John L. Dilbeck: Home Business

APSense - A new business social networking site

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:58:28 GMT

For the last few months, I've been looking at quite a few social networking sites. Some are friendly to business and others are not. Each has its place. I really don't have a lot of time for just socializing, but when I do, I tend to go to MySpace. I like to combine my socializing with work, so I'm continuing to look for business social networking sites that offer a variety of features for meeting new people, talking to friends, advertising my products and services, blogging, and joining groups of like-minded people. There are a couple I'm almost ready to recommend, but not quite yet. I want to spend more time on them before I make up my mind. I'm not going to recommend something to you that I'm not going to use myself. Today, I ran across a business social networking site I'd never seen, and I found it while surfing one of my favorite traffic exchanges. Take a look at APSense.com and see what you think. You can join for free and have almost full access to all the features of the site. Here's part of how they present their service:

Apsense in a Nutshell... Apsense is a social network where people come together to share their business. We enable users to share their business through networking, discovering and creating quality business content. The development of new networks and constant exchange of information is happening everyday at Apsense. We are changing the way people build their businesses online. Meet other business individuals... In its purest nature Apsense is a web 2.0 enabled social network. We promote the exchange of business networks by providing tools for users to easily communicate, create interest groups and even build their own private social network. Ultimately our goal is to make it simple for you to connect with other business individuals. Find valuable business contents... All contents on Apsense, from business blogs to business discussions to product and service listings are collectively rated by the users (that would be you). Top rated contents are pushed to the top of our content listings so you can find the most popular and trusted business information quickly. So if you are looking for valuable business information online to help you build your business, don't waste time searching for it anywhere else! Create your own business contents... While all types of contents on Apsense are being viewed and rated by the users, these same type of contents can also be created by you. Why create your own contents? Everyday millions of people are searching for contents related to your business by using search engines and web 2.0 enabled websites like Apsense. So by creating your contents on Apsense, you are enabling millions of people to find contents about your business. For us, content is your business interests, your products & services, your business experiences, and anything else you would like to share about you and your business.

I've only had a couple of hours to look over the site, and I'm impressed with it. I've joined a couple of groups, started one of my own, started building my business website on Apsense, and will be creating a new blog there in the next day or so. Of course, my group is about Site Build It and I urge you to come join APSense.com, add me as your contact, and we can help each other present our businesses and offers. Now, if you're a relative beginner to this sort of thing, I want to ask you, please, do not spam everyone with your advertising. There are places where advertising is appropriate, and places where it isn't. Get to know people. Participate in the discussions. Learn something new. Teach someone something you've learned. Don't just start posting ads everywhere! That's not what social networking (business or not) is all about. Have some class, don't be crass! Come on over and join APSense.com. It's free, and you can take your time to decide if you like it or not. There are a couple of upgrade options, but frankly, I haven't even looked at them or the affiliate program, yet. I'm too interested in the system they've set up, and too involved in learning how to use it, to even think of any of the ways to spend or earn money there. If you do join and add me as a contact, please don't spam me. I want you as a friend, and not someone I would rather hide from, or block. Let me know what you think about Apsense and other social networking sites. Are they effective and a good way to spend your time? Or, do you think they are a big time and energy drain? Act on your dream! JD

Tony D. Clark - Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:44:08 GMT

Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed. Maslow had his hierarchy of needs. The self-employed have our hierarchy of success. In this series, I'm going to cover each of the levels, look at how you move up the hierarchy, and explain why you'd want to. The levels are:

Freelancer (physiological needs)

Contractor (safety and social needs)

Expert (esteem needs)

Guru (self-actualization)

[Success from the Nest] I spent some time exploring the Success from the Nest blog, today, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The information that is presented is serious and helpful, but it is presented with a light-hearted sense of humor and some delightful cartoons. If you are interested in being self-employed, and in getting the most for your efforts, I think you should read this multi-part series on the Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed. Act on your dream! JD

Stephen Ayer is building a glossary of traffic exchange terms

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 02:56:57 GMT

Have you been confused by all the technobabble associated with online marketing in general and using traffic exchanges in particular? If so, you ought to visit Stephen Ayer's new Glossary of Traffic Exchange Terms. Stephen is the owner of Traffic Roundup, one of the traffic exchanges that works well for me. [Traffic Elements: the building blocks of web traffic]

Get a free affiliate marketing suite at LinkScout

Sun, 07 May 2006 18:02:49 GMT

Context: LinkScout, affiliate marketing, free advertising, search engine, link exchange, affiliate programs You can get a free affiliate marketing suite at LinkScout. Why? The main reason I recommend this site is because you can easily add your affiliate programs, network marketing programs, websites, blogs, lenses, forums, affiliate sites and links, and more, and advertise just one URL. You can build a site here for free, but it is well worth the $10 per month or $79 per year (as of May 5, 2006), to have a paid Associate membership. You can read about the extra benefits of an Associate membership and decide for yourself how valuable this could be to you in terms of saving both time and money. I've had a free membership for about two years and it's been tucked away in the back of my mind for when I was ready to upgrade and get serious about marketing both their services and my products and services. I'll be talking more about LinkScout as I learn to use it more effectively. If you want to sell more online, it is well worth investing $10 per month to centralize your advertising. If you are involved in affiliate marketing or mlm, you should sign up for your free membership today.

Who "owns" your zip code?

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 06:32:30 GMT

What? You mean someone may own my zip code? How? Don't be concerned. It's not what you may be thinking. Dan Nickerson has created a remarkable GeoAfilliate Marketing concept and has created several websites to make it work. With most affiliate marketing, an individual joins a merchant's program and then promotes the merchant's products using an individualized affiliate code. Dan introduces a different way of doing affiliate marketing with Got-Zip.com. Instead of promoting a merchant's products with your individual code, you just send them to Got-Zip.com. Dan handles joining the various affiliate programs, approximately 100 at this time, and the site maanages your commissions based on the zip code in which the visitor/purchaser lives. When you go to the site, you tell it your zip code and a cookie is placed on your computer to remember it. That's it. From then on, when you visit Got-Zip.com and make a purchase, the person who "owns" your zip code (and/or county or state) will get a part of the commission from that transaction. If nobody "owns" the zip code, county, or state, the unclaimed commission is put into a reserve pool and is shared by all the folks who own other territories. How do you "own" a zip code? There are three ways. Well, actually, there are six ways, depending upon where you live. You can "own" a zip code by paying an annual fee. If you live in the zip code you purchased, you are considered a resident. Otherwise, you are considered a prospector. A prospector, who lives outside a territory, can purchase the area. However, if a resident comes along later, the resident can also purchase the area and they will share commissions on any purchases made by residents of the area. However, if a resident buys a territory first, prospectors are locked out and the resident gets the full share of the commissions. Zip codes are "sold" on an annual basis. Counties and States are sold based on a monthly subscription. At this time, all the states are taken, but there are still many counties and zip codes available. I don't know if this will stall out or take off and fly. However, I've read all the posts in the forum that go back over a year and Dan appears to be honest and hardworking. He has some very innovative ideas. Based on my evaluation, and gut-feeling, I "bought" my 28906 zip code and Cherokee County, NC. I probably would have bought North Carolina, but someone beat me to it. If you decide you want to be a part of this, you should be aware that it will take some time before your investment will pay off in profits unless you can generate sales to people living in your territory. If you just purchase a territory and wait for others to do the work, it may take a long time to profit. One good thing is that nobody so far has lost any money by trying it. In the past, if someone cancelled their subscription, all their payments were refunded. Now, they have a territory auction to give others a chance to purchase your territory from you. What happens if you live in a sparsely-populated rural county, as I do. Is it fair to pay the same price for that zip code or county as someone else would pay for a territory in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, or another territory with many more people and prospective customers? It depends on several factors. Are you a resident or a prospector? How much local promotion are you going to do? Do you have traffic funnels you can use to direct people living in your territory to Got-Zip.com? Depending upon your personal marketing initiative and creativity, you may be able to make more sales in a smaller area than someone else can generate in a more-populated area. You get your share of the commissions on sales in your territory. What I didn't realize at first, and which makes this more attractive in my opinion, is that you also get an equal share of the commissions on sales in territories that have not been claimed. But, I don't believe you can depend upon that to earn a profit. It may offset some of your investment, but you need to generate sales from residents in your territory to make this really profitable for you. And, you may also earn from others' promotional efforts. Perhaps a customer sees advertising from one of the other territory owners and they make a purchase. If they live in your territory, you'll get the commission (or at least your part of it). The same holds true if someone living in another territory sees your advertising and makes a purchase. The "owner" of that territory will profit from your promotional efforts. The easy part of this is that you don't have to use affiliate codes to earn from it. All participants just send folks to Got-Zip.com and the site's software and administrators sort the commissions by zip code. If you type in the Got-Zip.com URL, don't forget the hyphen. If you want to be a part of this, you should take a long-term view on your participation. You will not earn massive profits in a short time with no work. I'm going to be watching this site and this new concept of GeoAffiliate Marketing to see how it works. I invite you to visit Got-Zip.com and make a purchase from one of our many merchants. Who knows, I may make a commission off your purchase. Or maybe someone else will. But, you'll still be buying products you like from vendors you trust and will not pay any more by going to Got-Zip.com to find the merchant and click on their link. We'll appreciate your business!

Site Build It! Two-for-one sale ends January 3, 2006 at midnight.

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:01:06 GMT

This is my final reminder of the Site Build It! Buy-one-get-one-free special sale. SBI is a bargain at any time. Until midnight on January 3, 2006, it is an extra-special bargain. If you're not ready to buy your SBI site, you may be interested in reading the book that started it all. Make Your Site Sell! is an ebook with over 1000 pages of outstanding information. It is by far the best $30 I first invested in my online marketing business. After buying MYSS, studying it, and putting what I learned into action, I finally started earning money through affiliate marketing. So far, the only better investment has been Site Build It!. I use the SBI method, tools, and resources every day as I expand my network of websites, blogs, forums, and lenses, even on sites hosted elsewhere. You're probably not interested in building a network of sites. I don't blame you a bit. If my brain were wired differently and I could concentrate on just one topic, I'd probably be much better off, but it's not the way I am. If you have a particular subject in which you are interested, SBI offers a step-by-step method to identify your niche, build your site, and eventually monetize it. It will save you time, energy, and money, and you will have a better site with a better chance of earning a decent income with it. You may not be able to replace a full-time job, but perhaps you can earn a few hundred dollars per month with it. I highly recommend Site Build It! and I'll be developing more SBI sites later this year. Don't miss this special sale. Share the purchase with a friend. You keep one site and sell the other to your friend. Each of you can get your own site for half-price until tomorrow night. Or, buy one and give one away. Or, keep both for yourself. You don't have to activate the second site for several months. If you do this now, where can you be a year from now?

What is NOC?

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 06:51:43 GMT

All consumers want to save money. All businesses want more customers. NOC matches consumers with businesses, and in the process, creates a win for the consumer, a win for the business, and a win for you, the SFI affiliate. The consumer saves money, the business acquires a new customer or sale, and you earn commissions for making it happen...with the opportunity to earn both on the front-end and residually! More reasons why NOC is hot: 1. You can now earn lucrative commissions by simply referring people to money-saving coupons. 2. Each week, the SFI product line is expanded with fresh, new products through NOC. And if there's a product or service you're interested in that we don't have, you now have the ability to add it. 3. You can now gain and maintain Executive Affiliate (EA) status by giving away coupons and/or using them yourself. 4. NOC works everywhere! No matter where you live in the world, NOC is available to you. 5. NOC is an awesome fundraiser program. Know any schools, churches, or other organizations that need to raise money? You can now refer them to one of the coolest and easiest fundraisers ever...and make great money doing it! To get the WHOLE scoop on NOC, go to: http://www.niceoffers.com/launch.jsp Merchants and businesses: Register your business for free and start advertising your special offer coupons on our network of sites. Shoppers and consumers: Find free printable coupons that you can redeem to save money. Some offers are available online and others are offline at a business only. Some are available for both. If you regularly shop at a business and know the owner or manager, won't you please tell them to go to http://ShowYourCoupon.com and register their business? If you would like to sign up businesses in your area and promote the NOC advertising model to them, and promote their free coupons to your friends and neighbores, you can sign up free and start today. Earn a commission on every coupon that is redeemed by a company you register.

I want to help you promote your business and get more customers in 2006.

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 19:29:48 GMT

If you own a business, you already know that all businesses need new customers. Two months ago, a new online service was introduced with the purpose of making it easy for merchants and business owners to offer special discount offers to attract new customers (or reward existing customers). Not only is it easy to do, but it costs absolutely nothing to register your business and create your special offers. You, as a business owner or manager, can decide what kind of offer you want to make. You can offer a percentage discount on the next purchase. Offer a special price or a freebie. Buy one, get one free. Buy one, get another at half price. Buy lunch and get a free beverage. $500 off at closing when you buy a new home. Whatever kind of offer that works for both you and your customers or clients. You know all about these kinds of offers. So do your customers and potential customers. And your competition. What's the catch? There isn't one. You can advertise for free and set all the conditions of the offer. All we ask is that you pay a bounty for each coupon that is redeemed by a paying customer. And, to top it off, you decide how much you're willing to pay for that customer to redeem the coupon. It's entirely up to you. You advertise free and pay only for results. How much are you willing to pay to acquire a new customer? How much are you willing to pay to get new business from your existing customers? What is the lifetime value of a new customer for your business? How much are you paying to acquire a customer now? Are you willing to try something new where you control the offer and the amount you're willing to pay, and to pay only when someone actually purchases from you? You don't have to pay for advertising and hope it works. You don't have to pay when someone clicks your advertising link. You pay only when someone actually redeems your coupon and makes a purchase from you. Guaranteed results. When you create an offer, won't you think about making your expiration date at least a year from now? That way, more people will get a chance to try your offer, you'll have less administrative efforts in renewing the offer, our affiliates (thousands of them) will have an easier time promoting your offer, and we'll all save time and effort in promoting your business. Of course, if an expiration date a year from now doesn't suit you or your offer, you're free to set the offer and the expiration date to exactly what you want. That's one of the beauties of this new service. We're working hard to promote you. I'm asking you to give us a try. If it doesn't result in new business for you, it won't cost you a penny - just a few minutes of your time. I'm also asking you to make an offer that is exclusive to our service. How many people promote your coupon when you advertise in your newspaper? We are ready to actively promote your offer. Since you're saving money by not paying for advertising that doesn't work, we'd like to ask you to make a offer that is better than your usual offer. You'll benefit and so will your new customers. I want to promote your business. If you go to http://ShowYourCoupon.com you can see our service in action. To register your business and start creating your special offers, go to http://merchant-info.showyourcoupon.com and sign up for free. I'll syndicate your coupon at http://SyndicateYourAd.com and to other websites, weblogs, and other venues -- all at no extra cost to you. Try us, please. You have nothing to lose, and the potential of attracting new paying customers at a cost you set. Remember, no customers, no cost. Register your business for free and make your offer to new prospective customers. I want your business and I'm willing to work to help you promote your business and make more sales. Your coupon will be actively promoted at SyndicateYourAd.com and many other sites that are fed from that weblog. Sign up today. (This service does not accept offers for business opportunities. We are happy, however, to help you promote your products and services.) Thank you, and I look forward to promoting your business. I hope you have a wonderful 2006. John L. Dilbeck
Dilbeck Marketing
Murphy, NC

Tips, Advice, Training, and Answers for Nice Offers affiliates

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 03:08:23 GMT

You will find tips, advice, training, and answers to your questions about the NOC program at the NOC and UBC forums on the SFI discussion board. NOC Forum UBC Forum If you are not an affiliate and would like to participate in the NOC coupon system, I invite you to sign up as a free affiliate. To learn more about all the details about NOC, visit the NOC Launch Announcement.

Nice Offers Regional Notices are Coming in January!

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 03:03:41 GMT

When a new merchant registers with NOC, all affiliates within a 100-mile radius will get a special notice of the new merchant, the merchant's offers, and more. This will make it much easier for NOC affiliates to market the new merchant's special offer coupons to potential customers in the local region. Tell your prospective businesses that all affiliates within a 100-mile radius of their location will receive special notifications to help encourage local promotion of their offers. (For now, this is only applicable to merchants in the USA, but will be rolled out to additional parts of the world over time.) If you are not an affiliate and would like to participate in the NOC coupon system, I invite you to sign up as a free affiliate. To learn more about all the details about NOC, visit the NOC Launch Announcement.

New Nice Offers merchant notices about special offer coupon expirations

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 02:59:24 GMT

SFI is now notifying merchants of their coupon expirations one week in advance of the expiration and on the day the coupon expires. Merchants will have an easy, one-click method to extend the expiration date of the coupon or to create a replacement. This will make it very easy for busy merchants to keep their coupon active and drawing in customers. Tell your prospective businesses that their offers will be featured in a newsletter mailed to over 150,000 prospective customers and marketing partners. If you are not an affiliate and would like to participate in the NOC coupon system, I invite you to sign up as a free affiliate. To learn more about all the details about NOC, visit the NOC Launch Announcement.

New NiceOffers.com Newsletter About to Launch

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 02:54:38 GMT

NOC will begin publishing a new newsletter this week to help get the word out to over 150,000 of SFI's most active affiliates. These affiliates will learn about the latest and greatest new offers at NOC and other related information to help them spread the word about the registered businesses and their special offer coupons. If you are not an affiliate and would like to participate in the NOC coupon system, I invite you to sign up as a free affiliate. To learn more about all the details about NOC, visit the NOC Launch Announcement.

New Nice Offers banners for attracting potential merchants

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 02:48:48 GMT

You can find eight new banners and buttons for attracting potential merchants to NiceOffers.com at: niceoffers.com/affiliates/a_banners-mer.jsp Use these banners to spread the word about NOC and to attract new businesses to our coupon distribution system. Here are two examples of the new banners:

There are six others in four sizes and two colors. The banners are available in full-banner size, large rectangle, medium rectangle, and small rectangle. You'll find each size banner in both purple and blue colors. If you are not an affiliate and would like to participate in the NOC coupon system, I invite you to sign up as a free affiliate. To learn more about all the details about NOC, visit the NOC Launch Announcement.

Twenty Major Launches at Site Build It! in 2005

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 13:14:01 GMT

Site Build It! has been greatly improved with 20 major launches in 2005. What happened to the price? How much more does it cost now to buy SBI than it did a year ago? Nothing. The price is exactly the same. SBI! is driven by an underlying respect for the online small business person that is unique. Those of us who have SBI sites take it for granted, simply because that's what we eat, live and sleep. SBI doesn't suck small business people in with $4.95 domains. They don't bait you with $5/month hosting. They don't lure you with loud offline advertising. SBI doesn't offer cheap come-ons. And they don't promise Get Rich Quick. It simply takes time and effort to build any business. People who really want to succeed "get it." No other company delivered anywhere near what they added to SBI! this year, without increasing the price by a penny. In chronological order...

MSN Automated Challenge Graphic Submission
XML It!
MSN Search Reporting Launches
Continued Addition To The Unmatchable Search It!
Two Important Books... The Tao Of CTPM, Make Your Links WORK!
Spam 'n Virus Blast It!
Name Park It!
iDesign Contest Launches 60 More Gorgeous Templates
RSS It!
Constant Updates (delete-the-old, add-the-new) to Search Engine, Paid SE, PPC, Directory, Shopping Search, Local Search, Tips 'N Techniques, and Third Party Resources HQs
Forums Explode Into THE Online Business Community (Not a launch, but truly THE story of 2005. The collective wisdom and serious-yet friendly collaboration is unmatched. The best of the best is not "lost to posterity," but become articles in The Tips n Techniques or other HQs.)
Brainstorm It!
Automated Google Sitemaps and Yahoo! "Sitemaps"
Great contests like WWW It! and SBI! Video Demo Contest (2 winners won a job a SiteSell and $2500)
Link Popularity Index (LPI)
Blog It!
New Keyword Ranking Report (including Image Search reporting)
SBI! Video Demos Start (great way to "do" the Action Guide)
SBI! Includes
Monetize It! (Advanced Content-Building, Ad-Selling and PPC-Buying -- unique on the Net, pushes totally new ground... again)

All, as I said, at no added cost. Instead, they launch the Buy-1-Get-1-Free special! That's just "the big stuff." It doesn't include the continual iterations and constant updating of functionality and information. They do not collect and list new information. They delete the old, improve existing and add what is new and important, so SBIers don't waste time on "noise." Bottom line? SBIers merely have to follow the Action Guide to a tee, avoid the noise online, and if they need to, follow the Third Party Resources HQ for best-of-breed plug-and-play for special features that are not "core" to the central C-T-P-M approach of SBI!. The bottom line of all this? No one succeeds like SBIers. And our C-T-P-M advantage is only going to grow!

Site Build It! 2 for 1 sale extended to January 3, 2006

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 12:53:22 GMT

The Site Build It! 2 for 1 sale has been extended from December 25, 2005 until midnight on January 3, 2006. Why would you want to buy one website and get one free? There are lots of reasons. You have two sites you want to build. Pay for one, build both. You want to help your children learn to build a successful web business. Buy one and keep it for yourself and give one to a child, or give both to children. Teach them how to set a goal and follow it to success. SBI's step-by-step action guide will take them through the details of researching and building a real website. You can advise and mentor them as they progress. You want to give a friend or business colleague a chance to build that home business they've been talking about for so long. A gift of SBI gives them the best chance to make it happen. Buy one for a spouse or sibling, keep one for yourself. Perhaps you know someone who wants an SBI site. You can pay for one site, get two, and sell one to your friend at half-price. Each of you gets a full year at half-price. What a deal! Whatever you decide to do with the second one, you have until midnight on January 3, 2006 to make your purchase. Don't miss this extended deadline. Do you have a dream you want to achieve? Where will you be a year from now if you don't act on your dream? If you have a dream, isn't now the perfect time to act on your dream? Is $300 too much to invest in working to achieve your dream? What can you build in a year? Where will you be a year from now if you act on your dream?