I've been downsized at work. Not fired exactly, just sort of relegated to working on weekends, bringing in just enough money to pay some current bills.  

So, I'm toying with the idea of either starting a website or a newsletter called The Wishlist, where I'll be spotlighting some of the hottest products from the online stores that will be hitting the virtual shelves each month... or week, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I'm still in the planning stages. 

Now, for clarification's sake, I'm NOT talking about doing a review of products since that could lead to problems I really don't need or want. Just pointing out what's for sale, where and how much and even linking to the product so you can find it. 

And when I say online store, I mean all of them, from DAZ, CP and Rendo, to 3D Commune, 3D Plants.com, to Digital Males. So, if DAZ or Poserworld is having a sale, we'll let you know. 

So I thought I'd ask if any of you guys would be interested in something like that, and would you prefer a newsletter or a website? Both have distinct advantages, and as a matter of total disclosure, while I haven't figured out the way to do it yet, in the long run I do plan to make some money off this deal if I put the time and effort into it. 

A website allows me a lot of latitude and space to showcase everything and everyone. Almost like a magazine on the web. But it's a LOT more involved and time-consuming. 

A newsletter is smaller, less space to fill, and comes to you, you don't have to come to it. Problem though, is you do have to sign up to receive it. And I know how some people are about giving out their info. I'm the same way. 

So what do you guys think? Interested or not? Website or newsletter? Weekly or monthly (if a newsletter)?

A couple of people have also suggested keeping up with what the 3D and 2D apps are doing as well.

sounds like a  plan to me  and will be  helpful to us

You might try contacting the yahoo group thats doing something like that since product announcements are not permitted on these forums anymore. I dont have a link for them though sorry :(

Yeah, I'd get in touch with either Lyrra or Acadia, as, IIRC, they were running the yahoo group?  I haven't had time to peruse, and I should one of these days :)

Quote - Yeah, I'd get in touch with either Lyrra or Acadia, as, IIRC, they were running the yahoo group?  I haven't had time to peruse, and I should one of these days :)

Actually, I have nothing to do with running the Yahoo group. But I thought it was such a good idea that I have been providing a link to it in my signature.  Lyrra is the one to contact.

Ah, well, there you go :)   Thanks for the correction, Acadia!

I like this idea a lot and think it would be useful.  I, personally, prefer the website because, as you stated, you have more room to include as much as you can, where a newsletter is a bit limiting.  That said, however, there are those that feel they won't go to the website often enough, and the newsletter is automatic.  If you're going to go with the newsletter, I'd suggest weekly rather than monthly because, as we all know, not all sales last more than a week or even a few days.

As far as the website goes, take a look at using a CMS to make your life easier once it's set up.  WordPress would work nicely as you can make your sale announcements "posts", and still have a "page" or two for other things.

Just my 2¢ worth.

I'd say website. It should be relatively easy to automate producing a newsletter since you'll already have the data so do both. I'm not sure how much content you'll have but a good search function would be important, taking the time to index things by multiple categories. Search seems to be the bane of many sites. 

Quote - I like this idea a lot and think it would be useful.  I, personally, prefer the website because, as you stated, you have more room to include as much as you can, where a newsletter is a bit limiting.  That said, however, there are those that feel they won't go to the website often enough, and the newsletter is automatic.  If you're going to go with the newsletter, I'd suggest weekly rather than monthly because, as we all know, not all sales last more than a week or even a few days.

As far as the website goes, take a look at using a CMS to make your life easier once it's set up.  WordPress would work nicely as you can make your sale announcements "posts", and still have a "page" or two for other things.

Just my 2¢ worth.

Miss B, Thanks for the tip, I'm looking into it now. Since money isn't an option. (It never is when you don't have any).   :^)

I was in contact recently with a friend that works at a  local publisher who does print physical magazines and we had talked about possible doing a Poser only 3D World like magazine.  When we got down to startup cost. I was amazed that with would take more than $75,000 to get it wrote, printed and published if we had at least 150 pages. The cost of 10,000 is around $7.50 each if following a format like 3d world.
Then we talked about an online only magazine that we can sell subscriptions to. I figure the start up cost for this is under $300.  This might be something you want to look into.

Quote - I was in contact recently with a friend that works at a  local publisher who does print physical magazines and we had talked about possible doing a Poser only 3D World like magazine.  When we got down to startup cost. I was amazed that with would take more than $75,000 to get it wrote, printed and published if we had at least 150 pages. The cost of 10,000 is around $7.50 each if following a format like 3d world.
Then we talked about an online only magazine that we can sell subscriptions to. I figure the start up cost for this is under $300.  This might be something you want to look into.

Over  time it could very well evolve into something like that, but for now, I think I want to keep it simple.