Your Doubts & Fears Don’t Drive Me Away

A Repost from May 5, 2018

God came to meet me this morning and this is what he said…..

“Your Doubts & Fears Don’t Drive Me Away.”

Scripture Ref: Mark 9:24; John 3:16-17; John 9:3; Ephesians 3:20-21; Deut. 31:6,8

Background Text: Mark 9:14-29; John 9:1-7; Deut. 31: 1-9

I gave my life to Christ while still a prisoner back in 2001. I’d been doing time for a crime I committed to feeding a drug addiction and wouldn’t be released until later in October of 2003. This seems like a pretty common behavior for those who become incarcerated, and I know people, in general, are quick to judge this. Some use it as a way of escape, a time to ” get right with God”, some use it as a way just to pass the time and some actually allow that time to use them and TRULY change their lives as a result. But since that day I have continued to experience many different things, had many different feelings, and had many different thoughts about myself, about others, and even my connection to Jesus since that time…..nonetheless, I am still a believer and seeker of Jesus Christ because at the end of the day, I feel that in the midst of everyone and everything, He’s truly all that I have. I too feel as though a lot of people in the world, whether or not they have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives like myself still struggle with whether or not to believe in all that He has done, has said, and promised to do for Us, simply because of the people, our government and things we personally go through and experience. It’s not that we don’t want to believe but it’s just hard to. God knows we’ve probably tried and tried again and things just don’t work out the way we hope for so we become highly DISAPPOINTED and just say..” Ah, just forget it”. No matter the size or content of the issues we face, it’s just plain HARD to find Him and to feel his presence with us and to make sense of who He is for Us at different times and in different situations that take place in our DAILY life …and it can be soooo FRUSTRATING and CONFUSING to feel this way!

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the term,” Doubting Thomas” before right?

We tend to go back and forth… back and forth trying to HOLD ON and make sense of it all and this can also be very tiring.

Don’t ever let anyone make you feel bad or try to condemn (blame or find fault with) you for feeling the way you do in this matter because God through His Son Jesus Christ wants to and can reveal Himself to you and Fill you with His presence, Heavy with everything GOOD…..FOR YOU!!

Keep on looking for Him to show up for you. Only He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all that we could ever ask or think. His GRACE (undeserved favor & blessing) is ENOUGH and to Him be all the GLORY forever and ever, AMEN!

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Feel free to share your thoughts on how you’re fighting the good fight in the comments below!

Your Friend in Love & Life

Nichole

10 Things Savvy Online Marketers Do To Get Traffic

Repost from August 27, 2017

Today there are approximately 1.3 billion websites (link is external) — or one website for every seven people in the world! That’s a lot of competition. If you want to get traffic to your website, you’re going to have to take the right steps.

Take a look at the following 10 things savvy online marketers do to get traffic.

1. Improve Website Speed

Sites that load painfully slow will cause visitors to bounce away. Slow-loading sites can be penalized by search engines, too.

 Tip:  Use one of the free testing tools to test your site’s speed.  Google offers one, but there are others including Webpage Test (link is external) and Pingdom (link is external). Use test data and insights to identify improvements, and then talk with your website developer.

2. Attach a Blog to Your Website

Having a blog gives you a place to add content to your website — content that attracts traffic. According to Twitter, businesses with blogs tend to get 3 to 4 times the traffic as those without. Also by adding a professional blog, not only does it help make you the authority in your niche, but a well-optimized article will rank high on google searches and will bring your prospective customers to your website.

Tip: Keep blog content relevant — and informative — but not a sales pitch. Ask yourself, is this topic relevant to why a customer might choose to do business with a company like mine?

3. Use Proper Keywords

Keywords are search phrases that visitors use to find web pages when hunting in search engines.  Here’s a Keyword Tool (link is external) you can use to include relevant keywords in your pages and blog posts. Used in a natural way, and over time you’ll be more likely to attract traffic from search engines.

Tip:  Choose keywords as specific as possible to your type of business, product, service or industry. That way you’ll attract visitors that are really interested in what you have to offer.

4. Share all Your Content on Social Media  

Share all of your blog content, whitepapers, videos, and more on social media. Social media is no time to be overly modest.

Get An Entire Social Media Management Team Working For You On Autopilot. Create A Whole Year Of Content In Just An Hour And Generate A Month’s FREE Traffic In Just Minutes…

Tip: Don’t go overboard. For example, don’t share the same blog post ten times a day on Twitter — that’s spamming not sharing. And don’t forget to be a good social media citizen by commenting on and liking others’ updates and sharing their content.

5. Seek Guest Blogging Opportunities

Write original engaging and informative content. And if you’re interested in building authority, growing your market reach, and getting more qualified leads, then approach sites in your industry and request to publish it. This exposes your business to a new audience.

Tip: Approach guest blog posts as an opportunity to provide information to readers, not as a free ad. You’ll have more credibility.

6. Publish an Email Newsletter

Regular newsletters can be a great way to drive traffic. Include blog post snippets in your newsletter along with links back to the full content on your site.

Step 1: Create a Newsletter

This is easily done using a service like TrafficWave. You can create your newsletter format to be as simple as regular text formatting or really make things “pop” with your own custom graphics, logo, and even video streams.

Our Youtube channel gives you some great tips on creating your newsletter to be as simple or as fancy as you like.

You can even get started today with a Free 30 Day Trial.

Step 2: Build Your Subscriber List

Once you have a newsletter, you will need to start getting subscribers to your newsletter. Your subscribers will be people who express interest in what you have to offer. They will subscribe by filling out a form on your website or capture page.

Start by recommending people you know. Let them know they can learn more about what you do by filling out the form. Drive traffic to your site by advertising, posting on social media, and asking for referrals.

Never built a list before? Click the banner above to Start now with our Free 30-minute List Building Challenge.

Step 3: Create Income With Your Newsletter

While your ultimate goal is to create income with your newsletter, make sure your newsletter content adds real value to your readers. Share tips about how you have helped others achieve their goals or solve problems. Show them how what you do has helped others and let them know you can do the same for them.

Following our “Keeping TABS” system, you can begin to reliably get new subscribers, build rapport and sell more.

Around the world, this same strategy has been used by yoga studios, crypto enthusiasts, photographers, network marketers, manufacturers, musicians, and more.

For regular real-world examples and tips, be sure to join our Facebook group: TrafficWave Talk

If you’ve got questions about how we can help you create income with your newsletter, feel free to ask in the comments below.

Tip: Put a “subscribe” box on just about every page of your website. Also, when your newsletter comes out each month, alert your social media followers to encourage them to subscribe.

7. Participate in Social Groups

Become an active member of groups on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. Regularly comment  or answer questions.

Tip: Know the rules before you post links back to your site or blog.  Some groups do not allow links.

8. Use a Call-To-Action on Posts

A call-to-action can be used at the end of blog posts to encourage people to click on other content on your site. The more relevant content a visitor sees, the more likely he or she will visit again.

Tip: A blog post is a great way to promote longer-form content such as e-books and whitepapers.

9. Make Optimum Use of Headlines

Half the battle today in getting visitors is the headline. You have to grab a reader’s attention to get the click-through.

Tip:  Don’t let the headline of your content be an afterthought. Titles of blog posts, videos and social updates, and content ideas are so important that I actually found a tool that allows you to create 700 for FREE.

10. Pump up Your Local Listings

If you operate a business with a brick-and-mortar location, then being listed in local directories is crucial. Bing Places for Business, Google My Business, Apple Maps, yellow pages sites, and Facebook Places / local are just some of the places to make sure your business appears.

Tip: Check to see if you’re listed using free checkers at places like Advice Local, and Comet Reputation.

Finally, remember that getting web traffic is a marathon, not a sprint. Be in it for the long haul!

Your Friend in Love & Life,

Nichole

Lessons From a Dandelion

Repost from June 26, 2017

Dandelions.

 Not just the bane of every gardener’s existence, but could it be for us, that Dandelions are an example set before us to teach us how we as humans, whether in our homes, daily walks of life, or in business can conduct ourselves when it comes to creating more of what we want in this world? More Love, peace, happiness, money, etc…

 Like small pieces of DNA replicated, Dandelions spread across the regions like wildfire just by catching the wind, and in the spring, those little buggers take over vast grasslands with ease. One shows up and the next morning you’re in dandelion hell…..lol

 For real.

 Ever wonder how they do it?

Being considered a “Perennial”… plant or weed as many of us would like to call them, Dandelions, also known as herbaceous plants, have a life cycle that never ends. They grow and bloom over the spring and summer months, and die back every autumn and winter……lucky for us, they don’t have to be replanted because they return in the spring from their “rootstock” which means they can reproduce and another variety is born!!. As “Dandelion seeds” disperse, they carry some grass and daisy seeds — additional segments of DNA if you will — along for the ride. Each one landing in its place by a grand design larger than our own, and takes up residence just long enough to be able to start the process all over again.

This means It takes just one seed from a Dandelion to generate 100’s!!!

AMAZING ISN’T IT!! Granted, no one probably thinks about their children as dandelions, unless they get on your nerves…lmao, but to find out just how much a human and a dandelion have in common is quite a unique story, to say the least!!

 The Bible says, in Matthew 5:14-16  during  Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

We were built to do the same as the Dandelion….the human race, being the seed that was planted here to produce on earth. Should we, being much more than a Dandelion desire to be carried out at his bidding to generate 100’s more! What a lesson the Dandelion has to teach us. Our season will one day be over too and all we have to do for now is…..

CATCH THE WIND!

See yourself in the field and ask yourself……what kind of seed are you?

Scriptures Referenced: Matthew 5:14-16 Dandelion Idea Reference

Your Friend in Love & Life,

Nichole

What, “You’re Not A Good Fit” Really Means……

Repost from June 26, 2017

So, you’ve applied for the job, received a great starting wage, gotten into uniform and you’re, off to a great start! Over the next couple of weeks, you find yourself learning your way around with ease, and getting along with the other staff members, everyone’s hospitable and playing together well, and nobody seems to be having any of the usual job-related issues like all the cat fighting and backbiting, so you’re thinking….”Man, I’ve hit the jackpot!” You show up every day on time, thanks to the neighbor who stepped up to help you with transportation and everything seems to be falling into place.

Then you get called into the office to do your intake evaluation and the first thing they say to you is….

“WE DON’T THINK YOU’RE A GOOD FIT!”

It can be extremely confusing, and in all honesty, outright destructive to hear an announcement like that, especially when you never knew there was a problem. I believe that’s because “you’re not a good fit,” is code for, “we can’t see your personality and approach to work fitting in with the rest of us.”

Workplace Culture Club = It’s High School Bullying All Over Again!!

One of the greatest difficulties in searching for an occupation is effectively exploring the ‘way of life club’ all through the meeting or interview process. It can feel like you are back in secondary school. Each department you meet with will have its own particular tribe-like feel. Just think about all the groups you used to experience out in the yard in high school: the athletes, the geeks, the team promoters, the specialists, the goths, the rich children, and so forth. Each gathering had an arrangement of convictions that managed how they talked, dressed, and collaborated with each other. It was dependent upon you to discover the gathering where you felt you had a place. And while I wish I could tell to you that circumstances have changed, they haven’t. At least not from my experience. It’s actually become more challenging. It’s really become a fight between what you want to do and what you have to do. We’ve all grown up, however, we are still human beings – and forming cliques is the thing that people do. It’s our method for connecting and socializing so that we can cooperate and be more beneficial, in our homes, churches, and even in the workplace. But before you get in your feelings and cry about it, like I did (LOL) consider this…

Each Effective Organization Has a Solid Culture Club

Google. Apple. Facebook. Amazon. To work at these prestigious organizations, you have to fit in with their way of life. This is never going to change. For whatever length of time that there are organizations to work for, there will be culture clubs to run with them. As occupation seekers, it’s dependent upon us to distinguish FALSE truth from REAL and to seek after organizations where we know our identity and way to deal with work/life balance will be acknowledged and used in a beneficial manner and not be made to feel like we are suffering as a result of either, both for the employee and employer. It’s always a 2-way street and it’s not always easy to map out because most employers only want to hold the employee accountable for this or that thing and visa versa. It’s usually on the part of the Employee to want to come together and discuss a thing in its TRUE form.

Yet we are told NOT to talk with or to Employers that way.

Personally, I would like to know who made up that Bullshit rule, because people have been fighting for many things in many different ways, and whoever said or thought that it was NOT right for you to speak the truth, to stand up for yourself “verbally”, especially when it’s your life, your families life, your children’s life and your own wellbeing depends on it, HAS GOT TO BE CRAZY!

We are Activists, Philanthropists, and even Humanitarians on some level by sheer nature.

In the event that you’ve experienced that pain from being told, “You’re not a good fit”, the best you can do is try not to take it personally. It’s likely they did you a favor by giving you more time to find out who you are and where you really want to be. Why work or do anything anywhere where you don’t feel like you’re even wanted or welcome? Or why do it out of desperation, because more than likely you’ve had to make a rash decision based on your circumstances (which will change, then where will you be) rather than making the choice based on a much better and personally gratifying reason? There’s a place for each and every one of Us, and honestly, you’re not made to fit in everywhere… you don’t even have to fit in anywhere! Not for any reason other than your own!! You can create your own life and space to operate in. Always consult your, “why” when doing anything, and it if gives you peace and leads you closer to completing the vision you have for your life, then go for it!

I release you from the spirit of fear and failure from your life TODAY. You are no longer paralyzed but ENERGIZED!

Come out of the desert… shake yourself loose and come on into your REAL blessing!

Yes, it will hurt for a moment, there will be naysayers and you will have to change your mind and do the necessary work, but It’s Worth the Fight!

On account of that, I’m extending to YOU a: SPECIAL INVITATION to possibly help you create your best life, I believe you’ll find that you can fit in here quite well, simply by utilizing the chance to be your best self and do your best work… Serving Others & Yourself!

Here’s to Being More Than a Conqueror!

Your Friend in Love & Life,

Nichole

The Impact of Comet Reputation on SEO: Why Your Online Reputation Matters More Than You Think

In today’s digital age, businesses are increasingly relying on their online presence to attract and retain customers. Having a website and social media accounts is just the start, but it’s not enough. Your online reputation, or “Comet Reputation,” plays a crucial role in your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Comet Reputation refers to the trail of positive or negative impressions that your brand leaves behind, which can impact your rankings on search engines like Google. In other words, your reputation online can make or break your SEO strategy.

Understanding Online Reputation Management

Online reputation management (ORM) is the process of monitoring and improving your brand’s image on the internet. It involves analyzing what people are saying about your business, responding to feedback, and taking steps to improve your online presence. ORM is not just about addressing negative comments or reviews. It’s also about creating a positive image of your brand online so that potential customers are more likely to choose your business over competitors.

ORM (object-relational mapping) is vital because people rely heavily on search engines like Google to find products or services they need. If your business has a negative online reputation, it could discourage potential customers from engaging with your brand, leading to lost sales and revenue. On the other hand, a positive online reputation can help you attract more customers, increase brand awareness, and improve your search engine rankings.

What Is Comet Reputation?

Comet Reputation refers to the online trail of positive or negative impressions that a brand leaves behind. This trail can be created by anything from customer reviews to social media posts. Think of Comet Reputation as a comet’s tail, with positive impressions creating a bright, shining trail and negative impressions leaving a dark, murky one.

Comet Reputation is important because it can significantly impact your search engine rankings. Search engines like Google use complex algorithms that take into account many factors, including the quality and relevance of your website’s content, the number of inbound links, and the authority of your domain. However, the algorithms also consider the reputation of your brand online, including customer reviews, social media activity, and mentions in the press.

The Connection Between Comet Reputation and SEO

Comet Reputation and SEO are closely related. A strong online reputation can help improve your search engine rankings, while a negative reputation can hurt them. A positive online reputation can also help you attract more inbound links, which are crucial for SEO. When other websites link to your content, it signals to search engines that your website is trustworthy and authoritative.

On the other hand, a negative online reputation can discourage other websites from linking to your content, which can hurt your search engine rankings. Negative reviews or comments on social media can also hurt your brand’s image, leading to lost sales and revenue.

The Impact of Negative Comet Reputation on Search Engine Ranking

A negative Comet Reputation can have a significant impact on your search engine rankings. Search engines like Google use algorithms to determine the relevance and authority of a website’s content. These algorithms take into account many factors, including the quality and relevance of the content, the number of inbound links, and the authority of the domain. However, search engines also consider the reputation of the brand online.

Negative reviews or comments on social media can hurt your brand’s image, leading to lost sales and revenue. Search engines may also penalize websites with a negative online reputation by lowering their search engine ranking. This can make it harder for potential customers to find your website, which can lead to lost revenue.

Tips for Improving Your Online Reputation

Improving your online reputation is not a one-time task. It requires ongoing effort and attention. Here are some tips to help you improve your online reputation:

• Scan your website & get a roadmap for SEO strategy, backlinks, UX, semantics & content.
• Monitor your online presence and your brand because these are very different personas.
• Have an online review strategy as they are becoming omnipresent.
• Work with influencers who have an established online reputation.
• 4. Be consistent and deliver on your promises.
• 5. Track your competitors’ online reputation and strategies.

The Importance of Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are an essential part of your online reputation. Positive reviews can help boost your brand’s image, while negative reviews can hurt it. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, and Facebook. Respond to negative reviews in a professional and courteous manner, and take steps to address any issues raised.

Managing Negative Reviews and Comments

Negative reviews and comments are inevitable, but it’s essential to manage them effectively. Respond to negative reviews in a professional and courteous manner, and take steps to address any issues raised. This can help demonstrate to potential customers that you care about their satisfaction and are willing to take steps to address any problems.

The Role of Social Media in Online Reputation Management

Social media is another essential component of your online reputation. It’s where many customers will go to learn more about your brand, engage with your content, and leave feedback. Make sure your social media profiles are up to date and reflect your brand’s values and personality. Respond to comments and messages promptly, and take steps to address any negative feedback.

Tools for Monitoring and Managing Online Reputation

There are many tools available to help you monitor and manage your online reputation. Google Alerts, for example, will send you an email whenever your brand is mentioned online. Other tools, such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social, can help you monitor social media activity and respond to comments and messages more efficiently. Comet Reputation covers your online activity and allows you to apply a set of standards to help you stay ahead of the conversations taking place.

Conclusion: Why Comet Reputation is Crucial for SEO Success

Your online reputation, or Comet Reputation, is a vital component of your SEO strategy. A positive online reputation can help you attract more customers, improve your search engine rankings, and increase brand awareness. On the other hand, a negative online reputation can hurt your brand’s image, leading to lost sales and revenue. By taking steps to manage your online reputation effectively, you can stay ahead of the competition and maintain a strong online presence.

Your Friend in Love & Life,

Nichole