In this section we are
going to look at ways to link your pages and also link to
other sites. We have covered the basics in previous pages
so this is more of a revision and also to introduce some
new material.
Possibly the best part of
the web is the ease with which you can go from one
document to another, or load movies, pictures, sounds, and
programs. These are accomplished through links. A link
gives the location of a file, and the method your computer
needs to use to retrieve it. The link also has a symbol,
either a section of text or a picture, that the viewer can
see and select in a web page. There are three types of
links.
We will look at a little
html however with your composer you do not really need to
know any html as the composer will produce it for you. It
is important however to have a basic understanding of the
html because quite often when you publish your web site
some links may not work. If you can recognize what a link
should look like then you can trouble shoot the problem.
The first is called a
relative link. Basically this is a link to a file that is
part of your web site. If you look on the side of this
page you will see relative links. All of these pages are
contained in this book so they are called relative.
Many people keep all of
their HTML documents in a single directory, and their
image files in a subdirectory. You can use the same format
for the locations of your images called using the <IMG
SRC> tag. Say your images are in a subdirectory
called "images"; you would call an image from
there with a tag like this:
<IMG SRC =
"images/somepic.GIF">
Relative
links are nice because they are portable.
You can switch servers and be able to set things up in the
new location with no hassles; simply copy all of the files
into a directory on the new machine, and organize them in
the same way they were set up on the old machine. This
comes in especially handy when you develop a set of
connected pages on your own computer and then move them to
your server when they are all set up. Relative links are
also shorter and therefore easier to enter without making
an error. Use relative links to connect your own documents
and call your own images, and absolute links for outside
pages.It also means that you can put your whole site on a
disk or CD and the relative links will still work. This is
great if you go to shows etc.
Absolute
links are the full URL of the other file.
Web browsers use URLs as a standard format for the
information required to access other files. Each URL
contains the type of file and its location. This is a link
just like you would enter in your address box on your
browser. It is usually used when there is a link to a site
other than yours e.g. http://www.msincome.com
This is an absolute link.
Finally there are what we
call a bookmark or target link. This is a link which gives
mobility within a page. You will mostly see them in long
pages where you can click to go to the top of the page
e.g. Top
of Page If you click on this link then you will be
taken to the top of this page. Some other uses are as a
way of directing people to parts of a
long page e.g. you might have a long page with lots of
topics. You can set up a contents on the top and then use
the bookmark link to take people to each topic on that
page.
You will notice that once
you create a link that the text is usually underlined and
it also changes colors. These colours can also be
controlled in the page properties. In some composers you
can also get rid of the lines etc. You could also
substitute an image as they are not underlined.
As we are using Netscape
composer we will quickly go through the process of
linking.
Open up you composer and
type some text. Highlight the text and then choose the
link icon on the toolbar. You can now choose to have a
relative link or an absolute one. You could type in the
link area http://www.yoursitename.com. Now when you
preview your page and click on the link you will go to
that site. To do a graphic insert one into your composer.
Click on the graphic and go to the link icon again and
enter the address above. Now when you preview you will
notice that when you click on the graphic you will be
taken to the new page.
Well that's how we create
links and you will find it very easy to create internal
and external links. The beauty is that you can now
link to others information without having to write all the
information yourself.
There is only one problem
with external links and that is that they go out of date.
It is important to check them often.
Cars Passing By The Lemonade
Girl.
by Chris Elliott
First I want to say that this
story can be the most powerful device in turning your mind
into an advertising power system. The $500-$1500 copy
writing courses don't cover anything this powerful so listen
up.
Midnight, July 5th, 2002.
Today, I was driving around
running errands and taking in the beautiful Alaskan summer.
Many children setup the
classic lemonade stands and I sometimes stop for a cup to
patronize them. Most of them use the same white,
construction board sign duct taped to the front of their
table reading "Fresh Lemonade 50 Cents" in black
marker.
I passed many of these stands
and didn't stop because I had a Mountain Dew with me. But
when I was coming to a stop light I saw a young girl, maybe
9 or 10 years of age standing on the side of the road waving
a sign made of pink construction board with flashing
Christmas lights running around the outer edge of the sign.
As the light turned green,
nearly every car, truck, van that passed slowed down and
read the sign reading "Cool Off With Lemonade Fresh
Squeezed Right In Front Of You!" in red marker and many
stopped to get a cup including me.
I was truly amazed at this
young girls advertising wizardry.
I went up to the table to get
a cup of lemonade and had to actually wait in line! I was
really in awe simply watching this young girl work her magic
with the customers, smiling, saying "Do you like your
lemonade sweet or sour?"
As I approached the table she
said "Do you like your lemonade sweet or sour
sir?" I said, "a cup of sweet lemonade
please", and she went to work by grabbing a ripe lemon
out of her wicker basket, gently laying it on a small wooden
cutting board and quickly slicing it right down the middle
with a steak knife.
Then she palmed one of the
halves and pressed it with a twisting motion into her
juicing wedge then three other halves in the same fashion.
She then carefully scooped 3 spoons of sugar into my cup,
gave it a quick stir with the spoon then dropped in three
cubes of ice and said "That will be $1.00 sir".
As I rustled into my pocket
for four quarters I asked her, "What sparked you into
creating such a bright sign and such and catchy
headline?" She then replied, "I had a white sign
with "Lemonade $1" written on it taped to my table
and no one was stopping so I went home and asked my mom to
get
me a pink construction board
and I took a strip of Christmas lights that uses a battery
and stapled them around the edge, then I wrote that I would
squeeze it right in front of you, because that's what I was
already doing. Then I took out the price because my mom said
it was a little high and I thought if I got the people to
stop then they would pay it if I squeezed their cup right in
front of them and then asked for the dollar and I waved the
sign to make sure the cars saw it", I said,
"that's great, keep up the good work", and she
said, "I will, hope to see you again and smiled",
as I walked back to my Ford Explorer.
I sat there thinking about
this whole situation for a minute or two looking over at
this line of people waiting to get, "Lemonade Fresh
Squeezed Right In Front Of Them", and watched even more
people pull over to get a cup seeing this big line and
thinking to themselves, "That must be some good
lemonade", as I tasted the handmade beverage, it was
very good, very.
Here's the genius in this
young Marketing Mastermind.
First she started a business,
selling lemonade..
Noticing that she wasn't
selling much she re-organized her efforts with a new pink
construction board surrounded by Christmas lights drawing
people to read her headline that did nothing but convey
something everyone in a car burning up wanted, to "Cool
Off" and adding something that enticed them even more
by adding "Fresh Squeezed Right In Front Of You"
She states a solution people
want to a problem they already know they have and makes
their mouth water with an enticing benefit. She also makes
the message a personal note by including "You" in
it, making every driver think she is talking to them them
individually.
This story should open your
mind to really see the simplicity of starting a business,
testing your sales message to entice your customers, and
then servicing your customers in a way SO superb that
they'll remember you and come back again.
You can be sure that a lot of
the people who bought lemonade from this young girl will
tell their friends and they'll stop by to get a cup of
lemonade as well.
What happens when the line
dies down?
She grabs her sign and starts
another commotion that get's even more people to stop, by
waving it around.
Do you see all the things
here that get people to stop and how she closes the sale?
1. The headline - This is
actually the first headline even though it doesn't contain
words because it's what GRABS the peoples attention along
with her waving it around.
2. The second headline/The
sales message - This is actually the sales message that
conveys a solution to an existing problem to everyone in
their car, cooling off and an enticing benefit, "fresh
squeezed right in front of you."
3. The Close - She caters to
your needs by asking "Do you like your lemonade sweet
or sour sir?" and then squeezes the lemonade right in
front of you and as you watch the whole procedure your mouth
waters conveying the quality of the product.
4. The call to action
"That will be $1.00 sir". This is a great call to
action. It doesn't leave room for anything but a payment of
one dollar. These people waited in line creating a burning
desire watching other people getting their fresh squeezed
lemonade and they're not going to say "A Dollar? No
way, I'm outta here".
That's the sales process she
put together and it's sheer genius.
Here's a few more of the
strategies in her business.
Credibility - She also boosts
her credibility by having a big line in front of her table
urging others to stop and see what the fuss is about.
Viral Marketing - These
people will definitely remember this experience as it's so
original and they will refer their friends by telling them
making them want to check it out when they are around that
part of town.
Customer Service - She was
very polite with her "Do you like your lemonade sweet
or sour sir?" and her warm words as I left making sure
I remember her stand.
Value - She made the lemonade
right in front of me with her bare hands with fresh
ingredients making me feel like I was getting a real value
and I didn't even know the price yet.
I could pull out 100 other
strategies, but you get the point and you see how you can
apply the strategies of "Cars Passing By The Lemonade
Girl."
Take this information to
heart as it's the key to business, focusing every effort you
put into you business toward your customer and satisfying
their needs and testing, tweaking and creating a
relationship with your customers.
*****
|
