"'elf Expressions Ezine"

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'elf Expressions Ezine
Get Hold of Your Elf!

_{"Get hold of your 'elf!"}

Your weekly collection of marketing tips, hints, and advice interspersed with humor and other goodies to spice things up a bit. It is offered for entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs, and online marketers, who need guidance, tutoring, and advice. 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 1 - Issue 4 - April 17, 2001
Published every Tuesday evening

Welcome, readers - Now I trust that you all had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend. Remember last issue when I expressed relief at having our home back to ourselves again after one daughter and her family moved out? Well guess what? Yep, another daughter and her four-and-a-half year-old son will be staying with us -- but only on the weekends. Jennifer and Austin just moved back to Ohio from Indianapolis and need a temporary boost while she gets back on her feet again. It is Sunday evening, and they just left, so now I can finish putting this together this Easter evening.

LIVING THE SERENITY PRAYER
You cannot change God's timetable (acceptance).
Adjust your timetable to His (courage).
Realize this and hold onto His faith without fretting, doubting, or pouting (wisdom).

CONTENTS:
Special Announcement
Ad Contest
Subscriber Spotlight
Feature Article
Classifieds #1-3
Today's Chuckle
Today's English lesson
Internet Tips & Hints
Classifieds #4-6
Guest Article
Inspiration
Etcetera

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

FREE FOR OUR READERS:   Mike Enlow has just released a brand new Ebook today on Internet Marketing and Joint Ventures. The Ebook is priced at $49, but we have arranged to provide it free to our readers for a short time only. To download it right now, go to: http://www.enlo wcircle.com/go/millionaires

AD CONTEST

Results of last issue's ad contest: Zilch -- so let's try another one.

For our subscribers only: Be the first person to submit an ad this issue containing any word starting with "B" and ending in "R" and receive the top sponsor ad next issue FREE!

Works are faith manifested (the teeth of faith); works bring faith to life.

SUBSCRIBER 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!

No one submitted an entry for the Subscriber Spotlight this week, so get yours written up and send it to me for inclusion in next week's issue!

FEATURE ARTICLE
The Freedom of Wealth -- or What Wealth Means to Me
No, money cannot buy happiness -- that's true. But what is also true is that it sure does make life a whole lot easier to deal with.

The freedom of wealth means being:

Free of any need for pretense (if we are who we claim to be, we need not pretend). I am who I am.

Free of the burden to carry cash, checks, or credit cards (our person is recognized and respected as having means—-we are free from the burden of having to prove it.) I have what I have.

Free to go anywhere or do anything lawful. I stand where I stand.

Free from worry about provision. I have what I claim and claim what I have.

Free from the limitations of this world. I go where I go. I know what I know. I rest where I rest.

Everything is mine, because I remember all His benefits. I am who I am in Him.

To enjoy wealth, one has to be aware of it. (If we have millions in our account, but if we don't realize it because we are insane, we cannot enjoy it.)

It occurs to me that each of us fortunate enough to be in our right mind is independently wealthy. We have only to realize that wealth. Here I refer to that which transcends monetary wealth.

It is all in our mind. We have but to "go within" to discover it. We've all heard it said that, if any self-made millionaire were to lose everything, he'd gain it all back very shortly, because he knows the secret.

This is true. The power to get wealth comes from within!

Here I'm going to share with you several books which have made a lasting impression on me, all of which I've read several times, and all of which I probably will read again and again. They each contain a wealth of information on the "secret" to tapping into this inner power:

          Th e Secret of the Ages -- by Robert Collier
          Think and Grow Rich -- by Napoleon Hill
          Power Through Constructive Thinking -- by Emmet Fox
          The Magic of Believing -- by Claude Bristol

Of course, many more treasures could be added to this list, because the "secret" is not really a secret at all. It is freely available to any sincere seeker.

So, next time you're feeling "po," remember that you're really wealthy beyond your wildest imagination -- and erase that "po" mindset once and for all!

************

What I'm going to do this week is to ask you, my dear readers, to submit the titles/authors of one to five of your favorite books -- the ones which have most impacted your lives, because I intend for this to be an interactive publication, one which will benefit and enhance the lives of those who stay with me. Just email me -- nothing fancy, just whatever pops into your head. Many thanks.

*************

Feel free to reprint the above article with this info intact: Article penned by Mary Wilkey, publisher of 'elf Expressions Ezine. To subscribe, email me at elfbutter@er inet.com?subject=subscribe

TODAY'S CHUCKLE

Three lawyers and three engineers are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three lawyers each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.

"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asked one of the three lawyers.

"Watch and you'll see," answers one of the engineers.

They all board the train. The lawyers take their respective seats but all three engineers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets.

He knocks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

The lawyers saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the lawyers decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money. When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all.

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexed lawyer.

"Watch and you'll see," says one of the engineers.

When they board the train, the three lawyers cram into a restroom and the three engineers cram into another one nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the engineers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the lawyers are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, "Ticket, please."

TODAY'S ENGLISH LESSON

Seeing the same elementary mistakes over and over again has prompted this publisher to write an English lesson each issue. This one concerns the misuse of "principal" and "principle." Now listen up -- this is very simple!
"Principle" refers to a value or an ethic -- and that is its only meaning.
"Principal" can be the head of a school, it can be the main thing, or it can be an amount of money.

INTERNET HINTS & TIPS

If you find that your computer response time is slow, who do you blame? Is it your ISP that simply oversold their service? Is the Internet simply too crowded to handle all the traffic? Is the web site where you host your domain with having problems? Before making a rush to judgment, find out where the real bottleneck is.

Go to "Start" and select "Programs." Find the MS-DOS prompt and click on that. When the DOS screen appears, type in "tracert "http://www.listsareus.com"" - without the quotes. Lists are Us is one of our domains, and you can substitute the one you're checking for that.

Because tracert sends out three packets for each hop (each host or node), the three times displayed are the independent roundtrip times to that node (usually a router) and back to the origin. An asterisk (*) is a lost packet, which means either that the packet timed out (over 1 second) or was truly lost.

A high number (400 to 500ms) indicates where the slowdown is. You should run this at various times during the day to check your destination URL so you can determine what is normal.

Each line in the report represents a node (router) that your request went through on its way to the ultimate destination, and it is usually the same number of nodes to that web site.

Your destination is the last node in the report. If the last line is a very high number or you get an asterisk (*), it could mean your destination site is overloaded or down, or that the ISP blocks tracert. AOL routinely does this -- guess they don't want their subscribers to know if it's them.

If this happens, however, at one of the sites along the way, it indicates either they are experiencing a problem, or there is a lot of traffic being routed through them.

So the next time you are "primed for action," before calling your ISP, find out if it is really their problem. In the meantime, when you are getting a slow response from a server, try clicking "Stop" then" Refresh."

What this combination does is force the connection to be re-established, and it may find a new route from your computer to the server. This tactic will often bypass a clogged router and get you a faster connection.

This tip from Bob Osgoodby --
Visit his site at http://www.adv-mar keting.com/business

GUEST ARTICLE

Hi, it's Larry. I borrowed this from a friend, because I knew you wanted to stay in business.

"I met an incredible man in my research for Internet marketing excellence. He helped me realize a MAJOR difference between successes and failures on the Internet! I want to share it with you before it's too late!

But first, you have to know who this guy is. You've probably never heard of him. He's not a publicity hound. He's not a guru. He's not a world-famous author. But he has quiet confidence. And massive amounts of success. He trains a select group of people on his strategy, called The Motivational Sequence. His name is Jim Claunch.

Here's what he taught me: Everyone who is failing on the Internet will CONTINUE to fail if they don't change THE ORDER of what they are doing!

There is a psychological sequence that someone MUST go through before they say "yes." Before anyone buys your idea, your product, your argument, your opinion, or your home-based business, they MUST go through The Motivational Sequence.

NO ONE buys if they are not taken through this sequence.

As soon as I learned this sequence, I went to a whole bunch of websites and looked them over with new eyes. INSTANTLY I knew why they were failing.

I re-read a bunch of commercial emails (I get them ALL), and TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD why their owners never make a dime with them.

They all tried to convince me OUT OF SEQUENCE.

Amazing.

How could I have missed this? It's such a simple sequence. It makes so much sense.

I want you, the person who's struggling on the Internet like I did, to succeed. I want you to have every dream you ever wanted. I want you to have more time and more money to travel the world, live in beautiful places, and make a difference with your family and your community.

This MOTIVATIONAL SEQUENCE will make a major difference for you. There are FIVE STEPS you must do in a certain order.

THE FIRST STEP

Before you can convince anyone of anything you must FIRST grab their attention. ATTENTION is the first and most important step in the Motivational Sequence.

You can't wait to get their attention. Your website or email has to give all its "Shazam!" up front. Some emails hold the very best for last. THAT DOESN'T WORK on the Internet because there are too many emails from too many people. There are 20 million websites. People spend an average of ONE MINUTE on each website.

ONE MINUTE!

You can't put the attention-getter in the middle. How do you get someone's ATTENTION? Give them a benefit! Create curiosity! Shock them! Just like I did at the beginning of this letter. And EVERY letter I send out to you. Even if I'm just educating you and not selling you a thing, I'm ALWAYS trying to grab your attention! You have too many distractions in your life. I need to do this FIRST!

So this means that if you've got one of those cheap autoresponders that injects an advertisement in the beginning of your email, you are TOTALLY wasting your money and time. You are giving away the attention to someone else! Pay $20/month and get a good autoresponder where YOU control the message!

Whatever you do, get their ATTENTION!

THE SECOND STEP

Very quickly after you grab someone's attention -- in your email or on your website -- you must show your prospect that YOU understand their NEED. You have to find their pain. You must know what's bothering them and show them that you understand. Otherwise, you are just blabbing off about yourself like a self-centered, egotistical know-it-all. No one likes that. No one listens.

I know some of you are thinking, "That's common sense, Tom!" I agree. But tell me why most websites start by talking about how great they are, and how many hits they got, and who's on their corporate team.

WHO CARES??!

And tell me why people keep sending me all those emails like this, "Dear Friend, We have just launched the Perfect Internet Business... we pay you on shopping and Internet service and everything else." Yadda, yadda, yadda....

First of all, my name is not Friend. Do you start out a letter like that to your friends? No. Use my name! I'm Tom. :-)

Second, you are trying to give me a solution without showing me my NEED. You have to bring the pain to me first! Solutions mean nothing if I don't know why I need them. I'm not interested in answers to questions I didn't ask. A doctor who prescribes a cure without a diagnosis is guilty of malpractice. Don't be guilty of marketing malpractice!

This is the biggest and most critical mistake people make when they are marketing online. They go right to the benefit and the solution, without connecting with people and letting them know they understand their pain.

Your letter might say, "Dear Tom, I know what it's like to lose money on the Internet. I understand the confusion of not knowing which opportunity to trust..."

Now I'm listening! I'm ready for a solution...!

THE THIRD STEP

Now that you've got their attention, and connected with their pain, you've got to give them a SOLUTION. And you've got to do it FAST!

Don't drag out the need. Get to the point! Punch it in there, and explain the true, honest-to-goodness benefits that you or your product and service offer them.

Be real when you talk about the benefits. The best way to be real is to share your own personal experience. Be genuine, and people will believe you! If you use too much hype, people will think you're a huckster, a con artist.

Are you with me so far? We're not done yet!

THE FOURTH STEP

I know you are ready to get the deal closed at this point. That's the biggest mistake presenters, website designers, and copywriters make! They miss this ONE step.

This is the step that gets your prospect to BUY IN. This is the step that gets them to OWN YOUR SOLUTION!

It's called VISUALIZATION.

You've got to get your readers to see themselves with your product. They've got to imagine touching it, hearing it, and tasting it. You do this BEST by telling a story.

Stories have been used since the beginning of time to motivate people to take action. It is still the ABSOLUTE best way to get people to buy in to your benefits.

Let me give you an example. When I was young, my father was always TELLING me to be more positive. The more he told me to be positive, the more negative I got. (sound familiar, parents?) Then one night at dinnertime, HE TOLD ME A STORY -- about a professional speaker who came to his work and totally changed people's lives. I was so engaged in the story that I didn't realize he was getting me to be positive. I had no more resistance. I wanted to be like that speaker... positive!

Stories work.

STEP FIVE

Once you've grabbed their attention, showed them you understand their need, delivered a solution, and convinced them with stories, you must finish the process.

No one wants to be left hanging. People want to know what they need to do to relieve the pain.

Tell them.

You must create a CALL TO ACTION. Words like: Join Now. Call Us. GO! Search. Click Here. Enter.

So many websites just leave you hanging. Others try to get you to "click here" FIRST. A few prospects may do that, but they are not convinced of anything. They didn't "BUY IN."

The sequence is critical!

Don't ask them to Click, or Buy, or Go until they've been through the sequence.

Now, here's... MY LESSON:

Read this letter again. You'll see that I used The Motivational Sequence to convince you of The Motivational Sequence.

The only thing I haven't done yet is give you a CALL TO ACTION.

So here it is.

GO to TheDuplicator.com, and you will see that the website has been designed with the psychology of The Motivational Sequence.

I've also consulted with a VERY expensive "User Interface" expert. He charges $350/hour. His company develops websites for Fortune 500 companies. They have reams of data on exactly which Call To Action should go where on the screen. They know exactly how to get people to leave their contact information, to linger on the website, and -- to buy more stuff!

This new site will get them to give YOU their email and buy YOUR stuff! The entire system is designed to help you make more money, and faster. You won't have to know all the technology and psychology behind it all. You'll be able to just turn the key and drive off to successland.

SUBSCRIBE FREE NOW at http://www.theduplicator.com/vip.cgi/sprite

We're working hard for you.

Peace on earth..."

Tom Wood
Founder and CEO (Chief Excitement Officer)
TheDuplicator.com

Copyright 2000 Thomas P. Wood, Inc. and TheDuplicator.com. All rights reserved. Copy freely in full with copyright attached. Not to be sold.

INSPIRATION

ANATOMY OF PRAYER

First establish the prayer HABIT. Set aside only seven minutes each day and during this time read the Bible, starting in the gospel of John. Then pray for however long you wish, if only for a moment.

After doing this for at least three weeks (it takes 21 days to establish a habit), you will find that you are spending far more than seven minutes in reading the Bible. Then begin praising the Lord. This is how you get His attention. Praise Him with song and music, as David did in the Psalms. Then use the Lord's prayer as the basis from which to formulate your own prayer. DO NOT repeat any prayer word-for-word (vain repetition). Let your prayer come from YOUR heart, not from anyone else's. (The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16)

So now you are backing prayer with emotion, but remember, we have to fight the flesh every time we pray. We have to fight thoughts of this world pulling us away. We have to fight thoughts of fleshly pleasures, in that we may begin to feel thirsty or hungry or sleepy. We have to fight thoughts of all the things we feel we need to be doing to move ahead in this world, because our time is so limited.

Not only do we have to fight these thoughts with the whole armor of God, but we must "fight fire with fire," so to speak. In other words, BEFORE we go to prayer, (unless we are fasting) be sure the body is fed and the thirst quenched; take a nap first, if the feeling of drowsiness is truly overwhelming. Then, when all these things have been put aside, SIT DOWN in a comfortable chair, because you need to get rid of any fleshly distractions (forcing the flesh to be uncomfortable in a kneeling position for a long period of time is counterproductive, in that after a short while, it is going to be clamoring for comfort, so just make it comfortable in the first place).

Then turn on some soft, instrumental hymns, and open your Bible. Ask the Lord to quicken you to pray effectively and to absorb knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Briefly ask Him to give you the strength and perseverance you need to stay with Him as long as you need to. Read until you receive a revelation, until you see something you never saw before. Then close your eyes and meditate upon it.

Go with the flow of the music, and listen to the leading of the Spirit. (He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6) After awhile, begin your prayer by blessing His Holy Name and all of His creation. Acknowledge His awesome sacrifice at Calvary and thank Him for saving your soul, for forgiving your sins, and for healing your body with His precious holy stripes. Thank Him for His lovingkindnesses, His tender sweet mercies, His most wonderful amazing grace, and His ever-present faithfulness. Praise Him and thank Him for every blessing in your life.

Then make your special request. Do not ask by adding "if it be Your will." You should determine beforehand if it is His will. How? By searching the Scriptures. If what you seek is in harmony with the Scriptures, then it is His will. If it is contrary to the Scriptures, don't even bother to ask, because there is no way your request will be granted. If you feel a peace about your prayer, it is in harmony; if you feel at all uneasy about it, it is not in harmony, it is that simple.

Pray for only one thing at a time, so that your focus is concentrated. Continue to ask (not beg) ONLY until you receive the blessed assurance that you have faith to persevere for the thing you are seeking. Tell Him how you will use it for His glory. Once you have received the assurance, NEVER again ask the Lord for the same thing, for that assurance is His affirmative answer to you that he has heard and answered your request--although it may not manifest in the physical for a time.

After you have the blessed assurance, then continually thank Him and praise Him for having granted your request. Here is where you need to put on the whole armor of God, as in Ephesians 6:11-17. Do not let the subtle spirit of doubt enter in; rebuff it with the shield of faith. Make sure you are wearing the helmet of salvation, your loins (mind) being wrapped in the truth. At this point it is imperative that you guard your thoughts, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against . . . powers . . . rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Give no place to the demon of doubt; if you have to get it out, it's already too late; don't let it in in the first place. And it will manage to get through the tiniest chink in your armor, if you're not careful!

Know that He has already manifested whatever it is you have requested on the spiritual (invisible) plane, and that it will be manifested in the physical (visible) plane according to His timetable, not yours. How He will bring the thing about is none of your business. Your only job at this point is to hold onto your the faith for dear life.

But if you stay in the Light, no darkness can exist there. Jesus is the Light of the world, so stay close in His Presence by spending time with Him.

Many times while you are praying, you will feel as if you are not accomplishing much, that your prayers are falling flat, so to speak. It is at this point that you need to stay and pray longer.

ETCETERA

Contact publisher at:
mailto:elfbutter@erinet .com
�2001, Mary Wilkey

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"DISCLAIMER: We disclaim any liability for the use of any contributed information contained herein. We also claim no responsibility for the legality or accuracy of advertisements or articles submitted and reprinted by permission. It is the contributor's and/or advertiser's responsibility to abide by all pertinent jurisdictional laws and regulations pertaining to their business."

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Mary Wilkey
PO Box 854
Franklin OH 45005
937-746-4086
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