Looking To God

"Looking unto Jesus." Hebrews 12:2

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.

"My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness:

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus' name."

Morning and Evening.
"Enjoy Your Coffee"

Michael Stanley, The Corner Market-ing Blog

Tips To Create a Strong Online Presence

Just as technology is advancing, our means of communications are also making way with others & the public. The television and radio have been the two technological mediums that were used by the companies to market their products and services to their targeted audience. But, since the Internet has been brought to selves, the way of information sharing has dramatically changed and is reaching every nook & corner of this world. It has helped businesses to advertise their products and services directly to their targeted audience. Today, the web world is resplendent with lots of online platforms like social media platforms & websites that have been helping many companies increase their ROI and business.
According to some recently conducted research, it is divulged that over half of all U.S. residents and more that 3/4 of all U.S. adults love being online and cater to their different needs. A recent study claims to have found that 92 percent of online adults utilize search engines with a view to finding information on the Internet, including 59 percent doing so on a typical day. Out of these every day searches, 46 percent relates to products, or services information searches. 89 percent Internet users in the U.S. do research online ahead of making any purchase, whether they buy it from a local business. With an astonishing number of potential customers and people online, it's crucial for companies to possess a profound web presence so that they cannot fail to benefit from business and opportunities available on Internet today. Below are given top five ways to create strong online presence.

1. Website - It helps companies to post essential information with regards to their products and services. Through this, users can learn what a company offers.


2. Blogging - Blogging today has become one of the best platforms. Around 65 percent of daily users of Internet are the blog readers. The constant and frequent update of a blog means growing traffic and business.


3. Facebook - Facebook allows companies to easily offer updates to followers and get interacted with users through comments.


4. Twitter - Twitter accounts let companies share fast industry or company news, as well as blog posts to followers.


5. LinkedIn - A company's LinkedIn profiles allow businesses to get connected and linked with other professionals and set themselves up in a professional way. They also offer status updates on company or industry blog & news and Twitter updates to its followers.

Setting your company up on the Internet let your business develop its online existence and get to potential customers. Websites provide users with information that helps them make an informed decision with regards to purchasing products and availing of services.  That's all for now, "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog 

Michael Stanley

Jesus Found Him

"Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"                                       John 9:35

 

JOHN 9:35

It is one thing to seek God; it is quite another thing to have God seek you. Jesus sought this man out when others had forsaken him. The acceptance of Jesus is worth more than everything this world has to offer This is what enables the believer to endure and even leap for joy amidst persecution.

When our sufferings in Christ abound, then the consolation of Christ abounds much more. Notice that this man's parents, who knew the truth, but refused to share it for fear of persecution, did not have Jesus seeking them out (Jn. 9:22). They chose the company of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, which is exactly what they got.

Even though the believer is redeemed and delivered from many afflictions that were a result of sin and its power, we are still called to partake in what the scriptures call the "sufferings or afflictions of Christ" (2 Cor. 1:5; Col. 1:24). However, these afflictions are not sickness and poverty as some religious teachings suggest. These afflictions are described as the "fellowship of sufferings" that the believer will encounter for doing the will of God, or the sufferings brought on by one's allegiance to Christ.

Persecution for righteousness' sake is not something that we can rebuke (2 Tim. 3:12). We must remember that as we live godly lives, suffering will follow. The Apostle Peter reminds us that these trials of our faith will result in praise, honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:7). Jesus' comfort, strength, help, and love are ready to "overflow" into every "trial" that we face if we will only look to Him (Heb. 12:2).
"Enjoy Your Coffee"     by Andrew Wommack 

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog 

Michael Stanley

He Shall Build The Temple Of The Lord

"He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory." Zechariah 6:13

Christ Himself is the builder of His spiritual temple, and He has built it on the mountains of His unchangeable affection, His omnipotent grace, and His infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon's temple, so in this; the materials need making ready. There are the "Cedars of Lebanon," but they are not framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord's house in Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must be hewn thence, and squared. All this is Christ's own work. Each individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his place in the temple; but Christ's own hand performs the preparation-work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are used by Him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright.
As in the building of Solomon's temple, "there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house," because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy—so is it with the temple which Jesus builds; the making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meet here—all that Christ will do beforehand; and when He has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord.

"Beneath His eye and care,

The edifice shall rise,

Majestic, strong, and fair,

And shine above the skies."

Morning and Evening.

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog  

Michael Stanley

Building An Email List With Free Keyword Sources

When seeking the answers for how to build an email list one of the first tasks that requires to be addressed is the need to attract targeted traffic to your website and blog. You can then offer a free inducement in return for the prospect to sign up to your email list. So it is very important to find the most suitable keywords that will attract a targeted group of online searchers.
Remember, an email list is at the heart of a successful niche online business and it is where the value is found. Build a responsive list and you will have a well to tap into when you want to boost your online income. So what keyword tools are freely available to help you help find the best targeted keywords to build your email list?
Google should be your first place to look and it offers several different means to search and locate the keywords that will best work for the niche that you are targeting. The Keyword Tool is simple to use where you can find the exact search terms people are using to find information, how many are using these per month, how competitive the term is with advertisers and also the ability to get exact or broad matches of the keyword. You don't need a Google account to use this facility and this should be used on a regular basis to check that you are only using keywords and phrases that are regularly used by the niche itself.
The next free service offered by Google to find keywords to help build your email list is called Google Trends. Once you have some keywords you can check out their search history. This facility provides data for the last five years giving you an idea if the search term is consistent and whether it is seasonal and in which countries it is most used. This is a valuable tool to check the potential fluctuations in demand for information and products and to ensure that the interest is not slowly dying but showing consistent search statistics.
Whilst you are using these two facilities, don't forget to sign up to Google Alerts. This is a very convenient method to stay in touch with what is hot in your niche market. All you have to do is enter the most popular keywords and phrases and Google will send you links via email to new content, stories etc. You can select the different formats such as news, web, blogs, video and groups. From this you can keep abreast of what is happening and which niche keywords and phrases are presently being used to undertake searches for information.
As you can hopefully see, with a little effort yet no expense, you can source an incredible amount of free research information about your niche and really target your audience with the exact keywords and phrases that are most popular, and also the ones that have a reasonable amount of traffic but are not being targeted so much by other information marketers. This then offers an opportunity to create unique content based around keywords and phrases that match the exact searches terms being used. By regularly creating such content, you will be able to enjoy a constant stream of targeted traffic to your website and blog, and thus steadily building an email list.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog  

Michael Stanley

Be A Smart Suscriber

So how many times have you seen someone offer you a
free trial of something or other, but to get started
you need to provide a credit card number, or use your
PayPal account to sign up.

A lot of services or products even ask that you pay
ONLY $1 to start any sort of trial and act as if you
are getting an incredible value.

But what they are really doing is getting your credit
card number or PayPal account locked into their auto
re-billing feature and hiding behind their real motive
simply by telling you that it is for your convenience.

It is a well known fact that many people who offer
products or services are making more money due simply
to people forgetting to cancel these auto re-bills.

Now I'm not in any way speaking for all marketers.
Many do in fact provide great value and are trying to
make things easier, but it is also an overly abused
marketing tactic to make the product or service owner
a lot of extra recurring income.

You see a lot of unethical marketers know that most
of the time you will forget about the trial and a few
months later you will finally notice that you have been
charged XX dollars every month.  Guess who makes a pile
of money that way.  That's not cool man.

So it is something to watch out for when signing up
to any free trials of anything.

On a total flip side, here's an example of a guy who
has an insanely good free trial offer, but you don't
have to give your credit card or PayPal account up
front.  It's just a free trial, because he believe it
works and is not hiding behind anything!

  Go Here For Your Trial
 
It's a no obligations 90 Day Free Trial of what's
called the Smart Subscriber marketing system. His name
is Ian and he's been an online marketer for over a
decade and claims he will make you money through
affiliate commissions just to prove his service is
worth paying for!

With no credit cards or PayPal account stuff upfront,
I'd say that's a pretty rock solid and safe free trial.
"Enjoy Your Coffee"

Go Here For Your Free Trial

Michael Stanley 

How To Make Money Everyday

There are many ways to make money, most require that you work for it, some may inherit wealth, and on rare occasions it is the result of an unexpected windfall. However the development of the internet has changed all the rules and what was possible in a lifetime is now possible in a very short time. The idea of working smart, physically hard, and building an empire over a lifetime is a thing of past generations, and it is becoming more common for huge wealth to be generated by peoples of all nations and all ages, in fact there are more and more instances of teenage millionaires making their fortunes from their bedroom before graduating from secondary school using the power of the internet.
In economic terms the world is described as being flat purely because every body now has the same access to the same playing field. Any body can access goods from any part of the world and market those goods to the rest of the world. For example a business in Australia can source goods in Pakistan and on sell those goods to Sweden or any combination of any sales events to or from any place on the planet, the corner store is truly only a mouse click away.
The reason the majority of people who aspire to make their fortunes is not because of the lack of desire, the ability to work hard in their chosen profession, or the commitment, it is simply because they cannot identify opportunity or a niche in the market place, or do not have the knowledge, or the access to a mentor to guide them. The internet has changed all of this. Access to information has never been better, the ability to be educated on any subject or hobby, is now at your fingertips, for the aspiring online home money maker the world is your oyster and it is their for the searching.
The beauty of the internet is that any body can participate and still be relatively anonymous and afford the privilege of a private life, the internet never stops and opportunity continues every day of the week, 24 hours a day every day of the year. This brings us back to the position of recognising opportunity, sometimes when it is obvious to all who are looking, or any that may stumble in the right direction.The purpose of this short essay is to encourage all who aspire to better themselves and their lot in life is to take action and recognise a purpose in life, for to do nothing is committing to doing the same and achieving the same results.  
"Enjoy Your Coffee" 

Learn How I Instantly Tripled My Traffic!

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing

Michael Stanley

Abraham's Children

"I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you."
                                                                                                      John 8:37

JOHN 8:33-38

The Jewish people were direct descendants of Abraham. However, as with so many biblical truths, there was much more to the Abrahamic covenant than what a casual glimpse would reveal. In truth, these Jews were not actually a part of the spiritual children of Abraham.

The Holy Spirit revealed through the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:16 and 29 that God's covenant was to Abraham and his singular "seed" or descendant, which was Christ. No one ever became an heir of God's promises through his natural birth. Before Jesus gave Himself as an offering for our sin, the Old Testament saints were justified by faith in God's promises concerning the Messiah who was yet to come. After Jesus' death and resurrection, New Testament saints are justified by faith in what Jesus has already accomplished. No one has ever been saved because of who his parents are.

Those who have been born again through faith in Jesus have been circumcised in their heart (Col. 2:11-12) and are the true Jews. They aren't Jews in nationality or religion, but they are the true people of God. Gentiles who are united with Christ in the new birth are now God's people. Anyone who is saved through faith in Jesus is now Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:16, 22, 26-29). This leaves no doubt that the Church is now God's chosen people on earth. This does not mean that God has forsaken the Jews. There are still prophesies which apply to the physical nation of Israel which will be fulfilled. However, the New Testament Church, composed of Jews and Gentiles, is now God's kingdom on earth. We are all His.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"   by Andrew Wommack

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing

Michael Stanley

Blog Success: Syndicate Your Content In Seconds!

Time Management Is The Key To Affiliate Marketing Success

If you are new to the affiliate marketing business, you will be searching around the internet for information on how you can get your business started. The problem is that there is too much information on the internet and you do not have the luxury of time to go through all these information.
There is too much junk and inaccurate information on the internet and you will want to make sure that you are getting access to the right information so that you will know the right action to take. The first thing that you want to do is to make sure that you are following a system that is proven to work for many people.
Once you have decided on the system that you plan to follow, you will want to make sure that you have the discipline to follow the system and do all the required work in a systematic order. Almost all the proven system will provide you with the step by step instructions on how you can get your business started in the right direction.
Thus, you will need to ensure you manage your time properly. Most of the people who started this new business have a full time job and they have other commitments. Before you even start this business, you will need to decide on the amount of time that you are willing to commit to your business on a daily basis.
If you are still looking for business that does not required any commitment of time and effort, then this business is definitely not suitable for you. However, once you have decided on the amount of time each day that you are willing to commit to grow your business, you will need to make sure that you are using the time productively.
For example, if you are willing to commit one hour per day to grow your business, you will need to make sure that you are using that one hour wisely that will help you to grow your business to the next level. Spending the time on reading eBooks, watching videos and reading forums is not being productive at all as you have not taken any action to grow your business to the next level.
If you only have 1 hour daily, you will need to plan in advance the list of activities that you need to do daily so that your business will be progressing daily. Here are the following activities that you should be focusing:
- Learning and taking action on how to set up your own website live
- Learning and taking action on how to use the autoresponder
- Writing useful content that will drive more traffic back to website
- Starting and managing your marketing campaign
- Focusing the majority of time on marketing activities once website is live
- And much more
One of the most important things you need to take note is that you are not in a race with anyone. You need to understand that everyone progress at a different pace and if you are completely new to this business, you will need to be more patient. The most important thing is that you are committing the time daily to grow your business.
Thus, it is very important that you manage your time wisely and the correct activities so that you will get results. Remember this quote:
"Today's Results/Progress Should Be Better Than Yesterday's Results/Progress"  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog  

Michael Stanley

Amazing Grace

"They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?"              John 8:4-5

 

JOHN 8:1-11

This was possibly the most potentially damaging temptation the scribes and Pharisees ever presented to Jesus. Much of Jesus' widespread popularity with the people was because of His examples of and teachings about God's mercy and forgiveness towards sinners. This was received with great enthusiasm by the people who, before this time had been presented with only a harsh, legalistic, judgmental picture of God.

The scribes and Pharisees had often tried to portray Jesus as condoning or practicing sin because of His association with sinners and His ministry to them when it violated Jewish traditions, such as the Sabbath. However, Jesus had successfully turned every attack into a victory for the side of grace and mercy.

This time, the Jews felt that they had Him "cornered." If Jesus held to His teachings of forgiveness and refused to stone this woman, He would be in direct rebellion to the law of Moses. This would give these Jews legal grounds to kill Jesus. On the other hand, if He stoned the woman as the law declared, the people would forsake Him. It looked like they had Him trapped either way He went.

As always, the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and Jesus rose to the occasion. He did not condone the sin nor disregard the law of Moses. He simply told the one who was without sin to cast the first stone. As the Holy Ghost began to convict them of their own sin, they all had to leave. They, therefore, could not fault Jesus for not stoning the woman. Jesus was justified in His forgiveness of this woman because He was operating under the dispensation of grace. Think about God's grace today.   "Enjoy Your Coffee"   
by Andrew Wommack  

Michael Stanley 

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog

5 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes

Affiliate marketing can be highly profitable and the best thing about it is that you don't need a product or advanced shopping cart system to make money online. Affiliate marketing is all about recommending someone else's product and receiving the commissions.
While the concept is simple, people usually make some mistakes that rob them of affiliate success. Let's see what the most popular mistakes are and how to avoid them:
1. Lack of solid strategy
Most people just run from opportunity to opportunity looking for some kind of magic button that will make them rich in an instance. Sorry, that's not going to happen. You need to develop a strategy and then focus on it. Does a word persistence tell you anything? Find a good course, develop a plan, make sure that it is aimed for long-term results and then stick to it. I know, it sounds like work. But who said affiliate marketing isn't work?
2. Not having a website and opt-in list
Your website is your property. Setting it up is not hard with technology we have today. Use WordPress. Get your own domain. Stick to one niche, of course. And then set up an optin form. Website SEO should be an important part of your strategy. Yes, setting up a website won't guarantee you 1000s of daily visitors on autopilot. You'll have to work on that. But imagine having a list that is growing daily and brings you steady monthly income. It's definitely worth an effort.
3. Promoting everything under the sun
Ok, don't be shocked. Have you thought of buying the product you're promoting? You should. Get it, read it, use it. See if it's good. If it's good - recommend it. You won't have to sell it, just write your own review and results. If it's bad - get a refund and move on.
Develop a collection of high-quality golden products. There should be no more than 5-7. It would be perfect if they would be complimentary and not in direct competition. Then just promote them on the constant basis on your website and to your list.
4. Failing to track
How do you know if you are successful or not if you don't track your results? Track everything you can. Use Google Analytics for your website and study your visitors pattern. Track your clicks. Track ads. Definitely track your affiliate program performance. Based on your finding you will be able to improve your strategy and get more profit.
5. Failure to invest
Affiliate marketing is a business. And it requires investment. You need to invest in domain, hosting, good autoresponder, but most important - invest in knowledge. Find solid programs and study them. Learn from others. Study different strategies, combine them, and apply them! Treat it like a serious business. Only in this case it will bring you serious income.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog

Michael Stanley

Rebirth

"Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?"

                                                                                                    John 7:19

JOHN 7:16-19

These Jews prided themselves on their observance of the law, but they were keeping the letter of the law and missing its true intent. The greatest of all the Old Testament laws was to love God and then to love your neighbor as yourself. The Jews were violating these laws by having hatred in their hearts toward Jesus and wanting to kill Him. They denied that they desired to kill Him, but the scriptures declare that they had already plotted or tried to kill Him three times.

They also knew much about God. It was required of the Jewish men to memorize large portions of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Their whole society revolved around God's moral standards and countless religious observances. However, they did not know God.

There is a difference between knowing about someone and really knowing them. Likewise today, millions of people are acquainted with knowledge about Jesus. They may even be moral and observe religious ceremonies, but if they don't personally experience knowing Jesus, they are not saved and will not make it to heaven. Even the devils believe and tremble but they aren't saved.

Our spiritual man became dead unto (separated from) God through sin. Just as we didn't accomplish our physical birth, we cannot produce this spiritual rebirth. We are totally incapable of saving ourselves, therefore, we need a Savior. We simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we are saved.

Salvation is not a reformation, but rather a regeneration, a new birth, a new creation, that can only be accomplished by a creative miracle of the Holy Spirit. You must be born again.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"
by Andrew Wommack 

Michael Stanley

Team Building Activities Need Not Be Boring

Hear the phrase "team building" and immediately your mind conjures up an image of a conference room where executives are gathering employees to conduct a boring meeting or telling them about the importance of building coordination within team.
As a manager, you have a tough job of balancing roles between a captain, part psychologist, cheerleader, friend, coach and visionary. You may need to go for team building activities to rekindle their inspiration and get them going.
But do you see your employees groaning when you say the word team building? That is because it has been boring till now! Don't limit your activities to just the bored, oops, the board room! Venture out with your employees with these fun activities to see the wonders they can do for your team!
Helium stick
This is a simple looking game but it really isn't so. Line up your employees in two rows facing each other. Tell them to extend their arms and point out their index fingers. Place a long, lightweight rod on their index fingers. Ask the group to keep the stick horizontally balanced.
The team has the challenge of lowering the stick. At all times, all the group member's fingers should be touching it. However, mysteriously, the stick will instead go up because of the upward pressure of the index fingers! The team has to communicate to gradually bring the stick down.
Mine field
Objects are put in random places in an outdoor or indoor setting. Objects such as bowling pins, balls, bags and even furniture in an indoor setting, act as mines. The person has to guide his/her blindfolded partner so they can avoid mines and reach the other end of the 'field' safely.
Zoom
Participants are handed out random pictures. They have to arrange them in a sequence to create a story. However, the game involves a twist. They have to do it without looking at others' pictures. Participants must talk to each other and sort out the sequence of pictures. It requires people to develop perspective talking and communication skills.
Survival scenarios
Ever saw shows like "Lost" and wondered how you would behave in such a situation? Well, this game lets you do that to an extent. Two situations can be created. In the first 'pen and pencil' situation participants have to make a list of survival equipment needed if they are lost at sea or in a desert.
In the second situation, participants have to decide who has to be saved in case a plane crash, nuclear war or oxygen dwindling takes place. These situations allow members to consider all options and make rational decisions.  Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Michael Stanley

How Improving Content Can Make Your Web Site Popular

Marketing a web site or blog is important if you want it to be a success. Content value is very important and knowing what you can do to make it better is critical. With the amount of competition you will face you need to know what to look at in terms of content. Here are some pointers on getting good content in the pages you put together on your site.

• Fit your content to your reader's needs. You will need a mechanism for feedback and doing surveys and interactive items like allowing comments can help.


• Write with a natural tone and format. Use humor and personal style when writing and talk to your readers, not over or around them. Sometimes telling a story is better than technical jargon but you must consider the audience and the topic being discussed.


• Keywords are not the whole story, but it's what the search engines look for in the flavor of an article. Know which ones reach the type of traffic you are seeking and do target them in your writing.


• Contextual cues such as color, font and space can make a difference. You should look at these cues and study to see what can make your site easier on the eyes. Ads that are adjacent to your writing should be looked at as well. Are the ads you are running distracting your readers from your message?


• Study images you place on pages to make sure they are relevant. Often these are eye catchers and you need them to support what you are trying to tell the reader. When you write paragraphs, think of the term 'front load'. Get the most important information out first in your paragraphs as people usually read what they see first. This also true for the document - hit your audience with the important bits of you message first. Less important information should follow this and even less important info (or a summary of the document) should come at the end.


• Lastly, have a 'call to action' for the reader to follow. What do you want you readers to do or how do you want them to respond? It can be as simple as clicking a link to writing a letter or email. Make it clear to the reader what you are requesting them to do.

Grammar and spelling does make a difference so use a good software tool to help you correct errors in your writing. Practice writing something every day and keep resources like a thesaurus and dictionary around. Keep your audience in mind and try to tailor concise and simple language to get your point across. If you follow these rules, improving content on your web site should be easy to accomplish.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Be sure and visit The Corner Marketing Blog  

Michael Stanley

God Likes Us

 "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

                                                                                                    Matthew 18:14

MATTHEW 18:12-14

One of the greatest truths of the Bible and also one of the hardest to comprehend, is that we are the objects of God's love. God didn't just pity us or feel some sense of moral obligation to save us. He saved us because of His infinite love for us (Jn. 3:16).

God loves people. He even loves those who have gone astray. As Jesus said in a similar parable (Lk. 15:7), "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

Once we experience the life-changing power of Christ, there is a tendency to become harsh and impatient with others who continue to live their lives without Him. We sometimes forget that it was the love and goodness of God that brought us to repentance (Rom. 2:4), and we become condemning and judgmental toward the lost. This is not the attitude that Jesus had, nor the attitude He wants us to have.

"Even when we were spiritually dead because of our sins, God's forbearance was working on our behalf. He was tolerant, patient and kind towards us. God abounded in excessive proportion with good will, compassion, and desire to help us. His disposition was kind, compassionate, and forgiving in His treatment of us. He wanted in abundant supply to alleviate our distress and bring relief from our sins. He did this by giving us life in place of death.

It was with Christ that this salvation was secured. By grace, kindness, and favor we are saved. All of this was the result of God's extremely large degree of love wherewith He loved us, always seeking the welfare and betterment of us. God likes us" (Eph. 2:4-5 paraphrased by Don Krow). God loves YOU!  "Enjoy Your Coffee"   by Andrew Wommack 

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog  
Michael Stanley

Why Does It Often Take A Crisis Before We Totally Surrender Our Lives To God?

• A disintegrating marriage
• One of our kids on drugs
• A failed business venture
• Cancer

My guess is that total surrender to God is not something that comes easily for you, especially if you are the kind of person who can "make things happen" rather easily.

After all, why bother trusting God when you can pull things off so effortlessly on your own?

St. Paul, a man of no meager ability, also struggled with total dependence upon God. The fact that he was the product of an enviable pedigree, possessed the equivalent of two or three Ph.D's, and had political connections that would be the envy of any power broker, made dependency upon God just that much more difficult.

After all, if anyone could pull things off on their own, it was Paul.

SO… GOD BROUGHT HIM TO THE BRINK…

"We do not want you to be uninformed… about the hardship we suffered… We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life… Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death… "

TO TEACH HIM THE IMPORTANCE OF DEPENDENCY UPON GOD:

"But this happened that we might not rely upon ourselves but on God… " (2 Corinthians 1:8, 9)

So… if you tend toward cool-headed self-reliance that pushes God to the edges of your daily life, hold on to your hat:

Your loving Father is committed to arranging the circumstances in your world

• to get your attention, or
• to take you to the brink, if necessary:

IN ORDER TO TEACH YOU "NOT TO RELY ON YOURSELF BUT ON GOD."
Facts of the Matter: Daily Devotionals.   "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Michael Stanley

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog

Are You Making These Email Marketing Mistakes?

 Good Morning Everyone,
As most of you have heard, "The money is in the list." As small business owners, we know that and we continue our focus on building an email list, and promoting our content, products, and services via email marketing.

What's changing at a very rapid rate, however, are the number of our email subscribers who are using mobile and smartphones to read their email and access the Internet. This brings to mind a couple email marketing mistakes that may be impacting the effectiveness of your email communications. But first, consider these statistics from the 2011 Pew Internet Project and its first standalone measure of smartphone ownership:

=> 83% of American adults own a cell phone
=> 37% of cell phone users use their phone to send or receive email
=> 35% of cell phone owners are using a smartphone
=> 87% of smartphone owners access the Internet or email on their handheld
=> 66% access the Internet or email on their handheld in a typical day
=> 25% of smartphone owners say they go online using their phone as opposed to their computer

I can back this up by saying that my own website analytics show a 60% increase in visitors accessing my site via mobile devices. I see a consistent increase in my clients' mobile traffic as well.
This increased mobile access has many implications for our marketing, but for right now I want to focus on two areas that specifically impact your email marketing. These are problems you may not even be aware of, but they're also simple things to fix.

Mistake #1: You're not sending in both HTML and text.

Many small business owners I speak with are only sending their newsletters, ezines, and general communications in HTML. (These are the beautifully formatted emails with graphics and other images.)
The problem with this is that many cell phones only accept emails in text format. When they attempt to view your HTML email on their cell phone, they simply get a link to read the email online. That doesn't make a great impression in my book, and it may annoy your reader. Plus, you get other issues if the web page they're sent to isn't optimized for viewing on a cell phone. But that's another article.
Be sure that you or the person preparing your HTML email communications creates a version in text only. All email publishing services (1ShoppingCart, Aweber, Constant Contact, etc) will allow you to do both.
When I say "properly formatted," I mean make sure that the text message is narrow enough to be read in a cell phone window without annoying your readers by having to scroll to the right to read it.
I find that a width of 30 characters will fit in just about any cell or smartphone window. A great tool that I like to use to format my email at this width is at www.formatit.com.
You don't have to worry that your subscribers will receive two emails. They will receive one appropriate version (HTML or text) depending on how they are accessing the message. They'll probably get the HTML version on their laptop, but they may get the text version on their cell phone.

Mistake #2: You're not staying "above the fold."

We often talk about keeping our most important information on our websites "above the fold" so that visitors don't have to scroll down to see it. The same holds true for email communications.
You want to keep the most important information (enticing copy that keeps them reading; a call to action; or what's included in your ezine) in the top third of your email. Why?
A 2007 study by Jupiter Research (now Forrester) discovered that 66% of email recipients that have preview panes use them to determine whether they're going to continue reading a sender's message.
Mobile devices have an area "above the fold" too. Your reader sees only a portion of the message, and then they see a link to read the rest of the email. You want to be sure that they click and keep reading!
Your Action Step
Get busy and make these changes to your email marketing this week! They're very easy to implement, and they may increase how often your content is read and the number of click-through's to your website. When you're done, let us know and tell us your thoughts in the comments below, or on The Corner Marketing Network on Facebook.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Michael Stanley  

Be sure and visit The Corner Market-ing Blog

Humility Before Honor

http://www.andrewwommack.org"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

                                                                                                   Matthew 18:4

MATTHEW 18:1-5; MARK 9:30-37; LUKE 9:46-48

It is interesting that Jesus used a little child to illustrate humility. Although it is true that little children have a purity and humility that is many times missing in adults, they certainly are not selfless. A child comes into the world totally self-centered, wanting what he wants when he wants it. Parents are to train children out of this self-centeredness.

One of humility's dominant characteristics is a God-dependency and not a self-sufficiency. The truth of humility being the key to greatness or success was not new. Jesus gave this truth new meaning by walking in humility as no one ever had before.

This path of self-denial to greatness is exactly opposite to the world's path of exalting self at everyone else's expense. The path of humility could not possibly work if there was no God. We would simply be trampled underfoot.

Humility is a step of faith - faith that God is the judge and that promotion comes from Him (Ps. 75:6-7), and faith that God will resist the proud but give grace unto the humble (1 Pet. 5:5). Humility is trusting in God and not in ourselves. This is why it is easy to be humble when we've failed, and conversely, hard to be humble when we've achieved great success. This is precisely why Paul commanded Timothy not to put a novice into a position of leadership in the church. Pride is self-sufficiency and self-exaltation while humility is self-denial and dependence upon God.

God's kingdom is founded upon this principle of humility before honor. God's kind of love is selfless as can be seen by Jesus' own actions. Pride is the only reason that strife comes (Prov. 13:10); so remember, humility is the key to walking in love with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"   
by Andrew Wommack 

Be sure and check out The Corner Market-ing Blog

One Hundred Times Zero

"Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, and give unto them for me and thee."            Matthew 17:27

 

MATTHEW 17:24-27

This was quite a miracle. Not only was the money supplied for their taxes, but it was the exact amount needed, and it was from the first fish that was caught.

Although this sets the precedent that God can supply our needs in a miraculous way, it's important to remember that God doesn't counterfeit money. He didn't create money in the fish, but rather he had the fish miraculously find and swallow the exact Roman coin that Peter needed. It's a mistake to just pray and then wait on God to rain the money down from heaven.

As Luke 6:38 says, God uses men (and sometimes fish) to give finances to us. He can do it in a very unexpected, supernatural way but it will involve people and existing currency. We need to believe the Lord hears and answers our prayers and then pray for the people He's going to use to deliver the answer. This could be our employer, the person who buys our goods, or any number of people.

The Lord also blesses what we set our hands to do. When in need, we should seek God's direction for something to set our hands to and then trust Him to bless it and multiply the results of our work. But one hundred times zero is zero. Many people have missed their miracle because they never took that first step of faith and used what they had. God can give you a creative idea today that will bless you and make you a blessing to others. Seek and you will find.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"        by Andrew Wommack 

Michael Stanley

Email Alone Just Won't Cut It

 Good Morning,
I hope everyone's weekend went according to plan.  Let's talk a little about email marketing this morning.

No businesses can rely on just one marketing mechanism. As a matter of fact the number 'one' is a pretty dangerous number in business:

• one major supplier
• one vital employee
• one main customer

If your business uses the Yellow Pages as its only promotional mechanism, a 'Not happy Jan!'* moment is a severe blow. The newer equivalent is reliance on high rankings in Google - one algorithm update or a decision that you are breaching the rules (the 'Google slap') can remove you from the rankings entirely.
The same is true of Facebook - all pages and information on Facebook belong to Facebook and they've been known to shut a page down with no notice whatsoever and without giving a reason.
Similarly, email should only be one tool in the marketing arsenal. A vital tool, of course, but one that works much better in conjunction with a range of other marketing and promotion techniques.
With the current focus on online and social media, conventional marketing methods are being ignored. Direct mail for example.
Although postage and printing costs make direct mail more expensive than email marketing, here are some of the reasons it's worth including direct mail in your marketing mix:

• direct mail is not subject to same strict anti spam rules as email, so you can rent a targeted list and send direct mail to it (we strongly advise against renting email lists - see below)
• you can be more creative in print
• designed correctly, your mailing piece has (possibly) a longer 'life' than email (people often keep mailing pieces they're interested in)
• can be read anywhere
• can be used to target non-computer/internet using people

The most successful companies have cracked the code of getting online and offline campaigns to work together - with direct mail driving traffic to the website and the website asking for mailing addresses from online visitors.
Several years ago, when I set up a site for fans of Italian cars, the original focus was on promoting it exclusively online, but I soon found that offline promotion worked really well to drive people to the site.
I got some smart looking fridge magnets made and would give them away instead of business cards, often leaving them under the windscreen wipers of Italian cars I spotted (or throwing them on the seats of the open top Ferraris etc - normally when parked!). The magnets were a talking point and a simple and non-intrusive way of promoting the site.
*'Not happy Jan!' - catchcry of a business owner left out of the Yellow Pages by a forgetful employee (Jan) in the ad campaign (in Australia) for the company several years ago
**I strongly recommend against using any list of email addresses you have not collected correctly yourself, even if you have bought the list from a reputable broker.  "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Michael Stanley