" /> In Search Of Heroes Spreads Good News About Everyday, Real-Life Heroes Who Deserve Recognition For Their Good Works: October 2006 Archives

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October 31, 2006

"Part 1: Interview With Sharif Khan, the Author Of The Psychology of the Hero Soul" by Ralph Zuranski

Sharif Khan is a professional speaker, writer, coach, and author of Psychology of the Hero Soul, an inspirational book on awakening the Hero within and developing people’s leadership potential. Based on over ten years research in human development and leadership, Sharif provides inspirational keynotes and leadership development workshops that empower audiences to unleash their inner hero to live their highest life. He has spoken to a wide-range of audiences including executives, entrepreneurs, educators, students, and was recently mentioned in USA Today. His vision is to inspire the world and make a positive difference in people’s lives; to help create a global culture of heroes and responsible citizens dedicated to promoting peace and prosperity in the world. For more information visit www.herosoul.com.

What is your definition of heroism?
It stems from the original word ‘hero’ which comes from the Greek roots servos and heros, which means to serve and protect. So self-sacrifice for the higher good and betterment of humanity is at the heart of being a hero. And what that implies is that the seeds of greatness lie within us all because we all have that innate capacity to serve. Martin Luther King said it best: “Everyone can be great, because anyone can serve. You don’t have to have college degree to serve. You don’t even have to make your subject and verb agree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Did you ever create a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with life’s difficulties?

Very interesting question. I have a Council of Light or imaginary team of heroes if you will. I got the concept from Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, where he talks about creating a team of heroes in your mind, where you go deep within your mind and choose your greatest heroes to sit on your round table and council you.
I actually go to a secret place in my mind in meditation where I have a council of these people. Some include greats like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Sinatra, Jodie foster, Oprah, Einstein, and an eclectic mix that changes from time to time. I actually talk to them in my dreams and imagination and they give me answers encouragement and advice. It may sound strange, but that’s how I’ve developed my own ‘wisdom council’ if you will.

"Leadership Skill: What is Your LQ: Leadership Quotient?" by Sharif Khan

The unexamined life is not worth living." – Plato

Whether leading yourself toward a higher path, leading a family, community, congregation, or an entire organization, this is a good time to reexamine your leadership effectiveness. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, how would you rate yourself as a leader? Leadership effectiveness, what I like to call LQ or Leadership Quotient, is primarily determined by a combination of Physical Intelligence, Mental Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, and Spiritual Intelligence. These four areas (Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit) are essential toward the making of a whole leader. Let’s explore the key leadership factors that bring wholeness:

1. Inspire with Integrity (Spirit or Conscience)

2. Initiative and Innovation (Body and Mind)

3. Impactful Influence (Heart)

An easy way to remember this is LQ = 6I (Inspiration, Integrity, Initiative, Innovation, Impact, and Influence). This exercise will only take about fifteen minutes in which you answer some questions and honestly rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each factor.

1. Inspire with Integrity (Spirit or Conscience)

Are you energized with a larger than life vision or transcendent goal that serves the greater good and inspires others, or is your focus limited to only your own immediate needs? Are you aware of your highest purpose?

Great leaders subordinate their ego to their spirit or conscience by putting the needs of others before their own and finding a cause or purpose that’s greater than themselves. This gives a leader the moral authority to lead others.

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself for * Inspiration _________

(*In my book, The Hero Soul, www.herosoul.com, pg. 117, I provide deeper reflections on ‘inspiration’).

Do your actions reflect your vision, beliefs, and values? Do you do as you say and honor your word? Andrew Carnegie once said, "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what [people] say. I just watch what they do."

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself for Integrity ___________

2. Initiative and Innovation (Body and Mind)

Once you know what your highest purpose and core genius is, how well do you execute on your vision and key priorities? Are you focused on doing the right things, what’s important, or are you spending too much time on urgent but not important activities and doing things right?

Leadership is about doing, taking initiative, and getting things done. Do you usually wait for things to happen and wait for others to initiate, or do you make things happen and initiate things on your own?

Additionally, the body is the temple of the spirit. Are you taking care of your body by exercising regularly and eating healthy so you have enough energy to take lots of action, or are you often succumbing to whims of the day?

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself for Initiative ___________

Are you continually growing and innovating as a leader in the never ending pursuit of excellence, or are you settling for mediocrity by being comfortable with the status quo?

Are you using your creative problem-solving skills and imagination to become a change-agent by experimenting with new ideas, solutions, and technology, or are you continually in fire-fighting mode by being frequently blindsided with change?

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself for Innovation ___________

3. Impactful Influence (Heart)

Are you reaching out to people and making an emotional impact in their lives? Are you getting to intimately know people in your circle of influence and taking the time to find out their fears, desires, challenges, and goals? Are you touching people’s lives by serving? The old adage, "people don’t care about what you know, until they know you care," applies here.

The hero’s journey is about following your bliss and doing what you love doing in service to others. Interestingly, through the heart, by making an emotional impact in people’s lives and serving, the spiritual dimension is tapped. Rabrindranath Tagore once said, "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." In other words, service is spirit.

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself for Impact ___________

Finally, influence is a measure of your character that comes with time and experience. How wide and impactful is your influence? Are people seeking you out for your leadership, mentorship, and guidance? What is the quality of people you have attracted in your work and life?

We are in many ways the sum total reflection of the people in our circle of influence. Look around you. What type of people have you attracted in your sphere of influence? The majority of people you attract in your life, whether negative or positive, bright or ignorant, are mostly a reflection of your own character. If you’re not happy with the quality of people in your circle of influence, it’s time to work on yourself.

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself for Influence ___________

After you’ve rated yourself for all six factors (Inspiration, Integrity, Initiative, Innovation, Impact, and Influence), add all the scores and divide by six. This indicator will give you a rough idea of your total LQ and where you need to make improvements. Make it a goal in this year to raise the bar in every category.

We have now come full circle in the leadership cycle starting with spirit (call it whatever you want) and ending with spirit; for everything rises and falls on leadership, everything comes from the spirit and returns to the spirit like the dust in the wind. Our highest purpose comes from spirit and returns to it in the form of service.

By subordinating our vision to the spirit, our conscience, our highest purpose is revealed. If you are not sure about your purpose, ask your higher self for guidance. A great way to do this is to ask a question before you go to sleep fully expecting an answer to be revealed in a dream or when you wake up. It might take several tries, but that’s okay, keep at it -- and the answer will be revealed to you. A question you could ask might be, "What is my highest purpose?" or "How can I use my core genius to serve the greatest good?"

Personally, I’ve found prayer to be the most effective means and have recently adopted a prayer that Oprah Winfrey has used for several years, "Use me God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself."

May your own hero’s journey meet with the crest of the rising sun.

Sharif Khan
Sharif Khan is a freelance writer, motivational speaker, and author of Psychology of the Hero Soul, an inspirational book on awakening the hero within and developing people's leadership potential. Based on his ten years research to the field of human development, Khan provides inspirational keynotes and leadership seminars to help people tap into their inner-hero potential for higher success. Sharif Khan is a man with a mission. His vision is to inspire the world and make a positive difference in people's lives. To help create a global culture of heroes and responsible citizens dedicated to promoting peace and prosperity in the world. For a free, no-obligation quote on your next writing project or to book Khan for a speaking engagement, call 416-417-1259 or email inspire@herosoul.com with your specific requirements. Sharif Khan is also available for author interviews to the media. (For more information on Sharif Khan, you can browse his author overview page or visit his website at: http://www.herosoul.com

Interests and Hobbies:
Sharif Khan is an avid reader and movie buff. Literature, Arts & Entertainment, and Personal Development are his life-blood. Writing is Sharif's 'main business,' purpose, and passion. Currently, he is working on an inspirational novel.
Khan also enjoys writing, speaking, and commenting on topics of business/entrepreneurship, sales and marketing, personal growth, and leadership.

After graduating from York University with a B.A. in Psychology, Sharif Khan decided to pursue his passion with books and writing. Some of Khan's adventures involved managing a Bestsellers bookstore, serving as Director of The MetroActive Writer's Club, taking a creative writing course at The Humber School of Writing, launching a book nationwide, and publishing several articles in a number of well-respected national and international magazines and newspapers.

Sharif Khan welcomes questions and personal correspondence. While Sharif does have a busy schedule and is not able to respond to every email or phone call, he does make an effort to reply back. You can reach Khan directly at sharif@herosoul.com or 416-417-1259.

Homepage:
http://www.herosoul.com

October 26, 2006

"Part 11: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: If you had three wishes for your life and the world that would instantly come true, what would they be?

Michel Fortin: If I had three wishes for anything I want in the world, what would they be?

Ralph Zuranski: Mm hm.

Michel Fortin: That I would, well the first wish is that I wouldn’t have any wish because I believe in just being. I’m not, I mean I know this might not necessarily sound – I mean, it might sound a little woo-woo to some people, I guess, but I don’t want any wishes because I just want to enjoy my life now. I don’t want to wake up at 67 years old and look back on my life and say is this it? You know? And then those are the times that you wish.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.

Michel Fortin: Because those are the times when you realize what you’ve done wrong. No need to wish; just do. You know, don’t wish for something now. Just be, you know. And then you enjoy the process and then when you are 67 you won’t need to have any wishes because you’re going to look back and say I’m happy.

Michel Fortin: I’m satisfied. I’m fulfilled. I did what I needed to do and I did what I loved to do. The second, I guess, wish would be that more people followed those two things I mentioned earlier, to listen and to teach. And the only way that I can do that is not necessarily to wish for it but to actually do it myself.

Michel Fortin: The more you actually listen and teach yourself, the more you’re actually teaching other people to listen and to teach. And I guess the third one, I mean, this is a little hard for me because I don’t wish for much and I guess I wish that if people listening to this call has, you know, found some grain of something that helps them, whether it’s at that very moment they listened to that day that they’re in or their lives, it doesn’t matter. To me that would be the one wish I have.

Ralph Zuranski: Those are wonderful wishes and I just really appreciate your time in answering these questions and just sharing your wisdom with the world and I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate you.

Michel Fortin: Oh, same here, Ralph, same here, and I think that we are both kindred spirits. You know, the thing is when we meet at seminars sometimes and we just discuss about some of the things that are going on in our lives like you and your parents and all that stuff, you know the fact, it’s not that I just stand there and take time to listen to you but you also do that to me. You are the perfect embodiment of everything I spoke about so the whole point is I appreciate you as much and I appreciate you doing this program, Ralph, because this is a great program and I wish you the most, the best.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I thank you for that and I also tell you that your ability to offer to help in the early part of the program really helped inspire me to keep on going because it’s been 13 years of trying to get it together and –

Michel Fortin: I understand absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: And I just want to thank you again.

Michel Fortin: You’re most welcome.

Ralph Zuranski: Michel Fortin, you have a great day.

Michel Fortin: You too.

Ralph Zuranski: I’ll talk to you later.

Michel Fortin: Bye bye.

Ralph Zuranski: Bye.

October 25, 2006

"Part 10: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: How are you personally making the world a better place?

Michel Fortin: By being me. That’s probably the best answer I can give you. I follow what I believe in. I am true to myself and most important, I do what I love to do. When you do what you love to do – you know, we were talking about giving good service or being at the service of others or whatever, if you love doing what you do how much better are you going to serve the people around you?

Michel Fortin: How much more passion and zest you have for not only what you do but what you do expresses itself on service, about service to others. If you had a choice to buy a product from two different service providers or two different stores or whatever, and one person hates their job and the other one absolutely loves their job, how much more that second person will be willing to help you.

Michel Fortin: How much more in service of you will that person be? Of course, a lot more. So how do I expect, you know, to make a change in the world just by being me? Just by being Michel Fortin Fortin. Just by being the person who loves to do what he does because that will give all these byproducts of everything we just talked about on this call.

Ralph Zuranski: You know, there’s a lot of problems facing societies all over the world today, like racism, child and spousal abuse and violence among young people. Do you have any good solutions for those problems?

Michel Fortin: Education. Education. If, you know, we cannot change the world by forcing it but we can change the world by educating it. I was once a college teacher. There’s such a great sense of fulfillment that one gets when they teach other people.

Michel Fortin: If, you know, look at, you know, laws and rules and all that wonderful stuff. They do exist for a purpose and I understand that. But I also believe in education because the more you educate people the more you will change the world rather than forcing it to change so if you’re going to help out somebody in their own lives, if you’re going to help out people to realize maybe they are bad people and they’ve done hurt to others, education.

Michel Fortin: Don’t, you know, it’s not proselytizing. It’s not trying to argue with them. It’s just teaching them and teaching them until they’re ready to be taught and they’re ready to change. I’ve met a lot of people who change their lives because they’ve learned and they’ve decided to learn and that’s the key so yeah, I mean, education, that’s probably the most, you know, profoundest answer I can give to that question is just education.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, what do you think about the “In Search of Heroes” program and its impact on youth, parents and business people?

Michel Fortin: Well, that’s the point. This is exactly what it is. What do you think it’s doing? It’s educating. This is exactly why I love this program and I was one of the first people to actually be fully aware of it and fully aware of my potential contribution to this program because I do believe that this program is not just a point of going out there and being heroes. It is going out there to teach other people the power of being a hero and it educates them and then makes changes in their lives, who will then change the lives of the people around them, who will then just grow exponentially, and that’s, you know, this is – Ralph, you’ve seen the movie “Pay it Forward”?

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.

Michel Fortin: That’s my point. You don’t necessarily have to be a hero or you don’t necessarily have to get somebody to become a hero. All you have to do is to educate others on what, how powerful it is to become one and if they do become one then they do it to others and then they do it to others and then they do it to others. It’s one huge multilevel marketing process.

Ralph Zuranski: You know, what are the things parents can do that will help their children realize they can, they also can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others?

Michel Fortin: Well, if I had to – if I could boil it down, I think – I said two core actions or two core activities on this call. They are teach and listen, and how parents can make changes in the lives of their kids – the first thing, of course, is to listen.

Michel Fortin: A lot of the strife that we have in today’s world, I believe, and I’m a firm believer, that is because we are all so busy with the goings-on in our lives that we don’t stop and listen as much as to our own selves, as much as to the people around us, and more importantly to the kids in our lives. If you just take a chance to sit down and just listen, and the second part, which is to teach, to educate.

Michel Fortin: You know, teachers are probably the most underrated people in our society, the most underrated profession in our society. I’m a big believer in teachers. I mean, I used to be one and, I mean I’m a teacher right now, being a copywriting coach as much as a motivational speaker or whatever you want to call it, but it’s all teaching. That’s all it really is. It’s not motivation. It’s not all that stuff. It’s teaching. So, yeah, that would be those two fundamental activities – listen and teach.

October 24, 2006

"Part 9: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: Well, why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

Michel Fortin: Everything that will create – actually let me rephrase that. Everything that’s going to happen in this world, even today, is molded, created, prepared by, built on by first of all people and people were once children.

Michel Fortin: They were once kids and their lives today very, very often are molded, as much as they are molded in the world today, they are molded by the things and the people and the instances and the events and the circumstances of their childhood. I was lucky. Well, I guess I’m not lucky because I believe everybody has that capacity – it’s not luck. But I was lucky. I guess a better way to say it is I was fortunate to look at my lessons in my life and look at them as the most beautiful gifts in the world, and to have mentors and heroes in my life that have helped me.

Michel Fortin: But there are so many kids out there that fail to go through this “fortunate” process that I went through so if they have an opportunity to have heroes in their lives, boy oh boy, can you imagine the goodness that we can unleash in this world? Because they will be molded and their future will be molded so that they will be the molders of the future.

Michel Fortin: So today the people that make differences in people’s lives today is because they had differences made to them in their own lives when they were, especially when they were young, because it is when you are young that your entire life is almost dictated. Now, good or bad, you can have bad stuff happen to you and it dictates your life in a good way.

Michel Fortin: You know, there’s an old story about the two sons of an alcoholic father who grew up and one became an alcoholic and one became a very successful businessman and when an interviewer asked them, you know, the question “why are you who you are today?” and they both answered the same answer, “well, I didn’t have any choice; look at my father”. You know?

Michel Fortin: One blamed his father for being the way he is. The other one looked at his father and used that as a springboard for not being like he is, and so fortunately they might have had heroes in their lives that made them go that way, especially the one that’s positive, I mean, but the thing is whether it’s not or it’s true, the thing is we all need heroes but the kids need them the most because they are the molders of the future.

Ralph Zuranski: How does it feel to be recognized as an Internet hero?

Michel Fortin: I would be very misleading if I said it didn’t feel good, because it does feel good. I think that’s the ego part of me. But what I feel best about, you know, I have testimonials on my website about the lives that I’ve changed and that makes me feel good, but what I put on my website, what I put out in the world as a way to prop my own self up is just the tip of the iceberg of what I get every single day.

Michel Fortin: We talked at the beginning of this call about all these emails I get every day, a good percentage of those emails are just tiny little words from somebody who I made a difference to in their lives and it doesn’t have to be this huge thing that I can actually use as a testimonial.

Michel Fortin: You know, it doesn’t have to be an actual business or a success or whatever. I had people who emailed me after the big seminar and said, you know, Michel Fortin Fortin, you’re a person that I’ve been following for so many years and it was such a huge honor and pleasure to have met you, blah, blah, blah.

Michel Fortin: That brightened up my day and to me that – I don’t need to have recognition in the other way where I actually have to put out stuff in the world to get recognized but one tiny little email made the difference in my way just as much as what we were talking at the beginning, Ralph, about spending just five minutes with somebody at a seminar somewhere, how much of a difference you made in that person’s day and that’s the kind of recognition. I enjoy that more than the actual pats on the back that I get in the public way. I prefer the small private little ones because they put a smile on my face.

October 23, 2006

"Part 8: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, that’s amazing. You know, everybody has upsets, offenses and people that oppose you in their lifetimes. How important is it to forgive those that upset, offend and oppose you?

Michel Fortin: How important is to what?

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to forgive others who upset, offend or oppose you?

Michel Fortin: Ralph Zuranski, did you now that forgiveness is a very selfish thing? Did you know that actually forgiving is not because you’re doing it for the other person. You, you know, forgiveness is probably the most selfish act you could ever do and it’s a good selfish act because when you forgive you are releasing all the tension, all the bad stuff that you’re holding onto that’s gonna cause you great problems, great turmoil.

If you forgive and you let go, it’s unbelievable the release that you get in your life. I, you know, I used to be stubborn. I would look eat a person and the person who would do me wrong and I would be stubborn enough to say I hate that person and I’ll never talk to that person again. But who’s really being hurt here?

Michel Fortin: Now, I’m doing it because I’m thinking that I don’t want to give the person either the pleasure of my forgiveness or I just don’t want, I want to show the person I’m really mad at that person. Once you forgive you let go and guess whose life is going to be more enriched? Both of yours, of course, but the most important person is you. So forgiveness is extremely important because the more you forgive the more you can let go of all the nasty stuff and start working on the good stuff in your life.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. Well, how important is service to others as a source of joy? Do you find joy in serving others?

Michel Fortin: Well, it’s the same idea, you know. Jim Rohn said don’t become wealthy at the expense of others; become wealthy at the service of others. Every single person who has made, for example, a lot of money in this world or even every single person who is happiest in this world is a people who are at the service of others.

Michel Fortin: Whether you’ve built wealth because you produce a product or provided a service that was at the service of others or you gave value to other people’s lives or you gave your life to charity serving others, to me that is so important because by doing that it is like forgiveness in a sense, where you can get out of that this huge feeling in yourself that you’ve accomplished something that is true to you, not something that is going to be a goal that you reach in the future, not something that is going to be true to the other people around you who you’re serving and you’re thinking that you’re just doing this for other people.

Michel Fortin: No, you’re doing it for yourself. Gosh, you know, it’s so important for you to understand and I’m speaking to the people listening to this call. It’s so important for you to understand that when you give of yourself, you know, the law of karma is there. You get back, and sometimes ten times more, what you give out and it’s the same thing in a bad way. If you are bad to the world, if you don’t serve others, if you withhold the goodness that you can put out in the world it will come back and bite you in the butt. So yeah, I believe in being at the service of others, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to maintain a sense of humor in the face of adversity?

Michel Fortin: The greatest cure for pretty much all disease that has actually been scientifically proven, although there’s still, you know, it’s premature now, but there are more and more tests being proven that laughter, you know, laughter is the greatest immune system kicker.

Michel Fortin: They found out, and I don’t know where these tests are, this is anecdotal so I can’t back this up. I read so much about it, but there are tests that have proven in the moment of laughter that your endorphins get kicked in. The dopamine in your brain and your body gets kicked in.

Michel Fortin: Your hormone levels get, you know, kicked up a notch and those things in turn increase the immune system and those things help to fight off disease. I’m not saying that that’s true in every case. I mean, I don’t want to say a person who has cancer should laugh their way, you know, until they’re healthy again.

Michel Fortin: That’s not my point, but maybe if they’re hurting while they have cancer laughter is a good way to take their mind off of it as the most basic and fundamental, to also even being able to help cure you because laughter is the source of goodness in the world but it is also the source of goodness in your own self, body-wise as much as mind-wise.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. Other than Jim Rohn, who are the other heroes in your life?

Michel Fortin: Oh, my goodness, do you have a couple of hours?

Ralph Zuranski: Sure.

Michel Fortin: I have, I have a lot of mentors in my life but I think there’s quite a few of them. I’m not a religious person. I am a very spiritual person and I read a lot on spiritual leaders because I believe they have a lot to teach us, whether it’s Jesus or the person actually I’m really referring to is the Buddha.

Michel Fortin: I’m not a Buddhist but I enjoy reading a lot about the Buddha. I’ve read the Darma Potta, the Bagabagita, for example, and other books of other spiritual leaders and they’re mentors to me because they show, you know, they lead by example.

Michel Fortin: They’re the perfect example of love and goodness in this world and what they teach is more important than, you know, I’m not going to say that you should believe in the virgin birth and the crucifixion and all that stuff in Jesus’ life but did you actually take the chance to stop and just read the words that Jesus uttered, for example, on the Mount?

Michel Fortin: The lives that they led, whether, and I don’t mean to say that from a religious perspective, of course. I’m just saying just listen to what people teach you. Listen. Don’t, you know, don’t hear. Yes, I hear what you’re saying.

Michel Fortin: No, listen and those are the mentors that mean a lot to me. Another few mentors, modern-age mentors, I’m a big fan of Brian Tracy. I’m a big fan of Jim Rohn, of course. Tony Alessandra and also the funny part about it is I have, I’ve learned a lot of things from current spiritual leaders and I do believe that Joseph Campbell, who is probably one of my biggest mentor in that realm, has taught me so much about the power of the inner self and Joseph Campbell is the one who uttered those famous words, “follow your bliss”, and he is one of them.

Michel Fortin: Florence Scobelshin is another. John Mandall Price. Those are more of the spiritual kind of guys, but I – Luis Haye – so I read a lot about that stuff. Now, you can say it’s all metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. The point is not to believe in whether it’s metaphysical or not. The fact is I just listened and learned to apply whatever I learned in the way I want to to my life and that’s the whole point of any religious, any philosophy, any thinking process, is not to believe in what people tell you. It is to make use of it.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think there are any heroes in our society that aren’t getting the recognition that they deserve?

Michel Fortin: Repeat the question again, please.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you feel that there are any real heroes in our society today that aren’t getting the recognition that they deserve?

Michel Fortin: Absolutely, but you know, those who are the real heroes are people who don’t seek recognition in the first place. They’re not heroes for the sake of recognition. They’re heroes because they’re heroes.

Michel Fortin: You know, to answer your question by very blunt answer, yes of course there are heroes out there today in today’s world that do deserve more recognition but you ask them that question, what do you think they’ll say? I don’t care. I do what I feel is right, point, period. You know? And that’s the more important thing about that.

October 22, 2006

"Part 7: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: How important is belief that your dreams will actually become reality?

Michel Fortin: How important is the belief that your dreams will become reality? There is, first of all it is extremely important but it’s not important to the degree that you might think. I don’t believe that people should believe that their dreams become reality because belief is something that almost, you can’t change on a whim. How can you believe something that you don’t believe?

Michel Fortin: Can you force yourself to believe into something? Can you believe in your dream? No, you can’t. It’s not something you can change on a whim, you know. If I don’t like asparagus today, do I have to force myself to like asparagus? No, I mean, I can’t change the way I feel. If I don’t believe in my dreams today I can’t switch it just like with one flick of a switch and say I’m believing in my dream, but here’s the difference.

Michel Fortin: If I have dreams and I do tiny little things that will make me consciously purposeful every single day as I head towards my dreams, the more and more this internal switch will flick on for you not only to believe in your dreams but to know that your dreams will become reality. And there’s big difference between belief and knowing.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s a profound point when you know in the process of trying to achieve your dreams there’s a tremendous amount of doubts and fears and a lot of people in your life will try to crush your dream because they don’t want you to change for fear of having to change themselves. How did you overcome your doubts and fears?

Michel Fortin: By journaling is the one. The other point is to always constantly listen to yourself and to be true to your own self. You know, to thine own self be true, in Shakespeare Hamlet, you know? And the one thing that you have to understand is, you know, this is absolutely so true.

Michel Fortin: We are like, you know, and I don’t mean to proselytize for any religion and I don’t mean to sound religious, but we are all like Jesus where we’re crucified between two thieves, tomorrow and yesterday’s ****, or in other words, fear and guilt.

Michel Fortin: The fear of what’s going to happen tomorrow and the guilt of what happened in the past, and there’s always gonna be that but, you know, like Jesus, he was true to himself. He did what he needed to do. Well, like yourself, if you have fears and you have doubts, that’s perfectly fine as long as you realize that the more focused you are on yourself the more you let the inner you tell you what to do, guide you in what you’re doing, the more you, like, you know, writing to yourself as much as even talking to other people about how you feel about certain things, that is learning process that will give you the ammunition to destroy lack and limitation.

Michel Fortin: There’s also another thing. I know, I think it’s the most important. The greatest creator of fear is a low self esteem. Any lack and limitation in your life that are there, you know. Don’t just, you know, they’re not just lack and limitations because they exist. They’re lack and limitations because you believe they are lack and limitation.

Michel Fortin: The only way to circum that, to overcome that, to destroy those fears, at least to reduce it, is to increase the belief that you have in your own self. The more you work on your own self esteem, the more you have confidence in yourself or the more you work on having confidence in yourself, all the other fears and all the things that are destroying or attempting to destroy the things that are good to you in your life or the things that you want to do in your life will almost dissipate by themselves because you’ve become a bigger believer in the best thing that ever happened in this world, and that’s you.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, is there anybody that helped give you the willpower to change things in your lives for the better?

Michel Fortin: Well, like I said whenever I grew up I had a mentor, and I’ll tell you one thing that really has the most profound impact in my life. He kept telling me every single day something very, and it may not sound profound, but he said “turn off the tape recorder”. Okay? Now, let me explain what that means. I was a salesman and as I grew up and I was trying to make sales I had fears and doubts but a lot of times it’s because I was saying that to my own self.

Michel Fortin: There was a tape recorder in my mind that kept telling me I’m stupid, I’m a failure, I don’t, I’ll never amount to much, I will always, I’m gonna fail or this is not for me of this is too lofty of an ambition for me or this is impossible for me to reach, blah, blah, blah. My mentor kept telling me – he was a, you know, sometimes he would just look at me and I wouldn’t even say a word and he would look at me and he will say, “turn the tape recorder off, Mike”.

Michel Fortin: And that is the most profound thing that I’ve ever, ever been taught because we all have tape recorders in our minds. We do become what we think about. We, you know, you reap what you sow. If you think you’re a failure, if you think that you will fail, if you think that, you know, you’re not good enough or whatever, then you are. You are what you think and, you know, big philosophy that I go by is the Latin **** by a philosopher by the name of Rudi DeCarte is 1637 and what it means is, in Latin it means “I think, therefore I am”. If you think you’re a failure, you are.

Michel Fortin: If you’re thinking you’re a success, you are. So that thing that my mentor kept telling me, “turn the tape recorder off” is just a very modern way to look at it but it’s so true and that has changed my life.

October 21, 2006

"Part 6: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: You know, it’s funny that you talk about journaling. Lori Morgan Forall, who’s another copywriter, I did her interview and she had suffered sexual abuse as a young person and she’s not creating a course using journaling to help other women overcome just the trauma of that situation in growing up. So it’s fascinating that you would talk about journaling. It really helped you also.

Michel Fortin: Oh, absolutely. I hurt in my journals so much, especially in those, those dark times in my life, you know, and it’s also a great reference tool because it makes you more resilient that next time something happens in the future if it happens again, or whenever you do have a chance to go back and reflect and review entries in your journal you realize how far you’ve grown and that in itself is a strengthening process because then you can see wow, I really went through that. I really felt that way? Oh my goodness, how far I’ve grown and that in itself makes you grow even more, even in good times.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, you know, what is the dream or vision that sets the course of your life?

Michel Fortin: The dream or vision that sets the course of my life. There is – I live by one motto and one motto alone. I don’t believe in goals. I don’t believe in an end result specifically in my life. You know, there’s two types of people in this world.

Michel Fortin: There are the people who always will live in the future where they always have something that they want to look for, a vision or a dream or whatever, like you just said. Then there are people who are in the rapture of the moment, people like artists, you know. They’re, I think it was, I can’t remember exactly who but I believe it was Dr. Tony Alessandra who said that you’ve got rowers and you’ve got drifters and then there’s nothing bad with either one of them.

Michel Fortin: People who row, going toward a destination, will row. People who drift will enjoy the scenery along the way as they drift in that river going towards the ocean. Me, that’s what it is and the point is this. If you want me to say that I do have a dream or a vision it is this, to always do what I love. Joseph Campbell said it best, follow your bliss. Do what you love. The money will follow; the business will follow; the success will follow.

Michel Fortin: Even if those things don’t, the fact that once you go through your life and you end up looking back on your life and you say I really enjoyed my life. I’ve really done something that I totally love, so do what you love or love what you do. That’s the ultimate vision and it’s my vision.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, in everybody’s life, you know, there’s positive – I mean, there’s setbacks, there’s misfortunes and mistakes that we make. How important is it to be an optimist and take a positive view of things?

Michel Fortin: Well, optimism has a lot of sometimes bad connotations as much as good connotations.

Ralph Zuranski: Really?

Michel Fortin: You know, optimism is not motivation and people misinterpret that, you know, optimism with for example a positive mental attitude. The one thing that you need the most and that’s beyond being an optimist is not just being a realist but being a student. If you have a bad situation, try to learn as much as you can and try to learn – and that’s why journaling is so important – and try to learn as much as you can in terms of looking at the positive aspect of what happened.

Michel Fortin: You know, there’s a technique called the best and better technique. Look what – what’s the best you can pull from every situation and how you can be better next time – how you can better your own self from the event. Is that an optimist? Not necessarily. People will take optimism and look at it as some form of motivation.

Michel Fortin: Jim Rohn said it best. You know, if somebody’s going down the wrong road they don’t need motivation to speed them up, they need education to turn them around. You know? So being an optimist is not some Pollyanna, bang your head against the wall and hey it hurts but hey, I’m happy about it and I’ll keep, you know, bumping myself against the way.

Michel Fortin: No, I think if you want to look at optimism in the best way is to look at it as an educational process. Learn, and drilling is part of it, sitting down with people, talking with them, spending time with them, reading books, you know, spending your time on learning as much as you possibly can.

Michel Fortin: You will be able to go down the right road. Fast or slow doesn’t matter and that’s not optimism. That’s just being, you know, that’s just following your conscience. That’s just being a realist, I guess. It’s not being pessimist. It’s not being optimist. It’s probably an optimal point of looking at it, an optimal point or way to look at things but it’s not necessarily optimistic.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, do you think it takes courage to pursue new ideas?

Michel Fortin: It absolutely takes courage. I mean, you know, courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to take risks when there is fear, you know. As the old saying goes for people who, like speakers when they speak onstage, they say you’ll never be able to get rid of those butterflies. Your job is to make those butterflies dance in formation and courage is that.

Michel Fortin: You know, if I pray to any one God or any one Spirit or any one process in this world, I pray for three major things strength, courage and wisdom. And the strength to be able to do what is necessary, the courage to be able to go ahead and do it, the courage to be able to also accept defeat when you need to accept defeat, and the wisdom, exactly, that’s the prayer of serenity that they use for example in Alcoholics’ Anonymous, and it’s – that’s the most beautiful prayer in the world because then you have, you know, the wisdom to know the difference, the wisdom to know what to do, when to do it, how to do it, who to say it to, at what time, and when not to do things, when to shut up, when to stop yourself from doing things that you shouldn’t be doing, stuff like that, so to me courage, yeah, absolutely.

Michel Fortin: If you have a new idea, you know, you’re always pushing the envelope in every day of your life because you’re always growing and evolving. The problem is are you going to be pushing it by a millimeter today or are you going to be pushing it by a yard and that takes courage and it also takes courage to realize that in the first place, not just courage to do it. That takes strength but to me courage is absolutely necessary, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, do you think that in the process of pursuing new ideas and using that courage that you’re gonna experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dreams?

Michel Fortin: Well, absolutely. I mean, that’s, you know, it’s like, you know, going through life, you know. If you’re ever going to do something you have to take the goods and the bads with it. The good will outweigh the bad, of course, but there will always be bad. There’s always gonna be a discomfort.

Michel Fortin: We, you know, if – but here’s the point and coming back and tying it to what I was saying earlier. If you do what you love, if you do something that you have zest and passion and you’re so fully absorbed in the process you tend to not even think of the discomfort even though you are actually feeling it, your body is feeling it. If I’m doing something that I love, and I’m just gonna finish this because it’s important.

Michel Fortin: If I do something that I love the discomfort level will be on the back burner in my mind, although it will always be there. You know, Yanni, very famous composer who writes New Age-type music, he’s, you know, he’s like me in a certain way. Whenever he writes a whole CD or a new song or even a new kind of, a better word for it is symphony, he locks himself in his room for two, three weeks at a time and he forgets to bathe, he forgets to eat, he forgets to sleep, because he is so engrossed in the moment.

Michel Fortin: Discomfort, yes, but are you actually, you know, are you focused on your discomfort? No, if you do something, you know, you love. In fact, here’s another way and a final way and I’ll finish it with this is if you do what you love, then you’ll have a chance to look at all the things that are uncomfortable, drudgery, perfunctory or even painful, as things that are important to you because they’re part of something that gives you purpose. You will turn the important into the urgent.

Michel Fortin: You will turn the discomfort into comfort. It’s like a natural, I guess, physical knee-jerk reaction. I can’t really express it well enough in words but essentially you’ll be able to turn the uncomfortable into the comfort or you’ll be able to accept or have a tolerance level higher if you were doing something you absolutely love because that purpose drives you and everything that happens to you that may be bad or may make you uncomfortable is so in the back of your mind and you just trudge along and you will be going wherever you want to go.

October 20, 2006

"Part 5: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: You know, people, you know, they fear to do anything because they fear they’re gonna fail and when catastrophic events like that occur to some people, they never recover. Would you say that it’s those events that change the course of our life for the better?

Michel Fortin: Those events are those that do change your life but you have to – there’s, like, you know, like death. There’s a grieving process to go through. When you’re in the thick of things at that moment in your life you’ll probably be depressed. You’ll probably have a hard time trying to see the lesson for what it is.

Michel Fortin: But when you have a chance to go through the grieving process, this pseudo-grieving process I guess is a better way to call it, take a step back and look at your – I mean, that’s why I’m a big believer in writing in journals. In fact, the book that I just mentioned just not too long ago was a book that was actually a way to write to my own self on how to deal with the things that I was going through in my life but it was like writing in my own journal because that way you can teach yourself to be better.

Michel Fortin: You can teach yourself to accept things better. You can teach yourself to get out of that rut. You can teach yourself – you know, Jim Rohn said it best.

Michel Fortin: If you are in a low point in your life, go help out somebody else who’s in a low point and the same low point as you because by teaching others you, you know, or by helping others, you are actually helping your own self because then you can take a step back and say well, gosh, I’m telling this person how to get out of this situation and I’m in the situation myself and then you realize, because what happens is you let this intuition flow, this consciousness flow and you realize that you will get out of that rut by doing that so at that, yeah, to answer your question, to me that’s what I would do.

Michel Fortin: actually writing in a journal but most often when you have an opportunity to, you know, go through the grieving process, do, be depressed, be – those are things, you know, if you’re unhappy because something really bad happened to you that’s perfectly fine, but then when that’s done take a step back and then you’ll learn, you’ll see the lesson for what it is and you’ll grow from it.

Michel Fortin: Some people, they don’t step back, so what they do is they keep themselves in that depression mode. Some people have bad things happen to them in their lives and they stay there for a very, very long time simply because they want to stay in there. Wayne Dyer said it best, your body has a natural ability to heal itself. If you have a cut on your arm are you going to force it to stay open so that you – because you want the world to see hey, look, I have an open wound here. I’m hurting, I’m hurting, take care of me.

Michel Fortin: Or even yourself, because it gives you some feeling of grandeur, the fact that you are hurting, the fact that you are, you know, because it means something to you. No, your body’s natural process is to heal its own self. The same way if something bad happens to you emotionally or psychically as well as physiologically.

Michel Fortin: Your body has a natural tendency to heal itself. Let the healing do its own job. It takes time. You don’t heal overnight of a cut wound just as you won’t heal overnight of a bad situation or a bad event that happened in your life, but once you heal now is the chance – that scar, you know what scar tissue is. That tissue is your body’s process to strengthen that one area that was broken.

Michel Fortin: You know bones that are broken, when they heal become even stronger than they were before. That’s the process of even a bad event that happens in your life. Something bad happens to you and once you’ve healed yes, you will have scars, but you can turn your scars into stars because those scars are like shields that will protect you in case this stuff happens again and it will make you stronger and I believe in that totally.

October 19, 2006

"Part 4: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. Well, you know, there are certain principles that people are willing to sacrifice their lives for. Are there any principles that you’re willing to sacrifice your life for?

Michel Fortin: I think so. The one thing that I believe in terms of principles is, the biggest one is, humility and it’s something that I’ve learned in the process of my growing up and learning the problems, going through the problems that I went through when I was a child.

Michel Fortin: If you look at, for example, some of, you know, people have egos and it’s normal and it’s natural and we all have things that we, you know, that are near and dear to every single person and people will fight for what their egos tell them that they need to fight for. I’m a very humble person. I always like to take the low road. I do like the approval. I do like the limelight but if I feel that somebody else can take it for me, if I feel that if there is something that I can do that if it takes away from me but it makes somebody else’s life better I will do that. That’s a really hard lesson to learn in humility.

Michel Fortin: Whenever you look at, for example, some of the discussion boards that I’m participating in, sometimes you get these really fierce **** and there was a couple of times when people actually were against some of the things that I’ve either actually said or done and I will go into the board and I will say, you know, I so understand how you feel. I have to look at it from the perspective of the other person and I humble myself by saying, listen, every single person in this world is a teacher.

Michel Fortin: Everybody teaches you in some way, people who are nasty to you as much as people who are good to you. They’re all just teachers. They’re not good; they’re not bad. It’s not black and white. Things that happen to you or things that people tell you, it’s all teaching you something. Your consciousness is where you come to the realization that I am ready to learn, just like the old Confucian saying that when the student is ready the teacher will appear.

Michel Fortin: To me teachers are people or events or things that happen and as a humbled person, my guiding principle is to always look at every single thing as some kind of a lesson and that’s the principle I would sacrifice for, yes, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, you know, everybody has low points in their life. I know you’ve had a fair number of those events in your life. What was the lowest point in your life and how did you change your path to have victory over the obstacles at that time?

Michel Fortin: I recently wrote – that’s actually not true. I wrote a book over ten years ago that I just recently put to the Internet for free, and it was a book that I’d written as a way to teach my own self how to go through some of the hardships that I was going at that time. I was a go getting, goal-achieving, goal-oriented, Type A personality, do as much as you possibly can-type person and I realized that I was achieving a lot.

Michel Fortin: I was making a lot of money. I was a salesperson working on commission and I was doing very well until I realized that I was neglecting and ignoring other things, and especially my own self, the quality of my life. I was focusing too much on quantity of time rather than quality of life.

Michel Fortin: Well, lo and behold, in what seemed like a matter of hours I lost everything in my life my home, my car, my furniture, my wife. I lost everything and then I went into bankruptcy and I even had to look at sleeping at the YMCA for shelter and then I started writing that book and I realized there are far more important things out there than, you know – first of all, people are more important and second of all is time.

Michel Fortin: Time is a commodity, a scarce commodity and what you don’t do in this moment is something you will never be able to do, in that moment anyways. When that moment’s gone, it’s gone. Do you want to spend it working like, you know, on your business? Sure, if it gives you some kind of feeling that I’m doing something that I absolutely love to do or do you want to work in a job dreading those years until you retire? Or are you going to work so much that you neglect the people that you love or the people who you love? So the point, I’m saying, is that low of the low that I have gone through was the most precious and beautiful gift that I have ever received. It was the biggest lesson that I had to learn and that’s what I – that pretty much encompasses everything I just said up until this point.

October 18, 2006

"Part 3: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: Boy, isn’t that true? Well, I know that you had a pretty rough childhood. Did you ever create a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with those difficulties?

Michel Fortin: Well, not necessarily. I have been, I guess, on the Internet for quite a long time and the date, the ages of pre-Internet, like Bolton board services and stuff like that, and there was some games that I used to play that were like Dungeons and Dragons and I guess one of the things that I loved about playing those kinds of games was people didn’t know who I really was so people didn’t have to disapprove of me because I had this huge fear of rejection, this huge need for approval when I was growing up because of the my, the abuse of my childhood. So the people, the friends that I’ve made on those Bolton board services, even though I was lost – I really wasn’t a sociable person. I was a quasi-agoraphobic, I guess, but those people were my heroes.

Michel Fortin: Those people were the people who every time I logged in, and I remember having a 300 baud modem in those days on a Radio Shack color computer 64, which is comparable to the Commodore 64 with a one-line text browser where, you know, you type in one line of text, you press enter and it takes about 15 minutes for you to respond. Well, those people were my heroes and then I guess later on as I grew up and I became a teenager there was a gentleman who became a mentor of mine and he was a big fan of motivational speakers, spiritual thinkers, psychologists and people who actually have made differences in the lives of other people, so I became a fanatical student of Jim Rohn.

Michel Fortin: Jim Rohn is probably the premiere gentleman who has made changes in my life as much as in my business life, which was Dan Kennedy, who’s also a big believer in having a positive mental attitude, in making the best out of your day and so on and so forth. So those were my, I guess if you want to call them secret heroes, they were my heroes. You know, I’ll give you an example. there is a quote that’s hanging above my desk, and I’m looking at it right now as I speak to you, Ralph, and it’s been hanging there for almost a decade and it’s from Jim Rohn and it says, “There are some things you don’t have to know how it works. The main thing is that it works. While some people are studying the roots, others are picking the fruit. Life or success or whatever you want to call it, it just depends on which end of this you want to get in on.”

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.

Michel Fortin: And that, to me, changed my life around because I was always overanalyzing. I was always trying to perfect. I was always trying to figure out ways to deal with the certain problems I had when I was growing up as a child.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.

Michel Fortin: And that made me realize just do what needs to be done. Do what works and don’t question it, and that changed my life around.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, you know there’s a real controversy in these days about goodness, ethics and moral behavior. What is your perspective?

Michel Fortin: There is, you know, there is – I can debate about this and we can go into big philosophical arguments about what is right, what is morally right, you know, and all that stuff. I’m a big believer in something that is very special to me. It is that we all have a, you know, we have three minds.

Michel Fortin: We have the conscious mind, we have the subconscious mind, but we also have the super-conscious mind with a term that was originally coined by psychologist William James, and what happens is that super-conscious mind, your intuition, your conscience, is telling you every single moment of every single day what to do and what is right, and when people feel shame or guilt or something that makes them feel that they’ve done something wrong it is not because it’s either wrong or right, it’s simply because it was not in proper alignment with their own set of values, their own intuitions, their own super-conscious mind.

Michel Fortin: If you want, you know, if you are in the process of thinking about doing something, take some time out to think about it twice rather than just going at it. Sure, sometimes you need to be expedient but look at it from the perspective of is this something that meets and matches my conscience? Is this something that I feel is right? And that’s the point. You know, you can say that we can talk about, you know, the arbitrary gray area of what ethics is and what it ain’t.

Michel Fortin: I don’t think that it’s a legal – it’s not black and white. But everybody has a conscience. Everybody has a consciousness. So to me, if you really want to do what is good in the world, if you want to do something that’s “ethical”, it’s not a religious question and it’s not a moral question. It is an inner question. Does it meet your conscience? Does it follow your intuition? Does it feel right rather than is it just right or is it textbook right or is it, you know, according by the law right?

October 17, 2006

"Part 2: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soulmate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: Well, let me go ahead and ask the questions, because I know I’m breaking into your productive time now. What is your definition of heroism?

Michel Fortin: If somebody goes out there and does one tiny little thing that makes some kind of a change in the world. It doesn’t have to be a huge legacy-type thing. It could be one tiny little thing. You go to, for example, an orphanage and you spend just ten minutes with an orphan or you go to a seniors’ home or you see somebody who’s trying to cross the street and has difficulty and whether it’s a person who has some kind of handicap or even a person who is fearful and you help them cross the street.

Michel Fortin: To me that means somebody who’s a hero. To me that means somebody who has impressed in that one person’s tiny little timeframe of their life, that little grain of dust, something that means a lot to them. You know, there’s an old proverb, an old story of a person who was walking along the beach and saw, you know, starfishes that were beached and takes one and throws it into the ocean and the other person said, you know, “How can you make a difference when there’s so many of these starfishes on the beach?”

He said, “Well, I made a difference with that one.” And that’s the point is that you don’t have to be a huge success; you don’t have to do some tremendous thing in order to be a hero. You can do something that is a blink in eternity that can mean something to someone. To me, that’s a hero.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, and boy that’s true. Gregory Alan Williams, a person that wrote the book about saving a man’s life in the L.A. riots, he says there’s a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best of us and when somebody just does something good for somebody else that they actually become a hero.

Michel Fortin: Absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: Does that fit your definition?

Michel Fortin: Absolutely. Oh, yeah. You know, one thing I do, for example, when I go to a seminar, whether I’m a speaker or just somebody in the audience and somebody comes up to me and asks me one simple question. Now, it could be something business-related but it also could be something in terms of the seminar.

It could be something as easy as what kind of, what do you think about the speakers, whatever. You know, those are things of course, but the thing is that person values my opinion and whatever I say I am going to make a difference, maybe not in that person’s entire life. I may make a difference in that person’s day or that person’s, you know, next hour or so but I made a difference and that’s what a hero is. To make a difference, how big or small.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, that’s one of the things that really impressed me about you is that you took the time. No matter how many people came up to you at the different conferences, you always drop what you’re doing and make sure you developed a relationship with that person and, you know, that’s pretty rare for somebody that’s attained the fame that you have in this industry.

Michel Fortin: Well, I have had, I mean, you know this, Ralph, specifically because it actually happened with you. There is some point where I’m about to burst. I need to take some time out, but I can tell you that I truly believe in the Will Rogers dogma where he says that he finds a little bit of something interesting in every single person he meets, and that’s true.

I, you know, I meet people where that person may be to a degree, I guess, in my business, if you want to look at it that way, insignificant, but holy geez, when you spend just five minutes talking with that person now either you’ve made a difference in that person’s life and that makes you feel good, or that person might have given you one tiny little tidbit of an idea, of some information, some feedback that will make a difference in your life and to me, I don’t want to lose those opportunities so every single person I meet I will try – I cannot guarantee, but I will try – to spend some time with each and every person and that’s why I think that that’s crucial, like you just said, is that, you know, you go to a seminar.

You don’t want to blockade yourself because the biggest amount of learning I have made in a seminar is in the hallways, in the bars, in the restaurants, outside the seminar, outside when people are chatting and smoking or whatever the case may be. Those are the opportunities for you to learn a little something that can make a dramatic difference in your business and if somebody passes you by and even if you just needed to take 30 seconds, you just miss that opportunity that could have made you either a lot of money, you know, changed your life or made you happier at least for that day.

October 16, 2006

"Part 1: Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski

Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier found their soul-mate in each other and were recently married. Just before their marriage, Sylvie discovered she had a lump in her breast that was cancerous.

She is one of the internet heroes I have yet to interveiw because both my parents are near death and on hospice. It is a full time job keeping them alive.

Sylvie and Michel are sharing Sylvie's experiences with regaining her health in her blog at: BreastCancerVictory Michel's heroes interview was so inspiring, I felt moved to publish it in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

Michel's response to his wife's health challenges is simply amazing. When you read his interview, you will realize why I chose him as one of my heroes. When you read about Sylvie's pathway back to health, you will understand why she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
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Ralph Zuranski: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski. I’m on the phone with Michel Fortin Fortin. He’s one of the leading copywriters in the world today. He is so successful in his writing that he’s helped a number of the Internet marketers achieve $1 million dollar days in sales. He has been at a number of the Internet conferences that I’ve taken photos at and run the computers, and I have to say that Michel Fortin knows more about copywriting and testing copy than anybody that I’ve ever met.

I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s such a great teacher and also such a great copywriter is he tests every aspect of copywriting to find out what works and what doesn’t. I know that most of the time on any of the copywriting pieces that he creates, he has like four or five tests all run simultaneously on the color, the fonts, the placement of images. I mean it is truly amazing. He is a scientist when it comes to developing copywriting that really works. How are you doing today, Michel Fortin?

Michel Fortin: I’m doing well, Ralph. Thank you very much for asking.

Ralph Zuranski: I really appreciate you taking your busy time. I know you get like a thousand emails a day and you’re in incredible demand. I hope that’s not all spam.

Michel Fortin: Oh, actually those are real emails. I probably get two or three thousand emails that include spam.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I remember that you’re one of the first people to help volunteer with the “In Search of Heroes” program back at the big seminar when I put the wrong name on your photo.

Michel Fortin: Yes, that’s right.

Ralph Zuranski: I was so embarrassed. You contacted me and said you’ve got somebody else’s name on my photo. I think that endeared you to me immediately. I was so embarrassed.

Michel Fortin: Well, I didn’t mind it so much. The other guy looked – he was a little bit better looking than me.

October 14, 2006

"Part 14: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: How are you making the world a better place?

Jeff Wright: I’m blessed to be a part of a ministry and a business that can do things like bring the Guardian Line, some positive characters to the comic universe, to be able to bring teaching resources to many thousands of churches around the country and to give away resources that particularly speak to people of African descent in the context of their culture.

Jeff Wright: I believe as we help to shape cultural and Biblical worldview in the lives of people through the teaching resources and the content resources that we develop at UMI, the world is becoming a better place. Transforming lives so that they can be used by God to His glory is making the world a better place.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you have any good solutions for the problems facing society, especially racism, child abuse and spousal abuse, and violence among young people?

Jeff Wright: Again, I believe that it is really important today, especially as Americans, that we limit our participation and our support of and our consumption of negative media content.

Jeff Wright: I may sound like a broken record on this but I think that is perhaps the single greatest problem that we face today. If we can begin to focus on more positive content and then take positive actions to do the things that we as a nation may be uniquely equipped to do, it can make a difference in the world.

Ralph Zuranski: If you had three wishes for your life and the world that would instantly come true what would they be?

Jeff Wright: I guess my first would be to end injustice and oppression and expose the evil that is so pervasive in our society today. The second thing would be to get us to a place where person to person, man to man, woman to woman, we come to a place where we are judging people by the content of their character and where we all begin to understand that this world, this life that we live, is one that should have an opportunity for everyone and that all people count. And I wish that were an understanding that we had and not the privileged few.

Jeff Wright: I have a third wish, right? Well, I’m not going to wish for world peace. And I can’t wish for more wishes.

(Laughter)

Jeff Wright: I have to say that I do think that there is a unique situation with such a small group of people, 5% of the world’s population here in the U.S., having nearly half of the wealth of this planet. If we could see a way that we could be used to make a difference in the lives of the billions of people who are food insecure, who have no clean water and inadequate housing, this country could take on the vision of using its great wealth to really make a difference in the areas of world hunger, disease, inadequate food and shelter, which is something I believe we could actually do. I would like to see that happen.

Ralph Zuranski: What do you think of the In Search of Heroes program and its impact on youth, parents and business people?

Jeff Wright: The In Search of Heroes program is a tremendous program in part because it is doing a good thing, but mostly because of its accessibility through the Internet, putting a positive message out globally through this resource will change lives. And I believe that positive visions disseminated widely may be perhaps the most important use of the Internet. And your work with this resource will certainly bear much fruit as we hear testimonies of people who perhaps aren’t even alive yet about how their lives have changed because of the content that they encountered in In Search of Heroes.

Ralph Zuranski: Jeff, I really appreciate your time and I thank you for answering the questions. I have to say that it is truly profound, the things that you had to say, and it’s something that every person would benefit from hearing. I just really appreciate what you are doing with Urban Ministries. It’s a great thing to bring positive images into the comic book industry.

I just congratulate you and Michael for what you are doing.

Jeff Wright: Thank you so much. Thank you for selecting us and for the opportunity to share. We really, really appreciate it.

Ralph Zuranski: Thanks again and God bless you and have a great day.

Jeff Wright: Thank you.

October 13, 2006

"Part 13: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: What are the things that parents can do that will help their children realize they, too, can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others?

Jeff Wright: I believe that parents today can do a number of very practical things. They can help their children realize their full potential as heroes and as people and as individuals who can be used by God.

Jeff Wright: Number one, limit the amount of television their children watch. I think television needs to be rationed for children. Why? Because it’s just too negative and it’s too hard to keep them on TVLand and the one or two positive channels that are there.

Jeff Wright: I believe more good could be done by simply measuring and monitoring the amount of media consumption, especially television, in our society than perhaps any single act.

Jeff Wright: I think parents should also be very actively involved in all of the information and media content that their children are consuming. It would be unthinkable, some of the lyrics and the music that any child can go into a Target or a Kmart or a music store today and buy and get ideas that are literally poisoning their future. Parents need to be engaged in that.

Jeff Wright: Parents need to make sure that their number one responsibility is to become a faith mentor to their children, to teach them to have a life of faith, a life of understanding, trust, and belief in God’s Word and Biblical worldview and to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That is a critical part.

Jeff Wright: Jesus can be the greatest hero to those who accept Him and He should be. And I think that’s the role of the parents.

Jeff Wright: I also believe that it is very, very important as a parent to be deliberate, consistently deliberate, in bringing positive visions of what can be into the view of children. You do that by doing the ordinary things that aren’t so ordinary any more like taking children to museums and being actively involved with children in the social events of everyday life. You do that by being involved in their school and making sure that you are there as a parent to provide as many positive outcomes and experiences as negative that children will experience in the world today.

Ralph Zuranski: How do people become heroes?

Jeff Wright: It begins with a decision. You make a decision that you are going to go in a different direction or in a positive direction or that you are going to pursue a vision. It all starts with a decision.

Ralph Zuranski: How does it feel to be recognized as a hero?

Jeff Wright: This is a tremendous honor for me. I appreciate the work that you are doing in trying to identify heroes and I’m not sure as I look at the lives of some of the people that have been recognized as Internet heroes that I’m even worthy to be in the group. But I’m certainly honored and I appreciate that.

Jeff Wright: This is a credit really to what God has done in my life in allowing me to accomplish and to even have the mind to do some of the things that I’ve done. So I am humbled and appreciative.

Ralph Zuranski: How will being recognized as a hero change your life?

Jeff Wright: I’m going to be a little bit more careful about what I say and do because somebody may say, “Hey, I saw you on the Internet and there you are speeding down the highway.”

October 12, 2006

"Be Uniquely Ubiquitous" by Michel Fortin

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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Many have asked me, "Mike, why have so many dotcoms crashed when they were unique?" They explain, "You preach that being unique is a prerequisite for being successful -- but if these companies were unique, why did they fail?" Good question.

Of course, there are many variables, here. From poorly managed funds to untested and unproven business models, I also believe that many dotcoms have fallen because they *were* unique.

Let me backup a little.

I've mentioned many times in this editorial that you need to stand out like a sore thumb (e.g., niche marketing being one example). With so many competitors on the web, if you're not unique in some way, be it with the product, package, target market or delivery, you'll just appear like everyone else.

No one will see a benefit in buying from you any greater than your neighbor. (For many people, your website will thus look like one huge blur. Everything will seem repetitious.)

You need to be unique, true. And many dotcoms were. But many of them failed miserably since their business models, which may have been unique, were never tried. Pundits predicted that uniqueness would give firms a winning edge in today's new "e-conomy." But they failed for myriad reasons, including the fact that they were only unique in concept, not in practice.

In other words, you need to "do" something unique and not just "be" unique. Simply stated, you need to focus on your target market -- i.e., you must offer something unique or something in a unique way -- so that it benefits the people you sell to.

Being unique is one thing. Catering to the needs of a specific group of people or businesses is entirely different. I've seen many dotcoms that had unique product ideas -- ideas that had a lot of potential. But many of them failed to denominate their "uniqueness" in terms that benefited the clients they served.

In short, it's about value (or specifically, perceived value).

The cliché "unique selling proposition" (or USP) may surely be a worn-out platitude, these days. But take a closer look at this phrase. In fact, consider the last word, "proposition," for a moment. It means exactly what it says -- you need to propose (i.e., offer) something in a unique way. You need to bring value to the table ... And not just something unique.

Of course, I can have some newfangled, totally unique web widget, supported by an elaborate website that cost millions to erect and enough venture capital to back it up. Of course, I can also successfully pitch my new idea to only those people who will be interested, which are more venture capitalists.

And of course, I can also position my widget for mass-market appeal and deployment, knowing full well that trying to please everybody and make a profit, in a very short amount of time (which is considerably shorter online), is EXTREMELY risky.

But if my unique widget has never been tested in a commercial context, especially if I failed to find out and express not just how different my widget is but why it is different (and how that difference directly benefits my prospect), there will never be enough money in the world to make it successful.

So, forget words like "quality," "service," "number one" and especially "unique." Nobody cares about them. You must focus on what you bring to the table -- because that's what clients, be it people or businesses, are really seeking:

Benefits or results, not products or services. You need to denominate, as specifically and quantifiably as possible, the value your unique idea offers. Let me repeat this, since it is so important: Don't focus on how unique you are -- focus on how your uniqueness directly benefits others.

In the last year alone, I've seen many dotcoms that have spent their entire marketing budgets on branding and/or mass-market deployment, without any testing whatsoever or with all their funds set on just one, single revenue-generating activity. So once the economy slowed down (as it has), they went belly-up.

Look at those "unique" business models that have truly become successful ... Many began as mere tests: Many flopped and many skyrocketed. But in either case, there were no risks or huge VC funds involved. Those that worked, flourished. It's like the process of natural selection. (By the way, I urge you to read Evan Schwartz' book Digital Darwinism.)

Take Yahoo!, for example. It was a project put together by a bunch of university grads -- originally called "Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle." Even Amazon's success was a fluke. Jeff Bezos admitted, in a recent speech to the Harvard Business Review, that Amazon was the result of one big test ... Of course, coupled with a lot of research and risk.

Nevertheless, here's something to think about.

How many visitors enter your website's home page and leave the moment they hit it? How many visitors apparently "love" your website, and even email or call you to tell you how much they do so, but never seem to buy? Converting browsers into buyers or one-time customers into repeat customers can be a struggle.

Having a unique selling proposition, on the other hand, will enable your visitors to know precisely, in an instant, your value -- such as how you are different and not necessarily better than all other choices. It will encourage far more visitors to explore your site, convert more browsers into customers and give your customers a reason to buy from you.

Your USP is that single, unique benefit, appeal or promise that you offer -- one that no other competitor offers. Most businesses cannot express the USP of their company, product or service, much less have one to talk about. It should be the one, unique advantage you deliver -- be it your marketing, benefit, delivery, price, service, choice or exclusivity.

How do you know if your USP will be successful? The surest way is to first identify a void or niche in the market that you can fill. If a niche exists, it's obviously because no one has filled it. If you have a product or service that can fill this void, you are half-way there. (If not, find a way to fill it. This is the single, greatest source for new product ideas.)

Second, determine if people want it filled. This is an extremely important step -- one that many of the "dotbombs" neglected. Everybody needs, say, pre-arranged funeral services. But not everybody wants them. Therefore, to determine if there is a need to fill such a void, do some research. (You can accomplish this through surveys, market research, newsgroup and discussion lists, etc.)

If there is, then you are in a "unique" position ...

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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"Part 12: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to have trusted friends or a mastermind group to bounce your ideas off?

Jeff Wright: I think that one of the things that stops a lot of people from accomplishing the goals and the dreams and the visions that they have is that they do not have trusted friends or a mastermind group or counselors and advisors to help guide them along the way.

Jeff Wright: There are no one-man shows on this planet. Not really. And I think it is very, very critical to have the wisdom that comes from counselors. Of course, this is a Biblical principle to have counselors, to have others around you who can bring you the perspective, or as my wife would put it, the last 10%.

Jeff Wright: We all need someone who can say, “Hey, you know what? You’ve got something right around your mouth that we need to pluck off.” Or, “There’s another way of looking at this. I know you feel convinced. I know you prayed. I understand that you’ve got a clear vision but here are two or three things that you haven’t thought about that you might want to consider.” And that only comes when you have counselors, when you have people around you who you trust, who can give you the kind of input that you are going to need to accomplish the things that God has set out.

Jeff Wright: These people obviously have to have some clarity about your vision and the track record that can allow you to comfortably take their advice and their wisdom and incorporate it into your program.

Ralph Zuranski: Who do you feel are the real heroes in our society today that are not getting the recognition and the reward they deserve?

Jeff Wright: This is a great question. I believe today because of the way media is managed and concentrated in so few outlets and all of the other negative trends that we talked about earlier in terms of media content, we are missing the stories of many, many real heroes.

Jeff Wright: I know, for example, that the teachers, particularly in the grade schools, have in their midst a number of heroes that we are probably not seeing. While there are some teacher-of-the-year awards and some other things like that, in my own life I can look back and think of several teachers who were tremendously influential in shaping my life to be what it is through their influence. They will go unheralded and unrecognized publicly but they have been tremendous in making a difference.

Jeff Wright: I’m sure that’s true for almost everyone. Almost all of us have had one or two teachers whether we went to private school or public school, or maybe even homeschooled and the teacher was our parent, who became a hero to us because they set out a path and they set themselves firmly in their commitment to bring the best out of each of us.

Jeff Wright: There are also another group of unrecognized heroes who are labeled teachers and those are Sunday school teachers and Bible study teachers, teachers who are outside of our public school or our family setting but who we encounter in the faith community and our churches who have made a difference in our lives.

Jeff Wright: I think that it’s very easy to discount the impact of individuals who, in a learning situation, are able to pour values and visions into our lives.

Ralph Zuranski: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

Jeff Wright: I think heroes are important in the lives of young people because it’s very difficult to achieve something you haven’t seen. If you can’t see it, it’s very hard for you to achieve it. And heroes give vision.

Jeff Wright: The National Visionary Leadership project, which was begun by Dr. Camille Cosby, Bill Cosby’s wife, and Renee Poussaint, the former television newscaster, has put together a program which is designed to bring visions of heroes, bring visions of leaders who made significant accomplishments, primarily in the African American community, into the view of young people.

Jeff Wright: I think it’s important for people to see that they can be great, they can be successful, and that they can achieve things that for them, particularly for African Americans, might not appear to be possible just from the media that they are consuming on a regular basis.

Jeff Wright: If you looked at that web site or learn more about that project, at http://www.VisionaryProject.com, I think you can see the power of heroes in the lives of people.

October 11, 2006

"Part 11: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: When you are vision casting a lot of people put money there and many other things. Do you think that it’s valuable to know exactly how much money or whatever your goal is that you want to have in whatever bank account, in your spiritual bank account, in your emotional bank account or just regular bank account and have a specific date for the accomplishment of that goal?

Jeff Wright: The more specific the goal, the more clear and definite the outcome that you seek, the better your chances of accomplishing it. And I would say that’s true whether it’s money or any other goal that you set. It has to be clear.

Jeff Wright: If you don’t know when, how much, exactly what it’s going to look like, okay, the exact denominations, the $20s, $50s, $100s and what you are going to have, you are less able to get there.

Jeff Wright: I just think that people who focus purely on the money, which is just a tool. Dennis Peacock says, “Money is nothing but foldable time.” It’s a resource for some other purpose and it shouldn’t be an end in and of itself.

Ralph Zuranski: What is your definition of heroism? Helping to create the Guardian Line, which talks about heroes in form of angels and people that intercede in the lives of humans, what is your definition of heroism?

Jeff Wright: A hero is one who has sacrificed his life to be used by God so that God can accomplish what God wants to accomplish in life.

Ralph Zuranski: Did you ever create a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with life’s difficulties?

Jeff Wright: A secret hero I never had. I have to say that I tried to use as many examples from Scripture as I can in my life to help me overcome obstacles or to achieve the successes.

Jeff Wright: One of the things that has helped me is looking at individuals who have accomplished and knowing that a particular goal is achievable because someone has already done it. I tend to think that first and foremost, of course, having the mother and the father that I did and seeing their lives from poverty in the South to success in their careers and in my mother’s case in particular, overcoming obstacles like being handicapped, a word we never used in our home, that helped me tremendously.

Jeff Wright: So seeing these individuals who aren’t secret so much but just public examples helped me deal with difficulties in life and to just get to the accomplishments that I’ve accomplished.

Ralph Zuranski: What were the qualities and attributes of your real life heroes when you were growing up?

Jeff Wright: People who were focused. People who set goals and achieved them. People who overcame their fears. People who understood the discipline and perseverance and maintaining virtue and operating with the purity of Biblical worldview would bring about the results that all of us would want to be a part of or would like to achieve. Those are some of the qualities and the attributes.

Ralph Zuranski: Who are the heroes in your life now?

Jeff Wright: My wife is a tremendous hero in my life right now. Lakita Garth is doing and has done a tremendous amount of work mentoring and being an example to young people that you can live a virtuous life, that you can adhere to qualities that would make you a better person.

Jeff Wright: She’s poured her life out into millions of young people around the country and around the world and she is a tremendous hero to me. She’s done it at great personal sacrifice and I have the great blessing of being able to be married to her right now.

Jeff Wright: I also believe just tremendously in the work and the results that the life of Melvin Banks who founded Urban Ministries represents. I think that he is a great hero for all of us, both in terms of Christian entrepreneurship as well as pursuing a vision. One man leaving the comfort of a secure job and possibly a reasonable future to take care of his family, to sacrifice and create UMI, to create the company that today touches millions of individuals.

Jeff Wright: Then there are some people that we all know. I think Oprah is a hero. When I look at what she’s done in the area of bringing a positive voice in media. I wish she were more overt and explicit in her faith in Jesus Christ if it’s there, and I hope it is, but despite that I can’t help but celebrate the positive content that she brings to televised media.

Jeff Wright: I appreciate Dennis Peacock and the work that he has done in trying to develop and propagate a Biblical worldview that goes beyond simply getting people saved but getting to a point of transformation in life. And there are many, many others.

October 10, 2006

"Take Your Visitors By The Hand" by Michel Fortin

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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"What am I supposed to do?"

That's a question your visitors may be asking, and one you need to avoid at all costs. It's like a disease that will do nothing more than cost you sales and traffic. The solution is to "take them by the hand." Tell or show them, literally, what you want them to do -- even if it's simple or obvious.

Adding "hand-holding" components to your website is not just about Web usability, it's about directional marketing. In order to encourage longer stays, repeat visits and, of course, online sales, you need to direct your audience to take action. And you need to make it easy for them to do so, whether you're directing them to click, join, enter, type, download or buy.

If you don't, with today's leery and click-happy audience your site will be no more than a passive, electronic billboard -- a mere blur. Your website may be a beautiful work of art, and it may also drive traffic because of its educational or entertainment value. But if they ask, "what am I supposed to do," you may in turn be left asking, "why is my site not making any sales?"

Rick Olson, in his now defunct Internet Business Informer ezine, said it best: "While there is debate on whether the Web is all about direct marketing or branding, the fact remains that you probably want to elicit some kind of response from your visitor." I concur.

In fact, even big-brand sites like Coke.com and Nike.com, whose purpose is to increase brand awareness and build brand equity, use direct marketing.

On the other hand, while the Internet offers us the ability to gain the attention, consent and response of such a discerning audience, I also admit that succeeding in doing so is a whole different issue. I'm far from being a Web usability guru, like Dr. Jakob Neilsen. But what I do know, from experience and research, is that much of the Web still lacks a certain friendliness.

It lacks *direction*.

Specifically, when I conduct critique consultations I notice that about 85% of the sites I analyze fail to adequately lead visitors to take some kind of action, be it through the copy, design or navigation. When I visit some of these sites for the first time, I ask: "What am I supposed to do?" Obviously, if I feel that way, most visitors probably feel the same way, too.

Studies show that a large majority of sites are confusing to, or misunderstood by, their target audiences. According to UK Internet marketing consultant Joe Gregory, 97.7% of the sites that his company evaluated failed or are poorly marketed, and 82.2% of them lacked a clear objective.

For example, he found that it was difficult to find the phone number on sites that encouraged people to call, and that it was a challenge, if not impossible, to order online on sites that sell products.

(Joe Gregory found that some sites even omitted prices. In my experience, websites also frequently "hide" their order forms, making them inconspicuous at best.)

During the early days of the Web, when it was mostly populated by programmers, the Internet was filled with technical jargon. The need to design websites and have them communicate in a way that most people can understand was nonexistent. The pioneers and the first "colonizers" of the Web understood the dynamics of the Internet. They easily recognized links, markup, files, tags, network protocols, and so on. This is no longer the case.

Few people will buy from a website that confuses them in the slightest. In fact, according to Gregory's research mentioned earlier, 46.6% of the sites his company evaluated targeted a general audience or used a language that only experts would understand.

As more people enter the Web for the first time, the online population of "newbies" continues to grow. Of course, people don't remain newbies forever. But even users who are a little more technologically savvy can get easily confused by a poorly thought-out website. When visiting a site for the first time, they become newbies all over again as every site has its own style, focus, copy and message.

Therefore, it's extremely important to use words, layouts and navigational structures that help the visitor to navigate your site and find what they want while strategically directing their actions. By doing so, you will immunize your website against this lack of direction. Now, there are many ways to accomplish it. And to list the steps within the confines of this article is impossible -- our resident site reviewer, Ralph Hilliard of WordNetUniversity.com, has a site completely dedicated to the subject.

But here are some of the most obvious ones:

Above all, start a heading with a verb, which tells people exactly what to do or what they will be doing. For example, if a link leads to your guest book, use the words "sign (or view) our guest book," rather than just "guest book." If the link leads to a product description page, include the words (benefits, too), "Discover how life-altering widgets will give you up to 179.3% more of [whatever the benefit is]."

Without overdoing it, include the words "click here" (or something to that effect) within text links. If your site offers thumb nailed images for example, include "click to enlarge" somewhere near the image. In short, show visitors not only what they must do, but also what they *can* do. You would be amazed to know how many of your visitors fail to do something just because they don't know it is possible.

More importantly, keep your links underlined. Web designers often opt to remove them for esthetic reasons, such as with the use of style sheets or javascript. But underlined links are important visual guides; without them, the majority of people will not know the link exists and will inadvertently ignore it. Take a look at Engage.com. The links contain either underlines (even within graphical texts) or the words "click here."

Include navigation bars with links on the top, side(s) and bottom. In other words, make it easy for your visitors to know exactly where they are at any time, as they read or scroll down your webpage, and where they can go next. Of course, if your page is small and fits within a window at the smallest resolution, offer only one -- and use common sense. But if a visitor needs to scroll, in any way, make it easy for them to know at the very least how to return (such as with "back to top" links, evenly distributed throughout).

The reverse is also true. If you want your visitors to do one thing and one thing only, then don't distract them with too many links, particularly external ones that can easily take them away from your site. (This is particularly true with long copy or direct response websites.) For example, if you offer too many choices, users will find it hard to make a decision. Instead, offer more choices further in the site based on the specific path(s) a user follows.
Essentially, realize that directional marketing is important and will be more important as time goes on. If your site does not direct its visitors to take some kind of action, or fails to lead them to some sort of outcome, then you will need to seriously rethink your site's purpose and strategy.

The more qualified your visitors are and the more compelling your message is, the higher will be the percentage of visitors that will buy. Or that will refer others. Or that will return to the site. Or that will join your mailing list. Or ...

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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"Part 10: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: Jeff, when was the lowest point in your life and how did you change your life-path to one of victory over the obstacles you were facing at that time?

Jeff Wright: Probably the lowest point in my life was the destruction of my marriage. One of the problems that we perhaps don’t recognize as a problem in America, in addition to many of the things that have become put into law in our country, the area of no-fault divorce is unexamined and has caused tremendous devastation in our society.

Jeff Wright: When our laws move to a place where we said that the state’s interest in preserving the family is of lesser importance than one individual’s decision to end or destroy a marriage, particularly where there are children involved, we dealt with what may be a death blow to the more core underpinnings of our society and that is a strong family structure.

Jeff Wright: So I can say I was a victim of a no-fault divorce. I had no desire whatsoever, no intention, to become one of the (I suppose) more than 50% now of people who get married and get divorced.

Jeff Wright: That was a very, very low point for me. Now I had to go and get to a point of forgiveness, I had to get to a point of understanding that even some of the most negative things in your life can be used by God. And I had to recast my misfortune in the context of what God was doing in my life and what he was preparing me for.

Jeff Wright: So I began to look at that experience, which was certainly not one that I would wish on anyone and didn’t ever expect to see in my own case, as one that I could overcome and use as a part of my development as a better person and as a more understanding and more forgiving person going forward. And that’s exactly what happened.

Jeff Wright: All of that came through the guidance of Scripture and through prayer.

Ralph Zuranski: Was there anyone who helped you and gave you the willpower to change things in your life for the better at that time?

Jeff Wright: There were a number of people who poured into my life. It is amazing that when you are in the family of God, when you are a Christian, when you have friends and family members who are disciples of Jesus Christ, the ability of those people that God has put in your life for that purpose to become a source of strength and a place of refuge and a place of respite is just unlike anything you can imagine.

Jeff Wright: So many of my closest friends, Dr. Clarence Walker who is a marriage and family therapist who was just invaluable to me. My own mother who became a tremendous source of comfort and support for me, and many, many friends, all of whom had one thing in common: They understood the Word of God to be the guiding principles for life and they had well-developed and intimate relationships with God and were able to bring into my life the kind of support and encouragement that I needed to overcome.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to believe your financial dreams would eventually become reality?

Jeff Wright: The ability to vision properly, whether it’s in the area of finance or in other areas, I think it’s critical to getting from the place of dreaming to the place of reality.

Jeff Wright: I think that Andy Stanley’s definition of a vision is appropriate. He says, “A vision is a clear mental image of what could be, fueled by or powered by the passion that it should be.” And I believe that’s important.

Jeff Wright: I think that when you are looking at financial dreams they have to be about something. People who just want more money just so they can say they have more money, I don’t think that’s a dream. I think that’s just being caught up in the lust of the flesh, the lust of money and the things money can buy. And of course the media is fueling that.

Jeff Wright: I don’t think anyone should focus on financial dreams for the reasons that we see in mass media today. But at the same time I really believe it’s critical to have a clear vision of what it is that you are trying to achieve, to understand that vision empowered by your passion and to have enough clarity about that vision so that you can do what it is that that vision requires.

Jeff Wright: That’s just an important skill and I don’t believe there’s enough vision casting going on right now.

October 08, 2006

"Part 9: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: Are you slow to revise or reverse an important decision?

Jeff Wright: Again, I would bring the same set of considerations in. Sometimes a decision has been made, you’ve committed to a path and information comes that suggests that you should go in a different direction.

Jeff Wright: When you get to a point of critical mass where it’s really clear that something has to happen, I think it can be very, very devastating to not make that decision timely. Money can be lost and maybe lives or other consequences if an important decision that requires a change of direction isn’t made promptly.

Jeff Wright: On the other hand, depending on the consequences and the number of people and resources that are involved, you do need to take your time in making the decision.

Jeff Wright: Timing is everything and execution, whether it’s done quickly or slowly, needs to happen with enough consideration, enough prayer, and enough information so that when you make the decision, whether you did it quickly or did it over a period of time, you can be comfortable that you moved with the hand of God in that.

Ralph Zuranski: How are you able to overcome your doubts and fears? I think that’s probably one of the greatest tools of Satan is to have us doubt what we are doing and just fear so many different things.

Jeff Wright: I believe that the closer you walk with God the more you can, from Scripture, from prayer, from the counsel of elders and friends who you know are leading lives that are God-directed, Spirit-led, Biblically worldview oriented, the easier it is to overcome doubts and fears.

Jeff Wright: Will they come? Yes, they will. Will you overcome them? If you operate from the perspective of faith and trust that God has your best at heart, which he does, you can overcome.

Jeff Wright: I’ve had many situations in my life where I’ve had to really, really rethink, “Did I make the right decision? Is something very negative going to happen?” Again, I think about coming here, at UMI, to Urban Ministries.

Jeff Wright: There were times when I thought this was a tremendous mistake because it came at great financial sacrifice, it came with sacrifice to my family and to many other things that I was doing that looked like they were solved problems suddenly became problems and I really began to doubt God.

Jeff Wright: But through prayer, through the continuing meditation on the Word of God, through the support and encouragement of others around me and when I think about the kind of feedback that we get from people and places, Africa, Nigeria, and in Southern Africa. We’ve given away literally hundreds of thousands of pieces of Christian education literature.

Jeff Wright: We’ll get a letter every now and then and someone will say, “This really changed our village or our life.” Or people in churches who have given us testimony about how drug addicted and substance abusing individuals have had their lives changed because of the work we are doing, that becomes a tremendous encouragement and a confirmation that what I was doubting, what I was concerned about in terms of the wisdom of the decision was totally, totally something that didn’t need to be thought about because God was with it.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you readily forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you?

Jeff Wright: I wish I could say I do that all the time but no, I don’t. Sometimes I get mad and I stay mad for a couple of days. But I’m working on it. I’m working on being angry and sinning not. But you know what; I think that when you are in any position of leadership there are going to be people who will offend you, people who are going to do things intentionally to upset you. And if you are involved in any kind of Christian leadership as I am, there’s going to be continuing opposition.

Jeff Wright: I have learned to forgive. I’ve learned the power of forgiveness is one of the most important lessons of life. Understanding that forgiveness is what allows us to continue in relationship and also to let loose the burdens that lack of forgiveness will put on you.

Jeff Wright: It takes a lot of energy to operate without a forgiving spirit. It really does. It is a very, very hard burden. It’s sort of a ghost in your head that you won’t let go.

Jeff Wright: So I believe that we should forgive and I try to forgive so as not to carry around the past.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience service to others as a source of joy?

Jeff Wright: One of my greatest sources of joy is to know that here at UMI we get to serve the church leadership, Christian educators, pastors, teachers and the community by providing products and resources that will help them to do what God has called them to do in changing lives and to do it more effectively. That’s probably my greatest sense of joy.

Jeff Wright: To be a part of something that really God is doing. I didn’t start Urban Ministries as I mentioned earlier. It was begun by Melvin Banks. But I get to be a part of something that God started through him and who knows, maybe generations before that, to get to a place where we would have the ability to reach and touch and teach.

Jeff Wright: I can’t think of any greater joy than to know that leadership as service, which is the kind of leadership that I exercise, is something that I get to be a part of in seeing God work in the world today.

October 07, 2006

"Part 8: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: Well, you know that is so true, “the bleed that leads” seems to be the mantra of the media that is in control of TV and radio. My goal with the Heroes program is to help spread good news about heroes in the local community doing good things at a grass roots level.

I don’t think that the media that we have today will ever change their way if they can make a cent off of somebody’s suffering.

Jeff Wright: I agree with that and I think that one of the things that we have to do as people of faith is to make a personal commitment that we will not feed into that frenzy of negativity. We won’t repeat a bad story.

Jeff Wright: Most of us need to limit the amount of consumption of that negative media content anyway. I wrote a book, God’s Vision of Television and really my point in that book was to limit your diet of negative media content and you will have a better life.

Jeff Wright: It’s an addiction and it does have an impact. There are just countless studies on the consequences of negative media consumption and negative behavior, whether it’s violence in children or sedentary lifestyle and overeating in adults which leads to so many conditions: diabetes and heart disease to arthritis complications. All of these ultimately are rooted in what you are feeding your mind.

Jeff Wright: Then the other point is, most people kind of go through life as if they have an infinite supply of thoughts when in fact it’s really finite. So if you have a finite number of thoughts, and you know you have a finite number of thoughts because you are only going to live so long and you don’t know how long that is, why spend those thoughts on so much negative?

Jeff Wright: All of our lives would be enriched if we would think on some other things.

Ralph Zuranski: That is so true. Do you think that it takes courage to pursue new ideas? So many people get caught up in that negativity and caught up in their own social peer group and it’s hard to make a change sometimes and get those negative people out of your life?

Jeff Wright: There’s an old saying that “nobody likes change but a wet baby and even they cry”. I like to think that the people who are going to make a difference in this world have to begin with understanding that it will take courage and it is also going to take boldness to stand alone, to stand for something new, positive and different and that is redemptive.

Jeff Wright: That’s got to be one of the core principles of your behavior if you are a person who is an innovator, who is trying to make a difference and to go in a different direction.

Ralph Zuranski: Are you willing to experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dream?

Jeff Wright: Absolutely. I had to make a pretty significant sacrifice leaving my position in corporate America to come to Urban Ministries. There was a financial sacrifice.

Jeff Wright: There were a number of personal sacrifices. But it was uncomfortable because let’s face it, making more money has its advantages. But at the same time I got a tremendous unexpected reward from having a life that was synthesized, I think, for the first time with the purposes and aims that God had for me. And there’s no price you can put on that.

Jeff Wright: So in that sense the sacrifice was worth it. Sort of like a mother sacrifices her figure and some pain in order to bring a child into the world. There’s just simply no comparison.

Ralph Zuranski: Is it beneficial to make decisions quickly?

Jeff Wright: Sometimes it is and sometimes not. Some people don’t move forward in their lives because they can’t get to a point of decision. They take forever. They are looking for a sign. They want more confirmation.

Jeff Wright: Finding the pace of decision-making that fits the problem that you are trying to solve and the situation that you are in, there is actually a skill that has to be developed over time. Knowing when to act quickly and knowing when to say, “You know what, I think I better think about that one for another day,” is an important skill to develop.

Jeff Wright: There are times in my leadership of this organization when I do need to decide and decide right away. And then there are other times when I need to know that something needs a little more prayer, a little more contemplation, or maybe just some additional information.

October 06, 2006

"Part 7: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: Is it useful to take a positive view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?

Jeff Wright: I think sometimes mistakes and setbacks and misfortunes can be just that. They can be devastating. Things happen in our lives that are often unpleasant, unfortunate. We don’t want to go through them and it can be very, very hard.

Jeff Wright: Sometimes it’s not real easy to say, “Okay, let me find the good in this.” I think of the story of Joseph in the Bible. In the end he said, “You meant it for evil, God meant it for good.” But I’m not sure he was that happy to be in jail all those years or to be thrown into a pit.

Jeff Wright: So I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t try to find a way to look on the bright side and to be as positive as we can but I think it’s also important to operate in reality. And the reality is sometimes life is very hard and we need comforting. We need to take care of ourselves.

Jeff Wright: I don’t advocate going into pity parties and so on, but at the same time there is a certain unrealism that says that you have to always be positive and always look for the best because sometimes things aren’t real good.

Jeff Wright: At the same time I believe, and I kind of live by, one of my favorite expressions and that is there is a reason why the windshield is bigger than the review mirror. There really is a reason. We need to know what is behind us and it’s important to glance up there every now and then, but we have to go forward.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that optimism is valuable?

Jeff Wright: Absolutely. I just refer you to my comment I just made about looking ahead and not behind. We need to have a forward look.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you maintain your sense of humor in the face of serious problems?

Jeff Wright: I try to be as lighthearted as I can and to bring levity in many, many situations. I think humor is very therapeutic. Again I think the example of Christ is great. I think if we could have a laugh track to the New Testament we would find that there was a lot more laughter and humor coming in those words of Christ than we ever imagined.

Jeff Wright: I think God has a great sense of humor and I try to have a great sense of humor. It is just therapeutic. It’s a positive thing. At the same time I believe we need to balance that.

Jeff Wright: Sometimes people try to find humor in situations that just really are not funny. It’s an escape mechanism. So as much as I might try to be as positive and as humorous as I can, there are some situations that we are faced with, and particularly today, that really don’t need humor at all and in fact it’s probably inappropriate.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you take time out of your day to feed your subconscious positive thoughts about you, your goals and your dreams?

Jeff Wright: I keep continuing an inner dialog of positive commentary going on. Scripture talks about how David encouraged himself in the Lord and I have to encourage myself.

Jeff Wright: I have to, as an ongoing practice of being a leader of an organization, make sure that I’m setting as positive of a tone as I can, often in the face of very difficult and complex problems that require a lot of intense thoughts.

Jeff Wright: So this is a habit, this is a practice, that I believe is an important one for anyone in leadership and it’s particularly important today because there is such a continuing drone of negative information that flows.

Jeff Wright: In fact, you can try this test any time you are in public or standing in line in a grocery store where people always tend to go towards the negative. The only thing we want to talk about in this society is what happened that was negative.

Jeff Wright: I’ve never been standing in a line in a public place and some stranger says, “Hey, guess what happened yesterday? My kid got all A’s.” Usually it’s, “Did you hear about what happened to the Crocodile Hunter man” or did you hear about this negative event or that negative event.

Jeff Wright: One of the things that I believe is a challenge to all of us living here in our media-saturated American society is to find our way to the positive. Find a way to think on and ultimately speak on those things that are good and honest and as Paul laid out, those things that are of good report.

Jeff Wright: It’s very easy for Christians to omit and to forget about the obligation that we have to be bearers of good news and not repeaters of the negativity that so pervades this society.

"Priceless Publicity For The Pennywise" by Michel Fortin

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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Undeniably, there are innumerable advertising and publicity opportunities, especially free ones, online. And listing all of them, even a good number of them, within the confines of this simple editorial is impossible. But there is a handful of free publicity tactics I have personally used in the last five years that have worked very effectively in my practice.

I recommend you try them.

They say that, on the Internet, "content rules." Accordingly, contributing content to the media is an effective tactic. For example, writing an article relative to your area of expertise and submitting it to any publication, website, discussion list or email newsletter (including offline media), which deals in the dissemination of related information and at the same time targets an audience that logically fits into yours, is good.

Educational or entertaining content is always highly sought after, even offline. But online it is more so, as editors constantly crave good quality content. Any channel, be it publication or medium, that targets your market without directly competing with you (even competitors, in some cases) will likely be open to publishing your article, for free, in exchange for limited exposure to their readers or viewers.

But again, the trick is to find those publications that are read by qualified audiences. The more niche-oriented they are, and the closer such audiences fit into your target market, the higher the quality of the reader (and subsequently visitor or prospect) will be. For tips on how to find and target markets, particularly through third parties such as media, ezines and websites, I suggest reading my article "How to Target Your Perfect Customer."

In other words, the key is to become your own publicity and sales promotions writer. Since credibility is an important component of doing business on the Web, contributing articles for free carries many advantages. For example, it not only increases your business' visibility in front of qualified eyeballs, it also establishes your expertise in a given field.

Therefore, add a byline to everything you write. It's a short note at the end describing who you are and what you do along with your website address. One of the most effective bylines is one in which you offer something for free, such as a free subscription to your newsletter, a free software or service, or a link to additional content. For example, when I submit articles, I use as a byline the following short resource box:

Michel Fortin, the http://SuccessDoctor.com/, is an author, marketing consultant and college professor. If you like the ideas expressed in the article, then you'll love the entire book, "The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning." Download it for free by visiting http://SuccessDoctor.com/free/.

Offer something in return for their time -- the time they take to visit your site, read your content or buy your product. It is an effective tool and simply common sense. Since the goal is to establish yourself as an expert in your field, by not offering something for free as a gesture of appreciation it can harm you. Bylines that only "push" people to do something can often lessen the credibility you attempted to create with your article. You appear more promotional than educational.

Similarly, another effective free publicity technique is by being a guest on as many of the radio, Internet and television talk shows as possible -- even programs that consist mainly of guest or expert interviews. Like editors seeking fresh content, talk show producers are constantly seeking guests and topics. You can even offer your expertise as a way to regularly contribute to a show, column or event on a related subject.

A client of mine, a plastic surgeon, is always asked to join a panel of guest experts on a weekly talk radio show -- one that deals specifically with health and beauty issues. He is also a contributing columnist for a local newspaper, and his weekly columns appear in the paper's health and lifestyle section.

Any business owner can achieve similar notoriety.

In general, since the Internet is not subjected to the rules and regulations of conventional broadcast authorities, it is therefore filled with streaming radio stations, even numbering in the hundreds of thousands. (Often, they are only one-person operations, broadcast from small offices or homes.

Of course, due to their large number and small size, most of them are unknown. But there are some that are quite popular, with audiences as large as several hundreds of thousands of listeners. For example, two popular Internet talk shows that deal mostly with business and marketing issues -- and that I like -- are The Mike Litman Show and The Moneyroom Show.

Becoming a guest on such shows is much easier to achieve than most people realize. All you need to do is write a letter or email to the producer, and then follow up with a phone call (or visit, if the program is located in your area). This letter is similar to a query letter one sends to editors for a topic suggestion or article submission. Your chances of being accepted are greater if you emphasize that your topic, expertise or product is of interest to their audiences.

In conclusion, keep in mind that you are only limited by your imagination. Free publicity and advertising opportunities are everywhere when you think creatively. But if you're not at least contributing articles to publications and websites that cater to your target market, you are losing out on one of the most effective, free traffic generation opportunities on the Web. Simply find out where your market congregates, and find ways to put you, your business or your product in front of them.

... And consider adopting a new vocabulary -- like "viral glue," perhaps?

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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October 05, 2006

"Diversify Your (Marketing) Portfolio" by Michel Fortin

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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When I hear marketers talk about new search engine strategies, optimization techniques, submission software and review fees, it befuddles me to see there are still some web marketers out there who rely heavily on them. Search engine strategies are important and an essential part of a marketer's portfolio, but they are not, and should never be, the ONLY source of traffic.

A well-balanced marketing portfolio consists of a combination of strategies that are executed synchronously, diligently and intelligently. While marketers must never discount the search engines, a savvy marketer's portfolio must go beyond them.

Look at it this way: many reputable entrepreneurs, like Robert Allen, Corey Rudl and Terry Dean, state that the surest way to achieve wealth is through multiple streams of income. Online a similar approach exists, for the surest way to achieve success on the Web is through multiple streams of visitors and sales.

Your traffic must originate from different sources. The adage "don't put all your eggs in one basket" applies, here. Whether you write articles, buy classified ads, exchange banners, bid on keywords, publish content, or submit to the search engines, your marketing efforts must never rely on a single source.

An individual traffic source may generate just a small stream of visitors, but when multiple traffic sources are added together, the total equals a high and consistent stream of visitors. Of course, a single source may be more rewarding and effective than others. But like prudent financial investing, the key is to diversify by investing your marketing efforts into multiple sources.

Sales are no different. If your business consists of only one website, or if it sells only one product, diversify your sales and develop additional streams of income. For example, join third-party affiliate programs to sell related, non-competing products. Sell back-end products to your current clients, or monetize your opt-in subscriber list with special offers. Sell ad space on your website, and develop a second, third and even fourth website to sell other types of products or services.

If one source of traffic or sales depletes, dries up or shuts down, the loss is minimal when compared to the whole picture.

However, visitors and sales are not enough. Credibility these days is an issue that the Web has brought to the forefront. With its vastness, privacy issues, security risks, and non- physical nature, the Internet adds a third dimension to the mix: the need to create multiple streams of "partners," through "affiliates", "joint ventures", "subscribers", "referral sources" and so on.

When compared to traditional offline businesses, partners are more important than ever before. From affiliate programs, free publicity opportunities, and joint venture deals, to exchanges of products, ads or prospects with others, developing partners is an area to which the Internet gives unprecedented leverage.

It is also the area on which the other two highly depend. Why? Because it is never enough to simply attract visitors. And it is never enough to simply sell visitors -- as strange as that may seem. If you don't believe me, ask the following:

Are your visitors highly qualified? Or are they merely curious? Are they impulsive and trusting? Or are they leery and skeptical? Are they only buying once? Or are they buying again and again? Are they silent? Or are they telling the world about you?

All three (visitors, partners, and sales) are essential in the development of a successful online business. So regardless of the marketing tactic, a successful marketing portfolio is a diversified one -- it consists of numerous strategies. And more importantly, it is focused on three core elements:

Building Traffic
Building Trust
Building Sales

Therefore, keep in mind that every single marketing activity you perform, including the use of search engines, must revert to, result in, or improve upon any, if not all, of those three. Look at the successful marketers out there. Many of them will tell you that their success is not based on a single source, but on many. They are focused on all of the above three areas.

Unfortunately, the Web is replete with marketers who rely on search engines alone for their traffic or on a mere handful of tactics that amount to meager results. If you work with only one traffic-building source, one income-building source and one credibility-building source, your business will do poorly.

Although far from being comprehensive, here's a brief list of tactics that aim at building streams of visitors, partners and sales. Look at adding different streams to your portfolio:

Write articles on your industry or area of expertise and submit them to email newsletters and other non-competing sites visited by your market. Buy classified ads in such publications. For example, use directories that list ezines and newsletter.

Bid on keywords in pay-per-click search engines to locate the engines you want. Use online keyword suggestion tools to find targeted keywords, or actual software that runs on your desktop. And the more targeted the keyword is, the more targeted your visitor will be.

Adding new businesses, new websites and new products to your portfolio can add substantially to your income. But your current situation can always be improved. Converting clicks into customers is one thing, but converting a one-time customer into a lifetime customer is another. Thus, look at improving your website's copy and add pop-ups to increase subscribers, sales and affiliates.
In any case, think like a savvy investor. Expand, balance and diversify your online marketing portfolio. If you do, you will certainly multiply your chances of online success.

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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"Part 6: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com
Ralph Zuranski: What principles are you willing to sacrifice your life for?

Jeff Wright: That’s a great question. I am convinced that just understanding that there are principles that are worth sacrificing your life for is a place that many of us need to get to and just really soberly ask the questions about what I would call convictions, those things that you wouldn’t live without.

Jeff Wright: I have many convictions but most of them are summed up in the principles of God’s Word. I would sacrifice my life for the name of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to sacrifice my belief and my commitment to live a Christ-centered life for anything because I understand that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Jeff Wright: Of course, many things sound like they should be more important than that: your family, your resources or corporate America, but I mean, many of those kinds of things that we somehow feel are important aren’t really worth a life.

Jeff Wright: I’ve already sacrificed my life, in a sense, when I left my position in corporate America and came into really what is the ministry responsibility of shepherding UMI.

Jeff Wright: I had been working in corporate America, and for many people this is a life’s dream, to be a vice president in a Fortune 50 company. Successful, having had Ivy League degrees and attended Georgetown and Harvard and Colombia and so forth, and the Wharton School to be successful in corporate America. But I sacrificed that. I sacrificed that life in order to be able to contribute those skills and the experiences that I had gained to do something that would be of greater benefit both to the African American community and to the world.

Jeff Wright: I essentially got to a point of saying, “Okay, is my life about making rich people richer or is it going to be about doing something that will count for the kingdom of God?” So I sacrificed that life in order to take on this life, which is a life I live for Christ.

Ralph Zuranski: Are your actions and goals consistent with your beliefs?

Jeff Wright: I certainly hope so. Obviously God will be the judge of that. I try my best to make certain that I’m living a life that would be God-honoring. I pray for my friends, for my wife and even for myself that, as Paul prayed in the book of Colossians, my walk would be worthy of the name of Jesus Christ.

Ralph Zuranski: Is it valuable to have highly charged emotions about achieving your goals?

Jeff Wright: I think so. I think that highly charged emotions, I would translate that into passion, into enthusiasm and that word derives from a Greek word which means to breathe out.

Jeff Wright: I think when you really understand what it is that God wants you to do, what it is that is your life’s passion, that you will operate with a sense of energy and flow. There’s a kind of psychological term for it, finding flow, from a gentleman who is not really a Christian but he spent a lot of time studying this.

Jeff Wright: When you get to that point where your enthusiasm and your passion for a purpose is so intent and so fixed, time sort of seems to disappear for you. It stops. You could do it for days. And that’s exactly where I am in what I’m doing.

October 04, 2006

"Blog Your Site to Unblock Your Traffic" by Michel Fortin

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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About twenty years ago in his book "Megatrends," John Naisbitt predicted that our society will become not only more high-tech but also more high-touch. This trend, which has increasingly pervaded our fast-paced, Internet-oriented culture in the last decade, was the focus of a spinoff book entirely dedicated to that single prediction.

While Naisbitt never mentioned it directly, my interpretation is this: the more technology-driven we become (i.e., the more automated and robotic we become, as is the case with the web), the more we will crave and seek out human interaction.

It's human nature, for we are social animals. And in spite of the Internet being touted as a tool of automation, efficiency and convenience, it will never replace the shopping mall. We need to communicate and interact with others. We need to socialize with (or at least be around) other people.

Online, Naisbitt's prediction-turned-reality takes the shape of actions marketers take to humanize their digital presence by giving their electronic facade, if you will, a human face.

From as simple as a message board, an ezine or a discussion list, to as complex as an online community, live person chat capability and customer relationship management, marketers do (and should do) what they can to humanize their websites.

People want to deal with people and not computer monitors. Call it the need for trust. Call it desire to interact. Call it the fear of making bad decisions. But whatever you call it, remember that it is only human. And you can't change that.

But one online tactic is growing in popularity. Although it's been around for a while, people are beginning to recognize its place in the world of Internet marketing. Moreover, it's an effective way for visitors to get acquainted with the people behind the website, and offers a way for people to connect.

For marketers, the benefits are many. It can help to not only humanize but also magnetize a website, and it can leverage a viral marketing campaign by creating a certain buzz about the business. In other words, it can become a marketing tool that can enhance a website's traffic, publicity and stickiness.

It's called web journaling or logging (or simply "blogging").

Most news-oriented sites (websites that have pages dynamically generated and updated for the purpose of adding news items on their web pages) started this trend way back in the early days of the web -- that's about five years for you and me, kids.

But today, blogging is taking over the web by storm. A person can use their blog to add personal (and professional) ideas, comments, news, opinions, links and so on. In short, it helps to add a certain voice and personality to the website, giving in to that social necessity Naisbitt described earlier.

According to Rebecca Blood, in a web essay on blogging:

"(A) weblog provides many advantages to its readers. It reveals glimpses of an unimagined web to those who have no time to surf. (...) There are topic-oriented weblogs, alternative viewpoints, astute examinations, short-form journals, links to the weird and notebooks of ideas."

According to an Inc.com article, while the vast majority of weblogs consist of "hobbyists who publish their own daily wanderings using the Internet's vanity press," marketers are using them as loyalty-building tools or forums in which they subtly promote their skills and expertise.

Blogs are relatively easy to install. Most of them use simple CGI scripts and some of them are free. For example, Open Journal is a downloadable snippet of CGI. There's also Grey Matter, MovableType, pMachine and WordPress.

However, a popular one (and it's free), where no knowledge of CGI is required, is Blogger.com or TypePad.com. All you need to do is register and paste a snippet of HTML code on your website. Thereafter, all that's required is logging into Blogger.com and adding your daily tidbits, comments and ideas.

You can use it to add news items about your website or online business, or to post thoughts and opinions about your field, product category or industry. For a complete guide to blogs, see a list of tools that enable blogging.

Two of my favorite blogs, which I visit and read on a frequent basis, are those by Chris Locke and Anne Holland.

Chris Locke (or "Rageboy") is the co-author of "The Cluetrain Manifesto" (for more, see Cluetrain.com), which is a book professing the concept that the Internet is not composed of computers, companies or even consumers for that matter but of conversations. His blog is always full of Locke's insights and intelligent scatterings.

Anne Holland's Marketing Sherpa is a great blog. I've been an avid reader of Clickz.com and particularly of Holland's own website. She even maintains a secondary blog dedicated to the information business, in which most of us marketers are, at contentbiz.blogspot.com.

Other blogging tools and directories can be found at:

http://www.free-conversant.com/
http://www.weblogs.com/
http://www.weblogger.com/
http://lukwam.com/
http://www.farook.org/
http://www.blogspot.com/
http://www.daypop.com/
http://www.blogfinder.com/
http://www.bloghop.com/
(And of course, there's mine at MichelFortin.com.)

Nevertheless, both Naisbitt and Locke are telling us something ominous to which marketers must heed. The opening statement of Cluetrain.com proclaims, "If you only have time for one clue this year, this is the one to get: We are not seats or eyeballs or end-users or consumers. We are human beings -- and our reach exceeds your grasp ... Deal with it."

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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"Part 5: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: What specific philosophy or philosophies guide your life and your decisions?

Jeff Wright: I’m a Christian. I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ and the philosophy or philosophies that guide my life are the principles of Biblical worldview. Understanding that life is about abiding in the life of Christ and abiding in His Word and living in line with a past, a present and a future that points to a world that God wants to see on earth as it is in heaven.

Ralph Zuranski: What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?

Jeff Wright: Again my perspective is one of a Biblical worldview. I believe that God has laid out in His Word, the Bible, the complete perspective that anyone should have on goodness, ethics and moral behavior. That is what is right and what is wrong. It’s all there in the 613 commandments.

Jeff Wright: There is the model of Jesus Christ who summed it up so well in the greatest commandment, “To love God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jeff Wright: That’s the summation of the law. But the specifics of the law also count and are important. And I believe, like the ultra-orthodox Jews, we should be seeking as much as possible to adhere to those things, those principles, those precepts that are laid out in God’s Word, the Bible. And I believe that with all my heart. And I believe that it’s possible to do it though the help of God.

Jeff Wright: Are we going to always be there? Of course not. But those should be the principles and the guidelines that we strive to adhere to.

Ralph Zuranski: What place does the power of prayer have in your life?

Jeff Wright: Prayer is very important in my life. I am a person of prayer. I am of the belief that praying without ceasing and trying to make certain that with as much of your day as you can keep in conscious inner dialog with God, the more our lives will be led by the Spirit.

Jeff Wright: I was very fortunate to grow up in a Christian home so some of my earliest memories are praying at the bedside of my parents. I had six brothers and the seven of us would pray at night with our parents. They taught us prayers and they taught us to pray and I have a tremendous legacy of prayer in my family that has helped me to this day.

Jeff Wright: Not just showing me by example and through experience that prayer works, and of course it does, but also just the benefit of other people praying for me. So I pray and I encourage my children to pray and I depend on the prayers of my family members and friends and I don’t make a single key decision without some directed time in prayer.

Ralph Zuranski: Wasn’t your mother a real prayer warrior? Didn’t she lose an arm and a leg by being run over by a train and almost died and bled to death when she was younger?

Jeff Wright: Yes, that’s true. That is true. My mother is a tremendous prayer warrior. She’ll be 86 years old next month and it is true, she did lose an arm and a leg when she was eight years old and she lived. That happened in the South, in Northeast Arkansas where she grew up.

Jeff Wright: Of course, obviously a preacher’s daughter in a small community, there was a lot of prayer that brought her through that. But her life is in and of itself a testimony. She has gone on, obviously, to have seven children, all boys.

Jeff Wright: She raised us. She finished her master’s degree in Library Science when she was pregnant with my youngest brother and then went on and had another career, really. I mean, after a career as a mom with seven children she went on to a 20-year career as a librarian in the public library system and in the university libraries in Washington, DC, where we grew up. And she still remains very active in her church.

Jeff Wright: She is an active person and a volunteer in the mentoring world. She was one of the board members of the literacy program “Reading is Fundamental” for many years and just a tremendous example of the power of prayer. And, of course, she was a great mom.

October 03, 2006

"Part 4: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: I think a lot of people don’t know what misogynistic means. Could you explain that, please?

Jeff Wright: Sure. Misogyny just means the hating of women and this is rooted in the Biblical story, really, of the fall of man. The enemy of our souls, Satan, the devil, and yes, I do believe in a very real, personal, individual devil as well as many demons, hates the creative potential of women.

Jeff Wright: The idea that women bring life into this world is something that is a special target for forces of evil and the more that the enemy can make women the subject of ridicule, the subject of being demeaned or referred to as a female animal or drive in any way the degradation of women, then the more points in the column of the enemy and the less in the column of those who stand for righteousness and justice, peace, and the joy that God really wants all of us to live out in our lives.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to stay focused on your primary goal?

Jeff Wright: It’s critically important. I think that the story of my life or the life of Michael Davis or many, many others on your Heroes site is the function of focusing on a primary goal and a goal being tied to life-purpose.

Jeff Wright: What is it that God is trying to get out of your life? And that usually is something that you are very good at; that you enjoy doing that makes a difference, a positive difference, in the lives of other people. And once you have identified what that is, keeping it central in your life and not being distracted is critical.

Jeff Wright: I believe that one of the greatest weapons of Satan is the use of distractions, the use of deceptions as well as outright destruction to prevent people from accomplishing their God-given purposes. So staying focused and being clear of the distractions of life that can get you off target is a skill, really, that must be developed early in the life of a person who would be a hero, a person who would be successful and could be effectively used by God.

Ralph Zuranski: Boy, that’s so true. Do you follow your hunches and intuition? I know because you are a man of God you might consider that question, do you follow the guiding of the Holy Spirit that dwells in you?

Jeff Wright: I would say that the older I get the more I realize that what we might call hunches or intuition or that feeling inside really is in fact the Holy Spirit speaking to us. We have to learn how to recognize the difference between that and just the pizza we had last night because inevitably the outcomes that we intuitively come to, that we come to through hunch, intuition or just a strong feeling or urge, if it’s lined up with the Word of God, that’s the way God wants us to go.

Jeff Wright: I’ve had many, many instances where I went the other way and it turns out that I should have taken my first impulse and gone with that “hunch” or intuition that I had. The older I get the more I’m likely to just follow the leading of the Spirit in that way.

Jeff Wright: That doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking or that I’m operating in superstition or anything. It’s just more a matter of allowing God to guide my thoughts toward an outcome that He sees as the most appropriate one.

October 02, 2006

"Part 3: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: Don’t you think that sort of abuses African American people, where people that are in the general media and just people all around the world, they associate that type of evilness with black people?

Jeff Wright: Yeah, it is true and it does associate perhaps the most negative images that we have ever seen in media with black people whether it’s a foul-mouthed rapper or Little Kim demeaning women. All of that, of course, is not only a disservice to black people and in particular black youth but all youth in all society. We know that that’s not the reality of what black youth are about and what they look like.

Jeff Wright: We serve many, many young people through the resources that we create for the thousands of churches that use UMI curriculum and we’ve done the research. We can tell you that a far greater representation of African American young people are sitting up in Sunday school every week than are participating in any hip hop or rap video.

Jeff Wright: The unfortunate part about it is that major media entities that are promoting these negative images are painting a picture of African American young people, or just black young people generally and globally that is far different from what the reality is.

Jeff Wright: It’s something that African Americans are very, very concerned about. We joke and we say we want “raparations” because there has been such a tremendous exploitation of some of the most negative elements of our culture. Some of those have actually been created by media conglomerates to essentially create a picture that is just far from reality.

Jeff Wright: No one wants their child to grow up to be a girl starring in a booty video. No one.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I understand that. That’s one of the reasons why I created the Heroes program, to shine the light on those people who are true heroes like yourself and Michael Davis that are making a positive difference in the world and are concerned about our youth coming up. Not just black youth, Asian youth or white youth, but all youth and to give them a good, positive message.

So I wanted to ask you a couple of these questions so people can really discern what real heroes are and what they believe.

Jeff, what do you want out of life in ten words or less?

Jeff Wright: I like to continue to have the opportunity to make a God-transforming difference in the world.

Ralph Zuranski: That is my belief also. What is the dream or vision that sets the course of your life?

Jeff Wright: As the CEO of UMI I have an unusual opportunity to create transforming messages, messages that are rooted in a Biblical worldview. We are trusted to teach the Bible in over 10,000 churches weekly and as leader of this organization I have an incredible responsibility to make sure that our content is Biblically sound, is technically accurate, is going to be empowering and cast a vision that can make a difference in the lives of many people.

Jeff Wright: My goal is to do that, not just in print media but also in open word, in music, as well as in visual media and we are striving to achieve that and to grow to a level of influence that will meet or exceed the influence currently being exerted by the big five media companies.

Jeff Wright: When the giant media companies took over hip hop and it became more violent and more misogynistic and irresponsible, their bottom line was money. Your and my bottom line is the betterment of our community and our world.

"What's Up With That UPA?" by Mike Fortin

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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In a recently published article, entitled "What's Your Visitor's UPA?" may have confused some of you. One reader emailed me asking for more information.

Essentially, the article was based on the fact that we think in relative terms. And if your copy doesn't cater to this natural, human propensity, your readers will make assumptions that might not work in your favor.

I call this tendency "UPA," or "unconscious paralleled assumption." It means that people will unconsciously assume there's a parallel between one part and another (or its whole), even if the two are totally unrelated.

For example, you visit a department store and notice that the shelves are dirty, cheap and unprofessional-looking. You will naturally assume, at an unconscious level, that the business behind it or the products it sells are just the same... In other words, dirty, cheap and unprofessional.

In my article, I used an example one of my students pointed out one day in class. He asked: "What's the difference between a tennis ball and a soccer ball?" He continued, "It's not that one is small and the other is big, or that one is yellow and the other is black-and-white, which is what most people will say... The difference is SIZE or COLOR."

Marc, the confused reader, then emailed me with the following:

"I read your latest article with great interest. I understand most of it, except for the point you were trying to make with the chair and table, as well as the point with the tennis ball and a soccer ball. Quite frankly, I've read it over and over again, but I simply don't get it. You seem to be saying that the difference is not their size, it's their size? This makes no sense to me, and whatever the point is that you're trying to make to me is less than obvious. I'm feeling cheated, like I've missed the joke that everyone's howling over. It's leaving me so uncomfortable and baffled that I'm moved to write this inquiry for further explanation."

Here was my answer...

Marc, don't feel cheated because in reality you are proving my student's point. You are thinking in relative terms, which is how most people think. (As a matter of fact, you just did it, yourself, when you said, "I'm feeling cheated, like I've missed the joke that everyone's howling over.")

If I'm describing two different sizes (or colors or whatever), I'm not directly answering your question but merely implying the difference by simply describing two different characteristics. I'm only relating the difference by making a comparison between the two, in other words.

Essentially, by "difference," I want to know WHAT makes them different and not HOW they are different. If I use a comparison, at best responding in such a manner can only imply the difference.

Here's a really simple example. If I asked you what color is the sky, rather than telling me "blue" (which is the direct, logical answer), you'll probably answer with "it's the same color as my car," "it's not red," etc. In other words, you are relating it to something else.

You're thinking in relative terms.

Most of us do. And most of your prospects and visitors do, too. You were baffled, which is the point I tried to make. We think in relative terms. And your copy must work to appeal to this behavior. The last thing you want to do is confuse your prospects. If they are, they'll click away. Fast.

Many websites have copy that only the seller or webmaster understands — content that may be understood by only one segment of the population but is harder for others to understand. So, use comparisons, analogies or metaphors so that the mind can understand what it is being told.

Let's say you sell real estate. You want to convey to your audience the sheer size of a piece of land you're attempting to sell. But if your copy only says "140 acres of land," this is only a logical measurement — the mind may still not grasp the meaning (or the value) of "140 acres."

The reader may ask, "What's the size of 140 acres, anyway?" The mind thinks in pictures, not in numbers. And since it thinks in relative terms, it will try to compare 140 acres to a visual equivalent, which will be difficult.

It will be easier for your reader's mind to relate it to something it already knows and to which it can compare it. For example, if you added to your copy, "140 acres is like 200 football fields back-to-back," your mind will now understand because it can relate it to something it knows.

Here's another example. Instead of, "Skin-So-Soft has a complex, lubricating hydra-dermic formula to reduce the symptoms of skin disorders, like skin sensitivity, eczema and psoriasis," say...

"Skin-So-Soft makes your skin silky smooth and soothes nagging itchiness, lubricates unsightly scaling and relieves pain, which are caused by eczema, psoriasis and sensitive skin. Rub it on, and it's like wrapping your skin with a warm blanket that relieves, protects and replenishes your skin."

The long and short of it is this...

Is your website confusion-proof? Is your copy describing your product to your target market in relative terms? Do you describe your offer with something they can understand, appreciate and visualize?

Since your visitors will make unconscious paralleled assumptions (or "UPAs") with your site or product, you better make them good ones.

Listen to the Interviews of the Leading Entrepreneurs in the World Who Are Heroes That Are Pursuing Their Dreams With Every Ounce of Strength and Faith.
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Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.
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October 01, 2006

"Part 2:Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page

check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com

Ralph Zuranski: I was talking to you earlier and I was very impressed with your concept of how the black culture basically needs the impact on youth of all ages worldwide. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Jeff Wright: Sure. I think that it’s fair to say today that global youth culture is rooted in urban culture. When we think about the hip hop movement, the style of dress, rap music, all of these youth cultural icons have come out and are driving the culture globally. It almost doesn’t matter what nation you go to today, whether it’s Japan or Russia or even in Latin America. Young people all look pretty urban and hip hop.

Jeff Wright: One of the reasons for that of course is that we have six giant global media companies that are propagating these cultural icons through their music and video shows and through the sale, of course, and distribution of rap and hip hop music. But most of this originates, or has originated, out of the African American community.

Jeff Wright: Now the thing that is startling, of course, is that there is just not enough African American teenagers in America to sustain that kind of a global or even national business in and of themselves and so we find that upwards of 80% of rap and hip hop music is bought by suburban white teens.

Jeff Wright: The same is true when you get out of the U.S. Many people who don’t look like African Americans are consuming and thriving and pushing forward hip hop culture.

Ralph Zuranski: Isn’t there a problem with the message that the hip hop culture is perpetuating? Isn’t it sort of life-destroying, calling women “hoes” and killing the police and just the images that are created from that particular genre?

Jeff Wright: Like so many things, something that started off good gets turned bad. In the beginning in the origins of rap and hip hop, there were political messages.

Jeff Wright: There were messages of social justice and economic justice and even the earliest rap; most people will go back to Public Enemy and Chuck D and these groups. But way before those rappers and hip hop artists, spoken word, which is a part of African historical oral tradition, had messages of social redemption.

Jeff Wright: I think of artists such as Gill Scott-Heron or even before him, the Last Poets, who did use a fair amount of what might be considered profanity in their work, were delivering socially positive messages. In fact, one acronym used for rap in the early days was Rhythm And Poetry, RAP.

Jeff Wright: Now today what has happened in order to turn this into the commercial global phenomenon that we see, the most negative, misogynistic authority-defying, women-hating, God-hating lyrics, images, and artists have been promoted on a global scale by companies who clearly have no concern whatsoever either of the impact on society or the culture but rather just how extreme can we go in order to make money.

Jeff Wright: Then of course all of this is painted with a black face which is a pernicious evil in my view that is being foisted not just on the global community but in particular on the African American community.