SEEKING PARTNERS/INVESTORS
for
CentList.com
By Keith Anderson, Creator *
July, 2019 *
centlist@yahoo.com
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION
CentList.com would be a marketing/networking site/app charging no membership fee or sales commissions, heavily subsidized via sponsorship advertising, and allowing members/visitors to search for general items as well as green/Fair-Trade ones. Members could post listings cheaply, elevate the status of their listings by contributing to charities (thereby also improving world conditions), and gain publicity for themselves by recruiting other members and receiving one link per recruit leading to their CentList Personal Page when clicked. The info below, and following pages, give greater detail. |
1) No
membership fee! This is the mission of CentList--to serve as a benevolent and amiable alternative to the marketing/networking behemoths now in place. We, the little guys in the word, may be bound temporarily by the physical limitations put in place in the present, but our minds and ambitions are never bound by limitations of the future--because there are no certain limitations of the future...if we act to remove and/or prevent them while we have time in the present. Thus, with this campaign, I'm giving "Joe & Jane Shmoe" the chance to shake up the world of commerce--particularly marketing--with a revolutionary format that, not only saves members money, but also accords its members publicity benefits for their listings when they contribute to the charities/causes it promotes: the more you donate, the higher the listing status you receive. Besides the selling/buying aspect, members will also be able to network with one another: forming that car pool to save on transportation, establishing that political group to get the word out, finding that employee or job to fill a position or wallet...or whatever constructive purpose you want or need. The main thing is that you'll be able to build a better world while conducting commerce or networking with others at very cheap rates--free from many of the constraints placed on the common man by the big boys of Internet marketing. For one thing, you'll be able to include your contact info in all your listings...the dominant benefit of "no commissions charged." PARTNERSHIP/FUNDRAI$ING GOAL The purpose of this campaign is to assemble a base of supporters (ideally, partners) who, collectively, are capable of contributing the needed startup capital--ideally around $100,000--to officially launch the CentList.com project. (Note: NO MONEY is being collected at this time. I’m now only seeking those interested in the project.) The money would be used to formalize/register the organization and to fund the programming of the initial CentList.com Web/App, with some left over to keep it posted on the Web and launch its first promotional campaign to amass members as well as draw traffic. Other factors capable of luring in the public: 1) In the initial stage, all basic, one-month, listings will be FREE. When the site is adequately popularized, the site will switch to regular charges, whereupon the members can individually decide their listing amounts and durations. 2) Because listing fees will be so low (heavily ad-subsidized) and no sales commissions will be charged, sellers will be able to offer lower prices with those savings and land more sales. I'm especially interested in finding partners compatible with the principle of "collective action for collective rise"--the philosophy of Ad Spread Collective, the umbrella organization that would house CentList.com as well as my other endeavors...as, ASC's goal is to help the masses connect, work in cooperation, and then use that cooperation to lower costs more and more as well as leave the world in better shape for the next generations to come. However, if that approach fails to succeed, my alternative plan would be to launch a crowdfunding campaign, whereby, if successful, acquire partners after that as I am able. If, after viewing the following pages, you feel you may be interested in working with me, contact me (Keith) at centlist@yahoo.com. (If you wish to talk via phone, email me your contact info and we can set up a call--as I rarely answer my phone otherwise because of constant junk/robo calls.) GENERAL DETAILS BASIC OPERATIONAL DETAILS CentList membership will be free and will be composed of Recruits and Networkers (definitions below). Both may select the option of using handles instead of their names. All members will register at least one form of payment that will be used by CentList for identity verification purposes and by the members to make deposits into or withdrawals from their CentList Payment Account. All fees for CentList listings posted or charity donations made will be drawn from their Payment Account. Recruits and Networkers will register a Personal Entity, whereby Recruits may also register any and all business/organizational entities they have official authority to represent. There will be no charge for entity registration; however, all Recruits may raise the status of their entity regarding entity-search results by making charity contributions regarding each entity. Recruits may post listings under their Personal and/or any of their business/organizational entities; Networks may post listings only under their Personal Entity. The basic listing fee will be cheap (projected to be 10˘/month)--with members having the option of longer, proportionately cheaper, listing-duration times and/or paying for extras (extra titles/pics) as well as making charity donations and thus raising their listings' status. Recruits may register/post Green/FT (definition below) entities/listings; Networkers may post Green/FT listings. Recruits may submit SPECIAL DEALS (products/services of especially alluring lower prices) that CentList would have the option of accepting/rejecting. Only Recruits may place ads on the CentList site: banners, videos and/or emails. Records of all listing fees paid, charity donations, and ad fees (for Recruits) will be available for Recruits and Networkers to use as reference for record-keeping and tax purposes. In the initial stages, members desiring to purchase items listed on CentList would have to make transactions via outside firms (PayPal, credit/debit cards, etc.) and settle any resulting disputes thereby. However, in the future, CentList would allow members to make purchases via their CentList Payment Account free of charge. Also, buyer protection would be available via the WSM network, whereby CentList would store, market and deliver items provided by CentList supplier members and grant customer satisfaction because the actual items would be in CentList custody. INFO/SCHEMATICS The following info and graphics give basic details and examples of the *initial CentList interface process members/visitors are projected to experience when interacting with the CentList site/app--pending any visual and/or functional changes I and/or the programming firm find necessary. (*Full, future, development of the CentList site/app will incorporate many more capabilities.) Of course, there would also be a CONTROL PANEL for the CentList Controller to use to manage the site, and that would have to be programmed as well, adding to programming costs. I'll prepare and relay the schematics for that at a later date. However, for now, my goal is to emphasize the advantages and benefits the masses would have in dealing with CentList.com in hope of appealing to investors/entrepreneurs to become partners in its development. CENTLIST DEFINITIONS/SYMBOLS Before we get into the actual Web/App schematics, I'll first explain the terms/symbols you'll encounter regarding listings: RECRUITS Recruits will be those members who have been invited to join CentList either by CentList itself or by other Recruits and who are considered honorable and beneficial to the membership. Thus, CentList will serve as the initial Recruiter, with its Recruits serving as the bulk of the body of subsequent Recruiters. In exchange for recruiting members, Recruits will have a "Recruited by (their name/handle here)" link in all their Recruits' listings leading to their CentList Personal Page. Those recruiting the highest quantity of Recruits will have the option of being recognized on the TOP 100 RECRUITERS list. Recruits will register their Personal Entity (name/handle) and will also have the option of registering any additional entities (businesses/organizations) they have official authority to represent, whereby they may post listings in any and all entities relevant to their listing content. They may also specify whether or not their registered businesses/organizations are Green/FT. (Personal Entities cannot be designated Green/FT.) Recruit search-results will appear in green font. NETWORKERS
Networkers will be those members not invited to join, who are primarily intended to use CentList for networking purposes (forming political groups, car pools, babysitting rings, employment matters, political groups, etc.) but who are also allowed to sell products/services if they so desire. Their only entity will be their Personal Entity. Networker search-results will appear in blue font.
The “G” (Green / Fair Trade) symbol will appear in all Green/FT listings and entities. Hovering the cursor over it summons the popup: “Green / Fair Trade = Ecologically compatible products/services; trade in which fair prices are paid to producers in developing countries.” Only Recruits will be allowed to register Green/FT entities. Networkers will be allowed to post Green/FT listings.
The Charity-Rank symbol (C-Ranking) will appear in all search results that have, or potentially have, multiple (different) members listed. For example: In a "PRODUCTS (For Sale)" search for "1999 Corvette Cars," the results yield 30 listings (*all, or most, with different sellers) selling that type of car. Within that group of listings, the members contributing the most to CentList charities would receive the higher C-Rankings (C1 on down--C2, C3, etc.) and have their listing appear before the others of lower rank. Also, if a search is for entities of a certain category, the resulting entity with the highest donation total would receive the highest C-Ranking. (*Note: Even if the 30 results were of a singular seller, then his/her particular listings would appear in order of the donation amount given to each particular one.)
The C-Ranking applies to the total donations made regarding specific listings/entities, whereby members will be able to increase those amounts at any time to elevate their listing/entity status. Total donations would also determine who's at the top of the list regarding the "SPECIAL DEALS" and "SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS" pages.
Regarding the MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY (FIG. 4), entity search-result rankings will be based on the cumulative amount of donations made regarding all entities controlled by singular members who are included in search-result outcomes. Example: A CentList member searches for entities selling products in the category of "Clothing/Accessories--Women's." Regarding the results, Member "Jill Johnson" has two Business Entities applicable to that search category: "Jill's Women's Fashions" & "Jill's Women's Discount Outlet." The first entity has $400 in charity donations and the second $100 = $500 total. Member "Pam Pinckney" has one entity, "Pam's Exotic Purses," with $450 in total charity donations. Thus, because Jill's combined charity donations = $500 and Pam's $450, Jill would receive the higher C-Rank.
Also regarding MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY searches, charity donations would determine placement in search results regarding Personal Entities. Plus, donations made regarding Personal Entities would be added to totals when searches are made for "All" entity types. Example: A member searches for "All" CentList entities in Maryland. "Ron Rayburn" has that as his Personal Entity ($150 contributed) and also the "Ron's Razors" Business Entity ($400 contributed) = $550 total. "Stan Sampson" just has that Personal Entity but has $700 total contributed. Thus, Stan achieves the higher ranking. (This is further illustrated in FIG. 4E.) Name/Alias/Handle search results would appear in order of highest to lowest Charity contributions, then in order of seniority (earliest Member # to latest).
Members sharing same C-Rankings will have their results appear
according to membership seniority for entities and in order of earliest to
latest posting date for listings. Membership seniority will decide priority
regarding listings with matching post-dates. (Note: The C-Rank will depend on the key words of the listing title entered by the member and will dominate any search results in which the quantity of key words it matches in searches equals or exceeds the key words of listing titles of non-charitable listings. For example: If a member lists a charitable listing that matches 6 key words in a search and another member lists a non-charitable listing with 7 key words matching that search, the non-charitable result will appear before the charitable one; however the charitable one will appear before the non-charitable one in all key-word matches of 6 or less.)
The “Charitable Contribution” (CC) symbol indicates that a charitable contribution has been made regarding an entity/listing and will appear in search results regarding an individual member. Since that particular member would be the only one with the resulting entities or listings, there would be no need for a C-Ranking. Searches conducted via a member's Home Page and/or via any of his/her entities would feature this symbol. It also appears in detailed listings and in entity search-results of individual members who have multiple entities.
Symbol for TOP 100 DONOR. (Linked to “TOP 100 DONORS” page—FIG. 9A.) Applies to the total amount donated by a *member regarding all listings and all entities. (*For those choosing not to remain anonymous, the symbol is positioned to the right of a member’s Personal Entity, appearing on all pages where the member’s Personal entity appears.)
Goes from TD1 to TD100, or less if any donors have donated the same amount and share the same TD-Ranking. Thus, should the quantity of same-ranked donors exceed 100, then programming will cut the list to the 100 by deleting any same-ranked donors from the quantity of 101 on down who obtained that ranking after the 100th donor. (Example: 97 donors each have made separate donation amounts and therefore have their own TD-Ranking of from TD1 to TD97. However, Donors A, B, C, D & E have donated a same, lesser, amount = TD98. Since that would bring the list to 102, the last two to obtain the TD98 ranking are deleted from the list.)
Symbol for TOP 100 RECRUITER ranking. The 100 Recruiters landing the most Recruits appear on this list. Works on same ranking principle as DONORS (TD1). (Linked to “TOP 100 RECRUITERS” page, FIG. 15—new window.)
FIG. 0 shows an example of an Entity Page (for "A-Town Electronics Bazaar"), along with a partial Detailed Listing page, *fully loaded with symbols. (*As said above, the C-Rank symbol wouldn't be applied here because the search involves only a singular member.) |
FIG. 0: ENTITY PAGE
Now, for the Web/App schematics:
FIG. 1: CENTLIST HOME PAGE
"Visit Member #": Viewers would enter the CentList Member # of their preferred Member and click "GO" to access that member's Home Page.
"TOP 100 RECRUITERS," "TOP 100 DONORS," "$UPPORT our SPONSORS": Clicking any of these links leads to their respective pages.
All links on the lower, right would lead to their own pages. Of course, for members forgetting their password, there would also be a “Forgot password?” function to help them log in, probably via a link sent to their registered email allowing for re-setting.
The A-like symbol on the bottom is the logo for Ad Spread Collective (Adspread.com), the umbrella organization that will house CentList.com and other enterprises.
"WEB PROGRAMMER'S VIDEO HERE" is the option the programmer would have for one year if the programmer agrees to accept it as partial compensation for the Web/App-programming services, whereby the programmer could advertise their business there. If not, then that video spot would go to any acceptable sponsoring advertisers willing to pay for it. |
FIG. 1A: PAGE HEADERS
There will be different page headers the CentList Controller will be able to post—like those above. He/She will be able to choose singular or all pages on which they appear. Plus, there will be effects possible—such as flashing or side-to-side scroll. |
FIG. 1B: CENTLIST HOME PAGE (LOGGED IN)
When members email other members via CentList or CentList emails them, the members’ “WELCOME” link will turn green (red if a message is included from CentList). When clicked, "WELCOME" will summon popup: “Check your registered email for new email messages.” Otherwise, “WELCOME” will remain black and non-interactive. “WELCOME” will return to plain black after being clicked. |
FIG. 1C: CENTLIST HOME-PAGE / VIDEO-AD RATIO
FIG. 1C shows the CentList HOME Page in relation to a video (WEB PROGRAMMER'S) of maximum size allowed by CentList: 480 x 270 = 129,600 Sq. Px. (see http://size43.com/jqueryVideoTool.html). The programmer is welcome to use this maximum video size if desired. This pic shows the projected page size viewers will experience--gauged by my 19” HP monitor (visual area 14-13/16” X 11-7/8”). As far as the App configuration for smart phones, the programming firm would have to gauge that itself—as it would have to do for all of the CentList site/app pages.
CentList will charge members a very small listing fee--and absolutely NO sales commissions. To subsidize this process, ad pace will be sold to sponsoring members and will occupy significant space on each public and private page.
On the left (drills, watch, etc.) and right (phones, golf clubs, etc.) are spaces for “Rotating” ads (ads appearing briefly, then changing to other ads). When clicked, the viewer is transferred to the seller’s preferred page featuring that product. Flashing ads will appear on all pages, 10 per page (5 per side), once per minute, will rotate every 10 seconds. Thus, maximum total quantity of ads: 60.
SPECIAL DEALS will be listings by CentList members offering the best deals. Members will submit listings for acceptance/rejection, whereby CentList will select the best ones. Each member may have only one SPECIAL DEAL listing at a time, and all such listings will run for only 1 month.
SPECIAL DEALS HOME-PAGE ads will be limited in quantity by the CentList Controller, will rotate every 10 seconds on the (each appearing singularly), and will be listed statically and collectively on the SPECIAL DEALS Page, where viewers may see and select from all available SPECIAL DEALS offerings. Clicking the SPECIAL DEALS link leads directly to the SPECIAL DEALS Page.
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FIG. 2: “ABOUT” & OTHER SUCH PAGES
FIG. 2 shows the CentList page-navigation structure. The "POLICIES" Page will follow a similar structure as the "ABOUT" page. Public and private pages will have 3 video ads (SPONSOR'S AD HERE) and one banner ad (SPONSOR'S BANNER AD). |
FIG. 2A: CENTLIST PAGE & VIDEO-AD RATIO
PRODUCT/SERVICE/NETWORKING search results as well as literary content (ABOUT, POLICIES, etc.) will be scrollable, with the upper-links portion and sponsor ads (video/banner/rotating) staying put.
SPECIAL DEALS pics will rotate every 10 seconds on both sides of screen. Clicking on any pic leads to SPECIAL DEALS Page. In these initial stages, the total quantity of SPECIAL DEAL ads will be limited to 12, = 2 simultaneously appearing once per minute in rotation. |
FIG. 2B: INSTRUCTIONS FOR VIEWING
The "ABOUT" Page will contain the link leading to "INSTRUCTIONS FOR VIEWING."
FIG. 3: “POLICIES” PAGE
Same page structure as “ABOUT.”
FIG. 4: MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY
The MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY will allow users to search for CentList members as well as see which entities Recruits have registered on CentList. Users will be able to visit individual members' CentList Personal Page via “Visit Member #,” search Name or Alias/Handles, or search the General Membership/Entities with the option of entity-type and/or location filters. (The "Entity Type" would be the entity's type registered by the Recruit--i.e., some entities market PRODUCTS, others SERVICES, some both, then we'll have NETWORKING, BUY/SELL, and DONATE/GIVE/RECEIVE--all to be further illustrated later. Users would then select the Category falling under the Type: PRODUCTS = Clothing, Lawn & Garden, etc.; SERVICES = Architecture, Printing, etc.) Users will be able to access the entire (GLOBAL) directory by selecting “Search General Membership/Entities” and leaving all other fields blank or at “All.” Users could search for “All” members/entities or the Green/Fair-Trade (Green/FT) ones. Filtering from national, down to city, locations would also be available. |
FIG. 4A: GLOBAL RECRUITS “ALL” SEARCH—NAME
FIG. 4A is an example of a search for all members with the name "John Evans" along with their locations. RESULTS show Recruits in green, Networkers in blue. The "C1" & "C2" indicate who contributed to CentList-sponsored charities, with "C1" being the one contributing the most and "C2" the 2nd most regarding this particular search result. All non-charitable results will appear in order of membership seniority (earliest, to latest, members). Clicking any name transfers the user to that member's CentList Personal Page, same as with clicking on any Recruiter's name/handle. Users will be able to jump to pages using the "Go to Page" field. |
FIG. 4B: ENTITY-TYPE / GREEN/FT / LOCATION SEARCH
When the SEARCH button is clicked, the selectors above become loaded with the results relative to the specifics of the search. All Green/FT entities will appear in green font.
“Dawson’s Deli Goods” is selected, leading to it's Entity Page: FIG. 4C. |
FIG. 4C: ENTITY PAGE
On the Entity Page, users can select from any of the Available Listing Types, any of the Available Categories regarding the Available Listing Types, the Condition of the item, the Code Type (UPC, ASIN, etc.) and Code, select from any of the Available Listings (whether "All" or Green/FT) or search via Listing Title/Key-Words (whether "All" or Green/FT). Above, the user selects "Available Listings" (listings posted by the member) and has the choice of searching "All" listings posted or just the Green/FT ones. A specific Green/FT Available Listing is selected ("10pcs recycled...") and SEARCH is clicked, leading to FIG. 4D. |
FIG. 4D: DETAILED LISTING
FIG. 4D is the Detailed Listing for "10pcs recycled unicorn..." We see the Listing # (all CentList Listing #s will begin with "CL" for "Cent" "List") and the symbols in place. Again, the "CC" symbol is used to indicate a charitable contribution was made regarding this listing instead of a C-Ranking because the Detailed Listing is for this particular member's listing and this listing did not appear in a search result yielding multiple members/entities. The "CC" symbol would also appear next to the entity name (Dawson's Deli Goods) if a contribution had been made regarding it. We see the condition of the item, some pics of it, how it's Green/Ft, the description and price. (Clicking any pic summons its blowup--illustrated later.) We can select a locale to see the shipping "Price" as well as what the shipping "Includes" (or contact the member if it so instructs us). We can also save the Member, Entity, or Listing--accessible via our CentList Home Page. We can Report the Listing regarding anything we feel is suspicious or questionable, and can see the original posting and expiration date of the listing. And, as stated, because CentList will charge absolutely no sales commissions, the member may list any contact info he/she wishes. |
CODE EXAMPLE:
Codes (UPC, etc.), if listed, would appear up top of the description (and below Green/FT description if applicable).
FIG. 4E: RECRUITS GREEN/FT GLOBAL SEARCH “ALL” ENTITIES
FIG. 4E: Global search for all Green/FT entities of all Types/Categories. Since this is for Green/FT entities, all Networkers are excluded. When "SEARCH" is clicked, the RESULTS yield the Personal Entities along with their individual selectors loaded with the applicable search-result entities. Again, those results will be C-ranked according to the total accumulative amount of all applicable search-result entities of any particular member. All other results appear in order of membership seniority. |
FIG. 4F: ENTITY SEARCH RESULT / ENTITY'S DETAILED-LISTING
In FIG. 4E, an entity is selected (Dabney Poll Warriors), leading to the entity's Home Page (FIG. 4F), with the member's info above the entity and the entity's Green/FT description below it. We can select from any Available Listing Types and their Categories. Since this is a Service, the Condition and Code fields are inactive. In "Available Listings," "Green/FT" is selected, and then a particular listing (Event Organizing...). SEARCH is then clicked, leading to the Detailed Listing. |