Fast Forwarding your Business with Instant Messagi

Fast Forwarding your Business with Instant Messaging

by: Lee Traupel

Instant Messaging is rapidly becoming accepted in the business community as a viable communications tool and process itกs faster than email, free on the client side, even a novice user can easily grasp the interface in just a few minutes and it enables remote workers and business partners to ‘talkก and share files and information effortlessly using the inplace infrastructure of the internet. Its mushrooming in popularity too according to IDC, corporate and general business users will jump from 5.5M in 2001 to close to 200M by 2004.

What are some of the pitfalls and concerns you need to have when assessing and integrating Instant Messaging (กIMก another biz acronym) with your business processes? Be aware you are sending clear text messages over the public Internet so all IM technology is inherently insecure. Privacy issues can also be raised these messages are typically archived via the IM servers of the company whose services you are using and can be made public at a later date. Anyone with a network scanner may have access to and be reading your messages and if your are downloading files, you need to ensure your antivirus software is setup to scan these files when you open them.

One of the biggest pitfalls of the technology and process is that it adds another communications layer to your busy day but you can offset this by selecting or filtering who you communicate with at any point by using the IM interface to block all or selected individuals from กseeingก you when you are online.

Finally, like all things in todayกs computer industry (or many) each of the Instant Messaging vendors are trying to build applications which don’t integrate with the other (no surprise here arrogance has not faded away in the business community!). So, you need to assess the installed base of the market leaders and make a decision on which companyกs product you want to utilized my recommendation would be to review Microsoftกs or AOL/Time Warnerกs products their installed bases are in the 200 million users plus when combined (these numbers include consumer and business usage) and they both work well and have user interfaces that are intuitive.

There is one alternative company that is solving the กIM Tower of Babelก issues and claims to integrate well with all proprietary apps by utilizing XML technology, Jabber, Inc., www.jabber.com So, if interoptability is important to you then I would recommend assessing their products.

Most of the IM providers including Microsoft are integrating voice communications with their IM clients you may be able to bypass your local telephone carrier at some point using this technology, but don’t bet on it anytime soon all of those lobbyists here in the states need to keep generating fees on behalf of their telecom clients in Washington D.C. We use Microsoftกs IM product and we have upon occasion utilized the voice and video features (you must of course have a multimedia setup for your PC and camera) and they do work. Although the video quality is a little jerky and the voice is akin to the old Citizens Band (กCBก) radio your Internet connection impacts the quality of both.

Whose technology do you choose? There are some clear market leaders in the Instant Messaging marketing including Microsoft (no surprise here)http://messenger.microsoft.com But, like most Microsoft technology/tools you pay a price for the software/services, albeit a small one. You have to register with Microsoftกs NET Passport www.microsoft.com/myservices/passport service which is designed to be a universal login this only takes a few minutes but be forewarned they also try to get you to setup a Hot Mail account, but you can work around this.

The other dominant IM product is AOLกs ICQ product http://web.icq.com it has similar functionality as Microsoftกs application. The original technology was developed by a great Israeli company, Mirabellis, Inc., subsequently acquired by AOL. My chief complaint with this product is the irritating banner ads that AOL keeps pushing at you when you are utilizing their product. But, itกs a small price to pay for a free product on the client side.

Yahoo also has an IM product (กYahoo Messengerก) but I am not convinced this will stay as a core part of their business, as they appear to be still trying to figure out what they are going to become in the post ก.com gold rush eraก market; i.e. Portal, Directory, Media giant, software/services company, etc. And, theyกve certainly jettisoned parts of their business the last 1218 months and I would wager theyกve had discussions about getting out of the IM business.

Finally, IM is also quickly moving into other markets and devices including PDAs and Pagers if you’re a real geek and you can’t stand to be out of touch while your in the shower and you have a water proof device you can ping away. But, I think we all need some down time for friends and family, but wanted to make sure I covered all possible bases with this column until next time!

About The Author

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com, a resultsdriven marketing services company providing proprietary services to clients encompassing startups to public companies. [email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 25, 2002

by Lee Traupel

Build Credibility, Value and Trust on a Shoestring

Build Credibility, Value and Trust on a Shoestring

by: George Torok

Setting priorities in your business? Your first job is to sell. Selling is writing the orders; receiving the cash; feeding the beast. If you don’t sell; the beast, (your business), dies. The impact of selling is immediate. You may love it, but it is a beast. You need to feed it and control it.
Your second priority is marketing. Marketing is taming and grooming the beast. Marketing is everything that makes it easier to sell. Marketing is about sending messages and everything you do or don’t do sends a message. You are responsible for these messages because they impact the perception of your credibility, value and trust. The impact of marketing is long term. The best time to start marketing was yesterday. The next best time is today.
Use these lowbudget techniques to build credibility, value and trust on a shoestring.
Be a guest speaker for community groups, schools and associations.
You most want to speak in front of prospects. But sometimes you need to take side steps to get there. There are over 8,000 associations in Canada. Check the directories at the library to find associations that may have prospects. Then contact the local chapters to offer a nocharge seminar or speech. Don’t tell them you speak for free even though you do. Instead tell them that you normally charge, pick a number, but agree to waive your fee as a first time offer. The presentation must be of value and interest to the audience. It can not be an infomercial. Provide a handout with key points from your talk. Include information about your services along with your contact numbers and website on the handout. Ensure your introducer reads the introduction you prepare that establishes your expertise and what you do. But don’t stand up there and sell instead market by using examples of how you helped previous clients. Ask for a list of all attendees. If they refuse, collect everyoneกs business card for a draw. Give away a book, one of your products or 30 minutes of your service. It is more important to collect business cards than to give yours away.
After your presentation ask the organizer to refer you to speak at other associations or other chapters of the same association. Other groups you might speak to are Rotary, chambers of commerce, and various networking clubs. You don’t need to be a member to be a guest speaker. Prepare and rehearse your presentation. To become a better speaker read the book, กSecrets of Power Presentationsก, by Peter Urs Bender and visit Toastmasters, a nonprofit association that teaches presentations skills. The book is in most stores and you can find a local Toastmasters club by visiting www.Toastmasters.org
Volunteer for a charity, community cause or association.
Budget your time wisely and volunteer for a cause or group in which you strongly support. If you do, then you will work willingly and passionately. You will feel good about your contribution . Others see you at your best. They have the opportunity to know you and like you. And we would rather do business with people we know and like. By volunteering on a committee or charity you contact others who share your beliefs. And we like others who are like us. After working together as volunteers it is easier to discuss business opportunities. In this way you may discover new customers, and suppliers. You might also find partners for cross promotion or referrals. The bonus payoff from volunteering is positive media exposure. This might include photos and interviews that could result from your impact. You could join an established cause or you could simply organize your own event. A dentist donated one day of his time to give free fillings to children of single mothers just before Christmas. He received frontpage coverage.
Write and publish articles
We grant tremendous respect to those who have published works. Write a book and that is an invaluable credibility tool. Case in point; before I wrote my book with Peter Urs Bender I was a nobody. After, I was an overnight marketing guru. I say กovernightก because it took two years to write and lots of promotion. Nothing in business happens overnight, neither success nor failure.
You can and should start with something simpler than a book articles that highlight your expertise. The simplest article to write is a tips list. It could be ‘three steps to prepare for ______ก; กFive questions to ask when buying ________ก; กSeven ways to save money on your __________ก; or ‘ten tips for improving your _________ก.
The most important step in writing is to start. The second most important step is to edit and rewrite. Forget about writing excellent copy the first time. I would be so disappointed with myself to find out you can write perfect copy the first time.
Where do you publish? You most want to be seen in the publications your prospects read. These might be trade and association magazines. Members tend to read them covertocover. Of course it is wonderful to appear in a national business publication such as the Globe & Mail, Canadian Business, Profit or Small Business Canada. Copy your articles and send them to your clients and prospects. Post them on your web site and on the wall of your office for visitors to admire and for you to be reminded that you are an expert.
Feed, tame and groom the beast and it will be your friend.

About The Author

© George Torok is coauthor of the national bestseller, กSecrets of Power Marketingก, Canadaกs first guide to personal marketing for the nonmarketer. He delivers seminars and keynotes to corporations and associations across North America. He can be reached at 8003041861 For more information the training programs and more marketing tips visit the web site www.PowerMarketing.ca

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 06, 2004

by George Torok

Leading eCommerce Consultant Admits You Should Onl

Leading eCommerce Consultant Admits You Should Only Listen to One Real Expert! (And it’s not him..!)

by: Eric Graham

Let me share with you a secret that most marketing experts and consultants don’t want you to know… (many of them don’t even understand this secret themselves.)

The secret is… There is only one true expert who can show you how to drastically improve the effectiveness of your website and your marketing. With dozens of socalled guru’s, consultants and experts ready and willing to give you (or charge you for) their advice, there is actually only one person you should listen to on a regular basis. Only one! And his name is Eric Graham… No, no… just kidding…

The only ขexpertsข that you should listen to and trust are your visitors. The visitors that come to your website or view your ads are the only true experts. They will share their expert opinions with you by the actions they take while on your website.

Not sure what headline to use at the top of your page… You have a couple of options:

Pay an ขexpertข consultant like me to look it over for you and give you copywriting recommendations, for a few hundred dollars an hour.

Or…

ขAskข your visitors which one is best, by split testing each element of your headlines and letting your visitors vote with their credit cards… The one that converts to sales best wins!

Trying to figure out how much to charge for you new ebook? You can hire an expert… I can talk to you all day about advanced pricing theory and explain to you how prices with a ข7ข in them (such as $17, $97, $777) usually convert better. I can walk you through an analysis of the price points of competing/similar products…

Or…

Simply test 3 or 4 different prices to see which one is most profitable. Often the greater perceived value of a higher price actually converts better than a lower price. But you won’t know if that’s true for your product and your visitors until you test it. Again your visitors will teach you more about pricing than any consultant ever could. You just need to ขaskข these experts by testing.

If done properly, the questions you can get your ขvisitor expertsข to answer about your website by simply testing, is endless.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you should never hire a consultant or expert after all my clients happily pay me a lot of money to help them improve their conversion rates. And I am worth every penny! 😉

But what you need to understand here is that the best experts, became experts by studying and testing, testing and testing different elements over and over until they developed a set of ขbest practicesข. So, by hiring someone who has been in the trenches you can save time and money in the long run.

However, every website, business, product and visitor demographic is different. Just because something works at one website, doesn’t automatically mean it will work at yours. The best consultants will tell you that you still need to test everything. So in the end it’s still your visitor who’s the true expert.

Just imagine the results you could achieve over the next year, if you took the time to test only one new element every week. Even if half of the tests were failures and didn’t produce improvements in your conversion rates, you would still discover 26 ways to improve your sales. Even if each improvement only boosts your conversion rate by 1/10th of 1%, you would have improved your conversion rate by over 2.6% (and probably much more!)

Look over your current sales statistics, and ask yourself, ขHow much more profit would I be making if my conversion rate jumped by 2.6%?ข

With most sites currently converting at an appalling 1% to 2%, a 2.6% improvement could triple your sales…

Let me ask you a question: Imagine you have a website selling information on how to learn to play the guitar, getting 1,000 visitors per day. And I came to you and showed you how I can change a few things about your page, improve your search engine positioning and triple your traffic? Would you be excited? Sure.

Then, why not get equally excited about optimizing your website for maximum conversion rates?

Many online businesses will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars optimizing their sites for the search engines. But then they waste 99 out of every 100 visitors that they spent so much time and effort getting, simply because they failed to invest in ขasking the expertsข (their visitors) first. Had they taken the time to optimize their site for conversion rate, before driving the traffic their results would be 10x more profitable.

The great news for you is, so few online businesses are currently testing anything! This means that you are in a position to absolutely dominate your competition by simply listening to the true experts… Your visitors!

Copyright 2004 Eric Graham

About The Author

Want to improve your conversion rates? Eric Graham is the CEO of several successful online companies. A top authority on eCommerce & Internet Marketing, heกs an indemand speaker & consultant. Visit www.websiteevaluations.com today for an indepth evaluation to boost YOUR websites conversion rate!

This article was posted on September 14, 2004

by Eric Graham

Playing With The Color And Image

Playing With The Color And Image

by: Blur Loterina

Does your image appear good on the screen, but looks blurred, jagged or fuzzy when you print it?

To clearly see the difference of the quality of image on screen and on print, take an image from the internet. Zoom it out or make it larger. Can you see how series of little squares appear on the image? Try to print it and you’ll see that the color will fade. There will be a change in the resolution.

Resolution is, basically, the sharpness or crispness of an image. When an image is shrunk, the color looks lively. When you blow it or enlarge it, the color will fade and the image will look unclear.

Resolution is defined as the number of pixels contained in the monitor. Pixel, from the words ขpicture elementข, is the basic unit of programmable color in a computer image. The resolution is measured by the number of dots per inch (dpi), which is equal to the numbers of squares of color in an inch. A standard resolution for an image should be 300dpi and 400dpi for images containing text.

The resolution of an image is inversely proportional to the size of the image. In other words, when you increase the size of the image the resolution decreases, and vice versa. For example, if you enlarge an image, the size, of course, increases. But the quality or sharpness of the image decreases, giving you a blurred image.

When you extract images from the internet, most probably, you will have a poor quality image. Internet images are mostly saved in GIF or JPEG file format, which only consumes 72dpi. The purpose of saving image files on this resolution is to make the image easy to extract. Meaning, these images are not for print use.

Scanners, digital camera, computer monitor and other display devices use the RGB (red, green, blue) color mode, while in the printing process CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) color mode is used. Meaning, you have to expect change in the color of the image when you print it. To reduce the problem, you must convert your image from RGB to CMYK. There are image editing programs that offer color conversion, such as Photoshop or Corel PhotoPaint.

Do not expect to get good images from the internet. You must resort to other sources like real photos or pictures from magazines. When you scan, compare the size of the photo to the size of your layout. If the photo is larger than your layout, scanning at 300dpi is enough. If it is smaller, adjust your scanner’s resolution setting and percentage size. If there are texts over the image, lighten the image so the text will be readable. If you do not know how create good prints, you can resort to a printing press.

About The Author

Blur Loterina

You may wonder why I write articles. Besides from the fact that it’s my job, I used to write short stories when I was younger. I think it would be helpful if I said I’m a big fan of Zach de la Rocha and Rage Against the Machine. This would explain my own views about a lot of things. Their songs were about national issues, politics and human rights. They support the American Indian Movement and Che Guevara, the face you see on tshirts. Not that it concerns me. I only like their music and idealism.

I’m not an artist, I’m not a poet. I just love writing anything I want. I wasn’t born a genius, I just want to know and understand something I don’t. I like to find the difference between similar things. It’s like counting birthmarks on each identical twin.

For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to http://www.printingquotesonline.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 07

by Blur Loterina

Do Things Right Or Do The Rights Things?

Do Things Right Or Do The Rights Things?

by: David Moore

There’s a difference between doing things right and doing the right things. Which do you think is most important? Is it more important in your homesbased internet business to make sure you do things right or is it more important to make sure you do the right things? Before answering this question take a few minutes to think through the difference.

Doing things right means dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s, making sure every procedure and function is carefully followed and everything is well organized. As one of my uncles used to say, ขif a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing right.ข Another expression often used is ขa place for everything and everything in its proper place.ข Make sure you organize, make sure you don’t forget any application, and make sure you follow through diligently.

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can do things right and totally miss the mark. How so? It’s like the example given by Stephen Covey in his popular book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey relates a story about a company that was hired to clear a path through a jungle. They prepared well in advance, making sure all the tools were in good repair and even making provision for specialists to accompany the team to keep the blades on the tools sharpened on a regular basis. There were cooks and dieticians to ensure the crew was provided nourishing meals so their strength would not give out. Mathematicians were hired to calculate how much work cold be done each day in order to provide an accurate estimate of the completion date. They were doing things right.

Then someone climbed a tree and looked around and said, WRONG JUNGLE. The lesson? You can have all your ducks in a row and operate a business with absolute precision. You’re doing things right. Problem is you’re doing the wrong things. And if you keep doing the wrong things, accurate and precise as they are, you won’t achieve the desired results.

It’s the same way with every aspect of life, including operating an online workfromhome business. Too many people spend all their time organizing their office, creating all kinds of email folders, and following every suggestion they read in precise detail, fully believing that this kind of precision will bring success to their endeavor. They have no time left to analyze their business plan to see if they are doing the right things, selling the right products based on their own skills and interests, or promoting the right services based on what they are passionate about. So they settle for something they’re not really interested in thinking that organizational factors will compensate for their lack of passion and they will still be successful. Not so. You can’t sell any product or any service unless you are fully convinced of its value. You might think you can, but your lack of enthusiasm will be evident in ways you do not even realize.

It’s not that we shouldn’t do our best to do things right, keeping our tools sharpened, but doing the right things is a whole lot more important for realizing effectiveness. It takes a different mind set to understand this. I call it the BIG PICTURE. In an online business what is more important managing, maintaining, sustaining, and carefully organizing your autoresponse emails to your potential affiliates and your down line, or making sure your understand the components of your online business plan so you can communicate it with the confidence that you really understand it for yourself? You always want to make sure you are in the right jungle. If you are not you may make all kinds of progress in staying organized, but not much when it comes to building an effective down line. Think about it. Which is more important to you, and where do you spend most of your time, doing things right or doing the right things?

I had a son who played basketball in college. His sophomore year he was extremely successful making 3point field goals. In fact his name is still in the School’s record book as having the highest 3point field goal percentage in a season. He started every game and shot 49.8 percent for the year. Most people can’t shoot that well from behind the arc when they are warming up and not being guarded. Ryan was successful that year because he was doing the right things, staying within the team system and shooting only when he was open or when coming off a solid screen.

The next season he was so confident he decided it wasn’t necessary for him to work within the system of patiently waiting for the open shot or running the play through to completion until he had a solid screen. Consequently many times he was off balance when he shot or a defender was in his face causing him to alter the trajectory of the shot. He thought he was doing things right because he had a knack for making the longrange shot. Needless to say his 3point field goal percentage dropped dramatically. I remember watching one game when he was so out of sync and at such a loss of confidence that he didn’t score a single point the entire game. His mistake was that he spent all of his practice time concentrating on perfecting his shot delivery technique (doing things right) while neglecting the BIG PICTURE, which is the fundamentals of disciplined teamwork, playing within the system, and consequently doing the right thing.

So what’s more important to the success of your online business, perfecting your techniques or focusing on the components of your business plan so you can always be sure you IN THE RIGHT JUNGLE.

About The Author

David Moore is a member of the Wealth Online Website system. He is a home based online business entrepreneur and teaches at University (parttime). Dave has also served on the administrative staff of a faithbased humanitarian aid organization. He has completed post graduate programs in both Cross Cultural Communications and Higher Education Administration. He believes that all selfgenerated wealth must include a provision for giving back to the commmunity, the church, and other worthy causes. If you would like more information on his online business, please visit his website at: DavidMoore.ws

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 23

by David Moore

Google The Next Step In IM

Google The Next Step In IM

by: John Tulus

As Google keeps on expanding, it was only a matter of time before they entered the IM arena.

Although there have been several rumours regarding the acquisition of Jabber by Google, it is now more likely that they will acquire Meetro from Meetroduction.

Meetro is a locationaware networking software, the main objective of which is to find people in the ‘real worldก that are close by to hang out with.

In their own words at Meetroกs website:

‘technically speaking, Meetro is radius and proximity based software. Untechnically speaking, it finds likeminded people around you instantly. Wherever you are. So whether you’re intown or out of town, Meetro gets you on the town with old friends or new acquaintances.ก

Through the software, you can locate people that are online, but within a certain radius. That means that they are online, and close to you, making it easier to connect and meet up with that person.

Of course, having more products and services to offer, will allow Google to create a type of ขuser loyaltyข from users that now use Yahoo, MSN or other IM applications for chatting, thus also having more ways of creating exposure to ads.

Learn more about Meetro at: www.meetro.com/index.html

About The Author

John Tulus is Marketing Director at Web Marketing Experts, developer of internet marketing solutions to help companies increase sales and profitability online.

If you would like to learn more about Internet Marketing, visit Our Website at http://www.wmxp.com and http://www.webcontents.org or email John at [email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 11

by John Tulus

Don’t Shoot The (Yahoo) Messenger!

Don’t Shoot The (Yahoo) Messenger!

by: Jakob Jelling

Most anyone whose kids have become teenagers over the last few years has almost certainly at least heard of กIMก. Itกs become a verb among not only teens, but many adult surfers too. As in กIM me later!ก. For anyone who doesn’t know, IM, or Instant Messaging, is software that lets people communicate over the Internet, well, instantly. Or nearly so with only slight delays most of the time, instant messaging has always allowed users to type messages back and forth over the Internet. Itกs a lot like passing a note in class, with new parts of a conversation added on to the end of previous parts. Yahoo Messenger was one of the first to offer both IM software and a lane on the information superhighway for IM messages to travel.

But as the kids have grown, so has Yahoo Messenger. Itกs a lot more than a mere teen toy now. Yahoo, in an effort to attract and retain loyalty to itกs brand, offers email, a personalized My Yahoo Portal, an address book, calendar, maps, bookmarks, a toolbar, and other services, many of them integrated to work together. But they seem to have paid special attention to Yahoo Messenger, especially recently. As more surfers have moved to highspeed internet connections, Yahoo has upgraded Yahoo Messenger to include Launchcast Radio, Yahoo Games, and of course, a considerable selection of customization options.

Perhaps the biggest change, and one many adult surfers will most appreciate, is the addition of Webcam, photo, and voice chat capabilities. Voice chat, in particular, will probably appeal to a broad audience. With it, a pair of speakers, and a microphone, you can talk live with contacts, over the Internet, even internationally, for free, using voice over IP technology. Most of the time, depending on network traffic between you and the other party, the conversation is loud & clear, and there is very little delay.

You may have wondered why your teens would prefer to type messages when they can just as easily call their friends. Now, with Yahoo Messenger, they, and you, can do both, using the same software!

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on October 11, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Networked Markets Are Democratic, Structured Marke

Networked Markets Are Democratic, Structured Markets Are Republican.

by: Bob King

Today I was checking out Michelleกs A Small Victory. There are threads on selfpublishing that mutated into a dispute about trolls, who was a troll, and whether linking to Little Green Footballs was as กunnuancedก as linking to กDemocratic Underground.ก
At one point a troll popped up and I had to blogroll him! The Troll Patrol. Itกs protected troll habitat, and of course I had to say that, daring them to do their worst. and taunting them with my Trolls Unlimited Cafepress Section
And then I commented a couple of threads at Michelleกs, making the point that she might wish to use cafepress to publish a book sheกs working on and should probably have teeshirts with the Best Bon Mots of the Day. To show that Zazzle.com was the way to go there, I posted this:
Ok… now, is this trollery, shrewed marketing, editorial comment or what?
Well, itกs all of the above and a new clue about the new networked economy.
Iกve made the point before that money is in a way simply Representative of ideas in motion just as are goods and services.
Zazzle.com and Cafepress.com are two examples of new, consumercreator driven media the antithesis of topdown marketing models. They are viral, marketed between friends and among interest groups and can be intensely topical. Thereกs no investment barrier. I create artwork or write words, and I กsellก those images and words. The company merely puts the images on the chosen media, and they make their money on that.
They are both making MORE money by realizing that they do not have to shape the tastes and opinions of their consumers. And as I stated in Jump on the Cluetrain that means people are the new brands.
Michelle is a brand. I am a brand. Tacitus and Dkos are brands.
But the traditional brands for peas and pajamas and politics those are in deep, deep trouble.
The vast uncommitted center in the upcoming election will not be voting for a republican or a democrat. They will be voting for either the George Bush brand or the John Kerry brand neither of which bears a great resemblance to the traditional, bland and homogeneous image of their respective parties.
And itกs worth checking out how people are playing on those brands:
Anti Bush activists are vitriolic.
Pro Kerry can be summed up as กbeing praised with faint damns.ก
Pro Bush is almost all antibush, with a few genuine items that prove that those few that are for bush and are on Cafepress are somewhat conventionalminded, humorimpaired, or just plain freakynuts.
Iกm interpreting this as being simply that social conservatives view this sort of venue as sheer anarchist chaos with no focused central message.
And it is an antiathoritarian venue for sure, because (with certain vague and tiny limitations), you can say whatever the hell you like on a Cafepress product, and benefit by it or not. The market determines if anyone gives a damn about your กbrandก of speech.
As Papa Heinlein observed; กMoney is the sincerest form of applause.ก

About The Author

Bob King writes regularly for Graphictruth.com and Wall/Fire eZines. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

This article was posted on July 12, 2004

by Bob King