Golf Newsletter Issue 1

February 1999

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Online Golf Solutions monthly golf Newsletter (from Dan Perry)
http://www.onlinegolfsolutions.com

danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com
Issue 1, Volume 1, February, 1999
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In this issue:

* From Dan's Desk
* Golf Quote of the month
* Link of the Month
* Feature Article "Why should I be on the Web?"
* Feature Tip "Cutting and Pasting"
* Site Updates
* Guest Article (Future Addition)
* Email Q & A
* Subscribe/Unsubscribe info
* Advertising in this Ezine

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* From Dan's Desk
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I've had the idea of creating a newsletter for quite awhile now. I've been creating articles, ideas, and finding places to list the ezine for about 2 months now, but haven't sat down to do it. Well, that time is now! This ezine will relate to many different people. There will always be some sort of golf info here (such as the Quote of the month, and Joke of the month (eventually)). Golf is my passion. When I decided to start designing web sites for others, I chose to do it only for golf-related businesses. There is so much competition out there for run-of-the-mill Web design, I decided to only design for what I like. This ezine will also have info for the webmaster, designer, or anyone else interested in designing quality sites. There will always be a golf thread running through the entire ezine. Being from Michigan, this time of year (March) all I can do is think about golf. Unfortunately, I won't be able to play it for a few more months.

In recap, this ezine is about golf and the Web. If you love them both as much as I do, this ezine is for you.

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* Golf Quote Of The Month
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"I wish"

Fred Couples, after being mistakingly introduced as Davis Love III at a tournament.

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* Link of the Month
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http://www.hbo4kids.com/kids/wu/super/index2.html

This is one of the best examples of DHTML that I've seen. It is for kids, but if you have one at home, he/she will LOVE it. It allows them to create their own super-hero complete with different heads, arms, legs and torsoes. May take a second to figure it out, but once they do, they'll spend plenty of time here, guaranteed!

This section will be for the latest and greatest sites on the Net. I have both IE4 and Netscape4 on my home computer, and I do my fair share of surfing. If I run across a site that takes advantage of the newest browsers, I'll place a link to it here. I may also place cool golf-related sites here, so if you know of any, golf-related or not, please email me at: danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com, and include "Here's a cool link for you, Dan" in the Subject Line.

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* Feature Article "Why should I be on the Web?"
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Before I made the decision to design only for golf-related businesses, I made some cold calls to prospective clients about designing a site for their small business. The majority of them would ask, "Why should I be on the web? What can it do for my business?" This is definitely a fair question, but it is also an easy one to answer. I'll use a small golf course for this example.

1. To establish a presence
There are millions (100, last time I checked) of people on the Internet. This number is only going to get larger. Even if only .1% of the people on the Internet are interested in your product or service, that's still 100,000, and growing.

2. To serve your customers
A golf course is a great fit for the Internet. Without tying up your phone (and raising your bill), and without tying up you or a receptionist to answer the phone, you can let prospective customers know your hours of operation (weekday, weekend, twilight, etc.), course rules (attire, carts, etc.), costs, pro shop offerings, and so on.

I'm currently working for a golf course that is setting up online tee time reservations. This is obviously one of the best uses for the web that I've seen.

3. To show off your course to prospective customers
The Internet is the perfect medium for showing off the beauty of your course. In a pamphlet, you have room for a few pictures of golf holes, while on the Internet, you could go so far as a course tour, with pics of each hole. The more beautiful, the better.

4. To serve your membership
A great idea for a golf course is to place information for the membership on their site. This can range from monthly calendars to specific happenings only for members. It can create more of a community feeling among members, and isn't that what being a member is all about?

5. To allow feedback from customers
For the people who only play your course once or twice, a testimonial from them would make a great addition to your site. It may be just the thing to convince another person to try it, instead of trying your neighbors course instead.

A feedback form can also privide other vital information.
If enough people complete the form, and complain about one particular thing (such as the height of the rough), maybe you should reconsider the height of the rough. Without a feedback form on your site, you would've never thought of it.

As you can see, there are many reasons to have a web site. If done properly, your site should provide enough information to prospective customers, that they will not have to call and ask a question about anything. This will save you both time and money.

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* Feature Tip "Cutting, Copying, and Pasting"
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I plan on including a tip such as this in every newsletter. It will be for beginners or intermediate users. The tips will cover Windows, the Internet, and browsers. If there is any- thing you'd like me to cover, please email me at danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com

Cutting and pasting is the cornerstone of Windows, and if you don't know how to do it, now's your chance to learn. For those of you familiar with it, feel free to skip on to the next section.

What makes cut, copy and paste so strong? You can use these functions from ANY Windows program. You can cut from Word, and paste in Excel, or copy from your Internet browser, and paste in Notepad. It comes in handy when you have to type the same information in many times. For example, I help others sell items on Ebay, and some of the info doesn’t change, regardless of the item or the user (Example: shipping costs). Without copying and pasting, I would have to type out the information EVERY time.

For this example, I'll use two programs that come with Windows- Notepad and Wordpad. Open Notepad (Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad) and Wordpad (Start, Programs, Accessories, Wordpad).

With both programs open, right click on the Taskbar (the bar at the bottom of the screen), and choose "Tile Vertically".

Now, type a few sentences into Notepad, so we have something to cut or copy.

Highlight the first sentence that you just typed. With it highlighted, hit "Control-X". The sentence should disappear. What actually happened is you "cut" the text from Notepad, and placed it on the Windows clipboard.

Now go to Wordpad, click anywhere to make it the "active" program, and hit "Control-V". The sentence that you cut from Notepad should now be "pasted" in Wordpad.

"Copying" is almost the same thing. Highlight the sentence that you just pasted in Wordpad. With it highlighted, choose "Control-C". Nothing happens, right? Actually, you just "copied" the sentence to Windows clipboard.

Now hit the "Enter" key a few times, and hit "Control-V". The sentence should appear again below the first one. Hit "Enter" a few more times, and hit "Control-V" again. It shows up for a third time, right? That sentence will remain on the clipboard until either something else is placed there (by CTRL-C or CTRL-X), or by restarting your computer.

This is especially helpful for people who use the mouse with their right hand. You can highlight text with the mouse, and select CTRL-X, C, or V with your left hand. Once you get proficient at it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

The uses for this are unlimited. I use it for addresses for web pages a lot. I read the newsletters I subscribe to off- line, so the links don't work. If I find one I want to visit, I'll highlight it, hit CTRL-C, open Word, and hit CTRL-V. Once I've gone through all the Ezines, I may have a dozen or so links I want to visit. The next time I'm connected to the Internet, I'll open Word and Internet Explorer. Highlight a link in Word, switch to IE, place the cursor in the Address bar, click once, hit CTRL-V, and hit ENTER.

Keep working with it. I'm sure you'll find many, many uses for Cut, Copy and Paste.

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* Site Updates
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This month I went through the Links Section, and made sure they were all still intact. There is nothing worse than finding exactly what you've spent an hour looking for, only to find the link doesn't work. Very frustrating, to say the least. For those of you with web sites, when was the last time you (or your webmaster) checked your links (internal and external?) External links should be checked about once a month.

I also added 2 more scorecards to the collection. They are from St. Andrews and Oakland Hills. The one from St. Andrews is very informative, so be sure and check it out. They can be found at: http://www.onlinegolfsolutions.com/

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* Guest Article (Future Addition)
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I'd like to use this section for head pros, greenskeepers, or superintendents to share their thoughts and helpful insight on topics related to the business of golf. Lessons, turf, insect control, aerating, etc., are all welcome. Of course, if I choose to print your article, the address of your course will get some free promotion.

If you have anything that you think will be helpful to others in your field, please send email to danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com, and include "Guest Article Submission" in the Subject Line.

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* Email Q & A
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This section will be for you, the subscriber to this Ezine. Any questions that you may have concerning the Internet, Web browsers, CSS, HTML, META Tags, Online marketing, etc. will be answered. I'll pick a few every month and answer them here. If you think the question is too simple, ask it anyway.