http://johndilbeck.com/news/The latest news from John Dilbeck Ramblings.en-us27 Dec 03 5:45 AMCopyright John Dilbeck Ramblings25 Mar 08 11:38 PM http://johndilbeck.com/news/1206506317.htmlUntil 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... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1200917977.htmlHealthy Coffee House (Murphy, NC US)             Come visit the Healthy Coffee House, Bed & Breakfast, and Bakery.             Have a drink on us!             Buy one, get one free any drink in the Healthy Coffee House.             Stay one night, second night half price.             Free wireless internet service.             Expires: This coupon expires on January 24, 2009.             Restrictions:... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1199713033.htmlI've been working over the last few days to create a new social networking site for SFI Marketing Group affiliates, and I'm announcing its presence to the world today.             If you are an existing SFI affiliate, or would like to learn how to join SFI, I hope you will join us at the <a href="http://sfimarketinggroup.ning.com/"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1199695074.htmlI earn, you earn, WeAllEarn.com (tm).             The EyeEarn co-op is active and already producing new affiliates. So far, I've had 9 new sign-ups through EyeEarn.             You can tell they come through EyeEarn by selecting the Key Codes format of your genealogy report. They will have a code of 1100 (which was also the code of the discontinued Eagle Co-Op).             I received my start up kit a couple... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1199261369.htmlIn late December 2007, I created a new social networking site for Murphy NC 28906 on Ning.com.             If you live in, visit, or want to know more about Murphy, NC, come join us at the Murphy NC 28906 social networking site.             You can customize your profile, write a blog, discuss topics related to Murphy, NC in... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1193239996.htmlIt'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... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191424366.htmlIf your business is located in one of the major metropolitan areas of the United States, you may want to try the new Shop For Ethernet service offered by Telarus and Cognigen.             Why is Ethernet the future?             Ethernet is a matter of plugging your network directly into a telecom provider's network and bypassing... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191424227.htmlUse It Before You Lose It             Protect your valuables (and your identity) with Worldwide Lost & Found Return Stickers.                         Give lost gadgets a greater chance of returning to you--without losing your privacy!             Register... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191424089.htmlThere are several ways you can promote your business on Merchant Circle: the contents of your basic listing, any items you post to your blog, coupons you create, photos you upload, and the bulletins posted on your directory listing page.             I just learned about Merchant Circle a few days ago and I've jumped all over using their system. You can see the profile I've created for <a href="http://member.merchantcircle.com/dilbeckmarketing" target="_blank"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191423962.htmlSo, once you get your listing set up on Merchant Circle, what else can you do to increase the likelihood of being found by a potential customer?             (Is your business listed at Merchant Circle? If not, you can create a professional looking online listing for your business with our easy to use tools. Free! - MerchantCircle.com.)       <img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-902142-10449960"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191423803.htmlFirst, if you're not listing your business on MerchantCircle, why not?                               Create a professional looking online listing for your... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191423646.htmlPresident Clinton recently announced MyCommitment.org and urges you to pledge to make a difference. Make a commitment to change something - big or small - and connect with others who share your vision for change.             I have been inspired by all the things President Clinton and Vice-President Gore have been doing to help our world after they left office and I am happy to pass along the word about the latest iniative of the Clinton Global Iniative,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1191423535.htmlAs you know, the 2008 elections are heating up much earlier than normal and this should provide you a real opportunity for selling your designs through CafePress if you reach an audience who is politically motivated to campaign for their favorites.             CafePress recently announced the upcoming availability - on or around October 10, 2007 - of <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/cp/community/smart_merchandise_update091907"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1190435963.htmlCome see the newest project in Cherokee County, NC - the grand opening of the Mountain Morning retail store on Saturday, September 22, 2007 from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm.             Mountain morning products were established with the belief that the old crafts and unique skills that have been handed down through the generations are still in the hearts and hands of our people.             Weekly classes offered in a variety of areas       Over 600... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1189699676.htmlBrainstorm It! is a powerful niche brainstorming and keyword analyzer module that is only one of the tools included in your Site Build It! annual subscription.             Here is some information from a recent announcement from Ken Evoy (Who is Ken Evoy?):             "Yes. Brainstorm It! *V2* is now live!             Both... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1189699622.htmlSitesell, 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,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1189544488.htmlKen 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,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1189394290.htmlAfter a very long hiatus, while I was trying to decide on a new approach, I have published the latest issue of the Act On Your Dream! newsletter.             It is archived at Act On Your Dream! -- Issue #6 -- Getting back on track             If you would like, you can <a href="http://www.ayearfromnow.com/act-on-your-dream-ezine-subscription.html"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1182327437.htmlNow 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... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1181122501.htmlIn 1982, Mary Ricketson, Sheryl Young, Robin Mauney, Eleanor MacCorkle, and Eleanor Wilson focused their talents and passion for helping abused women and formed the Task Force on Family Violence.             A quarter of a century later, and now commonly known as REACH, Inc., the organization has grown to have 10 employees, many volunteers, hundreds of clients, and has handled thousands of support and crisis... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1181122390.htmlNancy 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... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1180182460.htmlI want to thank my friend, Jerry Chautin, for alerting me to an article in the New York Times, A Basket Case in North Carolina, written by David Rakoff, and published on May 20, 2007.             In this article, the author talks about taking a week-long class at the John C Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC.             Originally, like most men, he wanted... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1180086326.html(From the Folk School Website:)             The new Blacksmith studio fundraising campaign has begun!             Timber framers from all over will gather at the Folk School for an old fashioned barn raising!             The John C. Campbell Folk School is proud to announce plans for an annex to the historic Blacksmith Shop, originally dedicated to... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1180083138.htmlI watched Sing Behind The Plow last evening and enjoyed it greatly.             It is an outstanding production and anyone who loves the Folk School and what people have been doing there for decades should get a copy of this DVD.             Hopefully, it will be rebroadcast on UNC-TV and other public stations in the future.             It was nice to see old friends and familiar places and to learn more about the early history of the school.             The... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1179733927.htmlAdvertise Free; Pay Only For Results - In association with Nice Offers, I am helping merchants in western North Carolina promote their services and products by syndicating their Nice Offers coupons on a variety of my websites, blogs, forums, and other sites.             Unlike other forms of advertising, we take all the risk. You can... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1178275434.htmlMountain Brew Coffee House (Murphy, NC 28906) has a nice offers coupon for new and loyal returning customers for their specialty drinks. The offer will expire on December 31, 2007.             Buy One Specialty Drink and Get One 50 Percent Off. Click the link to get the details and to have the coupon... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1178023320.html"Funding Secrets to Start, Expand, or Buy a Business," a free workshop, will be presented on 5/21/07 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM in the Patterson Building at the Tri-County Community College's main campus in Murphy.             The instructor is volunteer SCORE business counselor Jerry Chautin. He has over 30-years business lending and commercial real estate financing experience. You can e-mail him for details at JKChautin@aol.com.             Pre-registration is... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1176948003.htmlJohnDilbeck.com and several of my other sites have been moved to a new webhosting service and are now running a faster server with more features.             Over the next several weeks, I will refocus and rebuild this site.             I look forward to providing interesting information on a variety of topics related to Internet marketing and promoting businesses, organizations, and events in Cherokee County, NC.             Thank you for visiting and I hope you... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1175338559.htmlIt has been a very long time since I have posted here.             2006 was a very complicated and difficult year, and I'm afraid I got sidetracked from what had been a successful online marketing business.             It started when I wanted to know if it would be better to have one primary blog where I could talk about multiple subjects or to have multiple blogs, each of which concentrated on one topic.             To test this, I created about 24 blogs on Blogger.com.... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1154001112.htmlWhat Are You Waiting For?             By Dr. Robert Anthony             Are You Putting Off Your Dreams? Or have things slowed down recently? Is your life visibly changing the way you want it to? Or are you still stuck with the same problems?             I woke up today thinking about three people who contacted me this week concerning the progress they were making reaching their goals. They each said the same thing in a different way.             Although... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1149241547.htmlIf you are interested in building multiple streams of residual income from your own online marketing business, I urge you to visit Ultimate Rep to learn how you can have your own home business.             You can read more about why I recommend becoming an Ultimate Rep.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1149241367.htmlIf you do any type of online marketing, or if you are interested in getting more visitors to your websites or blogs, you should get your own Linkscout Marketing Suite.             You can read more about why I recommend getting your free Linkscout Marketing Suite on my new <a href="http://johndilbeck.com/recommends/"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1147978315.htmlEarlier in the month, on John Dilbeck and Friends, I recommended LinkScout, and it is becoming one of the central hubs of my affiliate marketing efforts. I upgraded to the pro version and I'm already seeing some results. Not bad for such a small investment.             Today, I want to recommend a new form of advertising I've adopted... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1147184277.htmlAre you forgetting to take the simple steps that immediately enhance your websites, improve your income and enrich your life?             You need ZipSense, today             Yesterday, May 8, 2006, Dan Nickerson released ZipSense, an eBook that offers much more than just information, including:                   100's of Rapid Fire Tips to help you Earn More... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1144231946.html       Context: Michael Lemm, Distinguished Expert Author, 21st Century Articles, business, communications, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/technology"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1144231748.html       Context: Chris Bryant, Distinguished Expert Author, 21st Century Articles, business, communications, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/technology"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1142832540.html2006 Multi-cultural Women's Development Conference             April 7th and 8th, 2006, Hinton Rural Life Center, Hayesville, NC 28904.             You asked, and we listened! This year's conference features both one and two hour sessions! You wanted an outdoor event! We have that, too!             And take a look at this year's slate of dynamic presenters.             From California, Cherokee, Atlanta and Asheville.             Nationally known authors, news columnists,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1139387898.htmlJanuary 15, 2006 – (Baltimore, MD) HandMade in America and Haywood Community College partner with the Arts Business Institute (ABI) to present an art business boot camp March 3-5, 2006 in Clyde, North Carolina. Returning for a fourth consecutive year, Haywood ABI brings fresh faculty and a new perspective this year.             Nancy Markoe will lead the weekend with an inspiring keynote address, sharing her lessons learned as a successful art potter... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1139387155.htmlAsheville, North Carolina (PRWEB) February 1, 2006 -- The Asheville art scene is booming. Each year, more galleries and art shows appear. Artists continue to flock to this area, and it’s now has one of the largest concentration of artists in the United States. The top 2006 events to see regional arts and crafts have been named by RomanticAsheville.com, an online guide to Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For all the details, go to <a href="http://www.romanticasheville.com"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1136103882.htmlIf you own a business, you already know that all businesses need new customers.             Two months ago, a new online service was introduced with the purpose of making it easy for merchants and business owners to offer special discount offers to attract new customers (or reward existing customers).             Not only is it easy to do, but it costs absolutely nothing to register your business and create your special offers.             You, as a business... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1136092887.htmlMay you have health, happiness, prosperity, love and friendship in 2006!       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1135916832.htmlI just realized, while in the process of completely overhauling my blogging and blog feed syndication infrastructure, that the blog feeds in my Syndicated News section were not being shown.             Instead, all you could see were errors. Apparently this had been going on since December 8, 2005, or thereabouts. I was unaware of it until earlier today.             The problem has been corrected,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1135690368.htmlI uploaded several photos I made on Christmas Day, 2005 to Flickr.com.             First, I visited Mom in the nursing home where she's recovering from a broken leg.             Second, I visited Dena at her home. She was feeling rather poorly and napped on the couch most of the afternoon. I had a blast playing with the grandkids and catching up with family and friends.             It was a great day and I hope... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1135685452.htmlI've just now posted several announcements about the Nice Offers coupon distribution system at SFIsalesteam.com.             If you own a business and want to advertise free (and pay only for results), you may be interested in these announcements.             If you are a shopper looking to save money, you may want to see the syndicated ads organized by expiration date, country,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1135330976.html(Asheville, North Carolina) (Context Tag: Western North Carolina, Women for Women)             Almost one year ago, they began coming together, a group of women who wanted to create positive change for women and girls in western North Carolina.             They formed Women for Women and now have more than $185,000 to grant... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1135169101.htmlToday is the winter solstice, Yule Day, and winter arrives where I live early this afternoon.             If you hate winter, it's only three months until spring. Think warm thoughts.             For those of us who love winter, it's time to sleep bundled under comforters and quilts; to make snowmen, snow angels, and have snowball fights until we can't even feel our fingers; to try catching snowflakes on our tongues; to skate on frozen water; to sip hot cocoa... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1135169025.htmlI'm busily posting new discount offers at SyndicateYourAd.com.             A new feature starting today -- most discount offers will now be categorized by country, and by state in the United States and by province in Canada.             You can register your business for free and start advertising your special offers in only minutes. Advertise... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1134811220.htmlFeedBurner recently added their new FeedFlare service under the Optimize tag for your feed(s).             It is designed to add more interactivity by your readers, and adds links to your news feed items that enable readers to:             Email this - send a link to your item to someone via email       Email author - allow subscribers to email you directly       Technorati Cosmos - displays the number... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1134810024.htmlHere's why you should consider becoming one.             Squidoo opened their public beta testing a few days ago, and during this period, you can become a lensmaster and claim up to 20 lenses of your very own.             What's a lens?             Basically, it's an outpointing web page on a particular topic. What topic? That's up to you. What do you know about and love to write about. See if the topic is available. If not,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1134209766.htmlI don't know who you are; I only know you called me on the phone and I was rude.             I'm sorry.             You see, I answered pleasantly enough, and told you that you called at a very bad time.             You asked, "When would be a better time," pleasantly enough.             I said, "Not today!"             Then, you started to tell me who you were and I cut you off and said, "I can't talk to you right now," and hung up the phone.             It would not have caused... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1133094197.htmlNice Offers, which was introduced on October 31, 2005, has registered over 200 businesses in less than its first month of operation.             During this first month, several new features were added to make it easier to find coupons for the products and services you want.             You can select from online offers, offline offers, or both.             If you are looking for local offers, you can search by... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1133094092.htmlMy oldest blog, at johndilbeck.editthispage.com, will be discontinued on December 1, 2005.             I want to thank the folks at UserLand for hosting it for several years. This was where I learned all about blogging, XML, RSS, news feeds, aggregators, and much more. It was a valuable learning experience.             I appreciate all the work Dave Winer and the rest of the UserLand crew put into developing Clay Basket, Manilla, and Radio Userland.             A... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1130873593.htmlMerchants -- either online or offline -- how would you like to advertise your service or products for free and only pay when someone actually redeems your coupon?             Well, now you can.             NiceOffers helps you do just that.             You can register your business for free, create coupons online offering discounted offers to attract new customers or to reward your preferred, repeat customers. You decide... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1130248403.html(Context Tag: Site Build It!, web hosting, online business, create your own website, sell stuff online)             Buy It If You Dare... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1130244197.html(Context Tag: quotations, favorite quotes, success quotes, motivational quotations, inspirational quotations)                   Do you have a favorite inspirational quotation... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1129574910.html(Context Tag: Cherokee County NC, Murphy NC, top websites, radio stations, WKRK, Tim Radford, John... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1128945103.html(Context Tag: holiday cards, greeting cards, Christmas cards, Thanksgiving cards, personalized cards)                   The next ten weeks, or so, is a great time to reconnect... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1128841016.html(Context Tag: Traditional Artists, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, western North Carolina, North Carolina Folklife Institute, online... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1125259784.html(Context Tag: Site Build It, sale, webhosting, website, online business)             Ken Evoy, President of Sitesell, says:             "This year, let's set folks on the path to independence.... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1124964832.html(Context Tag: Murphy NC, Appalachian Heritage Crafters, artisans, painting, floral arrangements)             <a href="http://AHCcrafts.com/" target="new" title="Appalachian Heritage... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1124790531.htmlGeorgiaDragRacing.com has opened a new official online store for products offering drag racing photos and the GeorgiaDragRacing.com logo.             Now, you can buy calendars, clothing, hats, stickers, and other products -- with more coming soon. Every purchase helps GeorgiaDragRacing.com, and we appreciate it. Buy for yourself or give great Georgia drag racing gifts to your friends and family.             And,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1124370474.htmlWho was Napoleon Hill? -- Think and Grow Rich -- The Law of Success             Napoleon Hill is widely recognized as the founder of modern personal success literature. His most famous work, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time.             Learn more about Napolean Hill...       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1124290619.htmlContext Tag: Darren Rowse, blog, blogging, Problogger             Darren Rowse is doing something very interesting and helpful... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1122993552.html(Context Tag: Murphy NC, Heritage Walk and Festival, Heritage Partners)             The 5th Annual Heritage Walk and Festival will be held Labor Day weekend on Saturday, September 3, 2005 in downtown Murphy, NC.             Come celebrate the history, artistry, craftsmanship, music... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1122992759.html(Context Tag: Brasstown NC, Campbell Folk School, auction)             On Friday, August 19, 2005, auctioneers Tim Ryan and Bob Grove will sell off hand-crafted items donated by instructors, students and friends of the John C. Campbell Folk School.... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1122987593.html(Context Tag: Cherokee County NC, Calendar of Events) I've decided to post a monthly reminder that I maintain a public Calendar of Events for Cherokee County, NC. You will see this reminder there on the... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1122982348.htmlContext Tag: shirts, mugs, hats, CafePress, John Dilbeck             July 4, 2005 marked the fifth anniversary of JohnDilbeck.com,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1122280498.htmlContext Tag: Google Adsense I'm a bit late letting you know about this webinar that was held about a month ago by the Google Adsense Optimization team.             You may find information here to help you earn more money by publishing Adsense ads on your website or blog.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1122133758.htmlContext Tag: t-shirts, mugs, hats, CafePress, American flag, patriotic shirts             The... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1121863334.htmlContext Tag: t-shirts, mugs, hats, CafePress, sale, coupon             From July 14, 2005 until July 26, 2005,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1121863184.htmlContext Tag: t-shirts, mugs, hats, CafePress, Harry Potter, wizard             I can admit it, now.... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1121863075.htmlContext Tag: t-shirts, mugs, hats, CafePress, John Dilbeck             July 4, 2005 marked the fifth anniversary of JohnDilbeck.com,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1120235063.html(Context Tag: Murphy NC) There will be a Crafters' Showcase at Appalachian Heritage Crafters, located at 2016 US 64 about two miles west of Murphy (across from Rib Country). The Showcase will be held from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm on Saturday, July 2, 2005.             The Crafters' Showcase will feature the finest in locally handmade craft, art and home... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1120210168.html(Context Tag: Cherokee NC) Individuals and groups trying to preserve the language of the Cherokee are "the last warriors of the language," and if the ancient speech does live on through the coming years it will be because of their efforts.             That was the message delivered by Harry Oosahwee, language project supervisor for the Cherokee Nation of... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1119743409.htmlA few months ago, I ran across the eaziGOAL.com website that has been built by Colin Dunbar.             I found the site because it was built by Site Build It! and because Colin had built a website from scratch to being well placed within the top 1% of all websites worldwide. You can read about some of his experiences with this project... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1119611829.html(Context Tag: Act On Your Dream) Sometimes it gets so discouraging that quitting -- not usually an option -- seems like the best way to deal with a setback.             Normally, I'm highly-motivated and don't let setbacks get me down.             However, in mid-May, 2005, after spending about nine months building A Portal For Cherokee County, NC,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1117770426.html(Context Tag: western North Carolina) A group of regional representatives from the Far West Mountain Economic Partners attended the Balancing Nature and Commerce in the Gateway Communities of Western North Carolina leadership conference on May 3-6, 2005.             The conference was the next step in the strategic heritage development plan written last year by a committee of... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1117718424.html(Context Tag: Cherokee NC) The 31st Annual North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival will be held in Cherokee, North Carolina, from June 16-18, 2005, at the Happy Holiday Campground, located four miles east of Cherokee on US 19 North.             (Don't miss Earl Scruggs on Friday, June 17, 2005.)             Performers... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115486192.html(Context Tag: Brasstown NC) In conjunction with the 50th anniversary celebration of the Kelischek Workshop for Historical Instruments, the John C. Campbell Folk School will feature a free concert mini-series this weekend.             Artists featured include the Brasstown Ringers at... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115485510.html(Context Tag: Hayesville NC) Nationally known glass artist David Goldhagen will give a special demonstration at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2005, at Goldhagen Studio.             This demonstration, sponsored by the Mountain Arts Association, will feature Goldhagen using traditional techniques... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115485282.html(Context Tag: Brasstown NC) John C. Campbell Folk School will offer 14 classes celebrating the history and creativity of the Appalachian region from Sunday, May 29, 2005, through Saturday, June 4, 2005.             Coinciding with the Folk School's Appalachian Heritage Week is its inclusion in National Geographic's Map Guide to... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115481830.html(Context Tag: western North Carolina) John Dilbeck, owner of Dilbeck Marketing, in his quest to help promote as many people, organizations, businesses, schools, teams, and other groups in Cherokee County, NC, has founded the Western North Carolina Forum... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115480752.html(Context Tag: western North Carolina) Every day in the 30th Judicial District, a child is abused or neglected in one form or another.             For that child, the world is often a dark place, and the innocence of childhood is shattered.             Concerned citizens often ask what they can do to help the community and children in it, and what impact they can make.             The... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115468090.html(Context Tag: Murphy NC) A yard and bake sale will be held from 7:00 am to noon on Saturday, May 7, 2005, in front of Macon Bank.             All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.             Everyone is urged to come by and join in the effort... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115466434.html(Context Tag: Murphy NC) Join us on Saturday, May 7, 2005, during the Murphy SpringFest for book signings.             See the following authors:             11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Elizabeth Dulemba, Illustrator of a new children's book, The Prince's Diary             2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Wilma McCann, Author of The Home             Back by popular demand:             (Call store... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1115465802.html(Context Tag: Murphy NC) Murphy's eighth annual Spring Festival begins at 10:00 am and continues until 4:00 pm in downtown Murphy on Saturday, May 7, 2005.             In case of rain, the festival will move to Sunday, May 8, 2005.             For more information, call 828-837-9636.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1114890361.htmlYou are invited to join the discussion at my new Residual Income Forum.             If you're an affiliate or network marketer, come on over and tell us about yourself, your products and your company.             Context Tag: residual income       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1114723845.htmlHow to get a             Small Business Loan             to start, expand or             buy your own business             Find lenders for your deal       Discover secrets of borrowing       Learn if venture capital is possible       Negotiate your best deal       Find your best funding source       Make an awesome presentation!             How others benefited from this workshop:             "Very good!..(liked) group... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1114598826.htmlAppalachian Heritage Crafters will hold their semi-annual yard sale - Saturday, April 30, 2005 in front of their crafts store located at 2016 Highway 64 West about two miles west of MacDonalds.             Context Tag: Murphy NC Arts Crafts       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1114445019.htmlThat's a very good question and I think I should tell you some of my reasons.             I sell the services that I use and I think it is incumbent upon me to know what I'm offering to you so that I am aware of both the strengths and weaknesses of the products.             A long time ago, I learned that price should not be the reason to make a purchase for business services. Quality, reliability, and support are much more important. If the difference between... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1114435762.htmlOver the last few weeks, I've been doing a lot of work testing blogs and RSS feeds. As part of that research, I've been building some test websites to see how the tools work together.             At 21st Century Small Business, I've been experimenting with the Webmax Studio site builder and I like it a lot. Even on this old slow Macintosh, it works great. I believe that even a beginner can... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1114431881.htmlA free business workshop, How to Get a Small Business Loan, will meet from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm on Monday, May 9, 2005, in the Patterson Building at Tri-County Community College's main campus in the Peachtree community of Cherokee County, NC.             The workshop will be facilitated by Jerry Chautin, a SCORE volunteer business counselor. He retired from a mortgage and business-lending firm he... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1113897123.htmlYahoo! Inc. a leading global Internet company, today announced a new feature on Yahoo! Local that provides free Web sites for small businesses. This free and easy-to-use feature builds upon Yahoo!'s leadership position as the number one online destination for local information and small business services. Small businesses can quickly and easily establish an online presence and connect with the increasing number of consumers using the Internet to find... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1112904832.html(Andrews, NC) Far West Mountain Economic Partners, a regional non-profit economic development agency serving Cherokee, Clay, Graham, and Swain counties and the Qualla Boundary, has received a $150,000 funding grant as a Program for the Rural Carolinas site from the Duke Endowment.             The grant represents the third year of funding from the Duke Endowment, totaling $450,000 for Partners to... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1112863280.htmlYou are cordially invited to attend the i7 Futures Forum to be held on Wednesday, April 13, 2005, at the Ramsey Center on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC.             There are many concurrent sessions.             Get more information and/or register online at www.wcu.edu/crd or call Nell Leatherwood at 828-227-3445.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1112543956.htmlI have just created a new website at 21stCenturyWebhosting.com and you are invited to visit.             The site is less than a week old and there is a lot of empty space as I build the framework and then start adding the content.             The goal of this site is to teach small business owners why a website is necessary, how to build your site to get the best return on your investment, and how... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1112434692.htmlI just realized that one of the pages on my website was totally out of date so I took a few minutes to update it.             Before you decide on how you're going to present your business or organization to the world, think a moment about whether you want your website -- and by extension, your business -- to just exist or whether you want it to succeed.             Many people have thanked me for introducing them to <a href="http://johndilbeck.com/sbi-reference-center.html"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1112200287.htmlThe blog for my SFI Sales Team has been updated.             Context Tag: SFI Marketing Group             http://johndilbeck.com/news/1112129463.htmlThe list of websites owned, managed, and/or recommended by John L. Dilbeck has been updated.             Context Tag: websites http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111860984.htmlSmall non-profit start-up, Oaktree.org, has launched an online exchange that facilitates financial help, prayers and encouragement between those in need and those willing to help. In short, they facilitate the exchange of hope for individuals.             (PRWEB) March 23, 2005 -- The sleepy coastal town of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, would be the last place you might look for the next big thing on the internet. Within the last week, a non-profit... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111693065.htmlTopix.Net, a site designed to offer local area news from thousands of feeds has included the Cherokee County NC Blog as one of the news feeds for their page on Murphy, NC.             Context Tag: Murphy NC             See also: <a href="http://feedster.com/search.php?hl=&ie=UTF-8&limit=15&q=%2Bmurphy+%2Bnc&sort=date"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111691272.htmlIs your home in need of repair and you cannot afford it?             World Changers is now looking for homes to work on this summer.             If your home is in need of repairs such as...                   Insulation and weatherization       Roofing       Upgrades to handicap accessibility                   ... you may qualify.             For more information, or to fill out an application, call your local... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111681713.htmlCongratulations to Bill Grove, his wife, Beth, Betsy Henn Bailey, and everyone else who participated in all the hard work to get the Henn Theater ready for reopening last Friday.             P. J. Henn founded the theater in 1935 and this center of entertainment for our area will turn 70 years old this year.             Bill has announced that he wants the theater to have a classy feel to reflect its past,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111678285.htmlThe Cherokee County Crime Commission will grant a non-refundable scholarship up to $500 to an area student.             Any graduating high school senior living in Cherokee County, NC, who plans to continue their education in the criminal justice field, or any individual who is in criminal justice, is eligible... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111435336.htmlCognigen recently announced a new webbuilding and hosting service called WebMax Studio.             Whether you are a beginner or a professional webmaster, or somewhere in between, you can build professional-looking websites in days using WebMax Studio to design, build, and host your personal or business website, all for the price... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111323602.htmlAndrews High School Interact is sponsored by the Murphy Rotary Club, which offers support and guidance, but is self-governing and self-supporting. Interact is Rotary International's service club for young people ages 14-18.             Each year, Interact clubs are required to complete at least two community service projects -- one... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111322505.htmlTen free white flowering dogwood trees will be given to each person who joins The National Arbor Day Foundation during March 2005.             The free trees are part of the nonprofit foundation's Trees for America campaign.             "White flowering dogwoods will add year-round beauty to your home and neighborhood," John Rosenow, the foundation's president, said. "Dogwoods have showy spring flowers,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1111317523.htmlThe North Carolina Department of Transportation recently launched a new website highlighting the state's rest area system and providing an easy link to information about rest areas throughout North Carolina.             The website includes a map that shows all 62 of North Carolina's rest areas and links... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110901030.htmlI just modified the Movie Listings page on CherokeeCountyNC.com and added the websites for Andrews Cinema and the Henn Theater.             You can view both websites -- as well as Yahoo's listings for our area -- or click the link below any of the sites to open the site in its own window.             I'd like to welcome both sites to our portal.             I'm particularly... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110896370.htmlMurphy Rotary Club members and guests celebrated 100 Years of Rotary on February 28, 2005, by presenting Cherokee County Sheriff Keith Lovin with a $4,000 check to be used for shelter and safe keeping of the new police dog.             A longtime Rotary member, Jay Gernert, presented a brief history of the Rotary Club.             Rotary... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110890646.htmlSCORE, one of the top volunteer business organizations in North Carolina has opened a new office at Tri-County Community College's Business Center.             "Our chapter was named the Outstanding SCORE chapter in the state of North Carolina for 2004, which is the second such award it has received in the past three years," said James R. Ballard, administrator of SCORE Association's Western North Carolina... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110560896.htmlEarlier today, I wrote an article about using blogging to help bring more visitors to your website -- for free. I'm sure that's something that everyone with a website would like.             Follow the steps in the article:             How to get more visitors to your website for free             If you are technically inclined, it will take less than an hour to do this... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110299028.htmlAre you getting as much traffic to your website as you want?             Chances are, you aren't.             In the movies, maybe, if you build it they will come, but that certainly isn't true when it comes to websites.             Anyone can build a website and there are estimates that there are over 56 million sites that are being maintained on a regular basis. With that many sites, how is anyone supposed to find yours?             One way is to pay for every visitor,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110297289.htmlAppalachian Heritage Crafters, a nonprofit crafts cooperative, is gearing up for its fifth year of operation in 2005.             The idea of this cooperative, made up of local artists and crafters, was born when the local Levi's plant closed, leaving several people out of work. The Levi's ladies, along with local woodworkers, potters, painters, and other artisans, formulated a dream -- a way to preserve... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110296878.htmlThe Far West Mountain Economic Partners Heritage Tourism group is putting together their first "Far West Visitor's Guide" for the Far Western Counties of North Carolina.             This guide will consist of:             * Accommodations             * Things to See and Do             * Historical Sites and Facts             * County information for Clay, Cherokee, Graham and Swain counties             * Information about the Cherokee Qualla Boundary (sometimes called the Cherokee... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110109800.htmlA new one plus long distance has been added to our family of products and services featuring interstate rates from 2.7 cents/minute anytime and ultra-low international rates.             For more information, see Pioneer Telephone.             As always, Dilbeck Communications and Cognigen strive to provide outstanding service for you at the best price. Don't forget that you can compare rates... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110108856.htmlAbsolutelly great VoIP product - unlimited calls anywhere within USA and Canada for only $24.99 per month.             For more information, see MyPhoneCompany.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110107775.htmlFree installation and free hardware, most plans are only $29.95 per month...             For more information, see Great Alarms HomeSecurity.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110106946.htmlWorld Verge Internet service was established to provide low cost Internet service with reliable connections and superior customer service. With World Verge ISP, you will have incredible service at your fingertips, while paying only $9.95 a month - about half the cost of big name providers like EarthLink and AOL. Not only are we more affordable, 9 out of 10 of our Internet service customers experience a faster connection speed with World Verge Internet... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1110105249.htmlGet all of the features and pricing of post paid cellular service in a pay as you go platform. No contract, no credit check, no deposit, no worries! Wide selection of phones, and plans with unlimited nights and weekends starting at only $29.95 a month.             Now, you don't have to sign a long-term contract to get your cell phone service.             For more information, see Cognigen Wireless.       ... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109763224.htmlHello,             March 11 - 13 will find artists from across the country gathering at Haywood Community College, outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Handmade in America and the college are sponsoring "Arts Business Institute Workshop, 2005", a 3 day intensive for beginning and experienced artists, gallery owners and businesses related to the arts. The topics include marketing, salesmanship, managing your finances, creating new product lines, applying... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109650414.htmlUSDA Rural Development offers home ownership loans and home improvement loans and grants designed to help rural Americans improve the quality of their lives.             The Section 502 Rural Housing Loans may be used by moderate-, low-, and very-low-income families to buy, build, improve, or repair rural homes. Eligible applicants must be without decent, safe and sanitary housing, unable to obtain necessary credit from other sources, have a good credit... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109649603.htmlThe Office of Economic Opportunity of Catholic Social Services is accepting applications for its Growing Opportunities Small Grants Program.             Grants are awarded from $500 - $3000 for the purpose of supporting sustainable economic development and/or systemic change.             Grants are available to community-based groups, non-profits, church groups, and organizations supporting business development in Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Swain counties.             The... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109648651.htmlOne Dozen Who Care, Inc., a community development corporation in Andrews, NC, will sponsor the sixth annual Multi-cultural Women's Development Conference on Friday and Saturday, April 8-9, 2005, at the Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville, NC 28904.             The conference is an opportunity for a diverse group of women from far western North Carolina and adjoining mountain states to discuss issues of concern to mountain women, including health and... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109647748.htmlThe Valley River Humane Society recognized Bruce Moore and Joe Walp on February 2, 2005, with an engraved plaque that reads, "In honor of your hard work in replacing all the fencing material on the kennel doors. We love you, The Shelter Animals."             Moore and Walp worked hard on the task of replacing the fencing material on the kennel doors at the shelter. These upgrades were important to ensure the safety of small puppies. They were dedicated... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109647119.htmlDr. Jan Davidson, director of John C. Campbell Folk School, will present the special feature at the upcoming "A Folk Experience" luncheon from noon until 1:45 pm on Thursday, March 3, 2005, in the fellowship hall of Murphy First Baptist Church.             The luncheon is sponsored by Tri-County Christian Women's Club.             Davidson, a native of Murphy, has a doctorate in history and folklore. He will tell about the work and history of the Folk School... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109642009.htmlThe Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA) is planning a first annual Heritage Festival on Saturday and Sunday May 28th and 29th, 2005 in Asheville.             The Heritage Alive 2005 Festival will feature regional traditions, history, and culture from the 19th Century and will take place in and around the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the campus of Asheville-Buncombe Community College. Parking and admission will be free to the public,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109312026.htmlI just added a link to a marketing site on the Marketing Resources page in my directory.             In the Niche Marketing section, I added:             NicheHunt.com -- Make More Money Marketing to Niches - Niche marketing strategies for small and home-based businesses. Succeed online by finding and marketing to a small, prosperous... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109308978.htmlI just added links to two sites related to working at home on the Small Business page in my directory.             In the Home Business section, I added:             Work at Home -- Biz-whiz.com is a community website for work at home related information and resources. Includes articles, directory, a very busy forum, and more.             <a href="http://21stCenturySales.com/"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1109305468.htmlI just added links to three sites I've recently discovered that are related to writing, publishing and self-publishing on the books page in my directory.             In the Blogs about Writing section, I added the following:             Learning About Writing is a blog written by Dennis Mellersh. This is a new blog,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108825122.htmlOn January 8, 2005, in Charlotte, NC, Noble David Sumpter, III, was appointed Oasis Outer Guard by Illustrious Sir Rolla Rogers at the 110th Oasis installation of officers.             An attorney, David Sumpter practices in the area of real estate, criminal, civil, and family law in Murphy, NC. He is a member and Past Master of Cherokee Lodge No. 146 and president of the Western North Carolina Shrine Club. He is also on the ethics committee and authorized... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108825012.htmlThe Community Foundation of Western North Carolina is offering "Summertime Kids" grants of up to $2,000 for nonprofit organizations to provide programs for children in need this summer.             Nonprofit organizations in the 18-county mountain region are encouraged to apply for 2005 Summertime Kids grants before the Monday, March 14, 2005. deadline.             The Community Foundation is interested in funding creative summer programs with an emphasis on... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108824897.htmlLulu.com offers a way to self-publish your work in printed format using their print on demand service.             You can also publish downloadable publications, if you want.             They offer a complete set of step-by-step directions on how to get started.             If you offer electronic downloads of your work, you can choose to offer it for free or to get paid a royalty (that you select) for your work. Lulu.com... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108173265.htmlOrders are being taken for the Angel Food Ministries' menu for February, 2005.             The cost for each box is $25.             The deadline to place an order and make payment is Monday, February, 14, 2005. Distribution of the food will take place on Saturday, February 26, 2005.             If you are picking up food orders, please bring a large box with you.             Send checks for February food items to:             First United Methodist Church       Attention:... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108173073.htmlA blood drive will be in progress from 11:30 am until 4:00 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2005, at Tri-County Community College.             To make an appointment, call 828-837-6810.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108080688.htmlThe N.C. Department of Transportation's official 2005 State Transportation Map is available.             The map is larger this year and features more information to help improve motorist safety in North Carolina, including 511, the state's new toll-free travel information system.             To order a free copy of the state map, call the NCDOT Customer Service Office toll-free at 1-877-DOT-4YOU from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.             Maps... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108080202.htmlThe Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce is expanding its offices and visitors' center -- its first facelift in almost 30 years.             Chamber board members have already raised $13,000 towards the estimated price tag of $60,000 - $70,000 for the project. Plans are to add a conference room, office, restroom, and kitchennete to the existing building. The conference room will be used for meetings, seminars, and educational programs for chamber members.             Along... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1108079373.htmlAndrews, NC, resident Pam Carman is the keeper of the Disabled American Veterans van that carries anywhere from one to a half-dozen veterans back and forth the 100 miles or so to Asheville, NC, about 15 times per month.             For more information on the veterans van service to Asheville or how to become a driver, call 828-321-4172.             For more information about Disabled American Veterans volunteer services, visit the web site at <a href="http://www.dav.org"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1107942308.htmlThe North Carolina Peace Corps Association will present its eighth annual North Carolina Peace Prize to the Center for Participatory Change of Asheville. The award will be given on Saturday, February 5, 2005 at the Sheraton Capital Center Hotel (421 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, 919-834-9900). A reception will start at 7:00 PM with the presentation to follow. Sarah Parker, Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and returned Peace... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1107940155.htmlThe Murphy River Walk -- Murphy, NC 28906             Phase 2 of the Murphy River Walk was completed last week, extending from the pedestrian bridge at Konehete Park to the Cherokee County Health Department.  Having obtained the necessary clearances from TVA and the Town of Murphy in January, Heritage Partners' project officer Edwin Manchester wasted no time in organizing volunteers and other contributors to complete construction. Phase 2 adds another... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1106783872.htmlChuck Huckaby writes The Work at Home Secrets BLOG! and regularly posts interesting articles and links.             Recently, he wrote about a study written by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. The study is available in PDF format and is 3.2 megabytes in size. (I'm downloading the report as I'm writing this.)             This article, Rural... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1106781049.htmlIn his Second income Ideas blog, Dennis Mellersh offers ideas and information about earning extra income.             In his article, Why you should start your own blog, Dennis offers seven common-sense reasons for creating your own blog. http://johndilbeck.com/news/1106780578.htmlFor years, I've been interested in archaeology and the work done by scientists and volunteers to expand our knowledge of what has gone before us.             Lately, I've been reading Paul McLerran's new blog to see what's available in dig opportunities. He says:                   Archaeological digs have become an increasingly popular way for retired individuals, students, and others... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1106148027.htmlIn a three part series of postings in his blog, A Fine Kettle of Fish, Bob Cargill lists 10 reasons why blogging is becoming more important for people in our industry. See Part One, Part Two, and <a href="http://afinekettleoffish.blogspot.com/2004/12/why-advertising-marketing-and-pr-pros_21.html"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1106147071.htmlI'm going to be writing a series of articles about what I've come to call customized replicated websites, for lack of a better term. I'm sure there is a particular name for this, but I'm not aware of it at this time.             An example of this kind of site is Affiliate Showcase. I've been a free member of this site for a couple of years and I'm just now coming to understand how these... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1105735611.htmlThe Cherokee County Mountain Lions will be selling candy at the Murphy Wal*Mart on Saturday, January 15, 2005 from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm.             Please help us help others see. Your support is greatly appreciated.             For more information, call Evelyn at 828-837-8808.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1105695193.htmlThe Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce is expanding its offices and visitors' center -- its first facelift in almost 30 years.             Chamber board members have already raised $9,000 towards the estimated price tag of $60,000 - $70,000 for the project.             An auction of donated items to help raise funds will be held at the Ballroom in downtown Murphy on Thursday, February 24, 2005 (time unknown). Admission is $15 per person or $20 per couple.             For... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1105693805.htmlMartin Luther King, Jr. will be remembered at the annual breakfast at the Texana Community Center on Monday, January 17, 2005 starting at 8:00 am.             At the 13th annual remembrance breakfast, there will be singing, fellowship, and a message from guest speaker Claude Stewart, interim pastor at Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Murphy.             The founder and organizer of the event, Ella Jackson, invites people to come and talk about Dr. King and... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1105394736.htmlTruett Baptist Association of Churches is sponsoring a dental clinic to be available for working people who are not eligible for Medicaid or who do not have dental insurance.             This clinic will be staffed by volunteer dentists, assistants, nurses, and clerical personnel. The start-up date will be February-March, 2005.             The fully-equipped dental office is being donated by Murphy Medical Center and the Clay County Health Department. So the... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1105092330.htmlIf not, stop reading.             I'm looking for serious people who are willing to spend at least one hour per day marketing their home-based business and at least one dollar per day investing in it.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1105090870.htmlThe deadline for placing your order for Angel Food Ministries January delivery is Monday, January 10, 2005. The cost for each box is $25.             All orders must be in the office of First United Methodist Church in Murphy, NC, no later than noon on Monday, January 10, 2005.             The distribution day for your order is Saturday, January 22, 2005. If you are picking up an order, please bring a large box for the food.             Send checks for January menu... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1104944674.htmlI published several new articles on A Year From Now this morning.             Romeo Downer tells us it is never too late to achieve those dreams of our childhood. Learn from his tale of becoming a Caribbean Artist.             R. G. Srinivasan urges us to dream big. Don't let others kill your dreams and rob you of achieving what... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1104921222.htmlIt looks like I picked the right year to focus on adding more blogs and more RSS (also known as XML) feeds to my sites!             From the Pew Internet & American Life Project site:                   By the end of 2004 blogs had established themselves as a key part of online culture. Two surveys by the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/144/report_display.asp"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1104767548.htmlGery Carson, founder and president of SFI Marketing group, announced many new changes to the company this weekend. I won't go over all of them here, however. You can see some of the changes in my SFI Blog.             Here are the headlines:                   New Spanish Gateway And More       <a... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1104703529.htmlI don't know how long my Forum has been unable to display any of the topics in the various boards, but I just tracked down the bug and stomped it.             The forum should be working again.             If you encounter an error, please let me know. My contact info is on the privacy page.             You're invited to join and participate. If you don't see a discussion for something you're very interested in, let... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1104334364.htmlFor months, I've been building sites that make posting news easy. It has actually taken away from posting news, but that's how it is when I am in development mode.             I'm using Coranto to build this news page and it is capable of creating RSS feeds. The feed has been turned on for months, but I'm just now getting around to showing you how to subscribe to it.             If what I just did works, you should see the orange XML graphic at the top of... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1104144172.htmlThere will be a Seed Savers Winter Workshop with Dr. David Bradshaw from Clemson University on Saturday, January 22, 2005 from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at the Brasstown Community Center on Settawig Road in Brasstown, NC, near the John C. Campbell Folk School. The registration fee is $10 and space is limited.             The registration deadline is January 15, 2005.             Come learn about the art and science of seeds, heirloom plant varieties, and growing... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1103983775.htmlAll of the members of Appalachian Heritage Crafters want to thank you for your business and support this year. 2004 has been a good year and much of the credit for that goes to you.             Thank you!             AHC Year End Clearance Sale             Now that the year is drawing to a close and we are getting ready to close our crafts store during January and February, we want to give you a token of our appreciation by having a clearance sale before closing... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1103983631.htmlI'd like to welcome Appalachian Heritage Crafters as the latest Gold Member at the new Murphy, NC Business Directory.             Appalachian Heritage Crafters are having a 10% Off sale on everything in their crafts store from December 26-31, 2004. Then, they'll be closing the store in January and... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1103816172.htmlI'd like to welcome RE/MAX Mountain Properties as the latest Gold Member at the new Murphy, NC Business Directory.             Looking to buy or sell residential, land, or commercial real estate in Cherokee County, NC? Contact RE/MAX Mountain Properties today!             http://johndilbeck.com/news/1103811202.htmlI am happy to announce that you can now place free classifieds at MurphyNCBusiness.com.             Gold Members may place unlimited ads and items for sale in The Marketplace, and all Gold Member ads appear before other ads.             Anyone may place free ads by <a href="http://MurphyNCBusiness.com/marketplacemanager/createprofile.asp"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1103643687.htmlMike Arriola, the U. S. Small Business Administration's Senior Area Manager for Western North Carolina, in cooperation with the Small Business Center at Tri-County Community College and SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), will offer a free workshop on financing techniques for businesses and will provide attendees with an opportunity to ask questions about other SBA programs. SCORE and Small Business Center representatives will be available... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1103460731.htmlI've been telling you for a long time how much I like Site Build It! and how much the tools included with this outstanding website design, hosting, and promotion service have helped me earn more with my sites.             From now until midnight on Christmas Day, you can buy one SBI account and get a second one free. That's an outstanding bargain and I just wish I had the time and energy to take advantage... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1102287372.htmlOn December 1, 2004, Gery Carson made a major announcement about the SFI Marketing Group's compensation plan for 2005.             I'll be posting more thoughts about SFI and the changes in the compensation plan on my SFI Blog.             http://johndilbeck.com/news/1102284481.htmlFollowing is the announcement from Gery Carson, CEO of SFI Marketing Group:             12/1/04             Dear SFI Affiliate,             During the first eleven months of this year, SFI has made an abundance of improvements and enhancements. These include:                   Completely redesigned and centralized our affiliate website (www.sfimg.com)       All new Veriuni store       New offline... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1102283553.htmlYour opportunities with ShopForT1 continue to increase on a regular basis, as more and more Cognigen agents are seeing that T1 (and larger circuit) sales have closed and they are seeing the commissions. You are encouraged to take the time to understand what you have to offer here, since ShopForT1 is one of the absolute best deals... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1102283216.htmlCognigen agents now have the opportunity to market Packet8, 8x8's broadband phone service for both business and residential subscribers. Using high-speed connections to make voice and video calls over the Internet, Broadband Phone (a.k.a. VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol) is one of the biggest growth industries around,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1102282636.htmlKen Evoy's free Internet search utility has just gotten better, if you have any interest in RSS, XML, and blogs or for specialty hubs and directories.             Search It!, which does NOT involve downloading anything to your computer, is a utility that makes it easier to find information relating to business and ecommerce on the Internet. By using a multi-step process (usually... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1101224239.htmlPromoting a business in Cherokee County, North Carolina just got a bit easier. Whether you are located in Andrews, Brasstown, Culberson, Marble, Murphy, or one of the other communities in the county, you are invited to take advantage of the new portal for Cherokee County, NC and the new Murphy, NC Business Directory.             The <a href="http://CherokeeCountyNC.com/news/"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1100252800.htmlAs you may know, I've been building A Portal for Cherokee County, NC over the last few weeks.             It's coming along nicely and I want to thank you for visiting and participating.             When I started it, I had the intention of creating a place where people living in Cherokee County, North Carolina could talk about their organizations, groups, schools, businesses, events, and more -- all for... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099928358.htmlCognigen agents now have the ability to market and sell long distance service to Canadian residents. Canadian long distance services will be provided by Cognigen's alliance with one of our newest vendors, Convergia Networks.             Convergia is a world-class provider of... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099926030.htmlOpex has long been a very competitive long distance offering for Cognigen customers, and now Opex has raised the bar by lowering their interstate long distance rates to an incredible 2.95 cents per minute. Residential customers are billed in full minute increments, and business customers are billed in 6 second increments with an... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099923604.htmlCognigen agents now have the opportunity to market Packet8, 8x8's broadband phone service for both business and residential subscribers. Using high-speed connections to make voice and video calls over the Internet, Broadband Phone (a.k.a., VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol) is one the biggest growth industries around and Packet8... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099835030.htmlOver the years, drawing from a wide range of sources, I've learned some of the art of building a website that actually earns a profit instead of dying with no traffic.             It hasn't been easy to find the information and separate the worthwhile from the worthless. Sometimes they're hard to tell apart before you put them to the test and see for yourself what the results are.             One thing I've learned is to listen to Ken Evoy. As time goes by,... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099491308.htmlIf you've been reading the Cherokee County, NC Blog, you should be aware that I've moved it from its home on blogspot.com to a new home at blog.CherokeeCountyNC.com.             There are a couple of reasons for this.             1. I want to see if the search engines will index it better than they do on blogspot.com.             2. I think my server is more responsive and this should give you faster access... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099484651.htmlAppalachian Heritage Crafters, a non-profit arts and crafts cooperative, is holding a yardsale on Saturday, November 20, 2004, starting at 8:00 am and going most of the day.             A wide variety of items will be available, some at bargain prices.             The members will be selling snacks, coffee and hot chocolate.             Proceeds go to the cooperative to help offset expenses.             Appalachian Heritage Crafters, founded by craftspeople in and around... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1099135743.htmlThe big lie about the Internet is that it's easy to make money. Just put up a website and everyone will come and buy what you offer and you can retire rich with no effort.             It's just not that easy. Anyone can put up a website in a few hours or days, but most of those sites die a slow death because of a lack of visitors and buyers.             However, it doesn't have to be that way. The key to a successful website is good quality content. People... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1098960905.htmlVeriuni has reformulated their Advanced Liquid Nutrition product and it is now available in both the United States and Canada.             Previously, it was not exportable to Canada because it contained Vitamin K, which is restricted there.             With the recent reformulation, the Vitamin K was removed.             http://johndilbeck.com/news/1098884664.htmlI just published the Act on Your Dream! Newsletter, Issue #2 and it is ready for your viewing.             The main topic in this issue is forming a new International Success Cooperative and I invite your participation and help in making this become a reality that will help all... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1098883948.htmlIt's taken several weeks to get to this point, and now CherokeeCountyNC.com is open and ready for you.             This site, unlike other sites that present information about Cherokee County, is designed to be interactive and to offer free tools for residents of Cherokee County, North Carolina to tell others about what you're doing to make our area a better place to live.             All you have to do... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1097380487.htmlHendersonville-based SCORE Western North Carolina announced that Judy Grove has joined its new branch office in Murphy, North Carolina, as a volunteer business counselor.             SCORE is a not-for-profit all volunteer resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. They offer free business advice, counseling and mentoring to entrepreneurs who want to start, expand, finance or buy a business.             Grove, a seasoned entrepreneur, is... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1097134385.htmlA couple of days ago, I completed reading The Sword Of Shannara trilogy, by Terry Brooks. I just wrote a review of The Sword Of Shannara trilogy in my Confessions of a Voracious Reader blog.             I highly recommend this book, even if I am decades late in discovering it.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1096804280.htmlI've been working for a couple of weeks to create a new portal (CherokeeCountyNC.com) for Cherokee County, NC that will provide information to its visitors about the people, organizations, businesses, schools, and events in Cherokee County.             This portal will become much more valuable if you participate and help provide information about what you are doing. Register at the site -- it's... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1096804091.htmlI've started maintaining a new public Calendar of Events for Cherokee County, NC.             I chose Localendar.com to manage this for several reasons, primarily because it is easy to merge multiple calendars into one display location.             For example, I'm currently merging the information I maintain in the Heritage... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1096542734.htmlI guess each of us has our preferences for which search engine we like to use.             For the last couple of years, I've preferred to use Google.com for most of my searching, although I still use others to compare the results.             If I'm researching keywords or I want to see which sites place well on various search engines, I'll use a metasearch engine such as ixquick.com.             A couple of weeks ago, SiteSell released their <a href="http://searchit.sitesell.com/sellmoreonline.html"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1096540769.htmlI've been a very satisfied NetFlix member since early 2004 and I recommend them highly.             I love being able to set up a list (queue) of movies to rent and then not worry about it. They send the DVDs to me. I watch them and keep each one as long as I want. Then I return it. When they receive a movie back, they send me the next one in my queue.             No late fees. No deadlines. No rushing to return a movie that I haven't had time to see -- or... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1095633996.htmlWe're approaching the end of September and people who run businesses are turning their attention from summer activities to gearing up for the final quarter of marketing before the end of the year.             Webmasters, marketers, home business owners, folks who auction products on eBay, and just about anyone involved in online commerce will find Sitesell's newest tool, Search It!... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1095631270.htmlThe remnants of Hurricane Ivan came through our area -- Cherokee County, NC -- last week, and the wind and rain caused some damage, but not as much as in surrounding areas and certainly not as much as it did nearer the Gulf of Mexico coastline.             There was flooding in some of the surrounding towns and some large mud slides that washed away portions of roads, including parts of I-40.             Here, the only real damage was that we were without power... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1095630257.htmlLast week, I managed to program a way to syndicate weblogs from Blogger.com to any of my websites.             I'll be maintaining a list of these blogs at johndilbeck.com/blogs/ where you can go directly to the blog itself or view it in syndication on it's dedicated page in that section of my site.             These blogs will be syndicated on other sites as I have the time and energy.             You're... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1095026815.htmlDilbeck Communications, in association with ShopforDSL and GeoQuote.net, is now offering residential and business DSL nationwide in the United States.             Dilbeck Communications is a Proud member of the ShopFor Network:       ShopforDSL,       ... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094991652.htmlFor quite some time, I've been reading about, thinking about, and experimenting with news syndication using RSS and blogs. I've tried several programs for creating the RSS files, such as NewsPro and its descendant, Coranto.             Back in January, I was able to get these RSS files syndicated.             Then, I decided that I liked Blogger.com and I've created four blogs there and my brother, David, maintains one.             I've wanted to syndicate these... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094904703.htmlI've never met Diane Walker, and I know her better by her online handle: mlmblonde.             I became a Cognigen agent a few months ago, and as I was learning the business, I kept running across helpful and encouraging messages (on a variety of mailing lists and discussion groups) written by mlmblonde.             After months of reading what she's written, I feel like I know her -- at least... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094891556.htmlIn the Blogger Knowledge blog, Biz Stone has submitted some ways for Promoting Your Blog.             While the article is written specifically for those who host their journals on Blogger.com, some of the ideas should work for promoting weblogs no matter where they are hosted or what technology is used to create and maintain them.             This is recommended reading... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094890819.htmlHere I am, again, working alone in my office in the middle of the night adding some new content to my newest website at AYearFromNow.com and I just noticed that today is September 11.             In that moment of realization, my mind's focus switched immediately from 2005 to 2001.             I had to stop for a few minutes and think back to that morning three years ago when I was sitting right here working... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094217863.htmlAdmission Is Free To September 4 Heritage Walk & Festival in Murphy, NC             Historic Murphy, North Carolina                   What began in 2001 with fewer than 100 souls braving the pouring rain to take a "heritage walk" through historic Murphy has blossomed into a 4th annual series of events coming Saturday, September 4, 2004.             Last year over 3,000 people turned out for a day long celebration of traditional mountain... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094216106.htmlThe Scenic Circle              New Day Trip Guide Scheduled for Release September 4 at Heritage Walk & Festival in Murphy, North Carolina             Imagine a 50-mile radius circle drawn around the Cherokee County courthouse in historic Murphy, NC, and something to find your way to the outdoor wonders of that area.  Heritage Partners of Cherokee County is pleased to announce its first publication of The Scenic Circle, scheduled for release... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094069343.htmlJerry Chautin sent the following in an email, and I wanted to post it where all of you could see it.             I have good news and a matter of interest to all of us that are involved with the economic success of Far Western North Carolina, and the adjacent Georgia and Tennessee towns.             Due to the leadership of Asheville-based Michael Arriola, outreach specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration's Asheville office, the Hendersonville... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1094043602.htmlI've been doing a lot of thinking about success and what people mean when they talk about success.             Some mean fame, power, fortune, and the other traditional trappings of success.             Some mean losing weight, getting a better job, paying down their debt burden, getting just the right dog, or even having enough food to feed their children today.             So, I've been wondering how people define success. I've added a survey to <a href="http://AYearFromNow.com/"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093911343.htmlCognigen recently introduced several new services.             Two of them are HostingWithUs and DomainsWithUs.             On the initial introduction of HostingWithUs, Cognigen announced a special on the reseller account: $17.95 per month for 5 GB of storage, 50 GB of... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093356875.htmlSlowly, but surely, I'm making progress on building AYearFromNow.com. Today, I've been adding more ways to gather information and to facilitate feedback so the site will grow and improve.             Two new surveys were added this morning, and you're invited to drop in and give us your feedback.             I want to gather <a href="http://www.ayearfromnow.com/visitor-demographics-survey.html"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093175726.htmlNew Service from Cognigen: ShopforDSL -- Comparison shop in real-time for residential and small business DSL, Cable, and Satellite Internet in your area! Featuring SBC/Yahoo!, Earthlink, Verizon, Sprint, BellSouth, Comcast, Adelphia, Charter, DirectWave, RoadRunner, Qwest, and MediaCom!             See, also, all the other Phone, Internet, Satellite... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093174732.htmlNew Service from Cognigen: PowerConnect Dial-Up High Speed Internet -- PowerConnect High Speed is a premier service that provides unlimited monthly access to the Internet. With speeds up to 5 times faster than standard dial-up, you'll get the most out of your Internet experience. Combine that with a pop-up blocker, 5 email addresses, and 10MB of webspace and you have the best dial-up value available.             Get... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093174127.htmlNew Service from Cognigen: Broadvox Direct -- Are you looking for a quality VoIP solution? Broadvox Direct offers unlimited calling plans to anywhere in the US and Canada for a low monthly payment starting from only $29.95 for residential and $44.95 for business accounts.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093173714.htmlNew Service from Cognigen: FonCentral -- Great personal and family plans, get a free phone with up to a $100 cash back. Cellular portability available!       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1093164660.htmlIt's been a long wait, and a lot of work for everyone involved, but it's done...             Store Build It! (StBI) is now available.             I've been telling you for years that Site Build It! is the ultimate web site design, hosting, and promotion system available on the entire planet, and it's gotten even better this week.             Now, before I tell you about the new Store Build... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1092746210.htmlOver the last three years, I've joined over 500 affiliate programs to see how they work from the inside. Some are impressive programs and others offer little of value -- especially to beginners.             Make no mistake about it. Learning to market on the Internet takes time, effort, study, testing, and an investment of some money. You can get signed up and started for free, but you'll have to invest time and money to start earning significant income.             It... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1092628640.htmlI've just opened a new website at AYearFromNow.com and I invite you to drop in and look around.             This website is devoted to identifying dreams, determining what they mean, planning on how to make them real, and then acting on your dream.             For years, I went through my daily routines with no real dreams. Just sleep, wake up, eat, work, sleep, and over and over and over.             Earlier... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1092389962.htmlNow that we're closing in on the 2004 presidential election, here are links to two websites that are attempting to project the electoral college results based on polling.             From a Kerry supporter:             www.electoral-vote.com             On August 13, Kerry 327 and Bush 211 electoral college votes.             Be sure to read the Welcome and FAQs pages for more information on how the site... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1091330939.htmlThe one day event will be held on Saturday, September 4 from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm at the Old L&N Depot, Railroad Street Park and the Pocket Parks in the historic town center of Murphy.             Produced by Heritage Partners of Cherokee County, the annual event began in 2001 with the Heritage Walk and a group of 100 enthusiastic walking tour guests. Last year's festival events drew more than 3,000 people and organizers are gearing up for an even larger... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1091016327.htmlThe citizens of the United States are facing one of our most important decisions this year, and I find it unbelievable that the broadcast TV networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) have abandoned their public duty and are showing only three hours of the Democratic National Convention.             I'm assuming they're planning do do something similar at the Republican National Convention -- i.e., not show it.             They, and their affiliates, are licensed to transmit... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1090839948.html             The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States                   The final report is now available at Amazon.com.       http://johndilbeck.com/news/1089717912.htmlAs a part of a general overhaul of JohnDilbeck.com, I've completed updating my Art Store. As you probably know, websites are always a work in progress and this is the latest version of this section of JohnDilbeck.com that promotes products available from Art.com.             Art.com offers a huge selection of fine art paintings, posters and photographs that cover a wide range of categories.             As part... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1089716893.htmlIt's been awhile since I have been able to work on this site. During the third week of June, I suddenly started running a fever and for the next few days I alternated between burning up and shaking with the chills. For about three days, I didn't get anything done but sleep.             I'm not sure what it was, but for about three weeks, it was all I could do to get anything done and just couldn't focus on working on any of my websites.             I can't... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086629048.htmlOver the last few weeks, Cognigen has introduced four new services related to long distance phone calling, domain registration, webhosting, and wireless service.             PNG Power 3000 -- Flat rate long distance service with 3000 anytime... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086627591.htmlOver the last couple of weeks, I've been redesigning my 21st Century Sales site. I'm busily expanding it to offer great resources for people who want to build profitable home businesses.             While there are many types of home businesses, this site is targeted towards online marketing and sales, with an emphasis on earning income by marketing affiliate programs. I've found this to be an excellent... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086626597.htmlI just noticed that my SFI sales team, while still a very young venture, already has affiliates on five continents.             Only with the invention and wide distribution of the Information Superhighway would something like this be possible with the expenditure of so little money in promotion and advertising.             Of course, it is also a testament to SFI Marketing Group, a company that has... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086265658.htmlHave you recently gotten an email that appeared to come from me -- judging by the return address?             Is it spam? If so, I did not send it!             More and more, we're seeing emails that are spoofing the return address of someone who is in the address book on a system that has been infected by a virus or other malware. This means that my email address is in someone else's address book and their computer is infected. It randomly sends spam and... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086173518.htmlThis morning, I started a new blog called Confessions of a Voracious Reader and I'll be posting my thoughts about books, movies, art, and more in this blog. Sometimes I'll recommend something to you and other times I'll do my best to persuade you to steer clear of wasting your time.             Of course, I know that all of us have different likes and viewpoints and you and I may, or may... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086166019.htmlCongratulations to Don Sansone, of Cape Coral, Florida, for growing his SFI sales team in May, 2004. Of all the people in my sales team, Don added more new affiliates to his team than anyone else last month.             You are invited to visit his SFI store. He would appreciate any purchase you might like to make! You are also welcome to join his <a href="http://www.quickinfo247.com/8630902/FREE"... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086164764.htmlEveryone has a passion in life.             There are thousands of companies that offer a way to build a website. There is only one that offers a way to explore your passion and tell the world about it.             Perhaps your passion is a hobby or a business. Perhaps you want to help others. Whatever it is, there is a right way and a wrong way of presenting it to the world over the Internet.             The wrong way is to get a cheap web host and put up a website... http://johndilbeck.com/news/1086161921.html