January 08, 2002
How To
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SUMMARY:
No summary available
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Below you'll find three sample emailed communications from a
business to its clients, mentioned in our Case Study of January
8, 2002 (link below.)
The first sample is a friendly-toned newsletter that upsells
clients by reporting on projects completed for other clients, and
offers a free in-person seminar. The second sample newsletter
strengthens client relations for the coming year by offering a
budgeting seminar.
The third sample is a technical alert "missive" sent by the same
writer - the company President - to the same client list.
However the tone and header are very different from the warm-and-
fuzzy newsletters. Thus client relations are enhanced by both
receive both friendly personal-feeling communications and formal
more business-toned communications.
Sample #1: Digital Bookstore "Case Study" Issue
Subject: [weekly] Matrix Group International Missive - June 17, 2001
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 00:30:57 -0400
From: Joanna Pineda
Organization: Matrix Group International, Inc.
To: Matrix Missive List
This issue of the Matrix Missive covers:
* CASE STUDY: Matrix Creates Digital Bookstore for NECA-NEIS
* SEMINAR: All About Domain Name Service and What It Means To You
* USABILITY TIP: Make All Your Web Forms International
* TREND WATCH: Washingtonpost.com Launches Personalized Service
* STATISTICS: High-speed Net subscribers surpass 9 million
* SURFING: Fun Web Sites
Those of you who live in the Washington area may know all about the
Shakespeare Theatre's Free For All, which brings a Shakespeare play to
Carter Barron Amphitheater for free! This past Saturday, a bunch of
friends and I enjoyed an amazing production of King Lear. Even though
Shakespeare in the Park became Shakespeare in the Rain, the production
was well worth it. If you missed the Free For All this year, put down
the first two weeks in June for next year.
http://www.shakespearetheater.org/
**********************************
* CASE STUDY: Matrix Creates Digital Bookstore for NECA-NEIS
Matrix Group International has created a new feature for the National
Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) that allows for the real-time
purchase and download of National Electrical
Installation Standards (NEIS) publications directly from the NEIS Web
Site.
National Electrical Installation Standards are the first quality and
reliability standards for electrical construction. They establish
requirements for installing electrical products and systems that go
beyond the minimum safety rules of the National Electrical Code (NFPA
70). NEIS are intended to define what is meant by installing electrical
equipment and systems in a "neat and workmanlike manner" as required by
the Code.
General information about the industry and the association can be found
at http://www.necanet.org; specific information on NEIS can be found on
a separate, linked Web Site at http://www.neca-neis.org
The Need
The ability to offer NECA members and the general construction community
access to the NEIS is a crucial part of the services that the
Association offers. Access to the publications has been handled the
traditional way:
o The NEIS are among the most popular publications offered by the
Association; previously, there were available only in print.
o The process for ordering the NEIS standards was fairly
labor-intensive. Staff would receive orders and process each order
manually.
o With so many relying on these publications, NECA began to search for
a more efficient way of providing more immediate access to the NEIS.
The Solution
Brooke Stauffer, Director of Codes and Standards for NECA turned to
Matrix with the idea of taking the print version of the NECA-NEIS and
making it available on the NECA-NEIS Web Site. "We recognize what a
powerful tool the Internet has become for keeping us in contact with our
members, and providing new and enhanced services for them. Taking this
important set of documents and putting them online was a natural next
step for us in continuing to empower our membership to take advantage of
all that NECA has to offer."
Matrix worked with NECA to create an online publications library; here's
how it works:
o Visitors go to the NECA-NEIS Codes and Standards Online Catalog at:
http://www.neca-neis.org/
o If they are interested in ordering a publication, visitors click on
Online Catalog, which leads them to a list of NEIS publications
available for purchase in real-time.
o Purchasers have the option of reviewing a brief description of each
publication, and selecting only those that they intend to purchase.
o As the purchasers select their publications, each is added to a
shopping cart. The purchaser is then directed to check out and payment
information is processed in real time via Cybercash. Each of the
requested publications is available immediately as a downloadable PDF
file.
o The URLs for the PDF files available for download are encrypted and
expire after the session is over; this feature is meant to prevent
purchasers from clicking back to the PDF at a later date or distributing
the URL to persons who have not purchased an electronic copy.
o In an effort to accommodate all visitors, those who wish to order a
print version of a publication are directed to the online NECA
bookstore.
The NEIS Web Site is at:
http://www.NECA-NEIS.org/
The NEIS Online Catalog is at:
http://www.NECA-NEIS.org/catalog/
**********************************
* SEMINAR: All About Domain Name Service and What It Means To You
The world of domain names is changing fast. You can now register domain
names at any number of Web Sites. The Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the creation of new top-level
domains (for example, biz, .info, .aero, .pro and .museum are new
top-level domains). Many of our clients have registered dozens of
domain names to protect their brand and/or trademark. Clients point
domain names to the same site, or re-direct them to specific pages on
their sites.
At the next Matrix seminar, we'll explore the wonderful and complex
world of Domain Names and Domain Name Service (DNS). We'll cover:
o What is DNS and how does it work?
o Options you have for pointing and re-directing URLs
o The new top-level domains: what are they, when will they be
available, should you register your domain name with a new top-level
domain?
o Which registrars are the best?
o Should your organization register multiple domain names?
o What about international domain names, especially for companies that
operate internationally?
The details of the seminar are:
Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Time: 12:00-1:30pm
Place: Matrix office, 801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 205, Alexandria, VA
Cost: $15 for clients; $25 for non-clients on a space-available basis
RSVP: admin@matrixgroup.net
Out-of-town clients are welcome to join us via conference call.
**********************************
* USABILITY TIP: Make All Your Web Forms International
Early this year, I directed all Matrix Project Managers and their team
members to make all new Web forms international, unless specifically
directed otherwise by clients. What does this mean? It means that a
Web form that we develop for you will ask for an address in an
international format:
o State or Province will be required, not State only
o if your organization only operates in US and Canada, we can combine
State and Province; otherwise, these are listed as two separate fields
o Zip code is now Zip/Postal Code; because foreign postal codes often
contain letters, we will not require all numbers in this field
o Country may or may not be required, depending on the client's wishes,
but it will be available as an option. The country field will be a drop
down field containing all countries of the world, or just
client-specified countries; we can pre-populate this field with United
States, or leave visitors to select their country. Since our clients
are US-based, we recommend listing United States at the top of the list,
then listing countries in alphabetical order afterward
Why this directive?
o It has become increasingly obvious to us that all of our clients are
international, even if all that means is that someone from another
country has filled out a guestbook.
o International visitors are turned off and denied service by forms
that require a state or zip code and/or do not allow a country
designation
o An increasing number of our clients have international members or
customers
In the past, a Project Manager would ask the client if they wanted the
form to be internationalized. Today, if you have a form and wish it NOT
to be internationalized, please let your PM know. We recommend making
all of your forms international, and instructing your back-end vendors
to do the same, so that Web and back office data entry forms are
consistent and support the widest possible audience.
**********************************
* TREND WATCH: Washingtonpost.com Launches Personalized Service
In a move toward more personalized service, the washingtonpost.com
announced earlier this month the launch of mywashingtonpost.com - a new
offering that allows users to tailor their content to their particular
interests. "Mywashingtonpost.com is a place for local and
national users to get washingtonpost.com the way they want it," said
Christopher Schroeder, CEO of washingtonpost.com. The new service will
be featured in new television, radio and print advertisements all over
the Washington area.
Note from Joanna: many of the other news sites already offered
personalization, so it was only a matter of time before the Post made
the same offering. Expect to see more personalized offerings as news
and retail sites attempt to create better profiles of visitors -- all
the better to send tailored news and advertisements.
Read more about MyWashingtonPost.com at:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010605/2184.html
To create your own personalized Post, go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
**********************************
* STATISTICS: High-speed Net subscribers surpass 9 million
Despite a recent decline in the number of U.S. homes with Internet
access, 119,000 North Americans are signing up for high-speed Internet
access to their homes per week, according to a study released Friday. A
survey conducted by Kinetic Strategies found there are 9.3 million
residential customers of broadband Internet services in North America,
which includes 8.2 percent household penetration.
In addition, the study found that cable is outpacing digital subscriber
line service, with 70 percent market share. Cable modem providers
continue to dominate DSL providers, with an estimated 6.4 million cable
modem customers in the United States and Canada, equal to 70 percent of
the market.
Read more about the study at:
http://two.digital.cnet.com/cgi-bin2/flo?y=eBrg0Hdyi0U0cXt0AG
http://www.kineticstrategies.com/ksi_release_6-1-01.html
http://www.kineticstrategies.com/ksi_release_3-1-01.html
**********************************
* SURFING: Fun Web Sites
Even though the WashingtonPost panned the movie, I've promised Maki that
I'll go see the new Tomb Raider movie, which is the movie version of the
popular video game. Best to view this site if you have Flash and a
fast connection.
http://www.tombraidermovie.com
If you love whales, you'll enjoy this Australian site on whales. You'll
find lots of neat links and photos, even whale calls.
http://whales.magna.com.au/home.html
Finally, Michael Swords, esteemed Project Manager at Matrix, recommends
the movie StartUp.com, a documentary about the defunct govworks.com. He
says the documentary is excellent, eye-opening, sobering, and a
must-see.
http://www.startupdotcom-themovie.com/
**********************************
Until next time. As always, if you prefer NOT to receive the Matrix
Missive, please hit reply and let me know. Enjoy the start of summer!
Joanna
--
Joanna M. Pineda
CEO/Chief Troublemaker
Matrix Group International, Inc.
801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 205
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 838-9777 x3006
Fax: (703) 838-9799
E-Mail: jpineda@matrixgroup.net
URL: http://www.matrixgroup.net
Sample #2: Budget Planning Seminar Offer Issue
Subject: Matrix Group International Missive - October 7, 2001
Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 23:40:48 -0400
From: Joanna Pineda
Organization: Matrix Group International, Inc.
To: Matrix Missive List
This issue of the Matrix Missive covers:
* Matrix Creates Sponsorship Management System for Asset Management
Central
* Sept. 24 Matrix Seminar on Planning Your Next Year's Web Budget
* Nimda Virus Attacks Millions of PCs, Transmitted in a Variety of
Ways
* HTML E-Mail May Be Blocked By Corporate Firewalls, Mail Servers
* Watch What You Say on Public Mailing Lists
* Fun Web Sites
I don't know about you, but I'm just glad that September is over. The
September 11 attacks continue to cast a pall over everyday life. And
the Nimda virus has made normal network administration and Web hosting
extra-hectic. I'm looking forward to a better Fall!
The entire staff of Matrix joins me in expressing our continuing
sympathy and support for the families of the victims of the September 11
attacks.
******************************
* Matrix Creates Sponsorship Management System for Asset Management
Central
Matrix is pleased to announce the launch of a sponsorship management
system for Asset Management Central.
Asset Management Central (AMC) is the one-stop, comprehensive resource
center for resource managers, equipment managers, collection managers
and other business professionals charged with managing idle, surplus and
off-lease equipment. AMC gives managers access to service providers,
articles and market data. AMC is a service of ELA, the Association for
Equipment Leasing and Finance.
One of the AMC revenue sources is sponsorships by service providers.
AMC wanted an easy and flexible way to manage sponsorships and display
sponsor logos and messages throughout the AMC site.
Matrix created a sponsorship management system that includes the
following components:
o Designated pages on the AMC site display sponsor logos; each time the
page is loaded, a different sponsor logo is displayed
o AMC staff use Web forms to manage sponsor accounts, and logo
placement; sponsors can designate which sections of the site they wish
to sponsor, and for what period of time
o A month before a sponsorship is about to expire, an e-mail is sent to
designated AMC staff
o Administrative reports that show AMC staff schedule of sponsorship
banner ad placement, revenue reports by month, and sponsorship
expiration by month
o Logging and reporting of banner ad views and clickthroughs
o The main page generates a 'pop-under' ad that shows the sponsor's
logo and description in a box that is placed below the main browser
window; this pop-under is viewable when a visitor closes out his/her
browser
Check out AMC's new sponsor management system by visiting the AMC Web
Site at:
http://www.assetmanagementcentral.com/
******************************
* Sept. 24 Matrix Seminar on Planning Your Next Year's Web Budget
For many of you, it's budget preparation season, as you prepare budgets
for review by your senior management and Boards of Directors. I am
working personally with several clients to develop Web budgets for the
coming year; clients tell us that these budget sessions are helpful
because:
o they get realistic prices for design, database and integration
projects
o they can go to their Boards with a breakdown for the total amount
requested
o they are able to lock-in prices with Matrix
o Matrix helps them do a comparison with other organizations to get
ideas about where their Web efforts should be headed
If you are in the middle of developing next year's Web budget and need
help developing a budget for hosting, maintenance and new initiatives,
join us for the next Matrix seminar. I'll cover the following:
o Web Trends: what's hot, what's not
o Outlook for hosting and maintenance
o Ballpark pricing for standard Web projects, e.g., jobs database,
bulletin board, mailing list, guestbook, content management, etc.
o How to budget for large Web projects, including redesigns,
integration with your membership/customer database, and personalization
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2001
Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm
Place: Matrix office, 801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 205, Alexandria, VA
Cost: $15 for clients; $25 for non-clients on a space available basis;
the seminar fee covers the seminar, hand-outs and lunch
RSVP: admin@matrixgroup.net
If you are a Matrix client and cannot attend the seminar, but wish
assistance developing your budget, please contact your Project Manager.
We will provide you with free consulting and a proposed budget that you
can use during your budget preparations. Or send me an e-mail and I'll
schedule a time to meet in person or via conference call.
******************************
* Nimda Virus Attacks Millions of PCs, Transmitted in a Variety of
Ways
On September 18, security groups and anti-virus software makers issued
an urgent advisory about a new virus/worm named Nimda.
Nimda is a malicious program or virus that uses many different methods
to spread itself around the internet using the weaknesses of Microsoft
Windows, specifically machines running Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 and NT.
Nimda is properly called a worm because it spreads to other systems from
infected systems, potentially creating a torrent of attacks from
machines to nearby machines.
Nimda spreads via the following means:
o via e-mail; infected machines send out messages to e-mail addresses
in the infected machine's MS-Outlook e-mail program
o via file sharing and directory scanning
o by infecting Web pages, which in turn infect users who browse that
specific Web page
Matrix Web and mail servers are all protected against the Nimda worm:
o None of the web servers allow any command directives to be run using
the command processor
o Nimda can infiltrate a server using a back door left open by Code
Red; all Matrix servers were patched against Code Red months ago and we
have had no instances of infections
o Clients whose mail is hosted at Matrix are protected; we updated the
virus definitions in iMail, however, infected e-mails may get
transmitted via mailing lists
How this affects you:
o If your machine does not have anti-virus or the virus definitions are
out of date, your system could become infected
o Please be especially careful when uploading pages to your Web Site;
anti-virus software on Matrix staff PCs stopped three instances of the
Nimda viruses that came from WEB PAGES! This means just surfing the Web
could be dangerous!
o We continue to notice periodic slowdowns across the Internet as new
mutations of Nimda surfaces; even patched systems cannot stop the worm
from attacking; the overall Net traffic from Nimda has been incredible
o Analysts say home users are especially vulnerable, largely because
home users don't update their anti-virus as often as corporate
administrators, and connected homes aren't usually protected by a
firewall
More information about Nimda can be found at:
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-26.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1552000/1552564.stm
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/topics/Nimda.asp
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7239193.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7228511.html?tag=rltdnws
******************************
* HTML E-Mail May Be Blocked By Corporate Firewalls, Mail Servers
It's official. Nimda can spread via an infected Web page, and via
infected HTML e-mail messages. How does this happen? Basically,
machines can get infected by browsing Web pages created by an infected
server. Since many HTML e-mail messages reference text and graphics
that reside on a server (as opposed to being attached in the e-mail
directly), it is now possible to transmit Nimda via an infected HTML
e-mail message. Yikes.
I don't have any hard evidence to back this up, but discussions on some
of my favorite mailing lists indicate that network administrators are
taking steps to lock down their systems by:
o blocking attachments altogether
o quarantining or blocking HTML e-mails
Several Matrix clients have asked us to block the transmission of
attachments from their mailing/discussion lists; this means legitimate
attachments (e.g., pdf files) will be blocked, but I'm told clients
would rather be safe than sorry.
What does this mean for you? Probably not much, but do consider the
following:
o Large corporations with large networks often have the most
restrictive rules about what is allowed to enter their systems; your
e-mails may be blocked if they contain attachments or html formatting
o You may want to block attachments from your mailing lists and urge
subscribers to send attachments directly to other subscribers, bypassing
the list; if you'd like to do this, we can block attachments (it's not
foolproof, but it works pretty well) and modify your footer to notify
subscribers of your new policy
o Unless formatting is absolutely necessary, consider sending plain
text e-mail for a while, at least until the concerns about infected
e-mail die down a bit
Stay safe!
******************************
* Watch What You Say on Public Mailing Lists
Speaking of mailing lists, a client asked if I had ever put my name into
a search engine to see what would come up. Hmmm... interesting
thought. I entered Joanna Pineda into google and was a bit surprised by
the results.
Google came up with pages from the Matrix Web Site, links to my
WashingtonPost.com chats, and a few articles I've authored. So far, so
good.
Imagine my surprised, when I discovered a link to a posting that I had
made to a yahoo egroups list. Evidently, postings to some lists,
especially the free ones, are indexed by the search engines. Thank
goodness I only post job announcements and advice to mailing lists.
The moral of the story: never post to a list (or send out in e-mail for
that matter) what you wouldn't want the entire world to know. You never
know when your message will make its way to a search engine.
******************************
* Fun Web Sites
Even though a lot of folks still aren't flying, I say it's never too
late to start planning next year's vacation. Check out Calgary and
visit in July to attend the Calgary Stampede.
http://www.calgarystampede.com/stampede/
There's a photo and a rumor on the Net about the face of being Satan in
the flames and smoke of the WTC building. Is it real or is it Memorex?
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101011008-176941,00.html
The Emmy Awards have been called off again. Ah well, read about the
lucky people and programs that were nominated; maybe someday the winners
will be announced.
http://www.emmys.tv/
******************************
Until next time! As always, if you prefer not to receive the Matrix
Missive, please hit reply and let me know. Enjoy the cool weather!
Joanna
Sample #3: Serious-Toned "Missive"
-----Original Message-----
From: clients-owner@pop.matrixgroup.net
[mailto:clients-owner@pop.matrixgroup.net]On Behalf Of Joanna Pineda
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 11:16 PM
To: Matrix Clients
Subject: Matrix Confidential Communication Re: Security Patch for IE 5.5
and 6.0
Matrix Confidential Customer Communication
Date: December 18, 2001
Title: Urgent Security Patch for IE 5.5 and 6.0 Users
Who This Affects: Everyone who uses Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6.0
Summary:
A few days ago, Microsoft issued a Security Bulletin re: a patch to
vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6.0.
*** Microsoft gives these vulnerabilities a severity rating of critical
and recommends immediate installation of the security patch. ***
Among the vulnerabilities discovered and fixed by this patch:
* If an attacker altered the HTML header information in a certain way,
it could be possible to make IE believe that an executable file was
actually a different type of file -- one that it is appropriate to
simply open without asking the user for confirmation. This could enable
the attacker to create a web page or HTML mail that, when opened, would
automatically run an executable on the user's system. This vulnerability
affects IE 6.0 only. It does not affect IE 5.5.
* Another vulnerability allows a malicious web site operator to open
two browser windows, one in the web site’s domain and the other on the
user’s local file system, and to pass information from the latter to the
former.
* Yet another vulnerability is invoked when a file download is
initiated. A dialogue provides the name of the file. However, in some
cases, it would be possible for an attacker to misrepresent the name of
the file in the dialogue. This could be invoked from a web page or in an
HTML email in an attempt to fool users into accepting unsafe file types
from a trusted source.
The complete Microsoft Security Bulletin can be found at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-058.asp
The security patch can be downloaded from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/Q313675/default.asp
As always, if you have questions, please contact me of Jeff Lesperance,
the Matrix Network Philosopher. And if you prefer not to receive
service updates via e-mail, let me know as well. : )
Joanna
