The Works of Marketing with Ray INDEX

Search Engines

. . . which work best for you?

Writing this has gotten me in waaaay over my head.

WebMaster Bill Blinn is the guy who should really be pounding the keyboard with this knowledge. Well, in fact, I went to Bill about these ideas ... his response was "No doubt these things will continue to improve and evolve."

Thanks a lot, William, for your input!

So, I took a stab at it myself. With what's "new" with search engines.

(for more on Search Engines of 2004 "click" here)

Demonstrating how basic I am, I still find it absolutely amazing, that with billions of web pages out there, anyone can find almost anything at almost anytime. There was a time I looked at the web as nothing more than a huge library. And more convenient then the local. Today it is certainly much more.

i.e., just to see what would happen, I put my name, Ray Jutkins, into several different search engines. The search was to be worldwide, no filters of any type, and through all languages. This is what I found.

Lycos did something which is good. I think. At least most of the time. My name is spelled differently. J UT K I N S. Most spellings are J UD K I N S. Lycos wanted to know if maybe I was looking for those with a " D" . Maybe that's also why they had so many - too many! - unnecessary listings.

Then, just to see what would happen I went to the internal search engine within my site, www.RayJutkins.com. I put no limits on it either - and found what I more or less expected to find; 500 individual listings. Gathered together 100 at a time. I think there are many more - as there are several 1000 web pages within my collection.

As you know, when you search your findings most often fall into two categories:

#1). far too many offerings to select from, and

#2). not specific enough to meet your exacting need.

One would think #2). could be solved by making your request more specific. That can work - yet, my experience shows that often it does not. Frequently I'm told there is nothing that meets my needs. BULL! There is, and it is not all in the words, and how I say them. It is in the gathering and sorting of the data, and then how it is made available to you.

www.Vivisimo.com puts search engine results into categories. I went to their site, put in Ray Jutkins, and got a short list of other places to visit. One was . . .

There were others, yet, it was enough for me. It appeared that each time I returned to the Vivisimo site looking for anything there was another pitch of products, and less about the search. The pitch is fine ... yet, that is not why I went.

One of the Vivisimo founders says his company " is like a super fast librarian who can instantly arrange the titles on shelves in a way that makes sense" . Some consider the service a 21^st Century Dewey Decimal System, designed to eliminate the side-bar options and concentrate on the specific search. Maybe. I was not impressed.

Grokker works when you know exactly what you' re looking for. Exactly! If the search is for business hotels in San Francisco, you're going to get a laundry list. And are probably better off going to the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau site. Or one of the online travel sites.

If you know you want the Hilton or Sheraton or Hyatt on Union Square in San Francisco, then Grokker can be of help. As part of what it does is organize each search into a category of circles. Within each circle is a topic - in this case for the Hyatt on Union Square. Restaurants within the hotel is one circle. Their gym another. A map of the hotel - a map of the area.

Yet, when I think of this I wonder why not go direct to the Hyatt on Union Square site, or the page within the Hyatt collection. As certainly you will get as complete a collection as is available. And probably better.

You see, earlier I said Bill Blinn should be writing this. Maybe I'm too basic. And then again, maybe I'm the " average" prospect!

With that in mind, let' s look at three more engines and close out this search for the "best".

www.InfoSpace.com is really a white and yellow page look-up service. I did not know that when I surfed it for this article ... and found a very interesting thing; much like the dictionary, unless you know a little something about what you' re looking for, you may get totally wrong information.

My dad was born in Effingham, Illinois. I've been through the place - and it's a good bet some distant relative lives today in the area. Including someone named Raymond Jutkins. As when I looked inside this service for my name only - Ray Jutkins, without city or state or other ID, an Illinois man with my name popped. It was not me!

To double check, I returned to the search site. And this time included the state in which I lived, Arizona. Guess what; they have no record of me. Nothing at all.

What this says is pretty much what Bill told me when I asked for some help with this article;

"This (the newest search engine options) is about the equivalent of driving 80 MPH from Los Angeles to San Francisco 10 years after Henry Ford started manufacturing Model T autos."

Bill is right. Things are moving rapidly - and not always in the direction you may wish to go.

Anonymous

It's about the time of the year that New Years resolutions come crashing to earth ... and living goes back to " as usual" Anonymous has a thought on this reality.

" It's the start that stops most people."

"Quotes with Direction" has been a part of my web site collection from day one. If you like quotes visit the archives ... www.rayjutkins.com/quotes/. There's a new batch up every 4 weeks.

A FREE Audio Tape for YOU!

Because Ray Speaks ... it is expected he'll have audio and video tapes.

Why? To share with speakers bureaus, meeting planners and others interested in what he may have to say. So "yes", there is an audio tape. And he'll be happy to send you a copy. FREE. No strings attached.

The tape is a selection from several speaking gigs. A few case histories, some "how to..." ideas. And such. About an hour's worth of chatter ... some of it actually very entertaining!

If you'd like you very own copy, send an E-mail to ...
Ray@RayJutkins.com
with your complete mailing address.

Your tape will be on the way to you within the day.

Oh, when you have a need for a speaker, and feel a demo video tape could be valuable to you, just ask for a copy. Not much use for video these days - with the Web - still, we'll be happy to forward one to you.

You can bring "It IS What's Next!"
to your group

I am ready to share this full and exciting program with you. (Visit It IS What's Next! -- click here.)

And I'm ready to do it today. To book an hour or two to give you this different, interesting, meaningful, warm and true action presentation. To your club. Your company. Your organization. Your association. Any group you have. At any place. At any time. For any reason.

It IS What's Next! is available to you as a Keynote Address. As a special program. As an opening or closing presentation. As a different / unique session.

This event puts everything into perspective. i.e., people are more important than "stuff", or "things". It demonstrates what is first in life. What is first in business. It works at home. It works at the office.

Interested? E-mail me; Ray@RayJutkins.com and let's make it happen. I look forward to hearing from you. Soon.

Thank you!

. . . and one more loose thought

Friend Ernie Schell brings you this message.

Direct commerce order management systems have changed a lot recently. The Annual Conference of the eCommerce & Catalog Systems Forum will showcase what's new.

Designed for CEOs and CFOs as much as CIOs and IT Managers, the Conference features Case Studies, Best Practices, Fraud Prevention, attendee roundtables, and an Exhibit Hall. If you want to "compare notes" and "network" with your peers, this is the place to be.

For more details, see www.ecsforum.org. PLUS - get a $50 discount (off the posted price) for each attendee. Just put "RAY" in the "Reference Code" box when you sign up.

. . . from The Baker's Dozen Collection

13 Platinum "To Do's" To Get More Response

I agree with this statement: "Each and every element in a direct mail package, space ad, on your WWW site - anywhere - is equally important."

Yet, often the response device of a direct marketing campaign appears to have resulted from left over thinking.

Since the bottom line is response - here are13Platinum "To Do's" To Get More Response from your next DM effort. From your direct mail BRCard, application form, faxback sheet, coupon in mail or a newspaper or magazine, off your web site or E-marketing message. No matter the media, no matter the device -13 things "to do".

#1. Begin with DIRFT ... & send your message to the right audience

For the full list of ideas, with details, on how to get more response "click" www.rayjutkins.com/baker/baker04.html.

... and one more Idea

An eon ago Burt Dubin came into my life. And has stayed. We continue to swap ideas.

One area of common ground is we're both speakers. And, Burt is a "teacher" ... working with professionals helping them grow to masters - as well as new comers just breaking in to the speaker business.

To learn more about what Burt might offer you, visit his exclusive resource and most interesting web site. Plus, you may wish to opt-in for his FREE E-zine. It's easy - surf to www.SpeakingBizSuccess.com and take a tour. Or send an E-mail to burt@speakingbizsuccess.com.

Magic Marketing Minutes

Magic Marketing Minutes

Make your copy easy to read

Unless you're writing to language teachers, don't be concerned about grammar when you're writing your Direct Mail or other communication.

Is this too bold a statement for you? Your DM communications should be a dialogue. It is a message from you to your audience ... and hopefully from them back to you. It is written to be read. It is to communicate.

I'm not suggesting that grammar is a bad thing. I'm not suggesting you write like an illiterate.

I am suggesting you be conversational. That your copy be in the tone and rhythm of a personal one-on-one conversation you might have face-to-face with any member of your audience. And, I'm suggesting that grammatical technicalities should not get in the way of that communication.

Some of the things that can help you make your writing more readable are these:

As a rule, people are not going to read your message to be entertained. They are going to read it to gain some information.

Make it easy to read.

The Works of Marketing with Ray INDEX

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