I’m finally free to update some of the websites related to my marketing business.

For the last several months, I’ve been pulling out my hair and chewing my fingernails trying to decide exactly what kinds of consulting services I’ll be offering. I settled that issue pretty quickly.

The hard part was deciding how I wanted to proceed and what I was going to charge for my time and effort.

Deciding what I WILL DO was much easier than deciding what I WILL NOT DO.

As I get older, I’m getting pickier about the people, products, and services I promote.

In the affiliate marketing side of my business, I’m dropping several companies this week, because I only promote the very best I can find in a particular category.

When it comes to business services, quality and dependability trumps price — every time. Some of the services I’ll be promoting cost more than their competitors, but they are worth it. Some, surprisingly, actually cost less.

In each case, I made my decisions based on quality and dependability, rather than price.

And, I did NOT make my decisions based on how much they are willing to pay me to promote them. I’m dropping several businesses that pay rather high commissions, but I don’t want to earn those commissions by recommending something that isn’t the best in its category.

Yes, it’s possible that I may make a bad decision now and then, but I’ve spent years and thousands of dollars using and testing these products and services. I know — first hand — if they deliver what they promise.

In a couple of cases, there really are two or three businesses that all deliver outstanding quality and return on investment. In one case, it has been very difficult to decide between them. I’m confident, however, that I made good choices for myself, my clients, and people like my clients.

If I won’t recommend something to my brother, daughter, best friend, or most-valued client, I won’t recommend it to you. If I won’t use it myself, I won’t recommend it, either.

That decision may cost me thousands of dollars, but if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.

I only promote businesses, and their owners, whose products and services I use and with which I am very satisfied — and that applies equally to affiliate marketing and also to promoting local brick and mortar businesses in Murphy, NC.

I’ll be stepping up my efforts to a higher notch in just a couple of weeks and I’ve been wrestling with several decisions for a long time.

When I started MurphyGold.com a couple of years ago, I planned to offer my marketing services to only one business in each category. Then, I’ve had inquiries from competitors of the folks I’m already promoting, and it’s been hard to turn them down.

And, in several cases, there are multiple business owners in a particular category who all qualify as top-notch and deserve to be promoted, so it’s been hard to make a decision about how I’ll handle this. In one category, off the top of my head, there are at least four business owners who I’d be proud to recommend to my readers. That is what has made it such a difficult decision.

If I were selling advertising, it would be simple. I’d let all of them buy ads, but that’s not what I’m building with Murphy Gold.

After wrestling with myself about this for months, I’ve come full circle back to my original thoughts. I’ll promote only one business in each category. That way, I can offer ideas for marketing and advertising without having to deal with helping people directly compete against each other.

I feel better about that. It was an ethical, as well as a business, dilemma. I do my best to be open, honest, and ethical and I felt it was wrong to promote two businesses offering the same kinds of services, because I would have inside knowledge of their goals and plans. My gut has known all along that it would open a can of worms, but my head has been arguing that I could deal with it and not do anything unethical or unfair.

I’ve learned — over many years — to pay attention to my gut feelings and finally my big ol’ brain came to the same conclusion.

Looking back on it, I knew all along that it would not be the right thing to do, and, as a result, I haven’t proceeded with inviting new businesses.

Now, that I have locked this “one business per category” policy in place (and have thrown away the key), it frees up a lot of energy to get to work.

Then, this week, I resolved my conflicts about pricing. That’s always a hard thing to set. There are many models and ways of calculating prices, but I tossed them all aside and went with my gut. It has been a good counselor over the years.

Now, I know what I’ll be doing, what I’ll be charging, and a few of the people I’ll accept as new clients. What a relief. Now, I can jump into doing the work — and that’s the part I love.

Normally, in the last two weeks of December, I fire the bottom 10% of my clients. I don’t work with people who are hard to deal with, who don’t do what they say they’ll do, who don’t pay on time, or who are just difficult to deal with.

If I don’t enjoy working with someone, there isn’t enough money on this quaint little planet to convince me to work with them. Life’s too short to deal with difficult people.

The only people I’ll work with are honest, reliable, helpful, friendly, cooperative, happy to see their customers, and very good at what they do.

I’m kind of a strange bird. In a world where most people will work with anyone who has some money and a pulse, I turn away more prospects than I accept.

I’ve been told I don’t have a firm grasp on reality and that I don’t understand business. That may be true.

However, I’d rather work with a few outstanding clients I truly love working with than have hundreds or thousands of clients I don’t like.

Some things transcend money.

This year, I’m happy to say that I don’t have any clients who need firing. I think that’s a first. I love working with great people.

I’ll be sending out invoices for next year, and we’ll see if any of my clients decide to fire me. It’s possible.

It’s gonna be an outstanding 2012! I’m going to have a lot of fun with my business.

Act on your dream!

JD

1. I am recovering from a very serious illness and I finally feel like working on my sites again. It has been a difficult period (almost three years), but I’m ready to go. During this time, my income was decimated, so I’m basically starting over.

2. I have closed over 50 websites that I built over the last decade (non-SBI). I started about half of them before SBI was introduced and the other half to test ideas and to see if I could put together a system that was better than SBI (for my own use, only, not to sell to others). I tested many different ways of building websites and blogs, and some of them were successful, but all of them had problems. Problems that I’ve never experienced on either of my SBI-powered sites.

I am a firm believer in testing to see how well something works. I don’t believe what people say, until I test it for myself. That’s probably a character defect and it has caused me a lot of unnecessary work, but I’ve reached my conclusions based on my own experience, not from someone else’s untested claims.

3. The release of BB2 is coming at just the right time. I’ve spent the last three or four months brainstorming and planning and thinking. I’m going to rebuild both of my sites and I’m going to take the time to do it the right way.

When I built my first SBI site in April 2004, it was basically to learn how SBI worked so I would be better as a 5P affiliate. At the time, I was building a couple of large (1,500+ page) sites using a database created by Dave Winer (one of the inventors of RSS and an early blogger, as well as a very talented programmer and application developer) and which I had modified heavily by tweaking the programming and adding my own modules.

The sites I built were very successful until North Carolina passed the nexus tax law in 2009 and Amazon.com cancelled my affiliation. Several other large merchants also dropped me at the same time. I had been an Amazon.com affiliate for 13 years and all of my sites were heavily monetized through their affiliate program. *poof* *gone*

This happened just as I was getting so sick that I had a very difficult time thinking straight and trying to make the necessary changes. A few months later, I was so sick that I could not work, at all.

So, my first SBI site was something I built because it was a subject that is important to me, not because I thought it was something that would make a lot of money. I liked how SBI made it easy to build and manage the site and how it did so much for me behind the scenes.

I was heavily focused on other ways of building money-making sites, at the time. I’ve built social communities, forums, websites, blogs, and even an article directory (for awhile). I wanted to know, from the inside, how these various sites worked and performed — and what were their benefits and problems.

I was a 5P affiliate before there was an SBI. Before even Page Build It! So, I had the chance to watch as SBI grew and expanded and expanded and continued to get better and better, year after year. And, I noticed that the price has not increased, even though the product is many times better than it was all those years ago.

(Actually, I think the price did increase for awhile, but I don’t remember the details. I also know that the C2 module used to cost about $100 per year in addition to the SBI subscription. C2 is now included free. I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that SBI cost about $500 per year at one time. Can anyone else verify this, or is it just another hole in my memory?)

Despite inflation and all the new and improved modules, the price for SBI remains at $299 per year. (Or, you can get it for $29.95 per month. You save almost $60 per year if you pay for it annually. Plus, there’s no risk. SBI comes with a 90-day no-risk money-back guarantee. Sign up today and try it for yourself!)

I spend a lot more than that for coffee. (…and Reece’s Pieces…)

I’ve also observed, for about 13 or 14 years the high levels of intelligence, honesty, ethics, integrity, innovation, and good-judgement that are possessed by the people who make up the Sitesell team. I’ve observed how the company has adapted to a changing world, not by following every fad, but by evaluating each new innovation from a business standpoint and then deciding whether or not it would have a long-term beneficial or detrimental effect on all of Sitesell’s subscribers. (Known affectionately as SBIers.)

I have observed how deeply focused all of the people on the Sitesell team are on helping all of us to succeed. They don’t just say it. They do it. Much of it for free. The members-only Sitesell Forums are dedicated to helping and being helped, and I have observed more times than I can count or remember how SBIers help each other. Individuals on the Sitesell team offer their help, too, above and beyond their official duties.

Day in and day out, for years.

When I built my first SBI site, in early 2004, things were very different from what they are, now. (I also have to admit that I thought I was something of an expert in building websites and I didn’t pay as close attention to the advice I got as I should have.)

The brainstormer was impressive and was a FileMaker runtime database that actually ran on our own computers, before being rebuilt to run entirely on Sitesell’s servers. That was a big change. It’s even better now, and the improvements that are planned for next year will be important improvements, also. SBI comes with an impressive list of tools and many of them are scheduled for improvements in 2012.

I don’t remember there being an Action Guide, although there probably was. I know, if it even existed, it was nothing like what’s available now.

Until last year, I lived where there was no high speed Internet and I had a very, very slow dial-up connection. Last year, I moved about four miles away and jumped into the 21st century, complete with high-speed broadband. For the first time, I was introduced to video on the Internet and it changed my whole approach to using the ‘net. I discovered the video Action Guide and watched all of them, but remember almost none of it. My illness left me with some real memory problems, but that’s getting better, too.

I’ll be re-reading the Action Guide and re-watching the videos as I work though my site redesigns and expansion, next year.)

As I said, I closed most of my websites and I’m changing my focus. For a decade or so, I was wide and shallow — lots of websites with not too much depth to any of them. I spent a lot of time on various forums and commenting on other people’s blogs.

I actually believed the nonsense about having 100 sites producing $1 a day being a good way to earn $100 per day. Now, I know that this is ridiculous. That’s a whole lot of work to earn very little money. Now, I know that it’s much, much better to focus on a few sites and build them so that they attract thousands of readers and earn much more money.

Of course, there’s more to choosing and building an income-producing niche-focused original content website, but some of it can only be learned by doing what you think is best and then adapting and improving the things that don’t work.

And, I want to emphasize this — it takes work! To be successful, you have to plan, organize, and then implement. SBI makes it easier, but it DOES NOT DO THE WORK FOR YOU! If you don’t want to invest your work, time, and creativity into building your online business, stay away from SBI! Go waste your time blogging. Did you know that you can do that for free — sort of?

To be fair, there are some good reasons for having a blog. If there weren’t, this site would not be powered by WordPress. However, I have proven to myself that blogging has been mostly a waste of time — for me. When I get my other two SBI sites situated, I am seriously considering rebuilding this site as an SBI site, instead of a blog. Those plans are on the drawing board, but I have a lot of other things that must be done first.

I did not focus on my own business as much as I should have, but there were other, more important, things I was doing, at the time. Caring for Mom, primarily.

Now, I’m moving to narrow and deep — a few websites that will go as deeply as I can on their topics.

The planning is mostly done. The mind maps are created, the site blueprints are completed, copious notes have been written, and now I’m waiting on BB2 before I completely revamp my two SBI sites.

Even though I made some mistakes when I chose the niche for the first site, I’m going to work through the Action Guide and do my best to correct some of those mistakes and then proceed forward with a patched foundation.

So, 2012 is going to be a big year for me.

BB2 and the new site design features and templates are going to make it much easier to build the sites I’ve envisioned, but was unable to build (due to overextension on other sites and a debilitating illness).

This time, I’m going to stop fighting the things I didn’t like about SBI (the main one being no integrated blog module with commenting) and start fully using all the tools that ARE available.

(It turns out that blogging is fun for me, but doesn’t produce any real income, so the lack of an integrated blog or forum module in SBI no longer bothers me. In another year or two, John Dilbeck And Friends may be my last blog. I’m considering turning it into an SBI site, too, but don’t have any firm plans, at this time.)

I’ve learned, after a decade of blogging, that I don’t make my money on my blogs. I enjoy writing them, but the money is made on my websites, and that’s what I am going to focus upon next year.

So, in summation (finally!!), this old dog is going to try to learn some new tricks. I’m going to forget about using PHP and PERL and Frontier and Radio Userland to accomplish things and I’ll adapt to the tools that SBI offers. The new reusable blocks that make server side includes available to people who use the block builder editor will make it possible for me to do some things I’ve long wanted to do.

My first SBI site may never be a real moneymaker. It’s always paid its way and made a profit, however. My second SBI site is the one around which I’m rebuilding my marketing business.

If you hear that SBI is only for beginners who don’t know how to do the technical stuff, part of that is true. It is perfect for beginners, but it is also perfect for us old propellerheads who have been slinging computer code for decades and building websites for almost as long as the World Wide Web has existed. Some of us have proven to ourselves that SBI offers a better way of building the kinds of sites we want to develop.)

(If you need SQL databases, scripting, and other similar features, SBI is not for you. If you are unsure if you can do what you want to do with SBI, you can always ask your questions. Answers are free and there is no obligation.)

And the price? $300 per year, per site?

That’s a bargain.

I know.

You have to look at the big picture. SBI is much more than just a webhost.

SBI is an online business success toolkit, complete with detailed instructions that you can adapt to the niche of your choice. It comes complete with a set of tools that are unmatched in one service — anywhere. (Remember that there were no challengers in the recent $50,000 Sitesell challenge!) SBI offers a forum with a friendly, helpful atmosphere where fellow subscribers enjoy helping each other succeed.

Only for beginners? Not true.

Too expensive. Not true.

I spend several hundred dollars every month for webhosting, email mailing services, domain names, and other expenses related to my online marketing business. Only $60 of that is for my two SBI sites. By comparison, they are a bargain.

The best way I know to build a successful online business, no matter how much experience and technical skill you have, or don’t have? Absolutely true.

But, I’m just one of nearly 50,000 fans of Sitesell. If you want other opinions, just ask.

I intend to be here when there are 100,000 Sitesell fans on Facebook.

Perhaps you’ve been wondering if you can be successful at building a business with SBI. What do you know that other people want to know?

That’s part of the beauty of SBI. The Action Guide includes 10 steps (metaphorically known as days, although some may take much longer to complete), and it teaches you all about building a website, identifying your strengths and interests, and helps you choose a niche, before you decide upon a topic and domain name.

Most people put the cart before the horse when building a website, but SBI’s Action Guide teaches you a much better way of approaching building an online business.

If you’ve been on the fence about trying SBI, or if you’re skeptical because you have been burned by online scams and get-rich-quick schemes, I understand your reticence. I’ve been burned by a few of them, too.

I have never had a bad experience with Sitesell. Never. Not once. In over a decade.

I can’t say that for any other company. I won’t say that for any other company, even if they offer to pay me.

You never know what you can accomplish until you get off the fence and start working to build a better future for yourself and your family.

Will you get rich? I am almost positive that YOU WILL NOT GET RICH. Possbily, but the odds are stacked against you, by far.

Can you earn a few hundred dollars to supplement your income while you learn new skills, probably, if you follow the Action Guide and do the work. Don’t expect it immediately, it may take a year or two to start earning real money.

Can you quit your job? A few have been able to do that, but I’m sure the majority have not.

Maybe you don’t want to quit your job. Maybe you’re retired and want something interesting to do, and maybe earn a bit in the process.

(I’ll be 60 in 2012 and I’m thinking about my retirement. But, I don’t think there will be much difference. I already work at home, at my own pace, on my own schedule. I enjoy researching and writing, and continuing to build websites really appeals to me — and so does making extra money.)

Maybe you’re a work at home mom or dad and you’d like to supplement your income.

Maybe you’re a student or recently-graduated young person and you’re having trouble finding a job that will help you grow and learn more. Why flip burgers or do something similar when you can learn valuable skills that will help you earn more in the 21st century. Learn how to build effective websites that earn real money. Do it for yourself. Perhaps you can leverage your new skills into a better job. I know several people who have done that after they spent a year or so learning what SBI teaches.

Students, and their parents, invest thousands of dollars in formal schooling, some of which actually helps them in life.

Why not invest another $300 in something that will help you (or your children) learn real-world skills related to business and 21st century communications and marketing.

Did you know that one of the more famous SBI-powered websites, Anguilla Beaches, was built by Nori Evoy (Ken Evoy’s daughter)? Would you believe she was only 14 years old when she started the site? It’s true. Now, she’s a college student who already has a profit-making online business.

Maybe you’d just like to earn enough to make payments on a new (or newer) car or save money for a vacation.

All of these are possible. I personally know people who have done all of these, and some of them didn’t know any more about building websites than you do, when they started.

Get off the fence.

Do something.

Thousands of people took the chance and ordered SBI. The great majority of the ones I know are happy that they did. That’s why they continue to renew their subscription year after year and even purchase several subscriptions so they can build multiple sites.

But, slow down. Start with one. Give it a try.

Take it one step at a time, and learn from the people who have helped thousands of people like you.

What will it cost? $300.

What about all the options, upsells, continuity programs, bundles, and all the back-end products they’re going to try to sell you?

There are none. They provide optional coaching services (by the hour), if you need them to get past something you don’t understand, but they are optional.

There is no hard sell.

$300 per year. That’s it.

Order SBI today.

Do it now. Six months from now, you can comment and tell your story. Is it working for you, or not?

Try it for up to 90 days risk free.

You can’t find a better deal than that. At least, I can’t find a better deal than that, and I’m always looking.

Are you satisfied with what you’ve accomplished in 2011? If you said yes, say it again, proudly. Congratulations!

If you said no, then think seriously about how 2012 is going to be the same, or different.

I can’t speak for you, but for me, 2012 is going to be different.

Sitesell and SBI are going to help me.

I choose to invest time, energy, and money in myself and my future.

Act on your dream!

JD

I usually wait until I’ve received several such notices before I go to either approve or delete the entries. Usually, 80% of the entries are spam for sites that are not built using SBI. I’m not sure why anyone would think I’d approve those sites for the list, but I get regular submissions for sites built using other methods and most of them are built with WordPress.

So, I go look at each site and, if it’s built with SBI, I accept it. Otherwise, I delete it.

Designing and building websites

I’ve been thinking a lot about SBI sites lately, because Sitesell has been building a new site editor called Block Builder 2 (or BB2) and it is set for release in December. They have spent a couple of years and several million dollars developing it and it recently completed alpha testing.

(Unlike other sitebuilders, SBI offers 70 or 80 integrated tools that are part of the process and features of building sites the SBI way. This new BB2 has to integrate with almost all of them, and the central database had to be modified and expanded to work with BB2. So, this was probably a larger, more difficult project than the original creation of SBI about a decade ago. Updating and expanding a system that powers thousands of websites is not the same as building an HTML editor that just builds pages or adds blog posts. It’s a very big job.)

Beta testing starts this week with a couple of hundred volunteers, who will be added in groups over the next couple of weeks.

If you’re interested, here’s a pre-release sneak preview of using the new block builder 2:

Sneak peak of Sitesell’s new block builder 2 for SBI!

I’m one of those volunteers, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it, soon. I have plans for a complete make-over and extensive additions to both of my SBI-powered sites, and you can bet that I’ll be talking about it over the next few weeks.

This new editor is going to make building sites and pages much easier than before and I’ll finally get to do some of the things I’ve done on other sites, but much more easily. This includes using Server Side Includes for things like links to particular pages, affiliate programs, Google Adsense ads, and more, using their new Reusable Blocks tool.

Even for an old-timer like me, who can dream in HTML, this is going to be a nice, easy way to build a site. For someone who is not technically-inclined and doesn’t like coding HTML, it’ll be wonderful. Once again, SBI helps people focus on the business of building their business, not endlessly tinkering with all the tech stuff.

Of course, there are lots of site builders out there, so this isn’t what makes SBI special. Sitesell continues to be focused on helping their subscribers create successful, profitable businesses, and not just websites.

So, with the imminent release of BB2, look and feel, and site design has been on my mind a lot over the last couple of months.

I think it is better to make sites simpler and faster, rather than confusing with lots of distractions. (You can’t tell that by looking at my blogs, because I add a lot of things to a blog that I would not put on a website.)

Meanwhile, back at the Squidoo ranch…

I noticed that one of the sites on my Squidoo lens (out of over 100) was now powered by WordPress, rather than SBI. It has been over a year since I’ve gone through the whole list to check, so I spent some time this morning going through each of them.

Out of over 100, six were now powered by WordPress, two were standard Linux-hosted websites, and three domains had been allowed to expire or put up for sale. So, a little less than 8% had left SBI over the last year.

I got to thinking that there seems to be a lot less churn with SBI sites over the years, even though a lot of people just can’t seem to wrap their minds around why I consider each SBI-powered site to be a bargain at $300 each per year.

For the last couple of decades, I’ve seen webhosting services come and go and I’ve used a number of them. I’ve watched as websites move from one service to another, and often I can see the change only because their name servers change.

Hosting sites and blogs at HostGator

For professional technogeeks and web designers, I recommend HostGator.

For the last ten years, or so, all of my traditionally-hosted sites and WordPress-powered blogs have been hosted by HostGator, and I’m very happy with the service and features I get there. I have a reseller account, so I can host more sites than I care to, all for about $25 per month. That includes several sites and three blogs. At one point, a couple of years ago, I was hosting many more sites with them, but I’ve closed those sites as I focus more on my main target market.

As I said, I’m very happy with HostGator, but I don’t go out of my way to recommend them, even though I’m an affiliate.

Why?

Over the years, it has been my experience that building websites and managing blogs is a pain in the rear. This is definitely NOT for everyone. If you are not technically inclined and if you don’t like tinkering “under the hood” all the time, then I urge you to avoid traditional webhosting services.

If you don’t love writing, day in and day out, all the time, don’t even think of building websites or blogging. If you don’t love the subject for your site enough to write a book, or even a magazine article about it, you WILL NOT enjoy an online business.

I’ve been doing this a long time, and I know how much work it can be. Especially, when some jerk decides to hack a site and either destroy it or break in and install malware. All of my traditionally-hosted sites have been hacked at least once, and most of them several times, over the years.

(Note: Neither of my SBI sites has ever been hacked, and I’ve never spent even a minute thinking about site security for either of them.)

HostGator is very good about watching for this and notifying me if someone has hacked a site and installed malware. They shut down the domain and then I have to go find and delete the cause of it.

If you’re looking for a good place to host a WordPress blog or you need scripting and databases for your business, I highly recommend HostGator. They are the only traditional hosting service that I’ve used for years with no complaints.

If you want an account with them, I’d be happy if you click my link and purchase your subscription to HostGator.

If you are unhappy about the amount of work it takes to build a site or blog and if it doesn’t open the automatic magical Internet dollar machine to make you rich overnight, don’t complain to me. That is a fantasy.

The reality is this: building websites and blogs and earning a profit takes lots of hard work and time. It’s not as hard as digging ditches, but it’s not nearly as easy as some people want you to believe.

Trust me. I know.

Weebly – Webhosting for real people

These days, I urge people who want a basic website — and who don’t want to have to roll up their sleeves and get under the hood — to use a service like Weebly. I’ve been using them for a little over a year with excellent results. I particularly like their sitebuilder and think most people can use it to build a reasonably good site. If you have the skills and the knowledge, you can build an excellent site using their service.

If you want to put up a brochure-like website for your brick and mortar business and you prefer to do it yourself rather than hire someone to do it for you, Weebly is a good choice. If you want to purchase a domain for your website, it makes sense to purchase through Weebly, because they’ll do the set-up for you. If you prefer to purchase a domain elsewhere, they have instructions on how to set up the DNS, but, unless that’s something you like doing, you’re better off buying the domain through them and letting their propeller-heads do the work.

—–Sidebar—-
Just in case you’re not familiar with the lingo, here’s the deal…

I hope that explains it. I’ve been doing this so long that I forget that this is brand-new to some people.
———-

If you want to build a site for something like a family reunion, big picnic, community event, or something similar, and you want a good place to do it for free, Weebly is a good choice.

If you want to combine a website with a simple blog (and don’t want to hassle with WordPress upgrades and plug-ins), Weebly is a good choice.

You can host a couple of sites for free at Weebly, or you can upgrade to their professional level (at about $50 per year) and host up to 10 sites. I’ve had a professional account with them for a little over a year and it has worked very well. No hassles, good price, easy to build and maintain.

You can start for free and test it, and then if you want the features that are available only for the paid professional level account, it’s easy to upgrade.

That’s the route I took. I have a couple of fully functional sites hosted by Weebly and five others in various stages of completion. All for the low annual price. I spend a lot more money on coffee every year than I do on hosting professional sites at Weebly. (grin)

I sometimes use their service to test an idea by building a site on one of Weebly’s subdomains, so I don’t even have to register a new domain to see if I like it, or not.

(I don’t know about you, but I have a lot more ideas for things to do than I have time and energy to get them all done. In the past, I’d rush to register a domain, build a site, and see how it worked. I’ve done way too much of that, and now I stay much more focused on my core mission. Still, now and then, mostly for fun, I like to try out an idea and see what I think about it. Some people watch TV, movies, or sports. I build websites.)

I have a couple of old sites that are currently hosted by HostGator that I’m slowly adapting and moving to Weebly, and I’ll be changing the DNS to point their domains to the new sites sometime this winter.

SBI – The place to go if you’re interested in long-term online business success

If you want to build an income-producing online business, my top recommendation is still Sitesell’s SBI, and that’s where I’ll be putting at least 80% of my efforts next year.

My two SBI sites have been sadly neglected over the last couple of years (along with all my other sites), but now that I’m recovering from the cancer that tried to kill me last year, I’ll be getting back up to full speed, soon.

So, that’s my round-about way of saying this…

As I looked at all of the sites on my lens that were built with SBI, I realized that there is a remarkably low rate of churn with SBI sites. Most sites that are built using SBI stay there, year after year.

I know from talking to friends and colleagues that people have real businesses based around their SBI sites. They earn good money every year, and there is very little temptation to leave. Some have added WordPress blogs to their sites, but this is an additional part of the site, not a replacement.

It’s kind of tricky to add a WordPress blog to an SBI site, because SBI doesn’t allow the use of databases and scripts. So, SBI added a feature called Infin It! a few years ago. This makes it easier to add an e-commerce store, blog, forum, or other feature that won’t run on SBI, and combine it with your main site using subdomains.

You need both MySQL and PHP in order to host a WordPress blog, so the way it is added to an SBI-powered site is this: You have to host the blog on another service, such as BlueHost or HostGator and then attach it to the main domain by adjusting the DNS entries so that the blog is a subdomain of the main site.

It’s a little complicated, but the directions on how to do it are well-written and quite a few people have done it. When it’s set up (a one-time thing), the store, forum, or blog is treated as a part of your domain, rather than as a stand-alone site on a different domain.

Personally, I prefer to keep my blogs separate from my sites, but that’s just my own take on how to do it. People who prefer to do it the other way can make that choice for themselves. I know several webmasters who have chosen to go the Infin It! approach.

Not as easy to spot an SBI site as it used to be

I noticed, today, that it is getting harder to tell a site that was built with SBI from sites built using other services. One reason is that people are uploading their own HTML using a variety of templates. This Upload Your Own HTML (UYOH) feature was added a few years ago, for people who wanted designs that could not be built with the original (and now ten years old) block builder.

So, a few years ago, I could tell at a glance if a site was powered by SBI or something else. Now, it’s not so easy. A couple of times this morning I had to look at the source code to see if the site was built with WordPress or SBI, and twice I had to go to BetterWhoIs.com to see where the domain was registered and what the domain name servers pointed to.

(I also noticed that some people do not have a good eye for design — not that I can brag about my own good taste. I know I’m not a visually-oriented designer. While some people don’t like the original SBI templates, they had the advantage of being simple and did not distract from the main purpose of each page — also known as its Most Wanted Response. This morning, I noticed that several of the sites were full of junk that just made it more complicated and less clear about what the owner was trying to do with the site. There were way too many distractions. Sure, that’s their choice, if they want to go that way, but I think they’re making a mistake.)

With the introduction of BB2, next month, it’s going to be even harder to recognize that sites are built and powered by SBI. There will be a lot of new templates, and BB2 offers many new features that allow for massive customization of a site and of individual pages. The new templates are all CSS enabled, and that allows for further, easy customization.

I won’t talk much about BB2 until I get my hands on it and see for sure how it works. Then, I’ll be talking about it. When it is fully-released next month, I’ll probably talk about it a lot, as I test what it can do.

I still believe in simple websites, but I think my sites will be a bit less simple than they currently are, although I hope I never make them as crowded as I do my blogs. And I know I won’t be junking them up with a lot of unnecessary doodads and thingamajigs.

If I go that route, please feel free to smack my little hand and get me back on track. (grin)

Now, back to working with Aweber the rest of the day

So, with that said, it’s time to turn my attention to building a new template for sending newsletters using Aweber. I have to complete that template within the next day or two, because the first issue will be published the second week of January, and that’s fast approaching.

The new editor of the newsletter is patient with me right now, but if I don’t get this done this week, I don’t think she’ll be as patient. I can hear her foot tapping as her impatience grows — and she lives several miles from me. (grin)

Happy Thanksgiving!

If I don’t write anything else here before Thursday, I want to wish all my friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m looking forward to setting my work aside for a day and spending time with my family. There is a poor unfortunate turkey who is going to be a big part of the day, too.

Act on your dream!

JD

Newsletter marketing is smart and cost-effective

Part of my business plan for next year is to publish at least three newsletters and maybe more. One will be printed in color and sent by snail mail to my marketing clients to keep them informed of the services I provide and to introduce ideas for marketing to their customers and clients.

The other newsletters will be sent via email every month.

I may make one or more of them also available to paying subscribers via snail mail.

As more and more people use email to manage their mailing lists, I am seeing an opportunity to go back to using printed newsletters that are delivered by snail mail to make some of my newsletters stand out and to increase the likelihood that they will be welcomed and read.

This is especially a good way to reach paying clients and our best customers.

Since I’ll be doing several newsletters every month, I thought I’d better spend some time closely examining the services that are available and comparing them to see which will serve my needs so that I can choose the one service that offers the best mix of features that fit my plans.

I want to choose one service so I can concentrate my efforts and focus on getting as much as possible from the features they provide.

Why send newsletters?

I’ve used newsletters (and autoresponder series) in the past to good advantage.

When I was a computer consultant, I basically built my business with a newsletter that I gave to everyone who wanted it. It was printed on paper, of course, since there was no Internet and no email, back then.

In the early 1990s, I wanted to build an email mailing list, and there were no professional services available, so I spent some time and wrote some scripts in PERL that let me maintain a mailing list and deliver the messages via email. It was a pain to use and, when I quit consulting, I dumped it.

In 2008, I built a number of mailing lists for affiliate and network marketing, using Aweber. It did everything I needed and wanted, and the price was right. When I quit network marketing (MLM), I deleted the lists and haven’t used it for much since then, but I’ve continued paying the monthly fees to keep my account alive.

These newsletters, mailing lists, and autoresponders were helpful in bringing in new prospects and clients, especially when a satisfied client would pass along one of the newsletters to a friend who might be interested in what I offered. It’s a good, easy way to help clients make referrals.

Newsletters are also effective in reminding current and past clients the reasons why they chose me to help them in the first place, and to keep my name in their recent memory, should they need help in the future.

Dan Kennedy, in his book, No B.S. Direct Marketing: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-direct Marketing Businesses, talks about customers and clients from a perspective I’d never before considered.

With no disrespect for the customers intended, he refers to customers as a business owner’s herd and he says that a business owner should focus his efforts on cultivating, nourishing, and caring for his herd. A herd of responsive customers is the single biggest asset that most businesses can have.

One important thing to do is to build a fence around your herd and to constantly maintain and improve that fence.

Dan Kennedy says, on page 172 of the book,

I try to teach business owners to think of themselves as I do, as ranchers putting together and taking care of herds of good, responsive customers. That’s the only real asset of a business…

Most marketers do a truly terrible job of keeping the fence around their customers in tip-top shape. Just like the farmer, they view it as an “expense of operations,” whereas I view it as “marketing.”

I believe you should spend at least as much, if not more, per year on the fence as you did on acquiring the customer in the first place.

Further, you should remember there are poachers and rustlers trying to steal your customers every single day. If you leave your customers alone for very long, if they feel ignored or underappreciated, they are more easily lured away.

He then goes on to describe how to build the fence and how to maintain it, using repetition, frequency, and quality of communications. He prescribes from 25 to 52 “touches” per year per customer. With virtually free email, the number of touches can increase dramatically.

If you think that is too expensive, he says,

If you can’t or won’t invest about $25.00 to $30.00 per year per customer in keeping your fence in tip-top shape, I suggest you get out of the ranching business altogether. Bluntly, frankly, either you’re a financial nitwit or you’ve managed to round up a spectacularly worthless herd.

Mr. Kennedy ends the chapter with this advice…

If you change nothing about your business as a result of this book, you would still have been well served if it succeeds at getting you to send a good monthly newsletter to your customers!

So, when one of the most successful marketers in the country gives time-proven, hard-won advice, I pay attention.

That’s especially true when my own past experiences validate the worth of the recommendations.

(In addition to reading his books and studying his marketing methods and advice, I am a member of the Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle and look forward to receiving his newsletter, CDs, marketing examples, and more every month. I took advantage of his Most Incredible Free Gift Ever special offer and I’ve never looked back. The membership costs me less every year than one hour of his consulting time would cost — if I could even get the appointment. If you’re a business owner and are serious about marketing and increasing your profits, this is almost a no-brainer.)

So, it’s important to send a monthly newsletter. What’s the best way to do it?

I have put a lot of work into answering that question this month, and I reached a final decision this morning — and, frankly, I was a bit surprised at the outcome.

This may be an example of “the grass is greener,” until you examine it.

I will be sending monthly newsletters — at least three of them, two via email and one via snail mail. I’ll also be building mailing lists with sequential autoresponders for my clients, and for their major products and services.

The snail mail newsletter for my clients will be printed in color, double-sided on tabloid-sized paper (11×17 inches). A few years ago, I would have used PageMaker to create it. However, I haven’t used PageMaker on the last three Macs I’ve owned, so it is lost to me. Sometime next year, I’ll purchase InDesign and learn to use it.

In the mean-time, I’ll use Apple’s Pages application to create the PDF files that I’ll take to Jonathan and Tammy at Digital Creations USA, in my adopted home town. I looked at a number of national printing services and compared them with what Jonathan and Tammy offer, and they came out best in the comparison.

So, other than writing it every month, all the work on that is done.

On to the others…

I’ve had an account with Aweber for years and I’ve always been happy with their service, but I’ve been thinking that maybe they don’t offer the tools I need to integrate my marketing with the social networks I prefer.

Among other things, I use Aweber to make it easy for you to subscribe to this blog and to receive each new blog post directly in your email inbox.

If you’d like to subscribe, just fill out the form near the top of the right column.

I’ve also used Aweber, in the past, for creating sequential autoresponder messages and for broadcasts. However, I closed several lists in 2009, when I changed the focus of my business, and I was too sick the last couple of years to build new systems. Now that I’m feeling a lot better, I’ll be building a number of mailing lists and autoresponder series for myself and for my clients.

2012 is going to be a very busy year!

Let’s compare…

So, Aweber was the reigning champ, but I spent a lot of time comparing them to several other services. Since it had been so long since I’d done any of this, I invested the time to rethink the entire process and what I wanted to accomplish.

Let’s see what Constant Contact offers…

I’d been hearing a lot of good things about Constant Contact, so I signed up with them. They were looking really good, until I realized that each of their accounts can host only one mailing list. That won’t work for me, because I’ll be sending newsletters to different lists, from different companies, using different contact information and logos.

So, that eliminated Constant Contact.

Next, I looked at MailChimp.

I opened an account with them last year while I was undergoing chemotherapy, but never did anything with it. This month, I delved seriously into their system. I set up a new list, designed a new newsletter template, and started writing the first issue.

I read their multiple PDF reports that explain how to use their system and I watched a number of their video tutorials. The more I learned, the better I liked their service.

I was within an inch of selecting them for my needs, when I was cautioned by a friend to read their terms of service very closely. I had read them last year, but didn’t remember what they said, so this morning, I read the entire document and everything was going great until I read that Affiliate Marketers are prohibited from using their service.

There it was, in black and white, they think of affiliate marketers the same way they think of people who promote hate, porn, gambling, and other things.

What?!?

Ok, I must have read that wrong.

So, I re-read the list of prohibited uses of the MailChimp service and there it is. It was not my imagination nor sleep-deprived mis-reading of their terms. No affiliate marketers.

Hey, I’m one of those guys!

Affiliate marketing generates a nice percentage of my total income every year and I intend for it to generate more in the future.

So, scratch MailChimp.

I won’t bother to talk about the other services I looked into; none of them passed the first looks.

Aweber is the only contender still standing…

Aweber has a lot going for it. I like their service. Their prices are reasonable. Their support is superlative. They have outstanding delivery rates. They offer lots of features I need.

But, aren’t they behind on how they work with social networking sites?

That’s the question I had to answer to my own satisfaction.

(So, I’ve been gone for a couple of hours since I wrote that last sentence and I’ve been delving into how Aweber can work with my social marketing.)

Here’s some of what I’ve learned.

I can automate notices on Facebook and Twitter when a newsletter is published. That’s good.

I can generate subscribe forms for the appropriate mailing list for each of my Facebook pages (but not for my profile). That’s good.

I can generate subscribe forms for people who comment on my blogs using an Aweber plug-in. I don’t know if I want to use that, or not.

One that I had no idea I could do: I can automate subscriptions to mailing lists when someone purchases something via PayPal. This can be used to subscribe someone to a list based on the product they purchased. That’s good.

It can also be used to set up paid subscriptions to certain mailing lists. That’s better than good. That’s awesome. I’m going to look into this a lot more and test it.

There’s more, but I’ve confirmed that I can do everything I need with Aweber, everything I want, and a couple of things I didn’t know I could do (or even that I might want to do).

Aweber is the winner and still the champ!

Yes, I’ve been out of touch for the last couple of years, and I’ve been listening a lot to people who use MailChimp because most of the services are free and their paid services cost less than Aweber.

That’s what I meant earlier, when I said the grass was greener. I was thinking that the MailChimp service could do more than I could do with Aweber, and that may be true.

However, I can do everything I want to do with Aweber, and a couple of nice bonuses I didn’t know were available.

So, as it is in many cases, even though the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be no better than what is right in front of my face.

(How’s that for a mixed metaphor and for tying it back into Dan Kennedy’s metaphor of building a good fence around your herd?)

My decision is made. It’s final. I didn’t have to give up anything I really want to do, and I already know how to use Aweber.

In the past, I’ve sent only text emails, so the next task on my list of things to do is to learn how to create HTML emails and newsletters using their service.

If you’re interested in knowing more about their service, you may want to watch this short video and try their service for yourself. I’ll be using it — a lot!

Send Your First Email Newsletter Today – AWeber Communications

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a new newsletter to design.

It’s time to invest the next few days into re-learning what I used to know about Aweber and their service, and to learn all the new things they’ve added over the last couple of years, while I was not paying attention.

I have made arrangements with an independent editor to work with me next year, and she is patiently waiting for me to design the template, decide on the regular contents of each issue, and get it to her so she can have the first issue ready to mail out when the second week of January, 2012 arrives. It’ll be here before I know it.

Back to work! (grin)

So, what do you think?

Do you do regular mailings to your customers? Do you make use of autoresponders to teach your customers how to use the services you offer? Do you keep in touch with them every month via newsletters and other contacts?

You know I’m always interested in your story and your approach.

Whatcha think?

Act on your dream!

JD

PS. Here’s another good book recommendation. I’m about half-way through studying it and I’m finding it to be a good read and it’s helpful: The Magic of Newsletter Marketing, by Jim Palmer.

(Those book links aren’t affiliate links, but they would have been if Amazon had not dropped all their affiliates in North Carolina two years ago.)

Primarily, I’m doing this in order to establish my expertise in specific areas and I’m in the process of moving my consulting business in those directions.

(Sometimes this can be frustrating, because I want to do it now, but I know the value in planning. So, I’ll outline the books and think about the contents, but I’m working on my new business plans and marketing plans, first. Plan first. Implement second.)

What is Lulu?

Here’s how they describe themselves on their homepage:

Lulu.com brings the world of online book publishing and book printing to you. Looking to self-publish? Lulu’s print on demand (POD) solutions make publishing your own book quick and easy. Create a book in minutes, publish with the click of a mouse, distribute, sell and print books to order. It’s that simple. Trying to make a photo book? Want to make your own calendar? Our easy-to-use online publishing tool allows you to publish and print your own high-quality photo book or calendar in minutes. Want to convert your book into an eBook? We’ve got you covered with our easy to use eBook publishing tools. With Lulu you can self publish and distribute your eBook in EPUB format making it compatible with the Apple iPad, Sony Reader, Stanza and more. Not looking to make a book or print a book? Lulu has a great selection of books, photo books and eBooks for you to buy. With our great prices and large selection, shopping for books at Lulu is an easy choice!

I’ve been doing some researching, and I believe that Lulu is the best, one-stop place to publish physical books, ebooks, and epub books for iPad and Nook (and similar devices).

Not only can you publish your book there, but you can sell them in their store and earn commissions.

I am not interested in fiction books. Now and then, I enjoy reading a good well-written science fiction or epic fantasy novel, but I am interested mainly in business and promoting my business and helping my clients promote their businesses.

I believe that Lulu is going to play a big part in that.

Establish your expertise

It’s a well-known tactic for information marketers to write and sell books about their topics of interest. Sometimes, these books are sold. Sometimes, they’re given to prospects as part of the marketing mix. Sometimes, they’re used as free bonuses when you purchase something else.

Here’s an outstanding example of that, in action: This is an offer for Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle, a place for prosperity without all the bull.

I not only read what Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy write, I study their videos, special offers, wording of their promotions, and the upsells, cross-sells, follow-ups, and delivery methods. They know what they are doing and have lots of experience.

And, if you’ll purchase what they offer and study it, they’ll teach you how to do a much better job of promoting your business, too.

I’m in the process of adapting their methods for my own business and for my clients’ businesses.

No, most of my clients will not write a book, so maybe I’ll include part of their story in a chapter of a book I’ll write.

I believe that books can be used to demonstrate your understanding of a particular topic and also can show your ability to organize and present that information in a way that is valuable to your prospective customers and clients.

For example, Audrey Owen has a manuscript editing business. In addition to her Writer’s Helper website, she has also written an ebook on the subject. When you subscribe to her free Editor’s Notes newsletter, you get a Tip Sheet as a bonus.

Here’s a short video about Audrey and her editing business…

If you’re going to write a book for publication, you really need a good editor to help you whip it into shape before you publish. Lulu has editing services and I’m happy to recommend Audrey.

Promote your business and help a non-profit organization, too

I also think books can be used to market your business and promote a worthwhile cause, at the same time.

For example, I know a professional photographer who specializes in photographic portraits of newborns and babies. She’s very good at what she does.

She’s also one of the photographers who volunteers her time and service for a non-profit organization. The organization has strict rules about using their name in any marketing promotions, and I don’t know those rules. So, to make sure I don’t cause any problems, I won’t mention her name, her business’ name, nor the name of the organization.

However, it is an organization whose mission she supports, and, in addition to volunteering, she want to raise some money to donate.

She asked me a simple question last week. Did I know anywhere she could get custom calendars printed with photos she had taken over the last year, so that she could sell those calendars and raise money to donate to the organization?

I sell promotional products to help my clients, but I did not know a company that would do what she wanted to do, in short runs, at reasonable prices. So, I spent a day or two looking for an answer to this question.

I found two companies. One of them is Lulu.

To tell the truth, while I was so sick, I forgot all about Lulu, even though it was high on my radar a few years ago.

I learned that they have added photo books and customized calendars into the services they offer. It looks like she can create the calendar and then have two options for selling them. She can buy as many as she wants and have them shipped to her, so she can sell them to her clients, or she can sell them in the Lulu marketplace and then donate the commissions she receives. Or, she could do both.

By the way, here’s a link to their calendar page: Great Gift – Create a Calendar for $12.49 at Lulu.com!

I have not talked to her about this, yet. I still have a couple of things to compare, before I give her my recommendation.

One consideration is price.

The other company I’m considering offers what looks to be a similar product and the cost is less. They do not do all the things that Lulu does and they do not have a marketplace in which she could sell her calendars. But, she could save money in the production of the calendars, purchase more of them for the same cost, sell them at the same price, and raise more money to donate to the foundation.

Both companies offer volume discounts on purchases, and they both will sell as few as one calendar. So, to me, it makes sense to create the same calendar at both companies, order a copy, compare them for quality, and then decide which way to go.

Again, I’m ahead of myself here, because I haven’t talked to her about this, and she may decide not to do it. But, I still think it is a good way to raise money for anyone with great photos and people who would like to buy them.

(If you have people in the shots, be sure to get a model release before doing this — even if they are good friends. Do the paperwork.)

As a promotional products dealer, I can get some very nice calendars with a variety of themes in units of hundreds or more for much lower prices. For example, I can supply Norman Rockwell calendars in units of 150 for about $1.20 each. That’s a lot less than the price of a similar calendar from Lulu.

But, that’s an apple-to-oranges comparison. Price is not the only issue, here. In fact, price is not the main issue here, but it is a factor that needs to be considered.

The second consideration is quality and the ability to customize the product.

This photographer wants a custom calendar with the portraits she created, not something Norman Rockwell created.

She’s going to sell a few dozen calendars, not thousands of them. (At least, not at first.)

Her primary goal is to raise money and donate the proceeds to the foundation. In addition to donating her time and services, she wants to donate more money.

So, it’s going to cost more to produce the custom calendars she wants to sell.

In this case, the price of the calendar probably won’t matter to the people that buy it, either. There is no other calendar, anywhere, that will compare with hers, especially for the families of the babies who will be featured in the portraits.

So, what does that have to do with promoting my business by writing a book?

Hold your horses, partner. I’m getting to that.

In her case, her expertise is in creating beautiful portraits. So, a calendar makes a great way for her to show her expertise and raise money for the organization she wants to support.

Since she has demonstrable expertise and talent in her niche — creating photographic portraits of babies — she could probably also demonstrate her expertise by writing some short books about the subject. It would give her a good chance to educate her clients in advance of the sessions, would serve to differentiate her from her competition, and also would help other photographers improve their skills, too.

To me, that sounds like something that is worth doing.

Any time you can educate your prospects and clients and differentiate yourself from your competition, you are increasing the odds of earning more profit.

If she does decide to write and sell those books, I think Lulu is a good choice for publishing them as real, physical books, downloadable ebooks, and epubs that can be sold or given for free for people to read on their phones, iPods, iPads, Kindles, Nooks, etc.

I think it would be good marketing on her part — provided that she writes really good books! That’s the key to this. She has to establish her expertise. She does that, already, by showing her portraits on her website, blog, and Facebook. The books would extend her “exposure” (pardon the pun) by showing her attitude and thought processes, and by helping readers do a better job in their own portrait photography.

And — don’t discount this — it never hurts to be “the guy that wrote the book” on a particular topic.

Expertise Sells.

Did you know that about 80% of people don’t consider price as the most important factor when making their decision to purchase, and from whom?

Establishing expertise is one way you can “rise above the pack” of your competitors and sell your own services at a higher price, and many of your prospects will willingly purchase at the higher price.

But, to do that, you have to demonstrate that there is a difference between you and your competitors. That’s where writing a book can be important.

(Of course, there is a small danger that you’ll educate your competition, too, but that’s probably not much of a problem as long as you continue to develop your skills and stay ahead of them.)

Plan ahead

If you’re going to write a book and you’re going to publish it at Lulu, then be sure to write it so that it will fit one of their formats! It makes sense to establish the format of your book before you write it, rather than having to go back and change it when you find that you’d rather it be a different size.

If you’re going to create an epub, the same thinking applies. Learn about the final product before you start writing.

Already have a book?

If you already have written a book, then you’ll need to modify it to match the format that Lulu requires. You’ll have to do some reworking, most likely.

Promote your business — and yourself

If you really do have expertise in a particular niche or subculture, then spread the word! Let your clients and prospects know about it! Don’t just tell them you know it, show them.

Write a pamphlet or a full book on the subject. Demonstrate what you know and educate your prospects before they become your clients.

One caveat: Make sure the contents, format, and look of the book reflect and enhance your expertise in your niche. If the book comes across as boring, unorganized, or unprofessional, do not publish it! Either rewrite it or scrap the idea.

The same holds true for the appearance of the book. The same information can be presented in some sheets of paper stapled together, as sheets of paper in a customized 3-ring binder, as a wire-wrapped book, or as a paperback or hardback bound book. They can have a simple or a professional cover. They can have a table of contents and an index, or not.

Make sure that the format in which you present the information matches the style and feelings for which you strive in your business.

If you’re going to do it, do it right. Make sure the tone of the presentation is as close to what you’d say if you were talking in person with your best customer or client. Make sure the quality and presentation of the book matches the style of the products and services you deliver to that best client, too.

Make the book an asset, not a liability.

Open a free account at Lulu

It’s free to open an account at Lulu and to learn how their services work. Some of their services are free and others are reasonably priced — and you can choose which ones you need, based on what you want to do with your book, calendar, or whatever you create.

To get started, click the Lulu logo, below…

They have a community of members and lots of services that can help you create and publish your work.

You can experience their sales process by buying a book from their marketplace and/or downloading an ebook.

Lulu receives on average 1,000 new independent book titles every week. Their authors can be found on the world’s largest book marketplaces, such as Lulu, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay, and Google Book Search.

With some work, you can be one of those authors.

My projects

Over three years ago, I was starting to get serious about publishing on Lulu, and I uploaded a free ebook (actually a newsletter from one of my sites) as a test. I never got around to taking it down. If you’re interested, (why would you be?), here’s the Spring 2008 edition of my Act On Your Dream! newsletter.

I planned on writing more — and better — newsletters and books, but life and death got in the way. Now that I’m back on track, I’m looking forward to putting more items, of better quality, in my lonely little store!

By the way, I have completely forgotten everything I learned about self-publishing on Lulu, so when I finish my new business plan and marketing plans, I’ll start relearning how to use Lulu. I may even ask you for advice!

A year from now, I plan to have a few more newsletters and maybe a short book or two.

(My cousin challenged me to write a romance novel and she keeps prodding me to get to work on it. It’s going to be interesting to see if a guy who knows practically nothing about romance can write a novel that won’t make you cringe when you read it. The working title is, “The man with no clue.” That pretty much describes me when it comes to romance novels. I happen to think that writing is writing and it’s not that much different to write a romance as it is to write a persuasive marketing piece, and somehow — I don’t remember the details — I found myself challenged to put up or shut up. Who knows? I may even finish it. It’ll be a very short novel! If I do finish it, I’m then going to see if I can sell it. See, Jacque, I haven’t forgotten! Love ya. Hugs.)

There’s lots to do. It’s going to be a very busy year!

Lulu affiliate program

Lulu’s affiliate program is administered through the Google Ad Network.

What do you think?

If you’re an affiliate marketer, you may be interested in their affiliate program.

If you’re an author or business owner, you may be interested in publishing your work through them.

I’m interested in both.

Act on your dream!

JD

There is a simple reason. I know Dan’s reputation for quality and his ability to teach effective marketing techniques that have worked for thousands of people. So, although I have not seen this particular product of his, I have studied other books he has written over the years, and GameChanger DNA is a collection of what he has learned about marketing over the last nearly four decades — all presented in one place. It’s not everything he knows, but it should be enough to change your marketing game, if you study it and implement what you learn.

If you know in your heart that you won’t spend the time to learn and use the valuable knowledge in this product — Do Not Buy It!

To be perfectly frank, it’s not worth an affiliate commission if I have to listen to you bellyache and whine about it being a waste of money.

First, it can’t be a waste of money, because you have a 30-day money back guarantee. If you buy it and don’t like it, follow the refund procedures and get your money back.

If you learn from it, implement it, and reap the rewards, I’d love for you to come back here and tell us about your experience.

It’s time for you to decide.

Would you like an easy to use, step-by-step, take-you-by-the-hand, done-for-you, proven system that will change your game immediately?

Dan’s closing the cart for his GameChanger DNA tonight at 12 MIDNIGHT CST, on Saturday October 1st.

Simply click the Add to Cart Button on the following page to get access…

Click on my GameChanger DNA link or on the image above to see for yourself!

But there is more, much more than just the cart closing. Your chances of becoming a Game Changer are slipping away.

This science of influential communication has been of more value to professional marketers than a thousand techniques or gadgets or gimmicks. Now it can be yours for a small investment, fully guaranteed.

If you haven’t made a decision yet I urge you to finalize your plans, weigh the pros and cons, and make your commitment to achieve.

Go now, and see for yourself.

Act on your dream!

JD

PS. As I said yesterday, Dan’s GameChanger DNA offer is not for everyone. It’s for business owners — and people who intend to own a business — who realize that effective marketing is the most important pathway to success, and who are willing to invest in themselves by studying and then implementing what you learn. Only with a steady stream of paying customers, will your business thrive.

If you do nothing else, get a copy of his Outrageous Advertising book. How much does it cost? If you go now, you can get a copy of Outrageous Advertising for free, and you’ll have to pay for shipping only.

In the private 5 Pillar Forums, Ken Evoy, Founder of Sitesell, announced on September 18, 2011: 5 Pillar Program Switches To First-Exposure Cookie.

You must be a Sitesell affiliate to gain access to those forums.

So, how is this different, and why is it important?

The announcement about the change is rather lengthy, as are the reasons for making the change.

I’m going to summarize parts of that announcement here, but — for the full story, including background information — you’ll need to read what Ken wrote and then all the questions and answers that followed.

To give just a little background, the 5 Pillar Program was founded when Sitesell had one product: Make Your Site Sell!

(You can go to that site and read about it, and download it for free, if you’re interested. I keep a copy of this book on the desktop of my work computer and still refer to it on a regular basis.)

That was when I joined Sitesell’s affiliate program — in the late 1990s. I bought, studied, and implemented what I learned, and then I told more people about it. Even now, nine years after the last revision, I still use and recommend that book.

Here’s some of what Ken said about that…

Before SBI! existed, 5 Pillar Affiliates were all “Internet Marketers” (“IMers”). They reached people who were looking for information about SEO, or affiliate marketing, and so forth.

They promoted “Make Your Site SELL!” to them, followed by each book in a a growing range of Make Your __________ Sell!” books. Those were the pre-SBI! days.

Today, half of all SBI! owners become 5 Pillar Affiliates. They speak of SBI! with first-hand experience and with passion. Their sales cycle is different.

They are “regular” people who reach more “regular” people, folks who are specifically looking for information about Anguilla or turtle-breeding (or whatever). IMers’ audience seeks info about starting a business online or SEO or social marketing strategies, etc.

This shift in sales cycle dynamics happened slowly over time. As SBI! grew, more SBIers reached more “regular” surfers who were NOT seeking information on SEO, for example.

I’m in both categories. One of my SBI sites has nothing to do with Internet Marketing and the other has a few sections where I talk about it (or will, when I get all the pages written). On those sites, I have the “Powered by SBI” footer on most pages, and that’s an affiliate link.

I also actively promote SBI on other sites, including here. (I bet you’ve already noticed that!)

Before September 18, 2011, the 5 Pillar program used a last-visit cookie. When it was mostly IMers promoting the system, it pretty much averaged out. I might have lost a few commissions that should have been mine, and I may have received commissions that should have gone to someone else.

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with Sitesell’s management and tracking. It’s just a natural way that affiliate commissions work with any program that uses exclusively first-visit or exclusively last-visit cookies to track commissions.

Sitesell has always had a hybrid system. It basically worked like this…

If you click on a link on Site A, Sitesell sets a cookie on your computer that shows affiliate A as the referrer. That’s a pretty standard first-visit cookie, but it’s also a last visit cookie.

If you then go awhile and click on affiliate links on other sites, each click will generate a new cookie that links to that affiliate (the last one you clicked on).

So, if you spent three months reading about SBI on this blog, but finally decided to purchase after clicking a link on the other site, the owner of that other site would get the commission.

Fair or not?

I think that’s fair. The last visited site that got the click earned the commission.

At the point of sale, things changed. As soon as you purchased Make Your Site Sell!, or, later, SBI, Sitesell wrote a permanent cookie on your computer. If you happened to purchase from one of my links, then you were permanently cookied to me and I would receive residual commissions when you purchased other products or renewed an SBI subscription.

To summarize, the affiliate whose site was last visited (and whose link was clicked) before you purchased earned the commission and was awarded the permanent cookie and a new lifetime customer.

Pretty cool, huh?

Over the years, however, as the number of SBI subscribers grew, the majority of them were not Internet marketers. They were regular people building websites about topics in which regular people are interested — people who may never have considered building an online business.

As time went by, some of these people (who are also affiliates) would spend time telling interested people about SBI and would set a cookie at the time, but, later, when the sale was made, would not receive a commission.

Why not?

Because, more often than not, the last click before purchase would be on an Internet marketer’s site.

Did the IMer deserve the commission? One view is that they did, because they closed the sale. Another view is that they didn’t, because the other person introduced the new subscriber to SBI and may have spent some time discussing it with the new subscriber, who just happened to make the final purchase decision after clicking on the IMer’s site. The “regular” SBI subscriber who did the introductory work did not receive a commission for their effort, and many of them felt it was unfair.

Sitesell could have changed to a first-visit cookie, but that would also be unfair in a different way. IMers could do lots of promotion and set cookies on lots of prospects’ computers, and even if someone else closed the sale months or years later, the original person would get the commission.

That’s not fair either.

(I’m not going to go into the discussion about a lot of the factors that apply due to the rather long sales cycle for SBI conversions. That’s covered in the announcement I linked to at the top of the post.)

So, this month, Sitesell went to a hybrid system that is more complicated, but may prove to be more fair for all affiliates.

That’s one of the things I really like about Sitesell. The people in charge really care about their customers and their affiliates and those who fit into both categories. So, they decided to correct this emerging and ever-more-unfair path to conversion of prospects to customers…

A while back, we realized that the current cookie arrangement, “last exposure gets the commission,” was not fair to SBIers who were 5P affiliates.

When we first chose “last-exposure” instead of “first,” it really did not make much of a difference since all affiliates were IMers. They generated their own traffic, “competed” for that last-exposure. There’s no perfect system, but it all worked out fairly in the end…

Sometimes, you might get the last-exposure just before a purchase. Sometimes, you might lose it to someone else.

In the long run, it all evened out.

But, now that the 5P Program has two different groups, it no longer evens out…

Net marketing professionals reach people who are much closer to purchasing a business-building solution. They are often just a click away from purchasing.

SBIer-affiliates reach folks who do not even know (yet) that they want to start an online business. Some of those seeds start to germinate, of course. Months later, sometimes, years later, they purchase.

First, though, those prospective SBIers search for information related to IM. And that is when they encounter an IMer, one of tens of thousands of 5P affiliate who focus their efforts on some aspect of IM.

As a result, many of these about-to-become-SBIers (originally exposed to SBI! by “regular” SBIers) have their cookies “overwritten” by IM affiliates.

The median time for conversion of “first-time exposure” people is 9 months. They would not otherwise have been interested in building an SBI! business.

Whereas it used to “all even out,” it no longer does since folks interested in Net marketing do not head in the opposite direction (ex., towards SBI! sites about Anguilla — SBI! sites that MIGHT be on the pathway go onto a no-overwrite list).

They considered several alternatives, including splitting the commission between first visit and last visit cookies, but that would have been a nightmare to track, because of the resulting permanent cookies and lifetime customer status that is assigned at the time of purchase.

The solution is rather complex, but is essentially this…

The first time someone clicks on an affiliate link, they receive a cookie, but, instead of being a temporary cookie that will be overwritten by any subsequent clicks on other affiliate links, it results in a fixed cookie, and that cookie will not be overwritten for nine months — approximately the time it takes for most sales conversions from first exposure to the sale.

So, this gives all affiliates a more equal opportunity to get a commission, if the sale occurs within this nine month window.

After nine months, the cookie changes from fixed to temporary and will be overwritten by any other affiliate’s cookie, until the sale is made, like the original system.

There are some other conditions in the new arrangement…

If a visitor with a FIXED cookie clicks on a link of the same affiliate some time later, the FIXED date is extended to 9 months from the date of the NEW exposure.

For example, suppose Affiliate A is a “first exposure.” 90 days later, suppose that the prospective customer clicks on another link BY THE SAME AFFILIATE. The date of expiration of that cookie is now 9 months FROM THAT MOST RECENT EXPOSURE.

However, as usual, once the 9 month period has expired, the next RR URL link that the person clicks will overwrite the previous cookie to the NEW affiliate’s cookie.

You can see that this is a more fair arrangement for the “regular” SBI owner who is an affiliate, since it increases the likelihood that he/she will receive a commission.

It should also be remembered that this also helps the IMer who actively promotes SBI, because their first visit cookie can be extended indefinitely, if subsequent clicks happen during the nine month term of the fixed cookie, or the new nine month term, if it is extended.

After the fixed cookie expires, then the commission is “up for grabs” by whomever generates the final link that results in a sale.

I think this is a rather elegant solution to a problem and I like the fact that Sitesell’s management analyzed the situation and came up with a solution that may very well be more fair to all affiliates.

Most companies would not go to the bother. Most use either a first or a last visit cookie and most have very short time spans for being credited with a sale.

If you are a 5 Pillar Program affiliate, you should read the thread and follow through Ken’s longer and more detailed explanation.

If you would like to become an affiliate, then you can apply for the 5 Pillar Program.

As I’ve stated many times, I am a very satisfied Sitesell customer and affiliate. I use the products and I’m happy to recommend the service and the people behind the service. They are one of the best groups of people with whom I have had the pleasure to be associated.

This is a rather long and complicated post. The main point I wanted to get across is that changes have been made in an attempt to correct what had become an unfair system. I think it will make a difference.

If you are an SBI affiliate, what do you have to do differently?

Nothing. The affiliate management team and programmers did all the work. Your links will continue to work as they always have, except that you may receive more sales commissions.

It’s too early to know for sure how it will work. I’m optimistic.

I’m going to leave the last word to Ken Evoy, the man who founded the company and conceived of SBI. It has changed the lives of thousands of customers — including me.

Act on your dream!

JD

It takes a lot to get me to do this, so let me tell you the back story…

Dan Kennedy is a marketing expert and is rapidly approaching the status of marketing legend.

I have read several of his books and I’m right in the middle of reading his “No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent” book, as part of my planning on rebuilding my marketing business, now that I’m recovering from my illness and I’m getting back to work.

I trust his advice and I know some of the back-story of how he has helped a lot of people over the years to build very nice incomes.

Yesterday afternoon, while doing some research for my new marketing plan, I took a short break and was playing on Facebook. That was a lucky thing for me.

Here’s why…

I have been following Dan Kennedy on Facebook and he sent out a very short status with a link. Out of curiosity, I clicked that link, and it changed the rest of my afternoon.

(Dan is known for not liking, nor using, modern technology, even though he understands it, so I doubt that he was the one that published the status update. Most likely it was an employee or someone he influenced to do it for him.)

That link took me to a video about the launch of his new GameChanger DNA product. As far as I know, this is the first time he’s used a big product launch like this for his own products, but he has been involved behind the scenes helping with others. (I’m almost, but not quite, positive that I have my facts straight here.)

Anyway, to cut a long story shorter, I dropped what I was doing and watched those videos. It was the first time I’d seen Dan on video and I enjoyed watching it. I also enjoyed observing how they were doing the marketing for the new product.

Note: This product is not the normal kind of product I promote. I don’t think it’s right for most of my readers. If you balk at paying a few hundred dollars for using a tool for a year, you’re going to cringe when you see the price of this product.

However, if you are already a business owner and you want to learn how to distance yourself from the herd of competitors in which you are surrounded and you want to learn how to raise your prices and earn more profit, then this is an indispensable and very valuable collection of information, techniques, and expert tips that Dan has spent 38 years learning and developing.

I’m almost sure that you could not afford a single hour of Dan’s consulting time, but you can get this package for a fraction of his consulting fee — a small fraction, at that.

So, since I know Dan by reputation and I know him from reading his books, I did some checking and applied for his affiliate program this morning. A couple of hours later, I was accepted, and an hour later, I’m writing this.

Again, this is not cheap, but it is very valuable information.

Now, even if you have no plans to purchase it, set aside a couple of hours (I’m not sure how long it is, because I wasn’t watching the clock yesterday while I was watching the videos), and open your mind and pay attention.

Even if you know a lot about marketing, I bet you’ll learn some new tips or look at some of what you think you know with a different viewpoint.

If you don’t know a lot about marketing, stop what you’re doing and watch these videos.

There are a lot of people out there who claim to be experts. Dan Kennedy is the real deal. He’s the one the experts hire when they need a consultant to help them.

I am not under any illusion here. I don’t think you’re going to buy this. But, if by some wild outside chance, you do, make sure you take the time to study it, absorb it and then implement it!

I have not tried this product.

I just wanted to reiterate that. This is one of the few times I’ll recommend something to you that I have not already bought, used, tested, and proven that it works for me.

Even if you’re not interested in buying. Watch the videos.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day for this promotion, and I don’t know if the videos will remain online, or not. If you want to watch them, don’t delay.

(That is not me trying to build artificial urgency. I honestly don’t know how long they will be available. They may be there from now on, they may disappear at the end of this promotion tomorrow night.)

Here’s a prewritten letter that affiliates can use to promote this. Normally, I would not send it, since I prefer to write my own copy, but I’m passing it along to you because I have to leave, and my driver is tapping his foot as he impatiently waits for me to post this.

So, any typos are mine. I just wanted to get this out before I leave.

Subject: Early Warning: The “GameChanger DNA” Finale is here

It made me sad to see Dan Kennedy’s last “GameChanger DNA” video today.

Here it is:

Click on my link or on the image above to see for yourself!

In case you missed it last week, Dan’s released 3 free videos so far – revealing the exact fundamental principles you need to SEE the profit potential for your business.

Tens of thousands of people have watched Dan’s tutorials and learned how to apply these fundamental principles to CHANGE the GAME of their business.

And those tutorials are PLENTY if all you want is understand the basics. But if you’re like me, the “basics” aren’t enough…

I see too much potential.

If you want to stop scratching the surface and become a REAL GameChanger, Dan has a LOT more to share with you in today’s video.

Watch the FINAL public “GameChanger DNA” release here.

And listen, this is a special EARLY notice from me to you (Dan told me it’s okay). You’re seeing this BEFORE the rest of the public.

For you, it could be just a start.

For EVERYONE ELSE, this really IS the END of GameChanger DNA.

Don’t miss it,

JD

P.S. Be sure you register for the “Early Gamechangers” list, they can close registration at any time, so if you want first dibs, get on that list.

Again, Dan Kennedy is someone I highly recommend. If you do nothing else, buy his books and study them.

Success is not in the tools and tricks, it is in the mindset and how you approach it. When you change your attitude, then you can start using the tools to great advantage.

Act on your dream!

JD

(Yes, I recognize the irony in asking you to comment about whether comments are overrated.)

I have built multiple websites, blogs, forums, and social communities over the years. With the exception of the websites, I have tried to start discussions that would lead to more understanding and different viewpoints about topics in which I am particularly interested.

I have been a miserable failure in that endeavor.

It seems that the people who want to discuss the issues don’t want to buy anything, and the people who click and buy what I promote don’t want to talk about it. They just want to buy it and get on with their own activities.

Yes, a few kind and learned souls have added comments to the discussions that have added to the topics, but most commenters, I am now sure, are more interested in getting a backlink than they are in the discussion.

I’m testing my theory

So, as of today, as a test, I have turned off both CommentLuv and the dofollow plug-in. I’ll see for myself over the course of the next few months whether the readers and commenters on this site will slow and/or disappear, or whether there are real, live people who are interested in the topics about which I write.

I have updated item number 4 on my Comments Policy to reflect this change.

As far as I know, there is no way to set CommentLuv to leave the old links on the comments, so that means all of the CommentLuv comments are now gone.

That one part of the test may very well doom this blog to oblivion…

…if I am correct in assuming that people comment more for the backlinks than they do for wanting to take part in the discussion.

This is one more test in an ongoing series of marketing tests I have run over the last decade.

I enjoy the social aspect of blogging and commenting

I enjoy talking to real people who comment and add to the discussion at hand. I enjoy thinking about differing viewpoints. Some of them make me re-think my own understanding of a topic and some actually change my mind.

I really dislike having to moderate my comments.

I hate dealing with all the spam, and it is getting increasingly difficult to discern whether it is a real person commenting, or a hired wordslinger, or a well-programmed robot.

Will the readership of this blog drop?

Will disabling CommentLuv and going back to the no-follow default for WordPress blogs make a difference in the number of people who respond to my diatribes?

I’m betting it will.

I’m betting that the number of readers and the number of commenters will drop. Perhaps it will drop precipitously.

How will the test affect profits from this blog?

I’m also betting that it won’t make a bit of difference to the profit I can track back to this blog. It has never earned nearly as much as my tier-structured websites.

Now that I am adding Facebook comments to those sites, I’ll see if comments are as important as I once thought they were.

Blog or build websites?

Ken Evoy, founder of Sitesell, Inc., has been saying for years that building well-structured, niche-oriented websites will produce more profits than blogging, and I have been having an internal argument with myself about that topic since he first wrote about it.

I like blogging. It’s easy. It’s inexpensive. It’s fun.

However, for me, it does not produce profits.

Blogs are, however, good for when I want to express my opinions about something that has just happened or a new development, whether or not it qualifies as news. That’s what blogs excel at doing. Their reverse-chronological structure is ideal for late-breaking news and/or developments, so I’ll most likely continue to use this blog for that purpose — regardless of the outcome of this test.

I get an idea, do some quick research, and write a new post to the blog. Depending upon the topic and how much I want to say about it, this can take from a few minutes to two or three hours of work.

It’s different when building a money-making website.

I plan those sites carefully. (Sometimes it doesn’t look like it, however.)

I do weeks or months of keyword research. Then, I research my competitors for the keywords I intend to write about. Then, I research ways I can monetize the pages I write.

I’ve been planning for several months on how I’m going to revamp my Act On Your Dream! site, and it will take me a few more weeks to finish the plans and start writing the pages. I know going into this project that it will be profitable. Perhaps quite profitable.

I know how the site will be structured, how the various topics fit with the central theme, and how I will monetize each page, before I write it.

I have brainstormed and organized sections and topics for the site (using NovaMind mind mapping software) and I’ve almost completed building a site blueprint that I’ll finish before rebuilding the site.

I have prepared reader profiles and will write each page to appeal to that particular person. (As well as I can.)

Each page will have one most wanted response (MWR) and I’ll offer two or three secondary actions that I’ll encourage. For most pages, the most wanted response is for someone to click a link and go buy what I’m recommending. Failing that, I want the reader to subscribe to my newsletter (which I’ll resume writing). Finally, if they don’t do either of those, I hope they’ll click on an Adsense ad or look at another page on the site.

The pages will be simple so that readers aren’t confused by a plethora a links as they are on this blog. People said I needed a three-column blog theme with links to lots of things and RSS feeds from my other sites, so I tested it. It has not increased my profits.

I will be changing Act On Your Dream! to a three column format, but it will not look like this blog. I’ll test the three columns. If it increases my income, I’ll continue to use it. If it does not increase my profits, I’ll go back to a simple two column format.

Readers tend to look at more pages and stay on that type of site longer than they do on a blog. Bounce rates are lower, time on page is higher, the number of pages viewed per visit is higher, and profits are higher — all without commenting.

I like the social aspects of commenting.

This was especially true over the last three years when I was sick and mostly unable to work. The online discussions got me through some days when I felt horrible, had no energy, or was in quite a lot of pain.

Now that I’m better, it’s time to get back to work and earn my keep, again. It’s time to do my best and move off of disability and food stamps and back to being a productive tax-paying member of society.

I am grateful for the assistance I got when I was unable to care for myself, but it’s time to move forward.

I just don’t think that blogs will do that for me. I’ve tested them for years and that’s the conclusion I have come to, reluctantly.

Please sir, can we have a blog module on SBI?

I even asked Ken Evoy on the private members-only forum for SBI subscribers, if he would ever add a blogging-with-comments module to SBI, and he said that would not happen. Blogging just doesn’t fit into the structure of an SBI-style tier-structured website.

So, I tried for months to think of a way to trick the system, and never found one that would work. I was pretty hard-headed and stubborn about this.

SBI gets Face-It!

So, now, I can have my cake and eat it, too, and it isn’t nearly the treat I expected.

SBI now has a module that helps us promote our pages on social networking sites. Click a button and it’s active. It’s called Socialize-It! (Note that all the modules end with an exclamation point and that sometimes makes for awkward sentences.)

Actually, Socialize-It! has been around for awhile, but it’s changing and merging with Face-It!

Sitesell recently introduced Face-It! version 1, which makes it easy for us to add Facebook Like buttons to our pages, and we can optionally add Facebook comments to the pages, too.

I thought that would be great. Less spam, because someone has to be a Facebook member to comment and there is less anonymity, as well, and now people could discuss the topics I wrote about.

Each page can have lots of comments, and that will percolate through the Facebook system and bring more readers. The jury is still out on this, but I don’t expect it to bring a deluge of new readers. I’m open to the possibility.

You know what?

Now that I have comments on my SBI sites, it’s really a let-down. I’m disappointed. It seems to me that comments are highly overrated and just add work. I don’t see any change in income and there have been only a few comments, so far.

I think the main reason for this is that the readers of my tier-structured websites are not commenting because they are not bloggers who mainly want backlinks to their blogs.

So, now, we’ll see what happens when I de-emphasize comments on this blog.

By de-emphasizing comments on the blog and offering comments on the website, will there really be any change in profits and my workload?

Has Ken been right all along?

Have I wasted years of efforts in building blogs, forums, and communities? Would all that effort have been better directed to building more and better niche-oriented websites using SBI.

I’ve almost come to the conclusion that he was right, all along. At least, for me and the things in which I’m interested.

I freely admit that Ken Evoy is a much better businessman than I am. He is a millionaire several times over (before founding Sitesell and creating SBI) and he builds real businesses that employ people around the world. SBI has tens of thousands of customers, also around the world.

Not only does he have more experience, but I believe he has a better, more refined thought process about building a business.

I’ve been happy — and remain happy — with my little microbusiness that makes it possible for me to work at home in my home office, or out on the front porch, in these beautiful mountains of western North Carolina. I’m living where I want to live, doing what I want to do, and I’m not interested in building a multi-million dollar business.

I would enjoy, however, earning more than I have the last couple of years!

So, what will I do after the test is over?

That remains to be seen.

I’m going to let this test run until the end of the year.

Disabling the CommentLuv plug-in may have doomed this blog, already. If that proves to be true, then I’ll repurpose most of the content that I’ve written here and move what is appropriate to my income-producing websites.

I am already starting to plan for a website that will replace this blog, if it becomes necessary. Yes, it will be powered by SBI. Yes, it will take more work. Yes, I’ll happily pay another $300 per year to build and host it using the SBI system.

What do you think?

I welcome your opinions, thoughts, and observations.

Act on your dream!

JD

My favorite version of Gentle On My Mind is from John Hartford’s Live From Mountain Stage album. I still listen to this song, fairly often, and much more often than other versions of it. It was a very popular song and was recorded by just about everyone, including Dean Martin and Leonard Nimoy. (Yes, that Leonard Nimoy. Our hero, Spock.)

Here’s my favorite version…

Gentle On My Mind – Live from Mountain Stage: John Hartford

One my my favorite songs by John Hartford is Steam Powered Aereo Plane, from the Aereo-Plain album.

This has been unavailable for years, other than by purchasing used copies.

Today, I learned that the Aereo-Plain album was re-released, so I immediately went to iTunes and bought it. I’m listening to it as I type.

Now, this is a rather eclectic album and a lot of people won’t like it, but those of us who do like it, tend to love it. I’m one of those people. I’ve worn out 8-track cartridges and cassette tapes listening to it. Now I have it in digital format and I think that won’t wear out as quickly. (grin)

I can’t classify this music. It’s partly newgrass, partly bluegrass, partly old-time country, and partly crazy as a loon. It even comes with its own Station Break.

Here’s a link to the album and you can listen to samples to see what you think about it:

I highly recommend Steam Powered Aereo Plane and Leather Britches.

I love those songs. Your mileage may vary.

I think a whole generation of new fans could enjoy this strange and delightful music.

I should also say that I love New Grass Revival‘s version of Steam Powered Aereo Plane, too, on their Commonwealth album, especially the hard driving banjo (played, I think, by Courtney Johnson). I also recommend their song Sapporo.

Commonwealth – New Grass Revival

If you are interested in promoting music on iTunes, their affiliate program is managed by LinkShare. Join the LinkShare Referral Program for free!

Can I succeed online?

I’m not going to lie to you. I truly do not believe everyone can succeed with an online business.

That’s probably not what you were expecting to hear.

You probably expected me to tell you breathlessly that you can succeed beyond your wildest imagination and that money will gush into your bank account if you only buy the world changing secret that only I know.

Right.

Well, I’ll tell you right now. That’s a bunch of crap.

The real world does not work like that.

Only hucksters, shysters, scammers, and crooks pretend to know the one thing you must know to build a successful online business (or make a few extra bucks every month), and insist that you have to buy it RIGHT NOW or it’s going to disappear.

Nonsense.

Code Red! General Quarters!

When you go to a long form sales page with a gazillion bonuses and all the rest you’ll see, you should declare “Code Red” and turn your BS deflector shields to maximum. Divert energy from the warp engines, if you need to, but raise those shields.

I won’t say that all those pages are scams, but I will say that a large percentage of them just are not worth the time it takes to read it.

At least, for most people.

Deadlines? We don’t need no stinkin’ deadlines!

Also, look at how much they’re stressing a deadline. That is used to intentionally build a feeling of scarcity to get you to buy now. It may be true, or it may not be true.

Lots of times that deadline is programmed in PHP or javascript to have today’s date or just a few days from today. It’s not real, and it should send a signal about how real the rest of their offer may be. (You can prove this to yourself by noting the deadline on the offer you’re considering. Bookmark the page. Go back a few days later and see if the deadline has changed.)

Good business deals don’t need fake deadlines

While there are some real deadlines in business, most of the time a good deal today is just as much of a good deal later. Sometimes the deal gets better over time.

Will it work for real people, or just for technogeeks?

Some of those offers do have good information that can help you sell something online, but most of the average people won’t be able to make it work the way the technical geeks and marketing nerds portray it. (I’m a geek and a nerd, so I can say that. I’m talking about my herd.)

Let’s face it. Most people don’t even know what a browser is and can’t name more than two of them.

Most people don’t know what a CMS or plug-in is.

Technogeeks live and breathe that stuff. Real people don’t.

If you do, then you’re ahead of the curve and you should feel good about learning what you know.

The problem arises that you probably have learned some things that aren’t effective and don’t produce as well as they are claimed. Some are just busy-work. Some try to trick the search engines. Some are unethical. Some are illegal.

Some actually do work.

How can you tell the difference?

Don’t look at the number of hits, or visitors, or page views. Look at your profit and loss statement. Real businesses produce a profit.

What do you know about the company and the people behind the offer?

If I am going to buy anything that costs more than about $20 or so, I think about it and consider my options. I’m not saying I’m cheap. I spend several hundred dollars every month on website hosting, domain names, mailing list services, card mailing services, and other things I need, but I don’t spend the money unless it helps me generate a profit.

(The last two years are a notable exception. I operated at a loss while I was too sick to work, but now I’m focused on profit, again.)

If I’m going to invest any real money in buying something, I want to know who produced it, where they are located, and at least a couple of ways to contact them, before I pull out my card.

Try learning who the owner of the business is. What’s the address of their home office? Do they have a phone number and physical address? Can you contact them? Do they reply with any answers that actually address your questions? How long have they been in business? What do people say about them? Can you talk to their customers? Will they answer questions in public?

Are they real, reliable, ethical, knowledgeable, and honest?

If you can’t verify that for the people who own what you want to buy, how can you verify — in advance — that you’re making a good choice in investing your time and money in it.

I’m going to address some of those questions and I’m going to give you my best recommendation for how you can learn how to build a real, ongoing business online.

Can you succeed online?

No, it’s not easy. No, you won’t get rich in a few weeks. No, you won’t earn more money than your wildest dreams of avarice.

Yes, it is possible to succeed with a work at home, online business.

Are you willing to really read, study, practice, and implement what you learn?

Are you a good writer? Do you spell well and have a good grasp of grammar, sentence structure, and the norms of communications?

Do you have a topic in which you are passionately interested?

If so, then you have a better than average chance to be successful with your online business.

Are you willing to invest a few hundred dollars, a few hundred hours over a couple of years, and a lot of head-scratching, and serious thinking?

Then, you may be one of the few people I’m trying to reach.

I’m going to let you in on my secret, although it’s no secret at all.

First, who the heck am I?

I’m John Dilbeck. That’s my photo up there at the top of the page. It was taken last summer when I spent a day on Lake Hiwassee with my family. The lake is located just to the north of Murphy, NC. I live a few miles from there. If you search for my name, you’ll find me on my own sites and blogs, on social media, and in forums.

I’ve been a full-time affiliate marketer and webmaster for about 15 years and I earned the great majority of my income for most of that time from my online business.

I’ve been around and I’ve paid my dues.

I have been building blogs with WordPress since the early days, before there were plug-ins and widgets and the code had to be modified by changing the PHP scripts. Automatic updating didn’t exist back then.

I’ve been blogging since before that was what it was called.

I’ve been building websites for almost 20 years.

I’ve built forums, communities, an article directory, and other similar online presences. I’ve tested a number of content management systems. I program fluently in PHP and PERL. I’ve been a systems administrator for an ISP. I’ve been a computer consultant since the late 1970s. I taught computer programming and using computer applications at two colleges.

I have owned several of my own companies over the last 30+ years. I was not a raging financial success, but I paid my way and haven’t gone hungry. Learning and achieving have always been more important to me than getting wealthy. I’m not one to dream about getting rich or winning the lottery, and I don’t mind months of work to achieve something.

The journey is the reward. That’s how I see it.

I am not some Johnny-come-lately who is going to try to baffle you with BS about something I know nothing about.

Those are my bona fides.

Why do you promote SBI instead of WordPress? This blog is powered by WordPress!

I maintain this blog mainly to prove that I have a good working knowledge of blogging and WordPress. Plus, I enjoy blogging and discussions with people who leave good comments.

So, let’s get back to the subject…

Can you succeed online?

If you want to learn more, go to Sitesell’s page that introduces the C-T-P-M process. It will open in another window. I’ll wait right here.

Welcome back!

(if you left to look at the other site)

Now, do you remember those questions I asked at the top of this article? Here’s a reminder…

Try learning who the owner of the business is. What’s the address of their home office? Do they have a phone number and physical address? Can you contact them? Do they reply with any answers that actually address your questions? How long have they been in business? What do people say about them? Can you talk to their customers? Will they answer questions in public?

Let’s address these questions one at a time:

Try learning who the owner of the business is.

I know it’s not a question. It’s more of a challenge.

Sitesell is incorporated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded by Dr. Ken Evoy. You’ll learn more about the management of the company on that page, too.

Ken is the author of one of the first, best-selling ebooks about marketing on the Internet and he overdelivered and underpriced back then, the same way he continues to do.

The book sold for less than $20 when it was introduced.

It was revised in 2002 and the new edition was sold for $29.95.

Unlike many ebooks, this was 1,500 pages of outstanding information. Even though a lot of things have changed since 2002, I still keep a copy of that book on my desktop and refer to it at least once a week. The business information and advice is timeless, even though some of the recommended sites and technical advice is out-dated.

If you want, you can download the ebook for free and you don’t even have to give your email address. Just go get it, if you want it: Make Your Site Sell!

I knew how to build websites before I ever saw that book.

What I didn’t know how to do, was to make my sites sell. That’s what I learned from the book.

I used what I learned in that book to rebuild several websites and sold physical products and services online, as well as earning income through affiliate marketing commissions and Google Adsense commissions.

Make Your Site Sell! was what helped me change from a technogeek to a successful marketing nerd.

So, now, you know who founded and manages Sitesell, Inc.

What’s the address of their home office?

Here ya go. It’s on the bottom right of their LinkedIn Business Profile page.

Their LinkedIn profile also has information about some of their employees.

Do they have a phone number and physical address?

Their physical address is on their LinkedIn profile. Their phone number and email contact form is on the Questions page.

Can you contact them?

You can call or email them. The information is on the previously listed Questions page. The phone number is toll-free in North America, and they have an alternate number you can call if you are located outside of North America.

Do they reply with any answers that actually address your questions?

Test them and see. It’s free. If you have a legitimate question about building your own online business using SBI, they will do their best to answer it. SBI can help most people be successful online, but it won’t do everything and it isn’t for everyone. You can get a straight answer. No obligation.

How long have they been in business?

Sitesell, Inc. was founded in 1997. The company is still headquartered in Canada. Ken has moved to Anguilla to escape those Canadian winters.

What do people say about them?

Except for a well-known Google bomb that was concocted a few years ago around the fake “Is Sitesell a Scam” review, comments are overwhelmingly positive about Ken Evoy, Sitesell, and SBI.

You can also see for yourself on Sitesell’s Facebook page.

If you go there, you can see that over 35,000 people like the page and there are active discussions ongoing. Notice how friendly and helpful those discussions are.

Can you talk to their customers? Will they answer questions in public?

There are thousands of Sitesell customers participating on their Facebook page, and I think most of us are happy to answer questions in public. I’ll respond to your questions here in the comments or on the Sitesell Facebook page — if I see it.

There. I think that shows that Sitesell is an established, above-board company.

What does the media say about Sitesell, SBI, and some of their customers?

Sitesell, Inc. has a Media page that includes reports from newspapers, TV shows, and other websites.

SBI is taught in colleges around the world

I think it says a lot about the credibility of Sitesell and SBI when you learn that the SBI method and tools are taught in colleges and universities around the world.

I am a satisfied customer and affiliate

I am extremely happy that I became a Sitesell customer back in the 20th century and I continue to use their tools in the 21st century.

SBI grows and expands as needed to keep up with what is really important for helping customers generate more income. The SBI system I subscribed to after its original release was not nearly as powerful nor as well documented as what I subscribe to, today. Yet, the cost is the same: $300 per year per site.

Quality and power continues to grow and the price stays the same. I like that.

I have two SBI-powered websites, but they have been largely neglected for the last two years while I fought a battle with cancer that almost killed me last year. Now, I’m on the mend and recovering nicely.

I’ve been doing a lot of strategizing and planning for how I’m going to expand and improve my two SBI sites and you’ll see a lot going on there in just a few more weeks. These two sites will be my primary focus over the next two years and will provide much more income for me than all my other sites and blogs combined. That’s why I promote Sitesell.

And both of my sites are about subjects in which I’m really interested and which I knew, going in, would not be the best choices for earning a large income. I’m doing it for the passion and I’m in a stage of my life where money is not even close to being my main motivator. Still, I don’t mind earning more.

Can you be successful?

If you have basic word skills and can write clearly, and you’re willing to learn a proven process and use a set of tools that work, yes, you can.

And I truly believe that you will substantially increase your odds of success if you build a firm foundation of knowledge and couple it with great tools and support, all offered at one low annual cost. You will NOT be bombarded with a constant stream of upsells, cross sells, and what you may have grown accustomed to, elsewhere.

You will not be surrounded by sharks in the members-only forums. You’ll find people who are willing to share what they’ve learned with you. Affiliate links and promotions are prohibited in the forums.

How much will I earn?

I can’t tell you how much you’d earn, and it would be illegal if I did.

I know many people who use SBI to earn a few hundred dollars of additional income each month, and I know quite a few who earn substantial full-time incomes.

Success often depends upon your own definition of the word.

I am not saying that SBI is the only way to succeed online.

Let me reiterate. I am NOT saying that.

I believe that there are many ways to build a successful online business, but the great majority of them require sophisticated technical skills and knowledge.

I know about that first-hand. I’ve been programming computers for over 40 years and I’ve been building websites since shortly after the World Wide Web was invented. I’ve been selling products and services on the web since shortly after it became legal to conduct commercial operations on the Internet.

I know a lot of ways to build a website and I know how to do a lot of things that I can’t do in SBI. I also know that the great majority of people who want to build an online business don’t know all those things nor do they have that level of experience.

I’m betting you aren’t a technical expert.

But, I’m also betting that you have specific knowledge about something and that you may be surprised that you can earn money while exploring what interests you, legally, ethically, and with class.

You don’t have to become a scuzzy old marketer who takes advantage of people.

Instead, you can learn how to present information to people when they’re looking to solve a problem or buy something they want. And, you can earn a commission from doing that.

Want to learn more? Give SBI a try. There’s a no-questions-asked, 90-day, unconditional, money-back guarantee. All you can lose is a little time and effort, if it isn’t for you. And, you’ll learn more than you know now about building an online business that generates a profit.

What can you gain?

You can gain a lot of valuable business and technical knowledge that has value in the 21st century. You can build a business that provides another source of income. You can find something interesting and useful to do if you’re a stay-at-home mom or dad, or if you’re retired and are looking for something to do with your time.

You can give a gift of real value to your child so that he or she will learn something that can be very useful in a career.

In a couple of years, or so, you can write me and tell me that you’re happy you subscribed to SBI and let me know how happy you are with your business. You won’t be the first who has thanked me for telling them about SBI and you won’t be the last.

It is interesting to me that I’ve referred a lot of people to a variety of business-related tools and information, yet I’ve never received a single thank-you from anyone other than people who subscribed to SBI. I haven’t received many, but there were a few and I should have kept them for reference, but I didn’t.

Most of the people I have introduced to SBI continue to renew their subscription, year after year. Why? Because it’s working for them.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll succeed, but I can guarantee that you won’t lose any money by trying SBI. Not a penny. Subscribe, follow the action guide, take it slow, do each action step methodically, and you’ll learn more about online business than you can imagine right now.

If you decide it isn’t for you, just contact support within the first 90 days and they’ll refund 100% of whatever you’ve paid. If you paid for an annual subscription, you will get 100% refunded within 90 days, and a prorated amount if you choose to ask for a refund after 90 days.

Downside risk? No money to lose, but you’ll have to invest some time and energy to test it.

Upside potential? More knowledge about online marketing and building a website. More technical skills — if you want them. A good opportunity to increase your income.

You may even change your life. Some have.

Act on your dream!

JD

PS. My two SBI sites are Act On Your Dream! and Murphy Gold. Watch as they grow in the coming months.

It’s true.

They don’t last for long.

As Zig Ziglar said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

Zig Ziglar

(I love reading what Mr. Ziglar has to say. I’ve read his books many times over the years and I recommend See You At The Top. If you’d rather listen to him on CD or downloadable audio files, I recommend his See You at the Top 25th Anniversary Edition. He, too, believes that attitude is everything, and it was from reading one of his books that I adopted the attitude of gratitude, and practice it every day.)

I like to read inspirational stories and watch videos. When I’m really hard at work and time is short, that is often when I most need a motivation boost.

That’s why I like the books and movies available at Simple Truths.

Here’s a great three-minute reminder about the importance of attitude:

Since you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in affiliate marketing, too.

Simple Truths has an affiliate program that is managed by ShareASale.com, and it’s easy to join and promote.

Now, I’m going to make another cup of coffee, sit next to the air conditioner and watch the Attitude is Everything movie…

Act on your dream!

JD

In addition to affiliate marketing, I also enjoy creating designs and selling them in my Cafepress and Zazzle shops.

If you visit either of those shops, and I hope you will, you’ll notice that most of my designs are styled text. I’m not much of an artist, but I know how to use computer programs to help me express my visions for new products.

Windows

Please note: Windows users, I don’t have any advice for graphics processing software, because I’m strictly a Mac user and haven’t touched a PC in nearly 20 years. I’m sorry I can’t offer any advice or recommendations for you.

As you already know, most people use Windows computers and there is a wide variety of graphics editing programs that are used to create designs for selling on Cafepress and Zazzle. And, of course, you can open your own shop on either site and/or join their affiliate programs.

I just don’t have any experience I can share about the process using Windows.

Macintosh

Now, back to how I do this on a Mac…

Create the design

If you are an artist and/or photographer, you’d start by creating the artwork or photo, but I use styled text on almost all of my designs, so that’s where I start. Below this section on TypeStyler, I offer some advice about several graphics editing applications in which you may have some interest.

TypeStyler

Almost always, I start the process with TypeStyler, a program that is designed specifically to, well, style text on a Macintosh. (You can download a fully functional version that you can use for 60 days, for free. If it suits your needs, you can purchase it for $180.) (I wish they had an affiliate program!)

Edit the JPEG file

Once I get the design how I want it, I export it as a 300 dpi JPEG file for further editing in a graphics editing application.

One of the things I can quibble about is how TypeStyler doesn’t do an excellent job of exact sizes when exporting to JPEG files. It gets it close, but I still find it necessary to tweak the file in a dedicated photo-type bitmapped image editor.

I used to use Photoshop and GIMP for that, but both of those programs are too complicated and offer much more than I need. So, last year, I went searching and found three graphics programs that offer the tools I want, and the prices are good, too.

I should mention that a lot of people, who don’t need all the features of Photoshop, like to use Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Editor, by Adobe Systems Incorporated. I’ve never used it, but I’ve heard from people I trust that it is a good application, especially for home users who are not graphics pros. Since I’ve never used it, I can’t recommend it to you, but it should be mentioned, for completeness.

Instead of using Photoshop, I’ve switched mainly to Pixelmator, by Pixelmator Team and like it much better. It offers all of the tools I used in Photoshop and the interface is similar enough that I didn’t have a lot of relearning to do, yet it seems more responsive and the cost is much better.

(The Pixelmator team is working hard to finish and release version 2, which will have a lot of new features and will improve the existing tools. They’ve promised that anyone who buys version 1 through the Mac App Store will receive a free upgrade to version 2 when it is released. I think that’s a great deal, especially when you consider that the software sells for only $30.)

Sometimes, I’ll edit graphics using Acorn – The Image Editor for Humans, by Flying Meat and I almost always create new coupons using Sketch, by Bohemian Coding.

Vector graphics

I do very little work with vector drawing, other than coupons. Sketch works perfectly well for that. It does take a little getting used to. It works similarly to Illustrator, but certain tasks are very different.

If you want something that will do what Illustrator does, this is not the application for you. A step up from Sketch would be Artboard, by Mapdiva, LLC, but it is still not a complete substitute for Adobe’s Illustrator. I have not used Artboard, yet, but it’s on my wish list and I expect to buy it this year and put it to the test, so I’m not qualified to recommend it to you.

Just as Pixelmator does most of what I used Photoshop for, Sketch does what I used to use Illustrator for, and it costs much, much less.

Years ago, I spent a lot of money buying PageMaker, Photoshop, Illustrator, and the full version of Acrobat. I spent hundreds of dollars for each of those programs. Now, for around $100 total, I can replace them with Pages, by Apple®, Pixelmator, and Sketch. I don’t have a need for Acrobat, since any application on a Mac can produce a PDF file.

Pixelmator and Acorn are very similar. I just happen to like the feel of Pixelmator better. Both are good apps.

For the most part, however, Typestyler and Pixelmator are the graphics programs I use over 90% of the time.

I’m not going to get into a review of these products, except to say that I really love using them. Each of them offers some things not available in the others, so they make a good toolset for modifying graphics and photos.

And, this is very important to me, they are specifically designed for a Mac and make very good use of the underlying graphics tools that are built into Mac OS X.

Want to put a frame on your image?

I recently found another application that will be part of my photo editing toolset, but it won’t be used for designs I sell on CafePress or Zazzle — I don’t think. It’s called ImageFramer3, by Apparent Software and it does just what its name suggests. It adds frames to photos, and I’ll be using this a lot on my websites where I show photos. I think they look better when they’re framed.

I recently learned that you can add relatively simple frames to images on Picnik, for free.

But, let’s get back to preparing a design for CafePress and Zazzle.

As I already said, I start with TypeStyler and use it to create the text. It is a very versatile application and it lets me create all kinds of text using all the fonts on my system and then I can stretch and shape the text in a variety of ways. I can add texture, bumps, highlights, gloss, and much more so that the text on each design can have an unique appearance, or I can save a particular type style and use it on similar designs without having to design everything from scratch each time.

The text is created in a raster format that allows for easy manipulation and it can be exported in a variety of formats, both raster and bitmapped. It takes a little time to really master all that TypeStyler can do.

As I said, I usually export it as a JPEG file for further customization.

When I’ve completed the design and exported it as a JPEG file, I open it in Pixelmator, and that’s where I do the precise sizing of the image so that it fits within an 10″ by 8″ rectangle at 300 dpi.

(Yes, I can make larger designs for Zazzle and I might do that in the future, but, generally, I like to use the same design for both sites. Pixelmator does an excellent job of tweaking the image and/or canvas sizes and creates very clean graphics when it resamples and resizes.

If I’m going to add a bitmapped image, this is when I’d do it. Usually, I skip this step.

I have a custom brush in Pixelmator that I use to put a watermark copyright notice on each design, before uploading it. I try to make it small and use a color similar to the design to make it less noticeable.

Upload the design and add it to products for sale

Then, it’s a simple matter to upload the design to either sales site (Cafepress and/or Zazzle) and add it to the products I choose.

I have to admit that I’ve been rather lazy the last few years, and put the designs on the products that take the least work. That was acceptable while I was so sick, but now that I’m feeling better, I’ll be adding the designs to more products in an effort to increase the sales.

The better you promote your designs, the more you sell

I’m talking about this now, because it won’t be long before people all over the world will be looking for gifts for their friends, family, neighbors, associates, and themselves. I want to have as many products available as I can.

Fortunately, each year I can add to the number of designs, so I’m still selling items I created years ago. Now, I need to step up my marketing of those designs so people learn about them and can find them easily. That’s something I seriously neglected over the last three years, or so.

Still, I make regular sales without much promotion, so I expect a lot more sales with more widespread promotions.

Open your store on Zazzle

Later this week, I’m going to write a post about selling products on Zazzle, and even if you don’t want to sell in your own shop, I’m going to suggest that you sign up for one, anyway. They’re free.

Why?

Zazzle Affiliate Program

Because, as soon as you have a shop, you also become an affiliate, and you can promote any of the millions of products you want to on your own sites and blogs and earn an affiliate commission for each sale you generate, even if you never sell any designs in your own store.

In fact, you can sign up as an affiliate for Zazzle — if you’re not already one — and promote my designs. Any that sell based on your referral will earn both of us a commission.

So, the more the merrier!

Of course, you’re also free to promote the items in any Zazzle store, so you can find products that fit with the theme of your blog or website. It’s a pretty easy way to earn some extra cash.

Get started on Zazzle, today

Additionally, if you’d like to create and sell your own designs on Zazzle, go here and get started by creating your first product. It’s free.

Later in the week, I’ll talk more about selling the products in your Zazzle shop, and I’ll write another post about promoting products, designs, and stores in the Zazzle affiliate program.

Extra money is nice

I’m nowhere near to getting rich with my Cafepress and Zazzle shops, but I enjoy spending the few hundred dollars I earn each year.

In this case, I’m creating and selling these products mostly for the fun of it and to earn a little extra spending money. I’m not doing it as a major part of my business. It’s just a little side-line that I do when I feel like it.

What about you?

Do you have any experiences or opinions you’d like to share on the topic of creating and selling your designs on Cafepress and Zazzle?

Act on your dream!

JD

Instead of a long post telling you lots of reasons why I like, use, and recommend SBI, I’m going to present this video introduction.

It’s about a minute long and goes pretty quickly, so pay attention…

Whew!

I bet you didn’t have time to read all that, did you?

One of the great things about watching video on the Internet is that we can stop it at any time and select parts of the video to re-watch.

If you missed anything or if you want to read all that it says, watch it again and stop it at any point.

Just wait. When you use SBI and start to understand all it does to help you build a real online business, you’ll find that describing and explaining it is difficult, too.

SBI remains my most important recommendation. Don’t build a website, build an e-business.

Act on your dream!

JD

P.S. I’m both a very happy customer and an affiliate, too.

I feel a bit like that today.

Except for the fact that the party is still going strong. I just missed the first few years of it.

What the heck are you talking about, JD?

Have you ever heard of something called mind maps? The process of creating a mind map is called mind mapping.

I just heard of it about three days ago, and I’ve been studying everything I can find about it for the last two.

Where have you been all my life, mind maps?

I am far from being an expert on this, but it has already changed my life when it comes to brainstorming, planning, and organizing my life and my business.

Hard to believe, isn’t it?

For decades, I’ve tried all kinds of systems to help me keep track of everything and to help me plan my life and achieve the goals I set for myself. I’ve tried big whiteboards, notebooks, databases, spreadsheets, project management software, and others, and each of them has been valuable to some degree, but they’ve all had shortcomings, too.

That will probably be true of mind mapping, as well, but — so far — it’s the best way I’ve ever found for organizing my life and work.

I’m not going to tell you the history of mind maps (you’re welcome), but I will point you to some interesting resources.

Tony Buzan invented mind mapping, I think

Apparently, Tony Buzan created this process and wrote several books about it. One of those books, The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain’s Untapped Potential, may be helpful if you want to learn more about mind maps and how to use them.

There are a lot of websites and many videos on YouTube that are devoted to mind maps and how to use them for various purposes. I visited several dozen sites and spent most of an afternoon watching the videos, before I decided that this was something I wanted to learn.

iMindMap Software

ThinkBuzan.com is the official site for Tony Buzan’s mind mapping software, called iMindMap. I have not tried that software. I found this site rather late in my searching on the subject and I’d already found a couple of applications that I liked and had already started using. They have an affiliate program. I am not an affiliate, although as I learn more about this subject, I may apply. It looks attractive.

The main reason I am not an affiliate is because my policy is to recommend only products I use and which help me run my business more effectively. If I had found this site earlier in my searching, I might very well have decided to use it. I don’t know.

MindMeister

One of my friends, Pat, was the first to recommend MindMeister, which is a tool she uses. They offer several versions, including a free version. Here is their versions and pricing information.

I can’t comment on the software, since I have not used it.

MindNode

As you may know, I am a Macintosh person and I prefer to buy programs that I can use when I am not connected to the Internet — especially when I’m brainstorming and organizing. I find it much less distracting when I’m not being tempted to check on Facebook and see what’s going on, for instance.

I found several applications that run on Mac and on iOS mobile devices. I have an iPod Touch and carry it everywhere with me. It is my portable memory.

I compared a couple and downloaded the free version of MindNode.

I put it right to work and really like it. It’s easy to learn and fun to use. You can get it free from the Mac App Store: MindNode (free) – Markus Müller

Of the tools I tested, it remains my favorite for easy brainstorming and organizing of my thoughts. It’s like drawing on paper or a whiteboard, but I can save it on my computer and come back to it later.

Here’s the start of one of the mind maps I created with it, within just a few minutes of installing MindNode from the Mac store:

An early version of the mind map for John Dilbeck

As I said, earlier, I really like MindNode and I’ll be using it for relatively simple mind maps.

I like to support software developers, so I’ll be purchasing the Pro version of MindNode, which adds a few extra features. You can learn more about it on the Mac App Store: MindNode Pro – Markus Müller

As I said earlier, I carry my iPod Touch with me every where I go and I’ll be buying an iPad for demonstrating my services to my clients and for brainstorming with them and discussing projects.

There is a version of MindNode available for iOS and it works on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. I bought it and I like it. Here it is in the iOS App Store: MindNode – Markus Müller

The description of the product says the iOS version can interchange mind maps with the Pro version of the Mac app. I have not tested this, so I can’t verify it. It will read several import formats and export to others. I have not tested these features, either, other than one simple test that worked with no problem.

NovaMind for Macintosh and Windows

As much as I like MindNode, I could already tell that it was not going to work for all I wanted to do with mind mapping. It remains my first choice for relatively simple mind maps with a few dozen nodes, but when I continued to add to the map I showed above, it got harder to use. I knew that it would not support the really complicated mind maps I could already see in my mind.

For example, here’s part of a complicated mind map I’m creating in NovaMind:

John Dilbeck's Master mind map in NovaMind

This mind map has grown rather more complicated since I exported that image of it.

Over the decades, I’ve managed a number of projects and some of them were rather complex. I learned early on that I needed to use project management software to help me plan and organize a project, to present the project overview to clients, and to use PERT and Gantt charts for managing tasks, timelines, and resources.

I tried various methods of doing this, and eventually started using professional project management software.

I have been looking at buying Merlin 2 for Macintosh from Novamind and that is what I will probably do in a few months, when I need it. I had been entirely focused on Merlin and never even noticed their mind mapping software, called NovaMind 5 Mind Mapping.

I think that is interesting, because their company and mind mapping software are both named NovaMind. I guess it’s true that things are invisible before you start looking for them.

The more I looked at professional-level mind mapping software, the more I was drawn to NovaMind. They offer three versions of the software: Express, Pro, and Platinum.

The two versions I find most interesting are Express and Platinum. For me, the differences in features between Express and Pro are not compelling, but the Platinum level offers lots of project management tools and can help generate a project in Merlin. That pretty much seals the deal for me. Here is a comparison of the features of all three levels: NovaMind Feature Comparison.

Please note that NovaMind Mind Mapping software is available for both Mac and Windows, but Merlin is available only for the Mac. Microsoft Project is pretty much the standard in the Windows world.

Start with NovaMind Express and upgrade to Platinum

At the moment, I don’t need all the project management features, so I don’t have to buy what I don’t need. I can start out by buying NovaMind Express and, later, when I need the project management features, I can upgrade to NovaMind Platinum by paying the difference in the prices plus a small processing fee. So, that’s the route I’m taking.

If I needed the project management features right now, I’d go ahead and buy the Platinum version.

Without a doubt, for me, NovaMind 5 is the best mind mapping software.

It is more complex than MindNode and takes longer to learn. I spent several hours yesterday afternoon learning how to use it and watching videos that introduced the software and showed ways it can be used.

That time and effort was well invested, however, when I realized all the power that NovaMind brings to my brainstorming and organizing toolbox.

One of the things I like about MindNode is how easy it is to use and how I can drag different parts of the map around however I want.

I can do the same thing in NovaMind, but the real power starts to show when I don’t do that. When I follow the directions on how to enter nodes using the keyboard, that’s when NovaMind begins to shine! No matter how complicated the mind map (in my admittedly limited experience), it automatically adjusts the map to make room for the addition or deletion of nodes, and does a darn good job of keeping everything neat and presentable. It does a much better job than I did when my mind map started getting complicated in MindNode.

If you’re interested, you can learn more about the challenges the NovaMind team faced when designing the layout and display algorithms that set their software apart from all their competitors.

One of the things I really like about NovaMind is that I can show or hide nodes (and all their children and descendants) with the click of a button. As soon as I hide a node, the entire map redraws (in seconds) so I can see the relationships easily. When I show the node, it redraws in seconds and shows the more-complicated version.

So, for example, if I’m brainstorming, organizing, or documenting my Dilbeck Marketing business, I can hide all my personal nodes.

If I want to concentrate on income and expenses, I can hide all the nodes showing my websites, blogs, communities, lenses, social network profiles, and all the rest. I can even hide all the expenses while I’m thinking about generating income, and vice versa, when I’m concentrating on expenses.

Where it really shines, and what led me to consider mind maps in the first place is how it can help me create a page-by-page site plan for a website (large or small). Each page can be a node. Children of that node can be topics. I can document the page by adding keywords and other information in the notes field, and — although I haven’t tried it, yet — I think I can store all the source code of the page in the notes field. I’m going to try this, soon, to see how large the file grows and how much slower it runs.

Right now, I’m putting everything into a single big mind map. This includes linking to each page of my websites (as I document them), to my blogs (both the sites and the editing dashboard), to each of my lenses on Squidoo, and so forth. It’s going to be huge.

In addition to being able to hyperlink to URLs, it allows me to link to documents and files on my computer so that I can find them easily. Or, if I prefer, I can embed the documents into the mind map. I haven’t tried that, yet, and probably won’t.

Gideon King, founder of NovaMind is the father of this company and software and has written quite a bit about himself and the project. I find it interesting reading. I like to know the name of the person behind the software and their philosophy and some of the obstacles they had to overcome to succeed.

He has a number of videos on YouTube that show how to use NovaMind.

Of all the videos I watched when trying to grok mind mapping, this one on using mind maps to write books, articles, and technical documentation was the first to help me start to “get it.”

Before I forget the main subject of this blog, NovaMind does have an affiliate program.

Free versus Paid Mind Mapping Applications

In the past, I was a big proponent of free open source software, but not so much these days.

I have found many security vulnerabilities in open source software that is used for building websites and I’m rapidly moving away from using those scripts. This has, in turn, colored my perceptions of open source applications.

I have GIMP and NeoOffice on my computer and rarely use them.

GIMP is a photo and graphic editing application with much of the power of Photoshop. For some people, it has a great advantage and that’s because it is free, while Photoshop costs hundreds of dollars.

NeoOffice is a Mac-specific version of OpenOffice, which provides much of the power of MS Office and is free.

Likewise, there are free versions of mind mapping software and it looks to me (with my limited knowledge) that FreeMind may be the leading open source application for mind mapping. It was recommended by my friend, Deb, and she has a Squidoo lens on mind mapping that you may find informative: Mindmap – Tools to Organize Your Thoughts – Powerful How-To Tool. She links to FreeMind in that lens and also to books and other software that I haven’t mentioned in this article.

What prompted my interest in mind mapping?

A few days ago, on the Sitesell Facebook page, we were talking about how important it is to go through the SBI action guide, do the keyword research, determine a good niche, and then build a site map plan for the website, before starting to build the site.

If we already have a site, it is important to go back and build a plan for the site in order to add material we may have overlooked and to better organize the site.

I’ve tried using spreadsheets and databases in the past for this task, and I always hated it.

Yesterday, I started working on a site map plan for one of my existing sites using NovaMind, and it seemed like an easy and natural way to approach the task. That got me to thinking about documenting what I do at Dilbeck Marketing, and before you know it, I had a fairly complex mind map for my business — and I’m just getting started with it.

For me, and maybe for you, a mind map is a great way to conceptualize, organize, and document what I’ve already done and what I want to do.

Doing all that in spreadsheets, databases, hand-written notebooks, and word processors just didn’t work for me. It was like trying to pound a square peg into a small round hole.

On the other hand, to use another cliche, I took to mind mapping like a duck to water.

What do you think?

Do you use mind mapping to help you brainstorm, organize, and/or manage what you do?

What applications do you prefer? Why?

Act on your dream!

JD