This morning I awoke and was reminded that today is Fat Tuesday,
the big day for Mardi Gras.  Somewhere in the French quarter,
there are some nice folks in serious need of advil right now,
I’m guessing.

It also occurred to me that lent begins beginning tomorrow.

I’ve never been Catholic, but I kinda like the idea of giving up
on something that’s been holding you back.  After all, if you
can give up something for 40 days, you might just find that you
can give it up forever.

So today, I’m offering a challenge, and hope that you will join
me.  I’m going to give up on the news media for lent.  And I
want you to do it too.  Even if you just do it for two weeks.

Here’s why.  This morning, in my inbox, one of the most
successful entrepreneurs that I know, emailed me and challenged
me with the same thing.  He’s pulling in a cool millyun a year,
and took notice that most of those who he speaks with on a daily
basis – his business associates – don’t pay attention to the
media.

In fact, most of them are growing.  And come to think of it,
those whom I’ve been working with are growing too.  I think I
know why, and it all begins on putting the focus where the focus
should be – on growing yourself and your business.

It’s high time that we take the bull by the horns together – and
stop listening to the negative drivel that is being spewed at us
24/7.  I’m giving you a big fat permission slip to take at least
two weeks off.

A vacation from watching the television.

From reading the newspaper.

From visiting online news sites.

From doing any of that stuff.

And just in case you’re concerned about being uninformed, or out
of the loop, let me put that issue to rest right now.

Your friends, co-workers and family will keep you plenty
informed.

Trust me on this one.

With all of your extra time, I encourage you to take a walk, a
few deep breaths, and enjoy some sunshine.  And once you’re
refreshed, focus on what really matters.  Those who are close to
you.  Your family.  Your friends.  Your self.  Your goals.

Then get out there and start making some good things happen.

Let me know how it works for you.  I look forward to hearing
some surprising stories.

Reach for the top,
-Wally

PS – Stat of the week: In the three years following the
1980-1981 recession, revenues of companies that were aggressive
recession advertisers rose 256% over those that didn’t keep up
their advertising.  Here’s just one easy way to keep up your
advertising.

PPS – Find out the secrets to being a great advertiser in any
market environment here.

Two winters ago, about this time of year, Melinda and I decided
to celebrate life by having a skimeister day.  A day when you
double the fun by doing cross country skiing and downhill skiing
in the same day.

It leaves you tired and happy, that is for sure.

The day began in Summit County, Colorado, and it was a beautiful
blue sky.  Not a cloud in the sky, actually.  It was pretty warm
for February.

We went to the Frisco Nordic center, and strapped on the skinny
long boards that you use to travel across the snow.  Surrounding
us were better equipped folks, wearing funny tights and
headbands – but that is what you wear when you’re dedicated.

Us, we wore pretty much whatever light clothes we could find in
our ski bags.

Off onto the trail we went, schusshing along and enjoying the
sunlight and fast snow.  I can still remember very clearly the
feeling of the sun and fresh air as we came upon a long
downhill, and I took in long deep breaths while double poling my
way down the mountain.  Huge peaks full of snow stood tall
against the backdrop of blue sky – quite a scene.

One thing that happens, though, as you ski this way, is that you
can get HOT.  I mean sweat poring down, glasses fogging up,
needing a lot of Gatorade at the end – HOT.

So at one point along the way, we stopped and shed some
clothing.  I remember taking off my gloves, laying them in the
snow, and removing the jacket I had foolishly worn.  Then we
went back to schusshing along and finished our loop.

Next we crossed the continental divide, and headed to Loveland
Ski Area, to do some downhill skiing.  As I got ready to put on
my gloves, that’s when it hit me.  Where is my wedding ring?

I got really nervous.  I didn’t want to admit that I had lost my
wedding ring, probably in the snow back at the Nordic center.  I
was kinda freaking out.  It took me a few minutes to admit to
Melinda that I didn’t know where it was.

We searched everywhere in the car and the area around us, but we
couldn’t find it anywhere.  It seemed like a lost cause.  So we
did what any sensible people would do – we went skiing.

I eventually gave up on ever finding that original wedding ring,
which I had worn for about 8 months.  I ordered a replacement
and chalked it up to a good day skiing.

Then something really funny happened.

Right before Christmas, I was dumping everything out of my ski
bag.  Everything.  And guess what fell out of the bottom of the
ski bag?  You guessed it.  The wedding ring.  What a great
feeling to know that it wasn’t lost to begin with.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?  Damn right, you’d
celebrate.

It’s the same with your website.  To find yourself lost at the bottom of the search results is to find yourself without a reason to celebrate.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

You can take the work you’ve already done, and make it go
further, with on-page optimization (click here).  You’ll rank higher in the
search engines, get more leads, and get more sales.

Your website will be a cause for celebration every day, all
because it’s being found.  You can take that to the bank.

Reach for the top,
-Wally

P.S. – Now is the best time to jump into making your site easily
found by the search engines.  The demand for this service is
pretty huge, so I might have to raise the price soon.
Jump on this one now HERE.

P.P.S. – If you enjoy a good skiing story, my friend Annelise writes about skiing all the time at her wonderful website, here:  http://www.ski-stronger.com/

Two days ago I was working in the back yard, rebuilding part of
my fence.  It was the part of the yard where we have a bee hive
churning away, making honey and pollen all summer long and just
keeping us company throughout the year.

After fastening some of the slats to the fence, it occurred to
me that I should check and see what was happening in the bee
hive.  It had been a few weeks since I’d been over there, and I
thought I’d say hello.

I set down the drill, and walked over, and did what I always do
this time of year.  Started knocking on the side of the beehive
to hear them start moving around.

Knock-knock-knock.  Nothing.

Hmm, that’s a little odd.  Usually I’ll hear a buzzing or at
least see somebody moving around.

Knock-knock-knock.  Nothing again.  Something was wrong.

I went back to the garage and grabbed my trusty hive tool, a
small crowbar looking thing.  And went back to the hive and
opened it up from the top.  Usually you’ll see a few critters
once you do this, but all I saw was a couple dead bees.

The truth was beginning to dawn on me.  Something was really
really wrong.

I went further into the hive, until I had dismantled it to see
what was going on.  It turns out, the bees had eaten through
their winter store of honey and I hadn’t caught this happening
in time.  Had I seen it, I would have been able to get them
through the rest of the winter with a special sugar water
solution.

Instead, at the bottom of the hive, was a giant, fresh, soft
pile of bees upon bees.  Thousands of them.  None of them moving.

It felt like somebody had punched me in the gut.  I had seen
them flying around just a couple of weeks ago and thought
nothing was wrong.  But that’s how quickly things can change if
you aren’t prepared for the worst.

Once you’re looking at a pile of dead bees, it’s too late to do
anything but plan for how you’d do better next time.  And that’s
not a great place to be in, trust me.

Every day I’m hearing about how the economy is in terrible
shape, and how these are dangerous times.  And I must agree, for
those who are not moving to grow their business and stay in
touch with their customers, these are dangerous times.

For others who are using the web to grow, this is a great time
of opportunity.

I really don’t want you to experience the feeling that I had two
days ago, looking at a pile of dead bees.  Because if it were
your business that was at the bottom of the heap, the feeling
would be much worse than a simple punch to the gut.

It’s time to look in the mirror and ensure that this is going to
be a good year FOR YOU.  First, grab the opportunity to get your
business growing in 2009 with your own money generating website.

Start here with a free consultation:
http://www.wallythewebguy.com/contact.htm

Next, commit to growing your business through the web.  It’s really the best way.

There will be those who look back on 2009 as a year of trouble,
and change for the worse.  And there will be those who rose up
from the ashes in 2009 and look back on it as a new beginning.

Let’s make it a new beginning together,
-Wally

P.S. – When a beehive is strong in the summer time, bees are
returning with pollen from all around.  Here’s the best way to
get more visitors to your site from all around the world.

P.P.S. – Trying to harvest honey without getting sticky is like
trying to leave a website with a well written blog.  You just
can’t get unstuck.  Here’s how to get your customers to stick
with you forever.