ReeHart - Blogging from the Heart

Living my Education

I have seen more countries in my short life than most people could ever dream of seeing. Travel has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents felt that there was no greater way to learn about the world and its vast cultures than to experience them for ourselves.

Whenever we go to buy travel medical insurance, the administrators know us by name. They always joke that we should be getting special treatments and discounts by now. I will be moving out of my parent’s home shortly and I know that they have instilled the love of travel in me so deeply that I will continue to explore what the world has to offer.

I know that there is so much more for me to experience than I have already and there are so many places that I would still like to visit that I have not had to the chance to see yet. I hope that in my lifetime, I can visit every country in the world.

Make It Professional

Last year, my friends opened up their own restaurant in the food court of a busy mall. When I went to see the business for the first time, I was less than impressed with the signs and logos that they had created personally. They looked very unprofessional and the cartoon character, who was supposed to be the restaurant’s mascot, looked like it had been drawn by their six year old.

I didn’t want to hurt their feelings, but I could not just say nothing and let it hurt their business. I tactfully suggested that they hire a business logo design company to create them a nice logo. I suggested that after they did this, they should take the new logo to a professional sign company and have some real signs made up.

They took my advice and I think the place looks wonderful now. It looks professional and it is definitely a place that would now catch my eye when I am looking for something good to eat.

Taking the Business a New Direction

I like to think that a business is a living thing, and from time to time, it can decide to take a different path.  Sure, I am at the helm of my own business, but sometimes, it needs to be steered in a new direction.

That is exactly the point that I have found myself lately - though the business is doing good, it should be doing better.  Much better in fact.  So, I have been looking for other ways to make more money, and I think that I have found what direction things will go.

You see, I read a favorable affiliate marketing review for a site that I am a member, and I thought that it would be a good way for me to make some money if I promoted it as an affiliate.  Not only would I be telling everyone about something that I like, but I would be making money from it too - sounded like a good idea to me.

But, that is where I have come up to a stumbling block - I don’t know what I am doing.  I have mentioned something in a forum that I am a part of regarding a request for affiliate marketing help, so hopefully someone would answer my call and help me to get started.

Learning Scheduled for this Summer

Though most people just take the summer off, I don’t.  The reason that I don’t is I believe that I should be learning something new whenever the opportunity is available to me.  This can mean that I attend seminars, conferences, and even participate in online web events.

For example, last year, I attended a VMWare event learning more about virtual machines.  I have been interested in them for the longest time, and when it was finally available up here, I had to jump at the chance.  We made a family vacation of it and I went to the conference while we were on holidays.

This year, I am looking forward to the BetterTrades conference about investing.  Not only will I be able to learn new ways to maximize the return on my portfolio, but again, we will be on holidays that week, and I will go to it as well.

Needless to say, I will come out of the summer a little bit smarter, and that is just the way that I like it.

Excuse Me?

I’m learning the value of forums lately. Web 2.0 has its unique interactivity aspects, but forums have been around almost since the Internet began. Back then they called them message boards, but they have evolved into a huge source of information and potential support. That depends on the particular forum and in particular the forum monitors.

People can bring a problem to the forum, start a thread or add to one that’s ongoing on just about any topic one can imagine. Internet marketers’ forums can be invaluable, if only for members to learn that they are not alone, that someone else is in a quandary about, say, whether or not get into high risk offshore merchant accounts. Experienced marketers to newbies and everyone in between participate in discussions that may become convoluted. But if you take the time to unravel all the threads, eventually you’ll get to the answer. And frankly, the answer for one may not be the answer for everyone. But that’s a topic for another day.

Pressure Washing is the Answer

I have been looking online for the best way to do some house washing.  I mean, since it rained and then blew dust all over, my house has looked disgusting.  Even though I am not to stuck on keeping up appearances, I think that there should be a minimum level of cleanliness that I should display, and my house just isn’t doing it.

So, I decided to look online for the best way to clean my house and driveway.  When I searched for concrete cleaning, I came across a firm that specialized in pressure washing and could clean everything that I needed.

I had not thought about a pressure washer before, but I knew that my little garden hose wouldn’t do what I needed, so I have decided to give them a call on Monday and get them to come out here and wash everything.

When that is all done, I will feel much better - right now, it is just too dirty.

Best Results

When I got a job promotion, it had to relocate to a new city. Once I was all settled in, I asked one of my coworkers where was the best place to find local singles. She told me that she had met her boyfriend at the gym. I decided to go and work out with her.

This did not prove to be very useful and after a couple of months with absolutely no dates, I decided to try some free online dating sites. This proved to be much more useful, as I was now able to find people who had common interests with me.

I did meet my boyfriend this way, but better than that was the fact that I made several great friends. Even when my boyfriend is busy, I now have people that I can call up if I am just looking for someone to hang out with.

The Secret to a Good Life

Now, I know the media tells us that the way to get a good life is go to school, get a good career, and advance through your organization.  Following this route is supposed to give you the perfect life, one full of joy and all the things you want.

I don’t agree at all.

In fact, I believe that you get what you most desire.  If you wish to struggle through life, you will.  If you decide that you want to live a life full of fun and satisfaction, that is what you will get out of it as well.

The outcome of your life all hinges on the Law of Attraction - you will get what you most desire out of life.  In fact, if you made a conscious decision to change just one thing in your life, write it down, and do that every day, it will become a reality.  Once you realize this amazing power, you can change all aspects of your life to have the life that you truly desire.

I’m serious - give it a try and you will see what I mean.

Going to War

After many years of fruitless struggles, my husband and I decided to call it quits. We had tried and tried and we both realized that neither of us had been happy for years. As we had children, we decided that we would make the transition seamless for them and we thought that we could depart as friends.

I was stunned when I found out that he had hired Eric K. Johnson to represent him and that he was going for full custody of the kids. I was hurt that he had lied to me and was not willing to talk it through.

I did the only thing that I could and I hired a top Salt Lake City divorce lawyer. I was not going to lose my kids, as they meant more to me than anything in the world. I tried my best not to get them involved. It was certainly not their fault; none of it.

Succeeding at the Affiliate Marketing Game

Many people that I know have tried affiliate marketing but failed.  Now it wasn’t that there wasn’t money to be made, but rather they didn’t know how to organize their efforts.

For myself, I can attribute my affiliate marketing success to many different things, but I think that the affiliate marketing tools that I have used are the keys to my success.

Tools such as click tracking software, and Adwords spy tools have helped me to turn my efforts into tangible results.  If something works, I keep doing it, if a campaign isn’t working out as well as I planned, then I make changes.

So the next time your affiliate marketing campaign isn’t going so well, try out some of the affiliate tools available to you so that you can measure your results.