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August 31, 2005

Article Directory

I've installed an article directory script on this site. This will allow you to register for an account and submit articles.

I need a few volunteer testers to help me decide if it is a feature I should keep on this site. You can see it here.

I've already detected one minor bug...

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 03:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Newsletter Archives

For anyone interested in subscribing to my newsletter the archives have been made available to the public. Please have a look before you subscribe to make sure you want to receive the email newsletter. This is a double opt-in list. After you subscribe you will receive and email with a personal link to confirm your subscription. If you do not click the link in this confirmation email, your email address will not be added to the database and you will not receive the newsletter.

Each newsletter you receive will also have a link so you can unsubscribe anytime. If for some reason you have any problem, you may reply to the newsletter email address. I will receive your reply and be able to help you.

Please follow this guideline before calling me a spammer and making any false accusations. I don't hold your email address prisoner. If you want off the list, you will get removed. Both the subscribe and unsubscribe links generated from my mailing list software are long URLs. The often wrap in email clients and this makes them impossible to click. The whole URL can be copied and pasted into your browser window if your email client gives you this problem.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 26, 2005

Opensource Crossplatform Web Conferencing

WebHuddle is an open-source web conferencing and live presentation system. Robin Good says "this is a humble, hype-less system with the foundations to provide a good basic solution to all those organizations and institutions yet unable to afford a full-fledged, commercial solution."

It's new. It's in BETA; so I'm not sure all of the bugs have been worked out of the system yet. It is cross platform and can be used with any browser that supports Java running Linux, Windows, Unix, and Mac. You can find a demo onsite and if you don't want to install it, you can sign up for a free account on the website to give it a try. I didn't. I have Java disabled in my default browser...by choice.

One of the features I like about it, as explained by Robin, is:

Any WebHuddle meeting can be fully recorded, and all text chat exchanges, PowerPoint slides and instances of a screen sharing session are fully recorded along with the optional voice channel of the presenter. The recorded sessions can be played back through WebHuddle or distributed and hosted on other servers for people to see without needing to login into a WebHuddle session. The recorded session can be saved in a format that integrates its own dedicated player making it sufficiently portable.

If you give it a try and like it let me know. Maybe I will go back and try it with a Java enabled browser.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 25, 2005

Tutorials: CSS/Photoshop and XML Intro

There are two new tutorials at Sitepoint this week. They are fairly long, so make sure you have time to read them if you are interested.

The first one is "Get Cooking with Photoshop and CSS - 3 Low-fat Recipes" you can read here.

The second one, "A Really, Really, Really Good Introduction to XML" can be read here.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 05:53 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Get away from it all

Haven't you ever had time you wanted to get away from it all? In March/April 1978, www.motherearthnews.com published a story about a couple who bought McLeod's Island — a 90-acre island off the coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.

They have a few animals, spend very little on groceries, and are pretty well sustained by the island itself. Although it does present them with some challenges:

"The sea, you know, is not called "restless" for nothing. A glass-smooth bay (as we've learned so well!) can churn-sometimes seemingly in seconds-into a windswept chaos of currents and combers. We've also seen that same bay (the one in which our island is located) thaw and then completely refreeze in just hours on a single December day.

Winters up here can be especially variable. Continual spring-like thaws throughout 1976's cold season, for instance, kept our bay filled with slushy ice that was too thick to push a boat through ... but too dangerous for even a fox to walk on. We were marooned for three full months, from the first of January until the end of March. Last winter's record cold snap, on the other hand, filled the bay so solidly with pack ice that we could hike back and forth to the mainland for our mail and toboggan loads of supplies any time we wanted."

For some of us, we find the Internet gives us the freedom to be able to work and live almost any place we want to. These people didn't have that luxury. I use the past tense as I can't find any current information about them. Who knows? Maybe the tide swept the out to sea.

Life is full of sacrifices. Some are just more dear than others. Still, I don't think buying an island is in my future.

You can read the whole article here.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 24, 2005

Blog Popup windows

I can understand that people want to make a little money from publishing their blogs. Most blogs you see have Google Adsense inserted in a column along the side, and it isn't uncommon to see other products featured in the same or opposite column. What I do mind, is popup windows... especially the DHTML ones that cannot be blocked and are set on a delay so that they appear when you are trying to read the content.

While browsing my RSS feeds I found a story I wanted to read and clicked the link which loaded the blog in my browser. By the time I got to the second sentence, a DHTML popup floated down from the top (offering 3 free eBooks for signing up) and interrupted me from the article.

I felt this was an annoyance I could live without. Although I have a great deal of respect for the author of the blog, and his marketing knowledge, I removed the RSS feed from my reader. I would like to think this won't become a trend.

How do you feel about popup windows on blogs?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google Joins IM Fray

Reuters announced that Google will soon be offering an instant messaging system of their own with voice capability. They suggest this will give Skype more competition.

The article says:

Google Talk goes beyond text-based instant messaging using a computer keyboard to let users hold voice conversations with other computer users, the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

You can read the full article at eWeek.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 18, 2005

Email stats from Aweber

Barry Stein published a letter he received from Aweber about newsletter statistics. It includes information about open rates, formats, best delivery days.

If you're a publisher it is well worth a read.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 15, 2005

The Dot Com era is back!

In a recent post titled "Internet use threatens to overtake TV in Canada it discusses the threat of online marketing to traditional media sources in Canada. This isn't a a threat anymore in the US. It is a fact.

An article written by Thomas Mucha from Business 2.0 says:

People are spending more time online than watching TV, which gives marketers a better chance to reach consumers in a place where they are just one click away from making a purchase. "More than 75 percent of companies using the Internet to advertise report confidence in their return on investment," writes the study's lead author, Jupiter Research senior analyst Gary Stein. This confidence, Stein argues, will sustain spending momentum across all the key online ad areas: paid search, display ads, classified ads, and rich media.

Interesting to note that two studies are similar. Although The Ipsos Reid study of Canada claims radio is losing more interest than TV in Canada, it may soon lose to the Internet as well.

Mr. Mucha claims 40 percent of total spending by 2010 will be paid advertisements on Google, Yahoo and MSN to an estimate of $19 billion per year. Not much wonder why the search engines are trying to dominate each other and the marketplace. The one that becomes the most popular will also make the most money.

What will become of the little guy? Will it put an end to buying keywords for ad placement on search engines? Will the small business owner get shoved out of the picture? Maybe not altogether... but let's face it. If GM decides they want to use the keywords you are using, can you afford to compete? The search engines will be laughing "all the way to the bank" and the cost per clicks will just keeping going up... (he-he) similar to the price of gasoline at the pumps these days.

Even though the cost of clicks may get pricey, the major search engines will always have to index relevant websites and include these results and return them on any keyword search. Professional sites (versus linkfarm, affiliate, spam sites) will always be in favour, and the sooner business can get their company sites built, if they haven't already; the better. Google seems to be the top search engine right now, and new sites often get sandboxed. If they hold on to their dominant position, new websites want to make sure this doesn't happen to them.

I've always felt that there was something Google was doing that gave some sites more relevance than others in its index, but wasn't sure how it was applied. At the Search Engine Strategies conference last week in San Jose, California, Rand Fishkin learned that Google places some new Web sites, "regardless of their merit, or lack thereof, in a sort of probationary category" for six months to a year to "allow time to determine how users react to a new site, who links to it, etc."

On a final piece of advice he suggests:

"Several people have also predicted that Yahoo! or MSN may take up similar techniques to help stop spam. This phenomenon could seriously undermine new SEO/Ms and new campaigns, but it is a possibility. My recommendation is not to discount this possibility and launch projects or at least holding sites and their promotional efforts ASAP. The web environment right now is still relatively friendly to new sites, but will certainly become more competitive and unforgiving with time, no matter what search engine filters exist."

Although it is starting to sound a little like the "Dot Com era is back" it will be a little different this time around. In 2000 when it went bust, it is partly because the percentage of consumers purchasing online didn't justify the amount of spending. There was a lack of confidence. It is different now. Jupiter's study shows that "73 percent of Americans who use the Internet have made a purchase online and four out of five of these potential shoppers have responded to an online ad."

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 11, 2005

Getting the word out

I was listening to a podcast called The Age of Review Blogs by CBC's technology columnist Tod Maffin. He spoke about how reviewing business and services on blogs can really help spread the word.

Thought I would do a search of my own. In February of this year I wrote and article titled "Manitoba Telephone System (MTS) harbor spammers"

Then in April I followed this up with MTS Spammers -- goodbye!

I googled Manitoba Telephone System (without quotation marks) and my complaint about their service is right there on the first page of results for anyone to see.

That's good. If their users find they are being blocked from various websites around the web, maybe it will enough for MTS to reconsider and start enforcing their no spam policy.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

And I try, and I try, and I try...

The subject line "And I try, and I try, and I try..." is easily recognized form the song "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. And try, they did.

From CTV News:

About 1,000 lucky music fans in Toronto experienced a rare treat Wednesday night they likely won't soon forget -- a live show in a small club by living rock legends the Rolling Stones.

The $10 show, considered a warm-up gig for their upcoming world tour, was The World's Greatest Rock Band's thank you to Toronto for playing host to them for past month.

That was quite a deal, compared to the $450 price tag for a top-priced seat when the rockers play in Toronto next month as part of their world tour, which starts Aug. 21 in Boston.

If you read through the rock band's history as chronicled at en.wikipedia.org you see a 40+ years of hardship, drug abuse and tragic events have marred their success. But they kept trying... and have been called "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band."

Entrepreneurs world wide can identify with their struggle. Although most of us will never achieve the level of success that they have, we will also never have to endure the the agony they have put themselves through to get there. However, even modest levels of success seem to require a modest amount of sacrifice, and a ton of commitment.

Today? I'm just going to try a little.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 03:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 09, 2005

Internet use threatens to overtake TV in Canada

A survey from Ipsos Reid suggests that the Internet may soon overtake TV as the most popular medium. The survey says:

The recent Ipsos Reid study Online News and Information Seeking: What the Future Holds shows that the amount of time Internet-using Canadians are spending actively using the Internet is on the rise, averaging 12.7 hours per week (up 46% from 8.7 hours in 20022). This increase appears to have come at the expense of radio as the typical Internet-using adult spends 11 hours per week listening to the radio, down from 16 hours per week in 2002. While weekly Internet usage has surpassed radio listening, television retains the number one position among media sources with Internet-using Canadians averaging 14.3 hours of TV viewing per week. Still, the gap between Internet and TV usage is closing (a difference of 1.6 hours per week compared to 4.5 hours in 2002), with the Internet threatening to overtake television should these trends continue.

Catherine Rogers, senior research manager with Ipsos Reid's Media Practice, said, "In order to combat this growing threat, traditional media sources must continue to find innovative ways to use the Internet as a complement to their total offering."

This leaves us free to speculate about the how this trend will be directly proportional to the cost of online advertising. How will it affect the job market? What about employees who need to be re-trained to work within this medium?

It also makes one wonder about companies who spend their advertising budgets on more traditional methods, while excluding the Internet.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 01:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 05, 2005

Tougher times ahead for small US entrepreneurs

Drew Armstrong's article on BusinessWeek Online announces "The Bush Administration is eliminating funding for the SBA's MicroLoan Program — a move critics say will hurt urban entrepreneurs."

"Small businesses traditionally generate between 60% and 80% of net new jobs, and in 2000-01, the most recent data available, small businesses were responsible for all net new jobs in the U.S., according to the Small Business Administration."

They are still making loans available for more established businesses, but this doesn't help the solo entrepreneur. Those who are going to need some assistance getting started will need to explore their options.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:39 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Greasemonkey fix is released

In July 20th, 2005 my post Uninstall Greasemonkey, I mentioned these scripts could be exploited.

I read this morning in Brian Livingston's newsletter that a fix has been released.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 04, 2005

QuickTime and Podcasts

If I click to listen to a podcast using my default browser (Firefox) typically what happens is that the blog I'm viewing turns into a blank page except for the QuickTime plugin which loads and plays the mp3 file.

Although this is faster than waiting for Windows Media Payer or Real Player to load, there is a better way to do it without making the blank page appear with only the plugin displaying.

If you're just going to be speaking your podcast presentation it is possible to make the mp3 file size small enough so it appears to stream even for dial-up users using a 56K modem. The above file totals 57KB which is about the size of a small to medium sized webpage. But when you listen to the file it transfers at a rate of 16kps which should be small enough that there isn't any interruption even for slower connections. Unfortunately I don't have a dial-up connection so I can't test it to be sure. If you have a dial-up connection and care to post your comments, they would be most welcomed.

To create this small file size I recorded the file in .wav format using Windows Recorder, and then saved it in MPEG Layer-3 format with the selected attributes of 16kbs, 12,000 Hz Mono 2KB/s. Then once the file was saved, I right clicked on it and renamed the file extension to *.mp3

To get an idea of how to include the code in your blog or webpage, you can find a good tutorial here. Of course I can't guarantee this will work for all blog publishing software, but any that will accept html the way MovableType does, should work fine.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 03, 2005

RE: WebAlias.com

In a post on July 29th, 2005, I mentioned a service called WebAlias that I decided to use after ShortURL.com gave me the long run-around.

Anyone new to webpage building needs to understand that this service pulls your page into a frameset. If you were going to use this method to cloak an affiliate URL you would need to modify the order link to include "target=_blank" so that the ordering page opens in a new browser window.

Alternately you could use "target=_top" to open in the same browser window.

This is important if you are selling affiliate programs from Clickbank. You would want to make sure you have read and understand their HopLink FAQ. Frames are a "no-no" and could cost you your commission in some cases.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Lists and Buttons

Builder.com has published three articles by Michael Meadhra.

• Creating indented navigation lists
• Creating multicolumn lists
• Alternate approaches to styling a You Are Here button

If you search this blog, for lists, you can probably find other similar tips.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The case for RSS

Bill Flitter's article, While Web publishers slept, on C|Net says that:

Just about every major online news source uses RSS to deliver content to subscribers. RSS has been adopted by major publishers such as CNET, the BBC, Yahoo, Motley Fool, InfoWorld, The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Wired News, The Wall Street Journal and many others, including a rapidly growing number of local and regional newspapers.

In regards to MEDIA sources who are not using RSS he says, "If they don't watch out, their Web sites just might die along with the traditional viewership model."

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Guides and Resources for Small Business Owners

eBizBlog.ca announced a new resource for Canadians thinking about operating an Internet business from home. They say it is a joint effort by eBC and the e-Futures centers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, but some of the information provided on the website could be applicable to lots of entrepreneurs... and not necessarily just those in Western Canada.

It has 16 guides including:

Building an Effective Website (PDF, 218 KB) This guide provides valuable tips on how to build an effective website, how and who will use your website, how to select the right developer, top mistakes in website design, and more advanced web development issues.

Essential E-Business Partners (PDF, 226 KB)
A wide variety of ebusiness partners is required to create and implement a successful e-business strategy. Learn more about web hosts, Internet service providers, ASPs, web designers and developers, and how to select the right partners.

Internet Marketing (PDF, 254 KB)
Understand how to use web development, search engine optimization, online advertising, e-mail marketing, blogs, and affiliate program strategies to increase your website traffic.

Selling Online (B2C) (PDF, 204 KB)
Going from a web presence to selling online is usually not as simple as adding a picture of your product to a web page. This guide provides a common-sense approach to issues such as web development and design, electronic storefronts, payment processing, taxation and duties, shipping and order fulfillment for your B2C ecommerce website.

Return on Investment (PDF, 202 KB)
There are many ways to measure the return on an e-business project, and a ROI analysis should form part of your decision-making process. Often entrepreneurs measure ROI as the cash returned from a particular investment. In many cases, however, determining ROI is not so obvious. This guide will teach you more.

It also has a page of links to other resources of interest.

The Pan-Western Website loads fast, and is an incredible resource for newcomers.

The current four team members of Pan-Western each wrote four guides to total sixteen. Regardless of how well informed the members are, it is important to understand that some of the information provided is based on opinion.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 02, 2005

Sample templates

For those of you who are do-it-yourself web site builders, I posted a screen shot of some templates that buyers of my "First Business Website Toolkit" could use if the hosting accounts they sign up for have Fantastico installed.

These templates are not limited to toolkit owners. Anyone how has a Cpanel hosting account with Fantastico installed can get some mileage out of them.

The screenshots may not do them justice, so I've put up a page that links to the full templates.

You can see the samples here.

Many businesses that I work for prefer to have a custom designed web site, but these templates can be handy for those doing their own work. You can change some of the images, and layout a bit, and then, you don't have to worry about your site looking like someone else's.

For those of you who are looking for more templates and plan to put up a lot of web sites, you can find a lot more here. This URL was built using one of the templates.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 11:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack