JimWorld Gazette Issue #32 12/12/1997

Gazette - Issue #32 - December 12, 1997

-- Stuff
-- From Gazeteers
-- Gazeteers Spanning The Globe
-- How To Start A Newsletter
-- Your Email Signature File
-- Need To Run Ads On Your Site?
-- More From The Fringe
-- Snippets
-- WebRazor - A Power Tool

Link to this issue of the Gazette as http://gazetteworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=g32

STUFF

A fast update. The Gazette grew by an average of 650 new subscribers each of the past 3 weeks. That almost assures us of reaching the magical 10,000 email subscribers by the end of 1997. In addition to our current 9,050 email subscribers, there are an additional 1,100 PointCast subscribers and approximately 1,200 that view the Gazette each week using their web browser. By the end of the year, the Gazette will have gone from 0 to 13,000 subscribers in just 7 months. Most of that growth is due to all of you who have posted links to VirtualPROMOTE, placed the Gazette subscription banner on your site and mentioned the Gazette and VirtualPROMOTE when you post to discussion groups. Thank you. This list is now moving under its own power and I am impressed with what you have done to turn it into the largest promotion newsletter on the Net.

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Just for the heck of it I have loaded several web sites that we have developed over the past few months onto my personal WebSuite server here on my desktop. You can look them over at http://www.jimworld.nu/ and follow the links to the Portfolio. There are also some samples of things like JavaScript buttons that change when the mouse is over them. Just some stuff that I thought you might enjoy looking at.

This is also the address to chat with other webmasters in the VirtualPROMOTE Chat room. Stop in and create a crowd. The best time to meet some people in the chat room seems to be about 9:00 PM Pacific time. I have been trying to be there as well and we have had some lively discussions.

Now that the WebSuite server has been upgraded to handle high-performance demands, it runs a lot faster. You'll be surprised at how fast it seems especially considering it is running over a $35.00 per month cable modem connection to the Net.

Of course, if you see something there that you like and you need a bit of help developing a site or promoting it, you might drop me a note. One thing that you will learn how to do from looking at these sites is to keep your pages from spreading out all over a monitor that is bigger than 13" or running at higher resolution. Your site should look good regardless of the size of the monitor your visitor is using. The control is created by using nested tables in the pages. Take a look at the source code. If you have trouble doing this, let me know. VirtualPROMOTE is not about site design, but I could be talked into creating a tutorial about page control. It's that important!

By next week, I hope to have it reachable with its own domain name. JimWorld.

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To all of you who were kind enough to offer services and products for next year's Gazette Sweepstakes and haven't heard back from me, I apologize. I have had a horrible cold and just barely made it though the week as it was. I liked everything I saw and will get back to you this week.

We still have room for a lot more stuff. Anything that you think would make a good prize for a webmaste consider putting it in the prize pool. I prefer something that you can donate at least every 3 months. Monthly is better, but the bigger prizes are different. We need site hosting, graphics service, site make overs, CGI programming, promotion services, banner ads, web software, books, mugs, pens and other logo stuff. There will be one prize each month with a bunch of stuff with VirtualPROMOTE all over it. First set goes to me.

FROM GAZETEERS

I've been wondering if everyone understands why I include messages from Gazeteers in the newsletter. There are a few different reasons, so I might as well lay it out for our newer subscribers. I think the older, seasoned Gazeteers already understand.

To show everyone, but especially the new subscribers, that the things we talk about here really do work. The fair play approach to web promotion is the lasting way.
That there are people doing the the right way and winning. In their own words they tell their own motivating stories.
To give everyone places to look for examples of web community building efforts that are paying off. These are webmasters that you will be able to learn from just by seeing what and how they are doing their thing.
A bit of recognition for people working hard to do things the right way.
I love to show off the nice compliments I get from so many of you. While there are sound business reasons behind VirtualPROMOTE and the Gazette, that only goes so far. At 3 in the morning when I'm trying to find one more special tip for you, those emails make the difference. Thanks to all of you who take the time from your busy day to keep me motivated.

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"I cannot say enough about your work that you give for free to so many of us that are learning on the web. For myself, my sales are up 100 percent and everyday I get at least 5 info requests for my puppies that I now sell on line. Although the site still needs a lot of revamping, the customers seem to like the homey format. With your submissions tips it has done the trick for me."

Joanna Cote mailto:joanna.c@kermode.net
Allegro Siberians http://www.kermode.net/petlove

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"I am a tile installation contractor Jim. There really are very few contractors on the net. But I have found that having a web site has really changed my business. I've been doing tile installation for years and found the net has really added a nice bounce to my step. There are so many ways that the Internet can help contractors. It's too bad that so many don't use it. I see it when I look in the want ads or the display section for contractors. Nobody has a URL!

I am increasing my hits, but it's fun work. I try to reach out and contact other related businesses, not just wait for something to happen. Every so often though somebody comes by and wants an installation job. One lady, when she was browsing USA Today's "hotsite" section, spotted my site listed there. This happened when she was vacationing in Arizona. She saw my site and when she got back to San Rafeal, Ca., she phoned me. I bid on her job and then installed a beautiful tile bathroom floor for her. She has a neighbor that wants the same type of work.

I really could go "on and on" telling you about stories of jobs I received off the net. But I just want to thank you for giving so much great information, and helping me make my business more successful.

Keep up the great work!
Bill Furner
"Ask Mr.Tile"

http://www.pyramidtile.com
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"I want to say that we at Gifts Unlimited look forward to your news letters every week.

Getting a business on the web is a frustrating task to say the least. Everyone out there knows how hard it is to get noticed.

We have been on the internet for just over 5 months now. We were lucky to get 2 or 3 hits a day at first. Since reading the Gazette and using your information we get close to 50 a day now. And I am hoping the numbers will keep growing.

We do not rely on the internet as our primary income. We hope to be able to do that one day. Right now we are being patient and working hard on the web site.

I want to touch on spamming a bit. We have tried it, and found it to be a no-no. One of the biggest mistakes we made was bulk emailing. Yes, it was a desperate attempt to get hits and shoppers. However, we found real quick it is the worst thing we could have done.

We are human and as humans we will make mistakes. However, we learn. And I will be the first one to admit it.

Bulk email, spamming, is considered by many to be a very unprofessional way of doing business. I must admit at first I didn't see the problem. I saw our bulk email being no different than the flyers you get in your mail box announcing your local supermarket specials. Or a television commercial. After all we don't ask to get those flyers or watch those commercials. We just see them and get them. So I figured what was the difference in announcing our web site and specials using bulk email. Boy was I amazed at the hate mail we got back. I sent out 100,000 in one week.

Guess how much I sent out the 2nd week? None!! The bulk emailing stopped when I realized that I was doing our business more harm than good. We value our good customer service and our reputation far to much to jeopardize it just for a few hits.

So now I keep working on the search engines.

Thanks to the gazette for everything!!"

Bob Heishman mailto:dishman@ce.net
Gifts Unlimited http://www.dishman.net

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"Hi. Just a quick thank you for your timely newsletter and your response to my question. I managed to apply some of the info on your page by creating an award (that is not a give-away), applying for some awards myself (landed the Surfers Choice Blue Diamond Award!) - I'm using Smart Clicks, added a discussion board and a simple tag-line and answer a few questions on the programming discussion lists from time to time.

Well, I can't really say how much of the success comes from what tool, but I do know that my page went from zero on August 15 -the date we first went online- to 3300+ visits in November! (All told close to 7000 visitors in under 4 months!) and I know that the techniques you supplied definitely helped. As icing on the cake a programming magazine has just told me that they'll be mentioning my site in their quarterly beginner programmer publication as a resource for beginners. Thanks a bunch for all your advice. Good luck.
--
Burt Abreu mailto:habreu@bellsouth.net
Visual Basic Explorer http://www.vbexplorer.com/

GAZETEERS SPANNING THE GLOBE

Finished figuring out how many countries are represented in the Gazette subscriber list. Thought you might be interested to see where everyone lives. There are 80 countries in all. If you don't see your home country on the list, please drop me a note.

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia (Hrvatska), Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea (South), Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, USSR (former), Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe

HOW TO START A NEWSLETTER

Guess I've shot off my mouth too much about starting a newsletter as one of the best ways to build and strengthen your web community. Now I'm getting a steady flow of 'OK, Jim. Shut up with the you-gotta-do-it-crap and tell us HOW to do it.'

The first thing to consider before starting a newsletter is to carefully and objectively evaluate your site. Is there anything there to build a community around? Is it a dynamic, growing, breathing entity with lots to offer the public? If it is basically a brochure for your product or service, then you aren't ready to build a community. What you are ready for is to build a web site. And that is not the focus of this article. For that discussion, go to http://www.secretsites.com/ and order a couple of David Siegel's books on developing web sites. While you're there, tell David to write some more books. They are that good.

Let's assume that you have a content rich, interesting site that has a potential audience that is reachable on the Internet. Please, read this last sentence again. It is a very big sentence.

Content rich - A few pages of links is not enough to build a community around. An exhaustive directory of links and reviews of sites about a particular subject along with timely information to help the reader get their minds around the subject is content rich. Pictures of your wonderful spas is not content rich. Instructions on trouble shooting spa problems is content rich. Of course, it all has to continue to grow and be kept fresh.

Interesting - It has to be information that is of interest. And it has to avoid the pitfalls of too many web sites. Bad design, big graphics, poor writing, broken links, typos and the rest of that long list you are probably very tired of hearing about from me.

Potential Audience - This is the tough one. We've all heard the old saying that 'Size Doesn't Matter' but to some people it does. The best way to look at this is from your personal perspective. Can you attract enough of an audience (subscribers) to satisfy your personal or business goals? If your subject matter is broad (like web site promotion) and you are willing to work hard enough, you can build a community of thousands. If your subject is Australian Tree Frogs, you may only be dealing with a total universe of a few hundred. Can you meet your objectives with only a few hundred subscribers?

Reachable On The Internet - If your site's focus is on 'Technology Is Evil' or 'How The Amish Can Cope In Today's World', your audience is probably not spending a lot of time on the Internet. You have to do some research and determine if your target audience is best reached on the Net. Maybe you should be starting a paper newsletter instead of a virtual one.

Now the $64,000 Question. What's in it for you? If you want the personal satisfaction of sharing and creating and you have determined from the above questions that your odds of success are tilted enough in your favor to make it worth a try, then go for it. It is more rewarding in those terms than you can possibly imagine. The fact that every week, thousands of people give my voice an audience and a chance to help is a feeling that I wish each of you can experience.

If your goal is to earn an income from the publication of a newsletter, you have a much tougher row to hoe. Not that it can't be done. Danny started Search Engine Watch as a paid subscription service and it was recently acquired by MecklerMedia. I hope for a lot of money. He did a great job and deserves it. But for every success, there are large numbers of failures at trying to charge for content on the web.

If your goal is to help build goodwill and support the marketing effort of your business, then you almost can't go wrong in expanding your web efforts to include a newsletter. But don't think that you can get by with just writing a newsletter about your product or service and call it quits. Your audience is going to want something that informs, educates or helps them in their daily lives. That is how you create goodwill. And when you create that goodwill in a large community, it will come back to you in ways that will amaze you.

My first solid experience with the power of giving away information began about 13 years ago when I started Direct Marketing Network, a boutique ad agency and media production company. I started the DMN News and sent it out to clients and several thousand local small to medium sized businesses. The entire 8 page newsletter was nothing more than a collection of demographic and buying pattern information tidbits. Things like '80% of all movie goers on Friday nights stop for dessert after the movies and the food of choice is anything chocolate in the $5 per person range.' You can get a lot of these tidbits in 8 pages. On the last page I put a small pitch for the agency.

Most of our new business over the next 5 years came from people who had been receiving the News for a long time and finally came up with a need for our services. I can't begin to guess how many times someone said that some one or two tips in the newsletter had made them more profitable in their business.

Take the long view of business. Look down the road and decide what feeling you want people to have when they decide to do business with you. Create a desire in them to seek you out because of the quality of your service and information. And they will seek you out. Just keep writing.

Next week, for those of you who are still motivated to start a newsletter, we will move on to the mechanics of actually starting and growing one. This week, give careful consideration to why you want to start one, and to the amount of work involved. The following are just some of the issues we need to discuss:

--Naming it.
--Where to get news.
--How to get subscribers.
--Where to list and promote your newsletter.
--How to write it.
--How to prep it for mailing.
--How to mail it.
--How to get advertisers.
--Do you need Push?

YOUR EMAIL SIGNATURE FILE

I forgot to give the most important tip of all about sig files last week. Sorry. I finally made a mistkae. Had to happen eventually.

Any time you make or change a sig file, send yourself a message and look at the sig. Does it fit in the email window without wrapping? Is everything clickable? Do the links work? Does it look good?

And PLEASE. Don't use ?subject= or any other ?whatever= as part of the email address. It's a great concept but most email programs won't work with it. It causes an error and you lose. People won't go to the extra trouble of fixing your mistake to send you a message.

Another common mistake that you will catch with the test email message is a divider line that is too long. It should just be enough to divide the sig from the message.

-------------------- is about enough. Don't try to make it exactly the width of your sig. Every computer font displays characters in different widths so you run the risk of making it way too big on many computers. What looks perfect to you may wrap around on somebody else's machine.

And DO put a divider so that everyone knows that this is your sig and is an allowable commercial message. Without it, the sig just looks like part of the message.

Don't get fancy with <><><><><><> or $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ or other cutesy stuff. Be professional and don't try to look like a Get Rich Quicker with cutsy sigs.

If you want people to take you seriously, create a serious image. Put the creative effort into clean layout and a killer tag line.

You've got a divider and 5 lines to create a compulsion to visit your site. If it were easy, every site on the web would have lines of people waiting to get in.

Actually, the mailto: is very valuable for a few reasons.

Newbies don't usually know how to respond to an email. They're more likely to click on your address, than to know how to hit the reply button.
When something you've written gets forwarded (which we all hope happens a lot) the return address no longer works.
In a newsgroup posting the only way to reply is to cut and paste your non-clickable 'from' address at the head of the posting, or to click on a clickable address in the sig. It is much handier to have a clickable address.

The email address should look like this mailto:jim@jimworld.com (you can get by without the <> but it looks better and totally eliminates the possibility of put punctuation after the address and making it non-working.

I've gotten a lot of sigs from last week's Gazette article. Thanks. The most common mistake I see so far is a tendency to put WAY TOO MUCH in the sig. If you have a lot of different products or services to talk about, set up different sigs and rotate through them. If you go over 5 lines it is too long.

Also, don't center your sig. Make it left justified. This is due to the same problem of character size. It may look centered to you, but when I get them, they are all over the place. Just keep it simple. That works best. The only thing harder to read than a centered sig is a centered web site. Long lines of centered text on a site screams 'amateur' in a loud, piercing voice.

--End of badgering Gazeteers about sig files (for now.)

NEED TO RUN ADS ON YOUR SITE?

The decision to run banner ads on your site in order to generate revenue is an easy decision to make, but a hard one to implement. In order for an advertiser to place a buy with you one of two things has to occur: either the advertiser will accept your word for the number of impressions you will supply or you have to cough up some big bucks and bigger effort to acquire the technology to serve up banners in a way that can be audited by a third party to insure that the advertiser got everything that was paid for.

For smaller sites the only barely viable option has been to establish a relationship with some advertisers and try to deliver enough click-throughs or sales for them to continue buying ad space from you. The advertiser usually feels uncomfortable that they might not be getting everything they paid for, and the web site operator always feels that they have had to deliver more than they got paid for just to keep the relationship alive. But it does work, sort of. Everyone is happy, sort of.

The alternative of having audit statistics for banner displays has not been affordable to the medium and small site operator. Even the big guys have trouble keeping their own accounting software running and the bills for independent auditing eat up a lot of the income.

Now there appears to be the first answer just showing over the horizon. NetGravity, one of the leading makers of online ad-serving software, this week will announce that it will begin serving ads on a cost-per-impression basis for small and midsize sites.

Previously, such sites only had access to NetGravity's targeting and reporting capabilities by purchasing software from the company or by going through a network that used NetGravity's software.

The new program, called AdCenter, will provide sites with 24-hour online access to manage their inventory, schedule ads, and receive reports. The exact pricing has not yet been determined.

Pricing has not been announced, but NetGravity has been around long enough to know that they have to scale their system and their prices to help the smaller sites if they want those smaller sites to grow into nice, big, fat clients for the full range of services NetGravity has to offer. Keeping a small site too hungry is a great way to make sure that the site never matures into a powerhouse, content and traffic rich site.

I don't know this for a fact, but I would be willing to bet that we will see most of the other players in the banner-serving business follow this move. There just aren't enough big sites to feed all those mouths. If they do in fact move in this direction, it will send a strong message that the web advertising industry is getting the message. Just like cable TV that took several years to discover the smaller advertiser, the Internet must make the same discovery.

Look for more information next week at http://www.netgravity.com/sales/adhost.html Read the story at WebWeek http://www.webweek.com/current/news/19971208-maker.html

MORE FROM THE FRINGE

Jim,

I have been enjoying your anti-spam articles. Here's a classic for your file. I received this today and thought of you when I read it. Notice the paragraph at the bottom of the letter. This person has informed me that I asked for this junk mail because I am a webmaster. Now that takes the cake. I am sure to be signed up for every fraudulent scheme simply because I unknowingly "invite interactive communication".

Ron Osterman

>
>Attention: Osterman, Ron
>
>The MEDIAnet banner network is helping thousands of
>website owners earn a regular monthly sponsorship income.
>
> MEDIAnet
> http://www.momentumplus.com/media/
>
>Hope you find it interesting.
>
>Regards,
> Anthony L Tobin
>
>-------------------------------
>This is not an unsolicited e-mail. Our research shows
>that you are either a webmaster, owner or manager of
>at least one professional website. By their very nature,
>websites invite interactive communication.

----Jim -- Yes, this one does take the cake -- so far. Every time I think I've seen it all, new email comes in to remind me that there is no 'all'. People stay up late thinking up this stuff. They should get a good night's sleep instead.

Ron, I would have given your site a little plug here, but alas -- no sig file. Shame. Shame.

SNIPPETS

I just have to take a moment to again remind you that there are no instances in the English language that call for two spaces after a period. That was a bad habit that was taught to every typing student in high school.

Pick up a brochure for any product you care to. Take a look at the typesetting that was carefully done. Do you see two spaces after each of the periods? If you do, you are holding the results of a graphic designer being over ruled by a technically oriented client that didn't have the good sense to listen to his/her designer.

Using two spaces after periods makes your carefully thought out marketing communications look like someone's high school typing project. Don't print the brochure. Use the money to go out to dinner instead. At least then the money won't be wasted.

Thank you for letting me once again vent.

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By God, Jim. You just made my day! I did not know, until I read it in your Gazette today that preceding an email address with "mailto:" would make it clickable! This small bit of information was worth a great deal more than the "price of admission." The tid-bits you dribble out in your newsletter are priceless! I read every morsel with relish! Thanks for being there!

--Jim-- I would have included a name and link to this kind subscriber's site, but alas - no signature file was attached. Too bad. Maybe next time. To all Gazeteers: Do you have your sig file done yet? --

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Submit your travel oriented site to InTourNet's Mediterranean Gateway http://www.intournet.co.il Comprehensive guide to travel services in Israel and the Mediterranean Region. Includes Israeli hotels found on the web, travel agents, marina and yachting information and online concierge service. Reviews travel sites and sets up links.

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Global Business Center http://www.euromktg.com/gbc/ indexes sites from all over the world and keeps them broken down by language. This an excellent place to start searching for non-English sites to which you can submit. Submit you own site to Global as well, of course.

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From Ireland comes the Virtual Retail site. http://www.vretail.com/ Use their submit form to get listed in their directory, no matter where you're from.

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Humor Search is worth a visit just to take a break from virtual reality (huh?) http://www.humorsearch.com/ A great database of humor, plus a big directory of humor sites. If your site is funny (by design, or by accident) submit it to Humor Search.

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ESR's Conservative Site of the Day is looking for submissions! The site officially launches January 1, 1998 and is looking for the best in digital conservatism to showcase Monday through Friday. ESR's CSotD can be found at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/8031 and all submissions can be sent to mailto:csite@geocities.com.

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World Wide Art Resources http://wwar.world-arts-resources.com/ is a directory of over 3,000 sites covering a wide range of web resources exclusively for the arts. From museums, galleries, and children's art resources to film, theater, dance and antiques. If your site fits into the world of the arts, submit it.

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For the manysubscribers that sent me notes about the video article last week, here is a bit of additional info about Premiere, my choice as best non-linear editing software.

"Adobe Premiere Resource Center is the home of Adobe Premiere Editor's Journal. Adobe Premiere Resource Center has an extensive list of digital video resources. If you are looking for 3D, digital video related magazines, or royalty-free music resources visit our site today. Adobe Premiere Resource Center also has an extensive list of tutorials for Premiere and they are creating several new tutorials each month. Adobe Premiere Resource Center is the learning source for Premiere Users.

"Adobe Premiere Discussion and Support" is a free 24-hour a day discussion and support forum, open to everyone. "We review and reply to questions posed by visitors regarding specific Premiere related software products, providing the kind of real world, personalized support most people are looking for," explains Stewart Cruse. If you need help with Adobe Premiere give our discussion and support forum a try today. This is where Premiere users gather to exchange ideas, get advice, tips, techniques, tutorials and talk about hardware and software issues.

"Used Video Equipment Buy/Sell" forum is a place where every individual can post their used video equipment they want to sell. "Individuals have sold their equipment within hours of posting." said Stewart Cruse. Individuals looking for equipment can post a wish list. Used Video Equipment Buy/Sell is only open to individuals, no commercial postings are allowed. If you are looking to sell some used equipment or in the market to buy some equipment, check out Used Video Equipment Buy/Sell."

Adobe Premiere Editor's Journal is a monthly newsletter that gets the user up and running quickly. Whether you are a new Premiere user or a seasoned pro, Adobe Premiere Editor's Journal has what you need. A free sample is available by visiting their web site: http://www.adobepremieresupport.com

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Lycos has been making a lot of changes to their search engine. They announced several new features this week at Internet World.

The company rolled out a set of tools for users to submit ratings for Web sites, and announced that the ratings data will be incorporated into its search feature. This gives the users a voice to help Lycos determine which is good versus not-so-good.

The newly overhauled Lycos Search tool now includes the ability to narrow a search by querying the current search results for a new term; the ability to restrict a search to Web page titles; the ability to search within a specific Web site or domain; a tool for searching on specific URLs; and added quick-search capability for worldwide, national and local news and weather.

The search engine also now automatically eliminates dead links, Lycos officials said.

This is all aimed at getting the spam off of the search results and present the user with a list of resources that actually have content. Stacked
Read the whole story at ZDNet http://www5.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/zdnn/1211/262455.html

Showing that their new system really does work, VirtualPROMOTE made the 'short list' for promotion. That proves the quality of Lycos's new stuff! http://www.lycos.com/resources/webdesign/0005000.html

WebRazor - A POWER TOOL

I have been testing WebRazor from Ulead for several weeks. During that time it moved from being tested to 'No. You can't have it back!'

WebRazor is an extensive suite of graphics tools that will make your life easier every time you sit down to create something new for the web.

I the box you get several great toys:

Gif Animator --The best animator I've run across. Enough special effects transitions to satisfy the producers of Home Improvements. Of course, effects take bandwidth, so you can't get really carried away. The compression of GIF animations is excellent and lets you try different settings until you get the size and look that is the best compromise.
Animation SmartSaver -- The compression program is also available as a stand alone program that lets you recompress existing animations. Works just as well as the feature in the Gif Animator.
Gif SmartSaver -- The most flexible program to compress GIF files that it has been my pleasure to use. Shows you the before and after in a side-by-side display. Lots of fine tuning controls that let you get the best compression without degrading the look of the image.
JPEG SmartSaver -- Just as good as the GIF SmartSaver except it lets you compress your JPEG files.
Photo Explorer -- I can't live without this one. Point this program at a directory and it creates and displays thumbnail versions of every graphic in that directory. It leaves behind a file full of the thumbnail images so that the next time you look, it only has to create thumbnails for the new or changed images.
Photo Viewer -- A fast, slick viewer that lets you open just about any format of graphic file. One of those applications that you take for granted, unless you don't have one.
Web Plugins -- A wonderland of plug-ins for Photoshop. Powerful imaging software like Adobe Photoshop isn't specifically designed for Web use. That's why you need Ulead Web.Plugins for Photoshop to add one-step seamless tileable backgrounds and drop shadows, 3D buttons and text banners, frames and image map tags, with all the special effects you'd expect from a pro. For the web master, this set of plugins enhances Photoshop's strengths and, with all due respect, makes up for its weaknesses.

Based on award-winning PhotoImpact WebExtensions web imaging technology, Web.Plugins for Photoshop works with Adobe Photoshop 3.x/4.x (including the LE version), Jasc Paint Shop Pro 4.1+, Micrografx Picture Publisher 6.0+, Corel Photo Paint 6.0+ and other image editors compatible with 32-bit Photoshop Effect and Acquire plugin filters.

If you want to keep your site looking state-of-the-art, you are going to have to step up to the world of professional tools for graphic creation. You might as well get the best - WebRazor.

There have been some new releases from Ulead and I've asked them to send them for review. I'll keep you posted.

Visit Ulead at http://www.ulead.com/

To read this review in its expanded version with sample screen shots, visit http://www.jimworld.com/webrazor.html