The Bottom Line Web Site

I have often thought the downfall of the print media as we knew it was when so many news publications allowed their information to be viewed for free on the Internet. Over the past five years or so, many of those same publications now require readers to demonstrate that they are a paying customer before reading an entire edition at no charge. I have not yet felt the need to upload my newsletter in its entirety online, but I am leaning that way for some point in the future.

I receive an inquiry about once every two weeks from an existing subscriber who wonders when I may publish The Bottom Line on the Internet. My response has been the same: As soon as I can guarantee that only those who are paid subscribers are the readers of my newsletter will I put the publication online. Even though I know many people read The Bottom Line who don't work at a place of business that subscribes, I find it wrong that someone could access the news and information that I print for free when others pay for the service.

At one time, I included The Bottom Line online. But I ran into a problem when some goofball in Hudson,WI, decided to hack into my site. He began to cut and paste the legal news at his discretion and started to illegally spread incorrect information to other business owners. That's when I pulled the plug on my online edition.

Over the past two months, I have explored the options to upgrade my web site. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that as many as 7,000 individuals visit my web site on a monthly basis. Since I don't put more than a few stories and my weekly editorials online, I didn't realize that so many unique visitors found their way to my site. And, since I don't visit my web site more than once a month, I know the numbers are not inflated.

That's why I decided to not only upgrade the web site, but also give advertisers the opportunity to network with others at a reasonable cost in a non-invasive manner. I also plan to make the site's sponsors mutually exclusive, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Beginning this coming week, I will launch the newest version of www.tblnet.com. There will be a limited time for subscribers to sign up for a six month trial to invest in an online ad. I encourage those same customers to provide me with input as to what you would like the web site to feature. Chances are, though, that I will not include the legal news anytime soon. That didn't work so well the first time.