For the low, low price of . . . well, nothing, you can have your banner on Sweetwater's links page ("http://www.sweetwater.com/insidesws/links.tpl" ). All we ask in return is that you place our banner on your site. What could be cooler than free advertising?

If you're interested, send a message directly to our Webmaster, Michael Oland ("michael_oland@sweetwater.com"), with your site's address and a brief description. We'll get back in touch with you and provide the specific information (and a banner, too).

If a banner is too much, too soon, we're also interested in trading links. Once again, contact Michael for additional information.

You ought to be in pictures. This is an opportunity that you can't pass up if you've ever wanted to get your photo in a national magazine or on the Web. Here's the deal: If you bought all or most of your gear through Sweetwater, we want you to send in photos and tell us about your personal studio regardless of whether it's a home project studio or a big, professional installation. Play live on stage? We want to know about that, too.

Got that star quality? Want to see yourself in a national magazine? We'll tell you how. (Above) Dawn Hopkins in her Sweetwater-equipped studio

Why are we asking for this? Well, we are going to begin working on a major campaign soon that will specifically focus on our customers (that's you!). Ads and articles (sort of "infomercials") will be published right here in Sweet Notes, as well as on our Web site. If we get a particularly compelling story that's accompanied by some high quality photographs, we will probably use it in one of our ad campaigns which will appear in the major industry publications like Keyboard, Mix, EM and so forth.

We will be sending a free, good-looking Sweetwater t-shirt to each entry (so please be sure to specify whether you want an M, L, or XL size). But think of the exposure you're likely to get if your picture runs in Sweet Notes (which is sent to almost 200,000 musicians, engineers and manufacturers around the world) or on the pages of your favorite industry magazine ("Hey mom, I finally made it into Keyboard !").

I sure hope we get lots of responses to this. I love the idea of giving our customers some recognition. And who know, there might be a "movie of the week" to follow.

Speaking of customers . . . You may have noticed that we're putting quotes up on our Web site from e-mail, faxes and letters we receive every day from our customers. We've even started adding some to this issue of Sweet Notes.

We started getting positive feedback from customers almost from Day One, but up until recently, they just went into a big file folder or ended up being tucked away on one of several hard drives in my office. A few got posted on the company bulletin board. Then, not long ago, a number of these comments got sent on to several manufacturers who told us we should put them up so everyone could read them. While we aren't in the business of patting ourselves on the back, we could see their point. If a customer takes the time to write, their comments should be shared with all our other thousands of customers. So as you look through this issue and browse our Web site you might see excerpts from a letter or e-mail you've written.

We've always asked that you tell us when we do a good job, as well as suggesting ways we can better serve you. We also read every single letter, fax or e-mail that comes into the building, and we think you'll enjoy hearing, in the customer's own words, about their personal experience with the "Sweetwater Difference."

New Gear Directory. It's here and it's better than ever! Copies are being mailed even as you read this, so check your mailbox. If you know someone who might want one (like the guy who keeps "borrowing" your copy), just give us a call and we'll send one their way.