Thursday, March 31, 2011

Guess Who Got Hitched?

Yes, finally after all these years of being alone and struggling, I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to do something to get out of the mess I was in. So...

I put out some feelers, I contacted all my old friends and ask there opinion about what I should do and they all agreed that it was time for me to get hitched.

I started looking at my possibilities, what was in the marketplace and boy did I ever have a long journey.

First of all I wasn't looking in the right places. Second, those in my age group were just "out of the loop". So I decided I needed make some changes. 

I needed to look at different categories and thus the journey began. One cold wintry day I was online and surfing the net when I came upon a likely candidate. He was fairly good looking, a little younger than me, but that didn't matter too much to me. I liked what he was about and his presence on the net, so I started following him. I followed him on Twitter and Facebook and found myself in a predicament. I was obsessed with this man and he didn't even recognize me. 

So I decided it was time to change some strategy and what with my article writing all the time, I didn't really have time to look for someone suitable. I went to Squidoo and started writing up my little lens (pages) and was having a rather good time and learning too. I began reading some of the lens (pages) posted so that I could learn what I needed to do to be a better writer. 

I found a lens (page) by the Editor in Chief, Megan Casey and loved her picture and decided to read all her lens when about halfway through and at 1:00 a.m,. tired and weary from the reading, there he was...big as life and all this time I had missed him. All this time I didn't even know he existed. I hurriedly downloaded his material and was blown away.

Let me tell you about him.Talk about magic...American Way Magazine calls him, “America’s Greatest Marketer,” and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual.  

So you can by now understand why I got hitched...yes, on March 30, 2011, in a quiet ceremony held in my office, in the middle of the night, we tied the knot, or should I say "I" tied the knot?

Mother's advice
My mother always taught me that if you want to get somewhere, you must follow those who have been successful and are good at what they do. She said, "just hitch your wagon to theirs", I took her advice.

Let the honeymoon begin
You see I am a freelance writer, but not a strong marketer and I had been searching for ways to accomplish what I wanted to do in my field. Now I can write, my college Professor Francis McDonald tells me I am a good writer, but I just couldn't get anywhere online. So I set out to find out how to get where I wanted to go and thus I found "Mr. Right".

I must send thank-you cards to Squidoo who started this whole thing by allowing me to write lens (pages) for them. Then the Editor-in-Chief, Megan Casey had to go and make a lens about all these wonderful things that were happening with his e-book and so it really wasn't my fault that I fell head over heels.

If you don't know who he is by now, then there is a good chance your not on the net, or that you live under a rock somewhere (kinda like me), or that you really don't know a brilliant writer and marketer like Seth Godin.

So I have taken the advice of my mother and am now hitched to Mr. Seth Godin. He has become my mentor, the go-to man, for anything related to writing, blogging, marketing and if you need a star to follow, be sure and hitch your wagon to someone who knows what is happening and does not mind sharing his thoughts and his ideas with others.

Mr. Godin does not know that I exist, and that is fine, but I know that he does and that he makes things happen. Somehow our paths were meant to cross. He has left an indelible mark on my writing career. I was particularly impressed by his speech at the BizTechDay in San Francisco speaking about "Over Powering The Lizard Brain".

Mr. Seth Godin is a genius and yes, I have hitched my wagon to his star and will follow his writing, blogging and marketing ideas to infinity.

Please read his e-book, "What Matters Now", very good information, and you know what he will give it to you for FREE..





Sunday, March 27, 2011

Have You Seen The Doctor Today?

If you haven't been for a check-up lately, maybe you need to take the time. Seeing the Doctor at least once every 6 months for most people is good. However, the best advice I can give you now is to see him every week and in some cases everyday until you can get cured.

You say cured of what? Well if you don't know why your blog, your site, your podcast, is not going anywhere, maybe you need to see a Doctor.  I have found one that I think you will learn a lot from. It may take you some time to get acquainted with his (office) site. But if you hang around long enough you will learn and you will prosper.

 We think of Doctors as specialist, the Doctor I recommend is a general practitioner, and a specialist. He can help you in all areas. I highly recommend that you see him today so that he can prescribe what is needed to further your business endeavors.

 


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Have You Been Branded Yet?


People who are interested in making money on the web need to realize one thing, people will only buy from those they trust, i.e., a friend or an acquaintance.

So you must brand yourself (not the old Texan way) and sell yourself first…the oldest trick in the book.  Even prostitutes know this, you must sell yourself first.  So get busy and sell yourself or rather brand yourself. We should make friends and help each other, that is why I like pay it forward, this is helping others. If you do not help others, don’t worry, you will not have any business, at least none that you will have to worry about or make money with.

Making friends in the social stratosphere is your next step…get busy making acquaintances that you will turn into friends.  Join Facebook, Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn and USfreeads and make yourself known in your market. Become the expert that you know yourself to be and knock them dead. 

Everyone has a need, your need may not be their need, or their need may not be your need, however if you look at your market close enough you will find a need and you can fill that need. Filling the needs of others should be primary in your focus here, not your need. If you focus upon their need, your need will be met. I cannot stress this enough.

There are many outfits out there ready to tell you how many millions they have made online, however, BEWARE as you will go broke following everybody that tells you they have made a million online. There are some people online that are willing and ready to help you. I am going to list a few of the people that have helped me through the years, please at least look at what they are offering and see if they can help you. I am not being paid to do this, I care about people and think what we learn, we need to pass on to others. 


                                  I am now involved in "branding" myself.

It has taken me so long. Don’t spend your hard earned money on phony scams and millionaire promises, instead, copy those that have made it.  Here is a list of people that have helped me…I am not self taught, these people helped me…they gave me the goods and I ran with it.  And now I can make the claim that I am helping others, just as these sites helped me. 


Just to name a few.



Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Mikeb302000: The Cost of the War in Libya

Mikeb302000: The Cost of the War in Libya

Are You a Marketing Whore?

The art of marketing your site is not something to take lightly or frivolously. There is an art to marketing online and it is much different than marketing that your mama taught you.

Know Your Market
Marketing online is an art and many times an overlooked art. Once you have gotten your site ready to publish, you know who your market is, or rather you should know who your market is, but you want the world to see your "new baby", your own creation, WAIT! Analyze where you are headed and what the results will be, the search engines will thank you.

Demographics
Rather than haphazardly submitting, plan your submissions. First your demographics will dictate the proper time for exposure, for instance if you are selling something to the public, you must first decide on where, when and how they will be using it so that you know when, where and how to present it. For example if I was selling a recipe for "stuffed grape leaves", I sure would look funny if I tried to market that product to the middle eastern countries. I would need to push that product in another area. The middle easterners make the stuffed grape leaves and they would not be interested in my recipe, so I sure would not get much traffic there. Again, know your market and what they need and fill that need. Do your homework and you will know when, where and how to market your products.

Wasting Time
If you tend to just submit your site to all the search engines may be a waste of time. If you send your site to Google, of course you are going to be seen in the USA and many other countries.A lot of the search engines are not active in all countries, hence a waste of time for you.

Target Your Market
Target your market and go for it. Look for hot items to address in your blog that coincides with the products you are trying to sell. If you market "YOU", the sales will come. Give people a reason to want to follow you, either by fulfilling a need or just by reaching out to people. Get involved in charities, in care groups, forums and blog, blog, blog. I have found the more active you are in these areas, the more the word gets around and soon you will be known in your industry.

Planning
I have seen those who would create a site and throw it up in the social media arenas and just let it hang there. This to me is crass, yes you want their business, but to slam them with your product as though your saying, "here, buy this now", is a market whore! The public is aware of what you are doing and they will be turned off by your tactics. Ask for advice, not only from the "gurus" but from your friends and neighbors in the social media places. when you involve your public they will feel appreciated for their knowledge and they will help you and they will respond to you. You must give them something to go away with, by this I don't mean a freebie, in as much as I mean something to feel good about themselves
and about you and your product. I remember an old story I heard which fits right here. Two bulls were up on the hill and saw all these females down on the range grazing, the young bull looked at the old bull and said let's just run down there and grab one of them. The old bull said oh no, let's just saunter down and get them all!

Do Not Push
Keep that story in mind when addressing your market, saunter into the market place and you will have the business,if you behave, or if you have the mindset of the young bull you may get one sale, but you will have left a mark on your market that Ajax can't take off.

Beware of being pushy in the market place.

I learned from the Squidoo Queen how to market and how not to market. She is an ace in this area and I found that if I follow her advice I am much further ahead in the game. If you haven't gotten your Squidoo lens, then you need to stop by and see Kelly and get a lens, you can make money with your lens.

Ask Kelly about her free lessons, they are excellent lessons about blogging, marketing, SEO,Amazon,AdSense and Wealthy Affiliate.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Economical Business Online101

In today's economical downturn, people are looking for a way to save a buck. Old school teaching taught us that to make a buck, you have to spend a buck. This is true for online businesses as well. If you are a frugal shopper you will be able to economize and still get an online business started. You should be able to get a decent site up for about $100.00.

SO YOU WANT TO BE RICH
Can you handle it? That is the question. First of all, you can economize your excursion into the "ONLINE-OPRANET" by seeking out the truth on the net. Many sites will mislead you. You must be aware of the traps designed to insure that you will fail. Money grabbing sites that take your name and email then promise to send you to a site where you don't have to do anything just make money are scams. I don't care who they are, they are scamming you.

First of all they lie when they say you don't have to do anything. You do have to do something if you want to make money online.

WORK INVOLVED
You must decide on a market for your business. In other words, what will you be selling, shoes, makeup, gardening equipment, etc. Once you have reached this level, you must then decide on a name for your business and secure a domain name, then hosting for that domain name.

You will have to figure out what keywords you will use to get the search engines to your site. Then and only then are you just starting to get the idea that, yes there is work involved.

ECONOMICS 101 INTERNET STYLE
Securing a domain name is simple, you just plug in the domain name you want and the company that sells domain names will search to see if that domain name is free, if it is, BINGO you can own it. The cost to do this is minimal...I have seen some advertised as low as $1.98 and up.

Then you must secure hosting for your domain name because as of right now it is just floating in the air. There are many hosting companies out there, but the best I have ever used is Hostgator.com The quality of service by far surpasses any I have ever seen. The site is user friendly and this is a must. Hostgator.com is also very reasonable.

TOOLS
Now that you have your site and hosting you must concentrate on the tools you will need to get your site pulled together for the public to see. It is like painting a picture, you don't show the rough draft sketches to your audience, you wait until you have the finished product. It is the same thing with your site, wait until you pull it all together and have all the tools on your site and then you can present it to your audience.

When speaking of tools-of-the-trade, take a look at Wealthy Affiliate. This site has all the tools you will need and they have a crash course also. Follow their instructions and you will be in business in less than a week and earning income.

Another great tool for your ONLINE-OPRANET is Squidoo. Kelly Stone, who is the Queen of Squidoo will put you through the paces to help make you think, make you a better blogger, better site owner and money maker too. Now how can you go wrong with all this advice in one place.

SUMMARIZE
If you are really interested in starting a money making online business go DIRECTLY to Squidoo, and tell Kelly The Finder sent you. Then go to Wealthy Affiliate and tell Kyle and Carson hello for me. I promise that you will not regret it. Both sites are free to join and you can start immediately.



Tomorrow we will have a surprise for you, so please check back with us!

Please visit these sites and show your love - http://www.thebenefitsofhoney.blogspot.com
http://www.caregivingessentials.com

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Finding a Diaper for the Boomers

Do you know a Boomer, better still are you a Boomer? Whoever named them, wonder why they named them Boomers. We had the generation X which sounds mysticish (new word) but Boomers, reminds me of Pepto-Bismol...pink and yucky.

Boomers Coming of Age
We now have aging Boomers. Statistics tell us that Junior Boomers are not even there yet, we are looking at Senior Boomers now ready to retire and 41.8 million Juniors are right behind them according to the Census Bureau.

Essentials for Boomers
One of the first things the Junior Boomers will be doing is finding a Nursing Home for their Senior Boomers because they cannot have them live at home now with the economy suffering and 41.8 million Boomers getting ready to retire, they are in trouble.

This morning, Sen. Tom Harkin, Democrat/Iowa delivered the keynote address at the National Institute on Retirement Security's annual policy conference and I quote.. "The future of our nation depends on our ability to ensure that everyone benefits from economic growth. That means putting policies in place that build a strong and vibrant middle class – a middle class with good jobs, fair wages, and benefits. That’s the America I want to see. One where people who work hard and play by the rules can live comfortably. One where everyone has the opportunity for a safe and secure retirement. But that’s not where we are today."

Results
This would be a good place to start for the retiring Senior Boomers so they can pass on the information to the Junior Boomers. There are more matters to consider than just the day to day caring of the elderly. There are financial matters that have to be considered. Donna gives a good insight into what these retirees will be looking at down the road, maybe even sooner than they think.

Monday, March 7, 2011

The Waters Are Deep

The Waters Are Deep


Keeps pulling me back
I feel like I’m drowning no where to get out
The boat is sinking with desperate alert
I keep reaching for shore but it eludes me for sure.

Friends try to help I keep pushing them aside
In desperation no where to hide
The darkness enshrouds me and leaves me so cold
The snake is around me there is no cure

I bite the hand, yet ask for more
Where or where my soul cries out is the shore
Big waves, or little doesn’t matter anymore
I’m surrounded by water and losing the shore.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Is POTUS learning to Dance?

Today is a new day...the protesters in Libya are holding fast. Gaddafi's assets are being frozen, naval rescuers are just off shore and the UN is unhappy with the "Gaddafiosa" shooting at their own people. Col. Gaddafi and his loyalist, although dwindling" are shooting at civilians, mostly unarmed civilians and this is unacceptable in this civilized world today.



All countries should be condeming what is going on in Libya, the protesters are taking a beating and the world is standing by watching. POTUS has very little to say, of course he doesn't want to ruin his image by saying anything, it could be turned against him and after all he is headed to an election.

The only thing he has accomplished since being elected as president...he has hired good speech writers. This man gives more speeches and layers them with lies and promises...in the streets I believe they call this "skinnin and grinnin"!

We are a bankrupt nation, we are in trouble the world over, we have troops scattered everywhere, can't get out of the wars we are in now because we are in too deep, our economy is the worst it has ever been, the dollar is being devalued as we speak, inflation is at an all time high, unemployment is at an all time high, we are seeing protest in the USA and Pres. Obama wants us to re-elect him?

What we need is someone to take the reins and lead this country. Obama has been grandstanding, "skinnin and grinnin" throughout his term and has accomplished absolutely nothing since arriving at the Whitehouse.

Obama is the poster boy for teleprompters and Mrs. Obama is the poster woman for good eating habits. How has any of this improved this country or our standing in the community, i.e., the world's eyes? I don't think he has a clue...when Hillary said she was worried about the 3a.m. phone call, she was on the money. I wonder if Obama has a teleprompter next to his bed, because I know he will not know what to say unless someone tells him.

This president is a community organizer, nothing more, nothing less. He gives good speeches and that says it all. We need leadership, we need someone who can answer that phone at 3a.m. without a teleprompter and with enough gonads to do whatever is necessary to keep this country safe, sound and in good working order. President Obama does not fill the bill.