Shameless Plug for Kate Fly and The OK Sisters Band

OK... I know this is a shameless plug for my significant other, but I can't resist. Please check out this video of Kate Fly and The OK Sisters Band performing one of their original songs in Omaha at the "Playing with Fire" concert series.
If you are as impressed with their talent as I am, you will want to know how to book this wonderful band. For booking information call Full Tilt Management at 308-236-8844. Here they are playing "Gotta Know".

I.O.U.S.A. trailer....Are We In Trouble? Does Anyone Care?

Are we quietly spending our way into a hole?

A hole so deep we can not see the way out?

Does any body care that we may loose control of our own destiny?

We all have a responsibility as United States citizens to educate ourselves on this issue. This is a non-partisan issue that needs to be addressed. It's time we take control of our spending. I for one will be in line to see the movie that helps shed some light on this issue. Here is the trailer for I.O.U.S.A. <> Make up your own mind!

Take A Break And Watch The Olympics.

Watching the Olympics is one of the best reasons to put your busy lives on "coast" for a moment. Not on "hold", just on coast. Watching the athletes carry out a life long dream can be very inspiring. As an entrepreneur my commitment to my own dream has become rekindled. So even though you may think you are too busy to take time out for this rare opportunity, you should do it. There is something to be said for the time and commitment the athletes put into their dreams. We in the business world should take heed. So relax, put your feet up, turn on the TV and do some personal development. You will thank me for it later.

Social Networking Should Be Social

I have been spending quite a lot of time on Facebook in the past months. Making friends and trying to get to know them. I also created a group to help new people with tips on social networking. In the process of inviting new friends and group members I am dealing with more than a few of the members. What is strange to me is the amount of members who do not put up a profile picture. I find it very odd that people put all the time and effort into a social site and do not put up a profile picture. Why this is I do not know. There my be many reasons that they don't, but the fact is they don't. Some put up clever little photos of their pets or some models pic. Some use their company logo or a logo that they came up with for their own business. Most just use the big question mark that means you do not have a picture of your own to use. Not sure why they don't want me to know what they look like, but I don't find it very sociable.

Pictures From Omaha Storm 2008!

Be Passive With Your Social Marketing.

Social media sites have become very popular as of late. Many people who frequent these sites are only there for one reason. That reason is to sell-sell-sell to any one who will even pause long enough to read their profile. This high pressure sales technique may have worked in the past, but in today’s world one must use what I call “passive” marketing.

What I like to do is just make friends with a person first. See if you have anything or anyone in common. Be kind and courteous and helpful if asked, but do not be a salesman!

I never try to “sell” anyone on anything. There are only two situations that occur that would allow me to talk about my own business, or affiliate programs. If during the process of conversing with friends they ask you what you do for a living, or if they ask for help with something that you feel you can help them with. Then and only then do I put on my business hat.

This reminds me of one of my classified ads that I run. The title of this ad is “Always drink upstream from the herd.” The title has little to do with marketing and more to do with positioning. You see positioning is the way to market today. Be in the position to help when asked. You want to be all set up and waiting with what the client wants, when they decide they want it. Position yourself to take the best advantage of the situation that arises. Be passive; think ahead, in other words, “always drink upstream from the herd”. This is the best position to be in to get the good clean water, and very satisfied clients.

One step forward: Two steps back for Tolerance.

What is happening to our culture is of great concern to me this morning. Every day on the news there is at least one example of the regression of our general population. The news story today that prompted me to write is about a young boy with autism. He was “voted out" of his kindergarten class by the other students. The vote that took place was actually the suggestion of the class teacher!

Did I miss something here? Did we forget about our promises we made to the parents of these children? I understood that the “mainstreaming” of students was proving to be in the best interest of the autistic child. I do realize that children with disabilities or special needs can be disruptive to class at times. Our teachers need to have some tolerance and understanding when dealing with these students.

What does this action say to the other students in that class? To me it says only one thing. We as adults tell our children to show kindness, consideration, and understanding to others who may have special needs. But when it comes down to actually practice what we preach, we are failing miserably. As soon as this teacher suggested the vote, it told the students that the autistic child was somehow not as valuable as the rest of the class. This single action shows how prejudice some people/teachers still are.

We have made the commitment to bring our special needs students into mainstream class rooms. We now need to make sure that our teachers are properly trained in handling this sort of situation. We try to take our culture a step forward by providing all we can for these students. When the people who are supposed to be in charge act in this manner, it can only be counter productive for the other students. So instead of taking the right step forward, we took a couple of steps back today!!

How My VM Team uses a WIKI for their social network marketing team.

As an Elite member of My VM Team I found this video on how to utilize a "wiki" very helpful. We use a wetpaint wiki for My VM Team instructional videos on many different subjects. Any member of our social network marketing team can go to the wiki to learn the lessons that are provided there. Each member has the ability to add to or change the content of the wiki. This video by Karl Ortenburg should give you several ideas on how to use a wiki.



Kurt Mitchell/go ahead and google me!

Brian Campbell called Kurt Mitchell On Mothers Day!!

Kate and I were attending a graduation reception for one of our good friend’s daughters when my cell phone rang. The caller ID did not let me know who it was calling me on Mothers Day! It said "unknown caller" so I thought it might just be someone spamming me on my phone. I answered the call thinking I would just be polite and hang up. Instead of hanging up I ended up on the phone for quite some time. It was none other than Brian Campbell on the phone! Now if you don't know who Brian Campbell is, chances are you don't have a facebook account. Brian is famous on facebook now for his very public announcement that he is going to show us all how to make $10,000 in 37 days just from his contacts on facebook. I was lucky enough to be one of the first 1000 to sign up for his 3 1/2 hour video course he launched this weekend. After watching his video series I was eager to enroll in his program so I signed up. Brian was calling me to welcome me and to thank me for enrolling. As I was driving home that evening I was still thinking about how awesome it was for him to take the time to call me personally. Now I wonder if he called all the people who signed up, of did he think I was someone special. I like to think the latter. Come join my facebook group, and invite all your friends also.

Kurt Mitchell/google me

Supercharge Your Business to Millions!

I thought this was great information on how to get your business to the "Big Time". You have to look at things in a new way, you have to be different. "You Have To Stand Up Before You Can Stand Out"Gary Vaynerchuk gives his tips for success and explains how to supercharge your business. See how Laurie Feltheimer and Scott-Vincent Borba executed these ideas in reality.

Thanks to Deborah Micek(CoachDeb)on twitter for the link to this great info.

Like trying to sell ice cubes to an Eskimo

I would like to talk about something that I have been thinking about for over a week now. I need to back up and fill you in on what has been happening in my life. I recently became a member of a brand new concept on the Internet for free advertising.

It is an awesome program where you advertise for free and you can get paid rebates back to your account. They use a rotator to advertise all the URL’s of the members, and then you surf daily on the rotator to become eligible for the rebates.

Now here is where I think some members are wasting there time. Some of the members are advertising to join the very rotator system that they are already a member of. Any people who are using the rotator to advertise are already members. How else would they know it was even there? Now this is like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo. They are all aware of the concept.

I think they would have more success with the rotator system advertising something other than the rotator. If only to get some new sites up with potential to make money. When I do my daily surf sessions, about 33% of the sites I see are for the same thing. And that same thing is the very rotator that we are all using. Am I the only one who thinks this is counter productive? I welcome your comments.
Kurt Mitchell/google me

Google Me Talk Radio Jim Killeen

Jim Killeens now published adventure through the search engines of GOOGLE to the
far corners of the Earth have given him a knowledge one can only gain from the journey itself.

Computers are now an essential part of our daily lives rather than an
addition to the tasks we perform each day. Simply checking an
occasional email has become a thing of the past for most of us. Bringing the
computer out of the back office and into the main living area of the home.
They are now used for researching information, watching videos and sometimes
gathering advice on the many websites available through the
world-wide web. GOOGLE has produced the greatest impression and has
enabled web users to connect, seek, and ultimately locate each
other.

GOOGLE Me the Movie, Jim Killeen, and Blog Talk Radio are joining
together for a one night event on GOOGLE Me Talk Radio! Thursday
night April 24th at 8pm ET, 7pm Central. This will be an exciting evening with
the host of GOOGLE Me Talk Radio, Jim Cobb and The GOOGLE Me Man
with the plan, Jim Killeen. Come join us at http://www.GoogleMeTalkRadio.com for an entertaining evening.
Kurt Mitchell-google me

Kurt Mitchell

This Is My VM Team Family.

Flowers by the Wayside.

It’s time for you to meet my soul mate and true friend Kate Fly. Kate has always been a singer at heart; and a great one at that. She is the most kind and loving person that I know. Not too long ago Kate had a chance to show her kind heart and donated her wonderful talent and time for St Jude Children’s Hospital. She opened up the charity show by herself that night, something she has not done for a long time. As always, she was fabulous. One thing I have said many times is “Kate can sing any style of music, and takes control of any song she sings.” I am giving you all a sample of her talents here today in this post. Just so happens the song I’ve picked out to show case is one that I wrote the words to! I came home from our first “rendezvous” together and wrote the song the next day. Kate liked the lyrics and wanted to put them to music. One of the bands she is in (The OK Sisters Band) were cutting their first CD at that time and the song Flowers By The Wayside was published in that CD. The name of the CD is “Edge of a Rock” which is currently out of print. I wish I could say “and the rest is history”, but she is not famous yet and neither am I. Now I am going to try and change that fact starting today. This is where I need your help. Check out this video, and please leave a comment. I am sure Kate would love to hear what you have to say. If you like what you hear then you can go to YouTube and watch the rest of the show. Please give the video a star rating, as well as the other videos. I will be posting more of the show over the next few weeks, until I get them all posted. You can be a part of kick starting her national début on the internet. By the way, Kate is also a member of the band Treo. Both bands have Cd’s out, so give them a listen.

My VM Team-It's A Choice

You can make the choice to stay where you are. Or you can make the choice to get up and get going right now and change things. Take action to make things better. It's up to you. (It's A Choice)

The Early Days Of Elm Creek

Tales told to me by my Grandpa George.

From His Mouth To My Ears.

What It Was Like To Be A Pioneer In Nebraska.

I was pretty much a normal farm kid. I grew up knowing what it was like to work hard. Both my brother and I had our daily chores to do. Even as kids we would put in a full days work. We could go to town with mom every Saturday to get groceries, but that was it. This was my only contact with the "town kids" until I could join 4-H. You see 4-H was the only social life a farm kid had in those days. Other than playing with my younger brother in the creek, my only contact with other people was Grandpa George.

I went to a one room school until the seventh grade. We had all twelve grades, but only about ten to fifteen students. Most grades had one or two students, some grades had none. I really did not have many kids to socialize with.

My own father was always out in the field working. He worked a lot of long hours as I grew up. He went through the "dirty thirties" as a young boy, and I think that experience made a big impression on him. He was not about to let anything like hunger or poverty cripple his family. It’s for these reasons most of my early years were spent with Gramps. He was my education and my entertainment.

Now as far back as I can remember my grandpa George never really worked. Dad did most, if not all of the work on the farm. All I remember gramps doing was to set in the shade and whittle. He would set there and I would pester him. I was great fun!

As I got little older, it became my job to go to the pastures with gramps. The only real duties that gramps had was to check on the cattle. We would take salt and mineral to them and make a head count once a week. I loved going on these trips with him. We would drive around the country side afterwards, just enjoying the day.

He would be reminded of things that happened to him over the years, and he would tell me a story about this or that. His stories always fascinated me. I fact they still haunt my memories. Hardly a week goes by, without me thinking of gramps. You see his stories, although true, always seemed to have a lesson about life in them.

That is why I am going to write all the stories that I remember down on paper, so to speak. Stories that encompassed many very interesting subjects. Most of the stores he told happened right here where I still live and work.

Now this is where I need your help. I would like to know if there is any interest from any of you, in reading these stories. Do you think they would interest anyone? Am I the only one who thinks the pioneer days were awesome? If you do see some value in my tales, please comment on my idea.

Sincerely,

Kurt Mitchell

Google me

Cure your sinus troubles naturally.

I have been having some real trouble with sinus infection this spring. So I did what I usually do when I need some good information. I went to the World Wide Web to search for what I need. I came across a wonderful article about how you can treat your sinus infections by using all natural ingredients, and things you already have in your home. How cool is that! I could always go to a doctor and have them help. But if I can help myself without doctors and their treatments it makes my day. This great article was published by Cindy Heller. She is a professional writer who has posted this article on Article Writers.com. This is great information, so if you would like to learn more on this subject please go and read the whole article, you won’t regret it.

Live Crane Cam in my home state of Nebraska.

It's a nice spring day today in central Nebraska. I want to take a moment to tell you all a little about my home state. Nebraska is right in the path of many species of migratory birds. Among them are the majestic sandhill cranes. The cranes have a very distinctive "screaming" sound that they make.

We have a special place that the public can come to and watch the cranes in their own habitat. Rowe Sanctuary is the name of this wonderful place. It's along Interstate 80 in central Nebraska, near the town of Gibbon.

If you would like to see and hear the magnificent birds, just take a look at National Geographic's live CRANE CAM located at Rowe. This is live streaming video. You will see a short advertisement first. Early in the morning and in the evening, just at sundown are some of the best times to see them coming in and out of the Platte River. Enjoy my Nebraska!

Where Has Good Sportsmanship Gone? I Blame ESPN

This is something that has bothered me for some time now. I do not understand why it is so important to show all the bad behavior and poor sportsmanship in the ESPN highlights on television. Kids today have no one to look up to. They have no idea how to show respect or basic kindness to their fellow athletes. All they see are basketball players knocking each other down and then walking right over them, never even looking back. Let alone reaching out a hand to help them up!

They see football players that score a touchdown, and then proceed to try and rub it into their opponents face by dancing some egotistical dance that is supposed to disgrace them. I do not understand this behavior. Why can't they just be proud of themselves for a good effort? Why do they need to disrespect their opponent to feel good about themselves?

I am sure that part of the reason is they don't have any examples of good sportsmanship to follow. Part of the blame goes to ESPN, and part goes to the parents. We are all so busy in today's world that we do not take the time to teach our children how to be good sports. I am as guilty of this as anyone.

A good example is my youngest son. When he started playing basketball he was very young. He was great, and really enjoyed the sport. Then as he got older and began to watch sports clips on TV, he started to emulate all the bad behavior that was portrayed. This is when I realized that it was partly my fault. I had never sat him down and told him about sportsmanship. He did not know what I expected of him. So we had a long talk about what I thought was the way he should act on the playing field. Once he knew what I expected of him, he acted just fine.

I still remember the talk that my father and I had about sportsmanship. His basic advice to me was about football. He said that you should"play as hard as you can play, hit them as hard as you can hit, and then help them up off the ground." Never disrespect your opponent. Do your best and be happy with that.

Part of the reason I am writing about this today is due to a fight that broke out between two whole baseball teams a couple of days ago. ESPN played the footage of both teams brawling in the middle of the field. Not just once, but they played it all day long, over and over and over again. This is directed to you ESPN! I don't want to just see the bad behavior. I want to see some good sportsmanship for a change. Is there any to show? I don't know if you realize how much influence you have with today's youth. You have a huge responsibility and I hope you see that. I would love to see a special segment everyday about examples of good sportsmanship. So be responsible ESPN, and I will try and do the same.

Focus On Your Branding “Develop your YOU Brand - Part One”

There are three parts you need to focus on when assembling your personal strategy. Let's take a look at part one “Develop your YOU Brand”:

During the development of "YOU Brand" you need to ask yourself these basic questions. ......

Check out the rest of this post from Coach Cobb. Coach Cobb is our leader at FriendsWin University.

FriendsWin class was great today!

Just thought I would post a note today about friendswin class. What a great class! The things I am learning at FWU are very useful. The things we are learning from "wavecritter" in her videos have been a big help to me in setting up my blog.

The video emails you are sending the team now are awesome. I can't wait to learn this technique. Go FriendsWin!!!

Kurt Mitchell
google me

Are you having a bad day?

I know that sometimes we all have bad days. Even the best laid plans go astray at times. When you need a break from the "rat race" a little humor will always save the day. A good way to overcome the blahs is to immerse yourself in the pure innocent joy of a babies laughter.

Have A Great Day!

P.S. Click on the title of this post to access the baby clip.

Kurt Mitchell
google me

Which is better....Perception or Reality?

The answer to this question is easy right? Reality has to be better. What is real is real, and what is perceived might not be real. Now wait just a minute. Don't get ahead of me. It used to be the person or company that had the best products or the best pricing made the most money.

Currently there seems to be a shift in the way people are thinking. With the growing popularity of the Internet, perception is gaining over reality. When you want information today, do you go to the newspaper, or to the yellow pages? I don't. When I want to find out something about a person or company, or product I go to the Internet. To be more specific, I go to Google and search for it. When I get the search results, I look at the top three or four listings. The listings on the first page of Google are perceived to be the best.

How many of you ever get past the first page on a Google search? I am willing to bet not very many. Am I right? That's what I thought. Nobody goes to page Forty Five and clicks on those listings. Why? Because listings on page one are perceived to be the best!

If you want to make the BIG money today, you have to be on that first page. Does that make sense to you?

So how do you get on page one? Good question. You can spend a lot of time with SEO, and tons of money on Pay Per Click. For some, this is just too much work. Takes too much time, and or money. I can relate to all of that.

There is however a great way to get yourself on that first page. Actually I know of a way to get your listing on the very TOP of page one! Yes that's what i said. And it's only $9.95 a month! If you would like more information on this, just go to Google search and put in my name(Kurt Mitchell). I will be the Kurt Mitchell on the very top of the first page. Click on my listing and read my bio. At the bottom of my bio are instructions on how to sign up for this fabulous service.

So to answer the question about perception or reality being the best. Perception Wins.