BICS
as an alternative to traditional forms of advertising 
The BICS cost-to-benefit ratio is better than traditional advertising because it engages others, who are acting in their own interest, to drive traffic to your website.
BICS requires an investment. How much you invest in BICS is negotiable, because you buy BICS parcels from existing owners who are willing to sell. There are many sellers at varying prices. This is an area where Epperson Enterprises can truly help you reduce your costs. Epperson Enterprises can act as a marketing consultant that will show you how to buy, use, and sell BICS.
The Strategy behind BICS:
It's important to point out that BICS wasn't created by design, but it evolved to be what it is today. Those who use BICS as a marketing strategy do so because they are able to shape it to their liking.
BICS works because businesses honor it. These businesses create value to the BICS owners. Therefore, it stands to reason that a large holder of BICS would want to increase the value of their own BICS holdings by honoring BICS as well.
There are no rules. Your control of the BICS environment (i.e. Internet traffic and increased sales) is directly related to the amount of effort you put into it. Here's how one group of vendors used BICS to become a major Internet player.
The Internet Marketing Association of Surplus Dealers (IMASD) adopted BICS as a "membership function" back in the 1990s when this small group (of merchants) was just starting out. They used BICS to grow their member ranks without the bureaucracy that would normally be required.
They simply wrote up their new By-Laws to require that all IMASD members be BICS parcel owners. Everyone had to buy a BICS parcel. The original BICS owners (see: How did BICS get started?) were glad to sell more pieces of their computer system. For those in the surplus business, BICS parcels soon became referred to as "IMASD memberships". Then came a series of membership splits, in which BICS owners increased their holdings. IMASD grew because the members themselves could profit by selling their extra BICS, thus bringing in new members. IMASD grew without having an infrastructure, or even a bank account.
The advantage to BICS over other forms of marketing are three fold:
- You are letting others advertise
your web site in that they are selling their own BICS.
- You profit from selling
BICS, all the while increasing your customer base.
- You have an established
membership base that you don't have to run.
What will BICS do for me?
BICS represents a
sort of "membership" to an exclusive club. These memberships
are referred to as "BICS parcels". These are limited in
number, each one with it own specific ID number.
There are 3 ways that you can benefit from BICS.
- You can "Honor BICS". This means that you offer free or discounted goods and/or services to those who hold a BICS parcel. This will get you listed and linked up to the many web sites that sell BICS. There is no cost to you to do this.
- You can promote BICS and sell BICS parcels, and profit in doing so. The profit here is exceptional.
- You can be a BICS parcel owner. BICS parcel owners receive the benefits offered by those who honor BICS. Click here for companies who offer free and/or discounted goods and services to BICS owners. (we honor BICS)
How does BICS improve my web traffic sales?
Your company is advertised
as a company who honors BICS. There is no cost to you to do this.
A link exchange is all that is required. In short, those who honor BICS
advertise each other, mostly through Internet directories and link exchanges.
Why does it cost me money to own a BICS parcel, and who does this money
go to?
BICS can only work
if there are people doing the promoting, and that means profiting from
that promotion.
There are quite a few companies that sell BICS, and anyone can do it. It's simply a proposition of buying as low as you can from someone selling. If you are selling, then sell as high as you can to someone who is buying. The companies who sell BICS keep all the money they receive from the sale.
*Note. Many of those who honor BICS require that you paid a set price for your BICS parcel number.
How much does a BICS parcel cost?
A BICS parcel is
priced according to market forces, and prices will vary depending upon
the quantity you are willing to buy.
Who monitors and enforces BICS?
One of the most unique
aspects to BICS is that it is ungoverned and unstructured. Each
BICS participant does so in his or her own self-interest.
The BICS parcel ownership and number list is kept by an independent entity, who collects a small registration fee just to keep track of who owns what.
Those who honor BICS enforce each other's compliance in this way. If you don't tow the line, they won't advertise you.
So, there is literally no single entity in charge.
How did BICS get started?
BICS began as an
acronym for a computer marketing system that was established before the
Internet became popular. It was based on a fax system and computer
database from Bogen and IBM, hence the name "Bogan IBM Computer System".
This system has long since passed, but the initials B-I-C-S remain
as the moniker for a highly successful marketing system that evolved from
the original.
The original BICS owners were a couple of merchants, who split up with each then owning one half of the system. One of them then sold half of his half, creating quarter shares. Then half of a quarter was sold, creating eighth shares, and so on.
The actual computer system soon became obsolete, but growth continued with each split creating more "value", due to the networking of shared customer bases. Soon, BICS parcels were being equated with membership in several prominent organizations, as these organizations used BICS as a tool to grow their membership ranks. BICS is currently touted as a "membership function" meaning that it is quite successful in helping groups grow. As of this writing there are 16,000 numbered parcels spread out and owned by over 2,000 entities.
Back to Understanding BICS
Sign up to Honor BICS