Your weekly collection of marketing tips, hints, and advice interspersed with humor, inspiration, and other goodies to spice things up a bit. Guidance, tutoring, advice, mentoring, coaching, inspiration, English lessons, editing, proofreading services for entrepreneurs and online marketers.
The publisher’s philosophy is that most learn faster by taking small bites, rather than large gulps. Small bites are chewed more thoroughly, swallowed, and digested more readily. Keeping that in mind, many features will be solo items. That way, you will not be bombarded or overwhelmed.
Publisher: Mary Wilkey
Volume 2 - Issue 22 - August 27, 2002
Published every Tuesday evening
Hi, all. Don't know why exactly, but I'm feeling particularly blessed these days, in spite of overwhelming personal problems. I guess if we get in the habit of filling our lives up with an abundance of positive things, it's kind of hard to dwell on the dross. Sort of like keeping your "nose to the grindstone"—you get tired and sore, but it sure keeps your eyes and attention off everything else!
By the way, if anyone has any suggestions for improvement of this ezine, they would be most welcome and appreciated.
If you enjoy this ezine, you can help it grow faster by introducing 'elf Expressions to just one other person—because the faster we grow, the more everyone benefits from the ads. Thank you!
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Peace comes not because your prayer has been answered exactly as you prayed it, but because you shifted your focus and the burden of responsibility onto Him.
—Christopher Parkening
CONTENTS:
Sponsor Ad
Ad Contest
Subscriber in the Spotlight
Feature Article
Today’s Chuckle
Today's English lesson
Marketing Mania
Internet Tips & Hints
Guest Article
Inspiration
Etcetera
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AD CONTEST
Results of last issue's ad contest: The question was, "Which is the oldest U.S. military service?" The answer: The National Guard, established in 1636 as the Old North Regiment of the Colonial Militia in Massachusetts. See Lisa Reddell's ad above.
For our subscribers only: Be first to submit the correct answer to the following question and receive the next available top sponsor ad FREE! Here is the question:
There is a word to describe hungry stomach rumbling and growling—what is it?
The following is a testimonial from an individual stating what results SHE has experienced. No medical claims are implied, and we are not saying that the products discussed will cure the problems you have.
(The foregoing statement is required by the US Government, which should not be a substitute for your ability and right to think for yourself and make your own decisions!)
My name is Jean Romans, and I live in Tulsa, OK. I am a nurse (LPN), and I work for a gastroenterologist (stomach doctor). In January 2000, I was introduced to Healing America by my husband, Larry, and began my journey back to health. Like millions of other Americans, I was eating the "Standard American Diet" (SAD) of too much protein, fat, sugar and caffeine. I made a few good choices and ate a green salad and veggies once in a while, but most choices were bad.
In June 2000, I heard Rick Maike tell how he lost 80 pounds, and I listened very closely to what he had to say. I said to myself, "Okay, if he can do that, so can I." The next day I started on my journey to weight loss and good health.
Two hundred and eight pounds was a good motivation to take action, but even more so was high blood pressure, arthritis, acid reflux, high cholesterol of 299, and triglycerides of 239. For these conditions, I was taking Vasotec, Lasix, K-dur, Prilosec, Celebrex, Calan and aspirin. I had gained 40 pounds in three years, and I was sick of seeing the weight going up every month!! So the very next day I started to make a few simple changes.
I increased my water intake to 1/2 ounce per body pound. When you are over 200 pounds, that is a lot of water. (I count each glass to make sure I drink enough each day.)
I started a colon cleanse with Colon Activator. Cut my caffeine intake by 80%. No soda pop or tea.
Started taking Trim Fast. One-a-day at first while monitoring my blood pressure twice a day. If blood pressure was normal, I increased to two, then three with no increase in blood pressure—in fact, it went down. When Block & Burn came out, I started using them instead of Trim Fast. I am now taking 4 Burn daily and Block three times a day.
I eat only fresh, juicy fruit and melons until noon each day. For lunch I eat a garden salad with crackers and an avocado sandwich. For supper, a garden salad, steamed vegetables, baked white or sweet potato or pasta or rice, or small portion of meat. I eat nothing after 8 pm.
I supplement with Megazyme, Ultrabiotic, eRadicator, Omega 9+, Minerals, and Natural Balance Plus progesterone crème. Wow! Things started to happen . . . I lost 10 lbs and 14 inches the first month. In July, I began dropping some of my medications, one by one very carefully.
When the Block came out, I was able to stop the Prilosec (I had been on it daily for 8 years. If I missed one day, I would have symptoms the next.) My acid reflux is GONE. I was on Celebrex because I was taking Prilosec, which made my joints swell and ache. Therefore, I was able to stop taking the Celebrex.
On July 11, I discontinued the Vasotec and Lasix. (I had to take the Lasix due to the side effects of edema in my legs and ankles from the Vasotec. Then, of course, you have to take K-dur due to the Lasix draining the potassium.) All the while monitoring my blood pressure 2-3 times a day to make sure it didn’t go up—and it didn’t—it went down!
And thanks to NATURAL PROGESTERONE I'm off of the synthetic hormones Premarin and Ogen. No more hot flashes, and with these improvements, I could stop taking the aspirin and Tylenol, because my pain was gone. In fact, all arthritic pain in my hands and elbows is GONE.
The bottom line is that so far, as of September 26, 2000, I’ve lost 28 pounds (down from 208 to 180) and a total of 53 inches. THAT’S 3 DRESS SIZES!!! And, I’m off all but one of the prescription drugs. I’m so excited!!! Was change easy? No, change never is. Was it worth it? Yes, a thousand times over!!! I feel better now than I have felt in years. I like the new me. I plan to follow these "lifestyle changes" for the rest of my journey through life and share it along the way with others.
—Jean Romans LPN, Tulsa OK
If you would like to see what has worked miracles in Jean's life—and also get a free download of Jon Barron's book, "Lessons from the Miracle Doctors," go to:
If you would like to look into becoming a distributor, just go to this website:
Watch the 6-minute video presentation (it may take a few minutes to load). Fill out and submit the questionnaire at the end of the presentation.
Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up.
—Colin Powell
SUBSCRIBER IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The first subscriber to submit his or her personal profile sharing with the rest of us all about who he/she is, background, family, location, interests, hobbies, goals, dreams, etc., will be spotlighted right here next issue—and yes, an email and/or URL may be included!
This week's Subscriber in the Spotlight is Barbara Brundle.
Hello Mary and Readers,
My name is Barbara Brundle, and I am a native of Michigan. I married my husband Jerry 37 years ago when I was in my second year of college. We have two grown children, a daughter who is a veterinarian, and a son who is a Family Practice MD.
About 15 years ago we began a journey that took us from our native Detroit area home to Ottawa, Canada, then Toronto, Canada, then Chicago, Illinois, then St. Louis, Missouri, and then back to Michigan. My husband was a partner with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) for 20+ years with degrees in Physics, Engineering and Business Management.
While we were living in Toronto, he felt called by the Lord into Christian ministry. He resigned, and we left Toronto for Chicago and seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. After pastoring in two churches in St. Louis, we are now at Faith Church in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
My life changed dramatically when we left for seminary. We were "empty-nesters" with two kids in college and now both of us in seminary. I was able to audit free of charge as many credit hours as my husband was taking, and I decided to take full advantage of the situation.
I also began a business as a consultant with Partylite Gifts, selling candles and decorative accessories, and going into leadership with it. I did this for about nine years until our last move here, when I found that I just didn't have the energy to build up a client base again. I needed something new.
My passions are Stephen Ministry, gardening, and learning how to build a business on the Internet. Stephen Ministry is one-on-one ministry to people who are experiencing a life crisis—death of a loved one, their own impending death or life threatening illness, divorce, job loss, debilitating conditions, and any others that would put enormous stress on a person.
We are trained to be good listeners, mainly offering a "cup of cold water" in the name of Jesus. We will "walk alongside" that person until he/she feels the relationship is no longer necessary. We are "care-givers"—Jesus is the cure-giver. If anyone reading this feels that they or someone they know would benefit from this ministry, there is a website you can find by typing in "Stephen Ministry." They can help you find a church that has a program in your area.
My current opportunities that I am trying to build are as a Cognigen agent in telecommunications—http://www.ld.net/?barbarassite, and within Cognigen I am particularly excited about Talk America, which is a new provider of combined local and long distance service at a much reduced rate.
I have probably signed up with 30 or so different opportunities while trying to learn about this crazy Internet thing. I have a way to go, but it's certainly an interesting journey.
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.
The premise of that article is obvious from the title. However, now I am of the opinion that the article didn't go far enough.
There should be a preface to it, which would state that before you can ever hope to build any kind of a business on a solid foundation, it is most advisable to have built your LIFE on a solid foundation. And if you haven't already done that, then by all means, start rebuilding it now!
Since I don't have a lot of room to elaborate on this point here, I'm just going to hit some of the highlights of WHAT to do and maybe go into further detail another time about HOW to do them (which is something no one ever tells you):
1—Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. This means that you should spend time with Him on a regular basis, like every day.
2—Love your fellow human beings as yourself. Don't treat others any differently than you wish to be treated yourself.
3—Forgive others as you wish to be forgiven. Again, this really is part of #2.
4—Honor and respect your parents and all other elders. When you give them the consideration they deserve, you will probably spend more time with them, and who knows—you just may learn something!
5—Make your word your bond. Honor all your agreements as if they were written in stone. Your conscience then will be clear—and so will your reputation!
6—Insofar as possible, be at peace with all. Even if a grievance with someone is not in the forefront of your mind, your subconscious still retains it, and eventually a little "sore" will blossom into a big one. Nip it in the bud stage.
7—Get the idols out of your life. Anything that consumes an extraordinary amount of your precious time can put in this category. Common ones are TV, sports, and fitness programs. Do things in moderation, and things will balance out.
8—Don't repeat gossip—even though it may be based on a grain of truth, it is almost always distorted.
9—Don't use God's name disrespectfully. Not only is it sinful, but it detracts from your credibility, because it is an indication of inadequate vocabulary resources.
10—Don't be jealous of what anyone else has. Resources are all around us. It's okay to want something similar, but let Jones have his things, and you go after your own.
11—Don't let the sun set on your anger. Sleep is a time of renewal and recharging of our batteries. Habitually disrupted sleep eventually produces adverse effects in our bodies in the form of tumors, growths, skin eruptions, etc.
If you will practice the above policies, you will be ready to start building ANY business on a solid foundation, and you will find that the whole process will be a heckuva lot easier!
Which one of the 12 tribes of Israel was likened unto a snake?
ANSWER: Dan, as found in Genesis 49:17, "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."
I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and I missed. I have failed over and over again in my life. And that's precisely why I succeed.
—Michael Jordan
TODAY'S CHUCKLE
A LITTLE COMPETITION
Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and God was tired of hearing all of the bickering. Finally God said, "Cool it! I am going to set up a test that will run two hours, and I will judge who does the better job."
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They did spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They sent faxes. They sent emails. They sent out emails with attachments. They downloaded. They did some genealogy reports. They made cards. They did every known job. But ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder clapped, the rain poured, and, of course, the electricity went off.
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed. The electricity finally flickered back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically and screamed, "It's gone! It's all gone! I lost everything when the power
went off!"
Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of diligent work. Satan observed this and became irate. "Wait! He cheated! How did he do it?"
God shrugged and said, "Jesus saves."
Part of managing to grow old gracefully is that you just take the next step and hope you don't fall when you take it.
—Walter Cronkite
TODAY'S ENGLISH LESSON
Seeing the same elementary mistakes over and over again has prompted this publisher to write an English lesson each issue.
Question: when to use "allude" vs. "elude"?
"Allude" means to refer to something.
"Elude" means to avoid something.
Remember this difference with a mnemonic device: "A" for "allude" also can mean "also." On the other hand, "E" for "elude" also can mean "escape."
Reminder: We offer a reasonably priced editing/proofreading service for articles or even entire ezines. Just email:
A sad note this week. Donna understandably couldn't furnish an article for us, as her mother passed away on Saturday. We send our condolences and sympathy to her and to her family in their time of grief. I'm sure an email message to her would be most welcome at this time.
If you love what you do, you will never work another day in your life.—Confucius
INTERNET HINTS & TIPS
How to Make Internet Explorer or Netscape Your Default Browser
Changed your mind about which browser you want as
your default—the browser that will open when you click
on HTML files, when you type an URL into the Windows
Start|Run input box, etc.? No problem. Check this out:
I'd rather make 1% on 100 men's efforts—than 100% on my own efforts.
—J. Paul Getty
A good plan vigorously executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.
—General George Patton
GUEST ARTICLE
THE SOUND OF SUCCESS by Arleen M. Kaptur
Successful people are everywhere. They are in the newspapers, on television programs, and are being interviewed and their words written down by reporters for all kinds of magazines and journals.
But how do we know if these "successful"
people are really telling us the truth or giving us
advice that we can follow and learn from? Watch
these people very closely—if they appear
apprehensive and ill at ease, that just may be an
indication that they are uncomfortable in public
situations, or it may clue us in on the fact that
there may not be any concrete or actual facts
to back up what they are saying.
Really successful people appear relaxed and have
one point in common. They have the sound of
success. It's not in their "actual" words, but the
way they talk and react. The sound of success
is laughter, enjoyment, and being at ease as well
as putting others at ease. They are not afraid of
the type of impression they are portraying,
because they are real. They are not "putting on
an act," they are just being themselves. They shake
your hand confidently and sincerely. They walk
with an air of confidence that only comes
naturally when you are happy and content on the
inside as well as out. They have accomplished
what they have set out to do, and they have the
right to be proud and happy.
Not all successful people will make headline
news and be interviewed by major television
stations and talk-show hosts. They don't need
this type of exposure to enjoy what they have
achieved. All truly successful people are willing
to share their insight and knowledge so that
others may reach their goals and their pinnacles
of ability. Successful people can find joy in
simple things and the sound of their laughter
is not a mimicking type of facade, but a down-
to-earth real-time sound that tells everyone
around them that life is good and enjoyable.
Successful individuals take their goals and their
strengths and weaknesses very seriously. They
can, however, laugh at themselves, but will
never cross the line to ridicule or belittle
another. They are true giants in whatever they
pursue and undertake. These people face
problems and look for solutions. There is no
mountain that they feel cannot be ventured over
and each morning brings fresh, new opportunities.
To a successful person, others are their equal,
never beneath them. They may be giants of
industry or the arts, but they truly listen and lift
up everyone around them. Successful people are
men and women in every walk of life, different
ages, nationalities, and color. They are famous
or live just next door. These giants of success are
not afraid to lift everyone on their shoulders, so
that they can see even further.
A child is a vision and an older individual is a
beacon of hope. Nature represents balance and the
world is an arena of growth and true prosperity.
Money, fame, and fortune are tangible and can
disappear overnight. Family, friends, and values
last a lifetime and are worth their weight in gold.
Time spent in truly listening to someone is quality
time and sometimes a simple walk down a
woodland path with a friend is a chance to
renew strength and composure. Winning an
argument to them is not as important as
understanding the views of another.
You are successful if you feel successful in the
small achievements, as well as in the larger ones.
You are successful if you feel you have all
that you need, but you know the difference
between want and need. You can share what
you have and find that it multiplies in return.
The sound of success is laughter—a ringing,
relaxed, I'm-enjoying-life-no-matter-what-it-throws-at-me type of laughter. It's an I'm-glad-you're-here—that-I have-the-pleasure --to-know-you—and-let's-work-together type of laughter.
It's also a can-I-help-you-achieve-your-goals-and-dreams—and-feel- free-to-climb-on-my-shoulders-and-see-how-far-the-world-goes attitude.
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