Jackson's Thriller Breaks Another Record

On Halloween eve, 73 zombies came to life at Madame Tussauds to break the world record for the most people simultaneously performing the dance from Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video. (Oct. 31)

Careful What You Tweet, The Pope May Be Following You

Can the Vatican be seriously considering starting a social network to compete with Facebook and LinkedIn? The Vatican, not listed among the most innovative organizations in the world, is looking to use mass communications to spread the word. This past week, Catholic bishops called for the use of mass communications -- including television, cinema, DVDs, and even iPods -- to be used to spread the word of the Bible in as many languages as possible.

Look Smart, Be Smart: A daily compendium of what you need to know to be effective as a word of mouth marketer.

Top 8 Dead Celeb in Earnings $$

Elvis still the king of dead celebs

Presley's estate earned $52 million in the past year, again leading Forbes' annual list of top-earning departed celebrities. Heath Ledger and Paul Newman also had good years -- financially, anyway.

Read entire article here @ Forbes.com.

Terrorists Could Use Twitter!

WOMMA.......Search Marketing Gurus (SMG) has blogged a great post questioning a recent US Army report that "Terrorists could theoretically use Twitter social networking in the U.S. as an operation tool." SMG, for their part, gives the layman and average Twittterer some credit and points out that most "human beings can spot a whack job a mile away."

At the very least, should some individual be spouting terrorist-like ideologies on a website, SMG explains that such a post would be policed internally or turned over to the relevant authorities. Social networks do not exist in a vacuum, and SMG correctly brings to light what appears to be a gross misunderstanding of the inner workings of websites like Twitter.

Read more....Search Marketing Gurus

Top 5 Strategies Dealing with this bad economy

Maybe this"economy thing" might be worse than we think.

What's the best way to protect yourself?

Well, there are two basic strategies to follow when situations like this come up:

1) Make more 2) Spend less

Pretty simple...Huh!!

Maybe cutout everyday that double latte.
Go out to dinner less.
Take fewer clothes to the cleaners.
And on and on.....

The ULTIMATE way to do better in life is to:

To work SMARTER.


1) Stop doing the things that are unproductive, 2) Stop the interruptions and distractions. 3) Stay focused on the things that matter.

Always ask what is the most productive/important item on my list. Identify it and then do it.

This is the Pareto 80/20 Principle. 80% of your revenue, sales etc. is going to be generated from 20% of your clients. Sooooo....push the eject button on the rest of your clients, they are wasting your time.

Conclusion: Be ruthless with your time, it is the most valuable possession you have.

Top 2 Choices by a Marketer or Leader by Seth Godin

Seth is an excellent writer, his daily blog posts seem to have the pulse of what is happening with consumers, marketing, the internet. Click on his name for the full blog post or click on the link here for Seth's latest book Tribes. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

As a marketer or a leader, you have two choices by Seth Godin:

The first is to realize that people will never ever be satisfied with you (ouch), they'll even whine when you give away something for free. Embrace the whining and realize that this attitude gives you an opportunity to answer the question with, "no! Wait, there's more!"

The second is to understand that a hug and a smile from a true friend is it. Along the way, marketers of stuff have tried to offer that stuff as a replacement to the thing that children/consumers/employees/customers/spouses really seek, which is connection and meaning and belonging and love.

Top 50 Reasons Why People Buy

Why People Buy

By Jay Conrad Levinson Copyright © 2004-2008. This was a featured article on Web-Source.net.

Perhaps you already know why people buy, but do you know all 51 reasons? The more of those reasons you know, the better you'll be able to market.

Geoff Ayling, in his superb book, “Rapid Response Advertising,” provides wannabe guerrillas with a full fifty reasons why people buy. There are really far more than fifty, but I have a feeling that these fifty will get your creative juices flowing. People make purchases for these, among many reasons:

1. To make more money ­ even though it can’t buy happiness
2. To become more comfortable, even a bit more
3. To attract praise ­ because almost everybody loves it
4. To increase enjoyment ­ of life, of business, of virtually anything
5. To possess things of beauty ­ because they nourish the soul
6. To avoid criticism ­ which nobody wants
7. To make their work easier ­ a constant need to many people
8. To speed up their work ­ because people know that time is precious
9. To keep up with the Joneses ­ there are Joneses in everybody’s lives
10. To feel opulent ­ a rare, but valid reason to make a purchase
11. To look younger ­ due to the reverence placed upon youthfulness
12. To become more efficient ­ because efficiency saves time
13. To buy friendship ­ I didn’t know it’s for sale, but it often is
14. To avoid effort ­ because nobody loves to work too hard
15. To escape or avoid pain ­ which is an easy path to making a sale
16. To protect their possessions ­ because they worked hard to get them
17. To be in style ­ because few people enjoy being out of style
18. To avoid trouble ­ because trouble is never a joy
19. To access opportunities ­ because they open the doors to good things
20. To express love ­ one of the noblest reasons to make any purchase
21. To be entertained ­ because entertainment is usually fun
22. To be organized ­ because order makes lives simpler
23. To feel safe ­ because security is a basic human need
24. To conserve energy ­ their own or their planet’s sources of energy
25. To be accepted ­ because that means security as well as love
26. To save time -- because they know time is more valuable than money
27. To become more fit and healthy -- seems to me that’s an easy sale
28. To attract the opposite sex ­ never undermine the power of love
29. To protect their family ­ tapping into another basic human need
30. To emulate others ­ because the world is teeming with role models
31. To protect their reputation ­ because they worked hard to build it
32. To feel superior ­ which is why status symbols are sought after
33. To be trendy ­ because they know their friends will notice
34. To be excited ­ because people need excitement in a humdrum life
35. To communicate better -- because they want to be understood
36. To preserve the environment ­ giving rise to cause-related marketing
37. To satisfy an impulse ­ a basic reason behind a multitude of purchases
38. To save money ­ the most important reason to 14% of the population
39. To be cleaner ­ because unclean often goes with unhealthy and unloved
40. To be popular ­ because inclusion beats exclusion every time
41. To gratify curiosity -- it killed the cat but motivates the sale
42. To satisfy their appetite ­ because hunger is not a good thing
43. To be individual ­ because all of us are, and some of us need assurance
44. To escape stress ­ need I explain?
45. To gain convenience ­ because simplicity makes life easier
46. To be informed ­ because it’s no joy to be perceived as ignorant
47. To give to others ­ another way you can nourish your soul
48. To feel younger ­ because that equates with vitality and energy
49. To pursue a hobby ­ because all work and no play etc. etc. etc.
50. To leave a legacy ­ because that’s a way to live forever

I must add one more area about which you should be creative, one more reason that motivates people to make a purchase, and that area deals with pain. Thomas Jefferson said, “The art of life is the art of avoiding pain; and he is the best pilot, who steers clearest of the rocks and shoals with which it is beset.” More recently, Sam Deep and Lyle Sussman, who wrote “Close The Deal,” teach the importance of pain and the ways to learn where it resides. If you know exactly, you’ve got a heckuva great starting point for your creativity.

There. Now that you've got 51 ways to win the hearts and business of your prospects, I think you'll have an easier job of winning sales and profits.

Jay Conrad Levinson is the author of the "Guerrilla Marketing" series of books, the most popular marketing series in history with 14 million sold, now in 39 languages.

Top 6 Reasons Why We Crave Connection on Social Media

Social media, in fact, is a basic human need,
revealed digitally online.
by Seth Godin

We want to:

To be connected,

To make a difference,

To matter,

To be missed,

To belong, and

Yes, we want to be led.

Read more of Seth Godin's latest book Tribes.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us at Amazon.com

More Reviews low tech to high tech Simply Reviews.

Wisdom Proof it does come w/ age

Wisdom....
When I was younger I hated going to weddings.
It seemed that all of my aunts and the grand motherly types used to
come up to me, poke me in the ribs and cackle, telling me, 'YOU'RE NEXT'.

They stopped that crap after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

Warren Buffett Says Be Greedy Buy U.S. Stocks

Hey, OMG, I quoted Warren with this same quote on my blog on Wed. 10-15-08.

Took the New York Times a few days to catch a clue....

"A simple rule dictates my buying," Buffett writes. "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."

Warren Buffett pulls out the pom-poms in a New York Times editorial today urging people to follow his lead and buy American stocks. I want to know which stocks he's buying. And, is holding cash really that bad?

Buffett says he's been buying stocks in his own personal account, in which he previously owned nothing but government bonds. If prices stay attractive, he says, soon all of his personal holdings will be 100% U.S. equities.

Top 4 Ways Warren Buffet is Dealing with Financial Crisis

Warren Buffett's Top 4 Keys to Investing

First a quote by Buffett, this quote is really appropriate about these current financial times.

"When everyone is greedy, be fearful....When everyone is fearful, be greedy....

Advice from the Oracle of Omaha....Mr. Buffett has always let his actions speak for him, below are the keys to his investing at this time. You may read the entire article at Michael Brush's column for the in depth analysis of the financial moves Mr. Buffett is currently making.

But actions speak louder than words. And Buffett's recent actions provide four keys for investors:

• In the long run the U.S. economy will be fine, so it's time to start nibbling on cyclical names that have been hit too hard by fears of economic Armageddon, like railroad stock BNSF Railway (BNI)

• Basic manufacturing stocks may be buys here for the same reason.

• Get international exposure to benefit from the weak dollar and foreign economic growth.

• Avoid the financial sector.

All sounds so simple....If Wall Street had followed his simple ideas would Wall Street be in this financial Mess??

Quote of The Day

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
- Aesop

6 Marketing Mistakes Businesses Make Daily

Just read this from Dan Kennedy....When doing so, here are some simple ideas to carefully consider:

#1: Most businesses invest too much in chasing new customers and too little in doing additional repeat business with their existent customers.

#2: The satisfied customer is predisposed to purchase again. Purchase more and purchase something different.

#3: It costs less to motivate a known customer to purchase again than to acquire a new customer.

#4: Customers are only fickle because a new competitor is paying more attention to them than you are.

#5: In business-to-business marketing many companies make the huge mistake of having all their contact with their customers go through the sales representative. This leaves the customers vulnerable to theft if the representative jumps to another employer. It also leaves too much opportunity for negligence on the representative's part.

#6:Regardless of the layers of distribution between you and your customer you should establish some direct link. The owner of a restaurant can do that by coming around and chatting personally with the customers. The chief executive officer of a large company can do it with a newsletter and maybe a hotline telephone number.


Los Angeles Network Cabling....

Amazon overtakes eBay in Valuation

In 2005 , eBay's valuation was three times Amazon's....This summer Amazon surpassed eBay. Amazon has a long term strategy under the leadership of Bezos. eBay has always been focused on hitting each quarters' numbers.

Should be interesting to see, how each of them come out of this recession.

Mark Twain on Anger

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”....Mark Twain

Og Mandino Quotes

Og Mandino Quotes

Act now. For now is all you have.
Action is the food and drink which will nourish my success.
Action will destroy your procrastination.
All men must stumble often to reach the truth.
All nature is a circle of moods and you are a part of nature and so, like
the tides, your moods will rise; your moods will fall.
All your problems, discouragements, and heartaches are, in truth, great
opportunities in disguise.
Always let your reach exceed your grasp.
Always raise your goals as soon as they are attained.
Always strive to make the next hour better than this one.
Always take another step. If that is to no avail take another, and yet
another. One step at a time is not too difficult.
Any act with practice becomes easy.
Apply all of your efforts to become the highest mountain of all and strain
your potential until it cries for mercy.
Avoid with fury the killers of time.
Bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.
Bathe me in good habits that the bad ones may drown.
Be happy.
Be hungry for success.
Be prepared to control whatever personality awakes in you each day.
Become master of yourself.
Begin now to accent your differences.
Beginning today, you can increase your accomplishments of yesterday by a
hundredfold.
Bury doubt under faith.
Cherish each hour of this day for it can never return.
Chuckle and your burdens will be lightened.
Concentrate your energy on the challenge of the moment.
Confidence will take away your fear.
Consider each obstacle as a mere detour to your goal and a challenge to your
profession.
Consider each obstacle as a mere detour to your goal.
Count your blessings today.
Cultivate the habit of laughter.
Destroy procrastination with action.
Dismember fear with confidence.
Do not allow yesterday's success to lull you into today's complacency, for
this is the great foundation of failure.
Do not be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments or indulge in
self-praise for deeds which are too small to even acknowledge.
Do not commit the terrible crime of aiming too low.
Do not dwell on the past.
Do not judge a man on one meeting.
Do not listen to those who weep and complain, for their disease is
contagious.
Do not make vain attempts to imitate others.
Do not permit the petty happenings of today to disturb you.
Do not think of yesterday or tomorrow.
Do not waste a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats,
or yesterday's aches of the heart.
Drink every minute to its fill; savor its taste and give thanks.
Drive a bad habit from your life and replace it with one which will bring
you closer to success.
Each day will be triumphant only when your smiles bring forth smiles from
others.
Each failure to sell will increase your chances for success at your next
attempt.
Each frown you meet only prepares you for the smile to come.
Each minute of today will be more fruitful than the hours of yesterday.
Your last must be your best.
Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow's good
luck.
Each nay I hear will bring me closer to the sound of yea.
Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid
them and you throw away your future.
Each struggle, each defeat sharpens your skills and strengthens your courage
and your endurance.
Enjoy today's happiness today.
Failure does not course through your veins as you were not delivered into
this world in defeat.
Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle.
Failure will never overtake you if your determination to succeed is strong
enough.
For now you know one of the greatest principles of success; if you persist
long enough you will win.
Forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or
bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of
your life.
Fulfill today's duties today.
Good habits are the key to all success.
Grant me compassion for weaknesses in others.
Grasp each minute of this day with both hands and fondle it with love for
its value is beyond price.
Green grass grows where dry desert ends.
Greet the sunrise with cries of joy.
Happiness is the wine that sharpens the taste of the meal.
Have confidence that this will be the best day of your life.
I can accomplish far more than I have, and I will, for why would the miracle
which produced me end with my birth? Why can I not extend that miracle to
my deeds of today?
I consider poverty to be the mark of a lack of ability or a lack of
ambition.
I have a choice and I will not let my life be fed to swine nor will I let it
be ground under the rocks of failure and despair to be broken open and
devoured by the will of others.
I have not time to hate, only time to love.
I need not wait for I have the power to choose my own destiny.
I shall live this day as if it is my last. And if it is not, I shall fall
to my knees and give thanks.
I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles
for they are my challenge.
I will be successful.
I will command, and I will obey mine own command.
I will do the work that a failure will not do.
I will encourage my friends and they will become brothers.
I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.
I will form good habits and become their slave.
I will greet this day with love in my heart.
I will greet this day with love, and I will succeed.
I will laud mine enemies and they will become friends.
I will laugh at evil and it will die untasted.
I will look on all things with love, and I will be born again.
I will love all mankind.
I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even
though they may be hidden.
I will love myself.
I will love the ambitious for they can inspire me!
I will love the beautiful for their eyes of sadness; I will love the ugly
for their souls of peace.
I will love the failures for they can teach me.
I will love the kings for they are but human; I will love the meek for they
are divine.
I will love the rich for they are yet lonely; I will love the poor for they
are so many.
I will love the young for the faith they hold; I will love the old for the
wisdom they share.
I will persist until I succeed.
I will persist and I will win.
I will say it is done before the failure says it is too late.
I will talk when the failure remains silent.
I will think naught of my profession when I am in my home for this will
dampen my love.
I will toil and I will endure.
I will walk where the failure fears to walk.
I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart.
I will work when the failure seeks rest.
If all things shall pass, why should I be of concern for today ?
If I delay, success will become betrothed to another and lost to me forever.
If I have no other qualities I can succeed with love alone.
If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will
succeed.
If I stumble I will rise, and my falls will not concern me.
If you bring joy, enthusiasm, brightness, and laughter to your customers,
they will react with joy, enthusiasm, brightness, and laughter and your
weather will produce a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for you.
If you feel depressed - sing!
If you feel fear, plunge ahead.
If you feel incompetent, remember past successes.
If you feel insignificant, remember your goals.
If you feel poverty, think of wealth to come.
If you feel sad - laugh.
If you must be a slave to habit, then be a slave to good habits.
If you persist long enough, you will win.
If you waste today, you destroy the last page of your life.
Ignore the obstacles at your feet and keep your eyes on the goals above your
head.
In setting my goals, I will consider my best performance of the past and
multiply it a hundredfold.
Increase your knowledge of mankind.
It pays to be persistent.
Just as love is my weapon to open the hearts of men, love is also my shield
to repulse the arrows of hate and the spears of anger.
Just as nature made no provision for your body to tolerate pain neither has
it made any provision for your life to suffer failure.
Keep work and family separate.
Laugh and your life will be lengthened for this is the great secret of long
life.
Laugh at goodness and it will thrive and abound.
Laugh at the world.
Laugh at your failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams.
Laugh at your successes and they will shrink to their true value.
Laugh at yourself for man is most comical when he takes himself too
seriously.
Leave your problems at home.
Lift up a friend in need.
Lift your arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day.
Live this day as if it is your last. Seal up the container of life so that
not one drop spills itself upon the sand.
Live this day as if it is your last.
Live today as if it is your last chance to prove your love and your
greatness.
Look upon each obstacle as a lesson to be learned.
Look upon misfortune as opportunity in disguise.
Love the darkness because it shows you the stars.
Love will melt all hearts like the sun whose rays soften the coldest clay.
Love yourself!
Make every hour count and trade each minute only for something of value.
Make love your greatest weapon.
Make the hours ahead priceless!
Make this day the best day of your life.
Many face each obstacle in their path with fear and doubt and consider them
as enemies, when in truth, these obstructions are friends and helpers.
Many succumb to despair and fail without realizing that they already possess
all the tools needed to acquire great wealth.
Master your emotions so that each day will be productive.
Master your moods through positive action and when you master your moods you
will control your destiny.
Meditation and prayer feeds the soul.
My desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew, and I will
be happier than I ever believed it possible to be in this world of strife
and sorrow.
Nature knows not defeat.
Never allow yourself to become so important, so wise, so dignified, so
powerful, that you forget how to laugh at yourself.
Never be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments.
Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he
who has never tried.
Never will I allow my heart to become small and bitter, rather I will share
it and it will grow and warm the earth.
Never will I allow my mind to be attracted to evil and despair, rather I
will uplift it with the knowledge and wisdom of the ages.
Never will I allow my soul to become complacent and satisfied, rather I will
feed it with meditation and prayer.
Never will I labor to be happy; rather will I remain too busy to be sad.
Never will I overindulge the requests of my flesh, rather I will cherish my
body with cleanliness and moderation.
Never will I scratch for excuses to gossip.
No longer shall my vocabulary include such words as cannot, unable,
impossible, and quit.
No longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate
today.
Obstacles are necessary for success.
Only a habit can subdue another habit.
Only action determines my value in the market place.
Only with laughter and happiness can I enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Only with laughter and happiness can you truly become a success.
People will always respond positively to joy and enthusiasm.
Persist and develop your skills as the mariner develops his, by learning to
ride out the wrath of each storm.
Persist with the knowledge that each failure to sell will increase your
chance for success at the next attempt.
Practice the art of patience for nature never acts in haste.
Put your uniqueness on display in the market place.
Rain cleanses the spirit.
Remember that as today's dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow's bloom so
does today's sadness carry the seed of tomorrow's joy.
Remove from your vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable,
impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless,
and retreat; for they are the words of fools.
Rewards are great if one succeeds but the rewards are great only because so
few succeed.
Seek constantly to improve your manners and graces, for they are the sugar
to which all are attracted.
Set goals for the day, the week, the month, the year, and your life.
Should you concern yourself over events which you may never witness? Should
you torment yourself with problems that may never come to pass? No!
Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday, think of it no more.
Sleep in peace for you have not failed.
Small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.
Smile and your digestion will improve.
So long as I can laugh, never will I be poor.
So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist.
Strive for happiness and peace of mind.
Strive for happiness, to be loved and to love, and most important, to
acquire peace of mind and serenity.
Strive to become better than you are.
Strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.
Success comes to those willing to work a little bit harder than the rest.
Success will not wait.
Suffer me to know that all things shall pass.
The height of my goals will not hold me in awe though I may stumble often
before they are reached.
The only difference between those who have failed and those who have
succeeded lies in their habits.
The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning;
and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to
reach my goal.
The problems of the market place will be left in the market place.
The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.
There are good qualities in everyone.
There are lessons to be learned from failures.
There is no room in the market place for your family, nor is there room in
your home for the market.
There is not time to hate, only time to love.
This day is all you have and these hours are now your eternity. Greet this
sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death.
This is the place.
This is the time.
This too shall pass.
Time teaches all things to him who lives forever, but I have not the luxury
of eternity.
To conquer fear I must always act without hesitation and the flutters in my
heart will vanish.
To enjoy success I must have happiness, and laughter will be the maiden who
serves me.
To multiply your value you must multiply your actions.
To surpass the deeds of others is unimportant; to surpass your own deeds is
all.
Today I begin a new life.
Today I shed my old skin which hath too long suffered the bruises of failure
and the wounds of mediocrity.
Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.
Today I will surpass every action which I performed yesterday.
Today you will be master of your emotions.
Today, I will act.
Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy.
Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday.
True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.
Try again, make one more attempt to close with victory, and if that fails,
make another.
Try, and try, and try again.
Understand and recognize the moods of others. Make allowances for their
anger and irritation for they know not the secret of controlling their
minds.
Unless you act you will perish in a life of failure, misery, and sleepless
nights.
Unless you put your skills, mind, heart, and body to good use, you will
stagnate, rot, and die.
Victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats.
We must have the night to appreciate the day.
Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who
forces his actions to control his thoughts.
Welcome happiness for it enlarges your heart; endure sadness for it opens
your soul.
What can take place before this sun sets which will not seem insignificant
in the river of centuries?
What is success other than a state of mind?
When an act becomes easy through constant repetition, it becomes a pleasure
to perform, and if it is a pleasure to perform, it is man's nature to
perform it often.
When I am burdened with wealth I shall tell myself that this too shall pass.
When I am moved to praise, I will shout from the roofs.
When I am puffed with success I shall warn myself that this too shall pass.
When I am strangled in poverty I shall tell myself that this too shall pass.
When I am tempted to criticize, I will bite on my tongue.
When others cease their struggle, then mine will begin, and my harvest will
be full.
When you are heavy with heartache console yourself that this too shall
pass.
Where dry desert ends, green grass grows.
Where there are idle mouths I will listen not; where there are idle hands I
will linger not; where there are idle bodies I will visit not.
Will my concern for this day not seem foolish ten years hence?
With each victory the next struggle becomes less difficult.
With love I will tear down the wall of suspicion and hate which they have
built round their hearts, and in its place, I will build bridges so that my
love may enter their souls.
Within you burns a flame which has been passed from generations uncounted,
and its heat is a constant irritation to your spirit to become better than
you are, and you will.
Yesterday's joy will become today's sadness; yet today's sadness will grow
into tomorrow's joy.
Yesterday's success will not lull me into today's complacency.
Yesterday is buried forever, think of it no more.
You are a unique creature.
You are here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not
to shrink to a grain of sand.
You are nature's greatest miracle.
You are rare, and there is value in all rarity; therefore, you are valuable.
You can accomplish far more than you have, and you will.
You can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles with ambition.
You have been given eyes to see and a mind to think.
You have but one life and life is naught but a measurement of time.
You have unlimited potential.
You may encounter failure at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind
the next bend in the road. You will never know how close success lies
unless you turn the corner.
You must fail often to succeed only once.
You must have objectives before your life will crystallize.
You must nurture your body and mind in order to fulfill your dreams.
You only have time to love.
You were conceived in love and brought forth with a purpose.
You will become great.
You won't know how close success is unless you turn the corner.

Source Unknown

Illegal Immigrants Commit 20% of Aggravated DUIs

Illegal Immigrants Commit 20% of Aggravated DUIs, but make up only 9% of the Population

Overall, 16.5% of violent crimes in Maricopa County can be linked to illegal immigrants. The average cost for each offense? A whopping $20,000, which includes prosecution, incarceration, and other costs. This study breaks down felonies committed into categories, revealing that contrary to media myths, illegal immigrants commit more crimes in categories completely separate from the crime of illegally crossing the border.

IntellectualConservative.com

Only in Bowling is Perfect Possible

From Seth Godin....I Just Read This....

Only in Bowling is perfect possible....

"what do you do when things don't go exactly the way you planned a month ago?" And it turns out that if your bias is to always make it right, to use grace and flair to overdeliver at every turn, you've just discovered the single most important secret of marketing. Because when you amaze and delight, people talk about you.

7-Eleven Predicts Election Via Coffee?!

I just read this ....7-Eleven is now serving their coffee in either Obama (blue) cups or McCain (red) cups. You vote, obviously, by which cup you choose.....

Votes will be tallied and published in the USA today on a weekly basis during the month of October.

And why should we listen or care about the above there are two very good reasons:

• In 2000, the George W. Bush coffee cup outsold Al Gore's cup by just 1 percentage point.

• In 2004, sales of coffee tracked identically with published national election results: 51% for Bush and 49% for John Kerry.

So.....Go Figure....

Financial Meltdown Explained

I just watched this video from Jim Jubak of MSN money, he explains the financial crisis in simple terms.

He explains the snowball effect of the economy and the reason their is a financial crisis in Californa.

Google's Early Days

Celebrate Google's 10th birthday: try a search from their early days.

In honor of our 10th birthday, we've brought back our oldest available index. Take a look back at Google in January 2001.

This logo is great....Same colors different design.

Open Table powers through a Dip

Open Table powers through a Dip...I just talked about Seth's Book in my last post...I wanted to review his The Dip blog and just read this jewel about what working thru "The Dip" Means.

Open Table is an online reservations service. It's free to use and the restaurant pays a dollar per diner. The company has raised more than 20 million dollars to date. (original Times story).

During the company's first three years, they booked a million diners (in total). Now, they book two million every single month. Five years ago, they had 1,000 restaurants to choose from, now they have 7,000.

That's what it looks like when you get through the Dip. They're a superstar, the only choice.

How did they know it was a Dip and not a dead end? Because they were selling to an entire market, not just one restaurant (Chez Panisse still isn't a customer). By measuring incremental progress, they could see that the corner was just ahead.

(And a Dip within a Dip--one happy client is Norma's, a hyped breakfast restaurant in NY. Norma's does huge business via Open Table, largely because they come up on top of the breakfast 'bestseller' list. Like most things that get through the Dip, they're popular because they're popular.)

Is effort a myth?

This is an excerpt from Seth Godin's Blog... You may click on the title of this post to read the entire article.

With that forewarning, here's a bootstrapper's/marketer's/entrepreneur's/fast-rising executive's effort diet. Go through the list and decide whether or not it's worth it. Or make up your own diet. Effort is a choice, at least make it on purpose:

1. Delete 120 minutes a day of 'spare time' from your life. This can include TV, reading the newspaper, commuting, wasting time in social networks and meetings. Up to you.

2. Spend the 120 minutes doing this instead:

• Exercise for thirty minutes.
• Read relevant non-fiction (trade magazines, journals, business books, blogs, etc.)
• Send three thank you notes.
• Learn new digital techniques (spreadsheet macros, Firefox shortcuts, productivity tools, graphic design, html coding)
• Volunteer.
• Blog for five minutes about something you learned.
• Give a speech once a month about something you don't currently know a lot about.

3. Spend at least one weekend day doing absolutely nothing but being with people you love.

4. Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly.

If you somehow pulled this off, then six months from now, you would be the fittest, best rested, most intelligent, best funded and motivated person in your office or your field. You would know how to do things other people don't, you'd have a wider network and you'd be more focused.

I just finished Seth's Book The Dip. It is short and a must read...Do you know when to quit. (You buy it on Amazon for less then $10.)

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit It's a mind grenade, a little bit of insight that will help you see what's causing your organization (or you) to get stuck.

Obama Will Win...Halloween Mask Sales Confirm

If Sales Of Halloween Masks Could Predict The Election, Obama Would Be President.

Everyone has their favorite way to predict who will win the Presidential election. Amazon likes to keep track of Halloween mask sales. Supporters of either candidate can buy rubber masks of each to wear for Halloween.

So far, 57 percent of the masks Amazon has sold have been Obama masks, versus 43 percent for McCain masks. Appeared in TechCrunch.


Halloween costumes on sale now at Taylor Gifts! Check out our unique and novelty costumes on sale now through 10/31/08.





Or maybe a Sara Palin Mask?

Video Tony Robbins at Ted Conference

I am not usually a big Tony Robbins but his remarks at the Ted Conference were actually very good.

If you do not know what Ted is go to Ted.com. This is an incredible conference every year.

Tony Robbins speaks at Ted Conference.

Perry Marshall, the Big Bailout, and the 80/20 Rule

Perry Marshall weighs in on the Big Bailout...

I just read this email from Perry and I wanted to share with all my readers. I like the way he writes, what he has to say and solid middle of the country views-opinions. Read on....

"Farmer Ron, the Big Bailout, and the 80/20 Rule


My father-in-law, Ron, is a 77 year old retired farmer in Southeastern Nebraska. He wears a John Deere hat, sports a farmer's suntan and talks kinda slow.

He had this to say about the Big Bailout:

"The people that stole my cow now want me to feed it. I resent that a lot, but I do not want my cow to die. So I guess we will have to send more cow feed their way. In the good ole days, we could have hung a couple of the rustlers and that would have delayed the next raid by awhile. Now they expect to get rewarded."

Gotta love that simple farmer common sense.

Gotta love the fact that he's from Nebraska. (Just like me.)

I'd like to add a few comments of my own.

First, the contrast between the mainstream news media and the entrepreneurial culture online couldn't possibly be more striking.

Journalists, as a group, are the most financially threatened population in today's economy.

Not because of the banking crisis, but because the Internet is destroying their business. They're ALL scared. Radio, newspaper, TV reporters - all of them.

THAT is the lens they see the world in to begin with. The grim reaper is pounding at their door and this colors EVERYTHING they say.

Those reporters who are able to perceive opportunity have already abandoned ship to seize it. The ones still reporting are the ones who are still hanging on. Can you hear the water seeping in? Glug-Glug-Glug...

Not only are they paranoid, they are irresponsible and lazy. One time Ken McCarthy said, "Reporters don't report, they repeat. They don't investigate, they elaborate."

You CANNOT trust these people to tell you what is really going on.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs are unanimous in their resolution to gain ground during this next season. Yes, we clearly understand we may witness all manner of turmoil.

But we know that many, many assets will be undervalued, that average thinkers will cut back on marketing and advertising and customer acquisition, that people whose stocks have gone down will do the stupidest thing possible and SELL them in fear of further loss.

Their loss is our gain.

All you have to do is read the emails and watch the videos that are coming out in droves from those of us who are on the front lines working with top performers. I spent last weekend with 65 other entrepreneurs at my Chicago seminar and the atmosphere in the room was powerfully upbeat, even effusive.

I fully understand how easy it is to see the good news as a masquerade and the disaster as being fully real. But as far as I'm concerned, the bottom line reality is still this:

1. Crisis ALWAYS creates opportunity. Always. "The time to buy is when blood is running in the streets."

2. It's like that old story about the two guys being chased by the bear. One says to the other, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you."

Let's talk about #2 for awhile.

It sounds so terribly vulture-ish to say that, doesn't it? Doesn't it sound so... exploitive? So mercenary?

Oh yes, it most certainly does.

But it's still true.

One of my other favorite truths:

"In the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king."

Just about every market I've ever seen is a land of the blind. All but the most ferociously competitive niches, anyway. I'd be hard pressed to look at any business in any industry and not be able to find, within 15 minutes, significant holes in their marketing strategy.

If you've got holes, baby, this is the time to patch 'em.

Cuz here's the deal:

Your market is the land of the blind, and... it might just constrict. (Or it might not. But it might.)

If it does, some vendors will go under.

Your job is to make sure it's somebody else, not you.

80/20 Rule says:

20% of the businesses get 80% of the business.

That means the members of the 20% make 16X as much money as the members of the 80%. And it also means, if the water level rises, it's the 80% who drown first. The 20% drown last.

The 20% seldom ever drown.

They plug their leaks, they tighten their ship, they whip their crew into shape. They prepare for the long winter and they get busy. They still drink and sing Irish folk songs at their crazy parties and they still have a good time. They enjoy their good time with resolve and determination.

For a long time we've had 5% unemployment. That means 95% employment. That means 95% of people who want a job, have one. Less employment than that surely requires some kind of exception to the laws of the universe!

That means of the bottom 80% - the mediocre people who have no inspiration and little sense of responsibility and can't follow instructions - only 5% of THOSE are unable to find work.

A 5% unemployment is therefore a virtual violation of the 80/20 rule. A merciful one, but nonetheless a violation. Ah, the luxuries of a society that values equality.

Now.... let's say the unemployment rate rises to 10% or 15%.

You know what that means?

It means you can fire any deadbeat you want and you'll be able to almost instantly replace him with a savvy, competent, responsible, hungry person who can follow instructions and genuinely contribute to your bottom line.

If you have the guts to do that, you will pull out ahead in the race.

It means if you have any cash at all you can buy investments at record-low prices and rake it in big time when the market comes back.

Let's see, a few other implications of the 80/20 rule....

80/20 applies to nearly everything you could possibly measure. It's not merely a business abstraction, it's a law of nature. Which means:

80% of the bad debt comes from 20% of the loans. (That's the part they're selling to the US government. Wall Street guys generally understand 80/20 stuff.)

80% of the corruption comes from 20% of the politicians.

80% of the pork is found in 20% of the legislation.

80% of the bills in Congress are written by 20% of the lobbyists.

Now here's something else I know:

80% of the people on my email list will only effect 20% of the change that they need to make happen.

20% of the people on my email list will effect 80% of the change that is going to happen.

Yes, a small number of those within the sound of my voice will make huge strides in the next weeks and months.

In accordance with these principles, I am only sending this email to the top 20% of my list. The most responsive, the most proactive, those most devoted to their own education.

I am ignoring the other 80%. They don't really deserve to read this message.

You do.

(That's awfully elitist of me, isn't it?)

It's because I'm narrowing my focus. YES I will still be ruthless about acquiring new customers and selling with every tool in the arsenal.

I will be providing extreme value to those who have done business with me in the past and who have already shown, by their actions and their educational investment, that they are committed to staying ahead of the curve. The information you get from me in the coming months will be the best ever.

One more thing:

There is a top 20%.

There is also the top 20% of the top 20% - the 4%.

There is the top 20% of the top 20% of the top 20% - the 0.8%.

What you should really aspire to is to be a top 0.8% person.

Let's compare the 0.8% person to the 80% person:

-Every move he makes is carefully chosen because his time is 16X as valuable

-He understands that of all the things on his list of 37 things to do, 4 or 5 of them are more important than all the others put together. The 80 percenter acts as though all items are equally important

-He is profoundly selective about the information he reads, listens to and acts upon; the 80 percenter is 'open minded' about almost everything

-He belongs to some kind of 'good ol boys club' - which is '80 percenter' lingo for a trusted circle of people among whom there is nearly zero transaction cost. Every successful business person I know has one; 80 percenters don't have good ol' boys clubs, they just gossip and have bitch sessions

-He doesn't care what most people think, and knows that more often than not the masses are tragically wrong; the 80 percenter IS the masses.

Consider yourself privileged for having received this email. Something you did qualified you to get it. And don't let grass grow under your feet. Survey your customers, find out what they'd like more of than what they're getting from you now, and sell it to them.

Don't be the slow guy. Be the guy who outruns him.

Carpe Diem - Seize the Day. Make sure the bear seizes someone else."

Perry Marshall

Howard Stern Marries!

The radio talk show host known for hosting porn stars was married Friday Oct. 3, 2008 to his longtime girlfriend, Beth Ostrosky.

Another baby boomer marrying a Gen x....

Oh well...Looks like a match made in heaven, she married him for his looks and charming, classy personality.

Stern married her for her intelligence...

Obama: I will stand with the Muslims

Yes Obama Said the Above Statement, Read Below the Entire Statement....

I know for sure that I am not voting for him.....

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

And FINALLY the Most Damning one of ALL of them!!!

From Audacity of Hope:'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

Men Live 5 Years Longer That Do This....

Kiss their wives in the morning good bye....

Hey I do not make this stuff up. Like the blog says, I just read this....

Financial Crisis is it 1979-1981 Again?

I just read this, really helps explain what is going on in our financial world....Go and read the full article.

We may not be able to change the economic problems of our nation, but we can do things to insulate ourselves against them. I will say it again: the last time we saw these economic indicators was 1977-1979. Do you remember 1979-1981? Let me remind you: falling dollar (this is the one to watch), 13% inflation rate, 13% unemployment rate, 21% Prime, 18% money market funds, 17% mortgages, $850 gold, $50 silver (remember the Hunt brothers trying to corner the silver market?), skyrocketing deficits, skyrocketing oil and food prices, money supply growing far faster than the economy, plummeting stock market, plummeting real estate, zero building, “stagflation,” and on and on.
http://www.brockfc.com/lets-understand-this-economy.html

Death of Google Adsense

As you know multiple streams of income are an integral part of Internet Marketing. If it were not for auto pilot earnings we would not make half as much from the Internet as we do today. Systems that earn affiliate incomes and paid advertising commissions contribute to a large percentage of our monthly income.

One of these sources of advertising commissions is Google’s AdSense program. BTW, this email is not about Google’s AdSense program! Far from it in fact, this email is about the fact that we are all losing a huge amount of revenue because of AdSense.

When was the last time you earned over $1 for a 1 click from your paid ads? When was the last time you looked at your website ads and found Googles AdSense target ads displaying something completely irrelevant to your website content? Every day, I find these big problems to my business and most importantly my business earnings which I use to support my family. So ask me “Do you have the right to complain?” Yes I do! Just because Google is the largest search engine provider in the world, does not mean they have the best advertising and commission structure for paid ads does it.

When I first started out to become an Internet Marketer, I got stuck right into Googles' AdSense program and I did ok, but over the years my AdSense earnings have slowly dwindled and I hardly find it worth it anymore.

Now don’t get me wrong here, there are merketers who make great income from AdSense I have seen it personally, there have been times when I have checked my account and made over $20 in one day from AdSense so the bottom line is the AdSense program does work and does earn you money. However, I do think it could be better.....

This is what bring me to ClickBank Ad Rotator .
Now CB Ad Rotator does the same job as AdSense with some excellent improvements:

1. You have no threshold of $100 to reach before payment, this means the new guys get paid after one click led sale.

2. Your commissions are a lot higher, than AdSense meaning you get paid a lot more for sales i.e. ClickBank products worth anywhere up $297.00 with up to 75% commissions on some products. This as you know is the highest payments possible, but if you take the average product at say $47 with the average commission 55%, this is still $25.85 commission from one click.

3. You can choose your exact targeted ads with your own key words, this is not run by scanning content and producing as which sometimes are not relevant. All ads are relevant to your website.

4. Easy to setup guides in the form of email and video tutorials.

5. You can even run the two ad programs side by side. Why have one automated income when you can have two.

These are just some of the excellent feature you can utilize to push your business further....

‘DID YOU WANT PROOF’

Take a look at ClickBank Ad Rotator for a comparison table and real screen shots of a weeks earning from both paid ad systems. You will then see the truth.

Remember CB Ad Rotator is not a replacement for AdSense, the two can run side by side. If you are looking for an extra form of income on complete auto pilot from your visitors, then this is paramount to your website success. If your AdSense empire come crashing down from a banned account then this is your salvation too.

ClickBank Ad Rotator The future of commission based ads is here! Seriously, from one online marketer to another, this is a no brainer and another auto pilot income stream worth buying.

Thanks for reading...

Mark