Online Business Help

Posted Mon, 01/16/2012 - 06:47 by jlscott


Need Help with Your eCommerce Business?

You'll find a list of tutorials here:

eCommerce Tutorials


Free Stuff

The beginning of the year is a good time for me to remind you. The Web is full of resources for you to use - free of charge! Check these out and bookmark the page:

Extreme Freebies

When "Freebies" Aren’t Free

Posted Mon, 04/26/2010 - 07:14 by jlscott


It seems that "benefits" are not enough to sell your product or service. "They" tell us you must give away "freebies." Instant gratification and all that.

Now rather than get on a roll about what I think about instant gratification - and the babies who demand it - let's just assume that freebies are a necessary evil. Let's think about how to use them ethically.

I've written about jacking up the supposed worth of freebies before, so I won't be redundant here. Now, let's talk about whether your freebies are really free.

First we have something called "shareware." I don't know where this name originated. It seems to mean something that you get to use a portion of until you pay for the full version. Or, they share it with you for a limited amount of time - unless you pay for it. This is NOT free!

Then we have those freebies that I call, "hooks." You are offered something for nothing. But when you start to download or access it - you suddenly find the condition. For instance, you must subscribe to an ezine before you can actually have the freebie. You are paying a price, whether it's money or not. THIS is not free!

In fact, it isn't even honest.

Many ezines give away eBooks in exchange for new subscriptions. Subscribe to the ezine and receive the eBook. Straightforward and honest. The condition for receiving the eBook is right up front.

But when someone offers the "freebie" first, without mention of any condition - THEN demands the subscription before delivering - that's manipulative and dishonest. It's also insulting the intelligence of the visitor.

Please examine your "freebies" - and how they are "given" away. The very basis of professionalism is honesty, ethics and integrity. Don't play cute and think you're fooling your visitors. The word on underhanded methods will spread like wildfire.

Computer Stuff

Posted Mon, 03/01/2010 - 07:27 by jlscott


That Messy Desktop

When is the last time you really looked at your desktop? What is all that crap?

I suddenly realized all the space around the photo I have in the center of my desktop is completely full. I started looking and have NO idea what some of it is - or why on the Earth I would keep it on the desktop!

In my case, I made categorized folders and started shoving stuff in them. That does not mean I'll look at the files when I have time. I just told myself that.

Eventually, they're going to hit the recycle bin - and good riddance. If you don't open something right away to, at least, scan it - chances are, you never will.


A Couple of Freebies

When I'm working, I open so many windows you'd think I was trying to open the entire Web. And, the more I open, the slower my computer moves.

I use the Firefox browser - and love it. So, I was delighted to find someone had heard my screams. They gave us the BarTab addon - which I love even more!

When I open a whole pile of tabs, BarTab freezes any loading. The tab will only load when I actually click on it. I can open all the tabs I want. But, I only use system resources when I'm actually looking at them.

Now, I have even more speed on this bloody computer! Get it here:

tinyurl.com/y87o278


The second thing I have for you to today is only available to those who read the email version of this newsletter.

If you're reading the blog, you can subscribe to the email version using the link at the right and get today's copy. It will get you all the free stuff I find.

And, no, I don't put it all on iCop's Extreme Freebie Page. I always mean to, but I have the attention span of a gnat. Once I give it to subscribers, I forget all about it unless I'm using it.

Today's software makes screenshots for you that look extremely professional. It also has a whole list of great features.

Article Copyrights

Creative Commons License
These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
To re-publish articles by jl scott from this site, please include the following byline - with live links - after each article you use.

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* dr. jl scott is the Founder of Chamber of Commerce - on the Web™ http://www.ChamberofCommerce-ontheWeb.com - and also the publisher of the Online Business Trade Journal™ - the blog that keeps you up to date with online business coming of age. Visit: http://www.OnlineBusinessTradeJournal.com

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