Alan R. Bechtold has been a mail order marketer and publisher for more than 30 years. During that time, he has created and published numerous successful magazines, newspapers and newsletters, including successful trade journals for online marketers. He's also acted as a consultant for thousands of information and website marketers.

Most incredibly, he has been marketing information electronically for EIGHTEEN YEARS!

The Beginning…

In the early 1980s, Bechtold added computers to his operation, to speed up his writing and editing output and handle subscriptions and financial matters. He immediately fell in love with them. "For the first time, I realized one person could use computers to perform the work of eight people!" Alan said.

Then, late in 1983, Alan bought his first computer modem. Everything changed.

"For the first time in my life, my computer started delivering information to me that I hadn’t entered myself or purchased on a disk. Words were flowing through the phone lines and across my screen…messages from people all around the country, news, even the dictionary! I knew immediately that the world would never be the same."

Bechtold was immediately hooked. Soon, he discovered computer bulletin boards – fiercely independent online services usually operated by hobbyists, accessible by dialing through a modem and standard telephone lines into them directly.

Publishing Online Since 1984…

Bechtold’s marketing mind started churning over the possibilities. Publishing was in his blood. Here was a way to combine his beloved profession with his new passion for computers. He launched a new weekly publication – INFO-MAT – offering news of all the latest developments in the computer industry plus reviews of new hardware and software, tips and tricks and interviews with industry movers and shakers. The content wasn't a new idea -- but the publication itself was unique. It was completely PRINTLESS. No printed edition existed at all. Until that time, there were only a couple of dozen online news services or publications. All of them had a printed counterpart and no more than two or three were available to BBS operators at any price.

In 1984, Bechtold formed BBS Press Service to sell the rights to display his new weekly publication to serious BBS operators. "You had to pay long distance charges to access BBSes in other cities," Bechtold said. "I figured people in every town would enjoy reading our weekly news and information. We licensed the news services we offered in every city in the U.S." Fortunately, the BBS industry was growing quickly. Bechtold's news service was just the thing they were looking for to expand their audience and distinguish their online services from competitors who were popping up like mad.

BBS Press Service was instantly profitable. Hundreds of sysops subscribed to INFO-MAT and displayed each weekly issue on their systems. INFO-MAT became the first official test publication used by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), an independent magazine circulation auditing company relied upon by major advertisers the world over, to verify that readership of electronic publications could be independently verified.

Soon, other columns and features were added to the BBS Press Service lineup. As the company grew, so did the industry -- and its desire for even more unique news and information services to deliver to their subscribers.

An Industry is Born…

"While I was attending the first BBS trade show and convention ever, it dawned on me that we had an industry on our hands," Bechtold said. "It was an industry that could literally change the world. Electronic publishing was instant – and without paper or ink, postage or shipping, it made publishing incredibly inexpensive. So inexpensive literally anyone could now be a publisher."

As soon as Bechtold returned from the convention, he launched MONEY WITH YOUR MODEM, a monthly industry insiders’ newsletter for operators of BBSes. "I knew these people," Bechtold said. "I was a sysop. But more than that, I worked with hundreds of sysops every day. They told me their secrets to success and counted on me to help them increase their profits. MONEY WITH YOUR MODEM was the way to do this best."

In 1994, Bechtold launched SYSOP NEWS AND CYBERWORLD REPORT, a monthly tabloid-sized newspaper recognized as the first true trade journal for BBS operators.

"SYSOP NEWS was another instant hit," Bechtold said. "Sysops knew they were onto something big, something earth-shaking, and they welcomed a journal that brought their industry together with a common voice."

In 1995, SYSOP NEWS also hosted CyberXpo, the first-ever industry trade show aimed exclusively at sysops, in Las Vegas. And Bechtold, through his endorsement in his editorials in SYSOP NEWS, was also instrumental in the successful launch of the Association of Online Professionals (AOP -- now known as the - Or the USIIA). Bechtold served briefly on the AOP Board of Directors and, to this day, he is a Founding Gold USIIA Member.

…and Changes Directions

The BBS industry was gangbusters in 1994-95. This was about the time the Internet was also gaining public notice. Many BBSes started offering their callers a link to the Internet.

Once the World Wide Web took hold, everything changed again. Many smart sysops switched their focus to providing dial-up access to the Internet. BBSes started going dark. Bechtold's SYSOP NEWS increasingly covered the Internet and focused on issues important to Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

"Everything we had hoped BBSes would one day do was eventually being done by the World Wide Web -- and a lot of things we never imagined. And there was only a flat monthly access fee to visit any Website in the world. No more long distance -- the one hold-back to the BBS explosion."

"No one could have predicted the scope of the revolution the Web would ignite," Bechtold said. "The sheer magnitude of it was impossible to imagine. I could see a situation developing where not being on the Web would actually be detrimental to your business. Like not listing your local business in the Yellow Pages – people would soon actually look down on a business that didn’t have a Website they could access."

A Unique Web Package…

Bechtold immediately started developing his own Website design and hosting service. He wanted to make Websites affordable to everyone – small businesses, home-based businesses, and start-ups with limited funds as well as established concerns with enormous advertising budgets. And he also wanted those Websites to be productive, utilizing proven, time-tested marketing principles so they generated more business for the companies that purchased them.

Late in 1997, his 21^st Century Breakthrough Website package was completed and ready to offer to the public. For the first time anywhere, the 21^st Century Breakthrough offered a complete commercial-grade Website, one full year of hosting on the Web and submission to more than 50 Search Engines in a single low-cost Internet Advertising package. At last, businesses could pay a single flat fee and obtain a world-class quality Website with no surprises, no hidden charges and no ongoing monthly hosting fees.

More than 10,000 Customers!

Now Bechtold’s BBS Press Service was in the Web advertising and Internet hosting business. His company’s various low-cost, complete Web advertising programs proved so popular that more than 17,000 sites were sold to over 10,000 customers between October 1997 and December 2001.

Today, Bechtold spends most of his time immersed in research, working constantly to develop and implement new innovations that can be added to his popular Website packages.

Bechtold also concentrates on uncovering the very latest, most effective low-cost and no-cost ways to promote and build an online business. He then passes this new-found knowledge on to his consulting clients.

The ower  ointers age…

Bechtold stands by the firm belief that marketing online -- specifically using the Internet's World Wide Web to sell your products and services and build awareness of your business -- is the best way for any entrepreneur to build virtually any business, local or regional, national or international. But, today, he stresses the importance of bringing as many people as possible to your Website, then convincing them to come back again and again, if a commercial Website is to succeed.

"I realized early on that merely having a Website doesn't guarantee success," Bechtold said. "You also have to promote that site and tell people it's there -- that's why my Website design and hosting packages have always included Search Engine and Link List submissions."

But, Bechtold said, you also need to keep those people who come to your Website coming back again and again. For this reason, he's recognized the one missing ingredient most commercial Websites lack today -- changing, professionally-written content.

"Like the BBS operators my company was originally built to serve, Website owners today need quality changing content to make their sites stand out and keep visitors coming back often," Bechtold said. "My new Power Pointers Page is an affordable solution."