John Dilbeck Musings

The more I participate at Squidoo.com by building lenses and adding those lenses to groups, the more I see pages on Squidoo referenced in my traffic stats on various sites I have.

What?

I mean that Squidoo is sending an ever-increasing stream of traffic to my sites, blogs, and forums.

Thinking about that, I took a little time this morning to create a new Get A Free Marketing Site lens on Squidoo.

Then, I found several related groups and submitted my new lens to them.

This morning, my lens is ranked at over 180,000. I’m guessing it will jump to about 30,000 or less in the next 24 hours. Then, who knows where it will end up.

To make it a bit more interesting, I added a Plexo module where you can vote for your favorite marketing book on the lens, and I added an RSS feed for marketing articles from 21st Century Articles, my article directory specializing in business, communications, technology, and self-improvement articles.

If you don’t see your favorite marketing book on the list, please feel free to add it.

I have been getting tens of thousands of page views to my Get A Free Marketing Site suite of marketing tools at LinkScout, and I know it has been worth the time and effort - and money - I’ve invested in it.

Therefore, I feel confident in recommending it to you, too.

Act on your dream!

JD

PS. I also recommend that you start building as many Squidoo lenses as you need to promote your business, talk about your hobby, or write about anything in which you are interested. It’s free, and you may well get paid by Squidoo. I earn a small check from them every month, and that’s a lot better than buying advertising, in my opinion.

If you have a blog on just about any topic, you should create a related lens at Squidoo, and don’t forget to use the RSS module to syndicate your blog feed.

It brings me more visitors, and I’m sure it will work for you, too.

(This article is part of my Marketing Tools and Techniques: Traffic Exchanges series.)

Normally, I won’t be promoting the latest and (supposedly) greatest thing, so don’t be afraid that I’ll bombard you with untested programs that may be here today and gone tomorrow.

I prefaced this recommendation because Soaring For Traffic is a new traffic exchange, but I believe it will be around for a long time and I think it will rise to be one of the best.

I’ve known Ray for a few months and I have seen for myself that he knows quite a bit about Internet marketing and is always working to learn more and to share what he learns with others.

I first met him on the Affiliate Funnel forum, where he answered some of my questions about ad tracking on traffic exchanges. I did some searching and found that he is the owner of Private Success Team, where he is busily helping others learn how to market on the Internet more successfully.

I recently learned that he has been working for about a year to introduce Soaring For Traffic, his free traffic exchange and downline builder.

Lately, I’ve become more discerning when it comes to traffic exchanges and I’m reaching the point where I probably won’t join too many more.

Over the last year, I’ve joined and used about 75 traffic exchanges with varying amounts of success. Now, I’m a member in about 60 and actively use about 20 of them.

I am an upgraded member in about a dozen exchanges, and I just upgraded my account with Soaring For Traffic.

Although Soaring For Traffic is free, you will get more traffic with less time and effort by upgrading to one of the two upgrade levels. I chose the highest upgrade and I’m looking forward to using this exchange a lot in the coming months.

I added about 170 sites to this exchange in one fell swoop by using my Page Swirl rotator and spent another hour or two advertising it on some of my marketing pages, including my LinkScout marketing site.

After I’d finished setting everything up, it was time to surf the new exchange and see how I liked it.

I found a couple of small errors when setting up to use the exchange, but surfing the sites of other members was easy and the site responded quickly, even on my very slow dial-up connection.

The downline builder part of the site contains five money making affiliate programs and I’m a member of three of them. I didn’t count the number of traffic exchanges in the downline builder, but almost all of my favorites were there and I saw only a handful of sites I’d never tried before.

I know that Ray will be a helpful and responsive owner, and that is a big part of being an upgraded member of an exchange.

Even though Soaring For Traffic is new, it already has nearly 1,500 members and is growing quickly.

Regarding the problems I encountered, one was just an incorrect height and width attribute in the HTML code for a 100×300 sidebar button link. That was easily corrected, and I’ll let Ray know about it as soon as I publish this.

The other was a bit more of a problem, but probably has an easy solution. The site offers a way to personalize one of the splash pages that can be used on other traffic exchanges. It features your name, photo, a banner, and a testimonial.

I filled in the form and submitted it, only to be told that the banner URL was incorrect. No problem; the exchange is new. However, the real problem, for me, was that the error page did not preserve the entries on the form that were correct. As a result, a very complimentary testimonial was lost.

Ray, if you read this, I said some nice things about you that nobody will read because the form lost my heartfelt compliments.

With only a couple of minor negatives (which I’m sure Ray will fix quickly) and lots of positives, I heartily recommend Soaring For Traffic to you.

If you want to be a free member, this exchange is better than most.

If you plan to upgrade, the prices are right and the One-Time-Offer page offers good discount pricing for an annual or lifetime membership.

If that doesn’t fit your budget, the second One-Time-Offer (OTO) page offers a 33% discount on the highest upgrade level, making it a good buy. Normally, the highest level, Soaring Eagle, costs $14.95 per month, and I think that is over-priced for a 1:1 surf ratio and anything less than 1,000 credits per month. However, the second OTO page offers the Soaring Eagle level for $9.99, and I think that is the proper price for what is offered.

I don’t know if either of these discount pages will be available should you join, nor what they may offer at that time. These things are always subject to change.

If you don’t take advantage of either OTO page, you’ll pay more, perhaps a lot more, in the long run.

Soaring For Traffic will be one of the dozen or so traffic exchanges I’ll use on a regular basis.

You can join Soaring For Traffic for free and see for yourself how well it works for you.

Act on your dream!

JD

Now that I have a modern web browser, having just received the new Macintosh I bought, I’ve been looking at some things I wasn’t able to do previously.

One of those things is viewing something called Plexo, which is available as one of the modules for building lenses at Squidoo.com.

Plexo lets you create lists of pretty much anything and then let others vote for what they like the most (by clicking the up arrow next to the item) or for what they like the least (by clicking the appropriate down arrow).

Not all Plexo lists use the down voting option.

So, I’d looked at Plexo and wasn’t impressed. When I read something about some Plexo lenses in a group on MySpace a couple of hours ago, I decided to take a look.

Now, I understand why Plexo is starting to make some waves.

So, to test the waters, I created a new lens that is devoted simply to a Plexo list of Favorite Motivational Books.

I started the list with a few of my favorites and I encourage you to go there and vote for your favorite.

Don’t see your favorite motivational or inspirational book? Feel free to add it to the list.

Pass the word along. I’m really interested in learning what the top ten motivational books will be.

It will take only a couple of minutes to go to Favorite Motivational Books and vote for your favorite. Won’t you do it now, while you’re thinking about it?

I welcome your comments on this topic.

I recently realized that I’ve neglected an important part of my marketing efforts and I know I’m losing business as a result.

I bet you are, too.

Are you trying to sell your products and services to visitors who may visit your site just one time? If so, how much business are you losing when your visitor doesn’t buy right then?

You can do one simple thing to increase your conversion ratio: entice your visitor to subscribe to your newsletter and/or an email series that describes the benefits of the product or service you are trying to sell.

If the visitor subscribes to either of these email follow-up series, then she has shown at least some interest in what you have to offer.

Now, instead of one chance to make the sale, you have multiple opportunities to educate your prospect about the subject, to elaborate on the benefits provided by the product, and to build more of a relationship with your subscribers.

Even if you don’t make the sale eventually, you will have built some measure of goodwill if you provide quality information in your follow-up messages.

I’ve just started an Autoresponder marketing and building your lists series on JohnDilbeckAndFriends.com. I would welcome your thoughts and comments there.

Act on your dream!

JD

This morning, I decided it was a good time to welcome summer with a sale.

So, I’ve lowered almost all the prices considerably.

You can save money on items you’ll use this summer, including binoculars, mugs and picnic items, backpacks, tools, sporting goods, and many more.

These prices will not stay this low for long. I’ll be raising them in the second week of July.

Enjoy savings for the beginning of summer, my birthday, and July 4th.

On Memorial Day, the monitor on my faithful Macintosh 8500 died.

I’ve been using that computer and monitor for about 14 years and even after all that time, I was surprised when the monitor went from a full screen to a thin horizontal line and then turned itself off.

I’ve been thinking for some time that it’s about time to get a new - or newer - Mac. After all, the 8500 is a dinosaur in terms of computers, and sometimes I’m surprised that I can still use it for real work.

On the other hand, I have many thousands of dollars worth of software that will not run on the newest Macs and I don’t plan to upgrade all of that perfectly usable software unless I absolutely have to.

So, I went rumaging through my old computer parts and found an old multisync VGA monitor that I used on the last PC I owned - or ever plan to own. When I turned it on, it looked like it would work, so I turned my attention to finding a VGA adapter so I could use it with my Mac.

But, I couldn’t search online with a headless computer.

So, since I’ve been working 7 days a week for months, I decided to take a few days off and consider the best path for moving from my ancient computer to a much faster system running the latest version of OS X.

The trouble is, some of my software will only work in Mac OS 9, so I need to be sure to buy a computer that will dual boot into OS 9 or OS X. Even classic mode in OS X won’t be sufficient for some of my software - including some I developed for myself. One of the reasons I haven’t wanted to move from that computer to a new one is because I’ve spent over a decade customizing and programming that system to work exactly how I want. If I started over with a new computer, I’d lose lots of functionality and I’d have to either recreate what I’ve been using or do things totally differently.

So, taking time off and musing about it seemed like a good idea.

I caught up on my sleep and watched about a dozen episodes of Stargate Atlantis from Netflix.

Yesterday, I decided I would go to the library the next day (today) and do some searching for companies that sell refurbished Macs so I could order a custom system with exactly what I want.

I was talking to Mom and noticed her even-more-ancient Mac LC 580 system sitting in the corner. She had used that computer for years for genealogy research and email and it hadn’t been turned on in months. She hasn’t been able to use it for several years and the last time it was turned on was so I could play Tetris on it - a game I won’t put on my working system if I want to get any real work done.

I fired it up, dialed into the Internet, and started the Netscape version 4 browser.

I was totally surprised that not only could I search on Google and find several refurbished Mac dealers, but I could even look through their websites. It was slow, yes, but it worked. I don’t even know how old that computer is, but it worked!

So, I browsed MacOfAllTrades.com in Tampa, Florida and found some interesting systems and software for sale.

Later, I went to PreOwnedMac.com (resale.headgap.com) in Memphis, Tennessee and looked at what they had to offer. This was the company I was looking for. They build custom systems using old Macs and new optical and hard drives. I can configure just what I want and purchase from them and maybe not lose all the functionality I have with my current Mac 8500. Plus, the newer system would be much faster and have much more storage.

So, I spent much of the day looking over what they offer and comparing it to brand-new systems.

I still haven’t made up my mind about what I want to do; I make these decisions slowly and deliberately because I intend to use any system I buy for years.

I found a universal Mac to VGA adapter that I’ll be ordering in a few minutes and that will solve my immediate problem. It feels strange not to check my email or work on any of my blogs or websites for a whole week, but it has been a restful week and I look forward to getting back to work.

This morning, just to see if it would work, I went to JohnDilbeckAndFriends.com on Mom’s old LC 580. I could read the blog, but could not log in and post any updates.

Then, I tried some of my WordPress blogs at JohnDilbeck.com/musings/ , blog.cherokeecountync.com , and MurphyNC28906.com .

I was completely surprised to find that I could post new items to all of those blogs.

I couldn’t see the blogs with the theme I expected, but I could read all the entries and click all the links.

So, I spent a few hours this morning posting some updates.

I tried logging in to Localendar.com , but that didn’t work, so I’ll have to wait to update my calendar there.

The point I guess I’m trying to make is that these Macintosh systems from back in the 20th century are still useful and can do real work in the early 21st century. Yes, they are slow, have outdated browsers, not enough memory, and don’t support current software and hardware, but they still work for much of what I want.

I move forward slowly and no longer adopt anything on the bleeding edge of technology or even the leading edge of technology. I did way to much of that over the 30 years I worked as a computer consultant. Now, I want a system that works - all the time. I don’t want to constantly update the software or the hardware. I still use software that I bought or developed over 15 years ago and it works just fine.

Yes, it’s about time to move to OS X and I may even buy some new software one of these days, and then again, maybe I won’t.

Time will tell.

Think different(ly).

Act on your dream!

JD

Nancy Williams, a resident of Graham County, North Carolina, announces the publication of her new book, A Matter of Destiny. If you are interested in a fast-paced story that combines UFOs, aliens, government conspiracies, and political intrigue, this book may be right for you.

Her background in the US Air Force and knowledge of ham radios, combined with an actual incident that occurred in Brookhaven, NY in 1992, make the fictional story more realistic and exciting.

The sequel, Agenda 21 Conspiracy, will feature a plot set in Andrews, Murphy, and the Nantahala Gorge in western North Carolina.

A Matter of Destiny is available in Murphy, NC, at the Curiosity Bookstore in Shoppes of Murphy on Valley River Avenue; in Fontana Village at Ditmore Drugs; in Robbinsville at The Graham Star; in Hayesville at Lloyd Bookstore; and in Waynesville at Osundu’s.

You can order the book from her website at www.NLWilliamsWriter.com.

To order offline, mail a check for $15.95 ($12.95 and $3.00 shipping) to: N. L. Williams, P. O. Box 1477, Robbinsville, NC 28771.

Nancy Williams will be making a number of personal appearances over the coming months. Don’t miss the chance to get an autographed copy.