Wired Pages Tools... Zip Code Retriever

The other day someone asked, "Why have a zip code retriever on your site [Wired Pages]". I explained that a great many of the search interfaces that are provided on the site, require a zip code. These interfaces include congressional representative, restaurant and movie theater searches. (Clicking congressional, restaurant or movie theater will link you to the page where these queries can be found.)

Other site tools that use zip codes include the World Weather Interface and radio/television searches.

The Zip Code Retriever can be found on the lower portion of the Business page.

The [zip code] retriever provides quick data or "on the fly" data without refreshing the entire page. Tools such as this are handy and I believe will become more common place as developers and designers agree upon how to best implement more user friendly tools for their targeted audiences.

Keep in mind Wired Pages is my promotional site and although I hope it is useful, tools that I develop are based on whims and in this case... . o O (while testing new interfaces that required zip codes as input, I became weary of linking to the USPS site to get different zip codes. This interface eliminates that need.)

Marketing How To... 1.) Joining Internet Groups

I am not a marketeer... I have searched for cost effective ways to market to the masses without putting a strain on my resources, and that don't require an MBA.

An easy method, that appears to be a great ROI approach, is to join Internet Groups. I am sure in all the literature that I have read relating to running your own business, something about joining Internet Groups was discussed as a viable and cost effective marketing avenue, however I can't remember a particular reference I can cite. (See the Wired Pages, Employment Guide and the Business page for the magazines and links I usually use.)

I think it is important to be selective in the Groups you decide to join because you could become bogged down with maintaining your relationships with these groups. In addition if the groups you join are somehow related to your business ventures, then you have a double benefit from involvement with the group.... I recently joined a Developer Group that I am excited about being a member of ...

Wired Pages - Small Business 101... Marketing Blitz ...

Extensive efforts are underway to market the QiSoftware name and the Wired Pages news service. I hope to build a steady base of users for Wired Pages, that will provide constructive comment and feedback.

My core business, software development has taken a back seat to my news service for now. However with this campaign, I hope to garner new business associations that will enable me to take on a more robust cliental. Currently I do not design or maintain websites other than my own. These functions are very time consuming, hence one of the reasons Maryland Wired, my first news service will stop publishing at the end of the year...

Wired Pages ... Updates for week 6/06/04

Several new links were added to Wired Pages this week. The first, Lonely Planet a travel guide is now available on the Travel page.

The Health page has a new section; Health Related Magazines, which replaced the pharmacy area. Prevention Magazine and the Yoga Journal are the links currently available under this new section.

Links for the Halls of Fame for baseball, basketball, football and hockey were added to the Sports page.

Quotation Pages a searchable site providing information on famous quotes and more, was added to the General Reference page.

The "Links" button found on the home page of Wired Pages, generates a popup window that provides links to browser, java support and media player sites. This button was duplicated on the Technology page for convenience.

Wired Pages ... Planned Shopping Enhancements...

Currently Wired Pages boasts an extensive shopping galleria. Planned revisions to this area will list all stores on the page without the pull menus. This will enable users to see the stores without further action after accessing the shopping page. The Automobile Maker pull will be the only pull menu remaining once this revision has been implemented.

I hope to invite comment on planned revisions to the Wired Pages site, as it is my desire to provide the most user friendly tool possible. Email your comments to: QiSoftware Revision Comments

Wired Pages Site Summary....

Wired Pages an Internet news service designed for an audience of all ages. The site provides timely news, links, and research avenues for anyone requiring a comprehensive set of tools to use with the Internet. The following are page summaries....

Wired Pages Home
 - Up to the minute AP news headlines, world weather tool,
   market indices & stock quote queries ...
Real Estate
 - agents, credit reports, listings... on page mortgage calculator...
Employment Guide
 - featuring a comprehensive set of employment tools and links...
Business
 - market queries, indices, news, magazines, business headlines,
   zip code retriever... reverse phone lookup... and
   a myriad of other useful business tools...
Government/Education
 - census demographic query submittal, congressional representative
   queries... other Federal links... Educational Links...
   Political headlines....
Events
 - Events covered by major U.S. newspapers for their respective
   areas... a "This Day in History" events calendar...
Media
 - FCC queries... cable... newspaper... and magazine sites...
   world, national and local news for major cities...
Sports
 - popular sports reporting sites, Sports News Headlines,
   professional and semi professional sports organizations...
Shopping
 - a comprehensive list of shopping sites by category... BBB query
   submittal... recalls... product query submission to popular
   shopping sites...
Health
 - WebMD queries... food nutrition queries... health/fitness centers,
   health organizations... Health related headlines...
Religion/Charities/Organizations
 - World religious organizations... national charities... professional
   and social organizations...
Libraries
 - Internet libraries, presidential libraries... misc. libraries...
   ISBN finder...
Arts & Entertainment
 - top movies... games... entertainment sites, museums... hot
   sites... IMDb queries... Entertainment Headlines...
   and Billboard Album chart toppers
Dining & Travel
 - rental cars, travel sites, government travel sites... queries
   to popular recipe sites... submit queries for airline
   fares and cruises.... Travel news headlines...
Reference
 - a comprehensive set of links defining everything from global
   holidays to world government sites... also calculators
   and conversion tools that can be used directly
   from the page...
Technology
 - Technology sites including developer sites... Internet...
   domain lookup... ISP address finder...number base
   converter... Technololgy related headlines...

The Wired Pages site has any number of navigation tools including a site search function.

QiSoftware A New Beginning...

This is the first post for my QiSoftware blog. QiSoftware is my software consulting firm. I specialize in compact scalable software solutions for business, websites and personal web pages.

I have a promotional site to help advertise my business, Wired Pages.  Wired Pages is a news service that provides useful and timely information.

This blog will journal the enhancements and features I implement for my news service Wired Pages and any other enhancements I make to other programs and websites.

This blog will also document my experiences as a small business owner... I hope you will stick around....