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RUNTOGOLD
UPGRADED
I
recently made significant changes to RunToGold and will show you how to best benefit from
them. If you are reading this in your email then I recommend visiting
the RunToGold website
for this article as it includes a video which will walk you through these
changes along with some suggestions.
RunToGold veteran readers
have seen the website mature by getting cleaner, crisper and increasing in
usability. Like yourselves I read many websites. Therefore, I
want the experience of RunToGold
readers to be the best possible experience.
Website
operators can gather visitor data. This data ranges from the general to
specific. When contemplating and implementing the recent changes I
analyzed some of this data to understand the readership’s needs.
The privacy-minded may consider a sneak peak at a new website that my
friend Bill Rounds, J.D. and I are toying with called HowToVanish.
RUNTOGOLD
GENESIS
I used
to spend a lot of time personally educating friends or family about financial
and economic issues. I constantly addressed similar
issues. A few friends and family suggested I start a website where
I could explain these topics or provide answers such as how
to buy gold or silver, where to buy gold coins, etc.. I got
the hint that they were probably tired of my loquaciousness so I started a
new hobby with RunToGold.
As the
articles accumulated and the readership grew I started receiving requests for
a book. When I asked the general readership I received a few comments
and many emails. Because The Great Credit Contraction took a couple
hundred hours and a few thousand dollars to develop the hobby needed to
become self-sustaining. The book has sold decently and funds are now
available for and have been allocated towards improving RunToGold.
EMAIL
DELIVERY
When I
started RunToGold
I made a few mistakes with lasting effects. For example, I used
Google’s Feedburner because it was free. I have since added a
paid email delivery service which is much more flexible and provides a better
experience. I can send announcements without making a new post, attach
files, customize the design, etc.
I
launched the new email delivery service about four weeks ago and RunToGold is growing
fairly quickly adding an average of about 70 new email subscribers per day.
With 138 articles currently, how do I inform these new readers of most
important past articles in an organized fashion without
alienating veteran readers?
The
new email service has a great feature where I can send out archived articles.
I have added some of the best articles to the series including Federal Reserve Will Fail At Quantitative Easing,
The Derivative Illusion, Gold Privacy and Constitutional Rights, Global Quantitative Easing, A Problem With GLD and SLV ETFs, Another Problem With The GLD ETF, Silver In Backwardation and several more which are
delivered every 3-4 days.
There
are a couple minor downsides though such as not receiving the entire new article,
requiring a single click to visit the website, etc. but I think this is a
minor inconvenience that is surpassed by receiving the notifying email of an
update in a much more timely fashion.
Overall,
as I am signed up both ways I think the new email delivery service leads to a
much better user experience. If you want to test out the new service
then just join via one of the numerous forms on the website. You will
then receive updates from both and can easily unsubscribe from whichever one
you find less effective.
CHANGE
FONT SIZE
I have
added two buttons that when clicked either increase or decrease the font size
of the articles. While it does throw some of the other design elements
off it gets the job done and should be a welcome addition for some readers.
IMPROVED
SEARCH
I use
the search on a pretty regular basis to find past articles to elaborate on
points or issues I discuss in new articles. I have added a search bar
which I have found much more accurate than the previous one.
WHAT
YOU CAN DO
The
chart of the last 500 visitors shows that about 300 use Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer. If you want to RunToGold in all
it’s glory than view it in Firefox. Using Firefox will probably make your Internet experience
better with other websites as well.
IE 6
is eight years old, a dinosaur! If you like using IE, about 240 of the
last 500 visitors, then at least upgrade to the latest version. IE 6
does not support a majority of CSS properties that are common in modern web
design and making websites compatible with IE is like walking on water.
Websites beautiful in Firefox and Safari often look absolutely horrendous in IE
6. I avoid the headache altogether and just give people the opportunity
to upgrade. Firefox
is free,
easy and I will outline eight simple reasons.
FASTER
AND TABBED BROWSING
Firefox is open source,
free and has developed a large cadre of developers that cater to it resulting
in the fastest browser available. Having multiple windows
simultaneously open can be perplexing and annoying.
With
tabbed browsing you can open links in background tabs and read them when
ready. For example, you could load five different YouTube videos in separate
tabs and let them all load while you watch one. When finished just
click on the next tab and it is already downloaded. TIP: To open
a new tab hold CTRL while clicking the link with your mouse.
INTEGRATED
SEARCH ENGINE AND CLEANER INTERFACE
Google
is built into Firefox
and occupies little toolbar real estate and is easy to use. With a
single click you can change it to Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Ebay, Amazon, etc.
Firefox is cleaner
and crisper without excess clutter and buttons. It dedicates 4% more
space to actual webpage content than Internet Explorer.
POPUP
AND IMAGE BLOCKING
With RunToGold I try to be
extremely respectful of your time and attention. As mentioned there is
a book for sale and any advertisements are generally not very intrusive or
distracting.
Some
websites are not nearly as respectful of your time and attention. When
visiting a website landfill littered with advertisements your visit is slower
and usually very annoying. Worse are distracting popup advertisements
that distract your attention. Firefox’s blocking capabilities are
unparalleled. You can block or unblock images with a single click and
if you need to see a popup window then you can easily access a list and
choose which ones to allow.
SECURITY
AND DOWNLOADS
Because
Internet Explorer has so many vulnerabilities most malicious plugins or
viruses target those users. Firefox helps protect you against those crashes and slow
performance. Firefox’s
download manager allows you greater control by being able to pause, receive
notifications, and store information like size and location.
CONCLUSION
If you
are currently using the Feedburner email delivery then I recommend trying out
the new email delivery system. You can do this by filling out any of the
forms on the website.
If you
are currently using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer then I recommend
getting Firefox for
free.
This will likely make all your Internet browsing activities easier and
more enjoyable.
I do
not take the time and attention of any of my readers for granted. I am
amazed that every article I write occupies hundreds of hours of
people’s attention. Therefore, I try to make the articles as
informative, relevant, and useful as possible. I am very appreciative
of your attention and support. For those who have purchased The Great
Credit Contraction thank you for providing the means to keep
improving RunToGold.
Trace Mayer
RuntoGold.com
Trace Mayer,
J.D., holds a degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University, a law
degree from California Western School of Law and studies the Austrian school
of economics. He works as an entrepreneur, investor, journalist and monetary
scientist. He is a strong advocate of the freedom of speech, a member of the
Society of Professional Journalists and the San Diego County Bar Association.
He has appeared on ABC, NBC, BNN, many radio shows and presented at many
investment conferences throughout the world.
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