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Tuesday, March 8, 2005 |
The 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 Indian Reservation).
This guide will cover June 2005 through April 2006, and then a yearly publication will be produced.
The Far West group has recently published two Calendar of Events for this region that have been a great success with the visitors.
Visitors love a guide where they can get the regional information in one guide along with a map.
For more information on the Far West Visitor's Guide and/or the organization, contact Debbie Jackson, Heritage Team Leader, at 828-389-3704.
7:28:25 AM 
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Friday, December 31, 2004 |
After working hard this year on building a variety of websites and blogs, it's gratifying to see the work start paying off.
My brother, David Dilbeck, owns GeorgiaDragRacing.com and I manage most of the site. For the first time, we had over a million page views, but that's a bit misleading because we moved many of the new photos to Webshots.com and the news is now hosted on his weblog at gdrn.blogspot.com, so the actual number of page views is probably substantially higher.
There were over 174,000 unique visitors at JohnDilbeck.com who looked at over 885,000 pages. I'm always surprised by this because this is a site where I experiment to see what works and what doesn't and it has no discernible theme, other than things that tickle this big brain of mine.
I was researching search engine placements for some keywords on all the major search engines and I'm happy to see that we continue to get more and more top 10 positions on hundreds of key words and phrases -- so we're obviously doing something right.
I've been working the last three months or so to target the keywords "Cherokee County, NC Business" and "Murphy, NC Business" and I'm happy to see these new sites rising in the search engines. It is my goal to help people in my home county promote their organizations and activities more effectively on the Internet by providing either free or inexpensive advertising and promotion venues. Working together, we achieve better results than working alone. I'll prove that in 2005.
Because I'm interested in so many things, I'm going to take the parts of JohnDilbeck.com that are theme-related and move, or duplicate, them on smaller themed sites. We'll see if that results in higher traffic and better conversions or whether I'll just waste some time experimenting.
Also, to further segment my interests, I've created quite a few new blogs and they will be associated with new websites. I think it will be better in the long run, but it's more work now. Also, while I'm in development mode, I don't get as much real writing and promotion done, but that should improve by March, 2005, giving me all the rest of 2005 to put my promotional plans to work.
I'll be putting a full list of all my blogs at http://JohnDilbeck.com/blogs/ and all my websites at http://JohnDilbeck.com/websites/ so I can keep track of all of them! As of yesterday, all of my blogs have been upgraded to make it easy for you to subscribe to the RSS feeds, and I'll be moving more and more towards RSS in the coming months.
I appreciate your visiting my site(s) and I hope we're providing information you find interesting and useful.
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Happy New Years, y'all.
6:56:20 AM
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Saturday, December 4, 2004 |
Ken Evoy's free Internet search utility has just gotten better, if you have any interest in RSS, XML, and blogs, or 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 three steps, but sometimes four), it will build the searches for you and go to the appropriate search engine, directory, or content site to find the information in which you are interested.
One item you'll see in the Step 1 dropdown box is "Reference Library for Content." By selecting that, Search It! will automatically populate the Step 2 box with appropriate choices. There is a link to get help for using the tool once you have selected your choices for Step 1 and Step 2.
The new searches listed in the Reference Library for Content choice in Step 1 are:
Yahoo! RSS Domain Search
Feedster Blog/RSS Search
Syndic8.com RSS Search
Google RSS Content Search
Yahoo! RSS Content Search
It's taken me years to learn how to search for some of these things and where to go to find them, and Ken has just given you that power for free.
Not only that, but he just added four more searches related to hubs and directories. Select "Specialty Hubs and Directories" in Step 1, and you'll see the following new searches in Step 2:
Google Wide
Google Tight
Yahoo! Wide
Yahoo! Tight
The help link below Step 1 and Step 2 gives information on how to use these new searches.
I use Search It! just about every day. It's easy to use. Leave the small window open in the top-left corner of your screen so it will be available when you want to find something of interest. The more I use it, the better I like it.
I was surprised to see that I have several sites listed in the top 10 for both the Yahoo! Wide and Tight searches for the following keywords: Step 3 = "Murphy NC" and Step 4 = "travel". It looks like the work I've been doing for the last several months is starting to pay off.
4:47:02 PM
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Wednesday, November 24, 2004 |
Promoting 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 portal for Cherokee County, NC is a free, interactive resource for anyone interested in Cherokee County and what's going on here. Residents of our county are invited to participate in submitting news and announcements of events and meetings related to your business, club, organization, team, church, or other group. Any press release you would submit to an area newspaper is welcome here. You can register as a member -- at no cost -- and submit a news story or discuss your interests in our forum.
You can link to the websites of your choice in our web links section, so be sure to link back to your organization's website. We don't require reciprocal links, but we welcome them.
Would you like to write a review of a book, song, movie, play, or anything else that interests you? We have a review section just for that. Did you have a particularly good experience with a person, group, or business in Cherokee County, NC? If so, write a review -- or testimonial -- and tell us.
In the main menu, in the left column or the pages, we have links to county, state and national government information; chambers of commerce; calendars of activities and meetings; the Nantahala Public Library; news from a variety of sources; and more.
At the new Murphy, NC Business Directory, you are invited to list your business. The cost is very reasonable and there are several advantages for listing your business here.
Gold Members can create a page just for you that lists your business, your description (in your own words), coupons, specials, and links back to your website. You can also post an unlimited number of items for sale in The Marketplace and submit as many free classified ads as you'd like.
Two other levels of membership offer features that should appeal to businesses of any size in Murphy, NC.
Anyone, business or not, is welcome to post free classifieds to the site. It's easy to do and you can register for free. Each ad runs approximately 30 days and you can resubmit it for free when it expires.
Between these two sites, you should find many ways to promote your business. Coming in the next few days will be pages that list many other resources for effectively marketing your business and products or services online. Some are free and others are reasonably priced.
With more and more people going online every year, all businesses should be promoting themselves online. Even local businesses with local customers can now gain a competitive advantage by advertising on the Internet. For much less than the price of a small ad in the yellow telephone directory pages, you can promote your business online to a wider audience.
You never know where a new customer, client, patient or friend will come from.
John L. Dilbeck, owner of Dilbeck Marketing, in Murphy, NC, is the webmaster who manages both of these new sites and he invites you to register as a user on either or both sites and tell us all about your business or other organization in Cherokee County, NC.
Whether your advertising budget is hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, or only hundreds of dollars, you'll find a cost-effective promotional vehicle at one or both of these sites that anyone can use. It takes a technical wizard to make it easy for others to use, and anyone can use either of these sites, regardless of your experience on the World Wide Web.
Whether you sell used children's clothing or million dollar homes, you can place a classified ad from the comfort of your home or office at no cost.
Gold Members of the Murphy, NC Business Directory can post as many items for sale in The Marketplace as you want, and you can choose to add a picture to the ad if you like. There are no newspapers that will let you pay one small annual fee and run as many ads with pictures as you'd like. The Murphy, NC Business Directory offers you just that opportunity and it can be viewed from anywhere in the world.
To celebrate our Grand Opening, any company that registers for a Gold Membership before 12/31/2004 can choose to pay half-price for a full year membership (expiring on 12/31/2005) or get two years for the price of one. This offer expires at midnight on December 31, 2004.
2:13:42 AM
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Friday, November 5, 2004 |
As I wrote back on July 20th, I was sick for some time and just wasn't able to get anything done.
Boy, did that change!
Between then and now, I've been adding to websits and blogs every day.
New websites: A Year From Now -- Act on Your Dream!, Dilbeck Communications, and Cherokee County, North Carolina.
AYearFromNow.com is hosted on what I think is the best web design, webhosting, and website promotion service available on the planet: Site Build It!. I haven't had the time to really flesh out this site yet, but that is planned for this winter. Are you interested in telling your success story?
DilbeckCommunications.com is hosted by Hosting With Us and this is a great webhosting service that offers quality hosting, outstanding support, and good prices. To build this site, I had to learn PHP-Nuke and PHP programming, but now that I know how to do it, the site is coming along nicely.
CherokeeCountyNC.com is a portal for residents of, and visitors to, Cherokee County, North Carolina, where I live. I've been thinking about building this site for about a year and after I learned PHP-Nuke it seemed to be just what I wanted to build the site. It, too, is hosted by Hosting With Us. I'll probably be putting most of my efforts into expanding and maintaining this site.
With email getting so bogged down by spam and spam filters, I've decided to look into other ways to communicate and I've been looking at options for building blogs and syndicating the content.
Now, I know that I've been blogging ever since I started my subdomain on EditThisPage.com and Dave Winer and Userland were on the bleeding edge of blogging, even before it had a name. I've been using Radio Userland for years to build my static sites and to maintain this blog. Over the years, many others have joined in and there are now many tools for blogging. I've been experimenting with Blogger.com and running my feeds through FeedBurner.com to parse the Atom files that Blogger uses, instead of the more-common RSS. I've managed to get syndication working for all my blogs and you can see this at work at JohnDilbeck.com/blogs/.
I'm also experimenting with using Blogger to build static pages on CherokeeCountyNC.com, so, a couple of days ago, I changed the settings so that Blogger.com will FTP the Cherokee County, North Carolina Blog to blog.cherokeecountync.com. My thinking is that this will build new static pages on the site, in addition to the dynamic pages built by PHP-Nuke. I believe that the search engines will index the static pages better than the dynamic pages, but I don't know this for sure, and that's why I'm testing it.
It's been a wild couple of months, but a lot of progress has been made. Feedburner.com was a great find and I heartily endorse their products. Blogger.com was also a great find and I endorse their product as well.
After the hacker problems I had on GeorgiaDragRacing.com, I've been removing almost all the scripts from my static sites and moving towards other services that I can integrate into my sites using FTP and/or javascript.
Some work better and some not as well. So far, I'm not sure which I think is the best. Still testing.
At this point, I don't have any plans to build any more sites over the next three months, but I have some ideas for new sites this spring. Over the next few weeks, I'll be updating my sites and fleshing out the new ones. You're invited to visit!
5:39:01 AM
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004 |
I know that the Chambers of Commerce maintain rack displays for rack cards and brochures for their members. I also know that the NC welcome centers will display approved brochures on their racks and keep them stocked.
What I don't know is if there is a brochure distribution service in extreme western North Carolina and/or north Georgia. I'm looking for someone who maintains rack displays in stores, restaurants, motels and similar businesses.
If there is such a company, I want to contact them. If not, I'm looking for someone who would like to work with me to start one.
6:33:13 PM
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Wednesday, April 7, 2004 |
SpringFest 2004
Saturday, May 8, 2004 from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.
Downtown Murphy, NC 28906
Call Barbara Hughes at (828) 837-6821 for more info
6:37:32 PM
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Come enjoy the Spring Heritage Festival in Andrews, NC 28901 on Saturday, April 17, 2004 from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm.
What will you find here?
Gospel, Bluegrass, dancing, food, arts & crafts, pets to adopt, clowns, balloons, bubbles and tattoos, moon walk, mini train, and fun, fun, fun!
For more information, call 828-321-9553.
Anticipate to Participate
Celebrate Spring with a Fling
It's a Mountain Thing!
6:15:37 PM
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Appalachian Heritage Alliance -- Dedicated to the documentation and preservation of Appalachian history and culture, traditional and modern uses of native plants, and wild-crafting -- announce their 2004 Lecture Series Calendar.
Join them for dinner, musical entertainment, and educational programs every third Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm in the Topton Community Center, Toptoin, NC 28781. $10.00 per person.
March 18, 2004 -- American Bonsai*
April 15, 2004 -- Ramp Romp*
May 20, 2004 -- Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens*
June 17, 2004 -- Edible and Medicinal Herbs*
July 15, 2004 -- Cherokee Chair Caning and Baskets*
August 19, 2004 -- Owl Prowl -- Sights and Sounds of the Night*
September 16, 2004 -- Ginseng -- Conservation through Cultivation!
October 21, 2004 -- Autumn Leaves and Winter Tree Identification*
November 18 -- AHA Holiday Gift Fair
* This lecture has a corresponding workshop and/or field trip (dates to be announced).
Other programs available to your garden club, civic group, or organization include: Lady Slippers and Other Native Orchids*; Trilliums*; How to Make Soap*; How to Make Dipped Candles*; Appalachian Music and Storytelling; and Landscaping with Native Plants.
Wildflower Walks and Photography Tours by appointment.
Call Donna Looper at 828-479-8642 or Eve Miranda at 828-321-1612 for more information or to place your reservation.
Email: AppalachianHeritageAlliance@hotmail.com
5:56:58 PM
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Appalachian Heritage Alliance will present their First Annual Ramp Romp on April 15, 2004 at the Topton Community Center, Topton, NC 28781.
Starting at 6:00 pm with a Ramps and Trout Dinner to be followed by Live Music and an informative program by wild-crafter Wild Bill Elliot: "Ramps: How to find them, how to grow them, and how to eat them!"
$10 per person covers it all. Reserve your place now.
For more information, call Donna Looper at 828-479-8642 or Eve Miranda at 828-321-1612.
5:21:47 PM
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The Appalachian Highland Games will be moving to a new venue for their 4th annual presentation of Irish, Scottish, and Celtic heritage.
From their web page:
"In 2004, Appalachian Highland Games will move to Andrews, NC 28901. All events will be held in the Andrews Recreation Park. Our new venue is larger, more people friendly, and easier to get to than ever before. Large parking areas adjacent to the Park make for easy access. Parking is FREE! There is ample seating around the securely fenced athletics area. Take a stroll under the oaks and sample the wares of our vendors. Enjoy a variety of acts and entertainment such as sheep herding, Highland dancing demonstrations and singing, youth events and pipe and drum bands. Tour the Heritage tent and learn about the early Scottish settlers whose descendants still populate these mountains, visit with the mountain crafters as they practice ancient skills. Come by the Tartans Museum booth and discover your tartan. Talk to Clan representatives and learn more about yourself and your forbears."
The gates open at 8:00 am on September 11, 2004. Visit their website for more information about pricing and for driving directions and a map.
The 4th Annual Appalachian Highland Games will be fun for your whole family.
4:47:54 PM
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Tuesday, February 17, 2004 |
Agenda: final input on comprehensive plan update (meeting #3 of 3)
Facilitator: Ron Ruehl, NC State Heritage Development Officer, western NC region
Saturday, February 28
10:00 a.m.- 12:00 noon
Andrews Community Center*
*please note the change in location (the old furnace died at the Valleytown Cultural Arts Center, and total heating system replacement is now in progress there)
Important Note: for organizations based in Cherokee County with an emphasis on the arts, history, cultural and historic resources, and the natural environment: the updated heritage development plan will be used by a variety of regional and state entities to identify and find ways to support Cherokee County's heritage development initiatives and achieve the economic benefits of heritage and eco-tourism. It will serve as the reference for Cherokee County's priority initiatives being undertaken by local governments, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, community clubs and associations, and other community development oriented entities.
If your organization has any role to play in heritage development, please make sure it's actively represented in the process. The resulting plan document will be the authoritative reference for Cherokee County, and will include:
(1) a roster of contact and other important information about heritage development related organizations based in Cherokee County;
(2) an inventory of sites and attractions;
(3) a calendar of major annual events;
and most important:
(4) summaries of priority projects requiring funding support now, or in the future ("brick and mortar" as well as other program or development funds).
If your organization has not received the input forms package, Gabby Hudson says call her at the Chamber of Commerce (828-837-2242) and she'll be happy to oblige.
Questions? Contact Heritage Partners of Cherokee County, NC.
6:49:42 AM
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Sunday, February 15, 2004 |
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Utley, owner of the NC Mountain Made website, again. It's always fun being around Ben, who has a cheerful and optimistic personality.
NC Mountain Made is a heritage database of authentic music, authors, storytellers, and handmade arts & crafts of western North Carolina. In the not-too-distant-future, Ben will be helping artisans in western North Carolina sell their products over the Internet.
He came to the monthly meeting of Appalachian Heritage Crafters and updated us on the progress he is making getting his new venture organized.
A number of our members expressed interest in working with Ben and we'll probably see some of their art on his site, soon.
Ben's added a calendar covering Western North Carolina Heritage and Cultural Events. Be sure to check it out!
Don't forget. If you're interested in what he's doing to promote and preserve our Appalachian heritage, you can sign up for his announcements list and he'll keep you informed.
I hope you have great success with this, Ben!
2:33:15 PM
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Wednesday, January 7, 2004 |
Yesterday, for the first time in a couple of months, I attended the monthly Heritage Tourism Roundtable meeting in Andrews, NC. This meeting is held the first Tuesday of each month from 10:00 am until approximately 2:00 pm at the St. Andrews Lutheran Church.
I enjoyed seeing friends and catching up on what's happening in the four western-most counties of North Carolina and on the progress we're making for promoting heritage tourism in our area.
One of the guests at the meeting was Ben Utley, a lifelong educator who is now residing in western North Carolina.
He annouced the upcoming debut of NCMtnMade.com, "A Heritage Database of authentic music, authors, storytellers, and handmade arts/crafts of Western North Carolina."
If you'd like to be informed of what's happening at this site, there is a preview page up and running and you can subscribe to their mailing list to be informed when it goes live.
Ben has some great ideas about promoting our heritage of fine art, crafts, toys, music and food, and I'd like to send my best wishes for success with this project.
5:21:10 AM
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Received from David Trout: As the Chairperson of the Culinary Showcase Task Force, I would like to invite you to attend the Asheville Area Chamber's best event.
Enjoy the finest in food and beverage from 30 of the area's best restaurants, resorts and wineries this Thursday, January 8 from 5:30 - 8:00 pm at the Grove Park Inn.
And be sure to vote for the People's Choice BEST of SHOW.
For tickets and more information, see the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Chamber Events and Activities page.
Hoping to see you there
Dave Trout
Mutual of Omaha
5:02:46 AM
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© Copyright 2005 John L. Dilbeck.
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