Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn was awarded the Nobel Prize last year for her work on telomeres. The video I’m linking is an hour-long lecture she gave geared to all of us “laymen.” And a good thing, too, because the “real” science would be way over my head I’m sure!

So, if this kind of stuff holds your interest, go to my YouTube Favorites page and click on the video “Chromosome Ends and Diseases of Aging.”

I’m revealing my geeky side today to help make an important point: There really is no free lunch.

Immortality In Our Future?
I watched a lecture a few months ago about today’s topic and more recently I ran across a related article in Discover magazine. Without getting too technical, the key to greater longevity may lie in the tips of chromosomes within telomeres, which are repeating DNA sequences that become shorter each time a cell divides.

When its telomeres become too short, a cell stops dividing – and eventually dies. When enough cells die, so do you.

Stop that process and immortality beckons – maybe. There’s even been a pill on the market for about three years now based on this process that proponents say enhances athletic, visual, and cognitive performance. If you can handle the $8000 per year price tag you might want to give this a try.

A Cure For Cancer?
At the same time, companies have also been looking at this process as a way to fight cancer. An enzyme called telomerase maintains telomeres in our reproductive and stem cells but not in the rest of the body.

However, telomerase gets reactivated in cancer cells, which is what allows them to continue dividing at will – and spreading. Blocking this enzyme causes cancer cells to die, so scientists are working on a treatment they hope will kill tumor cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed. Great idea!

Can you guess the down side? Telomerase-boosting treatments aimed at slowing the aging process might also increase your risk of getting cancer. Bummer.

How Does This Impact Your Business?
So, how does this relate to you and your entrepreneurial ambitions? I think it just reinforces that there really is cause and effect in the world:

• If you want to try to live longer you may run a higher risk of getting cancer.
• If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you’ve gotta work at it.

You need to learn new skills and put them into practice. Because if you keep doing the same thing, you’ll keep getting the same results.

Here’s to better results – and a long and healthy life!

We’ve all been there, right? Sometimes things just don’t go our way – and it’s frustrating. The next time that happens, though, I want you to think about this:

What’s really going on when you get frustrated? I’ll tell you what:
You’ve given control to someone or something else!

Every day we’re presented with an opportunity to be frustrated. How do you deal with it? How do you deal with the nuts and bolts of running your business, with changing your life for the better?

It’s All About Your “Why”

It’s been said that a person without a dream never had a dream come true. We need to have big dreams. Don’t ever apologize for them!

And those big dreams are all wrapped up in “why” you have them. For me, it’s all about being there for the most important people in my life. Being there with my physical presence. Being there with my time. Being there emotionally. And, yes, being there with financial support, too.

As long as you can keep your “why” front and center you won’t get mired down in frustrations. Because you know what? You’ll have the power. The power to make the decisions that will move you forward and keep you on track toward your goals. The power of being aware.

Don’t Get Mad – Fix Your Ad!

Don’t allow your frustrations to keep you from accomplishing what needs to be done today. Confront them and see them for what they really are.

You’ve got to change your programming and break the frustration pattern. If something isn’t working, go back with a clear head, examine it, and then fix it.

Keep yourself in a mindset of gratitude. Be thankful for your “why” – because if you do, when you’re frustrated you’ll be aware of what’s happening and you can change it!

For instance, here’s a “domino effect” I’m not sure anyone could have seen coming:

• Boris Yeltsin: What gave him the courage to stand up to communism? He was inspired by Lech Walesa.
• Lech Walesa: He fought for Poland’s unions and later lead that nation. He was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: He lead the civil rights movement here in the United States. Who inspired him? Rosa Parks.
• Rosa Parks: A woman who simply refused to give up her seat on a bus? Yes – and no.

While certainly not the only factor, that one small act of civil disobedience by a woman in Alabama can arguably be said to have lead to the collapse of communism. It all started with that one small “seed,” which blossomed in some very unexpected ways and places.

What “seeds” have you planted lately – personally and for your business? Have you smiled at a stranger? Did you place an ad for your business? Offer a kind word or gesture? Publish an article or a press release?

Where have you taken a stand? Because you know what? Taking a stand is a simple act whose impact cannot be measured.

I’ll leave you with this final thought:

If a seemingly insignificant act can topple an empire
why couldn’t one small seed planted today
grow an empire – YOUR empire?

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. – Stephen Covey

It’s summertime here in the United States and that means many people are slowing down, taking time off, going on vacation. Nothing wrong with that. We all need down time. However, you can’t take time off from bettering yourself and your business.

What I’m suggesting here is that you create a little “down time” each day to re-prioritize your goals by looking at what John Maxwell calls the 3Rs of Leadership:

• What’s REQUIRED? What do you absolutely have to get done?
• What’s the RETURN? Are you spending time on the things you do best or that you enjoy the most – or are you doing the things that will give you the biggest bang for your buck?
• What’s the REWARD? What are you creating today for the people you care about?

Sometimes we get so focused on getting things done that we don’t take time to remember that activity is not necessarily accomplishment. In fact, what often unleashes true productivity isn’t what you do; it’s what you don’t do – what you release in order to do the things that really count.

So, today and every day going forward, I challenge you to look at how you’re spending your time. Are you following the 3 Rs of Leadership?

I’ll leave you with another paraphrase from Stephen Covey:

A leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation and then says, ‘Hey – wrong jungle!’

Don’t be afraid to be the one to climb that tree!

Do you know the difference between these three variations on the same keyword search phrase? You should. That is, if you want to conduct a cost-effective pay per click campaign.

Broad Match Type (baseball card values)

When creating a Google AdWords campaign, this is the default keyword match type and the one that will probably give you the most impressions. That’s not necessarily a good thing. Using this match type means that your ad will appear whenever a user searches for any word in the phrase, in any order. In this example that means your ad will appear if someone searches for “baseball card values” or “baseball hall of fame” or “stock values” or “card shark,” to name a few.

I doubt that you’d be targeting all four of these example phrases with the same ad, so you need a way to minimize the irrelevant searches. Enter Negative Keywords. By putting a minus sign in front of a keyword, you tell Google that you don’t want your ad to appear when that word or phrase is used in a search. In this case, you’d probably want to add “-stock values” and “-card shark” to your negative keyword list.

Phrase Match Type (“baseball card values”)

Now we’re getting a little more control over the situation. By putting your keyword search phrase in quotation marks, Google will only display your ad when a user types in that phrase and in the same order.

So, for example, your ad would appear for “baseball card values over time” or “i want to know my baseball card values” or “are your baseball card values declining.”

Exact Match Type ([baseball card values])

This is where the rubber meets the road and you have the most control over who will see your ads. Brackets around your keyword search phrase tell Google that you only want your ad to appear when that exact phrase is entered.

For instance, your ad would appear for “baseball card values” but would not appear for “rising baseball card values” or “baseball card values declining” or “baseball bats” or even “baseball.” It will only appear for the exact phrase “baseball card values.”

Now that you know how to control your keyword search results you’re one step closer to creating a high performing AND cost effective PPC campaign.

Bye for now!

~ Deborah

I was devouring a recent issue of Discover magazine (yep, I’m a bit of a nerd) when I ran across an article about how the U.S. government is spending $4 billion to launch an expedition to Europa – one of Jupiter’s moons. This is “quest for life” stuff, and NASA seems to think that this icebound moon could be the best place to find life in our solar system. There are two theories: one that makes it highly likely conditions are ripe on Europa for the beginnings of life and one that would make it highly UNLIKELY that we’ll find life there. It’s all about having the right conditions.

In the case of Europa, the “right conditions” hinge on the thickness of the ice that makes up its fractured and frozen surface and the amount of heat generated beneath that ice by its unusual orbit. If the heat is intense enough and the ice thin enough, the ice might be melted almost to the surface – allowing sunlight and organic matter to penetrate to the oceans below and create a very promising biological soup. If the heat is less intense, we might find a thick layer of warm ice that would behave much like glaciers here on Earth and that would provide a much harsher environment for beginnings of life.

Probes will begin launching in 2020, so it’ll be a while before we get our answers.

What’s a Moon Got to Do With My Business?

Ok, you say. What does this have to do with the price of tea in China? Or, better yet, how can this help my business?

It has to do with the ability to influence your environment.

The conditions on Europa are what they are – and will either promote life or not. YOU, on the other hand, have much more control over the conditions impacting your business efforts. But are you exercising that control? Are you treating your business like a business or just an expensive hobby? Are you constantly learning and seeking the advice of more experienced business leaders in your industry? Do you have a business plan or are you just flying by the seat of your pants? Are you enthusiastic about your business – and do you convey that enthusiasm to your customers or clients?

Europa will reveal her secrets in due course. YOU can make changes on a daily basis – and for considerably less than $4 billion – to improve your business prospects. Are you following through on your “quest” for a business life?

Bye for now!

~ Deborah

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What’s the Real Question Your Keyword Is Asking?

Start with a keyword or keyword phrase that’s relevant to the category you’re investigating. We’re in the throes of the play-offs as I write this, so let’s look at the keyword “baseball.”

Using your web browser (Firefox and Chrome work well for this) start typing in a search for “baseball.” The browser will throw up a list of suggestions before you type in the entire word. Let’s take a look at that list:

Think about the mindset of the person typing in each of these baseball-related terms. Someone typing in “baseball” is fishing; they don’t really know what question to ask so they’re looking for ideas. On the other hand, someone investigating “baseball card values” is probably looking to buy or sell a card – or maybe they’re thinking about starting a collection and want to know if it’s something they can afford or if it would be a profitable endeavor.

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Using Negative Keywords

Even within a long-tail keyword like “baseball card values” there are a variety of questions that are important to understand, particularly if you buy or sell sports memorabilia. Is this person looking to buy or sell a card or are they simply researching in order to write a school paper about the declining value of baseball cards? If I sell baseball cards for a living I’m probably NOT looking to attract the person writing a research paper, right?

This is where negative keywords can play a valuable role. Let’s search again for “baseball card values:”

If I don’t buy or sell “Topps” brand baseball cards, I should probably include “topps” as a negative keyword. “Database” seems a bit too research oriented, so I’d probably include it on my negative list as well.

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It’s All About Effective Keyword Strategy

Think strategically and understand these three things to begin building an effective keyword strategy:

• - Know what questions are being asked.
• - Decide which questions are relevant to your business.
• - Decide which questions are irrelevant to your business.

Include keywords or negative keywords based on these results and you’re well on your way to creating a profitable keyword list.

Bye for now!

~ Deborah

A few years back I was the e-business manager for a business group within a Fortune 50 corporation. In addition to wearing all of the Internet and e-commerce hats for my group, I was also part of a global interactive marketing team whose members shared space (and a content management system) on the corporate web site. The site was organized in a very product centric way, but my business needed to add some customer centric content aimed at each of the vast array of vertical markets we targeted (construction, education, health care to name a few). Because of the way our content management system worked, I needed buy-in from all the groups before we could proceed.

We All Know What Happens When You Assume
Within my group this was a golden idea and I was receiving high praise for suggesting we put this project in place. Consequently, I assumed this was a slam dunk, no brainer idea and didn’t take the time to “test the waters” with the key stakeholders OUTSIDE my business group. Big mistake.

I also had the supreme arrogance to simply put this idea forward as something we were going to do during a global conference call with probably 50 participants on hand. A bigger mistake.

I was now oh for two and decided to step out of the batter’s box to collect myself.

Listen Up
After licking my proverbial wounds I took a tentative step back into the fray. THIS time I actually had one-on-one conversations with key stakeholders – or I had chats with very small groups.

Here’s what I discovered when I listened: People actually liked my idea!

Huh? I had to be hosed off to get rid of all the metaphoric rotten tomatoes heaved my way during that original conference call.

People liked the idea, but instead of seeing it as an opportunity they saw it as more work on already overflowing plates. There had been many rounds of layoffs in recent years and everyone was understaffed and overworked. My idea, as originally presented, was adding insult to injury.

Compromise
Now we were getting somewhere! I knew what the problem was and simply had to find a solution.

It was actually fairly simple. My group had quite a bit of suitable content already prepared. The other groups had similar products targeted to different tiers or perhaps slightly different verticals. I offered to work with them to help tweak our content to suit their needs – and I offered a more relaxed time line for publishing the content.

Happy days!

The Moral of the Story
These things hold true whether you’re an entrepreneur working with colleagues and customers, a marketing maven getting the word out via social media, a corporate employee, or a work from home Mom:

• Never assume. Get all the facts. Talk to all the stakeholders before you put a plan together.
• Always listen. Even if you can’t include their ideas, people appreciate having a voice. And the bonus is that you just may hear your next best idea!

Bye for now!

~ Deborah

As you can see from the latest Marketing Sherpa chart below, virtually EVERYONE – large or small, B2B or B2C – is using web analytics.

According to their recent poll, 85% of the search analytics users surveyed use Google Analytics; that’s a 29% increase over the year prior.

Read the complete web analytics article.

It doesn't matter if you're a small or large business, web analytics is mandatory.

Bye for now!

~ Deborah