Sometimes I have nothing to say
April 22nd, 2009 by 
John Dilbeck
In the last couple of days, I’ve gotten a couple of emails from friends asking if I’m okay. They said I hadn’t posted to this blog in awhile and wondered if anything was wrong.
The truth is that I have not been feeling very well, but that wasn’t why I didn’t write anything lately.
Sometimes I just don’t have anything to say, so I don’t post anything.
I know some people think that is the kiss of death for a blog, but I’d rather read something substantive rather than just filler, any time.
The truth is, however, that I’ve been working on my offline marketing and planning a new site for joint venture co-marketing between brick and mortar businesses in Murphy, NC.
I’ve been meeting with a number of business owners and talking to them about their marketing and what they want to do with their businesses this year.
Each business owner is different and I’m surprised at the number of different things they want to accomplish.
So, I’ve spent a lot of time talking, listening, and then going back home and doing a lot of thinking and planning.
It has taken a lot of work, but now I have a design for a new business model that I think will work for all of the business owners who choose to participate.
One of the beauties of the new model is that it requires cooperation among the owners in cross promoting each other, both online and offline. I think that will help all of us to do better, even in the tough economy we’re currently facing.
All of this behind the scenes work will result in much more online work over the coming months, but you won’t necessarily see much of it on this blog.
Affiliate marketing will play little part in the new site I’m developing, because it will be devoted mainly to sending new customers to existing offline businesses and reminding their current customers and clients why they like the business and why there are good reasons for going back and buying more.
Still, I’ll be using a lot of the techniques that I’ve learned through affiliate marketing.
I’ll be working with all my new clients to build individual email marketing lists for their businesses as well as building an inclusive mailing list for the benefit of all the business owners who choose to join us. Of course, I’ll be using Aweber to manage these individual lists and the new site will be powered by Site Build It!, where the new list will be powered by SBI’s ezine/newsletter module.
So, there has been a lot of thinking, scratching my head, drinking coffee, and scribbling on hundreds of sheets of paper. I’m sure you didn’t want to hear about that and I know you didn’t want to see any of it.
Eventually, hopefully in a month or so, I’ll be able to introduce the new site and do much more local marketing than I’ve been able to do over the last few years.
It’s been strange getting out of the house and actually talking to real business owners, but I’ve been enjoying it immensely.
With affiliate marketing, I rarely know who my customers are, how they found me, or why they decided to purchase.
With this local marketing consulting and new business system, I think it’s going to be fun getting to know our customers and helping the business owners effectively spread the news about why they are the best source for what they’re offering in our tiny little town in the mountains of western NC.
One of the difficult decisions I had to make was to limit my clients to non-competing business categories, which has turned out to be a good idea. Rather than trying to promote all the real estate agents in town, for example, I can concentrate on working with just one. That will make it much easier to write quality content for the new site and will help me focus on what I’m trying to accomplish.
I also decided that each client I accept has to be actively involved in their own marketing and must agree to recommend at least two other non-competing businesses for whom they will write testimonials that will be used on several other sites.
I’m finding it refreshing to work with people who want to work together in real life, and still build their own individual businesses.
It’s going to take some time to pull all of this together, but I expect it to be off and running by late summer.
We’ll see if this is a good prediction or not.
So, if all you are interested in is affiliate marketing, you’ll see that I really had nothing to say about that topic.
I’m alive and working and I’ll be writing more about affiliate marketing soon.
Act on your dream!
JD
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Blogging, Marketing, email marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Good deal, John. I knew you’d been quiet, but you’ve gone quiet before so I knew you’d be back.
First, what’s this illness stuff? That keeps coming up, it seems; I hope you’re seeing a doctor for it.
Second, I need to get going on more offline marketing, because frankly I’m stagnating. I’ve done some things lately, hoping to make a dent in some fashion, but I can’t say it’s been overly successful.
Still, we do what we do. Lucky for me, I can write posts way in advance, so if I ever have a down period the posts will still show up. Sneaky, but it’s a nice blog saver.
You’re doing fine; good luck with it all.
Mitch´s last blog post..Article Packages
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
completely understand John, sometimes there’s just that uneventful week and nothing to say! Especially if you haven’t had time to explore things in the IM world.
Have a good week!
Solomon Huey´s last blog post..Getting emails is a GOOD thing!
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Good afternoon, Mitch.
Thanks for the kind words and support.
I have bad allergies that really knock me for a loop in the spring and fall. Some days I just don’t feel like doing anything but sleeping. It’s one of the reasons I’m much better suited to being my own boss and working at home. At least, that way, nobody else has to listen to me cough, sneeze, wheeze, and make other disgusting noises.
Of course, I’ve chosen to live in an area that is abundant with the pollens and molds to which I’m most allergic.
One of the nice things I discovered when I lived in the Phoenix, Arizona, area was that I went for several years and wasn’t bothered by my normal hay fever problems.
When I moved here to Murphy, NC, I quickly rediscovered the “joys” associated with allergies. What used to be mainly a six-week period in the spring and about three weeks in the fall has grown to longer periods as our climate is warmer. The warmer winters have confused the trees and plants and they’re releasing pollen over longer periods now than they were 20 years ago. (At least, that’s what I’ve read. I don’t know if it’s truth.)
Additionally, I have other health problems that I don’t want to discuss here. I’m just not as healthy as I was a few years ago, but I really don’t like to complain about it. There are many people who are much worse off than I am. I’ll take it a day at a time and keep trying to put one foot in front of the other.
I’m finding that I’m really enjoying talking to local business owners and I’m looking forward to some creative offline marketing this year. It’s a really pleasant change when compared to working at home all the time.
I think I understand what you mean when you say you are stagnating. I was feeling that way last year.
I’ve written a few blog posts and scheduled them for later publishing, but just don’t feel comfortable doing it. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just not for me. I don’t really know why.
Still, if it works for you, that’s a good thing.
Act on your dream!
JD
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Good afternoon, Solomon.
It’s always interesting when real life interferes with blogging. (grin)
I hope you have a good week, too.
Act on your dream!
JD
April 24th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Hi John, That’s a step I haven’t had the nerve or time to attempt - local off-line marketing consulting. It’s a great idea and I hope you keep us informed. I’ve been considering it for some time now.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog post..ClickBank Niche Sites - Quick and Easy DIY
April 24th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Getting them all to understand “cross promoting your competition is a good thing” should be interesting in itself.
Dennis Edell´s last blog post..Business Mentors, Advisers & Coaches
April 27th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Good morning, Brian,
Local offline marketing consulting is something that I’m very interested in.
I look at small business websites and see many reasons why they are not producing the results the business owner wants.
Some of the things that are second nature to anyone in Internet marketing are virtually unknown to the average offline business owner.
At the same time, some of these business owners are very savvy in offline marketing and joint venture marketing with other local businesses.
One of the things I’ll be bringing to the picture is a combination of online and offline marketing.
Those of us with online businesses are virtually invisible in our local communities, especially when we live in an area where offline advertising is still be predominate method of choice.
I’m looking forward to finding ways to combine offline marketing in businesses with lots of foot traffic and online marketing with businesses with lots of visitors to their sites.
I’ll probably be talking about this more on JohnDilbeckAndFriends.com rather than here.
It’s been very interesting getting out and talking to people in their businesses. I’ve learned some things that I’ll also be applying to my business, as soon as I can make the time to do it.
Act on your dream!
JD
April 27th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Good morning, Dennis.
I never said I’d try to get them to understand cross promoting their competition.
While it is true, in one sense, that all other businesses are our competition, there are some very good reasons to cross-promote other businesses in different categories than their own.
That’s the reason that I’m working with only one business in each category.
For example, one local woman owns a bed and breakfast. Additionally, this incorporates a coffee house, bakery, art gallery, small classes, community activities, and massage therapy.
She works cooperatively with a local massage therapist who also sells essential oils and other related products.
They cooperate on cross-promoting each other and it’s working well.
Would they want to promote other bed and breakfasts or massage therapists? No. I’m sure they would not. That’s why I won’t consult with competing businesses.
Another example is a local photographer who has a great gift for portrait photography, especially with babies and children.
She’s been cross-promoting a women’s clothing boutique, and did a two-day photo shoot in the store.
It worked well for both of them.
As a result, the owner of the women’s clothing store is starting online marketing and is slowly developing her new website.
Of course, neither of them would want to promote other women’s clothing boutiques or photographers, but they would probably be willing to work with other non-competing businesses.
Does that clear it up?
Act on your dream!
JD
April 30th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I personally think it’s crazy for people to email you just cause you haven’t been blogging. Why not take some time for yourself and just brainstorm the heck out of the thing you love to do? It’s not like you died or anything, just took a break.
May 6th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Sometimes we need the break, and get with the real world. I find myself sometimes stuck at home looking for ways to engage with others. I am glad you took the time to do the same.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Good afternoon, G.B.C.D.
I agree with you that all I did was take a break, but, still, it’s nice to have friends who check up on me if I go “missing.”
I spent a lot of time, when I felt like it, doing just what you suggest: brainstorming and thinking.
Now, I’m looking forward to putting into action my new goals and plans.
Act on your dream!
JD
May 20th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Good afternoon, Susan.
You’re absolutely right. Sometimes we need a break. Thanks for your comment.
I’m happy to be back.
Act on your dream!
JD