Fountains of Life

Fountains inspire and delight us with their beauty. Streams of glistening water particles catch the sunlight and sparkle like fine crystal. The purity and intricate design of the spray fascinates us and mesmerizes us. The fountains throughout Europe are particularly ornate and plentiful.

Fountains present an image of serenity. How much of your life resembles a fountain? Are you sitting back as a casual observer watching the hours and days shoot up as streams of potential only to fall into the pool of water at the end of the day and dissolve into oblivion? Each hour possesses its own magic potential and yet we let it slip away almost unconscious of its passing.

Each one of us receives 24 hours per day. How we manage those hours determines the results of our day and ultimately our life. We profess the goal of happiness and yet far too often we sacrifice the long term happiness by indulging in momentary pleasure. Aristotle declared that the ultimate purpose of human life was to achieve your own happiness. I agree. The pointed question is what you are willing to sacrifice right now in this moment in order to achieve long term happiness.

You hear the auto mechanic or even your doctor say “pay me now or pay me later.” Focused concentration on your goals today will require some temporary lack of fun. Nothing worthwhile is delivered to you on a golden platter. You must work for it.

Either you eat nutritious food, exercise and maintain excellent physical and mental health now or pay the penalty of enormous medical bill later. Pay now or later. Either you perform minor routine maintenance on your vehicle or pay large repair bills later.

Vehicles and health represent essential elements of life for most people, but the most important element of career is swept under the door mat. How happy are you with your career? Do you truly feel fulfilled or are you just getting through the days in exchange for a pay check, a check which probably does not even cover your basic needs.

Gaze at the fountain again, are you allowing your life to shoot up as you awaken every morning and fall into oblivion every night? Unless your thoughts, feelings and actions are aligned, your life is slipping into obscurity as the droplets of water from a fountain.

Stephen Covey said, “Be sure that, as you scramble up the ladder of success, it is leaning against the right building.” When you reach the end of your days, will you sink into the “what if I can” thoughts or the “win or lose, I reached for all of my dreams” feeling? Everyone has been given a dream. Whether or not you stuff it in a corner or fill it full of hopeful warm loving intention is totally your choice. More people regret not having even tried than pedal to the metal effort regardless of the outcome.

As we begin this New Year, new decade and new week, listen intently to your intuition, your “whispering inner voice.” Determine what is truly important to you and design a plan to bring it into reality. Dare to dream big dreams. Dare to stretch for something which makes your blood churn with a red hot heat of passionate desire.

Bring that fountain of beauty and majesty into your soul and thrill to the excitement of new challenges and new potential. Allow the particles of enthusiasm to shoot up through your heart and mind and spread out to every part of your body.

Fountains represent beauty and potential or waste. You choose one or the other every day – by design or default.

To explore your true potential and goals, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

Fountains of Marketing

From a visual and aesthetic view, a fountain possesses grace, beauty and artistic appeal.
Viewing your business as a fountain implies you are all over the place without any specific focus. First you go this direction and then reverse ninety degrees. Even though there are many different approaches to the same business, attempting to pursue each separate direction simultaneously spells disaster. Successful business ventures require focus.

Apply this concept to marketing your business. Dabbling in pay per click, Google or Yahoo becomes a fast way to spend tremendous amounts of money. Google advertising requires concentrated analysis and focus. Your keywords must match the copy in your ad as well as the web site to which they lead. Most internet patrons possess a lightening quick “delete” button as well as a “rapid fire” back button reflex. Unless you are leading the clicker in precisely the path they desire and expect you are instantly history. You are ejected faster than an umpire ousting an argumentative player from a ball game. “You’re outta here.”

Not only does the internet patron reject you, but so does Google. Google changes their algorithms every four to six weeks. Since the FTC landed solidly on Google’s case in about October of 2008, they have been warning web site owners on a regular basis. This “slapping” procedure by Google has intensified to epic proportions throughout 2009. Unless the keywords tie perfectly to the ad and to the web site, Google unceremoniously ejects the web site. A slap is minor; Google simply suspends web sites now. No appeal, no discussion, no traffic, you are gone.

The multidirectional fountain approach may have worked in early 2008 and previously, but not any more. Keep it tight and consistent or forget it, you are off of Google.

Take a hint from Google; they are teaching a solid lesson. Learn one form of marketing. Become an absolute consummate expert at pay per click and give the internet searcher exactly what they desire and expect to see. Follow exactly the same theme from beginning to end. Google is sophisticated and precise. The learning curve becomes more extensive and more expensive for Google because you are aiming your marketing arrows at a moving target. Dabbling with Google becomes a rapid way to lose money. Learn it or don’t do it. Dabbling in Google is like dating a harem; sooner or later you are in big trouble.

Google represents only one form of marketing. If you currently have a less generous marketing budget, consider articles, blogs, press releases, social network sites and video. Once again each of these requires focus. Spreading your time, energy and marketing dollars by dabbling in several forms of marketing simultaneously yields more expense and frustration than positive results.

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linked In, Direct Matches, Digg, Delicious and Squidoo are only a few of the plethora of social networking websites. Each of his has their own special niche. Each requires a slightly different technique in order to maximize the potential. The one element in common is that they are social networking sites. Attempting to approach them as a bull in a crystal factory and immediately hammer people with your business opportunity will also trigger the rapid fire back button or the lightening strike of the “delete” button. They are social sites. Once a rapport has been established and interest generated, mentioning your business opportunity becomes acceptable and perhaps even welcomed. Skill and patience are necessities with social sites. Another good news aspect of social sites is the low to zero cost.

Google and Web 2.0, social networking sites, present opposite ends of the expense spectrum. Just like the fountain sprays water in 180 or 360 degrees, so marketing falls into each stream of the display. The secret is to pick one stream and perfect your skill before moving on to another stream of water from the fountain. Focus and concentrate.

Fountains represent lovely visual appeal but utilizing that approach as a new marketer yields financial disaster.

For additional tips on marketing and specific focus on each method, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.