Perhaps your site signs up new opt-in subscribers for you while you sleep. If so, that's ONE automated task. Maybe orders are accepted securely without your intervention. That's TWO. But can you keep counting?

If you have a little trouble going beyond that, what follows will help you.

As you probably already know, perhaps most powerful of all applications on Internet is CGI script. CGI stands for "Common Gateway Interface". It is a standard for interfacing external applications with information servers, such as HTTP or Web servers. If you have a website, more than likely you already have cgi based software running at your site. But your profits could probably benefit greatly from a few more.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to go into a long, boring explanation of how to install cgi scripts. I'll save that for techhies. Instead, I'll simply share a wide variety of scripts that are ideal for small business owners looking to grow website traffic and sales.

(Note: If you're not at all familiar with CGI, http://www.cgi101.com/ is a great place to learn about how it works. Remember, if it all seems too confusing, fear not. Using CGI can be as simple as picking out a script and having someone else set it up!)

Anyway, on with scripts...

Automark http://www.superscripts.com/scripts/automark.html

Automark is a cgi script that will automatically pop up a "bookmark" suggestion box for first-time visitors to your website. While this can be accomplished using straight javacode, this script will not annoy regular visitors by popping up window every time they return. The first time a new visitor hits your "target page" bookmark window pops up, but never again. This is a great way to get your site bookmarked by more visitors.

MailNow http://www.mailnow.co.uk/

MailNow allows you to provide web-based email to your users. Its web-based email product provides unlimited addresses for multiple domains. A free email account is a great giveaway that ensures constant repeat visitors to your site.

Master Subscriber Pro http://willmaster.com/master/subscriberpro/index.shtml

This program automates joint ventures with other ezine publishers. Using this script your visitors can subscribe to an unlimited number of ezines without leaving your website to do so. Locate a few ezine publishers with traffic comparable to yours and you'll all increase your new subscriber signups!

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is not a programming language but a standard that allows visitors to interact with your website. CGI scripts can be written in a number of different languages but most are written in Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting Language).

This article gives you details of five free CGI scripts that will do following:

1. Mail out your Newsletter from your server 2. Track number of times your free E-Book is downloaded 3. Rotate banners on your website 4. Create your own auto responders 5. Allow visitors to recommend your website to friends

At end of this article are details of where to download these 5 free scripts. But first, here are some basic guidelines on how to configure and install CGI scripts:

1. CGI programs usually come in a zip file. Unzip file and open README file. This document will give you instructions for configuring program file.

2. Open program file using a text editor such as NOTEPAD (the program file will usually have file extension .cgi but may have other extensions such as .pl).

In most CGI programs you will have to configure following 4 items:

(a) path to perl

This is where perl program resides on your server. The path will usually be:

#!/usr/bin/perl

but could be:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl

If you're unsure what your 'path to perl' is, check your web host's online 'manual' or FAQs. If you can't find it there, simply ask your web host.

(b) path to sendmail

Most CGI programs notify you when your visitors have completed a particular action, and for that, program needs to know where 'sendmail' program resides on your server. The path to your UNIX sendmail program will usually be: /usr/sbin/sendmail

But it could also be something like this: /usr/lib/sendmail

Again, check documentation on your web host's website, or simply ask your web host.

(c) absolute path to your CGI directory

The absolute path tells CGI program exactly where to find file (or files) that it needs to open. Unfortunately, absolute path to your CGI directory is not something you will be able to guess or deduce - it is completely arbitrary and depends entirely on how system administrator at your web host has partitioned your host's hard drive.

The easiest way to find out your absolute path is to ask your web host. Another way is by using telnet - just type in pwd (print working directory) and that should give you your absolute path.

(d) Your email address

This is address that CGI program will use to notify you when an action has been completed.

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