The Return of Graphics in XP Service Pack 2

IN THIS ISSUE
1.  Brainy Tidbits Changing List Managers
2. XP Service Pack 2 Strips Out Images/Graphics
3 .  Quote of the Week
4 .  Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers
5 .  A Little Fun
6.  Smell the Coffee
7. How to Subscribe

This ezine is for anyone who wants to attract more customers, close more sales, earn more revenue, boost their bottom line, and drive their competitors crazy.

Don't forget to tell all your friends and business associates about this informative newsletter! You don't want to be the only smart one in your group, do you?

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1. Brainy Tidbits Changing List Managers

You may have already received notice about this earlier today, with a request to re-subscribe to Brainy Tidbits. I have decided to change mailing list managers, bringing everything into my shopping cart instead of having the list managed by another source.

Managing subscriptions can be one of the most time-consuming parts of producing an ezine. There are complicated rules governing sending out emails to large groups of people, and stiff penalties for not complying.

I've found that some people were not receiving my emails and I was never aware of it when it happened. Occasionally someone would email me and say, "Hey, what's going on? I'm not getting Brainy Tidbits." And then I'd have to try to figure out why. My email list management service did not provide a report, telling me which addresses bounced, whether they were "hard" or "soft" bounces, or any other details. Bounced emails were returned to me and I had to fix them individually. The system was not set up for solving this problem automatically.

If you produce an email newsletter, you know that AOL subscribers always present a problem for publishers. So do "challenge response" subscribers. These are people who forget to whitelist their subscriptions, and a message is sent back to the sender requesting that the sender click on a link to be allowed to communicate with the subscriber. I routinely do this since I am in the process of building my list. But many publishers simply delete the subscribers, considering them a nuisance because the problem could be solved if the subscriber simply adds the publisher to their list of approved senders at the time they subscribe.

I'd appreciate it if you would please add my two email addresses to your list of approved senders if you haven't done so already. My addresses are:

editor (at) marketingideashop.com and
lcf (at) marketingideashop.com [replace (at) with @]

I'm sure when this re-subscription process is completed, I will have far fewer subscribers on my ezine list. But I know that the ones who don't confirm are likely to be bad addresses anyway. So I won' cry too hard.

Let me tell you a little more about the robust nature of my shopping cart, which is called KickStart Cart. It's a privately branded version of 1ShoppingCart or Marketer’s Choice and it offers excellent customer service. The system was designed for email publishers like me. It offers unlimited autoresponders, up to 10,000 clients, newsletter subscription management and delivery, multiple mailing lists, the ability to "upsell" (do you want fries with that?), affiliate programs and tracking, unlimited f*ree tech support and much more...all for $79 a month. There's no fee to deliver your newsletters, either.

If you need a shopping cart for your website, I suggest you check out KickStart Cart. You can subscribe for FREE on a one-month trial, too! To learn more about this shopping cart and all it does, pick up a FREE copy of Tom Antion's "How to Pick a Shopping Cart System That Makes You Money" and take advantage of the F*REE one-month trial of the product. Download the ebook here right now and you can be reading it in just minutes. It will give you all the details for the FREE trial, too.

Here's the link for the ebook (click).

Since the product is free, you do not have to bother with filling in your credit card information, but your contact information is required.

I'd love to hear if you find this ebook helpful. Please email me and let me know!

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SUBSCRIBE TO SUCCESS SECRETS EZINE

If you want the inside secrets of how women just like you
propelled their businesses to levels they never dreamed
possible, sign up for my new "Success Secrets of Women
Business Owners" ezine, which started a few weeks ago. Each
issue profiles one successful woman business owner and
includes her top five (or more) tips for creating a
successful business.

When you sign up for "Success Secrets of Women Business
Owners Ezine," I'll give you a free special report, "Build
Website Traffic by Writing Articles: Top 10 Sites to Publish
Your Articles" ($9 Value)! Subscribe here.

Read the first three profiles here.

Future issues will be published the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
I'm running a little slow on the next one, but watch for a new issue soon.

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2. XP Service Pack 2 Strips Out Images/Graphics

If you're like me, you get a lot of email newsletters and communications that include graphics. I don't send my newsletter out in a graphic (HTML) format because I know what a pain it is to wait for everything to download when you're on dial-up. Many subscribers have told me they appreciate this. And you can always go to my website to see the newsletter in a prettier format, anyway!

But I've found that more and more publishers have abandoned the text-only format for the more eye-appealing HTML format. So I receive lots of email newsletters this way.

Publishers are screaming about the default settings on the "new" Service Pack 2 for XP. That's because the program is automatically set to strip out the pretty graphics and prevent publishers from tracking open rates in Outlook Express (the email system I use).

But as a publisher and a marketer, I really don't mind if the publisher of a newsletter knows I opened their ezine. In fact, I'm happy to help out by allowing them to see if I opened it. And I hate getting emails with the graphics stripped out. I suspect you do, too.

Here's how you can fix it so your computer leaves the graphics in place (courtesy of Christopher Knight ):

• Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Outlook Express.
• On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Security tab.
• Click to clear the Block images and other external content in HTML e-mail check box.
• Click Apply, and then click OK.

I did it in about 5 minutes. I'm sure you can, too.

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3. Quote of the Week

"Having the right tools can make a huge difference in how
accurately and efficiently you can do your job."

Lois Carter Fay


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AND NOW, A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS...


What's your definition of success?
Email your comments to me.


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4. Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers

• Businesswomen's Conference
  
  The fifth annual businesswomen's conference by Office Depot is scheduled for
  February 27-March 1 at the The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Fl.
  Early bird registration is $499 before Jan. 2. After that, it's $554. Learn more
  and click here to register.
  
• Correction! Hate Cold Calling?

  Last week I told you about a free sales training program, but I got the details wrong. Here's what
  Wendy had to say about my announcement, "Thank you so much for plugging my free teleclass!
  Unfortunately, it is not every Tues. It was last night (Nov. 30), and we'll be doing another on
  Tues., Jan.4th."
  
  Click here to learn more.
  

• MarketingAngel Seeking Maine Businesses to Profile
  
  Kimberly McCall, AKA "The Marketing Angel," writes a bimonthly "Marketing Angel" column
  for Mainebiz, Maine's only statewide business paper. In each column, she profiles one person
  on trends in marketing, PR, advertising, design, etc. for a small-business audience. Here's where
  you come in: She needs your suggestions for MAINE businesses to profile. She's also interested
  in hearing from authors who've penned marketing-related books. Email Kimberly your simple,
  non-jargony pitch to her.
  

• Zabang Logo Winners Chosen

  If you're curious about who won the Zabang! logo contest and what the logo looks like, you can
  see it online. There was one first-place winner, 3 second-place winners, and 5 third-place winners.
  It was certainly worth it to these folks! Look how much they won:

  **$10,000.00 in advertising to the top place
  **$1,000.00 in advertising to the 3 second places, and
  **$500.00 in advertising to the next 5 places.

  Click here to see the top nine selections.

• FREE Sales Course
  Subscribe to Marketing Idea Shop's 3-Day Sales Course ...totally FREE.
  You'll get one email each day for 3 days in a row. It's quick, full of great
  ideas to help you become a better salesperson, and takes just 5 minutes to read.
  Click here.
  
  
• Do you need a venture capital?
  Need to grow? Not enough capital? No angels in your family? Find them with this
  400-page downloadable ebook, where you'll have ALL THE CONTACT INFORMATION
  for 200 venture capital firms and investors who recently invested in companies that are
  women-owned or women-led. You'll also have access to all contact information for the 671
  women-led companies that received funding. This is a wonderful tool for you.
  Click Here to: Read more about it or buy it here and begin your financial investment ride.
  
  
• WE'RE LOOKING FOR PARTNERS
  You can also improve your ranking by cross-linking with Marketing Idea Shop and
  WomenMarketing.com. At Marketing Idea Shop, we have a Google page rank of 4/10, which
  is pretty good. Let me drive MY customers to YOUR SITE and improve your search engine
  ranking. Please send your request for cross-linking via email (click here)

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5. A Little Fun

Thanks to Web Marketing Ezine for this one:

Since I'm almost 53, here's one I can identify with!Not long ago, Mattel's famous and much-loved doll, Barbie, turned 40. Creative Marketers have been working on the new possibilities...

1. Bifocals Barbie. Comes with her own set of blended-lens fashion frames in six wild colors (half-frames too!), neck chain and large-print editions of Vogue and Martha Stewart Living.

2. My-Own-Private-Summer Barbie. Press Barbie's bellybutton and watch her face turn beet red while tiny drops of perspiration appear on her forehead! With hand-held fan and tiny tissues.

3. Facial-Hair Barbie. As Barbie's hormone levels shift, see her whiskers grow! Available with teensy tweezers and magnifying mirror.

4. Swinging Arms Barbie. Hide Barbie's droopy triceps with these new, roomier-sleeved gowns.
Good news on the tummy front, too: muu-muus are back! Cellulite cream and loofah sponge optional.

5. Bunion Barbie. Years of disco dancing in stiletto heels have definitely taken their toll on Barbie's dainty arched feet. Soothe her sores with this pumice stone and plasters, then slip on soft terry mules. Colors: pink, rose, blush.

6. No-More-Wrinkles Barbie. Erase those pesky crow's-feet and lip lines with a tube of Skin
Sparkle-Spackle, from Barbie's own line of exclusive age-blasting cosmetics.

7. Soccer-Mom Barbie. All that experience as a cheerleader is really paying off as Barbie dusts off her old high school megaphone to root for Babs and Ken Jr. With minivan in robin's egg blue or white, and cooler filled with doughnut holes and fruit punch.

8. Midlife-Crisis Barbie. It's time to ditch Ken. Barbie needs a change, and Bruce (her personal trainer) is just what the doctor ordered, along with Prozac. They're hopping in her new red Miata and heading for the Napa Valley to open a B&B. Comes with real tape of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do."

9. Single-Mother Barbie. There's not much time for primping anymore! Ken's shacked up with the Swedish au pair in the Dream House and Barbie's across town with Babs and Ken Jr. in a fourth-floor walk-up . Barbie's selling off her old gowns and accessories to raise rent money. Complete garage sale kit included.

10. Recovery Barbie. Too many parties have finally caught up with the ultimate party girl. Now she does 12 steps instead of dance steps! Clean and sober, she's going to meetings religiously. Comes with little copy of The Big Book and six-pack of Diet Coke.

Who knows when Barbie will have outlived her usefulness? From Dream House to Nursing Home (both new-and-improved, wheelchair-accessible and retrofitted to conform to ADA code requirements), the possibilities (not to mention the accessories) are endless!

Help keep the smiles coming ... please send me your marketing, PR or sales
jokes. I'll be happy to give you credit and list your website! Email me.

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6 . Smell the Coffee...

I've been wearing Christmas socks since Halloween. I do this every year to get me in the mood for the holidays. I love Christmas. It's so much fun to give presents to everyone I care about. This year, my daughter, Erin, and her friend, Natalie, will be here for a week immediately following Christmas. It will be fun but hectic. Erin has two dogs and she brings them with her. Since we have a dog, a cat and a bunny, it can sometimes be rather chaotic.

Let's hope it gets colder by then so everyone can enjoy snow on the mountain. There's lots to do when it snows--snow boarding, skiing, tubing and sitting in front of a roaring fire.My business has kept me very busy over the past few months. Our Success Secrets forum is up and going as a f*ree forum right now while we work out the bugs in the payment process. I've also signed up two really nice, new clients that are keeping me hopping on the consulting side. (It's a good thing I don't sleep much.)

So, I've barely started my holiday shopping, and Christmas cards are probably going to go by the wayside this year. I think I have purchased two presents. Guess I'd better get busy. How are you doing? Here's a little holiday cheer to get you in the mood:

Snow Globe

Peace & Light,
Lois

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Published by:
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Marketing Guru, Marketing Idea Shop, LLC
411 Rainier Road, Massanutten, VA USA 22840
Voice 540.289.3840 or 800.203.8660

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© 2004 Marketing Idea Shop. All rights reserved.

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Please tell your friends and associates about this newsletter. It is written for anyone
who wants to attract more customers, close more sales, earn more revenue, boost
their bottom line, and drive their competitors crazy.

We value your privacy and keep your email address and other information private.

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