Daddy Always Said There’d Be Days Like This!

My Father always told me to learn a little about a lot of things, not a lot about one thing. Even today this still stands true. I know a little about quite a variety of things and I am still learning.

The Internet is no different. A person can learn an enormous amount of information, not to mention a few hard knocks along the way. But as long as we learn from our mistakes even those hard knocks aren’t so bad. (unless of course, there is large sums of money involved!). The Internet opens a huge door of opportunity for the average Joe and unfortunately through the same door enters thousands of Scam Artists.

There is an endless amount of Advertising opportunities out in Cyberspace. There are pros and cons to any means of advertising. As one glides through endless Classified Ad sites, Ezines, FFA Pages and Message boards it can be hopelessly confusing.

I wrote this article because I have always enjoyed helping people. I have experiences to share, both good and not so good, on my road through Cyberspace. I’m glad you are along for the ride. So grab a cup of coffee, kick back and enjoy!

FFA Pages:
Posting your URL to FFA (Free For All) Pages can be an effective tool for getting the word out about your Website. Post your URL as often as the Site allows. If the pages’ owner allows 4 posts daily, then post 4 times daily. I decided to get “my feet wet”, so I host 2 FFA Pages.

http://www.autolinkpro.com/index.cgi?88710

Is one of my Pages. At this page you can post 5 times per day.
My other page can be found at:

http://pages.ffanet.com/links/uptoyou.htm

This page just tells you that since it is a high traffic (hmmm…seems like they all say that) site that “you may want to check back after a couple of days to re-post”. Some FFA Pages assign a Personal Identification Number (PIN#) for posting purposes and others require verification of your email address. Make sure you follow all guidelines. I suppose to “post” or “not to post” to FFA Pages is really personal choice. It’s totally up to you.

If you so choose to utilize FFA Pages open a “throw away” email account like

http://www.Hotmail.com or http://www.Yahoo.com

Click on “Options” after you sign up. Filters can be set up to automatically delete the confirmation emails. Tip: Here’s a trick I learned about setting up your filters. (Hotmail) In Options, click on Custom Filters. Put a checkmark next to “Enabled”. Then drop down the menu on “If”. From left to right choose “From Name” then, “does not contain”. In the empty box put “your own name”. Then deliver to “Trash Can”. So from left to right, you will have: If “From Name” “ does not contain” “Lisa Reddell”, then deliver to “Trash can”. Chances are you won’t be emailing yourself! The next row just put “If” “subject” “does not contain” “xyz” Then deliver to “trash can”. The second row is, well, I guess a backup for the first. Yahoo! is pretty much the same. You may not be able to filter out all, but this is a good start. You can receive hundreds and in some cases thousands of confirmation emails from your posting. So, don’t ever use your personal Email address for FFA postings. (Yes, I learned this one the hard way-one of the not-so-goods!)


Hosting FFA Pages:
You also may wish to set up your own FFA Page. Many FFA Pages offer free Autoresponders, which is how you send out the confirmation Emails. (I will cover Autoresponders very shortly). The great part of sending out a confirmation email is you can put anything in the message you want. For example, on my Confirmation email, I have URL’s for my Classified Ads Site, a second FFA Page I own, an Ebook I sell, an Autoresponder I utilize, well, you get the idea.

AutoResponders:
Autoresponders are technically fancy Email addresses. Autoresponders allow you to send out one message or a series of messages that’s all automated. It’s pretty cool actually. For example, say you sell an ebook. You advertise your ebook and in your ad you put your Autoresponder Email address. So when someone emails you at that address, they will be put on your Autoresponder Mailing List. You have a “series” of several messages set up in the Autoresponder that will be sent out at intervals that you determine. The Autoresponder that I utilize is GetResponse which can be found at

http://www.getresponse.com/index/41860

Oh and they offer a Free Service and a Pro-version as well. Enough said.

There is much more that I have learned and I look forward to sharing it with you. I tend to get long winded on occasion. Looks like this is one of those occasions! Well, that’s it for this round. See you next time!

Lisa A. Reddell © 2002

About the author.

Lisa A. Reddell is a Free-Lance writer
and a domestic engineer. She started her
first Internet business 16 months ago.
Visit Lisa’s website at : tinyurl.com/1p9l OR

:To contact Lisa online see details below.


msmom663@hotmail.com
http://www.tinyurl.com