Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - Volume 2 Issue 6
Colin Evans, Editor (mailto:
)
In this issue
- From the Editor
- Featured Health Article - Top 10 Tips for Getting Control of Your Life - By Kate Schultz
- Featured Success Article - Four Core Values that Guarantee Success - By Chris Widener
- Featured Online Marketing Article - I Have A Vision - By John Delavera
- Motivational Quotes
- Take A Break - A vampire bat...
- Tell Me what You Think
From the Editor - Colin Evans
Hi Everyone 
Welcome to this edition of Cols-A-To-Z.
A really annoying thing happened to me today...
I was trying to sign up for a well known internet marketers'
ezine and was prevented from doing so by the program known as
Spam Arrest.
Those of you who've had the misfortune of having to go through
Spam Arrest's tedious verification process have my sympathy.
In my view, Spam Arrest ranks as high as popups for being
annoying.
Anyway, the end result was that after numerous attempts, Spam
Arrest would not verify my e-mail address.
This meant that I did not get my subscription (to what looked like
a really useful ezine) and the internet marketer lost a subscriber
and therefore a possible source of income.
The moral of this story is two-fold:
- If you want to verify that a real person has subscribed to your
optin list, use the double optin procedure.
Double optin means that a verification email is sent to the email
address that was entered into the online subscription form. This
verification email contains a special link that must be clicked
to activate the subscription.
- If you want to filter spam, do it in your inbox and use a
decent spam filter like Mailwasher.
This way you do not annoy (or in my case stop) the real people who
want to communicate with you.
And now for something completely different...
Did you know that on this day:
- In 1802 America's famous West Point military academy was established.
- in 1872 the first British Football Association Cup Final was
played at the Kennington Oval, London. The Wanderers beat the
Royal Engineers 2-1
- In 1918 the famous 'stuttering' song, K-K-K-KATY was published.
Words and music by Canadian Geoffrey O'Hara
- In 1926 the first rocket propelled by liquid oxygen and gasoline
was successfully fired by Dr Robert H Goddard of Massachusetts,
America. The rocket was just four feet high (1.2 metres)
- In 1935 Adolf Hitler renounced the Versailles Treaty and
introduced conscription
- In 1971 Simon & Garfunkel were the first winners of the Grammy
"triple crown" when their "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" was
named best song, album and record of the year on the first
televised Grammy presentation.
- In 1973 The Queen Of England opened the new London Bridge. The
old one was sold to an American oil tycoon for $1.7 million
and rebuilt brick by brick in America
- In 1997 Japanese scientists discovered a way of creating virgin
births in animals by inducing pregnancy without sperm.
This last one gives Christians another arrow in their quiver.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read your Bible
(which just so happens to be the best "success manual" ever
written).
Until the next time...
Featured Health Article - Top 10 Tips for Getting Control of Your Life - By Kate Schultz
1. Take care of yourself. Healthy eating habits, following a
regular sleep routine and exercise all contribute to your well
being which allows you to perform at your best.
2. Do the worst first. If you find you cannot stop worrying about
a certain task, then do the worst task first. Once that task is
completed you will feel relieved and able to concentrate on the
rest of your tasks, one at a time.
3. Focus on the task at hand. Attempting too much at once and
underestimating the time it takes to do it will surely put you
right back in the center of feeling overwhelmed and a step behind.
4. Control the phone. Decide when and where you will answer the
phone. During off-time--use voice mail.
5. Separate work from play. Are you running the dinner table
conversation the same as a meeting of the Board of Directors?
Think about it.
6. Keep a Master List. Merge all your to-do lists, schedules and
activity lists into one Master List. Use the technology that
works for you whether it is index cards, spiral notebook, computer
or a PDA.
7. Clean off your desk. Clutter is a distraction and time waster.
How much time do you waste looking for documents and files?
8. Learn to say no. Take a reality break and identify what you can
reasonably expect to get done. Accept your limitations and control
your expectations. Would you really expect anybody else to work as
hard as you do?
9. Use technology to help you. Create systems for handling your
routine tasks. Take the time to learn how to use your computer to
improve your efficiency to perform routine business tasks. Use
templates for letters, faxes and email.
10. Slow down. Are you rushing through everything? Stop, look and
listen.
Kate Schultz is the Publisher of E-ZineZ: the E-Zine About
E-Zines! Visit http://www.e-zinez.com for FREE how-to help for
your Internet Newsletter. To subscribe to E-ZineZ put SUBSCRIBE
in the BODY of an e-mail to mailto:
.
Featured Success Article - Four Core Values that Guarantee Success - By Chris Widener
I had the privilege a couple of years ago to speak just before
former United Nations Ambassador and past Presidential Candidate,
Alan Keyes, at a leadership conference in Whistler, British
Columbia.
Ambassador Keyes gave a brilliant speech as usual and challenged
the audience with the idea that the only way people, businesses,
organizations, and even countries make lasting impact is by
operating out of core values and bedrock principles.
This got me to thinking about how successful people become so by
living out of core values. In doing so, they provide for
themselves the foundation for successful lives that make a
difference, not only for themselves, but for others as well.
So what are the core values that I have seen in the many
successful people that I have worked with through the years? Here
are four core values that virtually guarantee your success:
They are honest
The successful people I have worked with are certainly not
blatantly dishonest. Neither are they corner-cutters or
"little-white-lie-tellers." In fact, I have found that the truly
successful are entirely honest. They have no problems with the
truth. They stand on it and declare it.
Being on honest person takes being at ease with and confident of
yourself. It requires a trust that no matter what the truth may
bring, things will turn out for the best. When you are confident
of yourself and know that the best will turn out, you have no
problem telling the truth at all times.
This brings you to a place where people know the real you. It
allows them to follow you with assurance. It strengthens
relationships, upon which your success rests. It allows you to
look yourself in the mirror and see the same person in the mirror
that is standing on the floor before it. This builds on itself and
enables you to be even more confident and move even more quickly
toward your successful future.
Make a commitment to being honest and you make a commitment to
your own success.
They are givers, not takers
The successful people I have worked with have achieved
extraordinarily. This includes great families, world records,
spiritual abundance, and material wealth. But they didn’t set out
to go and get it at all costs. Instead, they set their minds and
wills upon serving others the best they could. They realized one
of the most universal principles in the world: you reap what you
sow. They know that when the give to others, others give back.
The reverse is true as well. When you take from others, they try
to keep what you are trying to take.
Make a commitment to being a giver and not a taker, and you are
making a commitment to your own success.
They are bust-their-tails, hard workers
Very few people become successful without hard work. Granted, in
our "play the lotto" culture, we desire success without work, but
history shows that the people who achieve the most success have
as a core value the desire to work hard.
One point: They don’t just work hard in order to get the return,
though they do indeed do that. They also work hard because they
believe in hard work as an ethic and value. They know and
appreciate that hard work produces character in them, excellence
in their product, and satisfaction for those who benefit from
their work. So they operate out of the value of hard work.
Make a commitment to hard work and you make a commitment to your
own success.
They do what is right
Successful people are people with a core, people with a rod of
strength and integrity that runs right through them. It causes
them to see that this world of ours needs people who will do what
is right, play by the rules, fight for what is true and still take
time to care for the little guy and the underdog. Yes, good guys
do finish first after all. And when, on those few occasions they
don’t, they decide that they would still do it the same way all
over again. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. Believe it
or not, even with all of the scandalous behavior that we read
about in the newspapers every day, good people are still the
backbone of society. They are what make it work and make it
benefit everyone.
Make a commitment to doing what is right, and you make a
commitment to your own success.
Sure there are lots of values that we should strive to hold on
to, but start with these four and you will be well on your way
to achieving the kind of life that you desire!
Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made
for Success and Extraordinary Leaders, two companies helping individuals and
organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their
lives and achieve their dreams.
Join subscribers in over 100 countries around the
world! Get Chris' FREE weekly Made for Success E-zine by sending a blank email
to
.
Get his FREE daily SuccessQuote™ with action point
by sending a blank email to
.
Get his FREE monthly
Extraordinary Leaders E-zine, one of the world's most widely distributed leadership
newsletters, by sending a blank email to
or visit his
websites at
http://www.madeforsuccess.com
and http://www.extraordinaryleaders.com
Copyright 2002-2004 Made for Success. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Featured Online Marketing Article - I Have A Vision - By John Delavera
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: this article was written on December 2002 when John
Delavera counted just 10 months of his "returning" on the
Internet Marketing realm. It was a quite prophetic article
for his future...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a vision.
I know I am not that Big to have such a vision, but this is my
vision.
I want to retire from my morning job and deal with Internet
Marketing only. I like to create websites, love to plan new
products, am passionate with the promotion of good products and
services, am able to write html code, am able to create good
graphics and clipart, am able to read cgi and Perl code, am able
to invent things, and sometimes can predict my future.
I have this incredible vision. And I am going to make it a
reality. I started working on this ten months ago. I have been
studying and testing things for my vision since 1994.
I know I am not an amateur, but even if I were, I should have the
same vision, because I have the will to make it come true.
I have this amazing vision. And that vision makes me feel good -
even when I feel completely alone, even when I get hate mails
from people who want the easy solution for becoming 'tycoons', or
even when I fail while testing new ideas and viral marketing
tactics, even when I lose subscribers because of my mistake of
sending too many "Alerts" in a particular week. Do you think I
don't know it? But I prefer my subscribers to have a vision too,
instead of being aristocrats (believing they have won what they
haven't worked for.)
My vision makes me feel good because I realize that this vision is
my vision for this 'current life'. I do not think there will be
anything else I'd like to do, since only when working for this
vision do I relax, feeling 'completed' and satisfied - like having
a mental orgasm. My vision is what I live for and if I do not make
this vision a reality in this life, then I'd need to be re-born in
order to make my vision become true in my next life - if that'd be
possible.
I have a vision and I love even the idea of having this vision.
My friend Michael started calling me 'web-tycoon' before even
understanding that I have the power to implement my vision.
Michael knew me better than I knew myself. I do not know if I ever
will become a memorable Internet Marketing Guru. I do not know and
I do not care.
I live my vision and that's enough for me. Money is not the target;
it is the MEANS to make my vision come true.
I have a vision and work like crazy for it. It's my 'drug' and I
don't need any cure. I am a workaholic, yes, but I enjoy what I am
doing.
Whenever I finish a project, I have already started a new one, and
this continues all day long.
That makes me wake up in the morning and smile, because I know I
DID' something last night. I ADDED something to my vision, and
perhaps, made me even closer to my vision.
I have had this same vision for the past four years. I had the
same vision even when I was not able to make just one affiliate
commission.
I had the same vision even when nobody knew who I was and I had
the same vision even when I was completely wrong in the actions I
took to implement my vision.
Now I know that I don't know everything, but I know that everyday
I am learning many more things than I did yesterday.
I have this lovely vision and am not afraid of admitting it. I
know it's difficult to quit my morning job because I earn a lot
of money from my morning job. But I am sure I'll be earning more
money when I make my vision come true. I know it because I now
know that the System works and I also know how it works. If you
can earn $100 per month as an affiliate, you can earn some
thousands of dollars by creating your own product. That's the
System and that's how the Internet works. I love my vision because
the marketplace of the Internet is huge. I am a Global Citizen. I
feel like an Internet Marketer and I feel like a citizen of the
World.
I had this vision when no one believed in me. I had the same
vision even when my parents, my wife, and my friends were feeling
frustrated by the fact that I was 'playing' with the computer for
so many hours. Now I laugh and now they support me; they give me
the time I need and they feel good when I hit the keyboard like
crazy because they NOW know that when I hit the keyboard, 'I am
working' - for my vision.
I have this vision and sympathize with all people who do not
understand the way Internet Marketing works and don't want me to
teach them how it works. I learn from others' mistakes. I do not
complain because I know I am learning something new every day.
I have a vision and my vision is not unique. Since I started
working for it, I've met people that have made the same reality
that I want to achieve. I study them, I sometimes copy them, and
I know I follow the right trails they leave. Some people with the
same vision believe there is a SECRET and they ask the Gurus to
learn this secret from them.
There is a SECRET. It's this:
THERE IS NO SECRET. I could not believe it at first, but when I
became closer to my vision, I realized this rule, this truth: YOU
and ONLY YOU are the one that will create YOUR own life and your
future according to what YOU can do better; thus the secret is
inside YOU; just follow your heart and your mind.
I have this vision and I am going to make it come true. When you
know where you're going, other people allow you to pass and they
even prepare the road for you.
Your worst enemy is your inner self - no one else has the power
to kill your vision. If your inner self is an ally to your vision,
then you are afraid of nothing.
I have a vision and I am going to make it come true.
What's YOUR vision?
What do YOU have to say?
John Delavera
Automated Solutions for Internet Marketers
http://www.software4profit.com
Copyright 2002-2004 John Delavera. Used by permission. All rights
reserved worldwide.
Motivational Quotes
In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we
give out completes the circle and comes back to us.
- Flora Edwards
Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he
or she begins with some wild expectations.
- Ralph Charell
Take A Break - A vampire bat...
A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh
blood and parked himself on the roof of the cave to get some
sleep.
Pretty soon all the other battie buddies smelled the blood and
began hassling him about where he got it.
He told them to knock it off and let him get some sleep but they
persisted until finally he gave in.
"OK, follow me," he said and flew out of the cave with hundreds
of bats behind him.
Down through a valley they went, across a river and into a forest
full of trees.
Finally he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly flapped
around him.
"Now, do you see that tree over there?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" the bats all screamed in a frenzy.
"Good," said the first bat, "Because I DIDN'T!"
Tell Me What You Think
I would love to hear what you think of this issue of the "Cols-A-To-Z" Newsletter.
And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you'd like to
share with me, please send those, too!
Just e-mail me at:
To subscribe to my "Cols-A-To-Z" Newsletter, go to the following URL:
http://www.cols-a-to-z.com/join.html
Written by Colin Evans
Editor, Cols-A-To-Z.com
7 Kinross Road
Hillside
Bulawayo
Zimbabwe
+263 9 246210
© copyright 2004 Cols-A-To-Z.com
