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.
Publisher: Mary Wilkey
Volume 5 - Issue 1 - January 11, 2005
Published every Tuesday
Greetings, everyone . . . and welcome to this first issue of the new year!
As you may know, I took almost a month's hiatus from the routine of publishing, and it's a good thing I did, as things worked out.
Had several family issues to deal with during that time that would have made publishing next to impossible, plus I was snowbound in Indianapolis with my daughter and two grandchildren . . . had gone over there to help with Christmas preparations, baking cookies, etc., and then the snow came, and even after Jennifer dug us out, we still couldn't get close to my son's home for our annual Christmas Eve get-together, so we had none.
However, it was the first Christmas in probably fifteen years that I've been with Jen on Christmas morning, so that was a little different for us. However, we counted our blessings that we were not among those who were stranded out in the cold or those who were without electricity for days . . .
Wherever you are, I hope that you had a joyous celebration of our Lord's birthday.
In
Remembrance of
September 11, 2001
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Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me:
you shall stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand shall save me.—Psalm 138:7
Contents:
Sponsor Ad
Ad Contest
Feature Article
Classifieds
Today’s Chuckle
Today's English lesson
Internet Tips & Hints
Guest Article
Memories
Inspiration
Etcetera
Results of last issue's ad contest, when the question was: In health related matters, what does HGH stand for? The answer: Human growth hormone—see Peg Bastin'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. The question?
Who really wrote Beethoven's Fifth Symphony?
Send to contest@elfexpressionsezine.com and be sure to include your ad with your entry so that I do not have to contact you separately to get it. Several people have missed out having their ads published, because they did not respond with their ads in before my deadline.
This is something I learned just today: Soy products, such as soy milk or soy protein, exacerbate hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)! Just goes to show that, even when we think we are eating healthy, we can be very mistaken . . .
Feature Article
The Negative Influence of Rap
by Stan Griffin
Just recently Vibe Magazine, a predominantly Hip Hop periodical, held its yearly award show, The Vibe Awards, which aired in a delayed broadcast on the U-P-N network from the Santa Monica Civic Center.
The magazine's founder, Quincy Jones, was stunned in disbelief as the show was interrupted by a brawl in the back of the theater! Jimmy James Johnson and his accomplice, rapper David Brown a.k.a. Young Buck, attacked Dr. Dre, a Hip Hop rapper/producer, in an attempted murder plot that escalated into a free-for-all with flying chairs and fisticuffs, leaving Jimmy James Johnson stabbed in the chest with a collapsed lung!
The brawl was eventually brought under control so that the show could continue. I watched this incident take place on the Extra highlight reel, as Quincy Jones looked on in amazement, stunned, and I thought to myself, why should he be shocked? I was not in the least bit shocked that this took place, and I’m really surprised that an incident like this has not happened long before!
When you get that many Hip Hop Gangsta rappers in one room, there is bound to be a brawl or an attempted murder! The way I see it, these rappers live in a world where their lyrics, as well as their lifestyles, are riddled with violence and always pushing the envelope to be more offensive and violent than next rapper!
Their songs have titillating phrases that point to other rappers that they don’t like which, in turn, incites hate, jealousy, envy and, of course, revenge, so it's no wonder that, when you bring them all together at an event of this magnitude, they wouldn’t try to settle the score! Because they "just ain't gonna be disrespected by no one," and if that means they've got to go off on somebody, you know that’s just the way it's gonna go down—you know what I mean!
Decency or morality is not even an issue with them, not a forethought nor an afterthought. I mean, after all, they are stars in a culture which rewards them for lyrics that denigrates women, other men and their women, and even innocent little girls!
Now let’s get to the heart of the matter, and that is words! Yes, words! Spoken words, whether they are peaceful, benevolent, uplifting in the nature of their intent, or venomous, vituperative, or vitriolic, they have power!
Let me explain. I have always believed that the words that proceed out of your mouth have the ability to shape or create a destiny for good or bad, and you choose. There’s a Bible verse that says that life and death are in the power of the tongue, and if you love your words, then they will produce the fruit thereof—now that’s a slight paraphrase, but you get the picture.
Rappers are spewing out all these words of hatred to their own detriment, whether they know it or not, and because rappers talk or say their lyrics instead of singing them, they manifest a lot faster than if they were to sing them!
They are snaring themselves in a world that will lead to only one logical conclusion, and that is their own death and destruction, and at their present rate, they will soon kill each other off!
In college football, South Carolina’s coach, Lou Holtz, in his final game of coaching against Clemson, tried to restore order during a brawl between these two teams, ending his 33-year coaching career on a sour note!
In a recent N.B.A. Detroit Pistons/Indiana Pacers game there was also a tragic brawl, and this one involved fans. Indiana Pacers' Ron Artest was suspended for the season, Stephen Jackson got a 30-game suspension, and Jermaine O’Neal was suspended for 25 games, which has all but decimated the Pacers' season!
Cleveland Browns' running back William Green and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter were both ejected in a recent game for fighting before the game started!
So what does this have to do with Hip Hop and Gansta Rap? Could it be that even sports—whether it’s a player or a fan—has been impacted by the Hip Hop culture? In interviewing a lot of black athletes during Monday night football segments, a majority of them mentioned that they liked 2Pac and Biggie Smalls, legends of the Hip Hop community!
I do think that part of this behavior can be blamed on the Hip Hop Gansta rap culture, and the weight of some of the blame can be put on the athletes as just being spoiled, immature brats who have always gotten their way, and the music only reinforces their spoiled nature!
It could be that these athletes' parents didn’t give them enough butt "whoopens" when they were children . . . then again, we do live in the post Sigmund Freud/Carl Jung era headed by modern pediatricians/child psychologists, such as Dr. Benjamin Spock and T. Berry Brazelton, but you know what? That’s another story for a another article!
What mountain did Moses climb in order to view the promised land before he
died?
Answer — Mt. Nebo and/or Mt. Pisgah, according to Deuteronomy 34:1-5 — And
Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top
of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land
. . . And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I
have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over
thither.
Classifieds
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A neat little program that anyone can afford!
The neat thing about it is that it has the potential
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It doesn't take a whole lot of effort . . .
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Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
Today's Chuckle
Cases of Brain Cramp
—
"Whenever I watch T-V and see those poor starving kids all over
the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that,
but not with all those flies and death and stuff." . . . Mariah Carey
— Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of
your life." . . . Brooke Shields, during an interview to become
spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.
—
"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body,"
. . . Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.
— "Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime
rates in the country," . . . Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.
— "That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a
jackass, and I'm just the one to do it." . . . A congressional candidate
in Texas
— "Half this game is ninety percent mental."
. . . Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark
— I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix."
. . . Dan Quayle
— "We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air
do we need?" . . . Lee Iacocca
— "I was provided with additional input that was radically different
from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version."
. . . Colonel Oliver North, from his Iran-Contra testimony
— "The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like
Norman Einstein."
. . . Joe Theisman, N-F-L football quarterback and sports analyst
— "We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain
types of people." . . . Colonel Gerald Wellman, R.O.T.C. instructor
— "Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas."
. . . Keppel Enderbery
— "If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night
as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night.
And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record."
. . . Mark S. Fowler, F.C.C. Chairman
=======Today's Tip from Marketing Wizard Kevin Bidwell======
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Send a blank email to: Tips@All-In-One-Business.com
Today's English Lesson
Seeing the same elementary mistakes over and over again has prompted this publisher to write an English lesson each issue. Look for some of these lessons to be repeated, because the mistakes are!
This is yet another example of the deterioration of our public education system in the U.S.A., courtesy of my daughter, Jennifer, who was sent yet another memo from her son's second grade teacher, stating that donations for the victims of the Tsunami were still being "excepted"!
Granted, we realize that anyone can make such a mistake when in a hurry, but come on . . . a memo going out to the parents of the student body should have been proofread, at the very least.
If a student were to make a mistake like this on a test, that student would receive a lower grade. Assuming that public school teachers are still required to be college graduates, what does this say about our "higher" educational system?
Should we just keep an apathetic silence about all of this and make "exceptions" so that all will feel "accepted"? More tolerance? Puh-leeze!
Reminder: We offer a reasonably priced editing/proofreading service for articles or even entire ezines. Just email: service@elfexpressionsezine.com
People want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the center of attention.
Internet Hints & Tips
How To Create a Pop-Down Menu for all your Links
Putting all your links in one place will certainly
conserve space and make your web pages load
faster. The solution is the a pop-down menu for all
your links.
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you
wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself
as you wish to be. —Thomas a Kempis
Guest Article
Internet Marketing Joint Venture Killers by Willie Crawford
Almost every single day I get asked to participate
in Internet marketing joint ventures. So do many of
my closest friends that I regularly discuss Internet
marketing with. We see a lot of the same mistakes . . .
mistakes that severely lessen the chance of a J-V
being accepted . . . being repeated over and over again.
Review these mistakes, and ask yourself if these
things hampers your efforts to land lucrative J-Vs:
1 — The initial J-V proposals are far too lengthy. When
emailing someone who has to sift through hundreds of
emails a day, don't make your email too long. If
it looks like "your life's story," it's very likely to
be set aside to be read later (later usually never
arrives), or it's deleted, simply because it would take
too much time to read.
If it's an email proposal, make it incredibly easy
to identify as a J-V proposal, get right to the main
points, and make your offer. Ask them to email or call
you for more specifics. As with any communication, your
first challenge is just getting your prospective
partner's attention. If you don't do that, nothing else
matters.
2 —
Participating in the J-V is too much work. Make
it as easy as possible for your prospects to participate.
You should have already done 90% of the work involved in
them presenting your offer to their list. If you don't,
your offer will be bypassed for something easier to
implement. Offer an email that they could simply copy,
paste, and send to start things rolling. Yes, your partners
should personalize messages to their audience, but you
need to be prepared for them not having the time for that.
3 —
Overlooking smaller publishers with very loyal and
responsive lists. Often the publisher with only 1,000
subscribers—who actually read his ezine—will produce
better results than the publisher with 100,000 subscribers
who rarely read his ezine. Since these smaller
publishers are approached less often, you also have a
greater chance of having your proposal accepted.
4 —
Not having tested your web copy and conversion
rates. Don't expect potential partners to be "guinea pigs."
Instead, spend a few dollars driving some Google AdWords
traffic to your site, so that you actually have a measured
conversion rate to share with your partners.
If your initial testing doesn't convert at the rate that
you had hoped for, revise the page and keep testing. You
may land a J-V with a "big fish"—once. However, if their
results are dismal, they'll be very hesitant to do another J-V
with you.
5 —
Shoddy site that appears to have very little
credibility. Your potential J-V partners are usually
interested in the bottom line and customer satisfaction.
If they're fairly experienced, they can often look at a
site and gauge how successful it will be with their
audience.
One of the factors that reduces credibility (in my opinion)
is testimonials by the author of a product or those
interviewed in the product. Those people have "ownership"
in the product, so they're expected to say things to help
sales. Make most of your testimonials from people other than
those featured in the product. If you don't have any yet,
give away a few copies to get some. Also, you could quote
experts on the topic who've said thing to validate points
made in your copy.
6 —
The ever expanding J-V. Don't ask someone to be part of
a J-V by being interviewed, then ask them to help write
the web copy, then ask them to write your ads, then
ask them to do several solo mailings to their lists, then
ask them to provide a review of your 500-page ebook, then
ask them to do a line-by-line critique of your web copy,
then ask them to locate other J-V partners for you.
The above example is a little exaggerated, but I've been
asked to participate in several J-Vs that were very close
to that description. What I witnessed with those J-Vs is
that many who initially said yes later dropped out, because
they had their own businesses to run.
7 — Product priced too low to offer a respectable return on
investment. No matter how good an ezine is, or how good a
publisher's relationship is with his audience, they
want to hear from him only so many times per week. This means that
publisher generally can't send special mailings notifying
his list of every good deal he discovers. If I did that,
I'd be sending my list 2-3 emails per day . . . and they'd
all unsubscribe in a few weeks.
Only seek J-V partners for products substantial enough to
offer a good return for the resources your partner is
asked to invest. Sending a mailing to one's list is using
up a precious resource. Most publishers do view it that
way, so you need to appreciate that point.
8 —
Don't ask a potential J-V partner to help promote a
product after he's only recently promoted a competing
product. If a publisher says one product is "the greatest
thing since sliced bread" one week, he can't credibly say
the same thing about a competing product a week later.
We've just gone over eight things that you need to consider
when putting together an Internet marketing joint venture
proposal. There are dozens of other things that you need
to consider. Notice that all of the things mentioned
above have a common theme though. They suggest that you
need to view your package from the perspective of your
potential partners. Do that, and you won't do things that
are likely to kill the J-V before it even gets off the
ground. Do that, and you'll be able to tap into one of
the most powerful tools available for growing your online
business . . . joint venturing with those who already have
the attention of your target market!
Willie Crawford is a corporate president, published author,
seminar speaker and host, tele-seminar speaker and host,
retired military officer, karate black belt, master network
marketing trainer, and lifetime student of marketing. He shows
people how to actually generate substantial income online,
using very simple, easily modelled systems. An example of
such a system that you can study and duplicate is at:
http://ProfitMagician.com
Memories
These are some tidbits I found on the Bobaloons site:
How about running behind the mosquito control truck? I used to imagine all the scary things that might be hidden in the fog. Scary is the right word. Was that neat fog really D-D-T or what? Remember the smell? Cool, huh? Excuse me . . . I have to adjust my oxygen flow.
What about plastic bubbles? Remember the tube of goo you squeezed onto the tip of a straw and all those big neat bubbles. How many of you chewed them after they popped? Neat taste, huh? Wonder what that junk was made of?
Remember all the neat stuff you could get by filling out that little coupon on the back of comic books? Man, I do.
Anyone ever sell Cloverine Brand Salve? You know they still make that stuff? Remember you got points for selling it and neat prizes with the points. How about seeds? Greeting cards? They worked the same way. I remember winning a neat fishing outfit. Never liked impaling those tiny worms though.
Sea monkeys! Man, I thought that was the neatest. Funny, fuzzy little critters, holding their breath, swimming around underwater, smiling at me, just like the ad in the comic book. Yeah, right. You couldn't even see the durn things. Little pink dots was more like it. I was an adult with an aquarium, before I learned that they were really brine shrimp. Tropical fish love 'em. (Really tiny people find them quite tasty, too.)
Did any of you ever order a pair of X-Ray Specs? Be honest now. All my big plans of sneaking those wonderful glasses to school and looking through all the girls' dresses and catching a glimpse of underwear, other than my sister's, were shattered when that pair of funny looking specatcles arrived. So much for my career in radiology.
This is a guy thing (I guess). How about Charles Atlas? No, Homer, not the Greek with the world on his shoulders. I'm talking about the Body Beautiful, no more sand kicked in the face, Muscles-R-Us Charles Atlas. Long before Arnold did the Conan thing, found on the back of comic books was the promise of all the muscles you could ever want or need. You found out, after you sent the coupon in, how much the muscles would cost. You should've seen my manly physique. Mr Rupture, 1958.
Throw your voice. Be a ventriloquist. Amaze your friends. Yeah, yeah, I sent my dime, too. Couldn't wait for the postman. I was gonna be a real live celebrity. When I opened the envelope, saw that funny little piece of leather, and started reading the instructions—soak in water, press against the roof of your mouth with tongue—how you gonna talk with your tongue against the roof of your mouth? Oh, well, at least I knew that I wouldn't have to look too far for a dummy.
Inspiration
Can Man Create Something from Nothing?
Man cannot create in the same way that God can. Our Lord created things out of nothing, and he created something from something. He spoke the world into existence, then He made Adam from the dust of the ground. Science continues to try to copy what God has done but cannot.
God made a man without a woman (Adam).
God made a woman without a woman but with a man (Eve from the rib of Adam).
God made a man without a man (Christ born of the virgin Mary).
God makes both men and women out of men and women.
Man will spend the rest of time trying to match all four of the above! However, he never will be able to make something from nothing as God did!
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