From the category archives:

Self Help

We Need to Think More About What We Put into Our Faces!

by joi on March 14, 2010

in Animal Protection, Books I Love, Conservation, Health

Below are a couple of links I hope you’ll take the time to check out.  It’s all about the food we put into our bodies and how it can work for or against us.  It boils down to making smart choices and being proactive in the supermarket.  I guarantee (unless you answer to the name Dr. Oz) that’ll you’ll find information that you never knew – a couple of facts that’ll make you sit up and take note.

The first few links feature food expert Michael Pollan.  He researches food the way my husband researches golf.  All over it. His food rules has sparked a lot of conversations in my family.  Conversations about what foods we need to eat more of, less of, and what foods we vow to never buy again.   We long ago vowed to only purchase foods that are “cruelty free,” and I hope that’s something you’ll also commit to.  Mostly, I hope that you’ll take your health extremely seriously and eat foods that’ll promote a longer, healthier, and happier life.

A few of Michael Pollan’s food rules:

  • Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
  • Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
  • Eat only foods that will eventually rot.  Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

For a video featuring Oprah with Michael Pollan explaining his food rules: Food Expert Michael Pollan’s Food Rules Video

Food 101 with Michael Pollan, a wonderful slideshow:  Food 101 with Michael Pollan

Dr. Oz talks with Michael Pollan about making smart choices:  Dr. Oz Interviews Michael Pollan

Buy Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules, on Amazon: Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual

Surprising Superfoods – Maple Syrup? Who Knew?!:  Surprising Superfoods

It’s all great, great, great information and I guarantee you that you’ll be glad you took the time to read, watch, listen, think…. and then act.

What We Can Learn From Subway’s Five, Five, Five Dollar Footlong

by joi on March 11, 2010

in Articles, Health, Positive Thought, Self Help

I heart Subway.  I, literally, could eat lunch at my neighborhood Subway each and every day.  I’ve tried each of their sandwiches over the many years I’ve been in love with them and I’ve never left a bite untouched.  My only request would be the addition of Guacamole… come on, I’ll pay more for it!

A few minutes ago, one of Subway’s catchy “Five Dollar Foot long… ANY Five Dollar Foot long….” commercials came on.  In addition to making me want a Veggie Delite with black olives, lettuce, American Cheese, cucumbers, banana peppers, pickles, and sweet onion dressing, it made me think about their successful advertising campaign.  This one took guts – and paid off.

If I had a Sales and Marketing blog, I’d applaud Subway’s brilliance for attacking the fragile economy head on with their infamous $5 Subways.  I’d point out that they know that they get that the best way to woo the public is to tap into into the things that matter most to them:

  1. Health and Fitness. Remember Jared?  He showed us how “one of us” (the guy or gal next door) actually lost weight while eating delicious food.  They’re also prominent sponsors of the popular show The Biggest Loser… again reminding us that they’re on our side.  They’ll provide us with delicious, healthy alternatives and save us from the fried, greasy stuff we might get elsewhere.
  2. Saving Money! A footlong sub (piled with goodness) for $5.00 is an excellent deal, just when we need excellent deals the most.  Brilliant.

Alas, I don’t have a sales blog because I know diddly squat about selling.  I’m on team buying, not team selling.  Which, I suppose explains why my husband is on team selling.

From a Self Help and Self Improvement standpoint, I think we can actually learn something from this popular, catchy Subway campaign.  Whether we use the lesson in our daily life, in our writing and blogging, in our work, or in the ways we try to make the world a better place – it’s right there, waiting for us to scarf it up as readily as we do the subways,  themselves.

Here are a few of the lessons I think we can learn from Subway:

  • Originality rawks and originality rawks hard.
  • We shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously.
  • We should often look for ways to renew, refresh, and reinvent ourselves.

Think about it.  Subway took a huge chance on this campaign.  They chose a jingle which, let’s be honest, is a little cheesy. Yet they went with it. In fact they ran with it – laughing at themselves in the process.  How cool is that?!   Jingles like this are very hit or miss.  Subway could have been laughed AT or laughed WITH.  They went over the top and landed in the zone.  Life is about taking chances and taking risks. Sometimes you have to just go for it – without hesitation and without fear.  Many times, these risks pay off better than you ever even hoped for.

Don’t ever be afraid to be yourself.  Don’t ever be afraid to stand out from the crowd. Don’t ever aspire to be a wallflower.

I also love the fact that this successful campaign doesn’t involve them trying to sling lettuce on their competition (though they have in the past gone down that yellow and red brick road).  These types of campaigns always turn me off.  It’s like, if you believe in what you have to offer, why bring the other guys into it?  In fact, some fast food restaurant recently had a campaign where they took a swipe at Wendy’s (by showing the back of a girl with big red ponytails).  Here’s the effect it had on me:  I rushed out for some Wendy’s chili.  I got an instant craving and addressed it immediately.

Hmmm, I seriously can’t even tell you who’s commercial it was.  For me, it was Wendy’s.

Brought to the world of self improvement and self help:  We will never climb higher by stepping on other people. Putting our footprints on others never adds value to them – it lessens what value they had. Every time.

If you value what you have to say and what you have to offer, what does it matter to you what others are doing or saying?  Why go to their blogs and leave negative comments or try to run their name down on yours’?   If you believe in yourself, believe all the way and keep the spotlight on yourself.  I suspect that many times insecurity is the reason people shine the spotlight on others.   Why else wouldn’t they want it on themselves?

I know that many things in life are gravely serious.  I’m as aware of that as anyone.  However, I also know that many people take things far too seriously.  Life should be enjoyed, not stressed over.  Let go of little things and you’ll find that the world is a beautiful, wonderful place.  Let it be.

Finally, Subway teaches us the value of reinventing yourself.  They knew that Jared’s campaign had kind of worn itself out.  The public had gotten pretty accustomed to his handsome face and winsome disposition.  I’m not saying he doesn’t have a lot of mileage left – I love the Jared commercials!  I am saying this, Subway knew it was time to mix things up a little and throw something unexpected out there.

Now, when Jared does come back, we’ll be more apt to pay attention.

Never allow yourself to fall into a rut.  Mix things up every now and then!  Be true to your message, your goal, your dreams, and your life’s mission…. but keep things interesting.  If you lull everyone to sleep, they’ll never hear a word you’re saying.

You know what makes me sad?  When people WANT to do something, learn something, or try something but hold themselves back.  No one else is standing in their way but themselves.

  • If you wish you kept a cleaner house, pick up the broom and make it happen.  Start now!
  • If you wish you knew more geography (or history, math, botany, a foreign language), what are you waiting for? As soon as you leave Self Help Daily, find some wonderful educational websites and/or head off for the library.  Learning new things is invigorating and makes you feel more alive than ever.  Have at it!
  • If you wish you were known for having an easy-going, laid back temper instead of being a hot head – start working on it.

You get the point.  If you aren’t happy with the path you’re on… make a new one.  No one’s making you stay on this one.  Pave your own path and, you know the rules by now, don’t just walk down it, dance.

Dance on!

Are Moods Contagious?

by joi on March 9, 2010

in Positive Thought, Relationships

Ever notice that some people are easier to be around and more enjoyable to hang out with than other people? It isn’t necessarily the things they say or don’t say or the number of times they make us laugh. Actually it all comes down to this: How do they make us feel? How do we feel about life and ourselves when we’re around them?

Scientists from Harvard Medical School and University of California at San Diego tell us that happiness is, indeed, contagious.  What’s more, we can actually “catch” other people’s moods. Their study of more than 5,000 people over a 20 year period found that people are more likely to be happy when the people they spend the most time with are positive and upbeat.

Grumble guts, Eeyores, and Negative Nellys do nothing but pull our moods down to their level. Whether you encounter them online or in person, you’ll find yourself wanting nothing more than to avoid their presence at all costs. They make you feel down, angry, sad, discouraged, tense….

The reason? Mirror Neurons. Mirror neurons are nerve cells in the brain that make us automatically adopt the mood of those around us. The funny thing is, you can even “pick up on” someone’s negative vibes online!  Although I can’t prove it, I personally think some people are more susceptible to these effects than others. For instance, I’m highly, highly, highly susceptible to mirror neurons and their mojo, for better or worse.  If, for example, I come across someone in a comment’s section of a blog who is obviously just trying to pick a fight or be difficult and argumentative – I can literally feel my neck muscles tensing. Their negative energy seems to jump right out at me.

On the other end of the spectrum, when I come across people with positive energy, upbeat attitudes, and great vibes – a smile appears on my face without me even telling it to.

You may or may not feel the effects as strongly or as easily as I do, but make no mistake about it – you feel them.  And if that isn’t reason enough to choose who you hang out with carefully, nothing is.

Here’s the thing.  Ultimately, we can’t make everyone around us play nice and, quite frankly, blowing sunshine up their  keester amuses us far more than it does them.  We can, however, choose how we react to people and their moods.  If there are people in your life who seem to get you down, frustrate you, or on a consistent basis bring about negative feelings – recognize it  and do something about it. Maybe you can’t avoid these people – heck, maybe you don’t even want to.  That’s cool.  Just be on guard against the effect they have on you.  Often, just realizing the tendency can help you keep it from happening.

Try to lift their spirits when you can – make them laugh, help them recall happy memories, smile warmly and smile often.  Approach the time you spend with them determined to have the stronger “mood germs” and make them catch YOUR good mood rather than the other way around!

Give them an ear, give them a shoulder.  But don’t give them the power to affect your day.

Taking Care of Your Skin: Things You May Not Know

by joi on March 7, 2010

in Health, Must Reads

If you’re anything like me, when the weather’s warm, you have a hard time staying inside. The past few days, I’ve felt kind of like a cat – I loved the return of sunshine so much, I just wanted to lie down in the yard and sun myself. Two of our outside cats are doing just that right now. One of the younger ones keeps wanting to play with one of the older ones, but she’s only interested in sunning. She just shot him a look that let him know that he wasn’t to disturb her sunny slumber ever again.

Since he just rolled over to face the other way, I’d say he got the message.

Since Old Man Winter has finally packed up his bags and seems to finally be leaving, I thought a sun safety article was in order to remind us all to b careful with something we’ll have for the rest of our lives – our skin. I love winter more than most people. While 9 out of 10 people are dreading a snow storm, I’m hoping for as many inches as possible. But even I was growing tired winter this year – he really overstayed his welcome this time. Now it’s time for glorious spring followed by glorious summer! All I can think about is baseball, bird watching, feeding squirrels, grilling out, planting flowers, homemade lemonade, ice cream, and more baseball.

Let the fun in the sun begin – AFTER we remind ourselves of the importance of our skin and how vital it is that we take care of it.

Facts About Skin Cancer

  • Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States.
  • More than one million instances of skin cancers are diagnosed each year.
  • Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.
  • One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
  • In 2004, the total direct cost associated with the treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers was more than $1 billion.
  • About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
  • Up to 90 percent of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun.
  • The incidence of many common cancers is falling, but the incidence of melanoma continues to rise significantly, at a rate faster than that of any of the seven most common cancers.
  • More than 20 Americans die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma. One person dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 62 minutes).

Realizing the Dangers of Skin Cancer

For some outrageous reason, I’ve noticed that the majority of people seem to think of skin cancer about the same way they think about psoriasis or exzema. “Eh, it’s just a skin condition that you put a little cream on… have it scraped off at the worst.  I’ll take my chances for my golden tan.“  Dumb.  Then you’ll get the crowd that tells you how addictive the feeling is from baking in the sun or under the heat lamps.

Is the feeling worth dying for?  One person dies of melanoma almost every hour…

Skin cancer isn’t a rash, for crying out loud. It’s cancer. C-A-N-C-E-R.  And it’s one of the cancers that we can do the most to avoid.  I guess that’s the good news and the bad news, all rolled into one, because can is never spelled W.I.L.L.

More Skin Cancer Facts from Skin Cancer.org

MEN / WOMEN

  • The majority of people diagnosed with melanoma are white men over age 50.
  • Five percent of all cancers in men are melanomas; Four percent of all cancers in women are melanomas.
  • Contrary to popular belief, recent studies show that people receive a fairly consistent dose of ultraviolet radiation over their entire lifetime. Adults over age 40, especially men, have the highest annual exposure to UV.
  • Between 1980 and 2004, the annual incidence of melanoma among young women increased by 50 percent, from 9.4 cases to 13.9 cases per 100,000 women.
  • The number of women under age 40 diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma has more than doubled in the last 30 years; the squamous cell carcinoma rate for women has also increased significantly.
  • Until age 39, women are almost twice as likely to develop melanoma as men. Starting at age 40, melanoma incidence in men exceeds incidence in women, and this trend becomes more pronounced with each decade.
  • One in 39 men and one in 58 women will develop melanoma in their lifetime.
  • Melanoma is one of only three cancers with an increasing mortality rate for men.

INDOOR TANNING

  • Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  • Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure.
  • Seventy one percent of tanning salon patrons are girls and women aged 16-29.
  • First exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.
  • People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma.

PEDIATRICS

  • Melanoma accounts for up to three percent of all pediatric cancers.
  • Between 1973 and 2001, melanoma incidence in those under 20 rose 2.9 percent.
  • Melanoma is seven times more common between the ages of 10 and 20 than it is between 0 and 10 years.
  • Diagnoses – and treatment – are delayed in 40 percent of childhood melanoma cases.
  • Ninety percent of pediatric melanoma cases occur in girls aged 10-19.

To keep yourself and your family safe, make sure everyone understands that Skin Cancer is dangerous – even fatal.  E-Mail them a link to this article – tell them you’ll buy them lunch if they’ll read it, word for word.  Use my oldest cat’s name (Hannah) as a test question to make sure they did!  I’m a mother, I know the secrets of staying on top of the game.

Sun Safety: Avoid Skin Cancer

  • If you have things to do outside (walking, mowing, gardening), do them before 10 A.M. and after 4 P.M.
  • During the hours from 10 to 4, stay in the shade as much as possible.
  • Don’t burn!
  • Avoid tanning booths.  As the US Department of Health and Human Services states, UV radiation from either the sun or tanning machines is a proven human carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) and considerable research shows it is the chief cause of skin cancer.
  • Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher every day, even if you’re certain you’ll be in the shade most of the time. Reapply often.
  • Cover up with clothing, including a broad-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses.

A Healthy Diet to Prevent Skin Cancer

  • Get this:  People who eat three servings of spinach a week decrease their risk of skin cancer by 55 percent!  Popeye was onto something. Spinach contains folate, vitamins A, C, and E, lutein, and zeaxanthin – these nutrients boost your skin’s resistance to sun damage.  Eat spinach in salads, pasta salads, on sandwiches, in pesto, in pasta, in Spinach and Artichoke dips, etc.
  • Thanks to Lycopene, tomatoes also reduce your chances of getting skin cancer or even getting sun-burned.  Pair tomatoes often with spinach for double-the-protection.  Throw both into salads, sandwiches, pasta, and use them as pizza toppings.
  • Black raspberries and pomegranates are also on Real Age.com’s list of foods to eat for healthier skin.
  • Saving the yummiest for last – Dark Chocolate!  Dark Chocolate (one of my reasons for living) has a great reputation for many health benefits.  I was overjoyed to see that it just keeps getting better.  Did you know that dark chocolate boasts more cancer-fighting chemicals than green tea and red wine? That makes each bite, somehow, taste even sweeter.  According to Real Age:  ….in a study that thrilled chocolate lovers, women who drank a daily cup of cocoa made from 3 ounces of good dark chocolate (70% or more cacao) had thicker, moister, smoother skin that was also more resistant to sun damage . . . in just three months, thanks to chocolate’s potent flavonols.

Of course, just because you know that you can help protect your skin with a healthy diet – that isn’t an invitation to be a sun goddess or god.  Experts agree, we need between 10 and 20 minutes of sunshine each day.  It helps our body make Vitamin D and it boost our mood.  But between 10 and 20 minutes is all we actually need.  An excess is just courting danger… the kind of danger that none of us need or want.

Have fun but be smart and be safe.

Daily Quote: Walt Disney’s Four C’s

by joi on March 5, 2010

in Daily Quote, Positive Thought

Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making his dreams come true.  This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence.  When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way.  – Walt Disney

The World as Viewed by Mother Teresa

by joi on March 3, 2010

in Book Reviews, Books I Love, Daily Quote, Helping Children, Make a Difference, Positive Thought, Spiritual

“In these times of development, the whole world runs and is hurried.  But there are some who fall down on the way and have no strength to go ahead.  These are the ones we must care about.” – Mother Teresa

The powerfully beautiful and beautifully powerful quote above is just one of the gems from Mother Teresa found in In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories and Prayers.

Mother Teresa’s name and image will forever be associated with her kindness, gentleness, and compassion.  Her selfless work with the “poorest of the poor” should be an inspiration to all of us.  In the Heart of the World, written by Mother Teresa, is filled with her eloquent wisdom, motivation, and inspirational teachings.  Below are a few more examples.

Be kind in your actions.  Do not think that you are the only one who can do efficient work, work worth showing.  This makes you harsh in your judgment of others who may not have the same talents.  Do your best and trust that others do their best.  And be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength shines.

We too are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper silence and aloneness with God, together as a community as well as personally.  To be alone with him – not with our books, thoughts, and memories but completely stripped of everything – to dwell lovingly in his presence, silent, empty, expectant, and motionless.  We cannot find agitation.

If we were more willing to see the good and beautiful things that surround us, we would be able to transform our families.  From there, we would change our next-door neighbors and then others who live in our neighborhood or city.  We would be able to bring peace and love to our world, which hungers so much for these things.

As I read this book, I lost myself in the beauty that was and is Mother Teresa.  Reading her words was so incredibly peaceful and relaxing – yet, at the same time, an unrest crept up inside of me and stirred around.  I realized that there is far more that I can and should do to help others in the world who are far less fortunate.   While on the early pages, I kept thinking, “What the world needs right now is another Mother Teresa.”  But, as I approached the final pages, I thought, “What the world needs right now if for more men and women to start caring more about people and less about possessions.  It needs more hearts that are broken for the suffering of others.  And more people refusing to look the other way.”

We don’t need another Mother Teresa as much as we need to learn from the one we were blessed with.

“I must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others.  This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts.  Otherwise, there is no true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.”  – Mother Teresa

The Mother Teresa quotes are from In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories and Prayers

Ann Curry, A Love Story, and Gambaru

by joi on March 2, 2010

in Positive Thought, Spiritual

I recently read an article in Guideposts written by the beautiful Today Show Anchor Ann Curry.  I’ve always been a huge fan of this particular journalist – her grace, compassion, integrity, and intelligence set her apart.

In the article, Ann Curry talks about her parents and her career among other things.  There were quite a few things about the article that stood out in my mind – I even wrote a few of them down.  Suffice to say, I came away an even bigger fan than I was before.  I’ll link to the article below, because I really hope you’ll read it – it’s absolutely beautiful.  But I wanted to share one part of Ann Curry’s story with you here on Self Help Daily.  I’ve thought about her mother several times since reading her story and I’ve written a new favorite word, colorfully, on a piece of paper that now hangs near my computer desk:  Gambaru.

Unless you’re Japanese or fluent in the language, you’re probably not familiar with this word.  I’ll tell you in a moment what it means.

Ann Curry’s mother, Hiroe, was the daughter of a Japanese rice farmer.  Bob Curry, Ann’s father, was a career Navy man who enlisted in the Navy right out of high school. After World War II, as part of the Allied occupation forces, Bob Curry was stationed in Japan.

The war left Hiroe’s family without seed to grow their crop, which obviously put them in a terrible predicament.   At the age of 18 Hiroe had to take a job as a streetcar conductor. Guess who happened to be on her streetcar one day?  You got it, the hero of our story, Bob Curry.  According to Ann, her dad took that very streetcar every day until he worked up the nerve to ask Hiroe on a date.

His efforts paid off and they went out for noodles.  They fell deeply and completely in love, but their road wasn’t paved with rose petals.

During this time, the Navy disapproved of marriages between American servicemen and Japanese women.  Sadly, Bob Curry was shipped out of Japan. It took two years, but he managed to get sent back to Japan.   You knew he wasn’t going to give up that easily, right?!

He later told his daughter that when he took Hiroe into his arms, he realized how painfully thin she had gotten.  As it turned out she had tuberculosis and wasn’t even expected to live.

Bob Curry ingeniously used her healthy sister’s lung X rays to get clearance from Navy doctors, and married her anyway!  Now that she was a U.S. military wife, she was able to get the medical care she needed.   Hiroe went on to have 5 healthy children, including the oldest, Ann Curry.

Hiroe endured bombing raids and starvation during World War II.   With the love of Bob Curry, she survived TB and lived to tell about it.  She also had to overcome language barriers and even racism when she came to the United States.  All of that is what makes the following (as well as the colorful word on my cork board) so special.

Ann Curry, thanks to financial struggles (five children on a serviceman’s income had to have been a challenge) and coming from a mixed heritage (during a time when that wasn’t very common or smiled upon), knew a few things about adversity.  Whenever she felt the sting of the challenges, Ann says that her mom always told her,“Gambaru.”

Gambaru  is Japanese for “Never ever give up, even and especially when there’s no chance of winning.”

This story is more than just a love story, it’s a story of perseverance and it’s most definitely a story of Gambaru.

Credit: An Act of Faith by Ann Curry

Scribe SEO Plugin: Love at First Site

by joi on February 25, 2010

in Articles, Blogging

Yankee legend Mickey Mantle worded it this way:  “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.” - Mickey Mantle

Starbucks legend Joi words it this way: “Holy cats. I didn’t know what I thought I knew.“

Funny, isn’t it? You can do something for what seems like your whole life and then suddenly realize that you didn’t know quite as much as you thought you did.  It happened to me recently and I’m still reeling.  You might think this would be a distressing, sickening feeling but, truth be told, I’m completely invigorated and excited.

Knowledge does that to me.  Especially when it comes bearing fruit such as new horizons, fresh opportunities, and unlimited possibilities.

As you know, I’ve been working online for well over 12 years.   Currently, I have 14 blogs and websites.   When it comes to traffic, generating income, and so on – the majority of them do quite well.   They’re like kids.  Some are over-achievers, some are under achievers, and some are so quiet, I forget they’re even in the room.

Since I work from home, I”m allowed the luxury of researching seo (search engine optimization), themes, plugins, and so forth.  I know (and use) the best themes online and work hard to stay on top of the best plugins, optimization practices, and so on.  Quite honestly, I thought I was sitting on a seriously impressive amount of information and skill.  Then…..

“Holy cats! I didn’t know what I thought I knew.“

I recently installed the Scribe SEO Copywriting Made Simple plugin on a few of my blogs and have been overjoyed with what I’ve seen so far.   I want, not only to make my future posts and articles as SEO-friendly as possible, but to go back to older posts and perk them up as well.  You know, the early posts of a blog when you didn’t even know what SEO or Meta Descriptions were.   These old posts can still get traffic and they still have a lot to offer – but they’ll never reach their potential if no one knows they’re there.

Originally, I was going to use Scribe SEO  for a few weeks, or even a month, and see if the results were impressive enough to recommend to my readers.  As you know if you read Self Help Daily regularly, I absolutely, positively am not in the hait of recommending very many products or services. One of the reasons for this is that when I do – I want you to know I flat out mean business.  It’s also a personal thing, I hate, loathe, and despise any newsletter or blog that sees me as nothing but a dollar tree with nothing but bracelets and money on its branches.   If a product, tool, theme, or service convinces me that it could help some of the people I value the most (my readers) – I’ll share it with them.  But I hold these things under a magnifying glass for quite a while first.

The problem with this original “wait and see” plan was that I fell in love with Scribe on the first date.  Indeed, it was love at first site.

From Scribe SEO.com

In the old days, a scribe was a writer entrusted to record the most valuable and important information for kings, nobles, and cities.

These days, Scribe™ helps writers create content that gets found online, and that’s become as valued and important as any old scroll or parchment.

Scribe is an SEO software service for WordPress that analyzes the content of web pages, blog posts, online press releases, you name it… at the click of a button

One of the first blogs I installed Scribe on was my Kentucky blog, Genuine Kentucky.  This site does pretty well in search engines and I normally rank pretty well for my keywords.  But “pretty well” isn’t a goal I set for anything I do and I’m certain it isn’t one of your’s either.

Because I have a high number of niche sites combined with the fact that I love knowledge, I have been a huge fan of Google News Alerts since day one.  I subscribe to a great number of news alerts covering different areas of interest.  I use a lot of the different “keywords” and “subjects” that are relevant to my blogs.  The Google news alerts come into my e-mail and serve as taps on the shoulder telling me, “You’ll find this interesting…”

After installing and using Scribe on just ONE post on Genuine Kentucky, something happened that had never happened before:  My showed up in the Google News Alert for the main keyword.  One post.  That very day.  I have never had this happen before.  And I thought I knew so much.  Hmph.

This post also showed up better in Google for its keywords than normal – and faster.

Scribe is as easy to use as pouring a cup of coffee.  After installing and activating (easy, easy, easy), you simply write your post, article, or page as you normally would.  The Scribe Content Optimizer shows up on the right with the other WP-Admin widgets (Post Tags, Categories…).  When you think you’re finished, click the button that says Analyze.  In a few seconds, Scribe lets you know what you’ve done well and what you could improve upon.

Scribe led me to make a few changes to this particular post and basically slapped it on the backside and sent it in Google’s direction.  Something that I want to see happen again and again and again.

Before installing Scribe, I knew it was going to be fantastic.  Brian Clark (Copyblogger) is behind it and he would never put his name on anything that wasn’t 100 percent golden.  Because of this, he has a reputation online that few attain and all desire.   However, over the years I’ve seen a lot of tools and services come around the bend.  Most of the time, you get either what you expected or less than you expected.  This is one of the few times when I got far more than I expected.

What Scribe Can Do For You

Okay, let’s get down to the heart of the matter.  I know a lot of my readers are bloggers.  I know a lot of you are very talented and successful authors with blogs and websites of your own.  I also have quite a few publicist friends who follow Self Help Daily.  While all of you are, no doubt, happy for me and my little Kentucky blog, you’re no doubt wondering, “What can Scribe do for me?”

  • Scribe can help you rank better in the search engines – The better you rank, the more people will find you.
  • Scribe can free up the time you have to spend actively looking for visitors, buyers, prospects, etc.  This SEO tool will cause people to come to you rather than you having to go to them.
  • Scribe will give you a valuable education in SEO, keywords, meta descriptions, copywriting for search engine optimization, and so on.  If you desire a strong online presence and following, this education is priceless.
  • You won’t have to wonder if you did “this” or “that” right – Scribe will let you know… all with the click of one button.

Scribe as Your Own Personal SEO Assistant

I work online all day.  Everyday. I also am an avid cook who isn’t quite happy if she can’t spend at least a couple of hours each day cooking.  Add to this a house that refuses to clean itself, cats that think it’s always the right time to play, movies that must be watched, shopping that must be done,  articles to write, daily exercise, and a host of other things that fall under the category LIFE.  Because of the blissful business, I’ve often thought, “How cool would it be to have an assistant?!“  Because I’m not trained in the ways of search engine optimization, the assistant in my fantasies always was an SEO genius.  And worked for free.  Well, I’d give her all the coffee she could drink.

Now I have my assistant and I don’t have to share my coffee.  The Scribe Content Optimizer is a virtual SEO assistant – sitting right beside you as you work, giving you advice and coaching you in the ways of  SEO.  What’s more, Scribe is very inexpensive.   I know for a fact that it could be priced higher than it is.  The opportunities that this service will open up are nothing short of outstanding.

When I first saw all that Scribe SEO entails and saw, firsthand, what it can do for my blogs/sites, I felt a little bit ill.  I couldn’t help wondering where my sites would be right now if I’d been utilizing these simple techniques all along.  I couldn’t help wondering how much more traffic my sites could have, how much better they’d rank in Google, how many more advertisers I could have generated, and so on.

Then it occurred to me, the game isn’t over.  I can create search engine friendly posts forevermore AND go back and tweak all of  my older posts.  After all, it’s a never-ending game.  The sweet thing is Scribe just put Albert Pujols in my starting line up.

Batter up!

I strongly urge you to go immediately to Scribe SEO Copywriting Made Simple and give yourself the edge you need – not just to compete in the competitive world of blogging – but to win.

SEO Copywriting Made Simple

Mickey Mantle: The Man Behind the Legend

by joi on February 24, 2010

in Articles, General, Positive Thought

After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases. – Mickey Mantle

If there’s a better illustration of character, than the quote above gives, I’d love to see it.  In an era where most athletes love nothing more than gloating and showboating, Mickey Mantle could teach everyone a thing or two (or a gazillion) about what it really means to have character as well as talent.  After all, the talent will fade eventually whereas character never has to go anywhere.

As we lead up to Baseball season (I’m as big a baseball fan as you’ll ever find – whether it’s my St. Louis Cardinals or any random team, if there’s a baseball game on tv or the radio, you’ll know where to find me), I thought it’d be fun to look at a different baseball player each week and learn a little more about them.  I’ve pulled out some fantastic quotes and stories from some of these men and I know you’ll enjoy them, whether you’re a baseball fan or not.  (If you aren’t a baseball fan, please don’t tell me.  I… I… don’t want to see you like that.)

Mickey Mantle:  The Man Behind the Legend

Mickey Mantle was born in 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma – a small town put on the map by the baseball giant.  Mickey’s parents were Elvin Charles Mantle and Lovell Mantle. Mickey’s dad, a huge baseball fan, named his son after Mickey Cochrane, a Hall of Fame catcher for the, then, Philadelphia Athletics.

Mickey Mantle always spoke very highly and lovingly of his father, calling him the bravest man he ever knew. “No boy ever loved his father more,” he said. Tragically, his father died of cancer in 1952 at the ridiculously young age of 39.  To compound the tragedy, he died just as his son’s amazing career was just getting started.

“A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.” – Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle was called up to the majors on April 7, 1951.   How’s this for high praise? – Joe DiMaggio, in his final season, called Mantle, “the greatest prospect I can remember.”

After a bit of a slump, Mantle was sent down to the Yankees’ top farm team, the Kansas City Blues. Possibly due to frustrations and putting too much pressure on himself, Mickey struggled and became so overwhelmed that he was ready to throw in the proverbial towel.   He even called his father one day and told him, “I don’t think I can play baseball anymore.”  Like any good father would, his dad drove up to Kansas City that very day. When he arrived, Mickey remembered that he said, “I thought I raised a man. I see I raised a coward instead. You can come back to Oklahoma and work the mines with me.”

The mines never saw the younger Mantle.

Mickey immediately broke out of his slump and after 40 games, he was called back to New York.  For good.

The great number 7 was retired by the New York Yankees in Mickey Mantle’s honor and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, as soon as he was eligible.

“I hated to bat against (Don) Drysdale. After he hit you he’d come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, ‘Do you want me to sign it?’” – Mickey Mantle

Unfortunately, even great baseball players have their demons and Mickey’s was alcoholism.  He sought treatment and got the upper hand on the demon.  Sportscaster Pat Summerall was one of the main people who urged him to go to The Betty Ford Clinic.

Mickey Mantle spoke with great, deep-seeded remorse and heartache about his alcoholism in a 1994 Sports Illustrated story. He said that he was telling the same old stories, and realizing how much of them involved himself and others being drunk, and he decided they weren’t funny anymore.

“It was all I lived for, to play baseball.” – Mickey Mantle

He acknowledged that alcohol had caused him to often be hurtful or neglectful to his family, friends, and fans, and that he wanted to make things right.

Mickey Mantle became a born-again Christian thanks, in part, to his former teammate Bobby Richardson, an ordained Baptist minister who shared his faith with him.

Mickey died in Dallas on August 13, 1995.  During the first Yankee home game after his death, Eddie Layton played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the organ because Mickey had once told him it was his favorite song.

In his eulogy, sportscaster Bob Costas described Mickey Mantle  as “a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic.” He added: “In the last year of his life, Mickey Mantle, always so hard on himself, finally came to accept and appreciate the distinction between a role model and a hero. The first, he often was not. The second, he always will be. And, in the end, people got it.”

“Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.’” – Mickey Mantle

See Also: Quotes by Mickey Mantle

Respect: Is It a Word We’ve All But Forgotten?

by joi on February 23, 2010

in Positive Thought, Relationships

Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves. - U Thant

I’ve been thinking about respect lately. Not necessarily having respect for yourself and definitely not demanding respect from others. I’ve been thinking about respecting others and the blatant lack of this practice these days. I’m not a Pollyanna – I know we’ll all disagree with one another from time to time. I know there are some people who we’ll disagree with more often than we agree with them. Seriously, there are some individuals that I think would say grass was orange just to stir up a debate.

But this isn’t about the other person, is it? Respecting others begins in our own hearts and minds. If we consistently show a lack of respect toward others, the problem isn’t with them as much as it’s with us.

As you may know, I’m from the south – a fact that I’m very proud of… just as I’d be very proud to be from Minnesota or Iowa if my birth certificate boasted these states instead of Kentucky.   I think that being from the south often gives one a different view of the world. Maybe it’s the way we’re raised and the way our ancestors were raised, I don’t know. Anyway, where I come from….

  • men open doors for ladies
  • ladies appreciate the opened door, smile, and say “Thank You!“
  • men try very hard not to swear in front of women
  • men and women respect their Presidents, servicemen and women, Police Officers, etc.
  • The Bible is the Good Word – always has been, always will be
  • God is God.  He isn’t just a “higher power” or “the Man upstairs.”  (Come on, God isn’t such a hard name to say!)

The list goes on, but these are simply things I grew up with.  I suspect that many of you did as well – whether you’re from the north, south, east, or west.

Back to respect.

I am astounded lately at the number of people in the media, on blogs, in books, on television, and so on who show so much disrespect toward our Presidents -  Whether it’s President Obama or recent Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush Sr. or Bush Jr.    I miss the day when people respected the office and the men in the office, whether they agreed with everything they stood for or not.

Yesterday, I was reading a really good (make that really, really, really good) book by an author who came across as highly intelligent, witty, and very gifted.  Then, out of the blue, this author referred to one of our recent presidents as a “fool.”  I re-read the passage again, to make sure I hadn’t taken it wrong.  This wasn’t even a political book for crying out loud.

A President.  In print.  A fool.  Not cool.

Men are respectable only as they respect. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Again, I know I have different opinions than many people (including this author) and I have an incredibly idealistic view of the world.    I know that, I own it as surely as I own my obsession with chocolate.  I admit, I don’t even care for the comedians who mock President Obama or Sarah Palin.  I know that’s going too far on my part, but there you have it.  I also didn’t like a particular magazine cover that displayed Mrs. Palin in shorts (looking like she’d been working on a farm), with a headline asking what we were going to do about her. Where’s the respect in that?  You may not agree with everything she or President Obama do or say, but a level of respect isn’t so much to ask for.

After all, when we show respect to others it reflects directly upon us and the level of respect we command.  Do you respect disrespectful people? Neither do I.

Something else, while I’m on a roll.  I hate the unprofessional manner that a lot of people are doing business online.  To use your blog, forum, social media, or whatever platform to attack another person’s integrity, work, ethics, popularity, or even hairstyle (don’t know where that one came from to be honest) just isn’t cool.  You know what it’s like?  When one adult “calls out” another adult on their own turf, it’s like a 13 year old girl running down another 13 year old girl on her own MySpace.  It’s her turf, she can say whatever she wants about the other girl – vent, baby, vent!  What’s more, she can have her own friends respond and say, “You’re so right! I don’t like her either!”

But you can’t expect all 13 year old girls to have the maturity to take up disagreements and disputes face to face, without an audience.

Kids call names and try to create a “pick sides” atmosphere.  Adults don’t.  Adults shouldn’t.

Again, a lot of it comes down to our buzz word of the day: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.   Now I guess you found out what it means to me…

What does it mean to you?

Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners. – Laurence Sterne

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