Thanks for the Life Lessons & Challenges!

So much has transpired in the last couple of years. So many skills and new information has come to my attention in the best kind of way. I have much to learn and love learning however I am more at peace at whatever pace I keep. I read consider that "each failure gets you closer to the successes you desire."
My intentions are still the same to create several home based businesses online that assist others in getting what they want while bringing in multiple streams of income. It is my pace that has changed. My change occurred when realizing that it is important to take in a bit of a life—well lived.
While I am building a web site to send e-cards, I am taking courses online toward my doctorate in metaphysics. While I am researching my next set of books and offerings for each of my sites, I read, journal and meditate daily. With products and ideas swirling around in my head, I take time out each week to meet with my spiritual group, the support of like minded people feeds my soul. We have started a public group forum along with a web site if you are interested in spiritual laws and how the practice of them can change your life in so many positive ways.
My other arenas of interest are simplifying my life, eliminating all that is no longer of value in my life and purging items that are no longer needed so that others may benefit from them. Healthy food and exercise also have become a part of my routine.
Last of all and one of the most important considerations is being appreciative of all the blessings in my life. Saying thanks many times a day each time I think of how blessed my life is.
This morning I opened an email from a former student of mine from 31 years ago. He says that I had an enormous effect on him and his life. He says he remembers how I seemed to be happy as a teacher and he remembered that in his decision to teach. He ended with" thanks for touching my life. You were my best teacher ever." What a gift that letter is even 31 years later.
I said to this former student that he now can influence his students as it is obvious to me that when we are happy in our life—we positively impact others and send ripples out on the waters of humanity in the best kind of way. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it is the perfect time to be "Hooked on Happy" about all the wonderful things big and small in each of our lives and remember to feel appreciation for each of them. Thank you !

Unseminar 5 Increases Everyday Expectations!

How does a former art educator and technology instructor like myself learn internet marketing? The answer is to submerge yourself in a seminar with an incredible line up of speakers who know how to do what you want to do and are willing to tell you how it's done.Pat O'Bryan's Unseminar 5 provided many such answers.  Dr. Joe Vitale was the first speaker at Unseminar 5 in San Antonio, Texas. He quoted Einstein, here I'll paraphrase," problems cannot be solved at the same level that they were created. He said we must strive to continuously grow to expand our knowledge. By increasing our understanding we can then hope to solve problems at this new level. Left are Dr. Joe Vitale, myself, Joan Maresh Hansen, and Craig Perinne with their recent book, Inspired Marketing. Above left, Craig is autographing his book coauthored with Dr. Joe Vitale. 

A new awareness can lead us to people who can assist us with solutions with a method of "outsourcing." When we outsource, people are hired to assist us and can solve our problems allowing us to focus on other things we enjoy most. Craig Perrine spoke of this principle which by giving other people the most difficult tasks from our lists of things to do, this will give us the time to work on our list of things we enjoy—our list of  "get to dos." How brilliant is that?

Attending seminars with a room full of experts who are willing to share their expertise is certainly the best way I know to soak up a lot of great information.

 

 I am delighted that I  just attended Pat O'Bryan's Unseminar 5

in San Antonio, Texas with eleven fabulous speakers—all experts in their field. So much information was provided to a hungry audience filled with all levels of internet marketers. Some participants haven't even built web sites yet and others like myself have web sites and are eager to take our businesses to the next level using the processes of web 2.0 strategies. Right, you see the very generous man behind the successes of the Unseminar Series: Pat O'Bryan. Thank you Pat!

Bill Hibbler spoke of the power of forming MASTERMIND groups and told of the successes of the Wimberly group of which he has been a part. We organized into groups of people—we call ourselves The Un-mastermind 5 group.We began conversations for possibility and have continued that dialogue since our return home by email. Bill also spoke of his rock  star business and how to go about becoming a rock star in your own niche. It was the best talk I've heard Bill give so far. The Unseminars and the speakers are getting better and better. Below left you see Bill Hibbler with Dr. Scott Lewis.

 

I appreciate the hard work and  efforts of Pat O'Bryan who is helping others to succeed in each of our respective businesses. Pat organized his usual cadre of experts with Dr. Joe Vitale, Craig Perrine, Bill Hibbler. In addition, Eric Farewell, Erica Douglas, Donna Fox, Simon Leung, Tony Laidig, Dr. Scott Lewis and Ben Mack took center stage and shared all of their brilliant ideas about how they approach the internet marketing world.

Eric Farewell was incredible with his talk being only the third time to take the stage. His life is one of adventure and lots of freedom. What an inspiration that is. He shared a series of 5 strategies to best launch a product or site. Eric was easy to be with and has a warm and genuine personality. Below left are Eric and myself.  

Erica Douglas  ( shown with Eric above right) was another new person to speak at an internet marketing seminar, she did an amazing job. She shared with us how she built and sold her web business for 1.5 million dollars and how we too can build businesses with that net worth. 

Tony Laidig told of his approach to the public domain and how we too can derive the same benefits from the millions of documents which are  accessible to each of us. Tony also acknowledged in a conversation with me, his use of  his mastermind group.  Left you see Mark Weisser,  Simone Blume,  and Tony discussing public domain products.

Dr. Scott Lewis relaxed the crowd in a large group hypnosis with encouraging words to unveil  to us our hidden skills and strengths.

The feminine energy of the internet was brought to light with the energetic words of Donna Fox. She revealed facts and insights on marketing to woman. She's another person whose warmth filled the room and when you spoke with her she attended each word. Donna runs with an influential circle and invited some of her closest friends to come and speak. To our delight, they accepted. 

Simon Leung, former Google Ad Words executive spoke on the safe approach to online marketing to avoid the famous Google Slap. He travels most of the time speaking and we happened to experience one of his last USA speaking engagements. 

Last of all was Ben Mack who did " the most amazing card trick that I have ever seen" and is known as a branding expert. His humor and stage presence makes it easy to see how he works his magic. He told the most touching stories of his life.   

Three days from morning till early evening, we had opportunities to mix and mingle with incredible people who have unique visions for bringing their ideas to the world in the form of web sites, ebooks, and other products.  Most of all were the reassurances that each of these individuals use formulas for their successes. If we follow these suggested formulas then we too can experience successes beyond our wildest dreams.

It seems like so long ago yet it has been only nine months that I met Pat O'Bryan then Dr. Joe Vitale, and then Bill Hibbler and Craig Perrine in person and now these other internet celebrities—all in the arena of service to others like myself. I feel so confident now having experienced each of these individuals with their messages filled with possibilities. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, the speakers, the audience participants, the staff, all made this a life altering experience for which I will be forever grateful. I can hardly wait until Unseminar 6 happens so I can share my success story as an expression of appreciation to all of these people co-creating it with me. Left are Simon Leung, new friend Martha Giffin, Dr. Scott Lewis, myself, Donna Fox, Tony Laidig and Maryellen Little.

"When we experience moments of ecstacy-in play, in art, in sex-they come not as an exception, an accident, but as a taste of what life is meant to be...Ecstacy is an idea, a goal, but it can be the expectation of every day. Those times when we are grounded in our body, pure in our heart, clear in our mind, rooted in our soul, and suffused with the energy, the spirit of life, are our birthright. It's really not that hard to stop and luxuriate in the joy and wonder of being. Children do it all the time. It's a natural human gift that should be at the heart of our lives." Gabrielle Roth

So too shall we all seek to serve the world with that which we have to offer—that human gift should be at the heart of our lives.....

Blessings and All My Best!

Joan Maresh Hansen 

Mind Mapping to Success!

The learning curve continues as more information is discovered. Sandy inspired me to proceed with a plan of action in a mind map with a software download she provided me. So in between product development yesterday( t-shirts, mouse pads, coffee cups and journals), my mind map of my strategies for joining and participating in different social networks to increase traffic to my sites and continue to build my list was started.
Last night I read posts by Pat O'Bryan where he gently reminded me that in internet marketing three things are important, make products, sell products and build your list. We can get so carried away in so many things we forget what is most important-providing service to others. In July, I will be attending Unseminar 5 in San Antonio with some of my mastermind group. Pat O Bryan, Joe Vitale, Craig Perine, and Bill Hibbler will be sharing their resources, time, and talents. I look forward to taking everything to the next level. Collaboration is key to personal growth as I feel you cannot do much of anything alone and if you try it takes you so much longer to progress. Just wanted to register these new thoughts now to put them into action. Until next time....
" If today your abilities are small and your powers insignificant, begin now to make a more thorough use of them and they will grow." Raymond Holliwell

Foundational Information

I know my partner has mentioned in her notes that she has found much of her information to be more foundational than she needs and that is great. I am still in the place where I still need to learn foundational information so your notes on them would be great! HINT HINT! Just posting here is a great start for me.

I have been reviewing others sites and blogs learning what I like and do not like so that I am clear on what I want to develop and promote. My intention is to reduce the domain names I have secured and only keep the ones I want to develop. I have found after holding them for a year I am clearer on what vibration the names hold for me and my mission. Now my lesson is to decide where I will host them and get that account set up so that it is most affordable for multiple domain names.

I am also intending that I pick the best place to use for my blog and I learn it with ease and have my first one up and running by Wed. April 16, 2008 (the day after my birthday by the way guys)

My Intention

I have developed a great blog and mini site called www.successwitheft.com and it has 2,000 + visitors a week and generates $10,000 a month in income. I am happy and grateful that this process was fun and happened with ease. As I needed help, help appeared and I shared what I learned with my OMGr's!

Now I need to learn how to get the spaces I put in this post to show up! LMAO

Hiring EXPERTS to HELP adds SPEED to your Intentions!

Many of my friends hire others to get all of these technological issues resolved. Many have technical gurus who come to their homes to fix things that aren't working. They hire experts from web designers to graphic designers to software programmers. I decided to try asking for a little help from my technologically savvy friends. I hired one person to set up a theme on my WordPress blog, another web designer to update the theme on my web site, another elance copywriter to re-write the copy for my two sites. Things happened fast!

It was so much fun having those things in progress while I did some other FUN creative things like adding voice to a slide show using my brand new Blue Ball microphone. I also wrote and did some research on membership site software offerings. It gave me more time to incubate new ideas. I got fresh innovative approaches to all that was requested. I appreciate the generous assistance from each contributer and the results of their expertise, time and talents. 

The important part of hiring others to do what you want is to be able to communicate your intentions so that the outcome matches that originally stated intention.

"Think and feel yourself there! To achieve any aim in life, you need to project the end-result. Think of the elation, the satisfaction, the joy! Carrying the ecstatic feeling will bring the desired goal into view." Grace Speare

Note Worthy!

All day today has been spent sorting through folders and copying and pasting information into a master document into an organized sequence from months and months of meetings with two groups that I am part of. We are studying the very challenging trials and tribulations of internet marketing.  So many informative comments and material has been provided in the last year from these very generous people. I now know what it means that to the degree that each person contributes you expotentially progress in your understanding and skills as people bring in all of this new information. Many of the e-books, e-mails, handouts, were given and at the time I did not understand the term or the concept and now three months later, it is clear to me what is now being discussed. Some things have been put in place ( opt in forms, blogs, podcasts, videos, slide shows, ebooks, 1shoppingcart, autoresponders and two sites) Now some of  the information is more foundational than I need. I have actually outgrown my notes.Now that is a good feeling. It is good to know that I could teach others what I have learned. I am beginner enough to remember the first flashes of confusion up to the time of clarity and understanding. I feel so appreciative of those individuals sharing their expertise as well as their notes, skills, and knowledge. I take foracious notes as I study and then learn even more as I type those notes. Then coupling that with when we discuss the same information in either our conference calls or in our meetings, by presenting the knowledge you are gaining even a deeper understanding. It is good to be learning so much and having partners along the path, it simply reinforces the fact that we are not in this alone. You have a collaborative team to fast forward your skills and as a member of the team you can assist others in learning from your experiences. Thank God for my partners who bring new information to the table each time we meet. We will reach our GOALS and with the support of each other as stated in the Alien Song—will SURVIVE and thrive!

(Read the background story of  Blit Wizbok one-eyed star of the Alien Song by visiting  Victor Navone's Site. Blit unexpectantly went VIRAL!)

"There is no challenge more challenging than the challenge to improve yourself."

                                                                                                                                                                     Michael E.  Staley

New Ideas SPRING forth!

It is interesting to read how other more experienced people with a web presence are directing traffic to their sites. My intent continues to be to study and read MORE from these people to know the step by step formula for having those individuals who are interested in what I offer come to my site over and over again. After all, the purpose of our a site is to add value to those people's lives so that they return for repeated visits...and to provide products that give some sort of assistance to those who seek us out. So many ideas and so much enthusiasm to put them into place for the masses.
Today I met with a fulfillment house to have them quote prices for POD (print on demand) books and products. They commented on my over abundance of enthusiasm for what I was offering. I do feel a great deal of passion for my intentions. Met with mastermind group to discuss membership sites, marketing ideas, free software products, affiliate partners, article submissions, video promotions and so much more. Also requested and offered alignment on each of our intentions. Discussed with Sandy all sorts of really good ideas that would add value to people's lives. Overall it's been a thought provoking day and I am grateful for the opportunity to interact with such passionate people with such dynamic actions built into each day of their life. Even a total stranger passed his newspaper over to me with the article," So You Want to Be a Blogging Star? Write What You Know, Don't Try to Be Perfect, Promote Yourself a Bit...and Watch the Page-Views Soar...." Yes I do...I intend to be a Blogging Star.... until then, I am so happy to have been involved in so many little things, ideas, conversations, projects,moments at the book store, shared moments with friends, phone calls with loved ones, a beautiful crisp sunny day, and a text message intending beauty, rebirth,blessed regeneration and joy this day—the spring equinox...
"Nothing will content those who are not content with a little." Greek Proverb
I invite you to be content with the little things in your life each day too. Blessings, Joan

Private Websites

Think about this:

• If you set up a site and charge $29.95 a month and had 200 subscribers, you would earn approx. $6,000 a MONTH! every month. They gave you their credit card to hit each month for the fee.
• If you charged $15 and had those same 200 subscribers you would earn $3,000 a month.

Sounds good to me.

Does anyone know of any topics that might make a good private site?

Does anyone know how to search to see what the hot topics are for people making a lot of money on private sites?

Does anyone even know where we go to search for those sites?

I have a video from Internet Marketing?? or whatever was the name of that seminar that we all met at. And one of the interviews was with a young man who was charging $70 for a private site and all it did was talk about how to win at the Maddon football computer game.

He said he was charging like 35 or so dollar or ???? dollars, went to a marketing lecture and during the break he took the advice of the speaker and went upstairs in to his room in the conference hotel and raised his price to $70 and still kept getting the same number of people signing up for the service. So he said he intended to keep raising the price until his signups starting getting lower.

Maddon Football!!!! Who plays that and can afford $70 a month? Are people addicted to computer games??

This was a lesson in raising prices?

Sandy

We've Come A L-O-N-G Way!

As I was organizing some paperwork, which I spend a lot of time doing as I am purging and ridding myself of unnecessary things. I found the first meeting notes of the IMG now called OMG ( thanks Steve). Look at our long list of topics we discussed;

• a keyword tracker called Wordtracker,
• PPC ( Pay Per Click) campaigns and something called malicious/insincere clicks.
• drop shipping with One Source
• Optimization of sites
• Opt in forms and autoresponders
• Blog farms ( Wordpress, LiveJournal, and Yahoo, and Google's Blogspot)
• Host providers and articles and the need for frequent and new content on sites and blogs
  

As I look over the notes they were written in fragments without any elaboration on each of the terms and concepts. That was September only seven months ago. Now at least some of the terms exist on our sites and other terms are at least understood without the "deer in the headlights" look.
I myself am proud of where we are and where we came from. We have to be patient with ourselves, this is a challenging process we have taken on here. I am equally glad that the journey is one that is shared with such fine people. Thanks OMG, let's keep truckin' as we are closer than we were way back when we were first introduced to these ideas. The fog was thicker then too, it is beginning to lift.
"You are the product of your own brainstorms." Rosemary Konner Steinbaum

Millionaires Made: Are They Serving the World?

 I appreciate that Sandy sent me an email yesterday as she does each day to inform me of how internet marketing people are making money, in fact millions. It happens that it is in the arena of online marketing which by now you have figured out is what this group is most interested in.

The story was told of many people who are teaching others how to do this internet marketing thing and making most of their money by the courses where they are teaching the step by step how to's and the products being sold in the back of the room at seminars with the same intent—learning how to do this your self. It is the good old American Dream thing and more of a "get rich quick" scheme. 

Each of us in this group are more interested in doing some good in the world. Not that we are opposed to seeing financial gain, we deserve it and will get to that point.  I am happy to say we honestly want to offer something of value to others. Personally making other people's lives better by what we offer really goes "clunk" for me. 

So it is fine that these other people are doing what they are doing, I want to reach certain people who need what I have and will be happy to have connected with my sites and their offerings.

Stating intentions would be useful so that we are clear on exactly what each of us is up to.

Myself, my intent is to create a comprehensive set of web sites that provide valuable resources to art educators, art students and home schooled budding artists. These sites will make the teaching lives of the educators more FUN with new innovative ideas and motivational strategies and products that spark the imaginations of themselves and the artists. World wide interests is my goal and service to all art education classes of  brand new teachers to start off with teaching being a lot more FUN while still offering quality instruction. 

" It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."

Build it and THEY will Come!

It happens in the movies, at least it did in "Field of Dreams." They built the baseball diamond and the crowds and players showed up for the game. It would be nice if that were all you  had to do to get your web sites and blogs out there in everyone's mailboxes and at the top of the search engine lists automatically. It takes a bit more research and work than that. Just recently, I read a well written article discussing ways to have your blog go VIRAL. Here is what I understood.

1. First determine WHY you are blogging. Who is your audience? What are your goals? What interests do your readers have? Answer those questions in a compelling way and your audience will come back again and again.

2.Do basic research. Visit  sites like technorati. Do a search for keywords related to your target audience as well as the topics you intend to focus on. While there answer these questions: Who are the most influential bloggers in your space? Who is being successful in getting in front of the bloggers that you want to get in front of?

Technorati ranks recent posts based on their authority or how many people link to that blog. High ranked blogs are the ones you want to check out. Pay attention to what people write about, note any posts you like, later you can link posts you write to those posts, which may generate return traffic. 

3. Avoid sub domains to set up your BLOG. Install your blog on your own domain as a sub page. The suggested blog is Wordpress.

4. Create a content schedule that is steady of what, when and how you will post, plan ahead and stick to it.This creates structure around your workload. Perhaps plan to post on Tuesdays or Thursdays then stay on that schedule.  Your posting schedule creates expectation on the reader's parts, you drift away—they drift away. Kind of like, "Hey it is Tuesday/Thursday, let's see what she has to say today!" Don't miss a post and disappoint your audience. 

5. Be personal. Add a photo of yourself, write good bios to enhance your credibility to let them know you are a real person. This will engage your audience.

6. Be first. By being the first to post breaking news is an easy way to go VIRAL.

7. Know what other bloggers are saying.If an influencial blogger post a comment and you disagree, state your opinion in a courteous way without insulting anyone. Disagreement creates interaction and builds community. Saying the same thing does not compel readers to your blog.

8. Notice social networking sites to see what people like. An article that goes "popular" on Digg can generate tens of thousands of visitors to your site. The same can happen with StumbleUpon and del.iocio.us. 

9. Control your BLOG, keeping  up with live stats to learn how to add popularity to your postings.

10. Make it easy for your readers with an RSS feed in a prominent place. RSS feeds let users display the content from multiple blogs through one program so they can easily see the latest posts from their favorite blogs.

11. Rinse and repeat. Watch  your blog to see what works. To figure out what works, find out where your traffic comes from and which resources bring the most visitors or comments. 

12. Stand by your opinions, knowing you cannot please everyone.If everyone does not like you, it's OK.

13. Keep the Faith, try not to get discouraged. Building a readership and going viral takes time and experience. It takes effort to find ways to get your particular audience to visit, comment on posts, and recommend you to others—and waiting is well worth it!

Article excerpt from Chris Bennett, President of 97th Floor, specializing in Blog optimization

Hope you enjoyed this summary,if you would like the article in it's entirity, I will be happy to email it to you. Just let me know!

"Every time you stand up for an ideal, you send forth a tiny ripple of hope."

                                                                                                                    Robert Kennedy

  

Online Marketing Group Learning Curve

It was several months ago that I sat in a huge ball room with a hundred or so people. All of the audience had gathered together to learn about the hot topic of internet marketing. The speaker was SLICK, the movement through the material was fast. Words and information was flying. I started taking notes and as the day moved on it became near impossible to "grasp" all of the new information as they were doling it out. And then they offered this and that and you could take books, or cds or dvds or you could be "coached" on this or that. Alas, they were selling more complex versions of all that they had gone through. I did not buy however an idea hit me the first night to find a group of people who like me really had a desire to know how to do this. Find a group of people who have different strengths and by working together we can move through the material eventually bringing our goals to reality.
People signed up, six or eight people were excited. The event ended, and we met with five of us. One person moved, another traveled for business and could never connect. Four of us remained.
We have been meeting once a month now for many months and it pays off in a number of ways. Our group continues to support the intentions of each individual and as individuals learn a new skill or about a new program or book, the others are the benefactors of that knowledge. We intend for our next meeting to be a physical hands on application of what we have discussed so far and will focus on Mini Sites and subdomains. It is exciting as we continue to chip away at the information out there about internet marketing. One of the participants said it best about our inevitable success. Either way, Time, Effort, Planning and Resources (and especially the grace of God) are necessary to make it happen.
I too am a big believer in having groups of like minded people come together for a similar purpose. Even the Bible says" where two or more are gathered together..." I look foward to seeing this play out in the best possible way to the benefit of all in the group and the world.