the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known. This holiday was earned by the effort of the people and one I plan to enjoy it. Have a good Labor Day! If you have any thought or ideas you would like to share, please send them to Chuck Arning at chuck@inter800.com We’re Talkin’ Serious” Bone Suckin’ Sauce ! Winner: “Battle Of The Sauces.” Created in true western North Carolina style. Tomato based all-natural, sweetened with honey and molasses. Order your Box of six today for $39.99 +s/h. Toll-Free 1-800-446-0947 or online http://www.BoneSuckin.com *02 Back To Our Business Looking at my last few contributions to the newsletter, I'm surprised that no one accused me of attempting to conduct a course in Philosophy 101 without a certificate. Therefore I will attempt to keep this a business-oriented article. However, I must admit that I keep getting sidetracked with thoughtful issues, such as, " If one steps on the scales and holds his belly in, will he weigh less?" These topics must be addressed and answered, and someone has to do it. Nonetheless, the issue today was brought home to me last week in a visit with one of the leading investment banking firms in the country. One of the partners told me that he had never seen a paper toll free directory and could not understand why they existed, especially due to the Internet. Now that is sort of like music to my ears, but it is non-realistic. As all of you should know, we make our money by selling positioning and priority with key words on the Internet. We started this model in 1995 and now little firms like Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Overture are touting it to the hilt, and making profits. Since we are an Internet-only firm, we cannot concretely address the print Yellow Page market, but we have partners who are experts in it. The question is not whether or not that Yellow Page advertising works, but which medium is more productive. The long-standing criticism of Yellow Page advertising is "How does one know that it works?" Since the average business doesn't answer the phone with the question, "Where did you get this number?" then the average business does not know how you found it. Therefore the advertising medium is very hard to track. Up jumps the Internet and suddenly media buyers have, for the first time ever, a capability of tracking viewers, click-throughs and direct responses. Now we can hold the media accountable for what they deliver! Really? No. Advertisers quickly learned that the number of "hits" did not extrapolate into sales. Next were "page views", then "unique visitors" (which to this day I believe are complete lies or are insidious at best as the only way that one can determine "unique" is by persistent cookies). The real proof in the pudding is how much any campaign delivers business and it is very hard to track. None of the media, ranging from direct mail to TV, is wrong; only the methodology of how it results in sales or information responses is critical. In addition, we happen to believe in the fact that "84% of Internet users rely on electronic media to search for product or service information in order to make a purchase" (Source: InternetTrak), and that 70% of the dot.com web sites display toll free numbers. Companies display toll free numbers because most customers prefer to call a toll free phone number when it is time to buy. Telephone customers are more satisfied and loyal than those who simply click and buy, with the average phone order being much higher than online." In fact, 80% of all e-commerce is completed by phone!! In prior newsletters we have proposed how one can track their overall Internet advertising response as to how many calls one receives versus online orders. (See 4/12/02 - Tracking Your Internet Advertising - http://inter800.com/news800/archive/index.html) Actually, this is kind of a no-brainer. I attempt to do all of my transactions, from equipment and software purchases to airlines and hotel reservations, via the Internet. Invariably, something screws up and I have to call. What number do I call? 1-555-555-2222 or 1-800-222-2222? On the other hand, review this post: Yellow Pages Grow While Other Media Tumble By Ken Liebeskind Tuesday, June 25, 2002 "Okay, what is the only recession-proof medium? If you said yellow pages, you're right. Last year, when every other form of media saw huge dips in ad revenue, yellow pages revenues rose 5.39% to $14.4 billion, which is much lower than TV and newspaper which combine for $105 billion, but higher than magazine and Internet." Go figure. News alert: As I was about to send this to Chuck for compilation I received an article that is excellent on this subject. Please review -http://www.clickz.com/media/media_buy/article.php/1453811. This is not an unscrupulous attempt to sell ads, but just a point of view of what may work for you. Steve Jackson saj@inter800.com Vegas Vacation has the best rates on Las Vegas Hotel Rooms. Don't make a reservation without calling us first! Call 800-637-6442 or visit our ad in the Internet 800 Directory: http://inter800.com/02281174.htm *03 Netscape 7.0 If you are a Netscape user or just like to keep up with the latest software, it’s time to upgrade your Netscape browser. For a list of the new features visit: http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/7/features/browsing.jsp To upgrade visit: http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/default.jsp Tip of the Week Place a web graphic into a Word document. If you ever need to put a graphic from the web into a Word document, here is what you do. -Go to the web page with the graphic -Right click on the graphic, then select "copy" -Open the word document -Click “edit”, then “paste” If you have any tips or shortcuts that you think the readers of this Newsletter will find useful, send them to sjackson@inter800.com Banners? Pay-per-click? Why not target your market with links or information placed in relevant content? The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter offers direct access to business people who are interested buyers. Advertising: Information on how to sponsor this publication: Call 800-299-1879 Thanks for taking the time to review our newsletter for this week. 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