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The
Proper Mixture Creates Success Send this report to me by auto-responder Are you using the right mixture for online success? I am not asking about your meta tags, or keyword density, or color scheme. I am not really focusing on your web page or the visible appearance it presents to the world when the world visits. I am asking whether you are using a good mix of other resources. Are you doing this "web thing" all by yourself? Are you webmaster, the web design team, the promotion expert, the link trader, the resource finder, and the bottle-washer? Why? If this is you, may I suggest that life will get a bit easier if you are willing to get more help from others in some of these areas? I am not telling you that you must go out and hire all this out. There are many people wanting to get hired to help you, if you have the cash. If you are having problems in one area, and you know you don't have the expertise to perform some task, depending on what your time is worth, an expert's help would be great and might be less expensive than reaching your goal through trial and error. If your budget is zero, you can't do that anyway. So what can you do. Spend your time in more productive ways. Mix in different elements beyond your own efforts to increase success. A good start towards a productive mixture is the proper use of message boards. Find message boards that relate to your problem area. Look at the information that is posted there. Once you get a feel for the style of the board, you can leave your questions there, and magic happens. Someone else (usually) will come and answer your question. While you are there, if you see something being asked that you feel you understand, answer someone's question. Message board visits should be a regular part of your online life. When you ask questions, you are increasing your education. When you answer questions, you are increasing your traffic and prominence online, assuming you do not post blatantly commercial answers. To succeed, mix in some message board time. True, there is promotional value to visiting web boards, but don't overlook their educational value. Another ingredient is time online with search engines. As the Internet expands, and webmasters understand that no one can be all things to all people, more and more sites are being created that focus on one area. A little time following the links to proper search results could yield good information. Need CGI help? There are online tutorials. Want to move beyond text on the banners you are creating? You can find great information on how to make your favorite paint program produce eye-popping results. Don't know how to insert that cool Java applet you saw somewhere? Find a webpage whose purpose is to explain the process of inserting Java, step by step. The Internet really is an amazing, vibrant, exploding source of information. Mix in some search engine time, and your own efforts will be more productive. You may not need to learn everything, if someone else will show you what you need to know. A third ingredient, that I find indispensable, is information from newsletters and discussion lists. I literally subscribe to at least 50 that I read on a regular basis. I change subscriptions, depending on what I am focusing my efforts on. But, I consider the newsletters and lists I read one of the best investments of my time. The collective scramble of so many publishers, finding, presenting, and creating content each issue creates a massive educational force that can directly benefit the newsletter reader. That is why I read them, and why I would suggest you read them too. A sometimes less useful element in this mixture is time spent in newsgroups. In the beginning, the newsgroups were a primary driving force in the spread of the popularity of the Internet. I am not as impressed with the quality of the information I find there now. Many seem too commercialized for me. However, there are some hardcore newsgroups with a focus on a particular software product, for example, that are really the only reliable place to find answers. The final ingredient that you should have in your mixture requires that you actually turn off your computer. (Notice how I saved this ingredient for last?) Believe it or not, there is still quite a bit of important information being printed in books. Whether you go to the library and read it for free, or visit your favorite bookstore, you really can learn a lot from books. Not enjoying all the success you think you should be? Take a moment to evaluate where you are spending your time. Adjust your mixture to include more of these resources, and you will be back on the right track before you know it. Copyright © 1998 Stealth Promotions Chris Kilian operates Stealth
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