21st Century Marketing Tools News

I just noticed that it has been a year since I last posted to this news blog.

I won’t bore you with the details, but it doesn’t mean the site isn’t active and important to me. I will be adding new marketing tools to the directory over time, but I do my best to add only the best tools I can find and take some time to test most of them.

That said, most of my writing about affiliate marketing, marketing tools, and similar topics are at John Dilbeck And Friends.

I’ll update this news site when I add items to the directory or make significant changes to the 21st Century Marketing Tools home page.

Today, for example, I added a link to Site Build It! on the home page that has a large graphic link to more information about what SBI is all about and why I think it is the best marketing tool I can recommend.

This new graphic link will automatically be updated whenever Sitesell is offering any special promotions or discounts, like this smaller one:

I added it today because SBI will be available on a 2-for-1 special holiday promotion between December 12, 2007 and midnight on December 25, 2007.

When that graphic shows any kind of special promotion, you’ll know that you can save money on buying SBI.

Why buy two instead of one? Keep both and build two sites of your own. Keep one and sell the other. Get a friend or relative to go in with you so you’ll each save money and get a site of your own. Buy one for yourself and give the other as a gift, or even give a gift to two people.

There are many ways current Site Build It! webmasters have saved money by taking advantage of Sitesell special promotions.

This 2-for-1 special is the very lowest price/best value of the entire year. If you are interested, don’t miss this special.

Act on your dream!

JD

We know that Cisco certifications can be helpful in marketing your technical skills.

Recently added to our directory, in the E-books category, is a link to resource materials that can help you prepare for the Cisco 642-642 exam.

Are you looking for ideas for promoting your small business, or for starting a new one?

I just posted some thoughts and recommendations for promoting your business online on my John Dilbeck Musings blog.

Whether or not you are interested in using Site Build It to promote your new or future business, I think you will find good information at Find your small business for building and marketing your own small business.

Act on your dream.

Right after WordPress came out with version 2 of their outstanding blogging software, I learned that they offer free hosting for blogs at WordPress.com. So, to test out version 2 without having to install it myself and go through the inevitable rounds of upgrading and security patching, I signed up for a free account and started my test blog at Random Neurons Firing.

One of the great things about WordPress.com is that all the upgrades are handled by skilled technicians who understand the software. If you want to create a blog with multiple categories and more features than what you can get with Blogger.com, WordPress.com may be just what you are looking for.

I highly recommend WordPress.com.

(Added to our directory in the Weblog Hosting category.)

Once I learned what I was going to be doing with article marketing, I created my own article directory at 21st Century Articles.

After looking at lots of directories and comparing them to what Chris Knight is doing at EzineArticles.com, I decided I wanted to structure my site closer to what he was doing. I want to set 21st Century Articles away from the pack.

21st Century Articles specializes in business, communications, and technology articles. We accept only the best articles. Please do not submit ghostwritten, public domain, or private rights articles. They will not be accepted.

We allow no affiliate links in your article.

Read Terms of Service and Submission Guidelines before submitting your article.

(Added to the Articles category of our directory.)

Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of research into article directories, article marketing, article submissions services, and other related topics.

As a result, I’ve learned that EzineArticles.com is the top of the heap when it comes to article marketing. Chris Knight has done a wonderful job with his directory and it’s going to take a lot of work for anyone to overcome his lead.

If you want to submit your original article to a site with the possibility of getting the widest distribution, EzineArticles.com should be your first choice.

(Added to the directory in the Articles category.)

I’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, state, and category.

If you are not an affiliate and would like to participate in the NOC coupon system, I invite you to sign up as a free affiliate.

To learn more about all the details about NOC, visit the NOC Launch Announcement.

Nice 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 country, state, and/or city.

There are still some bugs to be worked out in the search, but it’s performing better than it did at introduction. Bugs are being squashed and features are being introduced.

If you have a business that sells products or services (what else is there?), you can register your business for free. Create as many, or as few, special offers as you like. Set your own terms, restrictions, and expiration dates.

You pay only when a coupon is redeemed.

And, to top it off, you set the price of the bounty you will pay when each coupon is redeemed. Some merchants set bounties of only a dollar, and others set bounties of a hundred dollars or more. It all depends upon your business and how much a new customer is worth to you.

Special offers need not be only for new customers, either. You can reward your existing customers, too.

While it is obvious that we’re still in the chicken-and-the-egg stage, this is a fast growing service and already has coupons for special offers from businesses around the world. Many more offers will be introduced as we go forward.

If you are looking for a fundraising opportunity for your non-profit, school, or church, we’re ready to help you, too.

Merchants, register your business and create your own special offer coupons. Advertise for free and pay only for results.

Shoppers, for money-saving coupons, go to: Nice Offers.

To learn about new offers, visit SyndicateYourAd.com.

I don’t have time right now to redo the entire theme for this blog, but I did take the time to modify the graphic in the header and I changed the organization of the sidebar around so that the archives and categories list would be right below the search box.

Hopefully, that will make it a bit easier to navigate the blog and find the information you’re looking for.

Navigation could stand a bit of improvement, but I’ll have to work on that later.

Even though I’m in the middle of several projects that are probably more important, I’ve decided I don’t like the look of this blog, so I’m going to change it.

Why am I talking about it here rather than just changing it behind the scenes?

I’m new to WordPress and I’m having to learn my way around it one step at a time. I’m building two sites around this script, so it is a worthwhile investment of my time and energy learning how to grok it as much as possible so I can get it to do as close to what I want as I can.

With the introduction of WordPress 1.5, they have introduced themes.

Documentation: Using Themes

Emily Robbins has compiled a list of over 200 Themes for WordPress 1.5 and has even been nice enough to indicate which are 3-column themes.

Right now, changing the appearance of this blog is a lower priority than the behind-the-scenes work of adding to my blog and website network infrastructure.

However, if you come back here one day and everything looks different, don’t be surprised.

All the best,

JD
I succeed by helping you succeed.