I had an opportunity to surf the web this month as I was searching for a particular item. I am one of those people that has thirty browser windows open at once. When I see something interesting I follow the link to where ever it leads. Sometimes I find myself saying, "What in the world was I looking for when I started?" 

While surfing I find some unusual and interesting sites and thought I would share some of them with you. Some of these I stumbled across, others were sent to me via email and still others were in various newsletters I subscribe to.

Free Trojan Scan Software

Download free Trojan Scanning software

Learn a New Language Online

A dear friend of ours showed me this site and it gives simple word and phrase audio translations for several languages. Scroll down the page and choose your language and away you go. Great for travelers that need to know the basics.

Free PC to PC Phone Calls

If you and someone you would like to call both use Windows 2000 or XP this program allows you to call each other for free. Broadband recommended. We stumbled across this while looking for an inexpensive way for one of our college age sons to keep in touch with his girlfriend. (To bad neither has Windows 2000 or XP).

The Rock

This one came to me in a forward from my Mother, (Love you Mom. Of course she reads the newsletter). A more patriotic rock you will never see! I believe the rock is located along highway 25 somewhere in Iowa.

Mailinator

This is Great! If you want to check out a website or download something without being spammed use Mailinator. Just fill in your email address as rocket@mailinator.com or whatever you want instead of "rocket". Then go to the Mailinator link above and check your mail. Emails only stay on the Mailinator server a few hours so don't take to long.

Links

Quick Home
The PPP Design Community Portal
Don't forget to stop by and submit your site to the special sites section, or place a classified ad.

Google Calculator 
You can now do complex calculations in the 
Google search box.

Google Phonebook 
Type your home phone number in
the search box with dashes (i.e.555-555-1212) and hit enter. If you are like most folks, your information will immediately be displayed for anyone
who inquires.

Webmaster World Forum 
Find out more about what the Google calculator can do.

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 Viral Marketing

I have talked about viral marketing before in this newsletter but I want to clarify what it is and how it works.

An article I read recently described viral marketing as using someone else's resources to promote yourself! This sounds terrible but it's true. That doesn't mean it is a bad marketing technique however. Remember, you are using someone else's resources with their permission and that person is deriving a benefit as well. 

First, an example of viral marketing. PPP Design publishes this newsletter every month, and let's say you think it is so wonderful that you want to post it on your website. Of course it would be foolish for us to deny you this wish. Now you post this newsletter on your site and visitors  think it is wonderful and informative so they come back to your site again and again because they just have to read the newsletter. 

When they have a need for a product or service like yours they think, "Hmmm, let's go to that website that has that wonderful newsletter, after all they offer products or services like the ones we want to purchase."

A win - win situation. You have more visitors and sell more products. PPP Design gets credit for the newsletter and who do you think those visitors will turn to when they need products or services like the ones PPP Design offers?

If our newsletter was geared toward hundreds or thousands of unrelated sites it would be an ideal viral marketing tool. 

You may already have the ideal marketing tool. Your expertise may offer opportunities for viral marketing that you never considered. A simple tip sheet, professionally written, may be a sought after item if it provides clear concise information. A plumber could offer a tip sheet called "How to unplug a drain in 3 easy steps". I would download it, read it, and wait until our next clogged drain provided me an opportunity to show off to my wife. (She knows I can't fix anything but a computer glitch). I will also call that plumber when a serious problem arises.

Remember to include your website address and contact information in your viral marketing piece so the readers that marvel at your knowledge will know who to contact.

Internet Explorer Toolbar Add Button

Have you ever wished you could add a button on your Internet Explorer Toolbar? Maybe a quick link to your favorite site or program. This program does it for you.

IE Toolbar Add Button is a simple, small, free utility that makes the registry changes necessary to add a custom button to the toolbar.

The link below is for Download.com, you can download the program here, be sure to check the system requirements before you install the program. 

The fields you need to fill in to create a button are straight forward and easy to follow. If you have trouble finding an Icon for your button use the Find utility on your start menu and type in *.ico . Remember to write down the path of the Icon and input it in the necessary field. 

I use IE 6 and I made two buttons in five minutes. The program also works with IE4, and IE5. The system requirements don't mention XP but the User Reviews at Download.com mention that it works fine with XP as well as the listed operating systems. 

Download IE Toolbar Add Button at Download.com