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Get a free marketing site at Linkscout

March 26, 2009 by John Dilbeck
Filed under: Advertising, Advertising and Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Downline Builders, Marketing 

I’ve been going through some pretty major changes this year and real life has interfered with some of my marketing activities.

Fortunately, I have some marketing systems that run on automatic, even when I’m tied up doing something else.

Linkscout, created by Paul Antonevich Jr., is one of those automatic systems that has worked well for me for over four years.

Unfortunately, when I resurfaced about a month ago, I found that Linkscout was down for a complete redesign, and I’d been promoting it rather broadly.

So, I’ve been watching the site pretty closely since I learned it was down. The projected date for reopening kept slipping, but I can understand that. I’m sure there’s a lot of work involved in a site that does as much as Linkscout.

Yesterday, I checked, and my marketing page at Linkscout was active, again.

It looks very different than it did the last time I saw it, but the old familiar features are there.

Unfortunately, when looking at it with fresh eyes, I realized I was still promoting a number of affiliate programs and other sites that I no longer want to promote.

So, I spent a couple of hours this morning making some changes.

I deleted some of the websites I promote – well, that’s not accurate. As with any major change, there are always bugs to be found and squashed.

Deleting websites and sponsor boxes are two things that aren’t working this morning.

I did not find a workaround for the sponsor boxes, but I did find that I could hide a website without deleting it. This worked well. So, now, I’m just showing the websites I still want to promote in 2009.

One of the beauties of Linkscout is that you can promote as many websites as you want on one page, and you can even do it for free if that’s what you want.

If you don’t already have an account at Linkscout, you can sign up for one today, at no cost.

In addition to marketing your websites, there is an affiliate marketing downline builder, where you can add your affiliate codes to the existing affiliate programs you want to promote.

I noticed that there were a couple I wanted to add, but the add affiliate programs function is not working currently. Hopefully, Paul will get that working soon.

One of the problems I noticed is that there are a lot of affiliate programs in that list that I have tested and decided not to promote, some because I tried them and found no value and some that just look like obvious wastes of time without even trying.

But, I guess that’s to be expected with most downline builders.

All I can say is be careful of what you join and promote. Your reputation is on the line.

I noticed that I was promoting 66 affiliate programs, but I cut that down to 18 this morning.

One of my mantras in 2009 is “focus.”

I find that Linkscout is an okay system for free members, but it is a much better deal for upgraded pro members.

Paul calls the pro membership an Associate or Gold account.

We all know that free services are somehow subsidized by paying members, right?

If you are a free member, your site will show some of the links of the paying member who sponsored you. With the new redesign, I’m not exactly sure how that works, but I’ll be watching it to learn more.

So, what does an Associate member get for your money?

First of all, you get a lot of advertising points that can be used to bid on keywords for your websites. That makes it easier to get your pages shown when others search by keyword.

I bid relatively highly on terms like “affiliate marketing,” “internet marketing,” and other relevant terms for what I do.

I’m happy to pay for my Associate membership on Linkscout, and, if you’re serious about marketing, I think you’ll find it to be a good value, too.

You can upgrade to an Associate membership easily.

While I can honestly say that I really like Linkscout and am happy with the results that I get, it is not perfect. Like all other systems, it has a few warts and things different individuals may not like.

On the whole, however, I like it much more than I dislike a couple of features, and I get good results.

Have you tried Linkscout? What’s your opinion?

Act on your dream!

JD

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17 Comments on Get a free marketing site at Linkscout

  1. Pest Control Homewood on Fri, 27th Mar 2009 9:13 am

    2. sounds like a great system. thanks for the heads up. linkscout can really make a difference

  2. Joan Adams on Fri, 27th Mar 2009 9:55 am

    3. gonna try this and see how I do with the free version. I appreciate when you recommend something because I know you tell it like it is, John! Thank you!

    Joan Adams´s last blog post..“Watching” Television

  3. John Dilbeck on Fri, 27th Mar 2009 10:48 am

    4. Good morning, Joan.

    I try to tell it like it is, at least as far as I understand something. Sometimes, as I learn more, my opinions change.

    So far, I’ve been very happy with Linkscout.

    I got a notice that you’d signed up and went and looked at your page. I gave your lens about Whitey a five-star rating. I’m always inspired by that lens and thinking about both of you.

    The system is not working as it did before the redesign, and I don’t know what other changes Paul plans to make.

    Still, it’s a good place for free members to promote your sites and other offers.

    I no longer link to offers on Clickbank. While there are some good things sold through that site, I believe that the majority are not worth buying. I turned off the display of Clickbank items in my Linkscout back office. I don’t know if you can do that as a free member, or not – or even if you would want to. I’m just mentioning while I’m thinking about it.

    Let me know what you think after you’ve used it a bit.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  4. Joan Adams on Fri, 27th Mar 2009 11:01 am

    5. Well, I went on and signed up for the $10 month just to see what i could do. I would like to show specific click bank offers that I like, but have not figured that part out yet. Just gonna play with it a month, and if I make my $$ back, will continue it. That’s the only way I know to test it for me. do you agree with that strategy? thank you for the stars. Hope I can learn this one quickly!

    Joan Adams´s last blog post.."Watching" Television

  5. John Dilbeck on Fri, 27th Mar 2009 11:26 am

    6. Good morning, Joan.

    One of the main things about being an upgraded member is that you have a lot of points that you can assign to keywords related to the websites you are promoting. That helps them show up in the search engine on Linkscout.

    I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know how to tell you to promote specific offers through Clickbank.

    I do know that being a paid member will reduce a lot of the things on your site that you probably don’t want to promote.

    I do agree with the strategy you describe. That’s what I’ve been doing the last few years.

    In general, I don’t do it month by month, however. I’ve learned that it takes time to learn how things work, and when I start something I tend to give it a year or two to turn a profit

    Most businesses take from two to five years to be profitable, and we have a real advantage when marketing on the Internet because the costs are so low as compared to opening a “brick and mortar” business.

    Each of us has to decide upon our own strategy and the budget and time-frame we’re willing to invest in trying something to see if it works for us.

    I don’t think you’ll have much trouble learning it. You’re already promoting your lenses and that’s a good start.

    I used to have the ability to turn off the FFA part of Linkscout, which I believe is a real waste. I hope Paul restores the ability to do that.

    If you have any specific questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  6. Dennis Edell on Fri, 27th Mar 2009 7:16 pm

    7. 66 to 18; focus indeed! Good job. This sounds a lot like PIPS, is it?

    Dennis Edell´s last blog post..Seeking April Comment Contest Sponsors!

  7. John Dilbeck on Wed, 1st Apr 2009 6:00 am

    8. Good morning, Dennis.

    (I’m sorry for the delay in responding, but I’ve had an eye infection for a few days and spent most of my time in a dark room with the curtains closed and the lights off since Friday. I’m feeling better now and it only hurts a little when I look at the computer, so it’s time to get back to work!)

    I hadn’t thought about comparing Linkscout to PIPS, before.

    In a couple of ways, they may be a little similar, but there are huge differences.

    Both are designed to build downlines and both promote affiliate programs.

    They are very different in many ways.

    I was a member at PIPS (Plug-In Profit Sites) for awhile, but dropped my membership several years ago, so I’m not conversant with the current version of PIPS or what is being promoted.

    My comments here are based on that membership experience.

    Stone Evans, the creator of PIPS, offers much more support and has others offering support, too.

    Stone actively promotes several MLMs, and a new member can quickly find him/herself spending hundreds of dollars per month and making little or none in return.

    Stone hypes new offers and promises spillover, which never actually manifested, in my experience.

    Stone sets up sites that are virtually identical, and then it is up to members to differentiate themselves from other PIPS sites.

    There is a monthly cost for PIPS; Linkscout is free.

    Stone offers more training.

    Stone offers a pre-built autoresponder series. (For some people, this may be a plus. For me, it is a huge minus. I felt so bad about putting my name on the messages he wrote – even though I was licensed to do so – that it set me back a lot in building my own lists. This is something I still haven’t really recovered from.)

    Paul offers basically a one-page location where you can promote as many websites as you care to.

    In the past, my Linkscout main page has listed between 25 and 100 websites. This number has changed as my focus has changed over the years.

    If you decide to upgrade in Linkscout, it mainly affects the number of points you can use for marketing. Later, if you decide not to continue upgrading, you don’t really lose anything. You can still show your websites on the page – for free.

    So, while they have a very little in common, they are very different.

    Again, things may have changed at PIPS and my personal experiences are out of date, so this is not a current review or overview of PIPS. Caveat Emptor.

    I have not promoted PIPS for quite a while and have no plans to do so in the future.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  8. Dennis Edell on Wed, 1st Apr 2009 8:47 pm

    9. Excellent follow up John, thanks. I’ve never been a PIPS fan so I was just reassuring myself.

    Dennis Edell´s last blog post..Opening INTERNAL Links- New Window or Same Window?

  9. John Dilbeck on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 3:10 am

    10. Good morning, Dennis.

    You’re welcome.

    While I am not a fan of PIPS and no longer promote it, I do believe that Stone offers a lot of good training and it may be right for some people.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  10. Lisa on Fri, 3rd Apr 2009 2:25 pm

    11. Hey John,

    Great post and thanks for letting me know about LinkScout. I actually had never heard about that, it looks pretty interesting.

    You and I have similar approaches to 2009, ‘focus’ is really key and it was something that I was lacking in 2008. I was literally all over the place and never had enough focus on a single affiliate project to turn a profit. It really is about choosing one or two ‘money makers’ and just fine tuning, working, and focusing on those.

    I hope the best for you in 2009.

    Lisa Munoz

  11. Douglas@promotion products on Tue, 7th Apr 2009 1:19 am

    12. I must say I have not tried Linkscout, but if it’s a automatic marketing system it would be of interest for me. You say you are satisfied with it and you have used it for a long time, I might give it a try.

  12. website redesign on Tue, 7th Apr 2009 2:44 pm

    13. I have used Linkscout, however I am not as excited about the new developments as you are. I think that they have taken away a lot of the features I used before the redesign. Now, I see a lot of bugs and features that are not currently working. The Linkscout site doesn’t seem to work the way I need it to for my marketing needs. However, if you and other people are getting use out of it, I have decided to continue trying the program to see if they fix it and make it better.

  13. John Dilbeck on Wed, 8th Apr 2009 10:09 am

    14. Good morning, Lisa.

    Yes, focus is one of the keys. Sometimes avoiding distractions is hard, but it’s worth it.

    Thanks for the comment, and welcome to our discussions.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  14. John Dilbeck on Wed, 8th Apr 2009 10:12 am

    15. Good morning, Douglas.

    Welcome.

    It’s not a totally automated marketing system, but it does make it easy to promote multiple sites on one page and sometimes it leads to additional exposures as others join in the effort.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  15. John Dilbeck on Wed, 8th Apr 2009 10:20 am

    16. Good morning W.R.,

    I don’t believe that I said I’m excited about the new developments. I said that I was happy to see that the system is back up and running again.

    I agree that some of the features in the old system are missing in the new one. For myself, that’s okay, since I wasn’t using them.

    I can understand that it would not be as good a development for you if you were using them.

    I don’t advocate that you make your decisions based on what I like and what works for me. You should always base your business decisions on what works best for you, your goals, and is profitable.

    As I’ve said many times, what works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

    I, too, am hoping that Paul will fix the bugs and keep improving the system.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  16. Get Your Market to Act on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 9:12 am

    17. hmm…
    Linkscout seems to be promising.
    it can be worth a try to use.
    I have to agree with JD said it may depend on your needs. I may like it or not.
    There’s no such thing as a perfect system out there.

  17. John Dilbeck on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 9:21 am

    18. Good morning, G.Y.M.T.A.

    Welcome to our discussion.

    I agree that there’s no such thing as a perfect system. They all have their pros and cons, and what I like best about a particular system may be a deal killer for someone else.

    One of the reasons I have liked using LinkScout is because I do a lot of experimenting with different affiliate programs. By promoting my LinkScout page, I can send several thousand visitors to a page that changes over time.

    If I find that I really like a particular program, I’ll move it up higher on the page and/or invest more points in the keywords bidding.

    If I learn that I don’t like a program and decide to stop promoting it, I just replace it with something else or remove it entirely. Either way, my LinkScout page remains active, promoting multiple things for me day in and day out.

    Thanks for your comment.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

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