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  • Are You Happy?

    I have encountered people from all walks of life and every race. None of them wish to live a sad or miserable life. Everyone desires to live a good and fulfilling life.

    Every single one of them wants to lead a happy, decent and fulfilling life.

    It is quite interesting to note that a significant number of people are not as happy or content as they truly wish to be in their lives. Does this observation resonate with you on a personal level or make you reflect on your own experiences?

    Before we continue, take a moment to ask yourself these questions: Am I truly happy? What factors shape my happiness? Is it driven by luck or good fortune? Does it rely on money or material possessions? What is it that genuinely brings me joy?

    Happiness is a state of mind. It is a decision you make and its a personal choice. Gasping for happiness is a matter of the will of wanting and learning to be happy.

    Happiness is an emotion so if you want to be happy get the happiness consciousness. We know that all emotions are under our control. Why is it then, that most people do not live a happy life?

    A great deal of happiness depends on the desire to be happy, a consciousness, and a firm decision to reach that state.

    As described before happiness is a personal decision, here’s a few things that could help enhance your happiness:-

    Good Friends

    A lively and positive social circle could be a great source of comfort and happiness. Choose your friends carefully. Choose people you can be open with and still feel protected.

    I don’t mean that you should discriminate but be careful with the people you hangout with. Choosing the right and positive set of friends is very helpful.

    Concentrate on the positive side of things. Helping out a friend is another source of happiness. Have you ever noticed that being of service to your friends just makes you feel loved and wanted?

    Having a Good Sense of Humour

    Try as much as possible to develop a good sense of humour. They say laughter is medicinal.

    Having a good sense of humour and laughter are causes and consequences of happiness.

    I know that you will encounter situations that will go against the principles of happiness, such is life. But always know that in every situation you have a choice to make.

    Make sure you quickly switch your mind to decipher the positives out of every situation. Mostly things happen for a good reason and it is our duty to know and find those positive reasons.

    Family

    Spending time with your family is another source of happiness. It is important to find a member of your family you, can share your feelings with.

    It could be your spouse if you are married or any other close relative.

    Try helping out a family member sort out their problems. There is more satisfaction and happiness in helping out the needy.

    You could even go further by doing charity work. You will be amazed that just you presence could make a huge difference in someones day.

    Decide to Be Happy

    You were created to live a happy life make the most of it. Also make a firm decision to be happy every day, you deserve it.

    Forget the hassles and bustles of life, live a happy life. Tell yourself in the morning that this is the day the Lord has made for me and I shall rejoice in it.

    Weeping may come in the night but joy comes in the morning.

    The way you begin your day greatly influences what you will experience throughout it. If you want to be happy, choose to be.

    Once you make your decision, you will need to face and overcome the numerous obstacles and challenges that stand firmly between you and the ultimate happiness you seek.

    Be Satisfied With the Past

    Your life and the wide range of experiences you encounter along the way have the power to bring you either immense joy or deep pain. These moments shape who you are and influence your emotions profoundly.

    Depending on how you judge them, they may build or destroy your happiness. Look at your past with satisfaction, contemplate the future with hope and decide to live in the present.

    A lot of joys and positive moods are directly linked with our past events. Avoid regrets from past events because nobody can change them.

    Instead, reflect on past experiences as valuable lessons to prevent future challenges. Cherish the joyful memories, share them with your loved ones, and hold them close to your heart.

    Live in the Present

    Enjoy the here and now” this is very important. Why dwell on the past when it cannot be changed?

    However, cherish the good memories. To find happiness in the present, learn to appreciate the simple joys of today: people, nature, and children.

    Playing with children brings immense joy. You’ll be surprised by how much you can truly learn from them.

    Conclusion

    Being happy is very important to personal development and growth. You cannot attain your full personal development and growth without happiness.

    Being happy is a personal decision and choice. Make a firm decision and choose to be happy. We live in a world full of sadness.

    Everybody is busy with their own things. Make a difference by making at least one person feel loved and happy every day.

    Have a happiness consciousness. Happiness is God-given always start and end your day with a prayer. Prayer can move mountains.

  • You are What You Think

    We undoubtedly live in a thought world, which is part of a thought universe. Thought is the only power that can produce tangible results from the formless substance.

    Our thoughts determine the way we live. Our way of doing things is a direct result of the way we think about things.

    Every thought we think makes it necessary for us to think another thought thus expanding our consciousness.

    Every fact we learn leads us to the learning of another fact thus we are continually increasing our knowledge.

    Your thinking has a direct and significant influence on the way you approach and execute various tasks in life.

    The bible says that “as a man thinks so is he in his heart.” You are what you think about most of the time. You general behaviour and character is shaped by what you think of most of the time.

    Most, if not everything we do is a result of what has been manufactured in our minds. Your mind is the thought factory.

    So then if our thoughts have a direct influence on us, then I would be right to say that “no one, therefore, is poor because nature is poor or because there is not enough to go round.”

    You are experiencing poverty because your mind is consistently producing negative thoughts focused on lack and limitation.

    Thought is Power

    You will agree with me that every action we make is a result of what we think. In other words your actions always precede your thoughts.

    We have within us the incredible power and ability to achieve and accomplish anything that we set our minds upon, no matter the challenges we face.

    Every invention that you see today was first meticulously visualized in the mind of someone before being skillfully transmuted into reality.

    Ask yourself this question if thought is power, why then are you poor or not successful, and yet you have the power and ability in you?

    Write down your answers and start working on resolving them as a matter of urgency. You have just identified the problem to your situation.

    The attitude of mind necessarily depends upon what we think. Therefore, the secret of all power, all achievement, and all possession depends upon our method of thinking.

    The preceding statement is true because we must “be” before we can do and we can “do” only to the extent that we “are”, and what we “are” depends upon what we “think.”

    Think about all the things you have done in the past are these not the products of your thoughts?

    Whatever, you have done is because you “are” and you “are” because of what you “thought.”

    We cannot truly express powers that we do not possess, and we can never fully become conscious of our inner power until we learn that all true power originates from within ourselves.

    You have the power within yourself. If only you can change and tune your mind to think in a certain way, nothing will stop you from achieving your desired goals.

    If you live in a world of poverty, failure, frustration and all the negative things, this is a direct reflection of your mind, because all these things are governed and controlled by your mind.

    Do not underestimate the power of your thoughts. See related article for more.

    Live Consciously

    “Would you bring into your life more power? Get the power consciousness. More health? Get the health consciousness. More happiness? Get the happiness consciousness. More riches? Get the riches consciousness.”

    The preceding statement brings out the fact that all possessions are based on consciousness which is a product of the mind.

    “He who thinks to illuminate the whole range of mental action by the light of his own consciousness is not unlike the one who should go about to illuminate the universe with a rushlight.” – Professor Davidson.

    Mind is creative, and conditions, environment, and all experiences in life are the results of our habitual or predominant mental attitude.

    To truly realize your dreams and aspirations, you need to live consciously and purposefully each day.

    Conscious living is directly induced by the mind. When you live consciously you will be amazed at how much detail you will have even of the seemingly small things in life.

    To truly become more, you must first possess more. You cannot effectively give what you do not have. It’s essential to accumulate resources and knowledge before you can even think about sharing or giving to others.

    You must seek wisdom from within you and as you become conscious of the wisdom in the world within, you will mentally take possession of this wisdom, and by taking mental possession you come into actual possession of the power and wisdom necessary to bring into manifestation the essentials necessary for your most complete and harmonious development.

    Conclusion

    Personal Development is not an easy task; it requires consistent dedication and the determination to eliminate certain habits that no longer serve you better.

    The mind is very key to achieving a higher level of personal development and self-improvement. You must train your mind to think positively and maintain good health always live consciously.

  • The Five D’s of Success Part 1

    This is a 2 part series talking about the five D words of my life; Dreams; Desire; Diligence; Determination and Discipline. These are the words that form part of my core values.

    Life is not for the lazy, our creator engineered us to live a very fulfilling and enjoyable life on this earth. He further gave us all the implements and apparatus needed for it.

    It is entirely up to us as individuals to tap into and know what those implements are. We all have them embedded deep in us.

    I personally do not believe that living an empty life is the desire of our creator, no no it is an individual’s choice. Its a choice because God has given us every thing needed to succeed.

    If you are living a mediocre life it is the choice you have made. It is entirely upto you to get yourself out of it.

    There are two things in life, either you make the correct choices or decisions and live a very fulfilling and pleasant life or you make the wrong ones and be on the other side of the good things, that’s entirely up to you.

    At the time am writing this article I know that am on my way to living a very fulfilling life and have come up with a guide I am living by.

    It is very important that you derive yourself a set of standards to follow.

    I have a dream and that dream is to help change the future of most of the young people in my neighbourhood and society at large.

    To do this I will not give them money but help change the way they think about life and help them become what they want to be in life.

    Most of the people I have come across so far indicate that it is their thinking or rather their mindset that is a problem and nothing else.

    I want to be the change I want to see in the world but before I can reach out to helping others. I have outlined below 5 very useful characteristics to help me achieve my goal.

    Dreams

    Remember I have a dream. This is what keeps me posting these blogs to help someone out there to change their thinking and perhaps their attitude towards life in general.

    Dreams are very important they are the tenets of success. Whatever, you want to be in life starts with a dream.

    Am sure we all have dreams at least I have mine. Dreams are your aspirations and therefore, it is very important to keep them alive.

    Write them down so that you can have a very clear idea of them and read them very often to keep them alive in your mind.

    There is power in writing down your aspirations. I mentioned about helping to change people’s mindset and notice that dreams are made from our minds.

    We visualize them in our minds. You must dream big. Fill your mind with your dreams and begin living your dreams even when they are not yet, fully actualised.

    There is no successful person without a dream. It all starts with the mind. Only those who become “success conscious” ever become very successful.

    Success conscious means that the mind has become so saturated with the desire for success, that one can even see themselves already successful.

    If you do not see great success in your imagination, you will never see it in reality. First see yourself successful and then it will come to pass.

    The world requires practical dreamers who can and will put their dreams into action. Having dreams without action is procrastination.

    Remember that practical dreamers do not quit even when they meet with temporary defeat. They push on till they see the light at the end of the tunnel.

    The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time but a dream. Dreams are what is transmuted into reality.

    Remember also that dreams are the seedlings of reality they are not born of indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition.

    Always keep your dreams alive and put them into action so that you do not rob the world of your gifts.

    Desire

    They say “desire” is the starting point of all achievement. People will see you in the days of your triumph, without investigating the cause of your success.

    Desire is the driving force to success. If the thing you desire to do is right, and you believe in it, go ahead and do it. Don’t worry about not having the resources.

    Things will begin to take shape as you start working on your dreams. You will begin to attract the right resources and make the necessary adjustments to accommodate your progress.

    Remember that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many challenges before they “arrive.”

    No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality. Desire is a very strong emotion that is always transmuted into reality.

    I have observed that the things we desire most we usually accomplish. Ask yourself what you desire to be or achieve in life.

    Put the emotion of desire to work and you will see what results you can accomplish with your your life.

    Desire drives us to think and behave in specific ways so that we can effectively fulfill our various desires and aspirations.

    If you have a dream and a solid plan, turn them into a burning desire to achieve your goals.

    Desire backed by faith knows no such word as impossible. Remember that every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage.

    Conclusion

    You must realize that all who succeeded in life first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, DESIRING and PLANNING before they actually succeeded.

    Continued in part 2

  • How Having More Knowledge is Key to Success

    “Success is about living the life of your dreams whatever that might mean for you. It’s about being perfectly content and honestly saying to yourself that you would change very little about your current existence.”

    I believe that the definition for “success” is as unique as an individual’s fingerprints. If you think that being successful is only about having a hefty bank balance then you are wrong.

    You could have a lot of money and still live a very miserable life. Take for example Mother Theresa of India, who knows how much money she had? 

    Yet she was admired and adored by presidents and kings around the world. Would you say she was not a success? Today her name still lives on long after she is dead.

    As a matter of fact, money should be used as a medium to help us continue with our purpose in life. They say money is good but the love for money is the root of all evil.

    Be careful what you want in life, is it to promote your God-given talents and gifts in order that you do not deprive the world of them, or is it riches you want to accumulate?

    I want to promote both my talents and acquire wealth. Let me mention here that I am not saying that you should stay poor no, nor am I stopping you from accumulating wealth no-no-no. 

    I am just emphasising the point that success does not necessarily mean having a hefty bank balance.

    I have read many books on success and have discovered that one of the most important ingredients to success is knowledge. 

    More Knowledge Means Improved Skills

    In order to have more, you must become more. “Your success is but a reflection of the value you bring to others and your value is a direct reflection of your skillset.”

    The more valuable your skillset, the better your chances for higher achievement. Every one of us wants more from life yet only a small percentage of us are willing to pay the actual price for it.

    If you are not willing to put in the effort required for success, then you do not deserve to be called successful and will remain exactly where you are.

    Success does not come easy. It is not a destination but a journey. If you want to make more, then you must start giving out more. The more you give the more you receive.

    The first part of the success formula is to make yourself more valuable by improving your knowledge and skills set. The world is willing to pay higher prices for better skills.

    How do you add value to your skillset, of course by acquiring more knowledge through obtaining an education. Now, education does not necessarily have to be formal. 

    If you want to succeed at whatever you want to do or are doing in life, you cannot escape the process of acquiring more knowledge, and one of the best ways of doing it is by reading relevant materials.

    Today, there is an abundance of reading materials available on nearly every topic imaginable. With easy access to books through various platforms, including the internet, there is no excuse for failure.

    Equally, important to the concept of improving your value is the avoidance of stagnation. Once you’ve taken the initiative to enhance your value then keep the fire burning by continuously working to improve yourself.

    There is always an opportunity to expand your knowledge. The more knowledge you acquire the more valuable you become and the better the service you provide.

    Remember that humanity is all about service regardless of what you are doing. I know for certain that there is more pleasure derived when you are of service. 

    Apply the Acquired Knowledge and Skills

    Acquiring knowledge is the first part of the success formula, applying that knowledge is the second and sometimes the most difficult part.

    Knowledge acquired and not put to practice or implemented is a waste of time and energy.

    Imagine, you decide to study brokerage as a part-time career. You attend seminars and read books about it. 

    Then after a while, your free time seems to have been overtaken by having to work late at your office so much that you cannot do anything after your work.

    In the end, your aspiration to become a broker has died and life has gotten in your way. Look at how much time and energy has been wasted.

    Am sure this story is familiar to many of us. The bare truth is that you wasted time in the first place and sadly the acquired knowledge will also go to waste as long as you do not make time to put it to use.

    Sometimes it could not be that life has gotten in your way but the fear of failure has crept in. Fear is also one of the most common detractors of success.

    Let me encourage you that whatever, obstacles you may encounter when implementing or putting your acquired knowledge to use, should be treated as a challenge.

    Life has so many challenges and it demands that you overcome them in order to succeed. Imagine a life without challenges, wouldn’t that be boring?

    When you triumph and succeed you will look back and say well I have come a long way.

    Remember that in order to have more you must become more. The more obstacles you overcome the more you become.

    Applying your acquired knowledge will propel you towards achieving greater heights of success be it in your career, business, or indeed your relationships.

    Conclusion

    There is no universal formula for success. This article serves as a guide based on what has worked for me, and I believe it can also support you on your own path to success.

    Personal development is not an easy task. It demands discipline, consistency and integrity in your life. You will always be compensated according to the value you are able to deliver to other people and nothing more.

    Every new level of income you wish to attain demands a new you. You alone hold the key to either thrive, survive or fail and you alone will determine the path to your own success based on how valuable a resource you are.

    I believe that life is about creating and value addition.

  • Leadership in SFI Affiliate Marketing

    Affiliate Marketing combined with good leadership skills could yield much more good results than many people would imagine.

    Like in any other business good leadership skills are cardinal to achieving greater results. One of the biggest mistakes committed by affiliate markers is not providing good leadership to their downline members.

    A good leader is not only concerned with his needs but has time to find out how he can help others succeed. In other words, put your friend’s needs before yours.

    Remember success will come as your downline members become more and more successful. I have devised a list of good leadership skills and they are as follows:-

    Caring and Compassion

    You need to know what your downline is doing wrong or right so that you can offer them help to improve. Remember you are responsible for them just as your upline or sponsor is responsible for your success.

    As a leader, you always have to be ahead of your team. You can only achieve this by reading and learning. Dedicating yourself to one program and knowing it is the best thing to do especially if you are just starting out in affiliate marketing.

    Make sure you find a good affiliate marketing program to market, SFI is one such program. It has all the tools and literature to help you get started.

    There are many ways to show that you care for your affiliates; call your affiliates just to find out if they have any specific problems regarding the program, send an email, chat with them using Skype, or any other means you can use to interact with your downline members.

    If you can meet them in person, the better. You would be amused just how much a phone call can change someone’s mind.

    The SFI program has many tools you can use to contact your affiliates. It also has tools you can use to contacting your upline.

    One other popular way to show your affiliates that you care is to give them gift vouchers. Again I must mention that the SFI program has the tools you can use for all these.

    Information Sharing

    Information should be shared in order for it to be appreciated. Read as much as you can for the benefit of everyone in your team. The more information you are loaded with, the more you can pass on to your affiliates and equip them with it.

    Remember as a leader you should always strive to be ahead of your affiliates. One would wonder why the emphasis on being ahead of your affiliates. The answer is very simple they will ask you questions and you need to be prepared in order to create confidence.

    There is so much to learn about the SFI Affiliate Marketing Program. I get amused at how much I learn every day by visiting my SFI affiliate program’s member’s center. Always read the news alerts they have a tendency of giving an idea where the whole program is moving.

    There are so many other sources of information in the SFI program including the members’ forum and articles posted by Gerry.

    Click here to join SFI Affiliate Marketing Program

    Sincerity and Honesty

    You will realize that affiliate marketing is all about creating relationships. The stronger the relationship the better the chances of making lots of money.

    The key to better relationships is sincerity and honesty. Without this,  it is very difficult to succeed. How many skewed people would you like to deal with?

    Non off course so are you prospecting affiliates? When giving out information try as much as possible to be honest and to give accurate information.

    Be sincere and create some sense of trust amongst your team members.

    Be Active

    The only way you can convince people or your downline about success is by showing them that you are an active affiliate member.

    Better still be at least an executive affiliate member. In fact, SFI has a policy of removing inactive members from their list. I personally feel this is a good policy as it keeps all members active in the program.

    There are many ways of being active in the SFI affiliate marketing program. Most of the activities earn you versa points. You earn 2 points just by logging in to your member’s area.

    You could earn some free points just by joining the booster club, sending mail to your downline, purchasing goods from triple clicks is one sure way of earning good points.

    Ensuring that you qualify as an executive affiliate by earning 1500 versa points every month will surely convince your affiliates that you are an active and committed member of the program. The more active you are the more likely that you earn more versa points.

    Know the Program

    Seek first to understand then be understood. A good leader will have better knowledge and understanding of the program. Your downline is as good as you are.

    They are a reflection of your work and knowledge. Teach them how the program works and they will replicate it to your benefit. Remember you can only teach what you know so please and read and understand the program.

    Remember knowledge is power, read and understand the program. SFI affiliate marketing program has tones and tones of reading material.

    The more you read the more knowledge and understanding you acquire. The more knowledge you have the better equipped you are to imparting information to your downline.

    You could also ask your upline how to be as successful as they are. I would also encourage you to read the FAQ section every now and again.

    There is no substitute for reading if you have to know the program very well. Understanding the program will also give you added advantage in making decisions about certain products and investing your money in better sections of the affiliate marketing program.

    Be Accessible

    A good leader should be accessible. You cannot call yourself a good leader if you do not receive feedback from your downline. You have to be accessible at all times.

    Accessibility is key to leadership. There are many ways of being accessible; telephones; emails; skype etc. take advantage of them.

    Choose whatever, communication media suites you and ensure you retain and maintain accessibility.

    Conclusion

    There are many other attributes of being a successful leader in SFI Affiliate Marketing Program these are but a scratch of them.

    They are the ones I employ and find them worthwhile. Am sure they could also work for you. By the way, there is no manual on leadership.

    Do not be a slave to rules but let the rules be your guide exercise some common sense in different situations.

  • Features of a Good Affiliate Marketing Program

    There are so many affiliate marketing programs being published and advertised on the internet today.

    Although this is a good sign that more and more people are beginning to use and appreciate the abundance of wealth and opportunities available on the web, care should be taken.

    There are also more internet scams on the internet today than ever before. Most of these programs will claim to give you success within a very short period of time.

    They will claim to have the latest “hot” products that have been recently launched and will ask you to lock in before it’s too late.

    I am a very slow person to spend money on new affiliate programs especially the ones that claim to give you huge profits for very little investment.

    My approach to them is to get word from persons I know are benefiting from them.

    These are people I trust and some of them are my upline in the current affiliate marketing programs I benefit from. It is quite difficult though to find such people.

    But, since I know that they too are prone to making mistakes I have devised a way to help me make sound decisions before I participate in any affiliate marketing program be it new or old.

    • The credibility of the company – How credible is the company behind the affiliate marketing program? Who is behind this same company? What are they involved in? Remember you do not want to be part of a program that is sponsoring illegitimate activities. This I feel is very important.
    • How long has the company been in existence? – I guess the longer a company has been in existence the more goodwill and reputable its products are. A company that has been in business for more than 5 years has certainly built a good base of goodwill than one that has been for less. I say this with an exception.
    • Does the program offer free training materials? – It is absolutely ridiculous for me to buy training materials on how to market a product for an affiliate program. A good affiliate marketing program will provide free materials for its affiliates. The content of the material will outline the basic requirements to market the products/services and methods of being paid. It should also outline the ordering and delivery system to the customer.
    • The ordering system and customer services – should be very clear. The manual should also outline your rewards or benefits for marketing their products/services. How you will access your commission and so forth and so on.
    • Does the program offer to market multiple products/services? – A good affiliate marketing program will not only sell one product/service unless that product/service is extremely popular and important. It will have different quality products or services for different niches. This is important as it will give affiliates different sources of income.

    Conclusion

    The above-listed points are some of the major important features I consider before joining or signing up for an affiliate marketing program.

    If the above are satisfactory I make a decision. One such program that has satisfied me is SFI Marketing Program.

    Click here to join my number one affiliate marketing program

    Remember to “standout tall and be counted” in whatever you do.

  • Blogs, What are They?

    The internet was originally used by the military and research scientists.

    They used it to exchange highly technical information. Because of the highly technical nature of the internet and information that was being exchanged, a tradition of informality and personal expression developed to ease the cold technicality.

    Blogs while appearing to be the latest fad, really resurrect in the modern form an order, more traditional way of using the internet to exchange information with a personal touch.

    They are replacing static websites rapidly. Blogs, provide current information from a particular perspective.

    They do that in a format that easily integrates with other information from other perspectives.

    What Are Blogs?

    Blog” is short for “Weblog.” A “Weblog” is a log that is kept and shared on the internet. A “log” is a record of chronological events e.g. a Captain’s log. 

    It records events and points to the sources of information about those events. It is chronological, usually with the latest entries on top prior to entries below.

    Blogs can be used and have been used for many other subjects the major ones being political and for personal communication.

    Regardless of the subject, the entries should be chronological and event-oriented. They should contain links to each original source of information that is being summarized.

    However, Blogs can deal with any type of subject and express any perspective.

    Blogs and E-commerce

    An important characteristic of a blog in this context is that Blogs, like discussion boards and chat rooms, bring visitors back to your site over and over again.

    They help to create a relationship between you and the visitors to your website depending on the quality of the content you are providing.

    Repeat visitors who develop a relationship with you through your website are exactly what you want in order to succeed in e-commerce.

    Blogs also tend to do well in search engine rankings because they are information-driven. They are a way to provide unique and useful information.

    By leading with this information, you can then offer your visitors opportunities, products and services. However, as mentioned above the key to attracting repeat visitors is the quality of the information provided.

    Publishing Blogs

    Blogs are quite simple to publish and can be done by yourself. You can just add a page to your existing Website and use this page for your blog.

    Simply format this page into a table or paragraphs with a date and caption line above each entry. Add new entries at the top of the page. Blogs are more a matter of information than they are of design and formatting.

    Publishing a Blog, however, will take an investment of time. What makes the Blog useful is that you are doing the research, finding the sources of information on your subject and summarizing them, so that your viewers can save on time.

    You are also adding your unique perspective to the information. To keep visitors coming to your Blog, you will have to add entries often.

    Visitors who share your perspective will be attracted to your Blog. The time you put in finding and summarizing the information will save your visitors time. You are providing them with a service that saves them time and effort.

    Selling Using Blogs

    Because you are providing a useful service to your visitors, they will develop trust in you.

    If you prove worthy of that trust, this relationship will build. A relationship of trust is the most important element in internet marketing.

    If your visitors trust the research and summaries in your Blog, they will also trust your recommendations for opportunities, products and services.

    Try to incorporate your affiliate links into the text of your Blog entries. The textual links in the text of the entries, in context with the other information, are the ones that will really produce results.

    If your visitors are interested in the text of your Blog entries, that interest will flow over to your affiliate links. Do not force the affiliate links into your context.

    It should be noted that the internet purists do not believe that Blogs should contain any commercial content or links. I do not agree with this belief; remember time is spent on getting this information and summarizing it.

    It is important that the information remains objective and not just commercially biased in order for the Blog to be trustworthy.

    If a Blog proves to be generally trustworthy you will certainly reap the rewards of your hard work as most internet users will not object to appropriately placed affiliate links that naturally flow with the content.

    Finally

    Blogs, when used properly, can be an effective e-commerce tool. Appropriately placed affiliate links, flowing with the context of the Blog entries, can be a powerful marketing tool.

  • Strategies for Successful Affiliates

    “To be successful and happy, you must discipline yourself to work all the time you work” – Brian Tracy.

    Affiliate marketing is a low-cost way for merchants to build awareness of their products and in turn drive high volumes of traffic to their websites.

    Remember high traffic increases the chance of making high sales. High sales mean high profits for the merchants.

    Affiliate marketing works as a commission-based referral system. Affiliates refer prospective customers to merchant’s websites and are paid for either an interaction or when a sale is made.

    Statistics show that affiliate marketing experts make five figure incomes per month. This is no easy task but can be done and it is being done.

    The so called supper affiliates have something in common. The typical ones possess the following traits.

    Persistence – never give up without a fight
    Patience – is a virtue you will need it
    Knowledge and skill – is power, strive to acquire it

    These traits combined with the following strategies will help to build you into a successful affiliate marketer.

    • Select your Niche carefully – The most common number one mistake committed by upcoming affiliate marketers is to try and sell everything. You must find a unique niche to market. Remember we all have something within us that the world needs and does not have.
    • Marketing – Once you have built your niche. You will need to promote it. One of the best ways to promote it is to use search engines. However, use any available and effective medium.
    • Know Your Audience – Create a resource. Collect as much information as you can on the products/services that you are marketing. This will help you to build credibility and will lead to being trustworthy.
    • Diversify – do not put all your eggs in one basket. Promote products from different merchants. I would like to be cautious though on this one. There is absolutely nothing wrong with promoting a different kind of merchants.
    • Persistence – Do not give up, results take time to start showing. But when they do and believe me they will. You will reap the rewards. That is why it is important to write about, what flows naturally from you. Affiliate marketing should be a long-term business and not a get-rich-quick business.
    • Stay Relevant – Ensure that you market products that are relevant to your niche. If you have to market using your own web site ensure that you write articles that have no time limit. In other words write content that is timeless.
    • Patience – As I said before affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick business. You will need to be patient. As an old saying goes that patience is a virtue please develop it. I would liken affiliate marketing to women.
    • Knowledge is Vital – There is no way you will succeed in anything without knowledge. The key to acquiring knowledge is to read, read, read, and read. Take notes and review them every once in a while. I would like to encourage you to start reading especially topics that relate to your niche. This is the only way you will get to know your niche even better and improve your marketing skills.

    Click here to join my number one affiliate program for free

    Remember to “standout tall and be counted” that is what you were created to be.

  • Get Fired Up

    “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled” – Plutarch.

    Do you know that you are the only one of your kind in this world? You are uniquely designed and wonderfully made.

    Your blueprint is truly one of a kind in this world and that if were to pass on, the world would lose a uniquely formed being with distinctive qualities and talents that will never be shared by anyone else.

    You have engraved in you, all the attributes to succeed in whatever you want to do. You were created to fulfil your life’s true purpose with success.

    You have the potential to succeed. Deep inside you lies the ability and potential to succeed and its all waiting to be explored. Quit giving excuses and start unleashing your potential.

    Knowing your potential is the key to achieving your intended goals in life.

    The word potential simply means “the ability to”. You have the ability to grow, succeed, and become anything you dedicate your mind and effort to.

    If you can think it then you can achieve or be it. You just have to be positive with anything you set out to do.

    Change Your Mind-Set

    Success starts with the right mindset. Those who succeed never give up. Consider an athlete: what is the first thing that comes to his mind when he is stepping into a sporting competition?

    He is determined to win, otherwise, he would not have entered into the sporting competition. It is this kind of mentality that you need to have in life.

    Just like in a sporting competition, achieving our intended purpose in life is always challenging.

    For you to achieve any meaningful and tangible results you will need a mind of a sportsman who is continuously keeping fit i.e. spending time training and improving on his strategies.

    In your case, you will need to acquire the things needed for you to reach your goals in life. You need to be persistent and diligent with what you are doing. There is no substitute for hard work.

    To transform a negative mindset, start by recognizing your negative attitudes, then consider practical ways to address and overcome them.

    After finding the solution to your negative attitudes practice the solutions for the next 21 days and see if nothing changes.

    You will notice negative attitudes gradually fade and are replaced by new, positive ones. Remember, as long as your mind is filled with negative thoughts, it will be difficult to embrace positivity.

    Remember to always encourage yourself even in bad times. “Success is not measured by what you have but by the many obstacles you have overcome.” A positive mindset is a great recipe for success.

    Be Patient

    “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it open” – Arnold Glasgow.

    If there is one thing I have learned in life more than anything else, it is patience. Yes, I know that sometimes it runs thin. For those of you who are married, am sure you can relate.

    I will give an example of education, we are never educated in a flash of time. In our education system, it takes us twelve years to complete primary and secondary or high school education.

    Say another minimum of two years for vocational education, added together this is a minimum of fourteen years.

    Fourteen year is not a short period of time by any means. Remember also that personal education does not end. They say patience is a virtue.

    Thomas Edison failed many times before finally discovering the light bulb. I believe that he was patient with himself and learned from his failures.

    Happiness Is A Decision

    Make a decision to be happy. Do you realize that happiness is a decision? We choose to be happy or not.

    Focus on the positive things and enjoy them while they last. Even in hard times, it is very possible to be happy.

    A happy mind is healthy for the well-being of an individual. Remember, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift that is why we call it “present.” After all, who doesn’t love receiving presents?

    “Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth and set down and gain each that fortune grants” – Unknown.

    Finally

    A few tips to help you stay fired up.

    • Start the day with a prayer – always give thanks to your creator for where there is life there is hope no matter what.
    • Look in the mirror and tell yourself you are built to succeed.
    • If you are married tell your spouse how much they mean to you.
    • Tell yourself that today is a gift.
    • Face your challenges with a positive attitude.
    • Treat your day’s shortcomings as challenges.
    • Review your day before sleeping. Note what you did not achieve for that day let them be the starting point for tomorrow.
    • End your day with prayer

    There are many more tips that can be given but there is no prescription to success it is all in you and entirely up to you to unlock it.

  • Take Stock of Your Achievements

    The year is gradually slipping away. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on any achievements from the past months and assess our progress.

    I believe this is one of the most effective ways to make wise assessments of ourselves. What progress have you made so far toward your current period’s goals?

    Some time ago, I believed making resolutions was a complete waste of time. Believe me, I was absolutely wrong and now truly regret that mindset.

    Now for the past few years, I have made it a point to always make resolutions at the beginning of every year. This has become a cardinal part of my life.

    To achieve your intended purpose in life, you must train yourself accordingly. Resolutions are essentially intentions integrated into plans, and planning is a crucial element in fulfilling your life’s goals.

    I encourage you to make reasonable and attainable resolutions for yourself. Challenge yourself a bit but don’t make impossible goals.

    Make goals that are achievable and measurable. This will give control and help monitor your progress.

    Monitoring Your Progress

    First things first you will need to have a clearly defined and definite purpose for your life written down. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

    There is something truly powerful about putting our life’s purpose and goals into writing.

    The yardstick to achieving your desired purpose in life is to give yourself yearly targets (resolutions) broken down into quarterly, monthly, or and weekly targets.

    This will help you review them regularly. I believe that planning is essential to achieving your goals, and plans can be reviewed, adjusted, and refined as needed. Don’t hesitate to modify one or two of your benchmarks.

    Taking Stock

    That is exactly how we are. To evaluate your achievements, you need to set targets that are both attainable and measurable.

    Review your targets for specific details. For example, if your goal for the year was to read 36 books, have you reached this milestone? If not, how far are you from achieving it? What obstacles are preventing you from staying on track?

    Record your results by writing down your answers to each goal you set. Be honest with yourself and assign a score from 1 to 10, where 1 indicates poor performance and 10 represents excellent achievement.

    Evaluate your results honestly, providing constructive feedback on each answer. Be sure to highlight both strengths and areas for improvement. Remember, it’s important to acknowledge all your abilities, including those that may need further development.

    Make an analysis of your results especially how you can improve on the below-average scores. If need be, change your approach in the coming year or period.
    Remember to always write down what you intend to improve on.

    Give your previous year’s resolutions to someone who knows you better for an independent assessment. This must be someone you trust and know that they will be very honest and open with you.

    I strongly recommend approaching their opinion with caution. Ultimately, you are the best judge of yourself.

    Also, pay attention to the areas where you scored highly. I believe there is always room for growth. Use these strengths to build a solid foundation as you work toward fulfilling your true purpose in life.

    Give yourself a pat on the back for the achievements good or bad. At least you have started moving somewhere and please never give up.

    The start is always the biggest hurdle. Keep pushing yourself and the results will eventually come.

    Next Period’s Resolutions

    Why set resolutions for the upcoming period? For me, they serve as a guide to plan and take meaningful steps toward fulfilling my life’s defined purpose.

    The resolutions will act as a meter or gauge I can use towards the attainment of my life’s intended purpose. They act like directional compass for my life.

    After analysing and summing up last year’s achievements set out and plan for the year or the coming period. Write down specific targets with a specified time frame.

    Remember to incorporate last year’s failed targets into the current ones. This will help to make you work even harder as you will now be carrying a backlog.

    Assess your skills and challenge your strongest abilities even further to strengthen and build upon them. Don’t develop a comfortable mentality. Always look for ways to improve on them.

    Be very realistic to give yourself attainable targets as this will keep you confident and motivated every time you achieve them. Break down your yearly targets say to quarterly, monthly etc, and ensure that you set periodical reviews.

    If you feel you need to adjust please do not hesitate to do so keep in mind that you are not competing with anyone. You are only pushing yourself to achieve your intended defined purpose in life.

    After putting down your plans for the year, set out and commit them to God’s hands for direction. God will surely come through for you if you call on him. He is a faithful God.

    Conclusion

    In your endeavors of fulfilling your purpose always put your creator first, he has the blueprint of your existence.

    Persistence and patience must be your driving forces in achieving your life’s purpose. Most importantly, HAVE FAITH IN WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Good luck. Always remember to “stand out and be counted” in everything you do.