Techno & Gadget Zone at BryoZone

As we mentioned earlier, publishing an e-mail newsletter involves a commitment to the project. Distributing a great first edition and then not following up with regular publications will just about totally defeat your purpose. And, speaking of purpose, define it at the outset. To be successful, a newsletter needs to meet its audience’s expectations. (continue reading…)

If all this interests you and you are on the verge of opening your word-processing program to compose number 1 of volume 1, hang on a minute. As with all business projects, you need to do some planning first. Here are some questions to ask and answer before you get started:

· Who is your target audience?

· What is the specific topic of your newsletter? (continue reading…)

Some marketing experts think an e-mail newsletter is a great marketing tool, most of us are opting out of databases that mean telemarketing calls at the most inappropriate hour of the day and tons of junk e-mail. An e-mail newsletter epitomizes the concept of permission marketing.

Everyone who subscribes to your newsletter has done so on purpose and expects to read about your ideas, products, and services. In addition, e-mail newsletters are a great way to create brand awareness for your company, product, or service. (continue reading…)

One way to find out is to subscribe to some business newsletters for a while, see what they are like, and see how they work. At many commercial Web sites, you’ll see a box to check to indicate that you’d like to receive the company’s newsletter. You’ll also find a list of business newsletters at http://www.topica.com. On the home page, click the More Newsletters link, and then on the next page, click the Business link to see a list. (continue reading…)

The two Web store options described in this chapter are easy to implement. But as we’ve noted several times, you can become considerably more sophisticated in the way you set up a Web store by tying it to an inventory database that provides stock availability information and by setting up a shopping cart system so customers can easily purchase multiple items. (continue reading…)

Processing an Order Form

Mechanically, an e-mail-based system would simply require someone to perform the duties of a shipping clerk. These duties would include the following:

1. Checking the e-mail Inbox or the Web server order file for orders.

2. Printing e-mail order messages or the contents of an order file to use as pick lists. (continue reading…)

9. Add the order form to the Web site.

Save the Web page to your Web server (click the File menu and click Save), and then add hyperlinks to your existing Web pages so that customers can reach the order form.

Filling out the Order Form

When a customer decides to order an item, he or she clicks the order form hyperlink that leads to the Web order form page. To order an item, (continue reading…)