Welcome to FolksOnline:

Our mission is to offer inspiration, community support and a helping hand to Internet newcomers and those of us who are not technically inclined, by providing an online home where folks can ćhelp each other to use new technology to reach for our dreamsä. I cordially invite you to offer a helping hand to our community by listing your services in our free directory.

For additional information, please refer to:

Guestsā quotes during our first week online

August 22 launch press release

Strategy to build traffic

Company Background

Best regards,
Ruby@folksonline.com
Founder, Yinspire Inc.

Susan Thurman - Pittsburgh, PA, a workshop presenter who has been online 1 year

THANKS!!! for folksonline. Until tonight, I thought that I was pretty much alone out here in cyberspace and--being not only a technophobe but also a technoilliterate. I want to learn and I am learning, but a lot of the time I really do feel like the cliché: "roadkill on the information superhighway". Folksonline has a wonderful sense of community that invites you in and let's you know it is, it really is, possible. Thanks to you all for just being there and for offering a welcome and Yinspiring hand!

E. Murray - Novato, Ca, an office manager who is just getting online

I took an Internet class and found the Net to be so big that I really didn't understand what it could do for me and I didnāt want to spend a lot of time to learn it. Folksonline helped me to finally feel at ease "out there" and it's been a great place to begin exploring. It's a warm and fun place with lots of interesting resources I never knew existed. I could spend time here without feeling overwhelmed. It's a perfect site for people like me

Dinesh Bareja - Bombay, India, owner of Internet gift business and online for 1 year

nice start-up info. best wishes for your noble efforts

Charles P. Davis - Desert Hot Springs, CA, retired and online for 2 years

terrific site

Jane G. - Silver Springs, Md., librarian online for 2 years

Great!

John Dye - Olympia, Washingon, retired and active with SeniorNet and online for 5 years, four with online services and one through ISPās

very impressive site. very easy to navigate. loads fast. no extra bells and whistles to delay loading.

New Web Site - FolksOnline - Delivers Inspiration, Community Support, and Software to Internet Fledglings (http://www.folksonline.com)

Mill Valley, CA - For folks who are just getting on the Information Superhighway and aren't ready for the fast lane yet, there's a new road guide: FolksOnline, started by a company called Yinspire, Inc. FolksOnline is an online community designed to provide computer and Internet support for newcomers and casual users, as well as offer inspirational first-hand accounts of people whose dreams have been achieved through the Internet. The site also features entertaining vignettes to recommend software that can help people achieve their goals. A 10 to 50 percent rebate is offered for all software purchases, and in a new twist, readers can receive $100 for their first-hand stories if they are published on FolksOnline.

The main aim of FolksOnline is to offer a helping hand for people who are not technically oriented but who would definitely benefit from using the resources offered by the World Wide Web. Simply designed with a warm and friendly look, FolksOnline educates folks on the basics of the Internet, from the practical benefits of new technology such as net audio or Internet Phone, to how to find your dream job through the Web. FolksOnline also offers a database that can link people to house-call computer consultants, web designers, and local ISPs, who offer dependable service and support. Another feature of the site, called Helping Hands, gives people ideas for activities they can achieve on the Web, such as develop a business, service, or engage in some other experience with the potential to change the way they live and work.

Founder Ruby Yeh brings more than a dozen years in the computing field, where she founded her own international consulting company, and held sales management and strategic marketing positions with industry leaders Frame Technology, InterLeaf, AT&T, and Wang. Yeh says, "FolksOnline aims to provide a unique community on the Web for people who want the chance to explore their dreams through using technology - whether it's sharing more time with the family, developing a long-hidden talent, starting a career at home, or planning for retirement. And the best part of the story is that people get to tell it themselves and help others - as FolksOnline."

We have a three-prong strategy to quickly build traffic over the next few months.

1. Extensive campaign to get several hundred links from sites targeted to women, small business owners, families and seniors.

2. PR strategy aimed at the mainstream media along with the traditional computer media. We are well-positioned to appeal to the jounalists who are seeking technology stories with a human angle for the general consumer audience. Our publicistās experience includes the launch of c/net and Wired magazine.

3. Content partnership with the new Internet appliance companies, PC companies and online services. FolksOnline helps the Internet appliance and PC companies to increase the perception of product usability from their new buyers.

The inspiration and creation of computer marketing veteran Ruby Yeh, FolksOnline, by Yinspire, Inc., is the first venture on the Web designed for users, by users, and with payback offers to users who participate in the site. Launched in 1996 with no outside funding, FolksOnline offers net newbies, computer novices, technophobes, and home computer users worldwide an innovative and simpler way to experience the World Wide Web and receive money for participating in it directly.

With a warm, friendly, and inviting interface, FolksOnline offers people the opportunity to share their true experiences about how the Web has changed their lives. For each true story and other articles FolksOnline publishes on its site, a participant receives up to $100 and more importantly, gets to share their experience with hundreds of thousands of people. In addition, Yinspire, Inc. plans to offer a discretionary profit bonus for content contributors, once it achieves profitability.

FolksOnline offers other features as well for new or casual Web users, particularly for people who are not technically oriented. Helping Hands inspires people to develop ideas for exciting and rewarding things they can do through the Web. A Resources feature provides tips and leads to the best resources and Web sites to capitalize on their computer investment. As another service, FolksOnline presents entertaining and informative vignettes about selected software titles and offers customers a rebate for their purchases.

FolksOnline aims to provide a unique venue on the Web for people who want the chance to explore their dreams through using technology -- whether it's sharing more time with the family, developing a long-hidden talent, starting a job at home, or planning for retirement. And the best part of the story is that people get to tell it themselves and help others - as FolksOnline.

Ruby Yeh, Founder - With more than a dozen years in the computer and software business, Yeh has worked with several leading industry start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. Prior to founding Yinspire, Inc., she founded an international consulting company, which included such clients as Gain Technology, Sybase, and Pure Software. In her last corporate position as Director of European Operations for Frame Technology, Yeh expanded the company's European revenue from $3 to $8 million in one year. As a key executive at Interleaf, Yeh took revenues in international operations from zero to over $20 million in just three years, adding 140 employees in the process. Yeh has also held numerous field and strategic marketing positions with Wang Computers and AT&T. Yeh graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.B.A. in marketing and earned an M.B.A. from Northeastern University.

Margo Komenar, Marketing - Komenar has been involved in the world of communication and media since the early 1980s, when she owned her own production company for creating educational videos, advertising, and infomercials. She later joined the software industry as International Sales Director for Software Resource, a major industry distributor. Komenar has just completed the 600-page Electronic Marketing Handbook, to be released by John Wiley & Sons. As an independent consultant, she has forged several strategic alliances between independent developers and international multimedia publishers. Komenar earned a master's in educational technology from San Francisco State University and a bachelor's in education from the University of Missouri.

Kevin Frazier, Operations - An accomplished musician, Frazier crossed over to the multimedia industry, where he co-produced two enhanced CDs. His "Prestige Studios of the World" CD-ROM features virtual tours of some of the best recording studios in the world and was distributed with the cover of the June 1996 issue of Mix magazine. This CD-ROM was sponsored by computer industry leaders, such as Apple Computer, Macromedia, Adobe, and CompuServe. In addition, the Web site he helped to develop, Studiosource, is a valuable resource among professional musicians and the recording industry worldwide. Frazier has also been a computer consultant for ten years.

Sylvia Paull, Publicity - Paull was the publicist for C|Net and Wired magazine during their launch phases and was influential in helping these companies quickly gain industry support and financing. She also developed public relations strategies and campaigns for several multimedia companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Canter Technologies. During the past three years, Paull has been a co-host for the well-known "cybersalons," held in Berkeley, where sixty to eighty leaders and innovators in the computer and related fields meet regularly to discuss issues. As the Director of Marketing for Software Ventures, Paull placed the little-known MicroPhone program on the software map, garnering outstanding reviews in the computer press and establishing the product as an industry bestseller. Paull holds a B.S. in Political Science from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Mary Mooney, Design - An award-winning fine artist, Mooney's career has evolved from graphic design to computer graphics education, to cutting-edge information design. As Information Architect for Ikonic Interactive, she handled design and interface issues for clients such as Time Warner's Pathfinder and Lycos. Previously, as Interface Designer for Sybase, she worked on visual interface and navigation issues for IBM, SAP, Cadence, and a large interactive TV project for a major telephone company. Mooney has also taught multimedia design at UC Berkeley Extension and has spoken on this topic at several industry conferences. She has a bachelor's degree of fine arts from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas.