July 17, 2011

Wait For The Brick

By Matareka

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, “What was that all about and who are you?

Just what the heck are you doing?

That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.
Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please mister … please, I’m sorry… I didn’t know what else to do,” he pleaded.

“I threw the brick because no one else would stop…”

With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
“It’s my brother,” he said.

“He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you and may God bless you,” the grateful child told the stranger.

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!

God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us.

It’s our choice: Listen to the whisper … or wait for the brick!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Motivational Story

July 15, 2011

Farmer with puppies

By Matareka

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about Nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he Felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the Eyes of a little boy.

Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”
“Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?”
“Sure,” said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle,”Here, Dolly!” he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up….

“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.”

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself To a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need Someone who understands.”

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Motivational Story

July 12, 2011

The merchant with 4 wives

By Matareka

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He’s very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant’s confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant’s 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, “Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I’ll be alone. How lonely I’ll be!”

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, “I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No way!” replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant’s heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, “I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No!” replied the 3rd wife. “Life is so good over here! I’m going to remarry when you die!” The merchant’s heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, “I always turned to you for help and you’ve always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?” “I’m sorry, I can’t help you out this time!” replied the 2nd wife. “At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.” The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : “I’ll leave with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.” The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, “I should have taken much better care of you while I could have !”

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it’ll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we’re alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it’s a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we’re on our deathbed to lament.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Motivational Story

July 9, 2011

David and the Giant

By Matareka

There was a young boy many, many years ago that the Bible tells us about, his name was David. Now David was a very special boy in God’s eye’s. Do you know why?

David believe in God with all his heart and know no matter what happen in his life he knew he would be all right as long as God was there.

One day David’s dad Jesse wanted David to go an check on his three older brother’s who were fighting a war to make sure they were okay and bring them some food. The name of the people that David’s brothers were fighting with where a group of people called the “Philistines”. These people were very bad people and they did not believe in God.

The Philistines were on one mountain and the people called Israel were on another mountain.(At one time long ago God’s children were only the people who were called “Israel”. David was one of these. Today all people are God’s if we obey and do the things that he wants us to do. (Like believing that Jesus is his son.) God’s children or people today are called Christian’s.

Now when David got to his brother’s a “Giant” man named Goliath who was nine feet and ten inches tall who was in the Phlistines army, was yelling for someone to come and fight him. Just to look at Goliath would scare most people, for he had a “GREAT” sword and a very “BIG” spear and a “STRONG” shield.

All the army of Israel was afraid of him, but not David. The King of the people Israel offer great wealth to anyone who would kill the Giant. Goliath made fun of David when he step up to fight him because he was just a boy. All that David had to fight the Giant with was a staff made of wood that he used to take care of his father’s sheep( this was his chore in his family), five smooth stone he got out of a stream or creek and which he put in his pouch and his sling shot, which made the Giant laugh even harder.

David had a secert weapon that the Giant didn’t know about and that was God and with God all things are possible. Do you believe that he could kill the Giant?

David told the Giant today the Lord/God will help me kill you. The Giant ran toward David, he took a stone out of his pouch, put it in his sling shot and shot it at the Giant head. The Giant fell to the ground and his was dead.

Just like David if you love God and obey him and believe in God then all things no matter how hard or how big they seem are possible with God on your side.

When David got older he became the King of the people Israel.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Folk Story

July 8, 2011

Bambi

By Matareka

This story takes place once upon a time, a very long time ago, deep in the forest. Now you remember what a forest is don’t you? Right, it is a place where there are lots of trees. OK, so in just one tiny part of a forest, a baby deer was born (a baby deer is called a “fawn”) Oh my, there was so much excitement that day. All the animals wanted to come and see the new fawn. Do you know why? It is because this was a special fawn. He was a young Prince. That means that one day, this tiny baby, would be all grown up and become the leader of all the deer in the forest. The birds sang the happiest song. “Drip drip drop little April showers” What a beautiful, beautiful Spring day it was.

Thumper, he was a cute little rabbit, asked the mama deer what she was going to call her baby. She smiled and looked down at her son and then at Thumper. ” I am going to call him Bambi,” she said. Thumper stood there for a moment, thumping his foot. “That’s a funny name”, he said at last. Thumper’s mommy scolded him, very gently, “Thumper”, she said, “What did you father tell you this morning?” Thumper hung his head down, just a bit and replied, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin at all!” And you know, that is really what we should all remember. We should always remember to say nice things about each other.

It was a happy time for Bambi. He soon learned to do many things. Thumper was his very best friend, they did all kinds of fun stuff together. Why, in no time at all Bambi was standing up. Oh yes he was really wobbly at first. Thumper just had to laugh at him. But that was ok because it was a nice kind of laughter, and Bambi did not mind it a bit. Of course he could not understand why Thumper laughed so hard when another animal popped up out of the flowers, and Bambi called him “Flower”. It really was funny though, because you see, Flower was a skunk. And skunks are not the sweetest smelling of animals, especially not when they get excited. Oh my, most certainly not when they get excited.

Then one morning, real early, Bambi’s mother took him to a wonderful place. It was called “the meadow”. What a nice place that was for a young fawn to romp around and have fun. It was there that Bambi met Faline. Faline was very cute to be sure. At first Bambi was a little afraid of her, well, maybe not so much afraid as he was shy. But soon they were racing around and having a grand time chasing one another. When all of a sudden, there was a horrible, loud noise. Like thunder! only louder! All the animals were running very swiftly. They were being led by “The Prince of the Forest” He was very old, and very strong. But he was also very, very wise. He knew he had to lead all the animals in the forest to safety. The one word that would do that was “MAN”. Oh yes, all the animals knew that word. They knew it meant there was danger close by. So they did not waste any time, they ran as fast as they could. When it was safe, they all returned to their homes, and Bambi lay comfortably, safe and protected by his mother.

Winter soon came to the forest. At first Bambi had lots of fun. Thumper tried teaching him to slide on the ice, And as Bambi learned, Thumper just watched and laughed till he was rolling on his tummy. Poor Bambi, his four thin legs just went every which way, and down he would go again. Even though it was fun, it was also a hard time for Bambi and all the other animals, because the cold had rid the ground of it’s soft green, tender carpet of grass, and sweet tasting flowers. There was little to eat, except tree bark. “BAM” there it was again. The same deafening sound Bambi had heard before. His mother yelled for him to run for the thicket. “Quick” she yelled. Bambi reached the thicket. But…but where was his mother. She had been right behind him, and now… she was not there.

Once again Bambi saw the Great Prince Of The Forest. “Your mother can no longer be with you. You must learn to walk alone.” What did that mean. What was the Great Prince telling him. Did he mean Bambi would never see his mother again. Yes, he knew that was what the Great Prince was saying. Bambi was alone.

At last winter left, and spring returned. Everything was green again. Bambi had grown much bigger. He was no longer a fawn , now he was a “Buck”. A buck is a male deer, much older than a fawn. As the spring went on to summer, Bambi roamed the forest and the meadow. Until one day he met Faline again. She had grown into a very beautiful graceful doe. Yes, that is what a grown up girl deer is called, a “doe”. Just as they were beginning to enjoy being friends again, another buck came charging between them. He did not want Feline to stay with Bambi, he wanted Feline to stay with him. A terrible fight began. They kept charging at each other, bumping their foreheads against the other real hard. Unitl finally, the mean old bully was hurt and limped off all alone. Bambi and Feline walked off into the forest together.

As spring and summer had gone, Autumn arrived in the forest, The trees took on a breathtaking array of colors. And the air had a very special crispness to it. But sadly, all this beauty did not last. For one day Bambi began to smell something. And as he ran to find Feline, The Great Prince came. He told them to run very quickly, for the forest was on fire. Feline raced for protection, as Bambi and the Great Prince ran to warn all the other animals. At last. the fire was over. Bambi, Feline, and the Great Prince looked on at the terrible thing that the fire had done. All the colors were gone. There was a terrible smell of burned wood, and blackend trees. A fire is a terrible thing, it destroys everything it touches. As they stood there, gazing at what remained of the smoldering forest, it was then that the Great Prince told Bambi, that when the forest was green again, he would be very old, and Bambi would have to take his place

At last Spring arrived again. Green leaves, green grass, and wild flowers began to cover up some ot the damage the fire had done. And now do you know what was happening. All the animals were running to see. Not one new fawn, but two of them. They were cuddled next to their mother, Feline. And where was Bambi, why he was high on a hillside, looking down. His chest was puffed out, and he was standing there as proud as he could be. For not only was he a new father, but now Bambi was the new Prince of the Forest.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Fable

July 7, 2011

Naaman The Leper

By Matareka

Naaman was the captain of the host of King of Syria. He was a great and honorable man but he had a disease called Leprosy. The little maid that served Naaman’s wife told her if her master, Naaman, was with the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed. So the King of Syria sent Naaman, along with a letter to the King of Israel. When the King of Israel received the letter, he tore his clothes. The King was upset because he knew that he could not heal Naaman. When Elisha(a man of God) heard that the King of Israel was so upset, he told him to let Naaman come to him.

So Naaman went to Elisha’s door, and Elisha sent out a messenger to tell Naaman to go and dip in the Jordan River seven times, and he would be healed. Naaman was very angry because Elisha did not come out himself and heal him right there. Naaman wanted to dip in some of the other rivers that were cleaner then the Jordan River. Therefore, he went away very mad. His servants told him that if he had been asked to do some great thing, would he not have done it? So he wnet and dipped in the Jordan River according to what the man of God had told him, and he was healed.

*****The Lesson behind this story*****
It had nothing to do with the water that healed Naaman, but the obedience to God that made him well.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Folk Story

July 4, 2011

The Donkey of Guizhou

By Matareka

Once upon a time there was no donkey in Guizhou. So someone officious shipped one there, but finding no use for it, he set it loose at the foot of the mountain.

A tiger ran out from the mountains. When he saw this big tall thing, he thought it must be divine. He quickly hid himself in the forest and surveyed it from under cover. Sometimes the tiger ventured a little nearer, but still kept a respectful distance.

One day the tiger came out again. Just then the donkey gave a loud bray. Thinking the donkey was going to eat him, the tiger hurriedly ran away. After a while he sneaked back and watched the donkey carefully. He found that though it had a huge body it seemed to have no special ability.

After a few days the tiger gradually became accustomed to its braying and was no longer so afraid. Sometimes he even came near and circled around the donkey.

Later the tiger became bolder. Once he walked in front of the donkey and purposely bumped it. This made the donkey so angry that it struck out his hind legs and kicked wildly.

Seeing this tiger was very gleeful, ‘Such a big thing as you can do so little!’ With a roar he pounced on the donkey and ate it up.

1 comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Fable

July 3, 2011

3 Quick And Easy Ways To Build A Profitable Opt In List

By Matareka

You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list. After reading countless articles and sought expert advices and have read many success stories of people creating a small fortune with opt-in lists you finally decide to have one of your own. Then it happens, you think you have known everything there is to know about opt-in lists and have followed their advices to the T and you still weren’t able to make a profit.

In fact, you may be losing money. You maybe hiring writers to help you out, or there are some expenses incurred, even if you have a big list, but only a very small percentage actually buys from you, your still losing profit. You’ll realize that after a few months when you see your statistics and sales figures.

So what could have gone wrong? Why have others succeeded where you have failed? The most common mistake is that you dived straight right in. You chose a topic where you think could be quite popular and would earn you money. This just not the case. Just because you wrote people from the list doesn’t mean they are going to buy instantly.

Here I will offer more advice, for those who have started an opt-in list and have failed, you can rejuvenate your failed venture. For those who are starting, here are three quick and easy ways to build a profitable opt-in list.

1) Get your customers to trust you and your products first. Just launching your opt-in list would not make you an expert and a believable seller. Put many articles first before you start an opt-in list. Write about the topic you know and have started and used for your site. Try to put forums first to gain knowledge about your customers about their wants and needs and target those wants and needs.

Join forums from other sites as well. Provide expert advices and recommendations. When you feel that people trust you already, you will be able to start your own opt-in list. You can build a base as well with other forum users. You can ask them to join your list. Friends are always good customers. Put up a link to your site so that they may be able to see what you’re business is all about.

The certain truth is, the money will only come in when the consumers and subscribers believe and trust in you. They want a product or service that could be a good exchange for their money. People are not going to buy something out of your recommendation if they don’t know you.

2) Find a product or service that people want and need. Although it may not be your forte, if you provide a service and product that you have researched and learned about well, you can carry it on forward. Invest your time, effort and money that you could sell as well as the buyers or subscribers of your opt-in list can use.

While it is true that it is best to sell something that you have interest in, there are not many people who have the same interest as you if you decide to sell something that is not entirely popular or profitable. Do your research well and you would see the profits come in. Also provide your subscribers with promotional material that they could actually use and spread around.

3) Make friends with other opt-in list users. This is basically beneficial especially if it is someone who has already launched a successful opt-in list. These are people that have the experience in this venture and experience is still the best teacher. While there are many articles available for you in the internet to use, there is nothing like getting a first hand account from someone you trust.

Experienced opt-in list users will be able to tell you what to do and what not to do because they have gone through it. While different situations occur for different people, the general concept can still be very helpful. There are many things to avoid and these people will be able to tell you which ones.

Building a profitable opt-in list don’t just happen overnight. There are many preparations and effort to do. Opt-in lists are built from scratch, as your list grows, you should also maintain the quality of your list. Keep it organized and manageable. Get or hire help if need be, just make sure that your subscribers are happy and satisfied and they will be willing to buy from you.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in Business

July 1, 2011

eBay: The First 10 Years.

By Matareka

Yes, you read that correctly: ten years. eBay was created in September 1995, by a man called Pierre Omidyar, who was living in San Jose. He wanted his site – then called ‘AuctionWeb’ – to be an online marketplace, and wrote the first code for it in one weekend. It was one of the first websites of its kind in the world. The name ‘eBay’ comes from the domain Omidyar used for his site. His company’s name was Echo Bay, and the ‘eBay AuctionWeb’ was originally just one part of Echo Bay’s website at ebay.com. The first thing ever sold on the site was Omidyar’s broken laser pointer, which he got $14 for.

The site quickly became massively popular, as sellers came to list all sorts of odd things and buyers actually bought them. Relying on trust seemed to work remarkably well, and meant that the site could almost be left alone to run itself. The site had been designed from the start to collect a small fee on each sale, and it was this money that Omidyar used to pay for AuctionWeb’s expansion. The fees quickly added up to more than his current salary, and so he decided to quit his job and work on the site full-time. It was at this point, in 1996, that he added the feedback facilities, to let buyers and sellers rate each other and make buying and selling safer.

In 1997, Omidyar changed AuctionWeb’s – and his company’s – name to ‘eBay’, which is what people had been calling the site for a long time. He began to spend a lot of money on advertising, and had the eBay logo designed. It was in this year that the one-millionth item was sold (it was a toy version of Big Bird from Sesame Street).

Then, in 1998 – the peak of the dotcom boom – eBay became big business, and the investment in Internet businesses at the time allowed it to bring in senior managers and business strategists, who took in public on the stock market. It started to encourage people to sell more than just collectibles, and quickly became a massive site where you could sell anything, large or small. Unlike other sites, though, eBay survived the end of the boom, and is still going strong today.

1999 saw eBay go worldwide, launching sites in the UK, Australia and Germany. eBay bought half.com, an Amazon-like online retailer, in the year 2000 – the same year it introduced Buy it Now – and bought PayPal, an online payment service, in 2002.

Pierre Omidyar has now earned an estimated $3 billion from eBay, and still serves as Chairman of the Board. Oddly enough, he keeps a personal weblog at pierre.typepad.com. There are now literally millions of items bought and sold every day on eBay, all over the world. For every $100 spent online worldwide, it is estimated that $14 is spent on eBay – that’s a lot of laser pointers.

Now that you know the history of eBay, perhaps you’d like to know how it could work for you? Our next email will give you an idea of the possibilities.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Business

June 30, 2011

Top 3 Ways To Boost Your Affiliate Commissions Overnight

By Matareka

The ideal world of affiliate marketing does not require having your won website, dealing with customers, refunds, product development and maintenance. This is one of the easiest ways of launching into an online business and earning more profits.

Assuming you are already into an affiliate program, what would be the next thing you would want to do? Double, or even triple, your commissions, right? How do you do that?

Here are some powerful tips on how to boost your affiliate program commissions overnight.

1. Know the best program and products to promote. Obviously, you would want to promote a program that will enable you to achieve the greatest profits in the shortest possible time.

There are several factors to consider in selecting such a program. Choose the ones that have a generous commission structure. Have products that fit in with your target audience. And that has a solid track record of paying their affiliate easily and on time. If you cannot seem to increase your investments, dump that program and keep looking for better ones.

There are thousands of affiliate programs online which gives you the reason to be picky. You may want to select the best to avoid losing your advertising dollars.

Write free reports or short ebooks to distribute from your site. There is a great possibility that you are competing with other affiliates that are promoting the same program. If you start writing short report related to the product you are promoting, you will be able to distinguish yourself from the other affiliates.

In the reports, provide some valuable information for free. If possible, add some recommendations about the products. With ebooks, you get credibility. Customers will see that in you and they will be enticed to try out what you are offering.

2. Collect and save the email addresses of those who download your free ebooks. It is a known fact that people do not make a purchase on the first solicitation. You may want to send out your message more than six times to make a sale.

This is the simple reason why you should collect the contact information of those who downloaded your reports and ebooks. You can make follow-ups on these contacts to remind them to make a purchase from you.

Get the contact information of a prospect before sending them to the vendor’s website. Keep in mind that you are providing free advertisement for the product owners. You get paid only when you make a sale. If you send prospects directly to the vendors, chances are they would be lost to you forever.

But when you get their names, you can always send other marketing messages to them to be able to earn an ongoing commission instead of a one-time sale only.

Publish an online newsletter or Ezine. It is always best to recommend a product to someone you know than to sell to a stranger. This is the purpose behind publishing your own newsletter. This also allows you to develop a relationship based on trust with your subscribers.

This strategy is a delicate balance between providing useful information with a sales pitch. If you continue to write informative editorials you will be able to build a sense of reciprocity in your readers that may lead them to support you by buying your products.

3. Ask for higher than normal commission from merchants. If you are already successful with a particular promotion, you should try and approach the merchant and negotiate a percentage commission for your sales.

If the merchant is smart, he or she will likely grant your request rather than lose a valuable asset in you. Keep in mind that you are a zero-risk investment to your merchant; so do not be shy about requesting for addition in your commissions. Just try to be reasonable about it.

Write strong pay Per Click ads. PPC search engine is the most effective means of advertising online. As an affiliate, you can make a small income just by managing PPC campaigns such as Google AdWords and Overture. Then you should try and monitor them to see which ads are more effective and which ones to dispose of.

Try out these strategies and see the difference it can make to your commission checks in the shortest of time.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Business