Examples of Inappropriate Postings and How to Make them Acceptable

 

It's my hope that the following excerpt of correspondence will illustrate what we mean when we say we will not accept commercial sales pitches. If this doesn't do it, you can read on for several other real examples.

Q:
I was wondering if it would be acceptable to place an announcement for the "Grand Opening" of my new business, Creative Designs (gift baskets & home accents). I read the unacceptable & acceptable examples, but I'm having a hard time wording it, I don't want to post a "sales pitch", but just let everyone know that my business is up & running and that I'm offering a little gift with everyone's first purchase as a thank you from me. Any advice you can give me would be most appreciated!

Thank you again!

Emanuela
Creative Designs
http://members.tripod.com/~giftbaskets

A:
Thanks for being so considerate of our policies! Unfortunately, I don't think that, as you have described it, the article would make it into N-A. I see a lot of articles like the one you have described. I even find many of them interesting to varying degrees. The problem is, is that these sites exist to sell something. They may provide information about the product(s) they sell, but there is no other information or value provided. They are perfectly valid sites, but they don't fit in with the purpose of Net-Announce.

The following unacceptable articles were actually submitted to Net-Announce. Following each is an example of how it would be made acceptale as well as an explanation of why.

UNACCEPTABLE
bobmi@digital-cafe.com
Category: Book
Title: Beginners' Central, a user friendly guide to the Internet

Beginners' Central, is now available in book format!

Beginners' Central is an award winning tutorial for new internet users. I-Way magazine called it one of the top 500 websites in the world.

Now you can purchase an expanded version of Beginners' Central. This 100+ page book is available only from the authors of Beginners' Central.

ISP & Internet Trainers!! We offer special heavy discounts designed to help you.

Visit Beginners' Central today to see the details. http://www.digital-cafe.com/~webmaster/begin00.html

ACCEPTABLE:
bobmi@digital-cafe.com
Category: World-Wide-Web
Title: Beginners' Central, a user friendly guide to the Internet

Beginners' Central is an award winning tutorial for new internet users. I-Way magazine called it one of the top 500 websites in the world.

Visit Beginners' Central today to see the details. http://www.digital-cafe.com/~webmaster/begin00.html

REASON: While Net Announce will post articles from commercial sources, the focus of the article must be on information. In this case, the original article focused on selling the book. However, simply alerting people to the web site will also result in people learning about the book when they visit the site. The site is a good information resource, so we are happy to tell our subscribers about this.

UNACCEPTABLE:
From: xxxxx@texas.net
Category: New
Title:: Handcrafted Cedar and Mesquite Furniture
World Wide Web Address: http://www.xxxxx.com/reddawg/
Designers/Builders Ron and Leanne Richardson have created a memorable lineup of handcrafted western furniture. The line-up is reminiscent of Texas Ranch furniture from the 1800's. Each piece has its own unique one of a kind cowboy flair. Built entirely from hand selected historical native Texas Hill Country Cedar and Mesquite. Designs range from the MILD TO THE WILD!!!!!!!!!!

What's Wrong With the Posting: It's a sales pitch, which we have specifically stated we do not want. There is no focus on information; instead, the entire posting is intended to sell the product. If, for example, this site had provided some information on the history of furniture making, we would post this article.

UNACCEPTABLE:
Category: Commercial
Title: InteleTravel
World Wide Web Address: http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~bristowe/inteletravel.htm
Full service travel agency. Travel better, pay less. Highest quality service.

What's Wrong With the Posting:
 Although this is a commercial site offering very little substance we might still have posted the article due to the fact that there was a modicum of information related to travel as well as their company. However, the URL provided was incorrect. We figure our readers do not want to waste their time hunting down the correct URL.