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[Part II]
Now Start Your Newsgroup Review
I've got news for you. It's going to take time for you to read through 30,000 entries. Don't do it all at once. Take your time. Just make it a part of every day. Don't go to bed until you have reviewed your quota for the day. Maybe do one letter of the alphabet daily... or 1000 entries. Either way, set your objective and get started. Remember, as you add more and more entries to your newsgroup "subscribed" list, what you're really doing is giving yourself more and more free ads. If that doesn't provide an entrepreneur with motivating incentive, I can't imagine what would!
Getting Ready To Post: Brainstorming Your Ads
Before you post you should do two things:
 1) visit the group to see what's being posted, length, etc. Just click on the group you want to visit from your subscribed list, then hit the "go to" command. You're now looking at -- your competitors for the time and attention of browers! What you're going to discover first of all is that certain smart people have already figured out what I'm telling you... namely that getting free ads in the newsgroups is worth their time and attention. Read their postings since they're veterans. At the very least, you'll know who you're competing against for space; besides, they may give you some ideas. (I know I've gotten a few this way.)
2) then start brainstorming your own ads.
Advice: don't just write one or two ads when you're in the mood. Write 20. Say you're selling chocolate chip cookies,
you'd brainstorm ad headings like this
Get the message?
You want to brainstorm as many of these ads as possible.... and you want the lead sentence (the heading that posts to the
newsgroup) to be brief and contain as many client-centered benefits as the short space allows.
Slanting The Message To The Group
The Internet, remember, is about addressing specific interest groups and showing them that you've got something just for them.
Newsgroups, as you already know, are founded on distinct particularities. Cater to them. Thus in the alt.business multi-level
grou,p your ad might read "You'll recruit more people while enjoying our chocolate chip cookies."
Or in alt.connecticut you might say, "People in West Haven love our chocolate chip cookies.
See for yourself." Get the drift? Talk to the people in the newsgroup; make them feel your posting is just for them.
Note: all too many mass-posters don't bother about this. They just dump their messages hither and yon. Not smart.
You be different.
The Actual Ad
A posting to a newsgroup is composed of three parts: heading, message, and signature file. You know your headings need to be
short (they have to fit on one line of the screen). Your message, of course, can be longer.
In my view, short messages are best. Moreover, the message should direct people back to your home page where you can really
lay on the details. Personally, I might run a heading as short as "FREE business newsletter."
The message that follows goes like this: "To get your free subscription to our twice monthly WORLDGRAM Newsletter,
packed with business development and marketing information, e-mail webmaster@worldprofit.com." The message, in short, is short.
Similarly, you could direct your prospect back to your Web site by saying something like, "Find out how good our
chocolate chip cookies are and how to get some fast. Go to (your URL)."
Remember, postings are intended to:
1) snag the attention of relevant prospects (your heading)
2) give them necessary information about where they can get the complete low-down on what you're selling, and
3) provide a much more detailed, frankly commercial signature file.
[ Continued ]
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