JOHN SUMSER,
E D I T O R


S P O N S O R S


Find out more
About IBN


Articles

Archives

8 Corners of ECommerce


Register to receive
e-mail when
this page changes.

Email address


Hall Of Fame
8 Corners of ECommerce

Types of Links

Red Herring
H C I Readlist
Webstyle guide
The Pilot
Daily Webnews
I A Daily
Webcatcher
Professor Pete
Ad Tutorial
Advert World
TRADEWINDS
WebMaster Mag
HT Marcom
Dave-Net
A1 Index
Telecosm
Submit It

Suggestions?



The advertising
industry is on
the verge of
being shattered
into a thousand
fragments due to
the knowledge explosion
and the proliferation
of new technologies.
There are no
more grand theories
that hold sway
over the entire
industry.
Michael Strangelove


Advertising is
one of the minor
arts, so don't
be intimidated
by it. Try
not to lose
your sense of
playfulness.
Keep it fun.
Robert Bly



Reality
is more
complex
than
it seems.
John Gall



The System
is its own
best
explanation.
John Gall



It's better to
do a few things
really well than
than to do
a lot of things
badly.
If you can't
make the necessary
commitments of
time and energy
to your
electronic
marketing
efforts
scale back
your plan.
John Sumser


Suggestions?

All material on this
website is the
property of IBN
(The Internet Business Network)
You may download
a copy for personal
use. Redistribution
without permission
is strictly
prohibited.
All material on
this site is
© 1995. 1996. 1997 by IBN



OUR HOME

...


Click OK to receive our occasional Newsletter

September 18, 1997

Fulcrum

The news that Fulcrum Technologies Inc has licensed intelligent linguistic analysis technology from ERLI SA, a company based in Paris, France could bode well for the future of Search Engines.

Fulcrum "will use ERLI's technology to provide accurate concept searches based on a multi-level linguistic analysis that understands the intended meanings of search terms."

Phew!

This means that users will get results based on what they actually mean, rather than unrelated meanings of search terms. Organizations will also be able to create and refine a customized corporate lexicon, geared to their own knowledge base.

Great idea. It's the Holy Grail of searching the Web.

Somehow, we'll believe it when we see it.

For example, a real human bean of moderate intelligence, when confronted with the words "objective, experience, marketing", will figure out that we want to know about resumes which concern marketing.

Search engines don't. Well, not exclusively.

So, if Fulcrum has it right, we're looking at "intelligent" searching of the Web. This will allow us to quiz search engines in conceptual terms within a range of parameters.

For example, in our example above, a Fulcrum search will return only those documents which fall within the parameters of containing the specified terms AND which are resumes.

A major step forward.

The problem is that we don't, as yet, fully understand the process whereby people "intuit" meaning from a string of unrelated words. So the notion that a search algorithm can do as we do is, while intriguing, a bit of a stretch.

We'll watch Fulcrum with interest. --John Blower

September 17, 1997

Sigs

As the most widely-used Internet application, eMail has the potential to be your most powerful marketing and promotion tool.

By communicating regularly with your audience in this medium, you have the opportunity to develop and maintain intimate relationships, which, if fostered in the right way will lead to either business or referrals.

A key element in the correct use of eMail is the proper use of your signature file. This is the electronic equivalent of your organization's letterhead.

If you use http://www.eudora.com/EudoraPro, you have the ability to configure several signature files, each of which can be tailored for each segment of your audience.

As a minimum, an effective signature contains the following elements:

    Your name
    Your organization
    Contact information (phone and fax numbers)
    Your URL and eMail address
    A brief description of your products and/or services and the appropriate URLs

By including these pieces of information, you are making it easy for the recipient of your communication to discover more about you and to contact you. And by appending to each piece of mail which leaves your office, you are spreading that information on a consistent and regular basis.

Happy signing… --John Blower

September 16, 1997

Dot Not

The eMail was quite intriguing. The service being promoted appeared useful and relevant despite the inevitable hype.

Buried deep in the copy was a link to a site.

The trouble was it didn't work. "404 - The requested file was not found on the server".

The URL certainly looked OK. Except that, having appeared at the end of a sentence, it had attracted a stray period. Which had rendered the address invalid.

It's a mistake that's easy to make, particularly if you're using Eudora Pro, in which the link in your copy of outgoing mail isn't highlighted (unlike with Eudora Light).

Nonetheless, if you're going to put a URL at the end of a sentence, put in a space before the period.

And always test your links… --John Blower

September 15, 1997

Using eMail

When used together with conventional PR (mail, paper, phone and fax), eMail can be a most effective tool for getting coverage of your site in conventional media.

The problem very often is obtaining the eMail addresses of journalists and correspondents.

The US All Media E-Mail Directory is a comprehensive listing of over 7,000 media e-mail listings for magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and syndicates nation-wide.

The directory costs $49 for either a hard copy or an electronic copy in MS Word format. An ASCII database is $79. Both versions include six monthly updates.

The site - although rather ugly in our humble opinions - contains some useful hints for writing eMAil press releases called "The Ten Commandments for Sending E-Mail to the Media".

At the site, you can also subscribe to "Internet & E-Mail PR News".

The US All Media Jumpstation contains links to over 3000 magazines, professional journals, trade & consumer publications organized by category.

This is a comprehensive, well-organized site which is well worth checking out. --John Blower


Take a look at the Archives. We've indexed all the past issues with topic pointers.



Check out the Archives....130 Weeks of Back issues including:

September 14, 1997
  • Getting The Word Out
  • Want an Award?
  • Linking
  • Domain Name Conundrum
  • Find and Be Found
September 07, 1997
  • Wrinklies Online
  • Search Engine Blues
  • Sex Sells
  • Standards Guide
  • 7 Laws of Online Ads
August 31, 1997
  • Press Releases
  • Design Criteria
  • Online Seminars
  • Internet Myths
  • Narrowcast
August 24, 1997
  • 7 Cs of Successful Websites
  • Whisper It Not Aloud
  • Relationships
  • Real Call
  • More Email
August 17, 1997
  • PIU
  • Another Search Engine
  • SOHO
  • Dancing with the Gorilla
  • Deep Throat
August 10, 1997
  • Internet USA
  • Nation of Spammers
  • Lifetime Values
  • ENode
  • Tovarich
August 03, 1997
  • Too Good To Be True
  • Who's Pushing Whom
  • A Recent Poll
  • Sidebars
Complete Indexed Archives(32 months of marketing and design) Complete Indexed Archives(32 months of marketing and design)

Contacting Us
Call, fax, write, email. We'd love to talk about your project.

All material on this site is © 1995, 1996 by IBN (The Internet Business Network), Mill Valley, CA 94941