Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

Newsgroups (sometimes referred to as the USENET) are general discussion groups similar to bulletin boards. However, while the responses in bulletin boards are one-to-one e-mails (i.e. confined to essentially two persons) newsgroups and mailing lists are almost always one-to-many correspondence where every participant gets a chance to join issue with another.

A person "posts" message to a newsgroup and the message gets distributed all over the world to different news servers. People who belong to the group can respond to these postings, or just read it and other people's replies. Many newsgroups have hundreds of regular contributors, and thousands of regular readers. You can access newsgroups through the news reader feature of your Web browser. In case of VSNL, make your news server as news.vsnl.net.in or ask the ISP how to configure your browser for newsgroups

Mailing lists are made up of groups of people who exchange email about a subject that interests them. Once you join a list, you'll start to get lots of mail on the subject, so be prepared to access your email box at least once a day. If you find yourself deluged by mail you can't read, you might want to read the list in "digest" format, where several days worth of mail are sent in a single file that you can review at your leisure.

Mailing lists, also called discussion forums, could be two types - free or moderated. In a free mailing list each posting is sent to all members of the group unedited. This results in a large number of e-mails originating everyday in your mailbox, many of which are of little interest to you

In a moderated list, on the other hand, each posting is scrutinised and edited by the moderator who sends a digest of selected postings with his/her comment in many cases. It's a pleasure to join such lists, especially when moderated by an outstanding person (e.g. Nick Baker of ISBC).

A Web site is not the only way to promote your business online. Many small business owners have found great success marketing their products and services through the "discussion" features of the Internet -- newsgroups and mailing lists. There are literally thousands of groups and lists available to you, covering every conceivable subject. The benefit is that they allow you to reach a highly targeted group of individuals whose interests you already know and share. This lets you network with like-minded individuals; prospect for customers; share your expertise; and increase the visibility of your company.

Newsgroups and mailing lists are excellent learning opportunity for everyone aspiring to become a successful Net entrepreneur. Moreover, you get a chance to network with outstanding people in your field and share their knowledge and experience.

There are several places on the Web that have searchable databases of newsgroups and mailing lists. Deja News (www.dejanews.com), allows you to search for newsgroups by subject or keyword, gives you some details about the group and its audience, and actually lets you read and post to the groups directly through the site. Liszt (www.liszt.com) is searchable directory of mailing lists that helps you find mailing lists, tells you about the lists, and gives you information on how to join.

Be aware that newsgroups and mailing lists are like little communities. To market your business effectively through these forums, you need to understand how they operate and what type of behavior is acceptable. Use these tips to help you take full advantage of these online opportunities.