Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

• Newsgroups
• Mailing Lists
• Courtesy

Newsgroups

There are literally thousands of newsgroups and mailing lists on the Internet. Newsgroups can be thought of as a social gathering in which interested parties ask questions and exchange information.

Newsgroups cover virtually all conceivable topics. There are groups for anything computer related (C++, Java, Radio Shack, Sun, Microsoft, VB, etc.), groups for recreation (Driving, Movies, Skydiving, Seasame Street, etc.), groups for hobbies (Pet birds, remote-controlled vehicles, chess, etc.) and more.

Before you jump into a newsgroup with information about your wonderful offerings, STOP! Many, many many sophisticated newgroup participants boycott businesses that actively solicite in a non-business newgroup. Remember, you want to establish a rapport with these people - irritating them is not exactly the way to go. Netnews was originally intended to share information, not to provide free advertising. There are groups relevant to such things (misc.jobs.offered, for example). Check out the Netiquette guide for more information.
[ Return to Top ]

Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are quite excellent sources of information. Lists exist for virtually every subject, such as recruiting, parenting, carnivorous plants, systems administration, etc. There are sites on the Internet which point to hundreds of these groups.

You should consider signing onto one if you are deeply interested in the topic (forget making a sale for the moment). This is one of the beauties of the Internet - people very often will be glad to advise or help out in their areas of expertise.

Consider the following humourous example:

Q: How many internet mail list subscribers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: 1,331:

• 1 to change the light bulb and to post to the mail
• 14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.
• 7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.
• 27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.
• 53 to flame the spell checkers
• 156 to write to the list administrator complaining about the light bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to this mail list.
• 41 to correct spelling in the spelling/grammar flames.
• 109 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please take this email exchange to alt.lite.bulb
• 203 to demand that cross posting to alt.grammar, alt.spelling and alt.punctuation about changing light bulbs be stopped.
• 111 to defend the posting to this list saying that we are all use light bulbs and therefore the posts **are** relevant to this mail list.
• 306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, and what brands are faulty.
• 27 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs
• 14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly, and to post corrected URLs.
• 3 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list.
• 33 to concatenate all posts to date, then quote them including all headers and footers, and then add "Me Too."
• 12 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing because they cannot handle the light bulb controversey.
• 19 to quote the "Me Too's" to say, "Me Three."
• 4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.
• 1 to propose new alt.change.lite.bulb newsgroup.
• 47 to say this is just what alt.physic.cold_fusion was meant for, leave it here.
• 143 votes for alt.lite.bulb.

If you would like to make sales, ensure that you first contact the list owner to see if such a thing is permissable. Again, the key is to establish a good working relationship with potential consumers for the future.
[ Return to Top ]

Courtesy

A little bit of courtesy goes a long, long long long way. Keep in mind that for the most part, the Internet is a gathering of individuals which, like any large crowd, has certain rules of behavior. While violating those rules won't get you shot, it can result in the mail-bombing of your account (yes, there are people who delight in this), the removal of your account from your ISP (if the folks whom you annoy are vocal enough), and other non-pleasant scenarios. Employ good common sense when meeting new people on-line or striking up conversations. Done well, you will start to receive referrals as well as new emails.

[ Return to Top ]