NetSuds Monthly Report - April 1, 2001


	The May 15 NetSuds Evening Gathering is sponsored by AT&T. Contact John Buelow, 612.376.5767

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        1.0 Heard on the Net
        2.0 Jobs in the "com and .com" Market
        3.0 NetSuds on Tour - Focal and Circata
        4.0 Branding on a Budget
        5.0 Calendar of Events
        6.0 Qwest - Copper Monopoly
        7.0 Qwest - PR Manipulation
        8.0 Apply to Present at a NetSuds Entrepreneurs Breakfast
        9.0 Tidbits
        10.0 Hot Wiring Your Press Releases
        11.0 Minnesota Networking Directory
        12.0 Office Space in Chanhassen
        13.0 Guest Writers for this Report

        Please email: people@netsuds.com to report a change in your
        job status if you are moving from or to a company in the
        "com or .com" space.

        NetSudser Ted Stockwell left Zhone Technologies to pursue other
        interests. Ted was the founder of Roundview Technologies, a
        SAN start-up which was purchased by Zhone in 2000.

        NetSudser Anita Legacy has left Nextel to join Integra Telecom
        as a Marketing Manager. Integra is facilities-based local,
        long distance and data services provider. You may contact
        Anita at either anita.legacy@integratelecom.com or at
        612.328.3710.

        NetSudser Scott Schuman has folded eMarineOnline.com and is now
        VP over at Poseidon Digital.

        NetSudser Ralph Muse has left his position as CEO of NextNet
        Wireless. No landing location has been detected at this time.

        A new NetSudser from Silicon Valley is looking to relocate back
        "home" to the Twin Cities for family reasons. In his current
        position with the Walt Disney Internet Group, he is a product
        manager (level II) for GO.com. He's responsible for strategy,
        content, and product development for five channels on the web
        guide and he's looking for a similar role in the Twin Cities.
        Send him an email at siliconvalleydude@netsuds.net

        NetSudser Don Peterson has joined Andcor Companies, Inc.,
        Wayzata, as a Principal. Andcor is a venture catalyst firm
        specializing in Minnesota-based emerging growth companies.
        Don had founded ITRadar, which was acquired by Tech Republic
        in August 2000.

        The domain name "exadc.com" has been registered by me to track
        all those ADC folks who have left for other jobs. I am looking
        for someone (a local PR or web development firm makes sense) to
        develop a web site for this domain. Nothing fancy needed. It
        will be hosted by me and any ex-ADC employee can get an email
        address from me and email will be forwarded to them. Perhaps
        we can get a directory of names and email addresses going.
        This is not unprecedented. Look at www.excray.com and
        www.exmsft.com

        If you are a tech worker or executive looking for your next
        "big thing" consider interning at the NetSuds office.
        NetSuds sees lots of great opportunities every day in the
        start-up AND public company markets. To find out what it
        takes to be an intern = see http://www.netsuds.com/intern.htm

        Please email: start-ups@netsuds.com to report (1) the
        formation of a new start-up, (2) momentum change at an
        existing start-up, (3) addition of key hires, or (4) a funding
        event at a start-up. Please give details on the above
        including any information you do not want made public. We
        are very discrete.

        Aravox is going gangbusters in the VoIP space and doing well
        recruiting local engineering, sales and marketing talent.

        Envoda and FireSummit have merged.

If you would like to place an ad in a NetSuds email, contact
Matt.Noah@netsuds.com by email or 952.934.5424.

        3.0 NetSuds on Tour - Focal and Circata

        NetSuds loves on-site tours! Email me if you want to show off your
        company. I can be reached at matt@netsuds.com

        I visited one the newer CLECs (competitive local exchange carrier)
        in the Twin Cities - Focal Communications - www.focal.com - and had
        a great overview and tour. There is nothing second-rate about the
        Focal facility in downtown Minneapolis. Lynn Davis and the ADC
        crowd should be both happy and proud to see all the ADC fiber and
        copper guides, connectors and patch bays in the Focal facility!

        I will always think of Focal as the 3 big-rooms CLEC. They have
        segmented their network facility in to 3 impressively large and well
        laid-out rooms which I will describe as the switch room, the colo
        room and the other room. Without giving away too much of the set-up,
        Focal's switch room contains one big-iron electronic switch with lots
        of capacity and lots of backup everything. It's humming away right
        now. The colo room is sitting naked right now but that's because it
        was just built! Racks of server farms, etc. are ready to move in
        and start pushing bits around. Security and 24x7 were important
        design considerations. The other room has all that wonderful ADC
        gear, optical muxes, T1 patch panels, M3 muxes as well as all that
        essential power grid with batteries, generators, etc. present to
        provide the well-known telco QOS. When was the last time you had
        to reboot your phone?

        Focal has nabbed some ex-Ovation guys so you know they know how the
        CLEC game is played. It's serious business because it runs your
        telecommunications ... and soon to be data communications business.

        Focal is not promising every flavor of service but they are
        promising to do what they do do well.

        Thought: If a CLEC is a "competitive" LEC, is the incumbent LEC
        more appropriately referred to as an "anti-competitive" LEC or an
        ILEC ... or both! More on Qwest later on.

        More thoughts on CLECS. Integra Telecom continues to expand in the
        Twin Cities. Good. Word has it that XO is coming to town. But
        SBC has pulled back their competitive plans for the Twin Cities.
        See www.xo.com and www.integratelecom.com McLeod is still here
        (they purchased Ovation). Eschelon is headquartered here (ATI) but
        I don't know if they provide local service.

        The only bad news is that I don't know of a single CLEC which is
        offering residential service on any scale here. In other words,
        businesses have some choices, homeowners do not.

        3.2 Circata

        I like Circata. As an engineer, it is nice to see a new start-up
        with engineering talent heretofore unseen in the Twin Cities. In
        fact, I met a young man who was coding in Bombay until a few weeks
        ago until Circata brought him in on an H-1B Visa during our big
        snowstorm. I'm sure the ticket was 1-way or he might have waited
        for the next flight back!

        Circata is building SW infrastructure products for the wireless world -
        wide web world (WWWW). If PDAs and cell phones and all sorts of
        portable/mobile/wireless computing elements are going to take over
        a big part of our daily lives ... as it seems ... then Circata
        should stand to benefit. They build products which enable anyone
        with a website to make that website accessible to the limited
        screen resources of cell phones and PDAs. Can you imagine browsing
        Amazon.com with a cell phone screen? Me either. But Circata is
        aiming at making that an enjoyable experience.

        Their office is non-descript and they work shoulder-to-shoulder at
        their headquarters in Bloomington. They also have offices in India
        and Chicago.

        The technology is the very cool. WAP, JAVA, J2EE, etc. And I like
        their partnership strategy and their customer strategy.

        Don't be surprised to hear more from this tech start-up in the
        coming months ... May 9 to be exact ... at NetSuds.

        Check out www.circata.com

        4.0 Branding on a Budget

        By NetSudser Eric P. Strauss - eric@entrepreneursforhire.com Eric
        P. Strauss is a public relations and business development consultant
        focusing on the needs of emerging technology companies.

        Coca-Cola®, Nike®, and FedEx® rank as three of the most recognizable
        brands worldwide. Of course, they pay a hefty price. The Coca-Cola
        Company spent more than $1.7 billion in 2000 to promote its stable of
        239 brands. Nike spent nearly $800 million last year advertising its
        ‘swoosh’.

        A brand is what makes someone ask for a Coke instead of soda. It’s the
        reason teens insist on Nikes as opposed to just any old sneaker. And
        it’s why we ‘FedEx’ our packages, rather than ‘overnight’ them.
        Branding is about owning a configuration of words, images, and ideas
        about a product or service in the minds of your customers and
        prospective customers. Effective branding ties into our emotions, is
        consistent and clearly identifiable, and is built up over a period of
        years, not months.

        With a bit of creativity and imagination, you can establish and build
        your brand for a fraction of what others are spending. Branding on a
        budget is about realizing maximum results with minimal expenditure.
        It’s something every company, big or small, should strive to
        accomplish. When you’re ready to kick-off your own branding (or
        re-branding) campaign, consider some of the following the examples for
        inspiration:

        Tell a story: It’s hard for Minnesotans to escape the Caribou Coffee
        story. As the legend goes, a climb to the top of Alaska’s Sable
        Mountain was the inspiration behind the founding of the company. Upon
        reaching the summit, founders John and Kim Puckett looked out over the
        vast Denali mountain range and were struck by the sight of a herd of
        wild caribou thundering through the valley below. Before long,
        Caribou Coffee stores were as common a site, as herds of caribou in
        Alaska. Cost: Roundtrip airfare for two to Alaska.

        Tie into emotions: Harry Beckwith tells the tale of an enterprising
        babysitter in his book, Selling the Invisible. Kate is a born marketer.
        As a high school freshman, she began promoting her babysitting service
        with “KATE ª KIDS” signs in neighborhood stores. Soon, she created a
        sign out of paint and plywood, adorned it with the tag line,
        “KATE ª KIDS – World Class Babysitting: 555-1111”, and mounted it on an
        old rocking horse on her customers’ lawns. As her brand grew, Kate
        began outsourcing the actual babysitting to others in return for 10% of
        their pay. Soon after, the story aired on the local news. Cost: $32.00.

        Engage in guerrilla marketing: Last year, as Sun Country Airlines
        prepared to launch it’s heybill.com website, the company hired actors to
        dress in gorilla outfits and parade down Nicollet Avenue waving handmade
        signs displaying the new URL. In addition to attracting attention for
        the airline, the spectacle helped to position the airline as an underdog
        and attractive alternative to heavyweight Northwest Airlines. Cost:
        Rental of gorilla costumes.

        Create a buzz: As the founder of the Crazy Carrot Juice Bar, Inc., I
        asked my mother to sew together a life-size carrot costume to promote the
        company. The ‘Carrot’ was a huge hit and instantly became a recognizable
        icon, regularly making appearances at Grand Old Day, the Uptown Art Fair,
        and Saint Paul Saints' games. It was pictured in Corporate Report and in
        the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, appeared on numerous television stations,
        and was interviewed on several Twin Cities radio stations. In addition,
        hundreds of people stopped to be photographed with the Carrot. Cost $73.00.

        Think outside the box: Minneapolis-based Subjex.com announced its "Super
        Bowl Sneak" contest in December, offering game attendees $1,000 per second,
        up to $5,000, if they could get the company's web address, on television.
        Although the company cancelled its contest two-weeks later under pressure
        from the NFL, the flap generated more publicity than if the contest had
        occurred, with Subjex.com receiving media attention from Sports Illustrated
        and the StarTribune, as well as coverage by dozens of television stations
        and online news organizations. Cost: Nil.

        5.1 - Minnesota

        4/11 Minnetonka - Entrepreneurs Breakfast
                http://www.netsuds.com/eb/2001/April/
        5/9   Minnetonka - Entrepreneurs Breakfast
                http://www.netsuds.com/eb/2001/May/
        5/15 Apple Valley - Evening Gathering (sponsored by AT&T)
                http://www.netsuds.com/netsuds/

        5.2 - Outside Minnesota (iSuds by Jeff Pulver & Matt Noah)

        5/23 Boston - Entrepreneurs Breakfast
                http://www.netsuds.com/isuds/eb/2001/ma/may/
        6/11 Stockholm - Entrepreneurs Training Camp (details TBA)
                Pre-Conference Workshop as part of VON Europe 2001
        6/13 Stockholm - Entrepreneurs Breakfast
                http://www.netsuds.com/isuds/eb/2001/sweden/june/
        10/14 Atlanta - Entrepreneurs Training Camp (details TBA)
                Pre-Conference Workshop as part of Fall 2001 VON
        10/17 Atlanta - Entrepreneurs Breakfast
                http://www.netsuds.com/isuds/eb/2001/ga/october/

        5.3 - Non-NetSuds Events

        4/13 Finance & Commerce Finance Forum luncheon with Gary Stern,
        President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank as our guest speaker.
        Mr. Stern will be speaking on Banking Reform and Bankruptcy Reform.
        Windows On Minnesota (50th floor of the IDS) from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00
        p.m. The cost is $45.00 and will include lunch. Luanne Sorrell,
        (612)-584-1544, luannesorrell@finance-commerce.com

        5/16 - Finance & Commerce Finance Forum breakfast from 7:00 a.m. until
        8:30 a.m. Economist Roundtable discussion about where the economy is
        going along with many other topics of interest.   Roundtable participants
        will be Art Rolnick, Senior Vice President and Director of Research for
        the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; Carl Tannenbaum, Chief Economist
        of LaSalle Bank and ABN Amro NorthAmerica; and John A. Hatch, Manager at
        PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Windows on Minnesota (50th floor of the IDS).
        The cost is $30.00 and will include a Continental Beakfast.
        Luanne Sorrell, (612)-584-1544, luannesorrell@finance-commerce.com

        Microsoft is about to be broken up by the Department of Justice (DOJ)
        in to an operating system (OS) company and 1 or 2 other companies.
        The theory of the DOJ is that Microsoft is a monopoly OS company which
        forces customers to use their applications like Office 2000 and Internet
        Explorer based on the software’s ties to the OS. The only true OS
        alternatives to Windows are UNIX, Linux and the Mac.

        If one buys in to the DOJ’s logic concerning Microsoft, then one must
        conclude that the “baby bells” are next in line to be broken up. Why?
        Because copper is the baby bells’ OS. This point bears repeating.
        Copper is the monopoly OS of the baby bells ... like Qwest.

        People’s homes and businesses are connected to the phone company’s
        network primarily by copper lines to the phone company’s central office
        or phone/data switch facility. The copper phone lines in your home,
        in the Twin Cities, are owned and operated by Qwest with virtually no
        exception. These copper lines are what would carry DSL services, if
        you can get it.

        The point is, virtually no competitor can make any headway to your
        residence for services because they don’t own the OS (copper). It’s
        time to break up Qwest and the rest of the baby bells in to at least
        2 entities; a copper (OS) company and ... a services, applications and
        transmission company(s).

        True competition for voice and data communications services for
        businesses and residences will only come when there are multiple
        alternatives to Qwest Communications. In the short term, the only
        glimmer of hope for competition lies in the raw execution of power by
        the government or by citizens in our courtrooms and legislatures. If
        there was a ever a case for the Department of Justice to examine a
        monopoly, forget Microsoft. The true monopolists to be concerned with
        are the regional telecommunications powerhouses left to their
        anti-competitive practices when it concerns the copper and fiber lines
        connecting homes and businesses to the telecom and datacom networks.

        Am I alone in my analysis? No. The CEO of AT&T, C. Michael Armstrong,
        was reported in the Feb. 26 issue of InfoWorld to have said, “Five years
        after Congress passed the Telecom Act, consumers are still waiting for a
        competitive choice in local telephone service. Rather than make
        competition work monopoly companies have been working to make competition
        disappear. The Bells’ monopoly power throws a dark shadow over the
        entire telecom industry.” AT&T recently announced that the
        anti-competitive practices of SBC are forcing them out of offering
        competitive local phone service in Texas and New York. They will
        continue to offer local telephony service to residences over their
        innovative voice/data/video cable network; a network which they own and
        operate in competition with the baby bells – at least for voice and
        data/Internet services.

        Further evidence comes from the February 19 issue of Interactive Week.
        The FCC fined one baby bell $94,500 for failing to notify competitors
        that SBC had no more space to share in several of their central offices.
        In other words, DSL competitors were effectively locked out of providing
        DSL. Think of it this way. Sun Country Airlines can’t offer flights if
        it can’t get a gate at the airport. The baby bell’s competitors can’t
        offer service if they can’t get space at the baby bell’s central office.
        Verizon, last August, paid $2,700,000 to the US Government to end an
        investigation by the FCC’s enforcement bureau. Verizon is the baby bell
        created by the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic.

        In that same issue of Interactive Week, a headline reads, “Top-Dollar DSL:
        The only show in town, Bells hike copper prices.” The first line of the
        article reads, “After vanquishing most of their competitors, the coast is
        clear for regional Bells to raise rates for broadband services over DSL”.
        Again, to make an analogy with the airline industry, it’s the case of the
        larger airline matching discounted airfares offered by the well-meaning
        but smaller competitor until that competitor is forced out of business.
        There is a reason that competition now exists between Minneapolis and
        San Francisco but airfares between Minneapolis and San Jose remain high.

        Residential users of phone and Internet services can most sympathize
        with this predicament, especially in urban and suburban areas. Most of
        us have no choice for local phone service.   In one sense, cell phones
        are the best competitor for local and long distance telephone service.
        Wireless communications is growing fast but will it push aside the family
        phone? I doubt it unless one can wire multiple extensions off of a cell
        phone and improve the quality of a cell phone call. Check out
        www.cellsocket.com for a cool solution here.

        Another very worthy solution is to get your local phone service over
        broadband. Very cool. Trade in your copper telephony solution for a
        cable telephony or fiber telephony solution. It's available now if you
        can get broadband. DialPAD.com is offering free long distance service
        for a time. Check out http://pulver.com/fwd/ for a new peer-to-peer
        telephony service akin to Napster ... but better!!!

        The Internet has been a bonanza for Qwest as people have added second
        and third lines for Internet and facsimile access. Demand for the
        copper lines have, in a figurative sense, turned copper in to gold for
        Qwest. But what about high speed Internet access?

        There are four principal means of achieving high-speed Internet access
        for residences. The other two are satellite and electrical lines.

        First, there is the traditional copper phone line which can, in some
        cases, be converted in to an ISDN line or, better yet, a DSL line.
        Forget ISDN. It only can provide 128,000 bits per second of bandwidth,
        or roughly twice that of an optimally functioning V.56 analog modem.
        DSL comes in many flavors but most provide 256,000 bits per second
        (256 kbps) while a typical DSL line will probably get you 512 kbps.

        Second, there is cable modem access. This service is provided by your
        cable TV company and is usually slightly faster than DSL. Cable
        companies can even provide you with voice communications over your
        cable TV line. Providing voice and data services over a coaxial cable
        is a great way for the cable TV company to leverage their existing
        facilities and sell you more services.

        Third, is broadband wireless. This takes many forms and is best known
        as “wireless DSL” and satellite. This type of “wireless DSL” service
        is just now being offered by MCI and Sprint primarily.

        Fourth, and most intriguing, is fiber optic communication. This mode
        of Internet access is potentially hundreds of times faster than the
        other three alternatives. Unfortunately, it sometimes means digging up
        streets, sidewalks and yards. Newer trenching technology can minimize
        the inconvenience and cost associated with building local fiber optic
        networks. Optical Solutions in Plymouth is one company making such
        advanced gear and selling it on an international basis.

        Now, for the competitive aspect afflicting these four technologies and
        why we need help in “fixing” Qwest. I use the term “fixing” in the same
        sense that a veternarian may use the term. Fiber and wireless are niche
        technologies at present and pose no serious threat to Qwest in the short
        term. In fact, fiber technology equipment will probably be sold to
        cable TV and telephone companies as upgrades when the cost and
        convenience factors dictate. You won’t see a fiber optic phone company
        competing with Qwest for local residential business. Wireless
        technologies can be competitive but widespread adoption is probably not
        a residential reality.

        Cable Internet access is a real threat to Qwest. I just cancelled my
        second phone line and ISDN line in favor of a cable modem line for
        Internet access. While not without its problems, it was a step up from
        Qwest. Cable telephony could be a real threat to Qwest but the cable TV
        companies, even if armed with the technology, will have to figure out
        how to sell and service all the multiple services customers are used to
        with Qwest. Then again, they may just want good old basic phone service
        with some features like call waiting, voicemail and caller ID. Still,
        it’s hard to move a customer off of the only phone company they have
        known and on to a cable TV company’s phone network. It just doesn’t
        feel right to get your telephone services from the cable company.

        The most novel approach to competitive local phone service is to reclaim
        the monopoly we once gave to Ma Bell. Some of us still remember
        Northwestern Bell which was part of AT&T. In the early 1980s it became
        part of US West, one of the 7 regional Bell operating companies created
        by the breakup of AT&T. It became Qwest when Qwest purchased US West.

        The monopoly owned by Qwest is the copper in the ground between your
        residence and the Qwest central office. It should either be the property
        of the public, contracted for maintenance to competitive bidding and open
        to all interested telephone and Internet access companies on equal
        footing or it should be part of a broken-up Qwest. We could bring public
        condemnation hearings on the copper plant just like we would if we were
        building a road. Pay a fair price and allow for disputes to be handled
        in court. But make it a public property. Or we could encourage the DOJ
        to break it up.

        There are companies which have tried to compete with Qwest for providing
        DSL service but they have been met with resistance and anti-competitive
        practices. These companies are known as DLECs, short for data local
        exchange companies. They lease copper from Qwest as it comes in to the
        Qwest central office but the cost is prohibitive in relative terms because
        Qwest also offers DSL service in most cases in competition with the DLEC.
        Think of it like Northwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. We all know
        Northwest Airlines cuts the cost of its service along routes which compete
        with Sun Country. Qwest makes it hard to compete. Real hard.

        If the public owns the copper coming in to a central office and leases it
        back to Qwest and the CLECs (another competitor for local telephone
        service) and DLECs at the same rates, we can expect competition for both
        telephone and Internet access. We might even see one of these companies
        push for faster deployment of DSL equipment to compete with cable TV in
        areas. One practice Qwest employs to protect their income is to slow
        deployment of DSL in areas where cable TV does not yet provide cable
        modem access to the Internet. In this way, they can continue to sell
        multiple phone lines for Internet access. Once a competitor enters that
        area, they are then motivated by potential loss of revenue to upgrade
        their facilities and compete with the cable TV company.

        In summary, if you haven't guessed by now, it is my opinion that Qwest
        should be broken up. Now.

        I thought I had seen it all until Mark Reilly's excellent article on
        Qwest's effort to manipulate the public on some idea of local phone
        competition. The URL to Mark's article is below. The one market Qwest
        wants open to them is long distance service and that is where they
        are screaming for open competition. [A very wise friend of mine told
        me we should let all the baby bells in to long distance. Why?
        Because the margins are so bad and the competition is so fierce that
        it may help drive them out of business.]

        Qwest hired an Arkansas PR firm - as reported - to build web sites in
        every State they do business, to give the impression that a grass roots
        effort exists to demand the opening of competition to long distance
        phone service. The Minnesota version of this site is the first one in
        the links below. I found 12 nearly identical sites where "grass roots"
        organizations of outraged citizens, businessmen and legislators were
        calling for "fair competition" in the phone business.

        What really touched me off on all of this is traced to 2 events in
        my life. First, lousy phone service from Qwest. They have screwed
        up every business and residential order I have placed in the last
        year. And I have no alternatives to choose from so I keep getting
        lousy service. Second, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune published a
        guest editorial by Qwest spokesman John Stanoch on March 5, 2001.
        It was so misleading that it turned my stomach. It was Qwest's way
        of spinning the story to their perspective but not at all an
        accurate way of explaining your business to your customers.

        I guess I can kiss away any possibility that Qwest will sponsor a
        NetSuds event but some things are more important to me ... and the
        NetSuds community. And to all the Qwest NetSudsers, we all know
        this is a management issue out of yours and my control. Even with
        the major problems I have cited with Qwest, it is still an
        essential and awesome network with some great leading-edge
        technologies. Competition will be good for consumers.

        Actually, Qwest would be smart to sponsor a NetSuds event.

        Every month since Autumn 1999 NetSuds has had an Entrepreneurs
        Breakfast (see http://www.netsuds.com/eb/ for past and current
        events). If you are a pre-IPO "com or .com" start-up, you can apply
        to present your company to the investment community at a future
        breakfast event. Apply online at http://www.netsuds.com/eb
        Our next Entrepreneurs Breakfast in April 11. See
        http://www.netsuds.com/eb/2001/April/ for details and to register.

By Mike Porter or MCPorter Marketing Communications, 952.881.3426
and mcp@mcporter.com

        There’s a lot of talk in technology circles about public relations.
        Unfortunately, when it comes to implementation, most firms are doing
        little more than press releases. Calling such efforts public
        relations is like saying you’re a cowboy because you ride a horse
        occasionally.

        However, you can’t be a cowboy without riding a horse, and doing it
        well. In PR, you absolutely must utilize the press release well.

        The critical elements of a press release for any company are how it
        is written, and how it is going to be distributed. For technology
        companies today, these two elements are more closely tied than ever.
        Here’s why:

        If your press releases are not going out via a wire service (the two
        main resources are PR Newswire and Business Wire), they should be.
        You may be sending specific emails to key editors that cover your
        space in the market, but wire services provide broad depth at very
        reasonable rates. Most important for tech firms is the number of web
        sites that post your entire press release for periods that range from
        24 hours up to a year. PR Newswire, for instance, currently boasts
        that even a local release is posted to over 1500 data bases, online
        services and web sites.

        Knowing this, your writing job just got more complicated. Now your
        release must do more than attract the attention of editors. To fully
        leverage your presence on the web, you need to write copy that software
        bots combing the web will read and feed your information directly to
        people that are expressing interest in topics related to what you sell.

        This means, in addition to cramming your key information into the
        headline and first paragraph of your release, you must do it in a way
        that conveys the information both to readers and to the software that
        scavenges the web for “key words.” Accomplishing this requires having
        a writer that accesses the same list of search words and phrases that
        are found in your web site META tags.

        In simpler terms, a reader may understand the sentence, “XYZ Telecom
        provides comprehensive solutions for integrated communications.” Yet,
        there is not an appropriate string of words in this sentence that a bot
        is likely to have been set to track. Instead, use a sentence like,
        “XYZ Telecom, an integrated telecommunications provider, offers
        comprehensive solutions.” Someone searching for help developing
        strategies to manage a corporation’s requirements for phones, web
        access and long distance services is likely web savvy enough to have
        established a constant web search for “integrated telecommunications
        providers,” but not for “integrated communications.” The latter phrase
        clutters the recipient’s inbox with information on marketing
        communications and speech communications, as well.

        It will be more time consuming to write and edit your releases to
        support the needs of both readers and search software. However, the
        chance to deliver your words directly to potential clients, precisely at
        their moment of inquiry, makes the effort worthwhile.

        One well-kept secret around town is the breadth (not depth) of networking
        companies with headquarters or satellite offices here. I am compiling a
        list and need your help in completing it. Take a look below. Tell me
        which companies I have missed. Email me at matt.noah@netsuds.com If
        you know the General Manager or CEO of the company/division, pass that
        along to me as well. Thanks!

Need a ready-go-to office in Chanhassen? No long term commitments?
Contact me at matt@netsuds.com or 952.934.5424. $400/month.

        I have opened up the Monthly NetSuds Report to guest writers. If
        you have a passion for a topic, and you can write (at least no worse
        than me), send an email to me at matt@netsuds.com You can even send
        copies of your work. It needs to be on "com and .com" topics and can
        include entrepreneur/investor activities. Good information from our
        service providers and vendors is also welcome so long as it is not a
        "commercial" for any one company or individual.

        We will consider both sponsored and unsponsored columnists and guest
        writers.

If you are aware of others who would like to receive the NetSuds Report, ask them to visit http://mailman.netsuds.com/ to subscribe or unsubscribe.

Please send your comments and feedback regarding this issue of the NetSuds Report to matt@netsuds.com

P.O. Box 277
Chanhassen, MN 55317

952.934.5424
fax: 425.795.2019
matt@netsuds.com

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