I have learned a lot lately about the importance of visualization in order to reach my goals in life. So I wanted to share what I have learned thus far to help you accomplish more than you ever thought you could imagine.
What is visualization anyway? What does it mean? According to Webster's dictionary, visualize or visualization means, "To see or form a mental image of. The act or process of interpreting in visual terms or of putting into visible form." This is a great definition because it explains exactly what you do when you visualize.
So what do you mean by visualize, Peter? Well, let me explain it this way:
When I started working on getting my home business up and running, my mentor, Juan Walker, asked me why I was doing what I was doing. He said, "Why are you here? Why are you doing this?" He went on to explain that knowing your "why" is the most important thing in this business. It's what keeps you going each day and it is the core of your daily visualization.
So the first thing I had to do was identify my why. It came down to two things; my desire to be with my family and watch Jesse grow up and my desire to be debt free. My next step was to create something that showed those reasons in a visual way, so I got pictures of us being together and pictures that resembled freedom from debt. I personally picked things that provoked strong emotions when I looked at them. I then made a collage of those pictures and posted them right in front of my desk so I would have no excuse but to see them. Over each collage I wrote my goals and the feelings I would experience when I meet them. I also quantified those goals with numbers and dates. This was my "act of putting in visible form" these two "why's."
I then took this a little further to add even more meaning and emotion to the visualization process. I chose a song for each that would invoke the feelings I would experience when I had accomplished my goals. My daily routine now is to play each song, and as I do, visualize those feelings and look at the pictures to put into reality those feelings. I get goosebumps every time I play those songs without fail. That is how powerful it is. This is what gives you that drive to keep going. In doing this, it is always in front of you why you are doing what you are doing.
It doesn't stop there though. I also wrote a vision statement that outlined my goals in five years. This was written in present tense as if it had already happened. I put as much detail as I could into it. The more detail the better. It is recommended to write a vision statement for five years, one year, six months, 90 days and one month. Then you take the most relevant one and post it in places where you will see it throughout the day. Read it first thing in the morning every day and make it the last thing you read every night. This way it is always in your mind and you start living it. This is a very powerful way to reach goals and this is how the very wealthy do it. You have to have a game plan if you are going to accomplish anything.
Well, I think I've shared enough. This is only the tip of the iceberg, but it's enough to get anyone started on the right track. The only way to do it though, is to take action!
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience: www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Life Lessons Out Of The Mouth Of Babes
As a new father, I have begun to learn a lot from our son as he grows up. There is something about the innocence of a child that can teach you so many life lessons. I thought I would share a few with you.
Jesse is two and a half now, and is getting where he can be quite conversational. This has been so fun for Sara and I as he learns new vocabulary and uses it. We have noticed a trend in him bringing what he learns from some of the kids at childcare back home with him. He's gone through the "No way!" phase, the "Pow, pow!" phase and is still using a few others he has seemed to pick up at daycare. These have provided us with the opportunity to teach Jesse what is good and right vs. what is bad and wrong. Lesson number one is that there is right and wrong in this world. Depending on how you are brought up, you learn that difference rather well or not so well. In this case it is an important job of the parent to teach the children the difference between right and wrong and the ability to discern between the two.
Kids do the cutest things. There is not a day that goes by that Jesse doesn't do something cute. It's always surprising too. I think part of it is because kids are still learning about life and things around them, and when they ask a question and comment on something, we think it's cute. But in actuality they are just learning. One of Jesse's favorite questions right now is "Why?" We will explain the reason to him and then he would ask the same question about the explanation. That goes back and forth for awhile, then we just have to smile at each other and laugh. Lesson number two is that kids are kids and they are some of the best learners on earth. If you want to learn how to learn, watch and listen to the kids for awhile. They are masters at asking questions. Asking questions is one of the best ways to learn.
There are some bad things we can learn from our kids too. Kids naturally are selfish (remember the famous two-year-old's phrase, "Mine."), liars and can be deceitful. I do not say this in a bad way about the kids. There is nothing they can do about it. It's hard-wired into them. No one has to teach them how to do any of that. What we do need to teach them is how to be truthful, selfless, thoughtful, caring and honest. So the third life lesson is to learn from our kids the mistakes they make that we make as adults too in order to avoid making them again, and to teach our children to do the same.
I know this was a little different from my previous posts, but I felt the need to share. I am proud to be a parent and can't wait to teach my son life lessons that will have a positive influence on his life and his life decisions.
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience: www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Jesse is two and a half now, and is getting where he can be quite conversational. This has been so fun for Sara and I as he learns new vocabulary and uses it. We have noticed a trend in him bringing what he learns from some of the kids at childcare back home with him. He's gone through the "No way!" phase, the "Pow, pow!" phase and is still using a few others he has seemed to pick up at daycare. These have provided us with the opportunity to teach Jesse what is good and right vs. what is bad and wrong. Lesson number one is that there is right and wrong in this world. Depending on how you are brought up, you learn that difference rather well or not so well. In this case it is an important job of the parent to teach the children the difference between right and wrong and the ability to discern between the two.
Kids do the cutest things. There is not a day that goes by that Jesse doesn't do something cute. It's always surprising too. I think part of it is because kids are still learning about life and things around them, and when they ask a question and comment on something, we think it's cute. But in actuality they are just learning. One of Jesse's favorite questions right now is "Why?" We will explain the reason to him and then he would ask the same question about the explanation. That goes back and forth for awhile, then we just have to smile at each other and laugh. Lesson number two is that kids are kids and they are some of the best learners on earth. If you want to learn how to learn, watch and listen to the kids for awhile. They are masters at asking questions. Asking questions is one of the best ways to learn.
There are some bad things we can learn from our kids too. Kids naturally are selfish (remember the famous two-year-old's phrase, "Mine."), liars and can be deceitful. I do not say this in a bad way about the kids. There is nothing they can do about it. It's hard-wired into them. No one has to teach them how to do any of that. What we do need to teach them is how to be truthful, selfless, thoughtful, caring and honest. So the third life lesson is to learn from our kids the mistakes they make that we make as adults too in order to avoid making them again, and to teach our children to do the same.
I know this was a little different from my previous posts, but I felt the need to share. I am proud to be a parent and can't wait to teach my son life lessons that will have a positive influence on his life and his life decisions.
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience: www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Pay Per Click Tips: Optimization
After a long break in posts, I am finally back. It has been a crazy and rough last month, but I always come out on top. What I like to say is, "Always stay positive and keep your head up." Well, I want to concentrate this post on optimization for ad campaigns. This is probably the most crucial part of advertising with pay per click. This could make you or break you.
So I have already gone over how to write the ad and incorporate it with the landing page. They must be in sinc so the ad makes sense and the landing page expounds upon what the ad implies. Once the ad is up and running and people are starting to see the ad and click on it, it is important to monitor your campaigns. When I first started off, I had one campaign with about 25 keywords and ad groups. That was plenty to keep me busy. It took me awhile to go through each one to look at the stats and make sure everything was matching up right.
One mistake some people do is monitor their campaigns too closely and get discouraged if they aren't getting results after a couple days. It takes longer than that to get a campaign rolling. So give it some time. I would say two weeks. Then you can look at the campaign and see how your keywords are doing. I made the mistake of letting them go too long and lost some money due to that. There were some keywords that did great when it came to click through rate, but the landing page wasn't doing too well. So I was paying for all those clicks and not getting any revenue to pay for them. Long story short, I learned my lesson the hard way and now check my campaigns every two weeks to make sure they are performing well. Lessons can always be learned from mistakes.
Sometimes there may be some keywords that don't do well. If you aren't making money off of them or have low numbers of clicks, get rid of it if you can't fix it in thirty days. Also keep looking for more keyword phrases. The more you have, the higher chances you have of getting more clicks and sales.
Once I got used to optimizing my campaign, I started another one and did the same thing. I think Yahoo/Microsoft (they are joining forces to compete with Google) allow you to have up to 20 campaigns per account. Take advantage of that.
Once you have optimized, you aren't done yet. Here are the next steps after you have first optimized your campaign:
I leave with two more tips. Number one, don't forget about your budget. When starting off do no more than $25-30 a day. Try not to pay more than a dollar per click. Secondly, focus on conversions, NOT the number of leads you get.
A lot of what I have learned and shared today is because of my mentor and friend, Juan Walker. Thanks to him, I am a better marketer and advertiser.
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience: www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
So I have already gone over how to write the ad and incorporate it with the landing page. They must be in sinc so the ad makes sense and the landing page expounds upon what the ad implies. Once the ad is up and running and people are starting to see the ad and click on it, it is important to monitor your campaigns. When I first started off, I had one campaign with about 25 keywords and ad groups. That was plenty to keep me busy. It took me awhile to go through each one to look at the stats and make sure everything was matching up right.
One mistake some people do is monitor their campaigns too closely and get discouraged if they aren't getting results after a couple days. It takes longer than that to get a campaign rolling. So give it some time. I would say two weeks. Then you can look at the campaign and see how your keywords are doing. I made the mistake of letting them go too long and lost some money due to that. There were some keywords that did great when it came to click through rate, but the landing page wasn't doing too well. So I was paying for all those clicks and not getting any revenue to pay for them. Long story short, I learned my lesson the hard way and now check my campaigns every two weeks to make sure they are performing well. Lessons can always be learned from mistakes.
Sometimes there may be some keywords that don't do well. If you aren't making money off of them or have low numbers of clicks, get rid of it if you can't fix it in thirty days. Also keep looking for more keyword phrases. The more you have, the higher chances you have of getting more clicks and sales.
Once I got used to optimizing my campaign, I started another one and did the same thing. I think Yahoo/Microsoft (they are joining forces to compete with Google) allow you to have up to 20 campaigns per account. Take advantage of that.
Once you have optimized, you aren't done yet. Here are the next steps after you have first optimized your campaign:
- In the first week, check your keywords every four hours and look for these...
- If the ad has 40 clicks and no leads, delete it.
- If the lead conversion cost goes above $12, pause that keyword.
- If the conversion ratio is below 8%, pause that keyword.
- At 2-4 weeks...
- Improve the keywords you paused and test them. Maybe you need to change the title or the ad. Ask your self, "Does this tie in with the landing page?"
- If you can't get any conversions, delete it. Don't wait longer than four weeks.
I leave with two more tips. Number one, don't forget about your budget. When starting off do no more than $25-30 a day. Try not to pay more than a dollar per click. Secondly, focus on conversions, NOT the number of leads you get.
A lot of what I have learned and shared today is because of my mentor and friend, Juan Walker. Thanks to him, I am a better marketer and advertiser.
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience: www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Pay Per Click Tips: Writing an Ad
Anyone who uses Pay Per Click with Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine knows that it's a powerful tool that can bring a lot of exposure to your business and produce a lot of leads to generate revenue and customers. The big question is, does everyone know how to write a good enough ad to get people to click it and take them to your website? The answer to that would be no! I admit that I myself am not the best ad writer in the world, but with practice I can write attractive ads that will bring customers in. You could have the best product or service around, but if you can't write an ad, no one is going to see your site and you won't make any money. Here are some things to keep in mind while writing your ad:
One thing to remember when starting to write your ad is that you have a very short amount of space to convince someone to click. So your wording has to be professional, clean, prompt and concise. Another thing you have to keep in mind is the keyword or keyword phrase you are using. That should be incorporated into your ad. Think of keywords as questions and you want to answer that question in your ad.
An important thing to keep in mind also while writing your ad is your audience. Who is the majority of people that are looking for what you are offering? What do they want? What is their main goal? You must know your customer and what they want in order to get their business. Keep these two questions in mind:
What is it and can it work for me?
What's in it for me to move on to the next step?
If you can answer these two question rather in your ad and/or on your landing page, you are most likely going to get the traffic you want.
Also make sure that what your ad says matches up with what message your landing page portrays. If they don't match up, you won't get any customers. Remember to always be truthful and honest in your claims. NEVER claim something you can't produce or say something that is not true about the product or service you are selling. That is bad business and you will lose customers.
You must keep in mind that the internet is an ever changing entity, so if your ad doesn't work and you are not getting the clicks on it, my mentor always told me this, "Don't get mad, change your ad." Any type of advertising is an ongoing process. Yes sometimes you can have it on autopilot, but you still need to check everything regularly to make sure what you have is still working well.
I will leave you with that. Next time I hope to put a post about tips on optimizing your campaigns. Good luck to all of you and happy clicking!
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
One thing to remember when starting to write your ad is that you have a very short amount of space to convince someone to click. So your wording has to be professional, clean, prompt and concise. Another thing you have to keep in mind is the keyword or keyword phrase you are using. That should be incorporated into your ad. Think of keywords as questions and you want to answer that question in your ad.
An important thing to keep in mind also while writing your ad is your audience. Who is the majority of people that are looking for what you are offering? What do they want? What is their main goal? You must know your customer and what they want in order to get their business. Keep these two questions in mind:
What is it and can it work for me?
What's in it for me to move on to the next step?
If you can answer these two question rather in your ad and/or on your landing page, you are most likely going to get the traffic you want.
Also make sure that what your ad says matches up with what message your landing page portrays. If they don't match up, you won't get any customers. Remember to always be truthful and honest in your claims. NEVER claim something you can't produce or say something that is not true about the product or service you are selling. That is bad business and you will lose customers.
You must keep in mind that the internet is an ever changing entity, so if your ad doesn't work and you are not getting the clicks on it, my mentor always told me this, "Don't get mad, change your ad." Any type of advertising is an ongoing process. Yes sometimes you can have it on autopilot, but you still need to check everything regularly to make sure what you have is still working well.
I will leave you with that. Next time I hope to put a post about tips on optimizing your campaigns. Good luck to all of you and happy clicking!
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Friday, July 30, 2010
Key Points About Twitter Marketing
Are you using Twitter to market a product or service and have a hard time getting customers? This post is intended to give you a few tips I just learned to help get people interested in what you have to offer.
Did you know...
There is an etiquette for Twitter. Here are some etiquette pointers.
Building your followers list
In order to get leads and customers, you have to have a follower list and keep it growing so you have a constant flow of people to tweet with. Here are some pointers to build your list:
If you want some more training on Twitter, try this website: www.twenius.com
If you want training that provides information like what is in this post, click my link below for more information.
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Did you know...
There is an etiquette for Twitter. Here are some etiquette pointers.
- If someone follows you, follow them back.
- Reply to personal @ comments and direct messages.
- Thank your followers for retweets.
- Don't just advertise. Do quotes, provide content and interesting facts.
- Balance your ads and your other tweets.
About content
You want to provide content that has quality and generates interest to your followers. Your content should be something that would produce value that your followers can use or take something from. Here are some ideas where you can find some good content:- www.ezinearticles.com
- www.articlebase.com
- www.youtube.com
- If you have a blog, you can point people towards your posts.
- Quotes and quips (I found this site and it has some great quotes)
Building your followers list
In order to get leads and customers, you have to have a follower list and keep it growing so you have a constant flow of people to tweet with. Here are some pointers to build your list:
- Make sure you are targeting groups that you know would be interested in what you are offering.
- Use the "Find People" feature to search for groups (eg.- mlm, network marketing, home business)
- Look at your current list of followers and follow their followers.
- Follow the followers of the Gurus like Mike Dillard, Jonathan Budd and Ryan Deiss.
If you want some more training on Twitter, try this website: www.twenius.com
If you want training that provides information like what is in this post, click my link below for more information.
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
To Fear or Not to Fear
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word fear? Is it a phobia you have? Maybe a scary movie you watched, or something terrible you witnessed? Fear strikes a chord in every human being, and it's not a good feeling is it? So what is it about fear that we don't like so much? Webster defines fear as "to be afraid or apprehensive." I think it goes a little further than that. Fear is a strong word that produces strong feelings.
So what are we to do with this fear? Are we to let it rule our lives or prevent us from doing things that we would otherwise enjoy or benefit from? I am going to try in this article to give you some tools to overcome fear; to conquer it.
Face your fear:
Whatever fear you come across, you have two choices; make an about face and get the high tail out of there or take a stand against it and fight. Although the latter is the toughest choice, it is the best of the two. If you don't face your fears, you will never overcome them. Even phobias (which are an extreme and debilitating fear) can be cured. I once saw a doctor who helped people overcome their phobias by showing them the harmlessness of their fear. A lot of times fear, when you look at it closely is just a misunderstanding of something or someone. Take a moment to think things through so this isn't the case. Another good way to face fear is visualization. A great example of this is in the movie "The Big Green." The kid who played goalie has a great imagination and was afraid of the players because of it. But he faced his fear and was able to visualize the opposing players as something harmless.
Be in the Know:
One of the most common causes of fear is the unknown. This could be an unknown of what the future holds, something that can't be seen or touched, or just a lack of knowledge. Any of these unknowns can trigger fear. If you fear what will happen, concentrate on the now. Work on what is happening today and don't worry about tomorrow. That is easier said than done for some, but if you are busy with today, you will most likely not even think about tomorrow before it becomes today. The best way to tackle fear of the unknown is to educate yourself. If you have a fear in this area, learn more about it. Study it and comprehend it. This will ease fears. If there is a fear you just can't overcome, recruit help from family and friends. There is always power in numbers.
I leave you with this quote from the Bible as an encouragement to you, "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
So what are we to do with this fear? Are we to let it rule our lives or prevent us from doing things that we would otherwise enjoy or benefit from? I am going to try in this article to give you some tools to overcome fear; to conquer it.
Face your fear:
Whatever fear you come across, you have two choices; make an about face and get the high tail out of there or take a stand against it and fight. Although the latter is the toughest choice, it is the best of the two. If you don't face your fears, you will never overcome them. Even phobias (which are an extreme and debilitating fear) can be cured. I once saw a doctor who helped people overcome their phobias by showing them the harmlessness of their fear. A lot of times fear, when you look at it closely is just a misunderstanding of something or someone. Take a moment to think things through so this isn't the case. Another good way to face fear is visualization. A great example of this is in the movie "The Big Green." The kid who played goalie has a great imagination and was afraid of the players because of it. But he faced his fear and was able to visualize the opposing players as something harmless.
Be in the Know:
One of the most common causes of fear is the unknown. This could be an unknown of what the future holds, something that can't be seen or touched, or just a lack of knowledge. Any of these unknowns can trigger fear. If you fear what will happen, concentrate on the now. Work on what is happening today and don't worry about tomorrow. That is easier said than done for some, but if you are busy with today, you will most likely not even think about tomorrow before it becomes today. The best way to tackle fear of the unknown is to educate yourself. If you have a fear in this area, learn more about it. Study it and comprehend it. This will ease fears. If there is a fear you just can't overcome, recruit help from family and friends. There is always power in numbers.
I leave you with this quote from the Bible as an encouragement to you, "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
2010 World Cup Conclusion
Well, my predictions in the quarter-finals I would have to say were maybe half right. I forgot to take into account that some of Brazil's key players were not able to play to help them advance to the next level. This is the worst Brazil has played in a long time. Another thing I forgot about was that Spain was the pick to be the winner from the very beginning. Oops! Big mistake on my predictions.
The two teams that surprised me the most are my two favorite teams; Paraguay and Germany. Both teams played better than they ever have as far as placement. And third place for Germany is excellent for them. I think they played excellent ball. They had the least amount of goals made on them and I believe they were the highest scoring team also. Very good.
So bravo to Spain for winning the World Cup of 2010. Netherlands put up a good fight too. There were a couple close calls in the final game and several yellow cards handed out. What a game. I look forward to next World Cup. I hear it may be in Brazil next time. Maybe I will see you there! :)
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
The two teams that surprised me the most are my two favorite teams; Paraguay and Germany. Both teams played better than they ever have as far as placement. And third place for Germany is excellent for them. I think they played excellent ball. They had the least amount of goals made on them and I believe they were the highest scoring team also. Very good.
So bravo to Spain for winning the World Cup of 2010. Netherlands put up a good fight too. There were a couple close calls in the final game and several yellow cards handed out. What a game. I look forward to next World Cup. I hear it may be in Brazil next time. Maybe I will see you there! :)
Helping you get the upper hand,
Peter Bunn
Rising Leader
Want a more stress free life and be able to be home with your family? Learn how to empower yourself with this experience:
www.PeterBunnHasFun.com
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Me and my wife Sara enjoying Las Vegas at the Venetian in November 2010