John Dilbeck Musings

As a Cognigen agent, I’m always looking for better ways to help my customers find the telecommunications services they need to build their businesses and reduce their costs. As more and more businesses turn to broadband Internet access, they enter areas in which they have no expertise and need to find people who can help them install networks, buy telecom equipment, find the best broadband access, and keep their communications systems operating optimally.

Many small businesses and entrepreneurs turn to local Value Added Resellers (VARs) who are dealers for different companies and also provide installation, configuration and troubleshooting services.

But, how do you find these people to help you with your telecom needs?

VAR Network is a new service for businesses to find the VARs in your area who can help you solve your communications problems and fill your telecom needs.

Being a new service, not all VARs know about it, yet. If you know of a VAR in your area who is not listed in the search results at VAR Network, won’t you take a moment and tell them about this post? They may want to become a part of the VAR Network, too. Here’s the information they need to know about.

Are you a Value Added Reseller?

Chances are you are much better at the telecommunications technical services you offer than you are at marketing your services to the businesses in your area.

You may be interested to know that VAR Partner can help you connect with businesses who need and want the services and products you sell.

Join VAR Network and we will help you market your business.

What is VAR Network and why should you care? Here’s how it works:

1. You register with VAR Network and complete your profile.

2. We send you leads based upon your VARSearch score.

3. If you close a sale, you send us a commission on the transaction. You can modify the commission you want to pay on future leads at any time.

4. You can improve your VARSearch score by receiving positive customer feedback scores, by offering more commission to our marketing agents, and/or by sending T1 business to ShopforT1.

5. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

It’s easy to register with VAR Partner. Once you register, our network of telecommunications agents will work to bring new business to you.

As a result of our marketing efforts we are creating a large database of businesses who have purchased commercial telecommunication services, many of whom need (or will need) telecom handsets, PBX’s, routers, switches, firewalls, telecom closets, etc.

These customers are also looking for Cisco, Avaya, Lucent, Mitel, Nortel, and Shoretel Dealers.

Likewise, we are gathering customers in need of equipment and sending them to you in hopes that you (1) can sell them your equipment and (2) can refer business back to us if they ever request T1 high-speed internet or voice services in the future. Our program is a classic case of “I scratch your back and you scratch mine!”

Go to VAR Partner to join our network of VARs. You can find more information about the benefits and VAR program comparisons on our site.

Do you want to see how a customer can find you once you are part of the network?

Go to VAR Network and enter a search for services and/or products you offer. If you are not a part of the network, you may find that we are already marketing the services of your competitors.

Or, perhaps you’ll find that nobody is being recommended in your area. This is your chance to have your services marketed to businesses who need you.

It only takes a couple of minutes to join our network of VARs.

Do it now, while you are thinking about it.

If you are looking for a great gift for that hard-to-buy-for person on your gift-giving list, you may find just what you want at Cafepress.

With millions of items to select from, you should be able to find something for just about anyone.

And, yes, you can buy t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, caps, and other items of apparel, but that’s not all that is available.

The artists who sell through Cafepress offer calendars, posters, journals, clothing, tiles, aprons, clocks, and many other items.

If you want your gifts delivered before Christmas, you should shop early and avoid the rush.

Join hundreds of thousands of other creative people who are selling their designs on CafePress.

Whether you are an artist who creates original paintings and drawings, or you have wonderful photographs, or are talented at finding just the right words to express an opinion, you can sell your creative originals at CafePress.

Perhaps you want to self-publish a book or sell your CD through CafePress.

They make it easy for all of us.

All you have to do is create your design and upload it to their server. Apply your design to dozens of products and let Cafepress handle all the production, shipping, customer service, returns, and website.

You promote your products online and offline and, when a product sells, you earn a commission based on the price you set. Each product has a baseline price and you are free to set your price over that minimum price. You earn the difference between the two prices.

There is much more information at the CafePress site about how to sell through their service.

I’m regularly selling designs I uploaded months ago and I always enjoy depositing the commission checks I receive from CafePress. You can, too.

Start selling today!

Several years ago, I needed a way to earn a living while staying home and being a full-time caretaker for my Mom.

I tried several things before I decided that affiliate marketing was for me.

There were many reasons for this decision. There was a low cost to entry since I didn’t have to buy merchandise, pay for inventory or interest, hire staff, set up an online order entry system, manage customer service, deal with shipping and returns, and do many of the other things that are necessary when you are selling products or services to the general public.

As an affiliate marketer, basically I work in advertising and marketing, and someone else handles all the rest of the necessary activities.

The downside to affiliate marketing is that there is a lot to learn, there is cut-throat competition, what works for me may not work for you and vice versa, and the Internet and online marketing is changing all the time.

At first, I knew a lot about the technical aspects of building websites, but I did not know nearly enough to be effective as an affiliate.

Fortunately for me, I found Ken Evoy and I have been successfully following his advice for several years. My affiliate marketing business is growing and I’m earning more as time goes by.

Ken provided a couple of things that made a huge difference in my affiliate marketing success. I appreciate his down-to-earth, practical advice and the products he has created to help me become a more-effective affiliate marketer.

The first was a free email course he called the Affiliate Masters Course. It was a five part course sent via email. Later, it was redone as an ebook in PDF format. Earlier this month, he released the November, 2006 updated edition of the Affiliate Masters course. I just finished reading it and the updated edition offers lots of information that was not included in the previous version. I recommend this book to you.

The cost? It’s free.

Download your copy of the Affiliate Masters course now. You’ll find about 160 pages of outstanding information. Others sell ebooks with much less information for $50 or $100 or more. Get this one and read it. Learn what you need to know and put it to work. I believe your affiliate marketing efforts will be more successful if you implement what Ken tells you.

Along the same lines, Ken wrote an ebook called “Make Your Site Sell!” a few years ago. The original version sold for under $20 and the updated 2002 version sold for about $30.

A couple of months ago, Ken decided to offer Make Your Site Sell! 2002 as a free download.

This multi-volume ebook contains over 1,500 pages of outstanding information and has been worth thousands of dollars to me in revenue I may not have earned if I hadn’t followed Ken’s advice.

While some of the information is a bit dated, the core information remains very valuable and you will find much information of use to you in this PDF format ebook. I regularly refer to it and continually discover useful tips and techniques to improve my marketing efforts.

If you want to build an online business, you need to read this ebook. Download it today.

These two ebooks made a great impact on the effectiveness of my online marketing and my affiliate marketing business continues to grow today based on what I learned from them.

Of course, reading and learning isn’t going to build a business. You have to take what you learn, plan how it will help your business grow, and then put it into action.

Act on your dreams!

Perhaps I didn’t read the MySpace terms of service closely enough, or maybe they were changed in October, but I just realized last week that it is against their terms of service to use MySpace for commercial reasons, and they specifically prohibit using affiliate links. Since my main purpose for being there was for low-key marketing, the site is not nearly as attractive to me as it once was.

I’ll continue doing some non-commercial networking there, but not as much as I was.

Fortunately, there is a new business-friendly social networking site that opened around the first of November: BizFriendz.

I’ve taken the time to develop my BizFriendz profile.

Over the next few days, I’ll open several new groups on the site, too.

Since it is a brand-new site, there are some rough edges and some features have not been implemented, but they are making good progress and I think I’m going to be happy participating there.

If you want a good place for business-friendly social networking, come on over and join me at BizFriendz.

Generating traffic has never been so fast and fun!

You may know that I have a real interest in castles, knights, dragons, and all the rest. Now, there’s a traffic exchange where these elements are incorporated into surfing for more traffic.

Qualify for the joust each week and you can work towards slaying the dragon, storming the castle, rescuing the princess, and more. Earn more traffic as a result of your efforts and enjoy earning more visitors to your sites.

RoyalSurf is a unique and essential traffic building tool that can drive thousands of visitors to your website daily! If you’re looking for new customers and more sales, RoyalSurf has your answer.

Sign up now for FREE, and in less than 5 minutes your site can start receiving a steady flow of potential customers!

What makes RoyalSurf different?

RoyalSurf combines effective traffic generating principles with the concept of both individual and team competition, resulting in a unique system that is continually challenging and entertaining.

To further generate the maximum amount of traffic possible for you, their system eliminates the downline structure that other programs use, for maximum reward for your own effort. The result? High quality traffic delivered fast!

RoyalSurf delivers Traffic that’s Fit for a King or Queen!

Dan Nickerson has done it again.

Every time I turn around, Dan has come up with a brilliant idea and implements that idea before you can turn around.

This time, he has created the Newbie Report to help new Internet marketers learn more about the tools, processes and sites you need to master to profit from your marketing efforts.

It’s free to sign up for the newsletter.

The site already has links to some of the best marketing sites a new online marketer needs to find. Not all of the sites I’d recommend are listed, but it’s an outstanding start. I’m sure he’ll be expanding the listing as time goes by.

It even comes with a free affiliate program.

Go to the Newbie Report, sign up for the newsletter (the sooner the better, you’ll see why when you do it), and learn how to be more successful in your marketing efforts.

I’m not a newbie, but I’m looking forward to learning more from Dan.

Check it out right now!