Email communication to web directory submitters should be minimal.  That is, you don’t want to get your emails considered as spam or thought of as "just more mail from some directory".  However, the communication you do have with web directory submitters is valuable.  Listed below are some tips to maximize the benefit from emails sent:

• Always include the listing information for submitted web sites in approval emails.  Although it is not the perfect solution to manage submissions, many web directory submitters save or reference all approval emails to mark the directories to which a listing has been submitted, check in the future, or maintain contact information for web directory operators.  Therefore, your email may been more often than initial approval.  Therefore, any information provided in the email could be to your advantage now and in the future.
• If you operate additional directories or webmaster related web sites, link to them in your approval emails.  Such sites are well-targeted for the audience, and may well be of interest to the web site owner or promoter.
• Offer useful information in the emails (which will also make them more likely saved).  One excellent tactic seen recently is to include a coupon code for submission of more listings in the approval email.  The coupon code could be for the same directory or a different one (for those who operate more than one).  Basically, this is great way to present any promotion, discount, information, or anything that may be useful to the web directory submitters.
• In the case of rejection, include as much information as possible.  Some web directory interfaces do not allow customization of rejection emails on a case-by-case basis.  If yours does, include the specific reason why the listing was rejected.  If not, try to include as many potential reasons as possible.  The more information the web directory submitter has, the more likely they are to be able to realize the reason for the rejection.  This will lead to less frustrated users, decrease the likelihood the submission will be made again with the same problem, and improve the chance of the problem being resolved and resubmitted properly or with correction.
• Include contact information in your approval emails.  The from name and email address in messages from some directories are blank.  If this cannot be prevented, be sure to include an email address in the body of the message.  Also, if you only include the from email address, be sure that it is valid.  If there’s a problem with your directory, the submission, or possible advertising inquiry, the submitter should be able to get in touch with you.

Listed below is a collection of "bad ideas" for web directory owners.  The list provides information on actions that will damage your directory and/or your own reputation as the web directory owner.  Being involved with any of the below mistakes should be avoided to prevent risk and revenue loss for your business.

• Never remove directory designer or sponsor links.  If you use a free web directory template, always maintain the required sponsor and/or designer link(s).  Removal of these links will cause severe damage to your reputation and trust in your web directory.  Designers work hard to produce the templates, and sponsors support them so that they can be done.  The usage agreement for all such templates is for the link(s) to remain in place.  Breaking such agreements, will be visible as soon as the directory is announced, will undoubtedly result in distrust in your directory and you as a directory owner, which will in turn significantly limit the directory’s revenue.
• Don’t send spam or repeated unnecessary messages to web directory submitters.  Doing so will also damage your directory and its potential.
• Don’t forget to make database backups.  Be extremely careful with your directory’s database.  It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to make regular database backups.  If all listings present in a directory are lost, so is the trust and respect for the directory and its owner.  No matter how trusted a hosting provider is and how careful you are, there’s a good chance that eventually "something" will occur to cause database problems.  It is crucial to have a current backup that can be used to quickly restore listings.
• Don’t delete listings.  This should go without saying, but remember that the revenue generated from your directory is provided based on listings being active for a certain period of time.  It is imperative that the listings remain for that duration.  Otherwise, you are not providing the service for which you were paid.  Also, offer submitters the option to renew yearly listings before removal.  This provides a service to the submitter as well as increased revenue for you.
• Dropped domain usage has become a significant problem for the web directory industry.  Every day you can see new web directories announced with PR.  The problem has become even more pronounced with bid directories.  Even though it may seem like an advantage to start a directory that already has PR, there are numerous reasons why it’s a bad idea.  The links obtained for such web sites usually disappear before next PR update as the site’s content changes.  Therefore, you are left with only the disadvantages, such as any damaging practices performed by the previous owner, the "quick buck" perception the approach gives, and a non-brandable domain name that typically does not represent the content of the site.  Also, the internal pages of the directory will not have PR in this scenario, and many submitters will understand that the homepage PR will not follow to the internal pages with the links depleting unless the directory is being well-promoted (…and if the directory is going to be well-promoted, there’s no reason for this in the first place…).  The practice is thought of by most as a way to take funds from the inexperienced, which is contemned by the majority of the webmaster community.

(Read the full post about ‘Mistakes Directory Owners Should Avoid’…)

Most people know about and consider PR as a factor for determining quality web directories.  Although PR can be useful as a quick reference, it is far from the best or only consideration.  Below you will find a list of other factors that should be taken into account when evaluating directories.

• Review the directory’s listing titles and descriptions.  Titles and descriptions that contain only a list of keywords and do not form a complete sentence or clause are an immediate indication that the directory does not provide editorial review.  Not only do these listings appear "spammy" and unorganized, but this also provides evidence that the directory’s listings are not reviewed for undesirable content.
• If the directory claims to be family-friendly, check to see if web sites listed contain nudity.  There are arguments as to what exactly should be considered family-friendly.  Many believe that web sites with swimwear or lingerie images should be acceptable while others feel otherwise, but it would be hard to argue that nudity should be acceptable for a family-friendly resource.  Using the directory’s search function can be useful to find sites by undesired keywords.
• Check to ensure listings are properly categorized.  Good co-citation is an important part of web directories.  It is valuable to be listed alongside web sites that are related in content to yours.  If a web directory does not properly categorize listings, the value of those listings is lessened.
• Check the directory’s backlinks.  Quantity is good, but strong backlinks are better.  Of course, a combination of both is usually ideal.
• The web directory’s Alexa rating can give a good indication of its traffic.  Traffic is a very important factor that is often dismissed for quality web directories.  Many web site owners and promoters think of directories only in terms of backlinks.  While the strength of the directory and backlinks provided are certainly important, direct, targeted traffic is very valuable.  Alexa data is far from perfect, but as traffic indicators go, it’s the best measurement we have.  Alexa has a significant webmaster skew.  However, since web directories are webmaster sites, this does not pose much of a problem for us in this case.  Therefore, Alexa typically offers a good idea of the traffic-level for directories.
• Check search engine rankings for the web directory.  An easy way to do this is to search for the main categories of the directory, such as Computer Web Directory, Shopping Web Directory, Entertainment Web Directory, Regional Web Directory, etc.  Directories that rank well for searches relevant to their main categories are obviously considered favorably by the search engine, which is a very good indication of what the search engine considers to be quality.

The potential benefit, level of value, or even possible harm (bad neighborhood listings) of submitting to low quality directories is debatable.  However, submitting to low quality directories is not always a wise use of time and/or revenue, and it can be a very time consuming, difficult task to check each and every directory against the above considerations.  However, when submitting to directories you expect to be high quality or those with higher pricing, the above factors can be very useful in determining if the submission is worthwhile.

(Read the full post about ‘Factors for Determining Quality Web Directories’…)

Recently significant promotion began for this blog and the new blog directory.  One of the channels being utilized is blog post reviews.  While working with the different providers and options available, several observations were made.  A lot of time was spent working with these systems.  Hopefully the below information will be useful to those interested in the topic and help save others time in the process.

Most blogs are designed to cover posts on a few related topics.  For example, this blog covers marketing, SEO, and web directory related topics.  However, it seems there are a vast number of blogs selling their credibility.  That is, they write about topics completely unrelated to their blog’s theme in order to earn revenue from advertisers.  This practice is damaging to blogs in a number of ways, including:

• When readers visit a blog, it is because they are interested in the topics the blog covers.  It would seem to be very difficult to build a loyal reader-base if visitors cannot count on the blog to provide this information consistently.  If half the time visitors see posts for unrelated products and services, they will loose interest, and the blog looses visitors as a result.
• Credibility is important for a blog.  There’s nothing wrong with making some sponsored posts, but be sure to investigate the site and its offerings thoroughly.  Including incorrect information and assumptions can turn away both visitors and advertisers.  As mentioned above, it is best to only write about web sites that are related in content to your blog.
• Many advertisers looking to invest in blog reviews may be otherwise interested in your blog based on its status, but can be easily turned away if unrelated posts are displayed.  As most know, it is best to have links in content that is related to the site being linked.  Links are much less valuable when unrelated content from other posts surrounds them.  Therefore, when a blog contains posts on many various, completely unrelated topics, all of the links there have less value.

On the other hand, from an advertiser point of view, be sure to keep the below considerations in mind when choosing blogs to review your site:

• Be careful about subdomains.  The stats for some blogs are artificial because the Alexa and/or other measurements actually come from the main domain, such as a blog provider service.
• Many blogs seem to place the normal price for reviews quite high for direct orders.  Yet, if you post an opportunity for $10, they will take advantage of it.  Be careful about this.  It seems to be best to order directly only from very well established blogs, and then let the others come to you for review.
• Some services for blog reviews allow you to review each blog, and accept/decline as you feel appropriate.  This is ideal if you have the time to manage the incoming options.  Other services allow you to apply filters based on blog stats, such as Alexa or PR.  This can be useful, but often increases the minimum charge considerably.  Also, with these providers, there does not seem to currently be an effective method of allowing only blogs from a certain theme.  The final provider type selects high quality blogs for you, and takes all the work out of your hands.  This type general produces the best results because of the higher quality blogs participating at the higher price point and, of course, saves a lot of time, but is also the most costly of the options.  Be sure to select the provider that best meets your needs, time constraints, and budget.
• There are always exceptions, but try to select blogs related in content to your site.  Of course, there are usually a few options that pop up that seem to be good deals, such as sites with high traffic that make a very affordable offer.  It’s understandable to select a few of these, but still, try to stick with your theme for the reasons mentioned in the above section.

Many people appreciate the benefits of bid directories and the ability to control listing position in categories, increase exposure with homepage placement, etc.  However, there are a lot of people who think of them exactly like other directories and pay the exact minimum bid amount for the listing, just for the category placement, and that’s a perfectly fine approach, depending on the directory and site being promoted.  Here’s a tip for those who take this direction, though.  Instead of bidding the exact minimum amount, consider bidding $1 or even $0.05 more than the minimum amount.  The reason for this is because everyone else who has this same idea also bids the minimum amount, and if they bid before you, their listing will be shown above yours.  $1 can make the difference between a page 2 listing and a page 6 listing in many cases, and certainly page 2 is considerably more beneficial than page 6 in every way.

Labeled as "stupid, embarrassing,laughably awful,"  Microsoft has been taking major heat for a video intended for its Vista sales team that leaked onto YouTube.

Actually, I don’t think it’s so bad–for what it is—an internal video for a sales meeting. Anyone who has ever gone to a sales meeting knows that for outsiders the insider jokes and humor always fall flat.

It’s like overhearing two lovers whispering sweet nothing into each other’s ears. It may sound great to the two lovers, but to the eavesdroppers its an eye roll.

What seems juvenile and insipid to the outsider, can help build morale for those tasked with selling.Such it is with internal sales material.  It is for a targeted audience.

(Read the full post about ‘The Leaked Microsoft Video: What embarasses some may motivate others’…)

Okay, so you are thinking twice before you get in your car to run errands. The days of no fat grande lattes are behind you. Now, you learn you may have to give up your morning bagel. Orthonomics shares the sticker shock of seeing how fast the prices are rising from just two weeks ago.

My husband asked me to picked up frozen bagels. I went to Store 2 because they regularly price their store brand, kosher certified, frozen bagels at $1.00 a package. It isn’t a great value, but keeping the husband happy is priceless. The new price, $1.50. That is a 50% price increase!

This is not fun.

(Read the full post about ‘Hold The Bagel:Skyrocketing Flour Prices Force Price Increases’…)

Boutique shopping is the way to go. Clothes Scottsdale is no different. You get Scottsdale premier shopping at Scottsdale boutiques. Boutiques are centres for fashion accessories, where you will find several dozens of fashion accessories for kids, teens, men, and women. Style advisors at the salons can give you fashion advice and full style makeovers.

Uptown boutiques always attract a good number of customers, as they are attractively designed and conveniently positioned, most likely in a mall. Scottsdale boutique shopping is no different and you can experience Scottsdale premium shopping at one. (Read the full post about ‘Clothes Scottsdale’…)

The Japanese have perfected a more refrigerator- friendly watermelon–for $80 a square. Stateside,a Pennsylvania entrepreneur is offering an e-book on HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN SQUARE WATERMELONS.

He’s selling it for $19.95  Could 2008 be the year when we are all sitting around with square watermelons?

The Japanese decided to try growing a  square watermelon because Japanese  grocery stores  and home refrigerators are much smaller than their American counterparts and they wanted a more Japanese compatible watermelon.

I imagine the American entrepreneur decided to grow a square watermelon because it looks fun,will be a real conversation starter at the family reunion, and he’s hoping that his e-book will sell a few copies.

In a year of insane food prices the grow your own square watermelon might just be the thing to bring a smile to stressed out Americans who will look at the garden and  cheer up when they see this square where an oval really should be.

If I had a yard, I’d try growing a square watermelon…just because.

(Read the full post about ‘The Year Of The Square Watermelon’…)

Business Owners in the Delaware Valley Dish on the Secrets of Word-of-Mouth!

This post is the first of three in the series Brand Propheteers: 10 Ways to Get the People You Already Know to Rave About Your Firm.

Propheteer: The very best driver of word-of-mouth for your company: a cross between prophet (someone who preaches) and volunteer. VisionPoints’ term for the raving fans we want you to have more of!

Good morning, choir. I’m preaching to you today. A lot of folks who read the Maximum Customer Experience Blog are also blog authors. Many of you are the owners of small businesses. Most of you are pretty tech savvy.

(Read the full post about ‘Brand Propheteers: Part One - Golden Opportunities and “I’ll Have What She’s Having”’…)