John Dilbeck Musings

Until now, Site Build It! was for the “Do it yourself” crowd.

I’m part of that demographic and I love building websites of all sorts, but that’s what I do.

There are many thousands of us who want to learn all the skills that are necessary to build a successful, profit-making website around which we can build our business.

But, there are many millions who are part of the “Do it for me” crowd.

Maybe you are one of them.

You already have a business and you want a website that actually brings new customers and clients. You want your site to add to your bottom line, not subtract from it.

You know how to run your business and now you want to find someone who can build a website that gets results.

You already hire specialists in other areas, including your lawyer and accountant. Maybe it’s time for you to hire a specialist who will work closely with you to build a website that promotes your business and attracts new prospects to your business.

Where will you find a specialist who knows how to do this and won’t charge you more than its worth?

SiteSell Services now offers very attractive packages that include hosting using the un-matched Site Build It! system and a specialist who will work closely with you to target your niche market and build a website that will work for you night and day.

SiteSell Services is brand new, but it is based on a decade of proven techniques and technology combined to build websites that produce results.

From the SiteSell Services page:

Build a professional Web site with SiteSell Services, using a process and tools proven by tens of thousands of people. Each page is aimed at pulling in Web site visitors. More Web site visitors means more new business.

Your SBI!-built site will work. Built from the ground up, you reap the benefits of 10 years of SiteSell experience, all packed into a truly professional site.

Don’t waste your time and money. You deserve a website that will work for you.

Why don’t you spend a few minutes and see if SiteSell Services is what you’ve been looking for?

Act on your dream!

JD

Sitesell’s special Halloween promotion has been held over until November 11, 2007.

In early November, many cultures honor the deceased and celebrate the continuation of life.

And so it is with small business websites, most of which lie dead - unknown and unvisited.

It’s time to leave that fate of old-fashioned hosting and join the land of the living… the thriving.

The Days of the Dead special ends at the stroke of midnight, November 11, 2007.

Until then, you can either purchase a one-year subscription to Site Build It! for $299, or you can pay an extra hundred dollars and get two sites for $399.

You can keep and build both sites yourself. You can even hold the second subscription up to nine months before activating it so you can have more time to build one and then the other.

You can keep one site and give another to a friend, associate or relative. Site Build It! makes an excellent gift.

Do you know someone who has retired, or is about to retire.

Are you, or do you know, someone who is going to school to learn valuable skills for the 21st century? What better skills than to learn the art of online marketing and building a business in the process?

Or, you and a friend can go together and each can save $100. One of you purchases both sites, and then Sitesell support will work with you to transfer the second site to your friend.

Nowhere else can you get what Site Build It! offers.

I know, because I’ve built dozens of websites, forums, and blogs over the last few years and I haven’t found anything that even comes close to comparing to Site Build It!

If you are interested in building a successful website, here is your opportunity to save $200 and you and your friend can each build one. What better way of learning together?

Don’t think you have what it takes to build an online business? See what other ordinary people have done with Site Build It!

If you have any questions, you can talk to an experienced Site Build It! webmaster for no cost and with no obligation. Learn if Site Build It! is the best way for you to build your business.

Act on your dream!

JD

It’s scary trying to build a successful online business when the great majority of websites do not succeed in attracting new visitors and making the sales you need for your business to grow.

Site Build It! offers the tools you need and a proven step-by-step process for building an online business that offers a much better probability of succeeding.

During the special offer, instead of paying $299 to subscribe to Site Build It! for a year, you can choose to pay $399 and get two subscriptions.

Keep one for yourself and give one to a friend, associate, or someone in your family.

(Note: even if you look at this posting after the Halloween special has expired, the above link will still take you to the SBI order page - and - if there is a current special, the image will inform you. How’s that for keeping you informed of any special promotions for Site Build It?)

Give the gift of Site Build It! to someone who is newly retired and wants something new to do or to a college student for building an in-demand skill for the real world.

There are so many possibilities.

Take advantage of this special and it may help you change your world.

Act on your dream!

JD

Sitesell, Inc. recently updated the results page for websites built by their customers using Site Build It!

From a recent announcement by Ken Evoy:

“Results.sitesell.com is becoming a mini-directory of some of the most well-done, informative sites in the world. But it sure is getting harder and harder to to update it.

Picking the top SBI! sites for results.sitesell.com can be a real challenge…

It’s become so much work that we seem to have subconsciously put off an update for over a year! SBIers keep doing better and better. More and more of them are entering the Top 1% of all sites in the world.

So this year(!), we shook it up (requiring higher traffic numbers to “make the cut.”) There are a lot of new faces, but some old ones still in the lineup, too!…

We eliminate sites that don’t have the “real” traffic to justify their Alexa scores. We chop sites that are in categories that are overcrowded. We regretfully drop sites that have been in results.sitesell.com “long enough” (and bring in new ones). And we cut so many others for a variety of reasons. So what you see is just the tip of the top.

One way or another, all selected sites must be in the top 1% of all sites on the Internet. And you can imagine that’s a very nice place to be…

Each time we do this, the new sites stagger me. There is no limit to the niches you can conquer.

I think the most important point, though, is that most of these people are non-techs, just “ordinary” people who have been empowered to do EXTRAordinary things online.

They get the kind of numbers that any professional webmaster would drool over. And the more congested the Web gets, the STRONGER SBIers become. “Regular people” are leaving professional non-SBI! Webmasters and SEOers in their dust.

That’s the power of the Site Build It! process… ANYone can find real, verifiable, online success.

For YOU, our partner-in-sales, this is BIG NEWS!

Why!

Because this is all the proof you need to convince your visitors that SBI! is for real. Real traffic! Real success!”

A while back Ken Evoy gave us a challenge to find any other webhosting company (and SBI is much more than that) that can provide better results for their customers. I spent some time searching and never found a site that even came marginally close.

See for yourself, these are the results SBI webmasters are getting by building their online businesses using Site Build It!

Why waste your time and money using anything else?

Act on your dream!

JD

Ken Evoy and Sitesell recently announced the release of Content 2.0, an optional add-on module for Site Build It!

Here is a copy of their press release:

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (PRWEB) August 30 2007 — Sitesell.com, the originator of Site Build It! and champion of using quality content to drive small business sites, today takes Web 2.0 to new heights. For the first time, small businesses can make it easy for their visitors to craft original Web pages including photos and captions. Other visitors comment upon and rate those Web pages. The process is optimized for search engine results driving long tail keyword traffic and viral spread.

Content 2.0 is available at SiteSell.com for the annual subscription price of $99 as an add-on module to Site Build It! (SBI!), SiteSell’s flagship business-building product.

(End of the press release)

Not every website that is built using SBI will need or be able to use Content 2.0 effectively, but many sites are already using it with success.

If you would like more information on Sitesell and SBI!, please visit Sitesell.com.

Act on your dream!

JD

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

I’ve been working feverishly for the last three months to simplify my online presence and my Internet marketing activities.

At the end of 2006, I had over 70 sites I was managing, with many of them duplicating others. One of the major reasons for this is that I experimented a lot in 2006 to find what worked best for me. I tested quite a few blogging platforms, content management systems, forums, and methods for constructing websites. Most of them did not produce the results I wanted.

In January, 2007, I reviewed all of them and made some difficult decisions. Over the last three months, I have been busy closing quite a few sites and I’ll be consolidating several others. A very few will be recreated in a different format.

Over the last three days, I’ve been moving the 21 surviving sites, including JohnDilbeck.com, onto a new server, and it looks like the transfers have been successful. There are still a couple of days of testing to complete, but things are looking good. I’ve found some errors to correct, but they don’t look too difficult.

You may not notice a difference at first, but now that I’m not spending all my time testing, I’ll be able to get back to what I was doing at the end of 2005, prior to all the problems I had with my blogs at Blogger.com. 2006 was a stressful year, but I believe things will go better henceforth.

I’ll be getting back to promoting businesses, organizations, and events in Cherokee County, NC, and particularly in Murphy, NC. The blogs that have not been updated for months will become active, again.

I’m looking forward to actually producing something as opposed to spending all my time testing and implementing different ways of doing things.

I’ve decided that my primary marketing blog will be John Dilbeck And Friends, and this blog, John Dilbeck Musings, will be supplementary to John Dilbeck And Friends.

I’ll be doing a major reworking of all my sites over the coming months, and this applies very much to JohnDilbeck.com, which will be refocused and expanded.

I hope you will not be too discomforted by the changes and I think you will find the new information I’ll be able to publish will be useful and educational for you.

I am grateful for your visits here and hope you come back often.

Act on your dream!

JD

Have you been thinking about trying Site Build It?

If you have, Ken is offering his annual holiday special. Until midnight, December 25, 2006, you can buy one and get one free.

That is a real bargain.

You have several options.

You can buy one for yourself and get a second one free. If you choose to do this, you can start building one and wait up to nine months to start the second site.

Or…

Buy one for yourself and give the second one to your husband, wife, son, daughter, mom, dad, friend, business associate, or anyone else to whom you want to offer the gift of learning how to build a part-time (or full-time) online business using the proven tools and techniques that Ken will teach you and your friend.

Or, team up with someone else and buy two sites. Split the cost and Sitesell Support will help you transfer the second site to whomever it should belong.

You don’t have to take advantage of the special pricing, but now is the time to do it if you want to save money. You could even buy now, and find someone next week or next month to sell the second site to.

Just don’t miss this special if you have been on the fence about getting Site Build It for yourself.

I can tell you that finding Ken Evoy a few years ago has made a big difference in my life.

I have been Mom’s full-time caretaker for about five and a half years now. When I decided to bring her back home instead of putting her in a nursing home, I knew I would have to find a way to work inside the house near her and still earn a living. I closed my metalsmithing business and concentrated on helping her.

After I’d quickly blown through my savings, I had to get serious about earning an income while still working at home.

Luckily, amongst all the Internet marketing hype that was calculated to relieve me of my hard-earned money, I found Ken Evoy.

I learned how to start earning money from affiliate marketing by reading his Affiliate Masters Course, and started making sales and earning commission checks when I put what I learned to work on some of my web sites.

Later, I purchased his Make Your Site Sell! ebook. That was the best $30 I ever spent and now I earn it back many times over every month.

I took what I learned and re-built all my sites (and this took about six months). In a matter of weeks, my sites were being found and people started buying what I recommended. It was the real turning point in my home business.

This fall, Ken decided to give away Make Your Site Sell! as a free download. Even though I still believe it is worth much more than the previous price, it is now free. If you have a website and you want to earn more from it, download this book and read it. Then put to work what you learn from it.

Ken explains on the site why he decided to give away Make Your Site Sell! and concentrate on making Site Build It even better.

Eventually, I was able to scrape up enough to purchase my own Site Build It subscription.

For just $300 a year, I got not only a website, but an ever-growing collection of integrated tools (meaning I never have to install and manage scripts), a members-only community of thousands of helpful SBI site owners, regular newsletters with information to help me improve my sites and earn more, and the benefit of Ken Evoy’s wisdom and experience.

In a sea of Internet marketing hype, Ken presents the voice of experience, calm, and making slow progress towards building our businesses.

Ken is not one of the “gurus” who cleverly craft a marketing business to drain us of the money that remains in our wallets and bank accounts. If you go to Ken’s Blog and read his article on “Mooch Marketing,” you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I have never lost money when I follow Ken’s advice. More often than not, I increase the size of my commission checks, and for that I remain grateful to Ken.

I don’t want to mislead you. I am not getting rich and I don’t think I will, but that’s not my goal.

Right now, my main goal is to do what I love doing, and earn enough from it so I can continue to care for Mom and let her live in the house she has lived in for over 30 years.

I have worked hard at this, but I have to share part of the credit with Ken Evoy for being able to make this work.

You will note, I hope, that I don’t mention anyone else when sharing the credit for building my home business. I have learned from others. I have lost hard-earned money to others. Ken helps me keep on course and continue to build my business.

I do maintain quite a few other sites that are not powered by Site Build It, but I’m re-evaluating that decision. I have had problems with hackers destroying several of my sites. I’ve had problems with updating and maintaining scripts on them.

I am seriously considering closing most of my non-SBI sites and putting my efforts into doing more with Site Build It rather than continually bashing my head against the wall with the other sites.

I have learned a lot, and if I had to drop all my sites but one, it would be powered by Site Build It.

I hope you enjoy your holiday season and have a happy, prosperous, and healthy new year!

John L. Dilbeck

AYearFromNow.com - Act On Your Dream!

My primary blog: John Dilbeck And Friends

Trick or Treat!

You never really know what you’re going to get when you sign up to build a new website at a hosting company you’ve never used.

Will it be a trick…or a treat?

I have never had a problem with my Site Build It! site. In fact, I just renewed my subscription a couple of weeks ago for another year of what I think is the best website brainstorm, research, design, hosting, and promoting system available - for only $300 per year!

I don’t expect you to take my word for it.

Why should you?

Here’s a chance to try it out for yourself, and for only $100 more to get a second site or a site you can give away to someone in your family, friends, or associates.

That’s right. Until midnight, October 31, 2006, you can buy one SBI site for only $300 per year, or get two for only $400.

(When it comes time for renewal next year, each will cost $300 to renew; the special offer does not extend to renewals.)

Get a friend and buy two sites. Give one to your friend and split the cost. Each of you will save $100 on your first year of Site Build It!

Buy a site for yourself and give one to a child who will benefit greatly from learning a skill set that is highly valuable.

Give a site to a retired parent who wants to pursue a passion for a hobby or any topic that really piques their interest.

If I didn’t already have my hands full right now, I’d take advantage of this offer to start two more SBI sites. Maybe I’ll be ready when the next special comes along.

Cobwebs are for Halloween decorations and abandoned homes, not for websites! Follow the Site Build It! process, find your niche, and put the power of SBI to work to help you build a site that will gather lots of new visitors, not cobwebs.

Tomorrow is Halloween. Don’t miss this special.

Do you have any questions about how SBI can work for you? Ask your questions - free and no obligation.

You may have seen lots of websites cropping up that have a .ws extension instead of the more common .com, .net, and .org extensions.

.ws actually is the top level domain for Western Samoa, but it is being marketed to mean .website.

Global Domains International is the company that manages the .ws domain registry for the Western Samoan government and it has developed a very interesting way to market these domains.

Instead of registering for a year, you pay $10 per month for the domain and simple website hosting.

For example, I host my domain UltimateDownlines.ws there. This is a simple, one-page marketing site that was mostly built using the free webpage generator at the Home Income Team.

If you are interested in an online marketing home business, the Home Income Team can help you in several ways, and it’s free to join and free to remain a member. There is an optional one time offer when you first sign up, but you are not obligated to purchase it, and there isn’t even a way to upgrade your free membership to a professional membership. It really is free.

One of the businesses the Home Income Team markets is Global Domains International (GDI), and that is why it is promoted on my UltimateDownlines.ws site.

If you are not interested in online marketing, you can use any tools you want to build your website and host it with GDI, or you can use the sitebuilder they provide for developing your website.

Perhaps you missed registering the .com version of your name or business name. I managed to register DilbeckMarketing.com, JohnDilbeck.com, DilbeckCommunications.com and several others. If you missed registering a domain you really wanted, it may still be available as a .ws domain.

Additionally, when you become a GDI customer you can also be an affiliate and earn commissions from any customers you recommend who purchase their own .ws domain.

Some people are earning very nice incomes as a GDI affiliate, but it would even be nice if you earned an extra $50 or $100 per month, wouldn’t it? Your domain would be free and you’d have some money for a dinner out, trip to the theater, or whatever you prefer. While we make no guarantees that you will earn anything as an affiliate, the opportunity is there if you want to pursue it.

GDI has spent nearly $1 million to create a movie that you can use for free, online, right now, to help you create a tremendous, ongoing monthly income for yourself.

If you haven’t seen it already, I invite you to view the movie, and see for yourself why many people, around the world, are promoting GDI.