I hope you enjoy this month's topic. We had a lot of requests for how to do an email newsletter, so here you go. This is your newsletter, so if you like or don't like something about it, please email us at newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com and we will adapt. Like everything on the Web, we too at Bull Moose Marketing need to be flexible... Thanks for reading, Nick Ellinger CEO, Bull Moose Marketing, LLC. Insourcing Resources (other than us) Obviously, Bull Moose Marketing is your one-stop shop for all things e-marketing--Web development and marketing. But let's say, for some strange reason, you would prefer to do it yourself? Here are a number of tools that will assist you in your quest. (And, in the end, if you still would prefer us, click here for a free consulting report. Web design So, you want to build a Web site? Try these resources: Webmasterbase: Also a fairly comprehensive site, with step-by-step instructions from design to hosting to e-commerce capabilities. World Wide Web consortium: The gurus of the Web. Among many other things, their site has a number of design resources. One of our favorites is the style sheets guide. Net Monkey: Tutorials on major topics in coding and design. A variety of languages for you to learn. Also, we strongly recommend taking a site you like, viewing the source, and seeing how they created it. It's free and easy, but don't make it too easy. If you use too much of the look and feel in your site, you will be in copyright violation and you open yourself up to lawsuits. And life is too short to spend it with lawyers. Troubleshooting Now you have your site, but you want to work the bugs out. Try some of these sites: Jakob Nielsen's site: The Web usability guru. He is often too spartan for our taste, favoring minimal graphics and maximum text. However, his ideas are sound and few have more tips on creating a site that is easy to use. Net Mechanic: A particular favorite of ours. It will check your code, compress your graphics, submit your URL to search engines, change your oil, and have you out the door in a jiffy. And you don't have to pay a lot (sometimes nothing) for the muffler. Markup Validation: The World Wide Web consortium provides an HTML validator, which is a great help. You will also want to look at your site in Netscape, Internet Explorer, and (gasp) AOL. Different browsers display different ways and just because everything lines up in IE doesn't mean that AOL users will see your site well. You may also want to try different monitor sizes and resolutions to make sure you aren't forcing users to scroll horizontally or look at unattractive images. Translation If you want to make a global impact, you are going to need a global face. Here are a few services that can help you sprechen, parlez, hanashimasu, and hablar around the globe: Berlitz translation services: If you want to work with actual people to translate your content, Berlitz can broker a deal for you with professional translators. Trados: For the techier among us, this is a multilingual content management tool that takes humans out of the loop. For small jobs, try Google translation, which allows you to translate pages one at a time. This may be unnecessary if you do business entirely in the United States. But wait! Would you like to tap into the Hispanic market? You can't neglect Spanish. Other languages in the US lag behind, but Spanish is important for consumer sites. Add on features These sites provide a little extra: Free search engines at FreeFind and Glimpse. Both are functional; we prefer Glimpse, as it can be ad-free free of charge. Newsletter management at Clientize. Every month, I get to spend a little time with you only because I'm providing you relevant (hopefully) information. Now you can get in front of others with these tools. Anything you need at Bull Moose Marketing's free consulting reports. Hey, I'm impressed I made it this far without saying it. Need other resources? Let us know at newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com. If you would like to subscribe, click here If you would like to unsubscribe, email us at unsubscribe@bullmoosemarketing.com with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. While Bull Moose Marketing and its agents used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein, Bull Moose Marketing does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident or other causes. © 2002 Bull Moose Marketing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. You may freely distribute Bull Moose Marketing material, as long as it bears the following attribution: Source: 2002 Bull Moose Marketing; www.bullmoosemarketing.com/politics