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Our Present Painful and Serious Financial Crisis Could Be Speedily Corrected by Such Wise Leaders

There are times when strong clear and specific leadership is required, especially when a nation is in real trouble and they were at that time. In the book of Nehemiah we learn so much about wise responsible practical leadership. I am writing from my reading of Nehemiah Chapter 9 which contains one of the longest prayers in the Bible. Do check out the actual text. That is always wise and can have its own very special rewards.

In prayer the people address God and say, “You have kept your promise, because You are righteous. You saw the suffering, and YOU see the suffering. You saw and You heard. You are a miracle working God.

You lead your people. Do not we who are among the people of God still need strong clear leadership in these present times?

You speak and You give laws that are just and Right. You provide. We are learning here so much of the greatness of God and the goodness of God.

You told your people to go in and take possession of the land, but then sin came and our forefathers refused to obey You. Sin is one of the few great unmentionable words today. People can become very embarrassed when anyone talks about sin. Euphemisms are used to hide the reality of what is basically sin.

But, You are a forgiving GOD, and You do not desert your people, even when they desert You. It is a most wonderful thing to know that Almighty God will never forsake you and leave you on your own. The focus of the prayer is the marvellous mercy and grace of God.

The Holy Spirit was with them, to instruct them, even when they had no time nor desire for instruction. When we reach verse 21 we read that God sustained this rebellious obstinate people, and He them lands and nations.

This Prayer is grounded in Scripture. Note how often “YOU” is mentioned. The prayer is God-centred.

You were so good to these YOUR PEOPLE. God is faithful, but alas His people are unfaithful. God is consistent but His people are inconsistent. God is reliable, but His people are unreliable.

At verse 26, we come to man’s sin. When the situation became tough and unbearable, You came and rescued and delivered. It was all compassion, and that compassion made You raise up leaders. We have the settling in the land and then reference is made to the times of the Judges or Leaders raised up by God, and then the Monarchy.

But sin reared its ugly head and it happened all over again. The people paid no attention to the prophets God sent, and they say in verse 32, that what we have been through we have deserved. All this suffering is because of our sins.

But they had gathered in prayer to sort it all out, and to do so in a very real and practical manner, and all this recorded to teach us and perhaps help us avoid the pitfalls. It can be valuable to take time to review history. We read here of the horrendous and awesome consequences of ingratitude and rebellion, and the inevitability of punishment, but there is hope for the future. The present painful harvest is a product of a rebellious past, but it can also be the seed for the future.

A biblical view of history makes us neither wide-eyed optimists nor downhearted pessimists, but realists. There are no excuses here, just plain honest confession.

As soon as we say “I was wrong” forgiveness and cleansing and healing restoration will flood such people! This was indeed a serious hour and it goes right through into Chapter 10.

Some may wish to return to the Law of God if only for verse 31, but it has to be the whole law, the law of Christ for us, the law of mercy and grace and power!

When debt is such a massive problem here is a marvellous jewel of truth.

The people state how they are going to assume responsibility. There follows a whole lengthy list of promises, with that solemn word at the end of Chapter 10.

This kind of commitment arises from the clear anointed exposition of the Word of God, but such genuine commitment takes courage. Do you this quality of courage for these dark financial times when many are hurting?

Nehemiah and Ezra gave such positive leadership and this amazing harvest resulted. Some may despise, ridicule or scorn such leadership but it worked and the circumstances were remedied!

I write this when the western world is experiencing a financial crisis as a result of greed and immorality and selfishness and horrendous planning. It could all be corrected reasonably speedily if we listened attentively and seriously to men like Nehemiah and Ezra.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

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Why You Absolutely Have to Create Your Own Products

As a list builder you have to make the choice between promoting affiliate products or self-created products. Did you know that the top product creators in any online marketing niche are making twice as much money as the top affiliate marketers?

That brings us to an important question: Wouldn’t it make more intuitive and logical sense to create and sell your own products if you could make twice as much money? I’m really being conservative here by saying that you can “just” make twice as much. The reality looks different. Many affiliate marketers aren’t just making less money while promoting products of other marketers, they aren’t making a name in their niche either.

Let’s compare this scenario to product creators. If a product creator builds a list by feeding his subscribers valuable information (from self-created reports), he is not just banking 100% commission, he is building a brand at the same time. This is what makes the biggest difference in your online business and on your bank account.

Here is a real life example of how this may look and work: Let’s say you’ve a decent sized list of 3,000 subscribers. Every time you send out a product recommendation 3% of your list buys which comes down to 90 people. The product sells for $27 and pays a 60% commission to affiliates (this is the standard for Clickbank products). You make $16.20 per sale and $1,458 total. Not too bad, right? Yes, but let me give you another example…

You’ve a list of 3,000 people and are only promoting your own Ebooks and coaching programs. We assume exactly the same as in the affiliate promotion example, but this time 4% of your list buys (this is a very realistic percentage). In this instance you make $3,240 profit meaning you doubled your revenue by selling your own product.

It may sound that a 4% conversion rate is an unrealistic number. However, that’s not true. As a list builder your goal is to build trust with your subscribers and by doing so more and more people will buy your products and coaching programs. If you are really doing things right and aren’t too greedy, you should be able to get a 5% conversion rate for low-priced products, and a 1% to 2% conversion rate for high-end programs (like a $500 coaching program).

So write down your own list building and product creation strategy.

How many products will you create a month?

What will you do to generate an ongoing flood of new leads?

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Common Mistakes Made During 60 Second Presentations – A Four Part Series

As a business consultant and BNI Director I get to help lots of business professional make the most of their word of mouth marketing efforts. Most often I am asked to evaluate their elevator speeches. You know their “60 second infomercials’” or “Sales Manager Minutes” as they are called in “BNI”. Over the years I have discovered over 2 dozen things that a person can do wrong when presenting their sales manager minutes.

This article is the first installment of a four part series on common mistakes made during 60 second presentations. In this segment I will discuss the first 5 of these 2 dozen or so common mistakes that I seen. These 4 articles will give you the cure for these all so common aliments so that your 60 second presentations will produce result and make you more money. Eliminate a few and you will see real results. Eliminate them all and the referrals will come rolling in. So let’s get started.

Common Mistake #1. “No Hook”. It is important that your last statement be a memorable one (hopefully a positive one too). People are more likely to remember the first thing and last thing you say and your hook can help “brand” you as the go to person for your particular product or service. Make your hook different, but easy to remember. Keep it simple. Using your companies’ slogan is ok, as is rhyme for effect. Keep in mind that you want to be remembered in a positive way so don’t make it too funny or off the wall.

Common Mistake #2. “Selling to your audience”, (i.e. you BNI partners) in stead of through your audience, (i.e. referral partners). People join referral network to get referral not be sold to. Make sure you remove or change the words “you and yours” when ever possible to something else. Don’t use phrases like “everyone in this room can use this”! Change the sentence from you need to buy this to; “so when you customers does xyz, tell them about me and my service/product”. Sell to their customer not to them.

Common Mistake #3. “Not saying your Name”. It is important that you always say your name when presenting. I often hear members of various net working organization say things like, “You All know me” at the beginning of their sales manager minutes. Although this may be true, often times there are people in the room who don’t know you. These “visitors” to your net work meeting are clueless to who you are. They could very well need your product or service and with out your name in hand, they may have to leave with out being able to connect with you. Get use to saying your name every time you present and you will never miss an opportunity with a visitor.

Common Mistake #4. “Going to short!” It is important that you use every second of your time when doing a 60 second presentation. You did pay for that time didn’t you? Would you go to a radio station and pay for a 60 second commercial and be happy when you only get 30 second of air time? No way! Create 60 second presentation, (or what ever time frame you are given). Use the whole amount of time allotted. So remember this. If you meet 50 times a year you only get 50 minutes a year for this type of advertising. If you’re in a BNI chapter don’t waste these precious moments. If you’re in any other networking organization the same goes for you!

Common Mistake #5.” Going too long!” If your sales manager minute goes too long, you quickly start to lose credibility with your audience. “Going to long”, is being disrespectful of the other time. It also makes you look unprepared and unprofessional. Rehearse and time your 60 second presentations. Take advantage of the spot light you’re given.

In my next segment I will discuss 5 more common mistakes made during 60 second presentations. Each segment will cover 5 or 6 topics. All of these common mistakes affect you’re ability to get qualified referrals from the people you meet. Eliminating these common mistakes will greatly increase your result and land you that dream referral you’ve been looking for. Until then, work on these and let me know how it’s helping you. If you would like to know more about this subject, visit my free blog to read several other articles covering word of mouth marketing.

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