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Sausage Sizzler - Webmaster Community Newsletter |
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G'Day Sizzlers!
Well it looks like this time next week we are going to have some big launches.
If you are having trouble with your current web host or just want the same great service you are use to at Sausage, you will be please to see Sausage Hosting launched in the next few days. Just keep an eye on http://www.sausagehosting.com. It is Damian Marken, who most of you will remember as our old Customer Support Manager, that is taking the reigns for this new service. In the last few days we have been setting up systems and trying the new hosting server out with my own personal site, NetBloke.com. So far so good!
The second thing is an offer on an incredible piece of boxed software called Carrara Studio 1.1 from Eovia. I have given you a glimpse at it this week in SuperToolz, and next week you will have the ability to buy a boxed version at a extremely low and unbeatable price!
Finally last week I said I was going to change this section to being a general Sausage Staff Blog. Although I will still do that in the coming weeks, I received a lot of positive comments about the style of my editorial. So I will continue to write it, and make it as relevant to Sausage and your Webmaster needs as I can.
Keep on sizzling!
Nathan Allan
Sausage Sizzler Editor
editor@sausage.com
Carrara Studio 1.1 WINDOWS/MAC FROM $149.95
Have you ever wanted some nice affordable 3D modeling software? Most decent packages out there cost a small fortune. However this review is a prelude to an offer we will have next week that you won't be able to refuse! The numbers will be limited but we will be shipping out BOXED copies of Carrara Studio 1.1 to the lucky few who purchase.
For more info on the product from the makers Eovia go to:
http://www.eovia.com/carrara/product_info_car1.jsp
For those of you who have already seen the capabilities of Boomer, you will not be surprised, however have a look at what Boomer does to big animation files:
http://www.carrarastudio.com/tutorials/spaceship/
In the following few days you have the opportunity to try out the trial version of this software.
Here are various download options for the trial:
Windows version:(13,066,325 bytes)
http://www.carrarastudio.com/CarraraTrial_Win.exe
http://www.tgsmirror1.com/CarraraTrial_Win.exe
http://www.eoviamirror.com/CarraraTrial_Win.exe
http://www.carrara2.net/demos/CarraraTrial_Win.exe
Mac version:(10,377,224 bytes)
http://www.carrarastudio.com/CarraraTrial_Mac.sit
http://www.tgsmirror1.com.com/CarraraTrial_Mac.sit
http://www.eoviamirror.com.com/CarraraTrial_Mac.sit
http://www.carrara2.net/demos/CarraraTrial_Mac.sit
To activate the trial contact: demokey@gfx2swf.com?subject=DEMO
That is demokey@gfx2swf.com with the subject "DEMO"
You will receive a reply with a trial activation key.
Remember next week you will have the opportunity to buy this wonderful product for a fraction of the prices you will find in any store on the web!
Finally I failed to mention you will also get Amapi 3D! For details on this product go to:
http://www.eovia.com/amapi/product_intro_am.jsp
Review by Nathan
Phpauction Pro Plus PHP3+ US$159
http://www.phpauction.org/
Auction sites, especially ebay are here to stay and still all the rage. This commercial product will allow you to set-up and administer your own auctions from your site.
The Phpauction web site lists all the features (too many to list here!), a great demo so you can see what your getting, and various options for purchasing the product. You can choose to install it yourself or have them do it for you.
Although this looks great and you may want to have it running on your site, you will have to have a solid user base and good reason to go out on your own. ebay attracts the bulk of online bargain hunters so unless you have a niche it is best to stick with the big boys.
Review by Nathan
Ideas and input for new Sausage web site
As an extension to the discussion on the branding of Sausage in this thread:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=698
We would like to hear your ideas of where the Sausage web site should head.
Obviously we need to have areas for the following:
Sausage Tools (HotDog)
Sausage Forums (this forum)
Sausage Hosting (our new service)
Sausage Domains (a soon to be launched service)
What I would like to see is examples of sites you like. In particular ones with good navigation. We will probably keep a similar layout with a header menu, sidebar sub menu and footer, with the content generally to the middle right.
However as you should all know by now we listen to our users and it is you guys and gals that will be using the site.
So post your comments, favorite sites, and if you have the time and energy your ideas graphically.
Also if there are extra services or areas of the site you would like to see please let us know.
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=714
Review by Nathan
Adding Services: Re-brand or extend your brand?
The online world is beginning to pay attention to offline success theories. V.A.S. or Value Added Services are quickly becoming THE next key element, or perhaps the next supplement to a successful business online.
I would like to focus on one of the parts of adding services growing your brand. To add to your existing brand, you must already have one otherwise it would be one big "starting from scratch article".
I happen to have an example to use as well. Recently, Nathan of Sausage Software posted a thread asking for input on logos and branding of the new services that Sausage will be launching soon.
Here is the link:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=698
There has already been a good deal of feedback with plenty of shared, valuable opinions. It should be clearly stated that there are no bad ideas when it comes to this topic. I think it comes down to what has been proven to work as well as using new ideas to make things fresh.
Sausage will be offering domain registration, hosting, tools and of course, the forum community, a great marketing tool.
Let us take a look at the existing available elements. Sausage has the green doggy and the chrome wiener. Then of course there is the large word 'Sausage' located under the wiener. Some of the questions posed included modifying the current logo, changing colors, curving elements that have never been curved.
The problem with making changes, as I see it, is that Sausage and the chrome wiener have been around a while. When I see the chrome wiener I do not need to see 'Sausage' to know which company the wiener belongs to.
Think of Coca-Cola (Coke). If you see a red background with a white wave on it you likely think Coke. Coke has parlayed their recognition into adding different flavors of their soda. It's a gamble to change from the original but at the same time, Coke is a known name.
Granted comparing business growth by offering services is not quite the same thing as adding new flavors to the mix, but metaphorically speaking, it works.
With all of this in mind, have a look at the forum thread and express your thoughts on what Nathan is trying to accomplish. Please feel welcome to express your feelings on my ideas, adding your own or tell me that I am way off base.
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=710
Discuss your experiences with Bram
Search Engines - Lost cause for anything other than Paid Placement?
Today was one of those somewhat productive, aggravating days. The CEO of one of my companies was on a search engine kick today. She was and still is absorbed with getting our company listed or listed higher in search engines.
Keep in mind that the company has been around since mid-1999 and word of mouth marketing is a strong ally of ours.
Her complaint was that while using Google, for example, she would input any one of the keywords used in our Meta tags but would not get find our site, even after page 28+.
She did a search for Meta tag articles and search engine optimization. Strangely enough ALL of the articles were OLD. The most recent article was from April 2001. Most others were from 1997 to 2000.
This is part of what I wrote to her:
Go to Google. Search for Amazon. That name comes up right away. Search for our name, TodoBebe. We come up right away. These work because both have been around a few years and exposure in a variety of ways has worked well
Search for books. Amazon is right there, but they've been around for 6 or 7 years? +/-. Search for Babies. Search for Baby. TodoBebe does not show up, even though these are keywords we use in our Meta tags.
Search for bebe, bebes. Same thing.. No luck.
Now, search for Todo. Bottom of page one, there we are.
We are hard to find because our main name starts with a T. No keyword optimization or Meta tag article will change this. The market loves the company name; it's easy to remember. The search engines (free, non-paid) doom TodoBebe to never be found because of the alphabetical order.
Look at the dates of the articles you sent me. MUCH has changed since then. Some of these articles you found are 5 yrs old. The world of Meta tags and search engine placement has changed. For example, if you go to Clickz.com, (www.clickz.com) a great source for marketing online, and search from Meta Tags, you find:
http://www.clickz.com/search/opt/article.php/823031
http://www.clickz.com/search/opt/article.php/842941
http://www.clickz.com/search/opt/article.php/832911
http://www.clickz.com/search/opt/article.php/823711
Look at the dates of these things. They're mostly from 2000. Search for other articles there too. Also, go to www.internet.com. Maybe you can find other things. But honestly, spiders and web crawlers are crawling over BILLIONS of pages.
Search engines like Google have 2 parts. One is the web crawler and, the other is paid placement. If you have 3 sites, 30 sites, 3000 sites, all using the same or similar keywords, how are any of those sites supposed to be listed first? It's called Paid Placement.
One of the programmers made a few good points, in his opinion, as well:
"Search engines are of no value at all, none what so ever. Also, with the shear number of web pages out there, it is near impossible to manipulate search results anymore.
Even considering that, the site (Todobebe.com) was designed in such a way that the web crawlers would index our dynamic content as well (this is not the case with most sites)."
In later discussions, Paid Placement came up. The CEO is looking at this as an option. The same programmer had the following opinion as well:
"Paid placement is very unlikely to solve the link problem. Most search engines look at the context of the link; if it's not in context (an ad) then it will likely be completely ignored. Also, being linked from "big" sites like AOL or MSN makes no difference.
The Google PageRank system, for example, is based entirely on number of links from pages on your subject, and that weight is in turn based on the linking site's PageRank.
Playing with search engines is futile, and a complete waste of valuable time and resources.
Strong words that I find it difficult to disagree with. I have used a large variety of software packages to submit to search engines; some Windows applications and others "sure thing" online services. The success rate was not measurable for any of these.
Do any of you have tricks or suggestions? Share them here:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3903
Discuss with Bram
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