by Suellen | God's Guidance, Marketing Success
Are you ready for a reboot? Are you ready to clarify your vision and find the right path?
In the book of Proverbs, there are two paths mentioned – one of them more than once.
The first says There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 NIV)
You notice that’s stated twice. It must be important.
So what could this mean?
Look around. Almost everything is negative. The virus, the riots, the political climate. Everything seems negative.
Well, everyone is saying it. It must be right. Right?
No. Just because you are being bombarded with these negative ideas and emotions, doesn’t mean that you have to enter the fray.
That path might seem right to man, but the end of it is death. Death of your dreams. Death of your business. Death of your health, if you allow yourself to stay in that mindset.
I prefer the second path.The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter to the full light of day. (Proverbs 4:18 NIV)
That’s not to say that there won’t be obstacles and down moments.
However, through your faith in God, you can realize that you are an overcomer. You will be strong and courageous. You will choose to let your mind dwell on good things.
Of course, you will be wise and use precautions, and you will keep up with what is going on around you.
However, you won’t have negative news and thoughts pounding your ears and mind. You will think about God’s Word and His faithfulness to you.
This can be your time to rise to new heights.
If you are ready to reboot 2020 and declare it’s a year of promise, take a look at Connie Ragen Green’s free 2020 Vision Quest Challenge. Her challenge will bring boldness and clarity to you help you set your path.
I’ve known Connie for several years now, and have benefited from lots of her training. She is refreshingly authentic, and really smart in her approach to business.
You can get your free 2020 Vision Quest Challenge by clicking HERE.
Take a look.You’ll be glad you did.
Blessings and Keep on Soaring…
by Suellen | Biography, Sr
One of the greatest privileges of my life was the time my husband and I spent with Bishop Hardy Lee Coleman, Sr and his wife, Ann.
He was in his nineties, and slowing down a bit, when we began visiting him in his home. And Bishop began to reminisce. At this time in his life, Bishop Coleman oversaw a large collection of churches throughout the area – and as far away as Memphis, Chicago and Atlanta. He was well-known throughout the country in his denomination, as he was often a featured speaker. He was also well-known throughout north Mississippi – even having the City of Ripley pronounce a special day honoring him and his accomplishments.
But it hadn’t always been that way.
In fact, when he was born in a small wooden shack, on a farm, on a dirt road – way back in the Mississippi countryside, nobody could have guessed the impact Hardy Coleman would make someday.
As we listened to him, my heart cried out. His story will inspire so many people and change so many lives. In fact, his story had already inspired many.
So I began writing a biography of his life. We spent hours sitting, listening, and taking notes. And more hours riding around the Mississippi countryside seeing where this and that occurred.
In the story of this remarkable man, there are many lessons. Lessons about hope and vision and determination and faithfulness to God.
Bishop was born to a sharecropper, and as such, at an early age learned to work with him in the fields. Hoeing rows by hand, picking cotton, and more. Backbreaking work.
Sharecroppers were those who would work the farms of owners, living on the farms, and sharing in the crops. They were usually very poor.
Then when he was 12 years old, his father suddenly left the family. Hardy was heartbroken because of his attachment. And besides, now he was the one in charge of bringing in the livelihood for himself and his mother.
No school. Just work. At 12 years old.
Bishop Coleman shared about the life he lived with the other young people in the community. After work, the boys would sneak around the dusty roads and woods smoking cigarettes, drinking some moonshine, and talking about girls. He was having fun after the long hot days of work.
Yet something else was going on in the farm community. There were church meetings being held in an old schoolhouse, and the people were “making a lot of noise” in their services. Young Hardy and his friends would peep through the windows to see what was happening.
People were turning their lives to Jesus. Others were going to the altar to receive prayer for healing. And some were getting healed.
One night, Hardy was going out walking with his friends when suddenly he had a change of plans. He decided to go to one of the church meetings, and his life changed forever. Almost without realizing what he was doing, the young teenager walked to the front to receive Jesus.
It was a total turnaround. After that, he never looked back. The rest of his life he was determined to do what God was leading him to do. Soon, he was called into the ministry – and began preaching at the age of 19.
Bishop’s motto became, Some people like to watch things happen. I like to make things happen.
And did he ever make things happen!
He planted churches in Mississippi, Memphis, Atlanta, and Chicago. He grew in stature within his denomination. He ministered tirelessly to the people in his congregations — helping them with their natural needs as well as their spiritual.
Bishop Coleman’s ministry changed the face of the rural counties of north Mississippi. And he never stopped until he went to be with the Lord at 93.
When Bishop was 80 years old he designed and built a huge facility as a convention center in Tupelo. (And when I say built, I mean he did a lot of the physical labor). It was a place for the churches to come together, worshiping God and listening to inspiring messages from the Bible.
So what were some of the lessons I learned from Bishop? They were wrapped up in the characteristics he displayed.
- Bishop Coleman was faithful to God and continued to follow His leading as he expanded his ministry and influence. He never let fame and success cause pride to rise up. Bishop always stayed humble.
- Bishop Coleman never allowed himself to be bitter. When you hear of his tough situation, and some of the injustices he suffered, you realize that many people would have been bitter. However, he considered that a weakness. It would only slow him down from what he wanted to accomplish.
- Bishop Coleman was unstoppable. Bishop encountered obstacle after obstacle, but he never stopped. He lost a child at an early age and his wife died prematurely. People mocked him and his high aspirations. Nothing stopped him.
- Bishop Coleman was always ready for the next assignment. He was always full of hope and vision – reaching out for the next mission from God.
As a result, Bishop Coleman impacted an entire region – and beyond. He raised a large, vibrant family of achievers. Sons, daughters, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And even more spiritual sons and daughters. People who he introduced to God and who would follow His lead for great achievement.
There is so much more to be said about Bishop Hardy Coleman. Too much to say here.
Let me just wind this up by saying that his life is a reminder to me that regardless of my circumstances at any given moment, God is faithful. I can turn to Him for comfort, hope, vision, and wisdom which will lift me up.
And you can too. He’s there for you.
Keep on Soaring!
by Suellen | Marketing Success, Technology
I “overheard” an interesting twitter conversation recently. Two marketers were discussing fun facts, when one dropped a bombshell.
Back in the nineties when he started his online business, this marketer encountered a guy named Jeff Bezos on a forum. Bezos had started an online bookstore called Amazon Books, and he was thinking about opening it up for affiliate marketing. What did everyone think?
Wow!
Little did any of those know that today Jeff Bezos would be one of the richest men in the world. And largely because of the affiliate marketing he was discussing.
By affiliate marketing, Bezos had opened his business to friends – and friends’ friends. And on and on until he reached the tipping point.
This conversation started my mind popping. What if he had decided not to affiliate market?
Let’s look at another scenario…
What if Jeff Bezos had opened up a Book Rack Kiosk at one end of a mall in mid America? Where would he be today?
True, he has an excellent product – with great delivery and customer service. But without the visibility he received through marketing, Amazon.com would never have reached its present position.
Marketing is key for the success of any business – and especially for one that’s on the internet.
So we put up our blogs or websites. We work hard to make sure that they look beautiful and that they work properly. We add special themes and plugins. We solicit the aid of sophisticated software.
But for this to be successful, somebody has to come and buy. If nobody notices, we are just playing. If nobody comes, it’s a hobby. And it can grow to be an expensive hobby.
On the other hand, all of this work can be the foundation for a very successful business. One which is successful and prosperous. One which makes us lots of money. One which provides lots of satisfaction and reward for our efforts.
Out in that digital world there are enough clients and customers for all of us to have very successful businesses. When we learn how to reach out for them and let them know we are here, they will want what we have to offer. Then when we give them great benefit, they will be loyal customers.
So what do we do?
As always, we start with a vision and a plan. We look at the many marketing strategies which can work for us, and we decide how we are going to activate them.
We will start where we can, and we grow from there.
The main questions we ask ourselves are Where do we want to be in a year? In 5 years? And What do we have to do to get there?
My recommendation is that every day you “do” something to move forward your marketing goals. Whether it’s writing a blog post, engaging on Social Media, sending out a publicity pitch, or fine tuning your SEO.
It’s the everyday engagement and not a once-in-awhile big splash which makes things happen. (I know this from experience).
So do this..
Begin each day with purpose and determination, keeping focused on your goals.
As a Christian, I like to start my day with prayer. I know that God wants me to be successful in every endeavor, so I thank Him for His guidance and direction. I also thank Him for the people He is helping me to connect with, and for the opportunities which are becoming available.
I pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. I also listen and attempt to stay focused on His direction.
I pray that I will not yield to distractions, but that I will be certain which doors are opening for me. I also pray for my creativity to flow in all of my endeavors.
And one more thing…
Let’s all realize that there is a big, wide world out there full of people who need to hear what we have to say. Or need to receive from us in some way.
As we prepare our products for them and then let them know through marketing, we will have more than enough clients to be over-the-top successful.
We”ll get there…let’s keep on Soaring!
P.S. My book, How to Draw Your Crowd is coming soon. It’s a look at the many ways to get that crowd coming to your site. I’ll keep you posted.
by Suellen | Faith, Successful Living
Do you talk to yourself?
I hope so. If you don’t talk to yourself, you might wind up in trouble.
Let me explain…
My 9 year old grandson was having trouble focusing on an assignment that he thought was boring. So my daughter tried to help.
She said, “Think of your mind as being like a computer. When you have trouble focusing, you have too many tabs open. Just close those other tabs so you can think about this one thing.”
“O.K.” He said…
“But, Mom, sometimes I have all of these pop ups!”
He said it just right, didn’t he? All of us can relate to the “pop-ups.” And usually those pop-ups are not positive thoughts. They are negative ones.
The “what if’s”…
So what do we do? We close the tabs, of course. And we close the pop-ups. We take charge of our thought life.
David in the book of Psalms demonstrates some terrific lessons. He took charge of his thoughts by talking to himself.
He said, Bless the Lord, O my Soul. And all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. (Psalm 103:1)
Then another time he said, Why so downcast, O my soul? Put your trust in God.(Psalm 43:5)
Or what about this: My heart is steadfast, oh my God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing praises to my God. (Psalm 57:7)
If you look through Psalms, you will see many times when David said, I will praise Him. Not I want to, but I will. He was acting from a spirit of determination. Not from his feelings. He knew how to close those tabs of negativity and replace those thoughts with faith and trust in God.
Right now, when there is so much anger, fear, and sadness in the world, we really need to learn how to do this. To take charge of our thought life, and put our trust in God. He is the answer for everything. Our shield. Our deliverer. Our Savior.
When we replace those negative thoughts with thankfulness, something powerful happens. What happens is that instead of fear and anxiety, true gratitude begins to rise up within us. We begin to thank Him, and even more gratitude rises.
Those negative emotions are replaced with hope.
Regardless of what we are going through, and sometimes it can be terrible… when we allow hope to rise within us, our outlook is different. We know that there will be a brighter future.
Now we are ready to pray. Our prayers won’t come from a heart of hopelessness and desperation. Our prayers will come from a place of faith.
We know that our God hears our prayers and we listen for direction. Then we do what He says. He has the answers, if we will do what He says…
We enter His gates with thanksgiving in our heart. We enter His courts with praise.
As we give thanks and praise God, let’s see ourselves entering His heavenly throne room. He has the answers.
Over the years I have had moments of great disappointment and injustice hurled at me. Just as you have. Everyone has had this happen to one degree or another.
When I would calm my soul through thanksgiving and go before Him, His love and grace would wash over me. There were times when I would just stay there and soak in His presence. There were other times when He would impress upon me some answers – some scriptures – and some steps I needed to take. Then I would take those steps.
One thing is for sure: God always has the answers.
So let’s do what David did. Let’s talk to ourselves and calm our souls.
Then with thankful hearts, let’s run to God for all that we need.
He’s always there waiting for us.
by Suellen | Successful Living
Daniel Goleman is recognized as being one of the foremost thought leaders on brain health and function. His biggest area of research has been in an area known as Emotional Intelligence.
Most of us realize that our emotions have a great deal of influence over us.
From the standpoint of marketing, we know that emotions sell. That’s why, in order to sell you a car, advertisers show you a beautiful woman wanting to ride with you. Or a healthy happy family you are going to keep safe. They may spend a little bit of time showing the engine, but not much time. Expert marketers know that the emotional image you see will sell you.
The image makes you feel good, and you buy. It’s as simple as that.
But beyond the surface of marketing through your emotions, I want to take this deeper. When Goleman uses the term: Emotional Intelligence, he identifies it as another aspect of your brain’s dynamic. Like your IQ. It’s another indicator of brain health.
According to Dr. Goleman, your emotions can sometimes be a more important indicator of your success in life than your IQ. Also, when you go through stressful situations – such as what the entire world has gone through recently – your degree of emotional intelligence can determine how well you cope with the crisis.
You can have an extremely high IQ and very low emotional intelligence. And vice versa.
Okay. So what is it exactly?
Continuing with Goleman’s research, there are five basic areas of our Emotional Intelligence. We’ll look quickly at these five.
Self-Awareness
This means you are aware of your emotions as they happen. Sometimes we can
just feel bad” or sad without knowing why. If we are aware, we will start analyzing so that we can do something about it.
Emotional awareness and self-confidence are essential to being able to understand and control these emotions.
Self Regulation
This is a big one. Self regulation means that we are able to control strong emotions such as anger or anxiety.
When these strong emotions are trying to take over, it’s good to pray. Or take long walks. Or write in a journal, allowing those emotions to be expressed in a healthy way. Not with rages or excesses.
For self-regulation, one must be conscientious, trustworthy, innovative, and adaptable. All of these important elements can see you through tough times.
Motivation
When someone is highly motivated, they can more likely overcome difficulties.
We all know people who are usually positive and those who are usually negative. Given the same set of circumstances, some people always see gloom – or not.
Through self-discipline, we can train ourselves to overcome those negative thoughts which bombard us. We can replace them with positive thoughts.
To have and keep motivation flowing in our lives we need commitment, the drive to achieve, initiative, and a positive mindset.
Empathy
So far we have been thinking inwardly. Now this one – empathy – looks outward.
Instead of self-awareness, empathy is other-awareness.
You’ve heard the phrase, Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes. That’s what empathy is all about. Understanding others. Their emotions. Their hurts. Their motivations.
This ability to understand and empathize with others is essential to a healthy emotional life.
Empathy helps you to be aware of how your words and actions are affecting others. When you see that you are negatively impacting others, you can change that behavior.
Social Skills
The fifth area of emotional intelligence is how well you work and relate to others.
You can build good quality relationships. You can even help others to grow in their emotional health.
For good social skills you will need to be able to communicate well, work as a team, build rapport, initiate change, and hep resolve conflict.
A good leader has to have good social skills.
So now that we have looked at an overview of what Emotional Intelligence is, let’s see how we can rate ourselves.
There are signs that someone suffers with low emotional intelligence.
- They frequently complain
- They show lots of fear and anxiety
- When they are offended, they aren’t open with the offender, but they gossip and complain secretly.
- They sulk.
- They show mood swings.
- Often they have fits of rage.
Emotionally healthy people act differently.
- They are positive most of the time.
- They look for ways to overcome problems.
- They are open and honest with people.
- If negative issues arise, they talk to the person – rather than gossip about them.
- They are kind and understanding in their dealings.
- They inspire others for greater goals.
Well. I’m sure that most of us can recognize some areas where we excel – and others where we need to grow.
So how do we grow?
- We Practice Awareness. We become more aware of our own emotions. We also make an attempt to understand others better. What are their emotional needs? How can we help them?
- When we have negative emotions, we don’t just brush them aside. We deal with them. We spend some time thinking about why we feel this way, and how we can overcome it. (Hiding our emotions will lead to anger and anxiety).
- We feed our spirits with good words. As a Christian, I recommend reading the Bible on a daily basis. If you haven’t been doing this, start with Psalms and Proverbs. You will find lots of motivational material there.
- We take care of our physical health. Our bodies affect our emotions and our positivity. When we eat well, exercise, and get proper rest, it will pay off with our attitude.
- We should surround ourselves with positive, like-minded people. Other people can pull us up or down. When we choose positive, growing people to surround us, our energy grows. So does our attitude.
On going through these items, I have realized that every area of someone’s life could be impacted by their emotional strength. Their career, their family, their social life, and their own quality of life all hinge on their ability to effectively handle their emotions and relate to others.
It will be worth the time and energy it takes to do a self-evaluation. Then to honestly look at themselves and make the changes needed to grow.
I’m doing this for sure!
