Petey's
Pipeline E-zine
Issue #8
September 25, 2003
Contents
Business
First Editorial
Center Stage with
Tom LeBlanc: A1eBiz
Guest Writer, Not Ghostwriter
dr. jl scott on con jobs
Random Ramblings and Miscellaneous Musings
Readers Respond
Write Thinking Conversational
Writing
Preview of coming distractions Seers
see and fortunetellers tell
Business
First (Editorial)
In
the interests of getting this issue out on time, I'm going to
forego a lengthy editorial (thus sparing you a little boredom
and much enlightenment—or is it the other way around?).
Don't
miss jl scott's "con job" article in Guest Writer,
not Ghostwriter! and, for Petey's sake, be sure
to read the brief article in Write Thinking, too. I'll be back
in two weeks. See you then. —Phil
Center
Stage with Tom LeBlanc
Our
ongoing mission is to find, test and evaluate free and low cost
products and services that are aimed at helping Internet entrepreneurs
('Netrepreneurs) build and grow successful on-line businesses.
At
some point, nearly all on-line businesses find themselves in
need of a good autoresponder. Don (a.k.a. "Doc") Phelps,
of A1eBiz,
provides such an autoresponder service for free.
Try
Doc's free service for awhile, then upgrade to his low-cost
paid service when you're ready. The upgrade gives you additional
benefits and removes the advertising from your autoresponder
messages.
Doc
promises one-on-one help, if you need it, and he delivers on
that promise; technical help is but a toll-free telephone call
away. With Doc's expert guidance, setup is quick and easy. Best
of all, the A1eBiz autoresponder service has proven itself to
be reliable.
If
you need autoresponder service now, or soon will, why not sign
up for free autoresponder service from A1eBiz?
Be sure to tell Doc that the people at Perfect Text sent you.
Tom
LeBlanc is a licensed physical therapist, published author,
home entrepreneur and 'Netrepreneur. His Web sites include Home-Entrepreneurs.com
and Transition-Home.com.
Guest
Writer, Not Ghostwriter
Dr.
jl scott, ph.d., is one of the brighter lights on the Internet
business horizon. She owns Transitions Publishing Company, publishes
JUST
GOOD BUSINESS E-zine and is the founder and director of
the International Council of Online Professionals
(i-Cop).
A staunch proponent of ethical business practices on the Web,
she writes extensively on the subjects of ethics and integrity.
This is her first appearance in Petey's Pipeline E-zine. We
hope it won't be her last.
Special
Offer Con Jobs
by jl scott, ph.d.
In
the USA, we have laws regarding "truth in advertising."
For instance, it is against the law to advertise a "Going
Out of Business" sale unless the company is actually going
to close.
This
is, of course, to protect the consumer. However, it is also
an issue of honesty—not lying to the public in an effort
to make them think they are getting a "special" price.
Funny!
This is done on the Internet routinely, and even casually. Of
course, all Web site owners aren't in the USA, but that isn't
the point. It's a matter of integrity.
Here's
the one that bothers me the most:
You're
reading a sales letter on-line and you come to the paragraph
that finally tells you the price of the product or service.
You may read, "This special offer is ONLY good until November
1, 2000."
Now,
I can guarantee you that 99% of the time, you can go back to
that site on November 2, 2000 and find the same "special
offer" with a NEW date in the future. You can go back in
a year and still find it.
Of
course, some site owners are slicker than others. Instead of
the blatant lie above, you may read, "Order before November
1, 2000 and you will receive the special price of..."
See
the difference? Is one more honest than the other? Technically,
yes. In reality, no. The lie is still implied unless, of course,
the offer is going to be changed after the designated date.
Now,
I understand that we need to create urgency on the part of a
potential customer, but do we have to lie to do it?
The
crazy thing about this is that we already know that the buyer
has to see something several times before turning loose of that
money. What I can't understand is why anyone who sees that time-dated
offer several times—with different dates—will still
consider doing business with the business owner that is using
this tactic. Dishonesty in one area usually means dishonesty
in others. Want to take that chance?
In
defense of new on-line business owners, I have to recognize
that sometimes this is done out of inexperience. I'll admit
that I used that same tactic when I first started doing business
on-line. I listened to the "gurus" and bought right
into it without even thinking.
It
wasn't long, though, before I realized that it was an outright
con. I was showing absolutely no respect for my potential customer.
The only goal was to manipulate them into thinking they were
getting a special deal if they hurried and ordered NOW.
I
stopped doing it. And, I stopped listening to the gurus.
If
you must create urgency using a targeted date, fine. Just don't
lie to your visitors. When you change the date, change the offer.
Add something. Take something away. Change the price, change
the bonus package, but for Heaven's sake, stay in integrity
as an honest businessperson. If you don't, sooner or later they
will catch on and your reputation is right down the tubes with
the rest of the on-line con jobs.
Let's
do something different. Start changing those offers. Be the
on-line company people can trust. Wow! A whole new breed of
truly ethical on-line businesses. What a concept.
Copyright
© 2000 by jl scott, ph.d.
All Rights Reserved. Used by
permission.
This
article may be reprinted with permission by including the following
resource box:
===============================================================
dr. jl scott is the Founder of the International
Council of Online Professionals (iCop™) http://www.i-cop.org
and also the publisher of JUST GOOD BUSINESS—the e-zine
that keeps you up to date on the newest and BEST marketing,
promotion and programs on the Web. Visit
Here for your FREE subscription.
===============================================================
Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
Readers
Respond
Ginger
Geracitano's article "Web Stats Reveal Web Master Responsibility"
sparked this reply:
Ginger,
I think the increased (and large) number of hits on your site
by students is a definite plus for everyone concerned. So, are
you helping? The answer is a resounding yes! The accession of
your site by a large number of students says that you are providing
information/data that they need, want, or are interested in.
This is a form of compliment and the more students who access
your site (and the longer they do) the more of a compliment
it is, unless everyone is using your info as a negative example—which
I don't believe they are.
On
the flip side, are the students being helped? I believe, definitely
so! I don't think it matters how students acquire their information,
whether it's by a time consuming search through the library
perusing and/or scanning books, journals, magazines, etc., or
a time saving search of the Internet.
If
students are going to use information as support material or
background facts, they have to read it after they acquire it
(in which case they will learn something). Then, they have to
blend it, marry it and adapt it to their own, and other, material
to form a finished product—a product in which they give
credit to all their sources. This is academic procedure.
As
long as sources are cited and credited, it's not plagiarism.
If students are going to plagiarize, they will do it regardless
of whether the source is a textbook or the Internet. It's up
to the teacher to emphasize the importance of citing sources
and to recognize students' individual writing styles.
Accessing
and acquiring information via the Net can be very educational;
therefore, your contribution to the educational process is much
appreciated by students and teachers alike. Please, keep up
the good work.
Tom
Hanson
Tom
Hanson is an English instructor (ESL) at Tokai University, and
at Chiba University of Commerce, located respectively in Kanagawa
Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
If
you have ideas, opinions or commentary of your own regarding
subjects or responses appearing in Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous
Musings, why not share them with Petey's Pipeline readers?
Submit
your thoughtful, thought-provoking comments to editor@perfecttext.com.
Write
Thinking
Conversational
Writing
by Phil Hanson
The
trick to writing content for your Web pages, newsletters and
e-zines is to use a conversational writing style. This is not
to say you should write exactly like you talk, however, as few
things can destroy your credibility faster.
Somewhere
along the line a competent, qualified and well-meaning writer
wrote an article (perhaps, much like this one) extolling the
virtues of conversational writing. Somewhere along that same
line a Web parrot read (part of) the article, misconstrued the
message, then passed the misinformation along to other Web parrots,
who did the same thing.
Using
a conversational writing style does not mean you should
write like you talk; it means you should give your readers the
impression that you write like you talk—two very different
things, entirely.
A
conversational writing style consists of short paragraphs, short
to medium length sentences, simple words (if they convey your
intended meaning better than their complex counterparts) and
a chatty manner in which you use contractions frequently, but
not excessively.
Conversational
writing is superior to conversation in at least one respect—it
gives you the advantage of being able to go back and clean up
your mistakes. Unfortunately, it's an advantage far too many
Web writers seem to ignore.
Copyright
© 2003 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Preview
of Coming Distractions
In
issue #9, we'll conclude our five-part series on Web business
shakeouts, and our editor, who should be back up to speed, soon,
promises to have a real editorial ready for the next issue.
Guest Writer, not Ghostwriter! brings you another timely,
relevant article and, of course, we'll have some more great
writing tips for you, too. See you on October 9th.
Disclaimer
The
articles appearing in Petey's Pipeline E-zine are based on information
believed to be true at the time of publication.
Neither Perfecttext.com, Petey's Pipeline E-zine nor their publisher
assume any liability or responsibility as to the accuracy or
efficacy of any information, products or services that are submitted,
advertised or rendered by contributors to Petey's Pipeline E-zine.
While we make every effort to screen out scam artists and bogus
offers, you should still do your homework. Caveat emptor!
