I've been actively working in the internet marketing field for years now. I ran a site called Gooey Technology for many of those years, and this site for around 3 years. As well as a list of many, many niche sites.

This site, a Dent in the Universe, was originally created as a portal for a small group of internet marketers. We began as a group doing the 30 Day Challenge, and we all still actively participate in the forum to this day.

2008 is the year of new directions, and a Dent in the Universe is key to that direction. First off, the site will now be my home on the internet, combining my blog and the community forum.

Secondly, and more importantly, I've decided it's time for the site to live up to its name. I'm a very big believer in giving back, having been a volunteer in various charities and as well as donating to many over the years.

My plan for a Dent in the Universe is this, 20% of everything I make through this site will go to charity. Internet marketing has been good to me, and it's time for me to share.

20% of every sale of a product (the product total, not 20% of the commission), 20% of every bit of advertising revenue.

Here's a better explaination of how the 20% breaks down:

Product: For example, a $1000 product, regardless of the affiliate commission, 20% ie. $200 will go to charity. Any product sold through the Dent will have that flat rate of 20%. It won't matter what the affiliate commission % is, no exceptions.

Obviously A Dent In The Universe will be paying the 20% out of whatever commission they receive, this doesn't effect the owners of the products in any way.

All Other Revenue: This is simple. 20% of any ad revenue or any other revenue the site generates goes to charity.

When first formulating what I planned to do, I started to really look around at what would be a good fit. I'm a part of quite a few charities, but I wanted to pick something for A Dent In The Universe that really felt like a custom made fit. And I've found it.

Actually, when I say found it, I already knew it existed but I guess I didn't really quite appreciate what it fully was. It took Oprah to bring it to my attention. I'm not a regular Oprah viewer, but I was interested in a show recently as it featured ex-president Bill Clinton. The focus of the program was on giving (as that's the name of Bill's book) and it featured a range of people all giving in extraordinary ways. Two of those people were Matt and Jessica Flannery who founded Kiva.

In case you haven't heard of it before, what Kiva does is provide a framework for people to lend money, termed microloans due to the general size of the loans, to entrepreneurs in the developing world. It's a brilliant concept and one that I think is a perfect fit. Here's a graph of the loan cycle borrowed from the Kiva website:

What I love about this is the concept of having the money repaid by the borrower, and that's where the clincher is in this for me. I don't want to take the money back out of my Kiva account ever. I want this to snowball. Every time I make a sale or generate some form of revenue from this site, 20% goes straight into my Kiva account, and it never comes back to me. I want it to grow exponentially. Think of it as a reverse compound interest. The money I put in gets used, put back, then used again. Perfect!

Find out more about Kiva by clicking on the banner ad below. Kiva is an incredible organisation, and one that I'm proudly supporting.

To me, that's what the true meaning of A Dent in the Universe is.