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John L. Dilbeck's Ramblings
Whatever strange and wonderful ideas tickle this big brain of mine.
ISSN: 1533-8193
Being a voracious reader, I go through lots of news and stories. When I find one of interest that I think will benefit you, I write about it here. Your feedback is always welcome.
News Archives
(See menu at left for the old archives.)
Updated Site Build It! 5 Pillar Program lens on Squidoo
Posted by johndilbeck on Friday, August 15 2008 at 7:21 AM
Category: affiliate_programs
If you don't already know it, I'm a huge fan of Site Build It!, Ken Evoy, and their 5 Pillar Affiliate Program.
I've joined and tested hundreds of affiliate programs, and the 5 Pillar Affiliate Program remains at the top of the list.
You can earn generous commissions from each sale, and recurring commissions from each annual renewal. This is true lifetime commissions, and the folks at SiteSell go out of their way to make sure you are credited for the sales you make.
It is a two-tier program, so you can earn residual commissions each time someone you refer to the affiliate program makes a sale.
SiteSell offers outstanding training, a regular newsletter for affiliates, great promotional tools, dedicated affiliate managers, and free members-only forums.
The 5 Pillar Program remains one of my highest paying and most reliable income streams.
Have you joined, yet?
It's free, you know.
Come learn more about the Site Build It! 5 Pillar Affiliate Program.
If I were going to recommend only one affiliate program, this is it.
Act on your dream!
JD
Site Build It! - now you can hire a specialist to build your website for you
Posted by johndilbeck on Tuesday, March 25 2008 at 11:38 PM
Category: sitesell
Until now, Site Build It! was for the "Do it yourself" crowd.
I'm part of that demographic and I love building websites of all sorts, but that's what I do.
There are many thousands of us who want to learn all the skills that are necessary to build a successful, profit-making website around which we can build our business.
But, there are many millions who are part of the "Do it for me" crowd.
Maybe you are one of them.
You already have a business and you want a website that actually brings new customers and clients. You want your site to add to your bottom line, not subtract from it.
You know how to run your business and now you want to find someone who can build a website that gets results.
You already hire specialists in other areas, including your lawyer and accountant. Maybe it's time for you to hire a specialist who will work closely with you to build a website that promotes your business and attracts new prospects to your business.
Where will you find a specialist who knows how to do this and won't charge you more than its worth?
SiteSell Services now offers very attractive packages that include hosting using the un-matched Site Build It! system and a specialist who will work closely with you to target your niche market and build a website that will work for you night and day.
SiteSell Services is brand new, but it is based on a decade of proven techniques and technology combined to build websites that produce results.
From the SiteSell Services page:
Build a professional Web site with SiteSell Services, using a process and tools proven by tens of thousands of people. Each page is aimed at pulling in Web site visitors. More Web site visitors means more new business.
Your SBI!-built site will work. Built from the ground up, you reap the benefits of 10 years of SiteSell experience, all packed into a truly professional site.
Don't waste your time and money. You deserve a website that will work for you.
Why don't you spend a few minutes and see if SiteSell Services is what you've been looking for?
Act on your dream!
JD
Healthy Coffee House - Murphy, North Carolina, USA - Save on drinks and overnight stays
Posted by johndilbeck on Monday, January 21 2008 at 6:19 AM
Category: business_promotion
Healthy Coffee House (Murphy, NC US)
Come visit the Healthy Coffee House, Bed & Breakfast, and Bakery.
Have a drink on us!
Buy one, get one free any drink in the Healthy Coffee House.
Stay one night, second night half price.
Free wireless internet service.
Expires: This coupon expires on January 24, 2009.
Restrictions: One coupon per week per customer
Click the "Get Details" link below. You will go a new page where you can have the required coupon e-mailed to you instantly. Then print out the coupon and redeem at:
Healthy Coffee House
215 Peachtree ST
Murphy, NC 28906, USA
Questions on this offer?
Contact: Healthy Coffee House via Phone: 828-837-1515
Get Details and Money-Saving Coupon
Introducing: business networking site for SFI Marketing Group affiliates
Posted by johndilbeck on Monday, January 7 2008 at 7:37 AM
Category: sfi
I've been working over the last few days to create a new social networking site for SFI Marketing Group affiliates, and I'm announcing its presence to the world today.
If you are an existing SFI affiliate, or would like to learn how to join SFI, I hope you will join us at the SFI Marketing Group affiliates business networking site.
Please restrict your conversations to topics of interest to SFI Marketing Group affiliates. You are welcome to use your SFI affiliate links in the conversations and on your profile pages, but you are not welcome to spam the site with unrelated topics.
Spammers will be banned with no recourse.
You are invited to come and join us at the SFI Marketing Group Affiliates networking site. Of course, it's free.
Act on your dream!
JD
SFI's EyeEarn co-op is active
Posted by johndilbeck on Monday, January 7 2008 at 2:37 AM
Category: sfi
I earn, you earn, WeAllEarn.com (tm).
The EyeEarn co-op is active and already producing new affiliates. So far, I've had 9 new sign-ups through EyeEarn.
You can tell they come through EyeEarn by selecting the Key Codes format of your genealogy report. They will have a code of 1100 (which was also the code of the discontinued Eagle Co-Op).
I received my start up kit a couple of days ago and everything in it looks first class.
Now, I need to put the sticker on my car and upload a photo when the photo uploading link goes active today, or soon.
To remain a member of EyeEarn, we'll need to requalify during the last five days of each month, so I just put a new recurring event in my iCal program to remind me.
I have a feeling EyeEarn will be a great recruiting tool for SFI.
After brainstorming for a bit, I registered WeAllEarn.com and redirect it to my affiliate link for EyeEarn. It will make it easier for advertising both online and offline.
Now, let's promote EyeEarn and make it very successful.
I earn, you earn, WeAllEarn.com (tm).
Act on your dream!
JD
Come visit the brand new Murphy NC 28906 social networking community
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, January 2 2008 at 2:09 AM
Category: cherokee_county_nc
In late December 2007, I created a new social networking site for Murphy NC 28906 on Ning.com.
If you live in, visit, or want to know more about Murphy, NC, come join us at the Murphy NC 28906 social networking site.
You can customize your profile, write a blog, discuss topics related to Murphy, NC in our forum, meet and get to know fellow residents, upload photos, and much more -- all for free!
Anyone living in, visiting, or wanting to know more about Murphy, NC is welcome. Come join us today.
Site Build It! Special Offer
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 24 2007 at 10:33 AM
Category: sitesell
It's scary trying to build a successful online business when the great majority of websites do not succeed in attracting new visitors and making the sales you need for your business to grow.
Site Build It! offers the tools you need and a proven step-by-step process for building an online business that offers a much better probability of succeeding.
During the special offer, instead of paying $299 to subscribe to Site Build It! for a year, you can choose to pay $399 and get two subscriptions.
Keep one for yourself and give one to a friend, associate, or someone in your family.
(Note: even if you look at this posting after the Halloween special has expired, the above link will still take you to the SBI order page - and - if there is a current special, the image will inform you. How's that for keeping you informed of any special promotions for Site Build It?)
Give the gift of Site Build It! to someone who is newly retired and wants something new to do or to a college student for building an in-demand skill for the real world.
There are so many possibilities.
Take advantage of this special and it may help you change your world.
Act on your dream!
JD
Do you need fast ethernet or gigabit ethernet broadband?
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 10:12 AM
Category: internet
If your business is located in one of the major metropolitan areas of the United States, you may want to try the new Shop For Ethernet service offered by Telarus and Cognigen.
Why is Ethernet the future?
Ethernet is a matter of plugging your network directly into a telecom provider's network and bypassing your local phone company. Having direct access to customers allows the broadband Internet provider to control the user's experience from end to end and reduce the cost.
These savings are passed on to you.
How does Shop For Ethernet work?
1. You enter your building address in the form at Shop For Ethernet.
2. You will see a map with your location along with markers of surrounding buildings who have been "lit" by the major telecom service providers.
3. If you would like to learn more, you can enter you contact information to receive a phone call from our staff of Ethernet service experts.
How is Shop For Ethernet valuable?
The GeoQuote Ethernet locator is valuable for people or business who are looking to:
* move into a building with existing carrier facilities.
* substantially upgrade their current broadband connections.
* establish a direct relationship with a provider without the local Bell in the equation.
* find a carrier who provides QoS (Quality of Service) guarantees. Since the carrier you select is in complete control of your connection, it is much easier for them to provide QoS.
* gather information that will be helpful in the planning stages of broadband deployment for a new real-estate development.
Is Shop For Ethernet free?
Yes. We do not require that you pay a fee to access this information - however, we do require that you purchase service through us if you decide to buy. We are compensated from the participating carriers when you order through us, which pays for the development and maintenance of this web site.
Can I order Ethernet service online?
Not yet. Even if our Ethernet lookup tool shows you are in an On-Net building, we must still go through a manual check on both pricing and service availability. However, know that our Ethernet Experts are here to assist you with every step of the process.
Shop For Ethernet is not for all businesses
Shop For Ethernet is for the largest businesses that need lots of bandwidth (100 to 1000 mbps) and are located in areas with buildings that are served by fast ethernet and gigabit ethernet providers.
It is not for all businesses and certainly not for residential broadband provisioning.
Other alternatives: Business T1, DS3, and faster
If fast ethernet isn't available in your location, or if you just don't need that much bandwidth, you can find what is available in your area. Shop For T1 offers real-time lookup of broadband providers offering T1, DS3, and other Internet connections. Our broadband experts have helped hundreds of companies provision better service connections and most of them have saved money in the process.
Small business and residential DSL, Cable Modem, and Satellite broadband
If you are looking for affordable broadband for your small business or home use, Shop For DSL offers real-time lookup of DSL, Cable Modem, and Satellite broadband providers in your location.
We can't find a broadband connection for everyone - I live in an area without DSL access, for instance - but the first-class providers we help you find are extending their networks every day.
Act on your dream!
JD
New: zReturn Lost and Found Services
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 10:10 AM
Category: cognigen
Use It Before You Lose It
Protect your valuables (and your identity) with Worldwide Lost & Found Return Stickers.
Give lost gadgets a greater chance of returning to you--without losing your privacy!
Register each stick-on tag's unique ID number with the online database and affix the small tags to your cell phone, laptop, MP3 player, digital camera, car keys, and other easily-carried items. That's all you have to do.
When someone finds your lost item, they can use the ID number to send you a message that they found it (forwarded to your email via the database) without ever knowing your personal information. The exchange is swift, secure and completely anonymous.
Several kits are available. The family kit includes 6 self-adhesive labels, 1 key tag and a free lifetime membership in the worldwide return system database.
Product Features
- Simple stick-on tags help keep your high-tech tools (and the data they contain) from being lost forever
- Make it easy for finders to do the right thing--without ever knowing your personal information
- Secure website keeps losers and finders anonymous; complete privacy is maintained
- Ideal protection for laptops, suitcases, cameras, cell phones, PDAs--any items that can get lost during travel
zReturn provides a low-cost way for someone to do the right thing and return your valuable items if they find them somewhere.
While nobody can guarantee that your lost item will be returned, your zReturn sticker will greatly improve the odds.
Learn more about zReturn.
Act on your dream!
JD
You can extend the reach of your Merchant Circle marketing
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 10:08 AM
Category: business_promotion
There are several ways you can promote your business on Merchant Circle: the contents of your basic listing, any items you post to your blog, coupons you create, photos you upload, and the bulletins posted on your directory listing page.
I just learned about Merchant Circle a few days ago and I've jumped all over using their system. You can see the profile I've created for Dilbeck Marketing on Merchant Circle. I've taken the time to use most of the tools and love their system.
(Your business is listed at Merchant Circle, right? If not, you can create a professional looking online listing for your business with our easy to use tools. Free! - MerchantCircle.com.)
There are probably other things you can do at Merchant Circle that I haven't discovered in the less-than-a-week that I've been a member of the site.
What you may, or may not, already know is that every time you blog, create a coupon, upload a photo, or post a newsletter, these things are added to a newsfeed for you, automatically.
At the top-right of your listing, you'll see "Subscribe to blog and coupon feed" followed by an orange chicklet that says "RSS/XML." This is a standard news feed that can be syndicated on many services and can be read by anyone using a news feed aggregator or a news reader. Even without sending emails you are broadcasting to the world - potentially.
I'll write a post later to explain more about making use of this. For now, suffice it to say that you can blog in one place and have it automatically republished in multiple places. This makes it very powerful for getting your news out.
If you don't know anything about RSS, let me suggest that you read What is RSS?.
One place you may want to syndicate your feed is at Squidoo.com.
To do this, you'll need to be a member.
Are you an expert on something? Build your own Squidoo lens and tell the world. It's free, and you may even earn some money from it.
Of course, you're an expert on your business, so join Squidoo and create a lens about it. It's worth the effort to learn how to build free lenses on Squidoo, and it's a perfect place to syndicate your Merchant Circle news feed.
For example, I've created a Squidoo lens about Merchant Circle and I've syndicated (re-published) my news feed and Merchant Circle's news feed on that lens.
Also, as part of that lens, I've created a list where you can add a link to the Merchant Center listing for your business. I will be syndicating that list on some of my other websites, so you'll get free advertising just by adding your link to the list. If you don't understand, just comment on this topic and I'll see what I can do to help you.
Act on your dream!
JD
Creating a better link to your Merchant Circle business listing
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 10:06 AM
Category: business_promotion
So, once you get your listing set up on Merchant Circle, what else can you do to increase the likelihood of being found by a potential customer?
(Is your business listed at Merchant Circle? If not, you can create a professional looking online listing for your business with our easy to use tools. Free! - MerchantCircle.com.)
First, tell people how to find you here.
For example, my listing is located at:
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Dilbeck.Marketing.828-837-2901
I've used the custom URL feature to shorten this link to:
http://member.merchantcircle.com/dilbeckmarketing
This custom URL is much easier to pass along, put on business cards, and show in your advertising.
You can create your own custom URL by logging into your MerchantCircle account and then clicking Listing Configuration in the left column. When you click it, several other options will be displayed below that heading. Click Manage Links and then enter what you want in your Custom URL edit box.
You should be careful when you do this if you plan to advertise this URL. Make sure it is something that describes your business and is something you can live with for the next few years.
Remember, if you change this at any time, all advertising you previously did using your former custom URL will be wasted.
This is something you want to think about before implementing. Don't do something hastily that you'll regret later.
Also, while you are there, you can enter up to four links to other websites and blogs. Just enter the name and URL of the link and Save. If you have less than four saved links, it will automatically create a new empty listing. Add as many as you want - up to four - and save each time. In a couple of minutes, you'll have additional backlinks to your websites and blogs from a highly-ranked and high-traffic site.
After you enter what you want in your custom URL box and/or link boxes, don't forget to save it.
Act on your dream!
JD
Is your business listed on Merchant Circle?
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 10:03 AM
Category: business_promotion
First, if you're not listing your business on MerchantCircle, why not?
Create a professional looking online listing for your business with our easy to use tools. Free! - MerchantCircle.com
Truly, even if you are not a highly skilled web designer or webmaster, you can use the tools provided by MerchantCircle to promote your business and the products and services you offer. It won't take days, weeks, or months, either! You can get started in a few hours and can continue promoting your business as long as you want through posting to your blog, creating coupons, and publishing newsletters.
This is the kind of business promotion that every owner or manager of a small business should jump onto. It's free, effective, and easy to use. What's the downside?
Act on your dream!
JD
MyCommitment.org - Pledge to make a difference
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 10:00 AM
Category: nonprofits
President Clinton recently announced MyCommitment.org and urges you to pledge to make a difference. Make a commitment to change something - big or small - and connect with others who share your vision for change.
I have been inspired by all the things President Clinton and Vice-President Gore have been doing to help our world after they left office and I am happy to pass along the word about the latest iniative of the Clinton Global Iniative, a project of the Clinton Foundation.
From the MyCommitment.org About page:
MyCommitment.org seeks to:
* Inspire Change. Provide information highlighting some of the world's biggest challenges, raise awareness and motivate others to take action.
* Build Community. Connect people with others who share the same vision for change and help them create networks to put plans into motion.
* Facilitate Action. Offer tools for visitors to make commitments to act and track their progress and results.
* Strengthen Engagement. Encourage citizen action around America and throughout the world.
MyCommitment.org builds on the success of the Clinton Global Initiative, a project of the Clinton Foundation, which has already inspired more than 600 commitments to action from some of the world's top thinkers and government and business leaders. Learn more about CGI member commitments.
Launched in 2007, MyCommitment.org reflects President Clinton's dedication to promoting citizen service. Throughout his life, President Clinton has met inspiring individuals and organizations taking innovative and unique approaches to solving some of the world's biggest challenges. These encounters also led him to write his second book, GIVING: How Each of Us Can Change the World, which was released in September 2007.
What will you do to help make the world a better place?
Act on your dream!
JD
New political campaign products at CafePress
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, October 3 2007 at 9:58 AM
Category: marketing
As you know, the 2008 elections are heating up much earlier than normal and this should provide you a real opportunity for selling your designs through CafePress if you reach an audience who is politically motivated to campaign for their favorites.
CafePress recently announced the upcoming availability - on or around October 10, 2007 - of political yard signs and 3.5-inch buttons.
Because of the printing method used, the yard signs are printed on both sides with no second location surcharge.
The larger buttons have the same aspect ratio as the 2.25-inch buttons so you may be able to use that design on them.
Other changes noted are the switch from off-white paper to white paper in the perfect bound books.
You can read more information on the announcements page.
If you are not already a CafePress Shopkeeper, let me invite you to join for free and sell or buy your own custom designs. I get regular commission checks from CafePress and love selling my designs at John Dilbeck's Shirts, Mugs and Hats.
Even if you only want to make products for yourself and your friends, you can open your own store at CafePress.
Act on your dream!
JD
Grand opening - Mountain Morning - Andrews, NC 28901 - Saturday, September 22, 2007
Posted by johndilbeck on Friday, September 21 2007 at 11:39 PM
Category: arts_and_crafts
Come see the newest project in Cherokee County, NC - the grand opening of the Mountain Morning retail store on Saturday, September 22, 2007 from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Mountain morning products were established with the belief that the old crafts and unique skills that have been handed down through the generations are still in the hearts and hands of our people.
- Weekly classes offered in a variety of areas
- Over 600 items currently available
- Website coming soon for e-commerce
Mountain Morning
1158C Main Street
Andrews, NC 28901
At the corner of Main and Oak Streets, just east of Andrews Town Hall.
Phone: 828-321-2730
Email: mountainmorning@verizon.net
The store will be open Thursday through Saturday, 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Office is open Monday through Thursday, 10:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Mountain Morning is the newest project of Far West Mountain Economic Partners.
A tradition of service, a future of commitment
- Affordable housing repair
- Financial literacy
- Area farmers market
- Free tax preparation
- Advocates of state earned income tax credit
- Regional visitors guide
- Gifts of Kindness product distribution
- Mountain Morning retail store
Far West Mountain Economic Partners
1158C Main Street
Andrews, NC 28901
Phone: 828-321-2929
Toll free: 877-321-2929
Fax: 828-321-2900
Email: fwpartners@verizon.net
Site Build It! Brainstorm It! V2 Launches
Posted by johndilbeck on Thursday, September 13 2007 at 11:07 AM
Category: sitesell
Brainstorm It! is a powerful niche brainstorming and keyword analyzer module that is only one of the tools included in your Site Build It! annual subscription.
Here is some information from a recent announcement from Ken Evoy (Who is Ken Evoy?):
"Yes. Brainstorm It! *V2* is now live!
Both vertical and lateral brainstorming have been greatly improved. Important new concepts like VALUE Demand and Real Supply provide stronger guidance for content development. "Pink messaging" helps get niche selection "just right."
And there are a whole bunch of other improvements. It all adds up to the best keyword brainstorming and research tool in the world...
We did a ton of research before launching V2. It's fair to say that it's the best keyword tool in the world. And it's included in the $299 price of SBI!, which, of course, delivers many more tools than Brainstorm It!..."
Site Build It! is a powerful system of integrated tools that help you find a niche, identify key concepts and keywords for writing about your chosen niche, build your website and promote it to the world, and interact efficiently with your visitors and customers.
Brainstorm It! is one of the tools that is used extensively in the step by step process for building your online business when you first start using Site Build It!. Later when you have established your online business, you can continue to use Brainstorm It! to help you find subjects you can write about to extend the valuable content you offer on your site.
I've used the new version over the last few days and have found lots of new ideas for topics to write about on my SBI site.
The fact that you can pay much more than the cost of an annual Site Build It! subscription just for a keyword analysis and brainstorming tool that doesn't work as well is just one more reason for using Site Build It! to build your online business.
I am a happy and very satisfied SBI customer and I welcome these improvements to the tools I use to continue to build my business.
Act on your dream!
JD
New Site Build It! Results Page Is Online
Posted by johndilbeck on Thursday, September 13 2007 at 11:07 AM
Category: sitesell
Sitesell, Inc. recently updated the results page for websites built by their customers using Site Build It!
From a recent announcement by Ken Evoy:
"Results.sitesell.com is becoming a mini-directory of some of the most well-done, informative sites in the world. But it sure is getting harder and harder to to update it.
Picking the top SBI! sites for results.sitesell.com can be a real challenge...
It's become so much work that we seem to have subconsciously put off an update for over a year! SBIers keep doing better and better. More and more of them are entering the Top 1% of all sites in the world.
So this year(!), we shook it up (requiring higher traffic numbers to "make the cut.") There are a lot of new faces, but some old ones still in the lineup, too!...
We eliminate sites that don't have the "real" traffic to justify their Alexa scores. We chop sites that are in categories that are overcrowded. We regretfully drop sites that have been in results.sitesell.com "long enough" (and bring in new ones). And we cut so many others for a variety of reasons. So what you see is just the tip of the top.
One way or another, all selected sites must be in the top 1% of all sites on the Internet. And you can imagine that's a very nice place to be...
Each time we do this, the new sites stagger me. There is no limit to the niches you can conquer.
I think the most important point, though, is that most of these people are non-techs, just "ordinary" people who have been empowered to do EXTRAordinary things online.
They get the kind of numbers that any professional webmaster would drool over. And the more congested the Web gets, the STRONGER SBIers become. "Regular people" are leaving professional non-SBI! Webmasters and SEOers in their dust.
That's the power of the Site Build It! process... ANYone can find real, verifiable, online success.
For YOU, our partner-in-sales, this is BIG NEWS!
Why!
Because this is all the proof you need to convince your visitors that SBI! is for real. Real traffic! Real success!"
A while back Ken Evoy gave us a challenge to find any other webhosting company (and SBI is much more than that) that can provide better results for their customers. I spent some time searching and never found a site that even came marginally close.
See for yourself, these are the results SBI webmasters are getting by building their online businesses using Site Build It!
Why waste your time and money using anything else?
Act on your dream!
JD
Ken Evoy and Sitesell announce the release of Content 2.0
Posted by johndilbeck on Tuesday, September 11 2007 at 4:01 PM
Category: sitesell
Ken Evoy and Sitesell recently announced the release of Content 2.0, an optional add-on module for Site Build It!
Here is a copy of their press release:
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (PRWEB) August 30 2007 -- Sitesell.com, the originator of Site Build It! and champion of using quality content to drive small business sites, today takes Web 2.0 to new heights. For the first time, small businesses can make it easy for their visitors to craft original Web pages including photos and captions. Other visitors comment upon and rate those Web pages. The process is optimized for search engine results driving long tail keyword traffic and viral spread.
"Up until now," says Ken Evoy, president of SiteSell.com, "Web 2.0 has been the playground of large companies which basically aggregate individuals and small businesses. Today, small business owners have the simple, powerful ability to increase content through others and use it to grow traffic and 'buzz' tremendously."
Web 2.0 is a catchall term for user-generated content and interaction with viral spread. It has created legendary business success stories such as MySpace, flickr, and YouTube. But they are all 'big company' stories.
"Small business has been shut out of Web 2.0," states Evoy. "They are limited to blogging and using YouTube and MySpace to increase traffic and revenues in small ways. Now they become 'aggregators' instead of 'aggregatees.' Blogging pales because the site owner still has to create all that content. With C2, visitors create original, high-value content, a tremendous leveraging of time and results."
The depth and breadth of user-created content yields surprising results. At Wikipedia, contributors do the work, building new pages of keyword-rich material. Wikipedia gets the benefits of content and inbound links. Millions of Page 1 rankings at Google have pushed it to the 9th most visited site in the world (according to Alexa.com).
Evoy contends that what he calls "the rest of us" do not have the resources to create Web 2.0 platforms. Over one year in the making, Content 2.0 is that platform. SiteSell clients are already using it to create their own mini-MySpaces or to turn sites into super-blogs, inviting recipe submissions, beer reviews, etc. A ghost story site has even created BooTube, which invites video submissions. In SiteSell's forums, users are already showing traffic stats that have doubled.
Web 2.0 and so-called "user-generated" content has its detractors. They cite everything from the unreliability of Wikipedia and uncontrolled "splogging" (spam blogs) to widely publicized issues on MySpace. Evoy says that all those problems stem from the lack of reasonable forms of control. "We studied all the major Web 2.0 companies, took the best, eliminated the worst, and then made it all simple to use."
"You need an authority to maintain quality. Users of Content 2.0 cannot continuously overwrite each other like at Wikipedia. They don't create 'Profiles' and gossip like at MySpace. And they do much more than just upload photos. They build real value, content which an owner can easily control and monetize. That control is key."
Just like the large Web 2.0 successes, visitors who participate are notified when theirs page have been published and when comments are posted about their pages. They comment back and forth on the site and are encouraged to spread the word through e-mail. Repeat visits, community and viral spread are the hallmarks of Web 2.0.
"Content 2.0 is automated, regulated, high-quality Web 2.0," continues the passionate Evoy. "Like our flagship, Site Build It!, the complexity under the hood is intense. And 'under the hood' is where it belongs. Our small business customers never have to look there. They just focus on doing business."
Evoy sums up "Small businesses have been the aggegatees for years. The money is in being the aggregator. Now they can do it, in their niches, with quality and ease."
Content 2.0 is available at SiteSell.com for the annual subscription price of $99 as an add-on module to Site Build It! (SBI!), SiteSell's flagship business-building product.
(End of the press release)
Not every website that is built using SBI will need or be able to use Content 2.0 effectively, but many sites are already using it with success.
If you would like more information on Sitesell and SBI!, please visit Sitesell.com.
Act on your dream!
JD
Act On Your Dream! -- Issue #6 -- Getting back on track, is available online
Posted by johndilbeck on Sunday, September 9 2007 at 10:18 PM
Category: ramblings
After a very long hiatus, while I was trying to decide on a new approach, I have published the latest issue of the Act On Your Dream! newsletter.
It is archived at Act On Your Dream! -- Issue #6 -- Getting back on track
If you would like, you can subscribe to Act On Your Dream to get the next issues when they are published.
I intend to publish the newsletter on a regular basis, probably twice a month, and I want to feature you and what you are doing to act on your dream.
What can we do to help each other find the success and freedom we all want?
Act on your dream!
JD
What are your favorite motivational books?
Posted by johndilbeck on Wednesday, June 20 2007 at 3:17 AM
Category: book_suggestions
Now that I have a modern web browser, having just received the new Macintosh I bought, I've been looking at some things I wasn't able to do previously.
One of those things is viewing something called Plexo, which is available as one of the modules for building lenses at Squidoo.com.
Plexo lets you create lists of pretty much anything and then let others vote for what they like the most (by clicking the up arrow next to the item) or for what they like the least (by clicking the appropriate down arrow).
Not all Plexo lists use the down voting option.
So, I'd looked at Plexo and wasn't impressed. When I read something about some Plexo lenses in a group on MySpace a couple of hours ago, I decided to take a look.
Now, I understand why Plexo is starting to make some waves.
So, to test the waters, I created a new lens that is devoted simply to a Plexo list of Favorite Motivational Books.
I started the list with a few of my favorites and I encourage you to go there and vote for your favorite.
Don't see your favorite motivational or inspirational book? Feel free to add it to the list.
Pass the word along. I'm really interested in learning what the top ten motivational books will be.
It will take only a couple of minutes to go to Favorite Motivational Books and vote for your favorite. Won't you do it now, while you're thinking about it?
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