Ringmaster,Ethics,Believe,not, DIY Ringmaster Ethics

When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in

Believe it or not, being a ringmaster is a very demanding, timeconsuming task (when done properly). Many ringmasters just create theirrings and put them on autopilot, thinking (incorrectly) that their mainor only purpose is to generate traffic. Most put in a little time, justenough to make sure the ring is functional, while a large minorityactively manages their ring, creating special navigational systemsthrough the wilds of the internet. A tiny but very visible minorityactually spend more time on their ring than they do developing theirsite!Our site is a member of over two hundred webrings and we actively manageover a dozen. We have spent many hours pouring over web serverstatistics to determine where the traffic to our site comes from. Doesit come from search engines, webrings, ezine advertisements, FFA pagesor link exchanges? The answer to this question is used to determinewhere promotional efforts are best directed.Our analysis has led us to an inescapable conclusion: webrings are not asignificant source of traffic to a site. In fact, excluding the verylarge rings (such as the many ones run by Random Acts Of Kindness), thetraffic a site gains from being a member of a webring is minor.So why create a webring if the benefit is not gaining traffic to yoursite? The answer is simple. You are not creating a "guaranteed trafficengine for only $19.95!". No indeed. When you are doing is building asmall path through the wilds of the internet, guiding your visitorsthrough your own personal pick of sites which reinforce your theme. Youare creating a communications method between sites, all of whichdirectly and indirectly improve your visitors overall impression of yourown site and your own talents.Following this line of reasoning directly implies that a ringmaster musthave a set of standards which he or she follows in order to be sure thatthe ring supports his website. If a ring is in bad shape, then itfollows that the ringmasters website is also in bad shape. Conversely, awell designed and well managed ring makes the ringmaster's site lookprofessional and polished.Thus, the first rule of ringmaster ethics is to write up a good set ofcriteria which is in turn used to judge which sites can be added to thering. Once that is done, it is imperative that only sites which matchthose criteria are added. Of course, exceptions can be made here andthere, but in general it is wise to stick to the master criteria.Let's suppose the criteria simple says, "quality Star Trek sites". Okay,then make sure that all of the sites which get added to the ring areStar Trek sites, and please by all means ensure they are of highquality. If you start allowing in other sites, or your sites are not ofreasonable quality, then your visitors may not only get a lower opinionof your site, they may never make it to your site at all.So be very judgmental about what sites you allow into your ring. It'syour ring after all! You don't have to explain to anyone why you haverejected their site, and personally, I would not do so. Just reject themsaying, "does not match criteria" or some such thing, and move on.Another strong ethical point - don't criticize sites. At best you willneedlessly discourage a webmaster and at worst you will make an enemy.There is no need to do any of that.You need to work hard to keep your ring intact. A broken webring makesit very difficult for surfers to navigate, and makes you, as ringmaster,look bad. Your first chore is to ensure that new sites add the properring fragment to the proper page on their site. You must thenoccasionally check those pages (either using automatic ring-checkingfunctions or by hand) to ensure that the fragment remains. It is also agood idea to check content occasionally - more than once I've allowed agood site into a ring only to find, a month later, it has become ahardcore pornographic piece of junk.Promoting a webring is important but all ringmasters must be sure theyuse ethical means to advertise. Some ethical promotional activitiesinclude:- It is generally acceptable to send a single email to a webmasterasking if they want to join. You should ensure that the web site matchesyour criteria and the email is well written. In other words, don't findthe email address of 10,000 webmasters and send them all the same emailasking them to join your ring - that's spam.- You should include the URL of your webring join page in all of yourautoresponder messages from guestbooks, forms and so on.- You might want to include the URL of the join page in your emailsignature line.- Of course, you should advertise your webring in your own ezine.It is also not a good idea to surf someone else's ring just for thepurpose of recruiting members for your own ring. That's consideredunethical behavior. Find your own set of sites and recruit themyourself.Ringmasters need to remember that they are judged, just as arewebmasters and other creative people, by their creations. A webring is acreation made up of many different sites. Maintain a quality webring andyou will attract quality traffic, maintain a poor quality ring, and youwill not attract any traffic at all (in fact, you may turn it away). 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