I thought seriously about the concept of content before it became all-fire important. My pretext is that most sites are basically hard sell - and that isn't me. I wanted anyone who came to my site to find the latest unbiased information possible - if they wanted to buy something through my site, fine. If they didn't want to buy anything from my site, that's fine too - I'm not a pushy person.

A short time after starting the site, I decided to run a severe storm weather graphic on the home page. Safety came first with me, and if there were any bad storms approaching, they don't need to be staring at a shopping site, they need to be preparing for severe weather. Put it simply, I cared about my readers safety first! Since then I've added a weather page within the site.

In its first full year, andrew727.com had over 350,000 readers. Only one person bought a $6.00 poster. That's it. Anything sold after that were things I bought through my own site, giving me a small personal rebate. Over time, the numbers would rally, but mostly drop. It meant there were a lot of hits on the site, however people would hit the links to go to manufacturer's sites, then buy online from major discount chains.

To keep up the numbers, I added my site to a lot of search engines around the world using web promotion software. While that helps, it opens your e/mail address to a lot of junk! The other problem, even with the most obscure keyword, your site is still buried in the list. And you have to be careful in dealing with a lot of scams, companies promising to put your site at the top of the list.

As to off-site advertising, I bought a small classified ad in The National Enquirer. I really wanted to put it in The Star celebrity rag, but didn't see any classified ads in the publication, so the reason for the aforementioned choice. The ad didn't generate viewers, period. I've been tempted to take an online ad via a college online newspaper such as that at Stanford University, however, stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm on disability and any real money the site did make would muck up my benefits. Now SSDI does allow one to earn up to $500 a month before it affects payments, however, sites can be up one day and down the next. One only has to remember the 'dot.com' boom that eventually went bust, and its clear to realize that its a wild west online, especially for a webmaster with only 'shoestring' resources. What I've tried to do is get someone to take over the site and run its administrative - they would own the site, I would work on the content, gratis. So I've approached my daughters, my brother and his wife, a few friends - but have not had any takers. The site is well done, one only has to visit it - and its ready to take off, given the right promotion.

Gay Animals Discovered! In the February 5th, 2007 issue of Time Magazine, writer John Cloud talks about gay rams...yep, you read that right! Apparently according to Cloud, scientists have discovered that 8% of rams of the same gender, copulate on a regular basis. We'd really hate to be the gay ram who decided to mate with a straight ram...ouch! Scientists hope the study eventually leads to treatments that can turn gay sheep straight while still developing in the womb with hope they can apply the same strategy to humans. PETA reports that scientists have killed 55 sheep, both gay and straight to study their brains to find out the neurological basis for sexual attraction. Leading scientist, Charles Roselli of Oregon Health & Science University says they confirmed

the gay sheep by seeing which males picked other males to mate with. Roselli denies they have any intention to develop a drug to turn gay people straight while still in the womb. Meanwhile John Cloud says he had suspicions about his male pussy when it tried to mount a cowering male dachshund. Well, rather than just write about it, we at 727 UnCorked stopped by the Stray Cat Lounge in New York City - a hangout for felines who happen to be gay. Our photographer spotted a male cat mounting a male dog who wandered in by mistake. OUCH!

I've done banner exchange ads in the past, but that only tends to run up the numbers for a short time. For example, 'Click4Click' runs 60% ads, for the 40% Mall would get on other sites. That's not bad, but the viewer has to click on that ad for it to count! Another idea would be to buy a stamp and ink pad and put the .com address on dollar bills that are exchanged for everyday purchases - the idea is a dollar goes through a lot of hands and would hopefully garner curiosity seekers. Its cheap, one's only expense is the stamp and ink, printing it on paper currency. Many ways to promote, one only needs imagination to come up with unique ways...happens all the time.

	The animation ad was created for a banner exchange program that use 468x60 ads. I decided to experiment using 3D animation for its creativity in catching attention. Then again, many webmasters use it to capture the eye where there is a great deal of competition on the same page.