Tools for Success
Believing in Santa Claus
Simple ways to enjoy the magic of Christmas with your child.
Childhood is a time for believing in magic with all of our hearts. These precious years – when the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus are every bit as real as Mom and Dad – are when childhood memories are made and re-lived. Children’s faces hold wonder as they listen to stories or watch the classic television Christmas specials about Frosty The Snowman or Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Naturally, we want our children to keep believing as long as possible.
Create your own family Christmas traditions and sweet memories.
Children have always loved writing letters to Santa. If your child is just learning to print, she will need a little assist from you. Drawing or cutting out pictures of the toys she wants will be more fun at this age. Make the letter even more special by including a picture that your child drew of herself or a photo of your little girl with Santa. She could even enclose a little gift for Santa Claus such as a few of her favorite stickers.
Once the child’s Santa letter is finished, simply mail it to the North Pole. Mail it to the following Santa Claus address: Santa Claus, 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole 00001. Don’t use a return address; you wouldn’t want it to be returned as ‘undeliverable’ for any reason.
Amaze your child this Christmas by making sure that Santa writes back! You can arrange to have your child receive a personalized letter from Santa Claus stamped from the North Pole. Your children will have no doubt that Santa Claus is coming to town after they receive their personalized letter signed by Santa himself!
Bake cookies with your children on Christmas Eve. That’s a great way to create joyful memories. Did you know that Santa’s favorite cookie recipe is chocolate chip?
After story time and right before the children are ready for bed, take Santa’s special plate out of the cupboard. Put some of those freshly baked cookies on Santa’s plate next to a glass of cold milk. You can even put a short letter to Santa Claus next to the cookies and milk. This tasty treat will give Santa the energy he needs to continue traveling to the millions of other households awaiting his arrival.
Don’t forget to leave some crumbs on the table Christmas morning. Your child will feel honored that Santa Claus ate the whole plate of cookies and drank all of the milk before rushing on his way.
Santa Claus gets milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, but what about Rudolph, Comet, Prancer and the rest of the reindeer? What do they eat? Well, reindeer food, of course!
You can mix up a batch of environmentally friendly reindeer food using common grocery items such as oats and granola. (Do not use potentially hazardous items such as glitter in your reindeer food. Although this may make the reindeer food appear to be more magical, it can be extremely dangerous if ingested by small, curious children or animals that may eat the food.)
On Christmas Eve night, walk outside with your child and have him sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn. Explain the importance of making sure Santa’s sleigh team stays well fed. This healthy reindeer snack will give Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer the nourishment they need to continue flying Santa’s heavy sleigh into the night. Your child will be proud for helping Santa Claus and his reindeer on their journey.
Traditions are powerful. Most often it’s the simplest things that carry the fondest memories. It is a time when we remember the smiles of seasons past and open our hearts to the possibility of magic. It is a season of joy.
Magic Reindeer Food Recipe courtesy of Southern Living
Ingredients
• 2 (24-ounce) packages vanilla candy coating
• 3 cups mini pretzels
• 1 (12-ounce) can cocktail peanuts
• 1 (14.25-ounce) package frosted toasted oat O-shaped cereal
• 1 (12-ounce) package crisp rice cereal squares
• 1 (16-ounce) package holiday candy-coated chocolate pieces
• Red and green sugars
Preparation
1. Place candy coating in a glass container; microwave at HIGH 2 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring once.
2. Combine pretzels and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; add melted candy coating, tossing to coat. Stir in chocolate pieces.
3. Spread mixture onto wax paper; sprinkle with sugars. Let stand 30 minutes. Break into pieces.
Gratitude and the Law of Attraction
Make a habit of being grateful for the people and things in your life and focus on the positive energy within you. Your mind controls who and what you are! According to the Law of Attraction, your mind can also change what you have.
Every thought that occupies your mind, everything you tell yourself, and all of your beliefs carry a vibration and send energy into the Universe. The Law of Attraction follows the laws of physics: like attracts like. Basically, whatever you believe is what you will get. If you are in a mindset of gratitude, you will attract more to be grateful for.
Think of the way things snowball, both the good and the bad. You might wake up in a bad mood because your neighbor’s boisterous party kept you up late. If you allow that bad mood to triumph, more negative things will continue to happen to you all day long. When you consider the Law of Attraction, you will see why this happens.
Suppose that you wake up thankful that your loving spouse is beside you and your dog is sleeping soundly at the foot of your bed. You smile to yourself and that feeling of gratitude quickly banishes any trace of a bad mood. Now your energy is upbeat and you’re looking forward to a great day!
The Law of Attraction works on a system of gratitude and reward. You need a way to remind yourself to always be grateful for the good things in your life. You might carry some sort of trinket like a coin, a rock, rabbit’s foot, or an amulet of some sort. It can be anything you will handle daily. Some people keep these items in their pockets. Others put them on a necklace. The idea is that every time you touch this trinket, you feel gratitude.
Many people take time at the end of each day to record the things they’re thankful for in a journal. Whenever possible, remember to express that gratitude to others. These habits will help train your mind to think in terms of what you are thankful for.
If you’re lucky enough to get the wishbone after the turkey is carved, you might want to wish for a grateful and loving heart. If you believe the Law of Attraction, what you give affects what you receive.
~ Happy Thanksgiving! ~
Splash Pages: Do-It-Yourself Advertising
Advertising is an essential part of building every business. Well-designed splash pages that sparkle with originality will catch people’s attention. Getting noticed, making them look… that is the first goal of advertising.
A professionally designed splash page doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. You can make them yourself… and have FUN doing it!
It’s super simple with… AdKreator.
You can make as many splash pages, banners, and lead capture pages as you like using the hundreds of templates and art work that AdKreator provides.
Brand Yourself
Branding yourself is a vital component of your advertising. You have to get your name and your photo or logo out there. And your marketing materials need to make you stand out from the crowd.
The biggest obstacle people face when designing their advertising is staring at a blank slate, not knowing where to begin. AdKreator solves that problem for you with its professionally designed templates in various shapes, sizes, and concepts. You can add your own custom images or use the graphics included inside the designer.
Splash Page Designing for Everyone
This system was designed for everyone… from the first-time internet marketer to the list building expert. AdKreator even hosts all your work on their high-speed server! If you can navigate the web, point, click, drag and drop, you can do this.
Easy to follow video tutorials show you the basics on how to use AdKreator as well as tips and tricks for making your own professional looking designs.
Take AdKreator for a FREE test drive. Watch the tutorials and get familiar with the design process. You won’t believe how simple it really is! Create a splash page to promote your business. When you’re happy with the way it looks, save it and use the hosted link provided by AdKreator. Then show off your new design!
You will not be asked for your credit card and there is no trial period to cancel. AdKreator makes it easy for you to learn how to make a splash page using their design system. You can try it out and see if you like it before making any decisions. Try AdKreator.
Put your advertising in high gear and always ~ keep it fresh.
Disclosure: Please note that if you upgrade your AdKreator account to a paid membership, I will receive a referral commission. That being said, I only recommend products that I believe in.
“Trust that little voice in your head that says ‘wouldn’t it be interesting if…’
And then do it.” ~ Duane Michals
Create Fresh Website Content
With These 5 Bright Ideas
Are you losing sleep wondering what to write in your next blog post? It’s probably not a lack of topics to write about that has you stymied. Rather, it’s how to start writing and developing your topic.
Creating content worthy of being read will come easier when you make use of these five bright ideas.
This cool tool is in the Ezine Articles Author’s Area. If you don’t have a membership at Ezine Articles yet, go sign up at http://ezinearticles.com/. It’s free to join.
When you have logged into Ezine Articles, look for Author Tools on the black navigation bar. Hover your mouse over Author Tools and display the dropdown box. Click to select Title Suggestions.
On the next page, you will type in a keyword or keyword phrase relating to your topic. The variety of title suggestions returned in the search results will fire up your imagination. You can even perform a more targeted search by selecting a category and sub-category.
Research your topic. Browse article directories such as Ezine Articles, Buzzle, and Articlesbase to read about your subject. This will be time well spent. You will increase your knowledge and gain some new perspectives on your topic.
If you have private label contents stored away in a folder on your computer, look through them. Search for articles that contain keywords related to the topic of the article you plan to write. The more similarities you can find, the easier you will accomplish your writing task.
An indispensible writing tool is DupeFree Pro. It will help you to avoid the pitfall of duplicate content. Amazingly, it is free to download. Get DupeFree Pro here.
Are you a member of any forums? Busy forums in your chosen niche are a great source of material for your blog. Peruse the threads to discover the hot topics people are discussing. “How To” articles, inspirational pieces, list-based articles, and product or service reviews can all be developed from reading the conversation threads.
You can find plenty of online forums within your area of interest by doing a search in Google. Simply type your niche topic into the search bar and add the word ‘forums’. For example: work from home forums.
Bonus Tip: To break through writer’s block, get out of the house and take a walk with the dog. Bring a mini cassette recorder or pen and notepad to jot down the ideas that will come to you while you’re walking. After that, you’ll feel refreshed and ready to get back to work!
I hope that today’s post has given you some ideas you can use! If you like what you read here, then please share my post with your friends on Facebook or perhaps Tweet it. Thanks for visiting!
7 Tips to Re-ignite Your Passion for Business
Labor Day has come and gone already! We celebrated the weekend with one last picnic and a day of fun at the Evergreen State Fair! Now the kids are back in school. Summer vacations are over and there’s a definite hint of fall in the air.
September in the Pacific Northwest means that the mountains and the sailboats will be out most days. Since it’s one of our driest months, September is a great time to take a walk in the Washington Park Arboretum or to enjoy a drive along the Columbia River Gorge where the fall foliage is spectacular! Of course, September is also when we ‘do the Puyallup’. The Puyallup Fair is among the top ten largest fairs in the world!
Autumn is also a good time to renew the commitments we made on January 1st, take another look at business plans, re-establish priorities, and ‘gear it up’ again.
I met with friends for a brainstorming session last week and we came up with some ideas I’d like to share with you.
Tip #1: Prioritize your To Do list. Focus on completing the important things first, specifically, the projects that will help you achieve your goals.
Tip #2: Promise yourself that you will not work in a cluttered mess of an office. It will slow you down and stress you out. Get organized!
Tip #3: Redecorate your office with light and color. Is your office too dark? Maybe this is the time to add another window to the room or buy a new desk lamp. What about color? Does your office feel dull and monotonous? If you have been feeling like you’re stuck in a rut, your surroundings could be partly to blame. Infusing your décor, furnishings, and accessories with colors you are drawn to will lift your spirits and invigorate your mood.
Tip #4: Polish your image. Branding is your identity in the marketplace; is yours saying what it should? Large companies regularly review their brand imaging. Why wouldn’t you?
* Has your target market changed?
* Is your product or service as current and up-to-date as it needs to be?
* Could your website or marketing materials use some rewriting and tweaking?
Tip #5: Analyze the results of your marketing strategy. Take a fresh look at your message, approach, and tactics. If you’re marketing on a shoestring, make the best use of your budget by creating a balanced campaign that combines sales activities along with your marketing methods.
Consider the idea of presenting a webinar as a joint venture with an associate or vendor in a related industry. Think of the opportunities for lead generation and list building. Write a killer press release, position yourself as an expert in your field, and generate tons of free publicity by introducing yourself to the media. Contact your existing customers and let them know that you are looking for referrals. Show your appreciation by offering them a compelling incentive such as a discount on your products or services.
Tip #6: Improve your mindset for success by envisioning success in the production of everything you begin. Develop this habit; it will help you stay motivated and inspired.
Tip #7: Put your ideas in writing! Then determine how you will carry out those plans. Merely writing them down is not enough. You still need to schedule time in your day to take action and follow through.
Bonus tip: Get away for a day or a weekend once in awhile. Go to the mountains or the ocean, breathe some fresh air, look at the stars, and re-connect with your true self. A change of scene is great for thinking clearly and getting re-energized!
How about you? What projects are you focusing on to boost your business through the end of 2011? Leave me a comment and share your ideas here.
I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. If you have, please share it on Facebook or perhaps Tweet it!
Construct a Website with KompoZer
ALL YOU REALLY NEED IS A ONE-PAGE WEBSITE to take your business online! Creating that new website is the next thing you will want to do after you have your domain name and web hosting. You can design your website using a simple web page editor and a ready-to-use web page template.
There is no need to pay hundreds of dollars for complex web design software or hire someone to make a website for you, especially in the early stages of your business when you’re on a tight budget.
Using what is called a WYSIWYG editor, you will create, edit and tweak your very first website. And when you are finished, you will publish it on the world wide web!
I recommend KompoZer, a well-known, powerful yet easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor. WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get. Sounds pretty high-tech, huh?
Basically, an editor is a piece of software that translates the text you write on your computer into HTML code that is recognized by your web hosting company. KompoZer is a free software designed for non-techies who need a very easy-to-learn, easy-to-use HTML editor.
So, the first thing you will need to do is download KompoZer onto your computer.
If you have your copy of the book that you see in the upper right-hand corner of this site, turn to page 18. You will find a link to a video showing you exactly how to download and install KompoZer. That will save you time and help you a lot.
If you don’t have this book yet, just fill in your name and email and click the ‘Send me the Report’ button. Your copy of Create Your First Website By 3:45 This Afternoon will be sent to you immediately.
Your next step is to start designing your webpage. Write your content and type it directly into KompoZer. Insert any images you wish to use, but keep them to a minimum. Too many graphics will make your website look unprofessional.
Use templates to get a quicker start on your website design. They will help you create an attractive, professional-looking site more easily and in less time.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF CREATING YOUR WEBSITE IS TO START. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in the paralysis of analysis. The important thing now is to take action and get your new site out onto the web for the world to see. You can make more revisions later… and you probably will.
KompoZer is a popular, easy-to-use web authoring system. The WYSIWYG editor makes it very user-friendly for non-techies because knowledge of HTML is not required. A simple understanding of KompoZer is enough to create a website. DOWNLOAD KompoZer HERE.
I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. If you have, please “like” it on Facebook or perhaps Tweet it!
“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want
and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.” ~ Tony Robbins
Business Resolutions for a Profitable 2011
After that most wonderful time of the year known as The Holidays, we are eager to welcome the New Year. We have indulged in good times with family and friends, eaten more than we probably should have, traveled, and enjoyed a break away from work. Now, rested and refreshed, we are ready to get back to business. The New Year presents us with a clean slate, another chance to get it right. We vow to improve our health and finances, pay more attention to those we care about, and be more present in our communities.
For business owners and entrepreneurs the New Year offers a tremendous opportunity to revitalize growth and boost profits. Let your imagination seek new heights and bear in mind that even small changes lead to big results.
As you consider your list of business resolutions for 2011, perhaps you’ll find inspiration in these suggestions:
Set achievable and measureable goals
Just writing a list of your goals and aspirations is not enough to make them a reality. Once you have written your list, create a plan that you will follow to reach those goals. Be as specific as possible. For instance, write down your goal for the week. Then break that down into a series of daily action plans. Be realistic and set achievable goals for yourself.
Improve your time management skills
Do you know how the majority of your time is spent? Start off 2011 by analyzing where and how you use your time. How can you focus more time on the revenue-generating activities? Can you delegate some of the management and administrative tasks?
Focus on customer service
You spent time, money, and energy to attract your clients. Now you want to keep those customers happy so that you can retain their business even while you’re working to bring in new business. Happy clients will gladly refer others to you, helping to spread the good word about your products and services.
Embrace the power of choice
Once you have decided which resolutions to tackle this year, you must choose to take action and work on the plans you have formulated. To tap into your power of choice, you must first activate your will. Will is what gives you the strength to act upon your decisions. In other words, will enables your power of choice.
More inspiration and bright ideas for a triumphant year of business success are yours in this free, downloadable report: 17 New Year’s Resolutions to Make Your Business More Profitable in 2011.
I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. If you have, please “like” it on Facebook or perhaps Tweet it!
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step.”
~ Old Chinese Proverb ~
Understanding FACEBOOK for Business
You can’t afford to ignore the three BIG reasons WHY you should make a FACEBOOK Page for your business ASAP:
1. Your prospects are on Facebook… just waiting to meet you there!
Now with over 550 million users, Facebook is the world’s fastest growing social network. What’s more – Facebook gets even more traffic than Google!
Understanding FACEBOOK — the VIDEOS!
2. How many of the 550 million++ active Facebook users are YOUR potential clients and customers? You may be a bit perplexed, you may even be somewhat incredulous, but you cannot ignore Facebook any longer.
3. More than 150 million people access Facebook through their mobile devices. Your AUDIENCE awaits you!!! There simply has never been a more powerful tool to deliver your message and market your product or service to more people with less time and effort.
If you would like to understand FACEBOOK – but have been slightly overwhelmed – don’t panic!
Please allow me to introduce this easy-to-follow video series. It starts off with the basics – from covering how Facebook works – what a WALL is – what the NEWS FEED is – how to configure your PERSONAL PROFILE – what a GROUP is – how to find targeted FRIENDS, and lots more!
With millions of people at your fingertips, you could say that Facebook is a marketer’s dream.
You can access UNDERSTANDING FACEBOOK here…
There’s no sign up involved. Simply click the link and watch!
I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. If you have, please “like” it on Facebook or perhaps Tweet it!
Facebook Content
How to Make Any Part of Your Facebook Page Hidden
Making a Facebook Page is exciting, but it can be an overwhelming task. My advice is to break it down into sections.
When you approach it one step at a time, you will find it much easier to manage. Congratulate yourself on every completed section! A great place to start is “Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide” by Mari Smith.
Recently, I launched my first Facebook Page: Work From Home to Create a Profitable Web Business.
I created my Welcome tab first followed by another I named Free Stuff where I offer a gift package. The contents remain hidden until the Like Button is clicked. I thought this would be a nice way to entice people to not only “Like” my page but also want to return.
Upon “Liking” the page, the gift box opens to reveal… a book currently selling on Amazon and a red hot product that you can sell for profit. I plan to offer different gifts from time to time which I hope will encourage visits and interaction on my Facebook Page.
These two tabs were created using FBML. If you would like to place content on your Facebook Page that is only visible to people after they “Like” your page, this is how to make the magic happen.
Go to your Wall tab, Edit Page link, locate the FBML icon under Applications, and click Edit.
Once you have your page ready, in the FBML code right before the content you want to hide, insert this bit of code:
<fb:fbml version=”1.1″>
<fb:visible-to-connection>
Then right after the hidden content, finish with this:
</fb:visible-to-connection>
</fb:fbml>
Pretty neat, don’t you think? You can see this feature in action on my FB Page.
Please leave me a comment with the name of your Facebook Page! I’d be interested to see it! Also, if you have any questions, I’d be happy to try to answer them.
Finding A Profitable Niche
If you’re working online, you may be wrestling with the problem of choosing a niche. If so, you may just find this very helpful.
When it comes to deciding on a niche, it can be sort of like trying to write an article. There’s a lot of staring blankly at the computer screen and a meditative hmmmm…… with forefinger pressed against lips, thinking – which one???
Sure, picking niches at random might be fun.. LOL … although not profitable. Targeting lucrative niches that have not had every last cent sucked out of them is not only difficult but downright time consuming!
Just imagine for a moment…
You’re sitting in a desert oasis.
Beside you are three casks of cool spring water. Off in the distance, you see what appears to be a sand storm.
But, no…
It’s a caravan of lost and very thirsty travelers. They have been wandering, lost for days, their water jugs now empty and dry. They run towards you. Seeing your precious water casks, the tired travelers plead with you to sell them a few cups of water.
The moral of the story?
Find your thirsting target market and offer them the product or service that will solve their problem. Find your target market first. Select the niche or product second.
If you think about it, the most important desires that people strive for in life fall into the categories of Health, Happiness, Money, and Time to enjoy it all.
Each of these categories contains many sub-categories or niches. For instance, Relationships, Marriage, Self-Improvement, Pets, Gardening, and Hobbies are all niches within the broader category of Happiness.
When you narrow your focus down and find a profitable niche that appeals to a particular group of people, you will really be onto a winner.
I am really pleased to be able to tell you about a new video series created by my friend and mentor, Chris Farrell. It’s all about how to find a profitable niche.
And guess what else? You can get it for — NO COST.
Just follow this link to pick up the step-by-step video course and watch how to quickly and easily discover profitable niches.
(Just scroll down the page.)
I am a member of the Chris Farrell Membership site. Quite honestly, this has been the best business decision I have made to date.
I hope you will enjoy and benefit from these five videos. They genuinely will help you understand how to find a profitable niche. And they really are 100% free! No catches, no email required.
While you are on Chris’ website, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to look around at all of the resources available to help people like you and me make money online. You might want to take the quick guided tour.
If you decide to join the Chris Farrell Membership site through the link above, I will be paid a commission.
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