Archive for December, 2005
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the bad meat in
with the good meat or wasn’t clean? Would you buy a car from a
sales lot that had totaled automobiles on the front lot? I
wouldn’t and neither would you. Your website is your grocery
store, your car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing
to buyers. One, that tells that buyer that you are not an
amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned professional. Your site
is a direct reflection of your product and that is why that
having a well designed website can make or break your sales.
The first thing to keep in mind when designing your website, is
“surfability”. Take a few minutes a look around at several web
pages. What makes them appealing? Were there some that you closed
out of immediately? Why? Take notes and do your research. Keep in
mind that when a person visits your site they have a goal in
mind. They are either seeking information or shopping for a
product. Give the person what they want without having to search
for it. Be sure that all the information on your site is relevant
to your product. Make the buyer think that they need your product
to solve their problem.
Your main page serves a very specific purpose. It should be an
avenue by which the customer can shop your site. It should be
easy to view and load very quickly. This is your first impression
and we all know that first impressions can either close the deal
or loose the deal. Make it simple. It is best to have links that
are easily viewable by the reader that will navigate them to
where they want to be. Tables are often a great choice when
deciding on a way to design the main page of your site. Your main
page should load very quickly, chances are if it takes the page
more than ten seconds to load even on a 56k modem, the customer
will click away to save time, hoping to find the information or
product elsewhere. To increase the loading speed of your main
page you should avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. To
many banners or special effects can cause a page to load slowly
as well.
To make your web site more appealing to the eyes, you should
stick to mild colors. If your site is a content site where the
user will be doing a lot of reading, it is best to stick to black
and white. Color can be added when using tables, as a way to
brighten up the page, but remember to keep the overall look of
the page professional and appealing to the audience that will be
visiting most often. Since screen resolutions vary among
monitors, it is a good idea to set the pixels to a standard
800×600. You may also choose to set the tables in your web page
to span a percentage of the page rather than a set number of
inches. This will be sure to accommodate all screen sizes. You
should remember that a lot of Internet users will not use the
same browser as you, and therefore you should be sure that your
site looks as good on other browsers as it does your own. You can
do this by downloading several browsers through which to look at
your page.
Be aware of the fact that the overall look of your website is a
way to make money. The appearance of the site, if designed
properly, can be an excellent marketing strategy for your product
or service.
Posted in Linking and Publicity | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Like many people struggling to make a better life for themselves,
and their families, you stumbled across the Internet as a
possible way to do this. You read about all of the big success
stories, and began planning how you would join their ranks.
After several YEARS of working long and hard at building your
websites, generating traffic, and even creating a few of your
own products, you discover that you’re working harder for
yourself than any boss would ever expect. You also calculate
that you’re earning LESS per hour than you’d earn working in
a fast food restaurant.
After many more hours of intense study, the light bulb finally comes on. You see a way to shortcut the climb to success. If
you could just get one of those people with the HUGE lists to
recommend your product to their lists, you’d be “set for life.”
Now the question becomes, How do you get their attention, and
convince them that it’s in their best interest to promote your
product to their lists?
Please allow me to inject just a little brutal reality for you
here…
First of all, those people with list of 50,000… 100,000…
even 250,000 subscribers get bombarded with request to promote
all types of products every day. I personally receive more
software, ebooks, huge DVD courses, and accesses to membership
sites, than I can ever look at. The FedEx guy drops off
unexpected, and unrequested, packages to my house several times
per week. My home office has about $20,000 worth of products
stacked up in a corner that I don’t anticipate ever working my
way completely through
since new stuff arrives regularly.
Knowing that first fact, it’s actually probably easier to
focus on those with somewhat smaller list when seeking joint
venture partners. Honestly, many of those with smaller list also
have much more responsive lists. The smaller lists are sometime
more responsive because they haven’t been desensitized by being
constantly bombarded with “special offers.”
List owners who get flooded with JV offers need a system of
screening which offers they will take a serious look at in their
very limited spare time. Often that filter is friends. If one
of their friends recommends that they promote a product, they’re
more likely to take a serious look at. Their friends pre-screen
offers.
A second type of filter is certain “high powered” individuals
that have managed to gain a reputation for only presenting the
big dogs with world-class joint venture offers. These individuals
often work as “JV brokers.” Since they make the job of large
list owners, and the job of those seeking to introduce products
to the marketplace, easier, they serve a very useful function.
In exchange for brokering deals, and getting products noticed
that might otherwise die on the vine, they get paid a percentage
commission for putting the joint ventures together.
I share the story of just one joint venture I personally
brokered, that sold nearly $60,000 worth of a $47 ebook
in under 30 days, in a special report I wrote. You can
grab a copy of that free PDF report at
http://WillieCrawford.com/jv-brokering-report.html
If you’d like more insight into how this process works,
that special report is essential reading.
In my work as a JV broker, I quickly recognized a second point
that you need to acknowledge. Large list owner, and those with
the attention of your target audience, often prefer selling big
ticket items. They can tell their lists about a $29 piece of
software that they earn $15 on each sale from, or they can tell
their lists about a $997 course where they earn $498 on each
sale. Assuming that either choice requires the same amount of
work, which do you think your typical “top shelf marketer is
going to choose?
When you start to develop your own products, realize that you
will need products that span a wide range of price points,
but that you’ll get those with the large lists most excited
about helping you by approaching them with products “big
ticket” enough to make promoting them worthwhile. Developing
and launch one of these big ticket items is really no more
difficult than launching a simple ebook. You go through the
same product launch sequence… the same product launch
formula. That formula has been tested and thoroughly
documented by online marketers such as John Reese, and Jeff
Walker, author of the Product Launch Formula, which you’ll
find here: http://www.p-l-formula.com
Outside of a JV broker, a recommendation from a friend of
a “top shelf marketer, or just plain luck, your best way to
get the attention of one of the large list owners is negotiating
face-to-face during a live seminar or conference. At these
events, big-name marketers, and the speakers, are very
accessible. Over dinner, or in the hallway during a break,
it’s very easy to “strike up a conversation” with one of them.
It’s natural during one of these conversations for them to ask
you what you do. When you’re asked that question, if you’re
ready with a concise, thought-provoking answer, you may get
that big break.
To locate seminars and conferences, subscribe to the seminar
summary list published from an authority site such as:
http://InternetMarketingSeminarSchedule.com This site is also
a great site to bookmark and visit frequently. Often, you’ll
discover free, or low-cost, event near you. This site also lists
teleseminars that you might want to listen in on.
There are also many seminars set up JUST to give you a chance to
joint venture and network. These events pull together people
actively looking for joint venture partners. These types of
seminars are regular hosted by several well-known individuals
and organizations.
Michael Penland regular hosts his Internet and Joint Venture
Conferences. You can get more details on these, which I
regularly attend, at:
http://WillieCrawford.com/michaelpenland.html
JV Alert, regularly has joint venture seminars/weekends, where
they not only help you to put together HUGE joint ventures, but
also coach you on how to best land a lucrative JV. These
seminar are hosted in various parts of the U.S. with plans
of hosting them worldwide. The next one is in Orlando, Florida
in February 2006. I’ll be attending that event too. You can
read about these weekends, set up primarily to teach YOU how to
to land lucrative JV’s, at:
http://WillieCrawford.com/jvalert.html
In comparing proven methods of setting up lucrative joint
ventures with large list owners, the very best way to do this
IS face to face. That’s because it’s just easier to set up a
deal when you’re sitting across the dinner table from someone,
than it is via emails.
When looking for the quickest way to grow your business as a
beginner, nothing is quicker, or easier, than joint venturing
with those who already have the attention of your target market.
Now that you know the secret, all that you need to do is
go
do it! That’s the second big secret. You need to develop “the
action habit”. Top marketers prefer dealing with those who
have a demonstrated track record as someone who does more than
just talk a good talk. Once you start approaching the “big dogs”
and develop the action habit, you won’t be a beginner for long.
You’ll soon be partnering with, and learning from, the best in
the industry.
Posted in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
There are many ways to promote your business online. The difference between online marketing and offline marketing though is profound.
Although advertising can be very effective offline, it isn’t nearly so effective online. The reason why is that most people surf the internet looking for information. They aren’t usually interested in advertising unless the product or service in question can solve their problems.
There are five strategies that you can implement in your business that will not only create a content strategy for you but will also create a very effective marketing strategy. This strategy will only require a few hours of your time each week.
1. Articles
For those who have read my work, you know that articles not only brand you as an expert but are also a way to create quality content for your site, and search engines love content.
If you don’t like writing, or don’t write, you can find quality articles to post on your site. The larger your site, the more likely you will be found in the search engines.
Here are a few article directories you can use:
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.isnare.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articlemarketer.com
2. Blogs/RSS
Blogging is another way to create content for your website, and by using RSS, you can easily distribute your content.
Most don’t understand what RSS really is, or how it can most effectively be used to drive traffic to their sites.
Basically, RSS is a form of code that’s very search engine friendly. With RSS feeds, which you can add to your website or blog, you can create content that updates itself. Because of this self updating, the search engines will spider your site more often, raising your rankings.
Once you’ve built your blog and added several entries, you need to “ping” it to get it listed. Here are two tools you can use:
http://www.pingoat.com
http://www.pingomatic.com
3. Press Releases
Press releases are news about your business. Press releases are also an excellent way to get high rankings for your site because you can create content rich press releases and submit them to press release directories. Many of these directories are high traffic.
Here are several sites that accept press releases:
http://www.press-world.com
http://www.free-press-release.com
http://www.prbase.com
http://www.click2newsites.com/
http://www.prweb.com
4. Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing your site for the search engines means creating keyword rich content, exchanging links with other sites, submitting your site to directories, which create backlinks pointing to your site.
You can use tools like Web CEO, http://www.webceo.com, to help you optimize your pages.
Although submitting the search engines is often unecessary, since most search engines will spider through to your site from another site, you still need at least one link pointing back to your site so that your site gets spidered.
Submit your site to Alexa, http://www.alexa.com. Not only will this make sure that your site gets spidered, you’ll be able to compare your site to other sites, as well as get statistics on traffic to your site.
5. Free Ebooks and Reports
By writing and giving away free ebooks and reports, you give visitors an incentive to visit your website.
You can also submit your ebooks and reports to ebook directories for free.
http://www.ebookdirectory.com
http://www.ebookpalace.com
http://www.ebookjungle.com/
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/
If you make your ebook brandable, which means others can place their links inside your ebook, your ebook becomes viral. You give others an incentive to share your ebook and spread it across the internet.
Once you implement these content strategies on your site, add streams of revenue to your site like Adsense and Virtual Portals. These sites will allow you to monetize your site.
http://www.google.com/ads/
http://www.virtual-portals.com
Although adveritising, like pay per clicks, can be effective in promoting your website, it can quickly become expensive. By focusing on creating quality content for website, and then promoting that content, you can continue to drive traffic to your website for years to come.
Posted in RSS | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Writing articles can be incredibly valuable to your business.
Articles help establish your expertise and give you credibility. A bunch of well edited articles can be compiled into a product for sale. Articles can get your name in front of your target market repeatedly.
In this article, Ill review what you need to do to get your articles seen by as many people as possible.
1) Length and outlineIdeally, your article should be from 500-1000 words. Article submission services prefer this length, and your reader will as well. Use an outline at first to make it simpler. I discussed some popular outlines in the last issue of Service Business Strategies. An easy, clear outline starts with an introduction, followed by 3-5 key points, and concludes with a recap of your main points.
2) Resource boxThis is your chance at promoting your business. A resource box appears at the end of your article, and is about 4-5 lines about what you offer your clients.
Although articles are ideal vehicles for building your list, you might also want to sell a product or have your reader call you for more information. Get clear on what you want this article to do for you before writing your resource box.
3) Where to submit and howYou can distribute your article yourself or through a directory service. In general I recommend using the service, because self-distribution is labor intensive.
However, if you have fewer than 50 people on your list, you can easily distribute it yourself through your current email program.
If you have a much larger list, consider using an email publishing service. These services charge monthly, and range from free to $100 or so, depending on the options.
Great services that Ive used include ezinedirector.com
(free) and Aweber.com (many more options).
That takes care of mailing to your own list. But you can also mass distribute your information to thousands of people by using an article distribution service. Again, the options are plentiful, but its good to be aware of what is available.
Article distribution services send your article to multiple directories, which are distributed to thousands of readers who have indicated an interest in your topic. Because your article has your contact information at the end, you will quickly gain mass exposure.
Submission services can be expensive, depending on the number of directories to which they send your article, and other very mysterious factors. I use and recommend SubmitYourArticle.com, which currently charges $37 monthly to distribute to about 40 or so directories.
CONCLUSION Once youve written your article, presumably youd like it to be read. Your first course is to distribute it to your own ezine list of subscribers. Again, if you have a small list of 50 subscribers or so, you can use your own mail program (Outlook, Eudora) to send it. If your base is larger, I recommend a listserve program like Aweber or Ezinedirector.com, which can send it out nicely formatted in an HTML template. These programs handle new subscribers and unsubscribes automatically. Lastly, when youre ready to go beyond your own list, you can sign up for an article distribution service, which will send your article to thousands of subscribers for a monthly fee. I use SubmitYourArticle.com. If you want to research other services, do a web search for article submission services.
Posted in Copywriting | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Your online business will likely require more advertising than
a contemporary business downtown, yet some new to the world of
online business do not spend the time and money to advertise
their business appropriately and are, in turn, losing money.
Your online business is crammed into the world wide web along
with thousands of others selling the same product or service as
yourself. Consider this scenario: In your hometown you want to
open an art supply store. In that same town there are thousands
of art supply stores. In order for your business to be
successful, it will have to stand out in some way from the
others. This is exactly what is happening when a business is
opened online. There is so much competition, that you must take
drastic measures to ensure that you are getting noticed.
Advertising can be done in so many ways online. These are some
of the most successful ways that you can promote your online
business.
Advertising in e-zines is a popular way to promote your online
business. Ezines are the magazines of the internet; they written
on a particular subject and read by those interested in that
subject. Therefore, ezine readers are already potential customers
and advertising your site in ezines that are related to your
business is almost guaranteed to help drive traffic to your site
and increase sales for your product. You should be sure when
advertising in ezines that you are not advertising along side
competitors. Ask the ezine producer if there is a policy
concerning posting competing ads. It is also a good idea to
subscribe to the ezine before making a decision about whether or
not to advertise in it. An ezine that runs fewer ads is a better
choice than one that runs many ads. You can look at the online
Directory of Ezines to find publications that are relevant to
your company.
Pay-per-click programs are an excellent way to advertise your
business without taking a risk that you have advertised in the
wrong place. With pay-per-click, you can advertise you site and
only pay for those who click the link and go to your site.
Another popular pay-per program is the pay-per-lead program that
allows you to only pay for leads. Usually this means that you pay
for only those who download a trail, fill out a form or enter a
sweepstakes; whatever you choose. Lastly you can display pay-per-
click banner ads in which your company would be allowed to place
a banner on their site and you will be charged for every click
that your banner receives.
Opt-In email is a great way to advertise your business, however
it is expensive and it can be misused very easily. Using opt-in
emails, you would submit your sales copy to the company that will
in turn email it to those on their mailing list. You should be
very careful since some of the companies that advertise their
mailing lists as opt-in email service is sometimes really SPAM.
It is essential that you have a perfect and effective sales
letter when using opt-in mailing lists. Without and effective
sales copy your money and time have been wasted.
Posted in Copywriting | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in Internet
marketing. It seemed that every time one opened a web page they
would be bombarded with offers for this or that. It had gotten to
the point where surfing the Internet was almost like playing a
video game; when the ads would pop-up one would try and close
them out before another one came. This is precisely why we have
seen the decline in the use of pop-up windows on the Internet
today; surfers simply do not even look at the pop-ups anymore.
They close the windows out before even reading the ad. Very
often, a surfer will even leave your site if there are too many
pop-up ads. They simply do not want the hassle of closing those
windows while trying to obtain the information that your site has
to offer. This information, while valuable, is not as valuable as
the surfers time. Studies have shown however, that even with
these set backs, pop-up windows are still an effective method
of Internet marketing.
Is there some way that pop-up windows can be less irritating and
still be effective? Yes! What if the pop ad were seen upon
exiting your site instead of entering? This would allow the
surfer to obtain the information that they need from your site,
feeling that they were able to come and go quickly without being
hassled by other ads and offers all the while making the surfer
happy. You have left the surfer with a positive attitude and
therefore are more likely to respond to the pop advertisement.
This is being accomplished more and more by using what is being
called pop-under windows. When the surfer comes to your site, the
ad is opened discretely behind the your web page. Then, upon
leaving your site, after obtaining all the information that they
need , will see the ad and therefore be more likely to respond.
Since the surfer has the information, he has achieved his
objective and is now open to do other things; ideally respond to
the pop under advertisement.
Not all pop-windows are created equally. There are some things
that you can do to make your pop-windows, whether pop-up or pop-
under more effective. The pop-window should be easy to “escape”
from. If the surfer does not want to see the add, but has a hard
time closing it out, they will likely become frustrated and could
leave your site all together. You should either use a button to
that will allow the surfer to close the window or be sure that
the “x” is easily visible. Another good idea is to use a script
that utilizes cookies. Cookie will prevent pop-windows from
overloading the surfer since you can decide the frequency of the
pop-windows, rather than each time a page is opened. Also be sure
that there is no more than one pop-window per page.
When creating a pop-window, you will be asked to fill out a short
information form, select the length of cookies, and choose the
layout of the pop-window. When choosing the design of the pop-
window, you can increase the effectiveness by creating a large
headline that includes benefits that will be most appealing to
the customer. You should also consider using incentives and
lastly do not ask the customer to read a long and drawn out
advertisement. Keep the message simple yet powerful and your
pop-ads will be sure to generate profits for your site.
Posted in Advertising | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Measuring and tracking RSS while a fairly simple concept, is
really anything but. Unlike websites, RSS have the added
caveat of potential syndication, making accurate tracking a
challenge to anyone but the extremely tech savvy.
It is not unrealistic for marketers to want to know how many
subscribers they have, which items in their feeds attract
the most interest, or how many click-throughs are generated
as a result of an RSS feed.
There are a number of 3rd party providers who focus on
tracking the consumption of RSS feeds. Some solutions are
rudimentary but likely sufficient for a small business
testing the waters with RSS. Other RSS tracking solutions
are more complex and while they can come close to being
accurate, with syndication there is no solution that tracks
with 100% accuracy.
Techniques Used to track RSS Consumption
Small businesses can view web logs to provide information on
how many times a specific file (RSS feed) is requested. The
logs and information is rudimentary but will give a basic
sense of a feeds success. Many 3rd party tracking options
have additional tracking information available.
Hosting
The most common method to track the number of feed accesses
or individuals accessing a feed is to use a 3rd party feed
host. Companies like FeedBurner essentially track feeds
based on accesses. The downside to using a 3rd party like
Feedburner, is that the url is a FeedBurner url and any
PageRank or popularity associated with the url will benefit
the feed host rather than the feed creator. Additionally, no
distinction is made between unique views or syndicate feeds.
FeedBurner provides a free no frills service to host RSS
feeds and they have been proactive in circumventing user
concerns. Recently implementing a service that eases users
concerns about migrating from FeedBurner. There is a 3 step
process for users interested in migrating from FeedBurner’s
free service, implementing a permanent redirect, and url
forwarding.
Details can be found at:
http://www.burningdoorc.om/feedburner/archives/001251.html
Some publishers, who were concerned about lock-in or wanted
to retain control of the domain and feed urls often resist a
hosting service. The new program FeedBurner Partner Pro is
not free, but allows for users to point to their own domain,
retaining complete control of their feeds without
sacrificing statistical tracking.
The downside to using a service like FeedBurner is that some
filtering applications used on corporate proxy servers block
feeds residing on FeedBurner or other free hosts.
Redirects
Companies like SyndicateIQ have more complex tracking
solutions that generate unique urls for each subscriber. The
tracking benefits to such a customized solution is obvious.
Individual user habits can be monitored and any users
abusing their access and inappropriately syndicating a feeds
content can have their feed turned off. The downside of
course is that the success of RSS is in a large part due to
the anonymity. Users don’t want their personal habits
tracked.
Considering the venture capital interest in these 3rd party
hosting services. It is important to note that their value
is in the data that they collect. As with any 3rd party
service, it goes without saying that publishers should read
the privacy policy carefully, be aware of who owns the
rights to the collected information, and how that
information might be used. It goes without saying that the
value in many of the free services currently available lies
in their aggregate data.
Uniquely Named Transparent Images
Uniquely named transparent 1×1 graphics can be added to the
description field of an RSS feed. Users can use standard web
logs to see the number of times the image is viewed and
determine the number of times the feed was accessed.
Companies Specializing in Tracking and RSS Metrics
Pheedo - Pheedo creates tools that enable individuals,
organizations and corporations to promote, analyze, and
optimize their weblogs and content.
http://www.pheedo.com
SyndicateIQ - SyndicateIQ’s position in the content
distribution chain provides clients a set of analytics.
http://www.syndicateiq.com/
FeedBurner - FeedBurner offers a full range of services to
help you build awareness, track circulation, and implement
revenue-generating programs in your feed(s).
http://www.feedburner.com
Each individual using RSS needs to make a decision of the
extent and importance of the analytics they require.
Realizing that any system they employ is not going to be
perfect.
Posted in RSS | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Knowing this pattern makes the job of internet marketers even more difficult. Our ability to cultivate and retain any significant numbers in a downline is directly determined by our ability to maximize these precious few seconds of reading time. Have you got what it takes to write an email and get the replies flying in?
Most of us send out emails almost every day. We do it all too often with out carefully thinking about it. As a result these emails are often written and sent out less than perfect and fail to produce the desired result.
The purpose of sending out mass email is usually intended to attract visitors to view a website rather than make a sale, therefore it is important to take your time and define your aim precisely before writing the email.
Keep it simple and brief; avoid using long or technical words as some people may not understand them. Do not use three words where one will suffice. If the email is long and full of waffle boredom will set in and without a doubt it is likely to be deleted before reaching the end of it.
The opening paragraph is vital. If it does not click with the reader right away you have wasted your time sending it.
It’s true that even the best writers spend time editing and rewriting their articles and emails.
Start with an eye catching headline. It might be a question or statement. You must grab their attention right away.
Make sure to look at it from your readers point of view, is it forceful enough or exciting to make you want to read on and discover the end result?
Headlines hook prospects and lead them to the next line.
There you start to build their interest to ensure they read the next sentence… and each subsequent one. You might even find it is worth offering a free gift or a monthly newsletter that would help their business. There are plenty of free e-books on the web that you can give away.
If the intention of your email is to make a sale then offer a guarantee or a full refund this should dispel any fears they may have.
A cheeky way to test out your email is to send it to a couple of friends who are interested in business, add a message at the end of it and ask them to email you. If you don’t receive a reply, take it as a sign that perhaps your email was discarded before they made it far enough down the message, to get your message. When this happens it is a good idea to edit your email and remove any unneeded text before sending back out to your master list.
The exact techniques and methods you use will vary depending on personal preferences, product differences, market circumstances, etc. However, the basic approach is to make sure you give it some advance preparation and work, before sending them out. You will be pleasantly amazed at the difference it makes.
Posted in Copywriting | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Your thoughts, emotions or actions can either block or activate these hidden energy centres. In this article, I address ways to activate each of the Chakras to improve your article writing.
1. Base Chakra the energy of existence
This energy source is associated with survival, self-preservation and security. The major blockages to activating the Base Chakra are “self-sabotage” or self-talk that is full of self-doubt. The real tragedy is that, unless you can manage these self-doubts, you cut yourself off from the other six sources of energy.
You can activate the Base Chakra by: * Confronting your doubts as self-sabotage and challenging them * Visualising your completed article and the sense of achievement you will experience with publication * Sharing your concerns with others who have been successful in article writing * Listening to your body and learning to release any tensions associated with article writing
2. Naval Chakra the energy of activity
This source of energy is experienced as “excitement” and is associated with doing, movement, creativity and achievement. The major blockage to this energy source is inactivity brought on by procrastination and self-doubt.
You can activate the Naval Chakra by: * Checking out online forums and article directories for potential topics of interest to readers * Making notes on an article topic * Aiming for a rough first draft (do not let your perfectionist streak intervene!) * Trying “speed writing” - write what comes to mind without concern for grammar, sentence structure or spelling (helps to thwart
perfectionism) * Taping your ideas - try using an audio tape to get ideas down
3. Solar Plexus Chakra the energy of control
This energy is experienced as clarity and is associated with your sense of personal power and self control. The major blockage to this energy source is a lack of order through the absence of planning. You can tap into the energy of control by creating order, structure, form or guidance.
You can activate the Solar Plexus Chakra by: * Capturing potential article topics in a document or Excel file * Matching your task to your energy level if you are a morning person do your creative writing in the morning and your related routine tasks at night * Capturing ideas on how to write articles and creating your own set of guidelines * Setting up documents on your computer with article headings and doing occasional brain dumps * Building your own list of preferred article directories for submission of articles (include submission URL and key requirements, eg. word length, format) * Establishing output targets and a routine for article writing
4. The Heart Chakra the energy of community
This energy is experienced as connection - brought about by your relationships with others and by engaging them in collaborative activity. The major blockage to this energy source is isolation cutting yourself off from supportive relationships.
You can engage the Heart Chakra by: * Participating in discussion forums focused on article writing * Developing a learning partnership with one other person for your mutual benefit * Connecting to other people through workshops and teleconferences * Sharing your article ideas with a significant other your life partner, for example
* Taking time out to be with your friends * Joining an action learning group devoted to article writing
5. The Throat Chakra the energy of meaning
This energy is experienced as expression and is associated with metaphors, communication and beliefs. The blocks to this form of energy are unclear thinking and a lack of focus.
You can engage your Throat Chakra by: * Journaling to capture your thoughts and reflections * Drawing diagrams and flowcharts to clarify what you are trying to say in your writing * Developing concept maps to clarify the relationships amongst activities, ideas & principles * Using metaphors to create new perspectives and meanings
6. The Third Eye Chakra the energy of integration
This energy is experienced as intuition and is associated with left and right brain, integration of male and female, wisdom and holistic approaches. One of the major blocks to this form of energy is busyness incessant activity with no time for reflection.
You can engage your Third Eye Chakra by: * Undertaking creative activity e.g. painting, drawing or writing poetry * Being still getting in touch with nature and your own body * Taking a walk physical activity provides a good balance for sitting and writing * Clearing the clutter from your desk and your life a cluttered workspace can clutter your mind
7. The Crown Chakra the energy of Spirit
This energy is experienced as transcendence and is associated with higher purpose, vision and higher consciousness. The major block to this energy is an obsession with Materialism.
You can embrace the Crown Chakra by: * Meditating this helps you get in touch with your higher consciousness * Singing helps you to find your deeper self * Revisiting your spiritual origins this may be through prayer or participation in religious activities
The Chakras are interconnected and interdependent. They embrace the whole person the irrational and rational, the intuitive and emotional, the pragmatic and the aesthetic and the material and spiritual.
You can activate your Chakras to improve your article writing and your daily living.
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Friday, December 2nd, 2005
But my Grandmother worried that Amah might be poisoning my mind. “What’s all this hullabaloo about a dead girl?” she complained to my mother.
Now, years later, I have a special place in my heart for Amah. She has long since disappeared from my life—but her ramblings about “Little Sister” have opened my eyes to the possibility that there is more to the universe than meets the eye.
The reality of a universe other than the one we can see and touch has become popular in films and novels. However, we need to go beyond its seduction as pure entertainment and look at its implications as reality.
Quantum mechanics have shown that there is no such thing as a vacuum. What we think of as empty space is actually a vortex of activity, a quantum whirl of particles and waves.
Instead of being reducible to atoms, our world is actually fluid, uncertain. At its most fundamental level, our world is pure energy, pure potential, pure possibility.
What does this mean?
1. Matter can no longer be considered separate and distinct from spirit. And even the insistence we maintain that we are separate bodies and selves is illusory at best. 2.
Space and time exist only in one dimension of our world; there are other dimensions that communicate outside time and space. This means that we can communicate telepathically with someone or something several thousands of miles away. 3. The world is a complex web of interconnecting relationships, a sea of energy that is characterized by its indivisibility. 4. We are part of the
Web. We are the Web. 5. We have the power to influence
external events. Quantum scientists have postulated a particular relationship between the observer and the
observed: the act of observation changes the nature of the observed; in short, what we see is what we get.
Most of us have experienced the Field even though we might not be aware of it.
Have you ever had
- a vivid premonition that came true? - a sense that you are connected to the world, that you are a part of a sea of wholeness? - an effect on something in your environment through intention or desire? - an effect on an object—such as a computer—when you are emotionally charged? - a special connection between you and an animal? - a sense that something that happened to you was eerily co-incidental?
Instead of assigning these occurrences to the realm of the “unusual” or “impossible,” consider this– our “rational”
views of cause and effect, our views that we are separate, individual beings dominated by the passage of time and space are based only on our three-dimensional experience of reality. What if we actually live in a multi-dimensional universe? What if the normal course of events is an unending flow of energy and our insistence on separation and distinction is the perversion that is preventing us from being who and what we really are.
In Feng Shui, everything is done to the environment to facilitate the flow of energy in the house because this flow will have a direct bearing on the flow of energy in the body. Wholeness and Wellness are seen as an uninterrupted flow of power through the body. Illness is a disruption of this flow. And despite my Grandmother’s misgivings, Amah was able to connect me to this flow.
Perhaps we need to rethink our purpose on this earth. Yes life is good and we must live the best we can. Yes, we can work to create the most dynamic relationships and the most profitable businesses. But we can only channel our goals to their ultimate source if we carry this purpose foremost in our hearts—reconnect with the Field, live its energy and teach others to do the same.
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