Maybe your child isn’t classified as obese, but you want to find out if being a little overweight is causing them to be teased at school. You may have also noticed that they’re starting to exhibit a few health issues that could be related. You should bring all your concerns to your pediatrician, but I have a few tips to help you out.

The first thing your doctor might do is a BMI test on your child. BMI stands for body mass index. It’s a calculation that measures height and weight to determine how much of a person’s body is fat. The child’s age is considered as well. There are many free online calculators so you can do the test at home before visiting the doctor. You can find a great one over at kidshealth.org.

If your child is in the 85th percentile or higher, he or she is overweight and you should be concerned. If they are in the 95 percentile range then it is more serious than you thought.

Why Should You Be Concerned?

There are many health issues that can crop up not just for obese children but for overweight kids as well. There is a much increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and – one of the worst in my opinion – low self-esteem.

Most of those health concerns sound like they’re reserved for older people, but that’s just not the case anymore. Even if your child never experiences these diseases in their early years, they are more prone to getting them as adults.

What Can You Do?

I recently read in a forum where a father was asking for help. The dad realized his 11-year-old son was way overweight for his height and age after the doctor said something. He confessed that he and his wife ate badly at home and away from the home. He was desperate for help because he didn’t want his son picked on in junior high.

I think the dad sort of answered his own question. Food is a huge problem today, especially the Western diet. You’ve got to have a plan and buy many more healthy foods.  Make a plan today and gradually change the whole family’s diet.

There are so many things you can eliminate from your diet that will help the whole family lose a bit of fat in just a few weeks. I know because I’ve done it! The one thing the man didn’t consider at all was exercise. Seems elementary to us, but we just don’t do enough of it.

The trick for getting kids to exercise is making it fun. If exercises are boring, watered down adult versions, or are hard to do, kids will be turned off.

If you think your child is overweight, then take the measurements yourself, consult your doctor and make necessary changes as soon as possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: My Family Exercise founder Jeff Wise has created a line of ebooks and a Kids Health Club membership site to help children and parents decrease stress and improve physical fitness in a fun way.  Jeff has authored over 200 articles around kids’ health and is the parent of two children.  For more information, visit his kids health and fitness blog and for daily advice follow Jeff on Twitter.

When our recent visit in Ohio concluded, we headed for the airport. I do not mind traveling, but my least favorite mode is the airplane. The reason being, of course, is the airport itself.

In my opinion, someone devised the modern airport to intimidate the average traveler. Arriving at the airport, we immediately headed for the ticket counter where we received our boarding passes. Then we surrendered our luggage to the personnel behind the counter, not knowing if we would ever see that same luggage again in our lifetime.

Someday I hope to visit all the places my luggage has seen.

Next, we made our way through the security booth.

As you know, they do not permit metal through this gate. If a passenger passes through and a buzzer goes off, he is summoned back for guards to examine his personal effects to detect the offensive object. I went through about 17 times. Not until I got down to my underwear did the security personnel determine there must be a defect in the radar detection equipment. (I plan to file my briefs in a Florida court this week.)

Finally, we left the security area and I started feeling a little more confident until we came to a big sign over the entryway. My wife and I found little comfort in the words written: Terminal Entrance. Contrary to their “friendly” little sign, I did, in fact have plans of returning.

Our flight plan called for a two‑hour stopover before arriving at our final destination. Nothing quite compares to spending a free hour or two at an airport. Did I say “free?” Allow me to recount that opinion.

There is absolutely nothing free at an airport. I cannot prove it, but I am sure they have figured out a way to charge for the air we breathe.

For instance, a 15‑cent cup of coffee can cost in the neighborhood of $17.95. I don’t even like visiting that neighborhood. If I lived there, I would move.

However, being the good-natured, charming individual that I am, it does not take much to make me happy. All I need to allay any stress is a simple cup of coffee. Have you ever noticed how things seem to go a lot easier with a steaming jolt of java?

With a full hour to spare at the airport, my wife and I looked for something to occupy our time. Then I espied the perfect diversion. With a mischievous twinkle in my left eye, I looked at my wife and said, “Let’s get a cup of coffee and relax a while.”

One thing I can always count on my wife, she knows a good thing when she hears it. Unfortunately, she does not hear it too often from my lips. Walking over to the coffee shop and, being the man, I approached the counter to place our order. “I would like two regular coffees,” I said with anticipation to the young woman behind the counter. The thing that makes a man a man is that he always knows what he wants. It is that confidence that separates the men from the boys.

The young woman looked at me, snapped her chewing gum several times and said in a monotone, “Marvelous, you want espresso or cappuccino?”

“No, Miss,” I replied as cool and sophisticated as any gentleman you will ever meet. “No, Miss. We just want two plain coffees.”

She looked at me as only a waitress behind a counter can and rattled off names I have never heard before. As best I could understand, they were flavors or kinds of espresso coffee.

Finally, when she took a breath I jumped in and said with all the confidence I could muster without compromising my good nature, “No, Miss. I don’t want any espresso, just a regular cup of coffee.”

“Exactly,” she said with a falsetto smile. “Most people enjoy our cappuccinos. What kind of cappuccino would you like.” Then she rattled off an endless list of cappuccino flavors, most I had never heard of before.

About this time, the caffeine deficiency began seeping into my attitude. I think that somewhere in our constitution is the right to order regular coffee at a price that does not compromise the mortgage on my home.

“Young lady,” I said as calmly as possible under the circumstances, “Listen to me very carefully. I want coffee. Not espresso. Not cappuccino. Just two cups of plain, regular, good old American coffee.”

“Oh,” she said in a burst of enlightenment. “You want coffee. Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

There is no satisfaction more fulfilling than finally getting through and arriving at a common understanding.

“Now,” she said in a confidential tone, “what flavor coffee do you want? Columbian, French Vanilla, Cinnamon, Chocolate Mint, Swiss Mocha . . .”

There is only one place I know where I can get exactly what I need. Jesus put it this way:

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” -John 14:13‑14 KJV

If you need anything from the Lord, just ask.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

If you’re submitting great Facebook ad images and you’re being told your image doesn’t match the content, you’re not alone.

●     First of all, make sure you are advertising in line with the Facebook Terms of Service. You’d be surprised at how often a simple change of wording or an image can make the difference. All of a sudden, your ad is approved! If your image is too bold, you may run into trouble. Read my post “Too much skin for Facebook Ads” for tips.

●    Check your domain. Has it been marked for spam anywhere online? Facebook is implementing something similar to Google’s Quality Score. They are checking out the “.com” domain of your landing page to see if you are real or not.  This means trouble if you’re submitting an ad which lands on someone else’s website. In short, you’re running a big risk.  For example, if your landing page is www.ScammyWebinar.com/23gjh45ujb  - Facebook is not likely to approve your ad.

●     Instead, create your landing page on YOUR domain. Having the destination URL be on www.MyRealName.com (with lots of ways customers can contact you) is a much better option.

●    Submit your ad for approval on a different day or different time of day. You may get a different Facebook reviewer and your ad may be approved. Keep in mind, weekends in US time zones are notorious for having a high disapproval rate. On the other hand, we’re finding high approval percentages while the US office is asleep. Overnight may be a great option for you to test.

●     Tell them everything. Full disclosure in your ad copy can work. Sometimes your ad is too vague and Facebook wants you to tell people they need to opt-in on the next page. Say that in your ad, and you may find approvals come a lot faster – AND conversions may be higher because people know what will happen once they click.

●    Another option that works well is using a completely different angle altogether. Even if the image from one ad and text from another have been approved in the past and are running successfully, they won’t be approved when combined together in a new ad if they are incongruous. So even if they were approved separately, make sure the image and ad copy make sense when combined.

●     Lastly, if those things fail, consider the reason your ad has been disapproved. Did Facebook say that it is not able to publish your ad due to inappropriate content? If you’re advertising weight loss, exercise, or making money online, know that these topics tend to have a high disapproval rate because it’s a gray area. Often the disapproval rate for these types of ads is quite high.

●   Don’t give up.  If what you’re advertising is legitimate and a valid offer and you’re not breaking terms & conditions, you can usually get a good percentage of your ads through. So keep re-submitting.  It’s not uncommon for a really interesting and potentially successful ad to be rejected as many as ten times before being approved.

So keep trying. Experiment with different days, times, images, and campaigns until you get it approved. Don’t give up!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

“If we were to sit down together 3 years from today what would have to happen between now and then for you to feel great about what you had achieved or the progress you had made in your business or your life?”

Some of these things centered on my relationship with my mother. One advantage a mother has over her children is that sense of authority and being right all the time. Looking back, I can see that she was not right all the time.

As a young person, my mother told me things I have since learned not to be true. For example:

• It takes more than clean underwear to survive an accident.
• The boogieman under my bed does not exist… any more.
• None of my friends wants to jump off a bridge.
• I will grow up even if I don’t clean up my plate.
• And, it’s almost impossible to behave yourself and have a good time simultaneously.

My mother, like other mothers, was not a bad mother. She just had bad information, much of which she got from her mother. I’m not sure where grandmother got her information, but it too was wrong. And, when you have bad information, there is nothing more you can do but inflict it upon your children. And my mother inflicted away at us children.

This week another one of these “not true things,” was revealed. This one was the mother of all untrue things mothers tell their children.

I must confess there is a bittersweet sense of victory in this recent announcement.

I can’t tell you how many times my mother told me to “Eat your spinach. It’s good for you.” When I would protest she would further admonish me by saying, “Finish all of your spinach on your plate, it won’t kill you.”

Boy was she wrong. I hate to say, “I told you so.” However, the temptation is beyond my ability to resist. After all, I’m only a man. I guess I never ate enough spinach for the strength to resist everything.

For years, I told my mother that spinach was not good for me. Now, I have scientific proof as well as verification from the United States government that spinach can kill you.

Where was all this information and government verification when I was young and being force-fed spinach? Some things should be retroactive. If I could find a way to give back all the spinach I have eaten from my mother’s table I certainly would do it right now. (Could someone find me a pork-barrel?)

Of course, there is always the idea that my mother knew this and was simply trying to kill me. No, after further thought, I’m sure that is far from being true. But don’t think I haven’t been pondering this, lately. She had plenty of evidence to incite this kind of attitude toward me, I assure you.

My mother used everything she could think of to get me to eat my spinach. She used intimidation, arguments and a gold old-fashioned thrashing. None of it seemed to make her spinach taste any better.

One of the arguments my mother used to get me to eat spinach was good ole Popeye. “Popeye eats spinach,” my mother would taunt me. “Look at all of the things he does because of eating spinach.”

Of course, from my observation, Popeye only ate spinach when he was in extreme trouble and his life was being threatened. I tried to have an agreement with my mother that I would eat spinach every time my life was threatened. Then she threatened my life.

Her arguments continued. “Certainly you want to be like Popeye, don’t you?” my mother pleaded.

To which I responded, “Yes, and he smokes a pipe too. Can I smoke a pipe?” I did not think it fair for my mother to make me eat spinach and then not allow me to smoke a pipe. If you choose one the other comes too.

At the time, my mother was not too amused with my argument concerning Popeye’s pipe. I tried explaining that Popeye’s use of spinach was only occasionally but his use of the pipe was continuously. This argument had no effect upon my mother, but it did cause severe pain in my left ear as she led me by my ear back to the table to finish my spinach.

At the time, my mother had a one-track mind, which led to a plate of spinach. I, on the other hand, had a one-track mind, which led as far away from that plate of spinach as possible. Nothing would do but clean up my plate of spinach. Only one mind could win, and it sure wasn’t mine.

I listened with amusement to all this news concerning spinach this past week. Reflecting upon this incident from my past, a verse of Scripture came to my mind.

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” -James 4:17 KJV

At the time of my spinach eating frenzy, my mother thought she was doing the right thing. At the time she was, much to my consternation. It’s not so much, what we do, as it is what we know.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

When choosing an external url for your ad, you only have the option of targeting users who are connected to your page, app or event, or who are not connected.

However if your landing page is your fan page, you have some additional options:

Basic Connection Targeting: Target those who are fans of your page, those who aren’t fans of your page.

Advanced Connection Targeting: Similar to basic targeting, however you can also advertise to those who have RSVP’d ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ to your event, or who have used your app in the last 30 days.

Friends of Connections: Part of the advanced connection targeting, friends of connections lets you advertise to friends of those who already like your page, have used your app, are members of your group, or who are coming to your event. When you select this option, social content (‘Tom likes this page”) is displayed with your ad, making it more relevant and personal, as it implies endorsement by a friend.

You are currently only able to target those who are (or who whose friends are) connected to your Facebook content. Unfortunately, you are not able to target those who are connected to pages, groups or apps you don’t administer (how sweet would that be?).

When to Target Those Already Connected to your Page

If you’re offering a discount or deal to your fans, want to advertise a new product, or make a big announcement, you may want to use connection targeting.

When to Target Only Those Not Connected to your Page

If you’re running a campaign with the goal of increasing your fan base, it’s a waste of money to include those who already like your page. Any ads stating ‘Like our page’, or ‘Click to like’ should be directed only to those not connected (Most people find this obvious in theory, but some people forget this when creating their campaign). Don’t waste CPC’s on fans you’ve already acquired!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

You get to choose how much you want to pay for your ads each day. Some of our clients spend $5000 per day. Others spend $20 per day. Most are somewhere in between.

Any way you look at it, you are in full control of your Facebook ads cost. You set the bid price; you set the budget.

The easiest way to keep your Facebook ads cost very low is to begin advertising with a simple ad which takes visitors to your Facebook business page. Set your daily budget to be a few dollars a day and target your ideal customer.

Additionally, your Facebook ads cost should be outweighed by the revenue brought in by your ads. If you’re following our guidelines on how to build a solid, direct-response ad campaign on Facebook you’ll know that it’s very important to test, track and optimize your campaigns regularly.

Keep your Facebook ad cost low by maintaining a high CTR (click thru rate) and a low CPC (cost per click). Then, follow through with the leads you have generated and ensure that they are converting into sales and customers for you. Facebook ads should be driving big profits to your business, not draining your bank account.

If you’re struggling to maintain the balance between what your Facebook ads cost and what you’re earning from the extra traffic, you might need to take a closer look at your targeting. Targeting the right customers will give you a much better outcome with your ad campaigns.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

But one other thing stuck out for me that morning and it was the nature of music.  As I sat and listened to those talented musicians it made me realize that music is filled with LIFE.  I’d always thought that life should be filled with music but no here I was listening and feeling the pulsation of the heart of music.

Mind you I do have to say that the church my wife and I go to has a splendid Director of Music and the standards are very high.  That has not always been my experience!  I’ve known, and I suspect you have too, musicians who should be locked away for murder!  Murdering a great hymn as they thumped it out on the slightly out of tune old piano isn’t what I have in mind.  But at least you can chuckle as you think back to murdering musicians you’ve known.  So back to something more serious.

So what are we meant to do with music?  Surely we are to let its life transfer to our life.  So this week you might like to test what effect music will have on you.  Sometimes music is associated with life events.  Whenever I hear Chariots of Fire it makes me think of my 1,000 mile bicycle ride from the South of England to the North of Scotland (affectionately called the End 2 End).  Or when I hear the theme tune to Titanic it makes me think of those I love.  Riverdance makes my feet tap and brings me more life and energy.

And so as we sung “And I will raise him up, and I will raise raise him up” on that Easter morning it made me cry and think of mission and how important it is for faith to be living and vital in the heart of each of us.

So, put the kettle on, dust off the CD player and put some music on!  Feel its life and let its life fill you today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship. He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family. Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries. He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen, and has children and grandchildren in Edmonton, Indiana and London.

“Look, my dear,” I squealed, with delight to my wife, “We have two free nights in Daytona Beach.” Immediately we checked our calendars and selected a time when we could take advantage of our windfall, without running into all those spring-breakers at the beach.

Personally, I am not too crazy about Daytona Beach. I am crazy about free. Consulting the parsonage exchequer, we could afford free. Upon leaving the house, all I could do was hum a tune, “Two Whole Nights at the Beach …” Before I finished, my wife suggested I quit humming.

Of course, with her suggestions always comes the phrase, “And if you don’t I’ll …” Well, you know the rest. I took her suggestion, but I was humming on the inside.

Arriving at our motel in good time, we checked in and settled down for two days and two nights of absolute relaxation – whatever that is. The room was terrific and in the corner was an old friend – a Lazyboy recliner. With the recliner and a remote, I settled in for some serious goofing off for the next two days.

Admittedly, I am not gifted in many areas, if any. My wife, however, says I goof off better than anyone she knows. One takes pride in what one does best.

Next to our motel was a restaurant called The Wing House. On the outside it looked like a nice place and, unlike my wife, I am not choosy about where I eat. Any old greasy spoon suits me just fine, thank you.

I must say I was completely unprepared for what I was about to experience in the restaurant next to our motel.

On the second day of our mini-vacation, I decided to run next door for some carry out. My wife wanted some soup and I fancied something a little more substantial. When I am on an errand, especially one as important as my supper, I am usually focused on one thing and one thing only. I wanted to run into the restaurant, give my order, get out as quickly and simply as possible and get back to my Lazyboy and remote. It is my two days off; I will squander them if I want to.

I did not notice anything strange when I first walked in. I focused on the menu. Looking up from the menu what I saw shocked me to the core. I am known for dropping everything from dishes to keys. This time I dropped my lower jaw to the floor.

It took some time for me to gingerly pick up my lower jaw. I just noticed the young girl standing before me greeting me and inquiring about my order.

I heard nothing – but, unfortunately, I saw more than I expected. Let me try to describe this as delicately as I can.

The only thing I can rationally think of is, when this young girl dressed in the morning her costume fit quite well. I hardly think anyone would put on clothes that did not fit.

However, during the course of the day, being a young person, she must have experienced a rather dramatic spurt of growth, causing her clothes to be at least three sizes too small.

Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, the only thing keeping her breathing was the lack of material around her chest area. Otherwise, she could have suffocated.

Her clothes were so tight, not to mention skimpy (and I didn’t), that I wanted to take the shirt off my back and give it to her.

I mumbled something rather incoherently and said as loud as possible, “and make it to go, please.”

After giving my order, I did not know what to do with my eyes. You can look at the ceiling only so long before people begin inquiring into your family history. Other young girls, in the restaurant, I found in the same condition. There must be a “growth spurt” epidemic going around.

My order finally came and I quickly paid for it, made like an egg and scrambled for the sanctity of my motel room. I slammed the door behind and paused to collect whatever was lagging behind me, happy I made it to safety.

No sooner had my heart reclaimed its tranquil rhythm than I heard an anemic knock at the door. When I opened the door, much to my chagrin (and believe me I was not grinning), stood my semi-clad waitress with a restaurant package in her hand. I felt as though I had been run over by a Mac truck.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir, but we mixed up your order. Here’s your order.”

We exchanged bags and one glance at my wife told me that, along with other things, I would be eating crow.

Later that evening, as I prepared for bed, I took comfort in the words of the Apostle Paul:

“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”  -Philippians 1:20 KJV

Ignorance about some things is inconvenient, but ignorance about Christ is fatal.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

In short, don’t panic!

The changes are an expansion, enhancing the current offerings.  What you have been doing for your business or your clients, you will still be able to do.  The new offerings are designed to boost fan engagement, and so the possibilities are extremely exciting.

Let me walk you through some of the new offerings and changes…

Overall Changes in Ad Platform

The ad process will begin with a page post. So if you are managing ads for yourself or your client, you will post to the page directly first, and then form your ad from the post. Anything that can be a page post can be turned into an ad. There will be more information about the specifics of this next week, but it’s an interesting development and one that gives more choices.

This includes:

• Pictures
• Videos
• Status
• Question
• Link
• Event

There are many features in the platinum ad offerings that will enhance community engagement, like fans being able to comment directly into the ad, which will be seen by their friends who are fans of the site.

It is also being rumored that Facebook will only display the first 90 characters of an ad.  So you’ll want to pull out an eraser because you’ll have a bit more than half a Twitter post to craft your copy.

Bottom Line

Facebook has been reaching new record earnings.  They don’t want this to go away!!

From everything that is coming across my desk, I see expanded opportunities for both business owners and Facebook advertisers.  For 99% of the companies and people I work with, you will still be able to do exactly what you have been doing.  I am very excited about the possibilities for our members, coaching students and clients.

Let me know what questions or concerns you have, and I’ll address them via blog post or video following the announcement, next Wednesday.

Fun times ahead, that’s for sure!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

I firmly believe when God created Adam and Eve they were fit, ate healthy and probably walked quite a bit.

Speaking of walking, Genesis tells us that Joseph walked 50 miles to reach his brothers once!  Did you also know Moses climbed Pisgah Peak at the age of 120 years old?

There was marching in Joshua, Elijah running in Kings, people running to see Jesus all the way around the Sea of Galilee and Jesus walked countless numbers of miles.

I think if Jesus were wearing one of our modern day Pedometers he would have broke it because it couldn’t count that high!

The evidence is right there in front of us that many, many people were in great shape back in the day because they exercised daily.

I know what you’re thinking.  That was then and this is now.  Today we have cars to take us places and technology to supposedly make our lives easier.  It’s not our fault!

I do admit that it’s harder for us today.  Cars, TVs, video games, both parents working and many other factors do make it harder for us and our kids to exercise regularly.

Despite this, the thoughts about keeping His Temple clean and fit for service remain the same.  Let’s tell our kids about how in shape Jesus and the disciples were and how that helped them help so many people spiritually over the course of their lives.

Trust me, this is a wake-up call for me and my family too.  I personally need to be a little more proactive in not only teaching my kids about the Bible each day, but to let them know what the Bible says about respecting our bodies and being fit.

Are we physically and spiritually what God planned for us to be?  We are all works in progress and I think if we are transparent with our kids and let them see our progress in both areas it will surely be a good influence on them as we raise them up to be healthy adults.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: My Family Exercise founder Jeff Wise has created a line of ebooks and a Kids Health Club membership site to help children and parents decrease stress and improve physical fitness in a fun way.  Jeff has authored over 200 articles around kids’ health and is the parent of two children.  For more information, visit his kids health and fitness blog and for daily advice follow Jeff on Twitter.

She then looked at me, put both hands on her hips and said, “Time will tell that I’m right.”

I cannot wait. The problem is, time is never on my side. I simply do not know what it is about time, but it never does me any favors. Always, and I mean always, time proves my wife was right. I hate it.

I thought it was supposed to be “Father Time” we are dealing with. If it is, he certainly does not have the male side of the issue in good grips. Why does time always prove my wife right? Perhaps Mother Nature has so bullied Father Time that he always takes up the side of my wife.

The past week I have been thinking about this aspect of life; time. It seems that for the most part, we have put a lot of pressure upon time. For example, my wife keeps reminding me that time heals all wounds. If it was not for time I would have no wounds, I retorted.

I got in trouble just this past week because I was running out of time. I had to get across town for an appointment and believe me; time was not on my side. It would have been nice if I could just sit down with Father Time and negotiate a little bit. Would it be that hard for him to press the pause button and suspend time in order for me to catch up? Why is it so important that time keeps marching on? Why can’t it, at least on the weekends, just take a slow stroll down memory lane?

Often I look at my watch to determine if I have enough time to do a certain project. Time has become an austere taskmaster, refusing to give up one second.

Think with me a little bit. Wouldn’t it be nice to have every week just one “do over” moment? How hard would that be? Father Time insists on perfection always. He does not allow for screw-ups, which is rather pressing for me. If I could just have one 15-minute period during the week that I could do over, I might be able to catch up a little.

He wants me to be “on time” every time. When it is 2:00 PM, it is only 2:00 PM for one second, that is all. I believe there is an error here somewhere. If time is so valuable, why can’t I enjoy 2:00 PM for say, 15 minutes? But no, by the time I acknowledge that it is 2:00 PM Father Time is tapping his finger on his watch and saying, “Let’s keep moving because time waits for no man.”

At the very center of my life, and everybody else’s as well, is the infamous clock representing time. And what a harsh, demanding element this invention has become. Who invented that clock in the first place? Why was it not good enough just to look at the sun and guess what time of day it was? If it was dark, it was time to go to sleep. If the sun was up and it was light outside, it was time to get up.

Oh, how I miss those good old days.

But no, Father Time tricked somebody into inventing a device that keeps time. Or, so Father Time convinced the unsuspecting inventor.

The joke is on us who wear watches. No watch I have ever owned has ever kept time. All it does is show me that time is passing and I am late for an appointment. Where is that inventor that can invent some mechanism or some technology that can actually keep time? I would be the first one to buy such a contraption.

Why can’t Bill Gates come out of retirement and do something useful for humanity and invent the technology that actually keeps time. I would settle for half-hour increments. I could live with that.

For many years now, time has not been on my side and neither has it been involved in the healing of any of my many wounds. Then never, contrary to what my wife says, has time ever told me anything. It just keeps on ticking while giving me a licking.

I am older, but certainly, I am not any wiser. And I blame Father Time. He has not given me enough time to learn everything that I need to know. Every day it seems I am always running out of time. And I cannot believe it is my fault.

Time marches on and I need to make the best of it as best I can.

The apostle Paul understood the urgency of this matter we call time. He writes in his epistle,

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”   – 2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV

The only time we really have is now. I never have a “now” to do over so I need to make time my friend and not my enemy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

It’s all about benefits, baby!

 In my last post, I talked about determining the features of what you’re promoting.

So often marketers write their ads and landing page copy “off-the-cuff” without any thought or planning. And guess what? We can tell!

The best copy out there? Sounds effortless and thrown together, but follows very specific marketing principles.

Features vs. Benefits.

As mentioned in my last post, features are essentially the ‘what’s’ of whatever you’re selling/promoting. The laundry list of what your product does, what is has, what it looks like, etc.

Including a list of features is necessary; it’s just not that interesting.

Features give no thought to how people interact with a product, why they need it, and how it solves their problem.

This is where benefits come in.

Benefits are the reasons why someone needs your product.

For each feature you come up with, you should be able to extrapolate a benefit – People don’t care WHAT a product does, nearly as much as they are about what it does for THEM.

So, using the example from my last post, if you’re marketing a fire extinguisher with the following features:

• Easy installation
• Interconnected to other detectors in house
• Comes with battery backup
• Test button
• Extra-sensitive
• Front loading battery door

Some benefits might be:

• Installation doesn’t require complicated instruction manuals
• Interconnected detectors ensure your family will hear the alarm regardless of where they are in the house
• Battery backup means you’re safe even if you happen to forget to change out the old one
• Test button gives you peace of mind knowing your detector is working properly
• Extreme sensitivity means extra time to safely escape
• Front loading battery drawer means not having to bend over backwards trying to change the battery

If you’re struggling with your list of benefits, here’s an idea you might try:

Come up with a list of features (which are usually easier to crank out), and list them on the left side of a piece of paper. Draw a line down the middle, and for each feature, describe how it solves a problem. Think about how the feature will directly impact and help the buyer.

When you’re writing your ad copy, you’ll want to make sure you’re listing benefits, NOT features. Depending on your product, listing some benefits in point form can work. Sometimes focusing in on one benefit in your copy is better.

Or how about this? Focus on specific benefits your product provides to very specific groups of people, and then have these ads delivered to those groups using Facebook targeting.

For instance, promoting an ebook on ‘How to Build a 6-Figure Business From Your Home‘-  Why not talk about the benefits of being able to stay at home with your kids and target your ad to stay-at-home moms? Or talk about the benefit of being able to re-invent your career, and target it at men in their mid-40′s (I’m not beyond exploiting a good old midlife crisis!).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

So as a mere novice (even though I had decades of life experience behind me already) I began.  So here are 5 things I quickly learnt about sales.

1.     It was better to be an educator than a sales person.  When I put on the persona of a “salesmen” I didn’t like me let alone anyone else liking me.  It was completely different when I learned to simply educate an intelligent audience and let them buy rather than me sell.  Learning that lesson was liberating.

2.     It was better to give first and receive second.  I don’t know if you have read or listened to “Go Givers Sell More” by Bob Burg and John David Mann.  The book turns traditional sales on its head.  It basically turns “Martians” into “Humans” again!  The #1 lesson I received from listening to the audio version of the book is how we must focus on giving in value more than we receive in payment.  This simple principle can apply to almost everything.  Some of you may know that I am the Regional Manager for LegalShield, a national company helping families, small businesses and employees practice preventive legal representation.  Recently I enrolled an employer in our services who had more than 150,000 employees.  You can imagine it was quite a day but how was it possible to achieve that?  The answer was that I explained to the decision maker how the value they and their employees would receive was far greater than the cost.

3.     It was better to let people take their time to make a decision rather than rush them or use cleaver techniques.  A month or two ago I contacted a family with regard to our services and our business opportunity.  Nothing much happened but I made a few follow up calls and passed on some web information about our company and what we do.  But I didn’t push!  Yesterday the phone rang and here was this family coming back to me and saying they were very interested in the business and would I meet with them.  I then discovered that the father was a stock-broker by profession and had been watching our companies performance for quite some time and was very interested in working with me.  Had I rushed him he would have fled but because I let him take his time he came when he was ready.

4.     It was better to let my third party tools do the talking rather than me talk.  I was to be the messenger not the message.  Ever felt you were getting in the way of a sale?  Me too.   Even though I like to think that I can “talk” it was still better to point at something else rather than do the talking myself.  Ask yourself – what or who is doing the selling here?

5.     It was better to be brief than be comprehensive.  As I began to “sell” I soon learned that just because I knew almost everything about what it was we did everyone else didn’t need to know that on their first encounter with the services we offer.  So I quickly discovered that “less was more”.  If you and I learn to halve our presentations we might double our sales.

Selling is fun and if you have something of genuine value that you feel proud to represent then it can bring you and I great rewards not just in financial reward but in the satisfaction of knowing we have helped connect someone else with something they need.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship. He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family. Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries. He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen, and has children and grandchildren in Edmonton, Indiana and London.

Some people have never been taught how to dress, let alone how to dress in public. Whenever I go to the mall, and believe me it is as seldom as possible, I cannot help noticing some of these people.

What I cannot understand is why young men wear pants too big for them and young women wear pants too small for them. Perhaps we ought to get a little group together and try to reverse this trend. Somebody got the wrong information.

I was in the mall the other day and noticed several young men in front of me with trousers several sizes too big and were constantly falling down. One hand was grabbing their trousers while the other hand was hanging onto a cell phone.

I wanted to go up and tell them that there is this marvelous new invention called “The Belt” that would solve the problem that they were having. Once they have “The Belt,” they can put it on and forget about their trousers falling down to their ankles. If there is anything I do not want to see it is somebody’s trousers falling down to their ankles.

Criticize me if you want to, but I simply cannot not follow these young men walking down the mall. By the time I go the space of three stores, I am a nervous wreck wondering when those trousers are actually going to fall.

Young women are no different. It seems to me that most young women purchase their entire wardrobe when they are in the first grade. At that time, the clothing fits very nicely. By the time these young women hit the 10th grade, those first-grade clothing are not only out of style, but fit no more. Where are their mothers?

I know the economy is bad, but really, is it so bad that people cannot afford to upgrade their wardrobe, as they get older and consequently bigger? Shouldn’t there be some sales on mirrors these days?

If I were a congressman in Washington DC, I would work very hard to pass a bill that would make it illegal to walk out of your house on any given morning without first looking into the mirror to see if everything is covered. That is the kind of change I can believe in.

As I get older, it gets more difficult to conduct myself as a gentleman because there is so much I do not want to see.

Last week I had to return an item to a store and was unprepared for what I was to encounter. I assumed I was well prepared for the day. I went through the normal routine of exercising my eyes to look upward. I try my best when I am out in public to look into the eyes of people, especially those of the gentler sex. This particular day I had really met my match.

I stood in line waiting to return my item and I was not thinking too much about the process. I was humming to myself some hymn that was on my mind at the time and was not paying attention to the surroundings. As I say, I trained my eyes to look upward when I am out in public.

Eventually, it was my turn to go to the counter and return the item. I walked up and was aghast. I said to myself, “Look at the eyes, look at the eyes, look at the eyes.” For some reason my eyes were not paying any attention whatsoever. All those years of training seem to have gone out the window.

My eyes were in a staring mode and I did not know how to break it.

It really is not my fault; I think people should take personal responsibility for their person when they go out in public. They should make sure that everything is prim and proper because you never know what you are going to run into in any given day.

For a moment, I had forgotten what I was at the counter for, I tried to shift my eyes into a higher level and it was all I could do to communicate what I needed to communicate at the time.

But my eyes, oh, my eyes. They certainly were not helping me in this regard.

I might as well come clean and confess.

As I walked up to the counter to return my item I could not help but notice that the woman behind the counter was wearing, and you will not believe me, a beard. Yes, I said a beard, whiskers and all. I could not believe it at first. I thought maybe my eyes were trying to get back at me for being so harsh on them the last few months.

But no, there in full view of everybody, including my pair of eyes, was a woman with a beard any man would have been proud to wear.

All I could think of at the time was what Job said.

 ”I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?”  - Job 31:1 KJV

My motto:  be careful little eyes where you stare.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

Up I-70, in the foothills west of Denver, Colorado,  lives a small herd of American bison owned by the city. They are the descendents of seven of the remaining wild animals found in Yellowstone National Park in 1914.

If you know much about the American Bison, then you know that they were once nearly hunted to extinction. Privately maintained herds like Denver’s were bred with domestic cattle in an effort to boost their numbers.

And while these efforts saved the bison from extinction, they fundamentally changed the animals… they stole the wild from them.

For years, Denver’s herd was celebrated for its tameness.

Police and firefighters often served cream soda to a bull named Nickel, who would come running when he heard the crack of a can being opened.

As Christian men, we’re supposed to be warriors for Christ.

But many of us have been… tamed.

Sure, we go to church on Sunday.

We have a Christian station preset on our car radio, but no song on our lips.

We keep a Bible on our nightstand, but not in our hearts.

We’re like those early captive herds; we look like Christians on the outside, but underneath… we’re just passive cattle.

Worse than that, we’re isolated.

God created us to be in community.

To encourage one another.

To grow in our faith together.

But that takes more than just sitting together in a building on Sundays. It takes courage to open up and pour out our hearts, and effort to pour into others.

Some of us try. We might join a small group with other men in our church. I was in a such a group for years. Good guys. Nice guys. We did some nice Bible studies together.

It was all very… nice.

But most of the men didn’t want to open up. The biggest struggle anyone would admit to was looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

Seriously?

Unless we are willing to get messy… to open up and be vulnerable with others… to let them share their hearts with us… we will continue living in isolation, with the illusion of community.

And the Devil loves that.

Because… it makes us easier prey.

1 Peter 5:8 says,

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Yes, God created us to live in community.

But when all we do is sit in the same building with a crowd of other nice people on Sundays, or in room with other guys not willing to be real, we’re no different from cattle in the yards… waiting passively to be slaughtered.

But take heart.

A change is taking place in that bison herd outside of Denver.

They’re reverting back to their wild past.

They’re no longer tame.

When one of their number bleeds from scraping against a fence or a tree, the rest of the herd rolls in its blood. In doing so, predators can’t identify the weak member of the herd.

If someone is foolish enough to jump the fence that surrounds their land, they lick their lips, curl their tails, and charge.

Don’t you long for that kind of fellowship?

To have men you can truly call your brothers?

Guys that will put themselves on the line when you’re in trouble?

Friends who hold you accountable when you fall short?

Whoa… wait a minute.  Accountability?

That’s an uncomfortable word for many of us, I know. Especially if we’ve got habits we know are wrong.  You’re afraid of being chastised… called on the carpet… shamed.

But that’s not what I’m talking about here.

I love what Graham Cooke has to say about accountability.

“When we speak the truth in love we are reminding, teaching, and exhorting people about who they are in Christ. We are reinforcing their true identity in the spirit. We are not calling them out because of inappropriate behavior, we are calling them up to the truth of who they really are in Jesus.”

Now that is what I’m talking about!

If you aren’t sure you’d like to be a part of a men’s group like that…

pray about it.

And if you’re positive you don’t have any desire to get real with others…

pray about that, too.

Come on guys… let’s get wild

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wayne Scott is a veteran of Corporate America. He and his wife live in Colorado with their two children. With a history of dodging the flames, he is now committed to becoming the husband, the father, the man, that God designed him to be. He encourages other men to do the same, and believes the best way to do that is to walk with God…through the fire.

What makes you different from your competition?

An important consideration when promoting your product or business on Facebook is how do you differentiate yourself from others that offer a similar product or service?

YOU know you’re the best, but just telling people that somehow usually isn’t enough.

When you’re writing your ad copy or sales page, you’re going to need to be really quick to tell people why they should want what you’re selling – If you don’t, you risk losing their attention.

The problem is, when you’re so immersed in your own business, it can be hard to objectively figure out how you specifically ROCK better than your competitors.

So, we’ve tried to help by coming up with this list that will help you brainstorm various factors that set you apart!

Quality

• Most durable
• Longest lasting
• Highly trained staff
• Guaranteed free from defects
• Most innovative
• Known as experts in the field
• Highest level of education

Selection

• Widest variety of products
• Offer rare/scarce products or services
• Widest range of services provided

Customer Service

• Fastest response times
• Friendliest staff
• Money-back guarantee
• 24 hour support
• Frequent communication with customers
• Fastest delivery time

Reputation/Longevity

• Been in business x # of years
• Member in good standing with the BBB
• Low return rate
• High customer-satisfaction ratings

Fastest

• Fastest turnaround time
• Fastest shipping
• Fastest production
• Fastest service

Price

• Best value for money
• Lowest price
• Price-matching guarantee
• Best range of price points

Special services

• Free shipping
• Free support
• Complimentary installation
• Free delivery

Convenience

• Easiest to access
• Longest hours of service
• Easiest to find
• Online access to services or information

Have you noticed that a majority of ads on Facebook that focus on differentiation talk about their price? “Cheapest”, “best value”, “cash-back”, etc.? Do you think we focus too much on price and not enough on other factors? Is focusing on low prices effective?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

Teaching this to our kids is just as important as other areas of the Christian life, such as spiritual, mental and emotional matters. Why then do we many times avoid this subject matter in God’s word and why do we oftentimes neglect our bodies?

It’s really hard sometimes, isn’t it?  Our lifestyles demand a lot from us.  We’re working, taking the kids to events like a taxi driver and then parking in front of the TV as our way of winding down. I definitely know it isn’t easy.

Encouragement For You and Your Kids
Our bodies are really special and nobody knows that better than believers.  We seriously were created in the image of God and He is entrusting us to take care of it while we serve Him and others.

In reality, it’s easy to maintain a healthy diet and exercise often.  I know this and you know this.  We all make the decisions though to do it or not. The advantage for us is that we can go to God for motivation and guidance.

Don’t take lightly the often used scripture of Phil. 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

We really do have the power to stay fit and lead a balanced life.  This is great news!

I believe if we live this out ourselves and teach our kids by example as we go along, they are more likely than anyone in the world to be healthy.

How we view ourselves with a biblical orientation and understand how redeemed we are, our self-image grows and grows.

Eating a half-gallon of ice cream and drinking soda pop isn’t the example that will leave a good impression on our kids. Their tummies will feel yucky and for good reason.  It’s natural that we might feel a little down too about ourselves.

It’s About The Balance

I really like what Dr. Donald Furci put together about life’s four basic components.  He believes we are at our happiest when these components are in balance: spiritual, physical, mental and emotional.  Could some of us possibly be doing really well spiritually but not so good in the physical element?

We all get out of whack sometimes and make adjustments, but I know for certain some of us are almost ignoring the physical.

How do I know?  I know from personal experience.  I am very close to someone who knows what they should be doing but makes zero effort to get back into balance.  They are unhappy, unhealthy and their children are just about the same way.

I really like the verse from 1 Thess. 5:23 that says, “… may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless …” That really speaks about balance in our lives.

Be encouraged today and know when we are emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally more balanced we can have victory no matter what crisis or situation we or our kids face day by day.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: My Family Exercise founder Jeff Wise has created a line of ebooks and a Kids Health Club membership site to help children and parents decrease stress and improve physical fitness in a fun way.  Jeff has authored over 200 articles around kids’ health and is the parent of two children.  For more information, visit his kids health and fitness blog and for daily advice follow Jeff on Twitter.

The best example of all of this has to do with my cell phone. Is there anybody on the planet today that does not have a cell phone? And, the most important question, is there anybody driving a car that is not at the same time on that cell phone? Who in the world are they all talking to?

My guess is they are all talking to each other. At least, they are not talking to me.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage finally convinced me to go into cahoots with her and get cell phones. The plan was this. She got to pick out the cell phones and I got to pay the bill. I must say I beat her on this one.

She only got to pick the cell phone once but I, get to pay the bill every month. I was chuckling to myself that I finally pulled one over on her until I realized that I get to pay the bill every month. Every month! This is the last time I will try to pull something over on her. I never win.

Consequently, we now are in the cell phone industry. I am not sure it is all working out for the good.

I have yet to master the technological skill associated with successfully using my cell phone. Although my cell phone is rather small, it has more buttons on it than Bozo the clown’s costume. Not only are there more buttons than I can count but each button is smaller than I can see. Who in the world designed such small buttons?

I really think that my cell phone was designed for some midget.

At this point, I cannot tell the difference when my cell phone is ringing or when I am receiving a text message. When a text message comes in I try to answer the cell phone and nobody seems to be on the other end. When I try to read the text message there are only letters instead of words. It takes me a half hour just to figure out one text message. Where is James Bond when you need him?

I may not be the brightest letter on the keyboard but I do know how to spell words. It seems that in order to use a cell phone today you have to throw out words and start using letters. I will never get the hang of that.

When somebody is on the phone and I am talking, all of a sudden the phone goes dead. I can talk for 3 minutes before realizing nobody is on the other end. I find this most frustrating.

I am not sure that the convenience of the cell phone is worth the frustrating elements associated with having the cell phone.

In a crowded restaurant the other day, my cell phone went off. Not thinking too much of my environment I answered the cell phone. It was a friend calling me.

The conversation started rather jovial for all practical purposes. Suddenly I became conscious I had an audience. There are times when I really prefer not to have an audience. This was one of those times.

I realized some of the people around me were eavesdropping in on my conversation. Then the unthinkable happened. My cell phone suddenly went dead. It went dead in the middle of a rather humorous joke I was telling. Now what was I to do?

It really was not my fault that the phone went dead. I did not plan it that way. Besides, I hate it when somebody stops in the middle of a joke and you never get to the punchline.

For a few seconds I was not sure what the proper protocol is when your phone goes dead and you have an audience. I had to do some very quick thinking and come up with, what I thought was, a brilliant plan.

I understand that when you do have an audience you have a certain responsibility with that audience. So, not to disappoint my audience, I continued my conversation on the cell phone as though somebody was actually on the other end. I was able to finish my joke and then I paused, not knowing what else to do. I merely continued the conversation I was having with my friend who really was not on the other end of this time.

Sometimes it is good just to keep up a good front. From the snickers of the people around me in that restaurant, it was well worth finishing that joke. I hate to waste a good joke. After all, they are so hard to come by these days.

Many things are just too good to be true and many of them I probably will never really get the hang of it. One thing I never really will fully understand is God’s love for me.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16 KJV)

Although this sounds too good to be true, it is true nevertheless.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

So take this quick 5 step check up test to see where you are at right now.  Deep breath – here we go!

1. Where are your last set of written goals?  Get them out, look them over and keep them nearer to you on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.  If you don’t have any up to date ones – hurry to some place quiet and get some – if they’re not perfect don’t worry – just get them done.
2. How many days this week did you work on top priorities?  A consultant met with a CEO and gave them one tip.  This was the tip.  Every day sit down and list six things you have to do today?  Now prioritize the six things and begin to tackle from #1 onwards.  The consultant said try doing this for three months, don’t pay me anything now but send me a check in 3 months for what you think that piece of advice is worth to you and your company.  Three months later the consultant got a check in the mail for $1,000,000.
3. Sometimes when I’m alone I feel stressed.  It all feels too much.  In Matthew 6:6 Jesus talks about a quiet place.  Do you have somewhere that is your place of refuge – you don’t need to spend long there just enough to reset your spirit, renew your soul and calm down.
4. Belief is vital – what do you and I believe about ourselves and what we do?  If you want to achieve great things you have to begin by believing great things.  Whatever your end game is capture the image in your mind.  It may be an achievement or a reward, a completed mission or a possession. Whatever it is play out the scene in your mind from the film of your life and then exercise the faith that will bring it into reality.  Read Hebrews 11 – it will inspire you to follow this principle for life.
5. Relationship check – when all is said and done in life it is our relationships that absolutely matter the most.  So how are your relationships – Some will be like an old pair of shoes. They are perfectly useable but just need to be re-heeled.  With a little tender loving care your old shoes will soon look like new again.  Who can you call or see today just to touch their lives and ensure they know they matter to you.

If you and I were to review these 5 areas every once in a while there is no end to the progress we can make towards our goals and a more fulfilled balanced life.

Try it and let me know on the blog what you think!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship. He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family. Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries. He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen, and has children and grandchildren in Edmonton, Indiana and London.

The idea of spending time in the park has to be amended to include one very important ingredient. On my own, I probably would not even think of going to the park. Not that I do not like the park, I just would not come up with the idea all by myself.

Then, the important equation of fun is a little granddaughter.

A day at the park by myself does not equal to very much fun. After all, I have talked to myself and I am rather boring. I have heard all my stories before and by the time I tell myself the story for the 19th time it is no longer funny.

A day at the park with the granddaughter does equal fun.

I think grandchildren are God’s way of reminding grandfathers how much energy we do not have and, for that matter, never had.

The date was set and my wife and I set off to take our little granddaughter to the park. One of the main features of this park was a merry-go-round. I am rather certain they had merry-go-round when I was a child but for the life of me, I cannot remember the last time I took a spin.

As we set out for our destination in the park, I nonchalantly told the little granddaughter that there was a merry-go-round in the park. That was the end of my talk for the trip. The whole way there, all she could talk about was the merry-go-round and how fast it went in how many ponies there were. By the time we got to the merry-go-round I had learned about all there is to know about a merry-go-round from a six-year-old’s viewpoint.

According to her, the merry-go-round is about the most fun you could ever have in the whole wide world. And, she emphasized, “I’m serious.”

We rounded the corner, before us was the park and in the middle of the park was this mysterious, mystical merry-go-round. It elicited a deep heartfelt “Wow,” from the younger member of our walking troop.

She immediately began running and pulling me along to the point where I had to walk a little faster than I normally walk. I mean, at my age running is completely out of the question. And so, she ran, I shuffled enthusiastically and before long we were in front of the merry-go-round.

“Isn’t it beautiful, grandpa,” she almost whispered.

We did not stand long admiring the merry-go-round. She let out a squeal and said, “Come on, grandpa. Let’s go ride the merry-go-round.”

My plans were very simple. I would let her get on the merry-go-round, pay for the ticket, sit down on the bench and watch her go round and round and round. Well, that was my plan. She, on the other hand, had other plans.

With almost superhuman force she drug me past the admission gate, I hardly had enough time to pay for the ride and to the pony she was going to ride.

“This is my pony, grandpa. Where’s yours?”

I quickly searched my plans and could nowhere find any notation about riding a pony on a merry-go-round on this particular day. Instead, I helped her up on her pony and I stood by her and said, “We’ll do this one together.” She was so excited about riding the merry-go-round that she did not respond.

I grabbed hold of one part of the pony, right next to us was another pony and I held onto that.

“Are we ready to go, grandpa?”

No sooner had she said that until the bell rang and the merry-go-round began going round. And round. And round.

Not only that, the pony she was on, went up and down and the pony next to her that I was hanging onto went down and up. It was as if I was in perpetual motion. It seemed as if that merry-go-round ride lasted 17 hours. Eventually, with my head spinning and my stomach doing whatever stomachs do, we came to the end of our merry-go-round.

Being grateful that we have finished our ride, I proceeded to disengage her from the pony. However, that was not her plan.

“Oh, grandpa, just one more time.”

The problem with grandfathers is that nowhere in their vocabulary lurks in any fashion any sound resembling “no.” Consequently, we went round on the merry-go-round “just one more time.”

I learned a deep lesson that afternoon. When a little granddaughter says “just one more time,” it is not in any literal sense of the word that they say it. I’m not prepared to say how many times we went on that merry-go-round, needless to say, by the end of the afternoon I was in a complete whirl not knowing whether I was coming or whether I was going.

As we walked over to get our ice cream treat, I remembered what the apostle Paul said about Timothy.

 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15(KJV).

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

But your market is savvy, and they could respond well if you give them both–strategically.  If you are new to the ‘benefits over features’ argument, let me quickly show you the difference between the two.

Kindle

 Features:

It has 4 GB of internal memory and built-in WIFI.

Benefits:

You can store over 3,000 books in one device, and you will be able to search and purchase a book in 60 seconds–which will come in handy when you are traveling.

Features are the facts about the product or service, and the benefits are why the customer would want it.  See, the distinction is that with features, it is a discussion about the product or service, while benefit is a discussion about the buyer, which is why it’s more popular.

But online buyers are particularly sharp and generally know what they are looking for in a product or service, so you must also appeal to the side of them that wants the information, too.

Copyblogger has an interesting way of putting it, “We’re not as logical as we’d like to think we are. Most of our decisions are based on deep-rooted emotional motivations, which we then justify with logical processes. So, first help the right brain create desire, then satisfy the left brain with features and hard data so that the wallet actually emerges.”

 Creating Desire

The most effective benefits are ones that are linked to our basic instincts. Think: security, reproduction (sex), self-actualization, status, etc.

You have probably seen ads where someone is telling you that they used a new traffic generation system, and they made so much money that they quit their job, bought a sports car, and went on a Caribbean vacation in just a few months.  (I know you’ve heard this one, right?!!)

Think about it–quitting the job, buying the car and a vacation has NOTHING to do with a traffic generation system, but the ads mention this because they are appealing to a basic instinct–status.

Let’s take this same traffic generating program, and lay out exactly how to stress the benefits and features. The benefit statements (linked to the basic instinct of security) could be, “Double your business this year,” or “Want to earn twice as much money this year?”  Then, back it up with the features, such as, “On average, our clients see a 300% increase in traffic, and 100% increase in sales within the first year.”

Grab your audience with a picture of what it is that they want, then drive home the point with the facts to ‘close the sale’.

What has been your experience with benefits vs. features advertising?  What benefits have caused your clients to pull out their wallets? What’s working for you right now?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

Christian parents know it is our calling to raise and train our kids in the ways of the Lord. I think you’d agree it is a tough calling.

There is no switch we can flip on and off.  It’s on all the time whether you want it or not. 

If one of my daughters’ get hurt, she won’t stop whimpering sometimes until daddy comes over and comforts her, even though mommy is right there.  Interesting, huh?

So far I’ve seen the same type of thing when it comes to exercise. The second they see me doing any sort of exercise they want to join in and mimic me.

It’s so cute how they try and do their pushups! There’s one problem, though. The novelty wears off after a few short minutes.

Adult type exercises weren’t designed for kids. They are very boring and can cause discomfort for little ones.

I want to give you the scoop on fun exercise games for kids. I believe, at least in my house, it’s my duty and calling to lead my kids towards a healthy lifestyle.

This means eating and fitness to go along with everything else. The key is to make it fun and mix things up.

It’s best not to do the same exercise games day after day. Yes, we can run around and play chase in the backyard, but after the second day they’ll be picking flowers (weeds) and presenting them to you while you’re trying to exercise.

Not all these games have to involve cardiovascular movements. They can be games like a homemade ring toss game which helps develop their hand-eye coordination and arm movements.

The whole point is to keep them moving and active during the day.

Here’s one of my favorites.  The beanbag race!

Several children can enjoy this racing exercise together. You will need a beanbag for each player. It’s easy to make your own by filling up a kids’ sock with dry beans. With tape or string, make a large circle or make two lines several feet apart from each Other.  Each child should stand at the starting line with their beanbag.
Instruct the kids that when you say “go” they should run to the finish line with the beanbag balancing on their head. They are not allowed to use their hands to hold the beanbag. If
the beanbag drops, they are to stop immediately and place the beanbag on their heads before they continue.

I know many dads work away from the home during the day, but most exercise games for kids and dads don’t take much time at all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: My Family Exercise founder Jeff Wise has created a line of ebooks and a Kids Health Club membership site to help children and parents decrease stress and improve physical fitness in a fun way.  Jeff has authored over 200 articles around kids’ health and is the parent of two children.  For more information, visit his kids health and fitness blog and for daily advice follow Jeff on Twitter.

I did not know how big of a deal this was until one night this past week I had a little trouble sleeping.

One reason I have trouble falling asleep is my deep fear of falling. Actually, it’s not the fall that worries me so much as that sudden stop. For some inexplicable reason I always stop three inches past the floor.

I would not worry so much about falling asleep if I knew I was going to fall on my pillow instead of the floor. However, I can’t count on anything these days. Not even my fingers.

I once woke up in the middle of the night engaged in a vicious life or death pillow fight. Unfortunately, the pillow won and I cannot find anyone to take my case.

I did find one lawyer but he was three-sheets-to-the-wind and my case was no breeze.

One fear I have in the middle of the night is falling into the hands of some vicious nightmare because of my horsing around the day before. My wife keeps nagging me about my daytime activities but I have a hard time harnessing these erratic urges.

Often when I have trouble going to sleep or when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep I simply get up quietly so as not to disturb the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and turn on the television. I once disturbed her; when I came to, I vowed never to repeat that offense.

You would think with so many channels on television there would be something interesting to watch in the middle of the night. Something that would make the time spent profitably. Unfortunately, the nighttime airwaves are devoted to things holding no interest for anybody still clutching to a slim strand of sanity. You do not have to be crazy to watch nighttime TV; it is just a consequence of watching nighttime TV.

What I do not understand is why they run so many infomercials for exercise equipment at two o’clock in the morning. Who in their right mind is up that time of night? I know I’m not.

Using my remote, I channel surfed for probably 20 minutes and found nothing but people demonstrating exercise equipment and taunting me that I need to begin an exercise regimen if I am going to live a healthy life. One man’s healthy life is another man’s pain in the back, the knees and the elbows. After all this exercise, I only end up with a tennis elbow and athletes foot.

Not only exercise equipment, but also a good portion of these infomercials touts on the latest fad diet. According to one commercial I can lose all the weight I want to lose in a six-month period for only six easy payments of $99 which they would gladly charge to my credit card account. “Call right now,” they invite through the television screen, “for this special one- time offer.”

This “special one-time offer” is conveniently offered every night. The only weight being lost is from my checking account. If anyone ever had a gander at my checkbook, they would readily see that my goose is cooked. Perhaps I could start a new fad diet: Cooked Goose. I could market myself as the “Cooked Goose Gourmet.”

All this hype made me hungry, so I raided the refrigerator and kidnapped a tasty snack and immediately put it out of its misery and into my middle-age spread.

I say enough is enough. I am tired of other people telling me how to take care of my body. It takes all the strength and energy I have to drag my body from one place to another, let alone adding exercise to my daily schedule.

For a person my age I get plenty of exercise, more than I really need. A typical day for me always includes a rigid exercise regime; jumping to conclusions, running my mouth even when I’m told to be quiet from You Know Who and throwing my weight around every chance I get. After a full day of this, I am thoroughly exhausted.

For my money, it’s my body and I’ll exercise it if I have to, thank you. However, right now, I have more important things to do. Places to go. People to see. Experiences to enjoy. I can’t think of any right now, but anything is better than some artificial exercise program. Who do you think I am? Jack LaLane?

With all this emphasis on exercise, I wish some of these people would exercise the right to keep their viewpoint to themselves.

In my opinion, the apostle Paul had the right attitude about all of this. I like what he writes to a young man by the name of Timothy.

“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8 KJV).

The body exercised is no substitute for the daily exercise of godliness. To exercise godliness is to make the best possible use of each day.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

I guess the best answer I can give is ‘Whatever you want it to cost‘.

With Facebook advertising, you are completely in control of how much you want to spend, from the beginning to the end of a campaign.

That said, there are many factors that go into determining how much you want to spend, and in how much bang you’re going to get for your buck.

CPC vs CPM

One of the decisions you’re going to need to make when building your campaign is whether to pay based on the CPC (Cost per click) or the CPM (Cost per 1000 impressions).

If what you’re after is mainly spreading awareness of your brand, CPM will definitely help you accomplish this. Because Facebook knows they get paid regardless of whether people click on your ad, you will get a ton of impressions right away.

But if you ultimately want sales, leads or conversions, CPC may be a better choice for you. This way you’re only paying based on actual clicks to your Facebook page or website.

This subject is covered in much greater detail in our Facebook ads PPC training.

Daily Budget

Facebook lets (actually requires) you to choose the maximum amount you want to spend per day. The minimum daily budget allowed is $1 US.

You can of course decide this before you even create an ad, however it helps to know how much each click (if you’re doing CPC) is going to cost you before you decide.

To figure out the approximate cost you’ll pay per click, simply create an ad, enter all your targeting preferences, and right near the bottom you’ll see the estimated CPC.

Keep in mind this is the max you’ll pay…you may in fact end up paying much less.

How Facebook determines the Cost of Your Ad

Each time a Facebook user views a page that displays ads or sponsored stores, an auction takes place. The advertiser who wins that auction has their ad or story displayed on that page.

The reason I’m mentioning this here is that part of how Facebook determines when your ad is displayed is based on your bid (the maximum CPC or CPM you have selected).

The advertiser with the highest bid, all other things being equal, will ‘win’ that spot.

Remember that the bid amount you have selected is your maximum bid. If you can win an auction with a lower bid, you will only be charged for the lower amount.

Another important factor in how much you will end up paying is the CTR (click through rate) of your ad. It is commonly known that the higher your ad’s CTR, the lower your CPC.

[There is a third factor which comes into play in determining who wins an auction – the quality of your ad. More on this in another post].

Your Facebook Ad Should End Up Costing You Nothing!

The ultimate goal is to make sure your ROI (return on investment) is higher than your cost to advertise.

The sales, leads, and conversions you achieve through your Facebook advertising should be more than making up for the cost of advertising.

If you’re paying MORE for your ads than you’re bringing in THROUGH the ads, there is something wrong and you need to seriously reevaluate your campaign!

So, as you can see, it’s hard to give a straight forward answer to the question, how much does it cost to advertise on Facebook.

But I hope this has given you a bit of an idea of how to determine how much you want to spend to achieve the results you want.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

Here is the quote – take a deep breath, and let the wonder of it in.

‎“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

The moment I read this quote.  I printed it as big as I could on a sheet of paper (44pt landscape if you like detail!).   I then stuck it up on the bathroom mirror so that every single morning I could read it.  Why?

Because so often I find I am ruled by my fears.  So often I am distracted by my frustrations and so often my mind strays to my failures not my successes.

But what if today I looked away from these things and instead with great intent I focused all my attention on my hopes, my dreams, my potential and possibilities.  Once I had done that I took massive action to move in their direction.  Do you think there would be a difference.

I know without a molecule of doubt that what I am saying here applies to you!  It’s not that I have met you it is because I know if you are reading this you are human and I haven’t met a human for whom this isn’t truth.

Wherever you are reading this right know I want to wish you well, wish you joy, wish you hope, peace and love and that all your God inspired dreams will be fulfilled as you realize the power in what you believe

About the Author: Jonathan Booth works from his home office in Monmouth, Oregon.  He is formerly the CEO of Care for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family.  Jonathan is now the Regional Manager of LegalShield in Oregon and helps people start their own businesses, part time from home.  Jonathan is married to Karleen and they have children in Edmonton, Fort Wayne and London.

1. Clear Message and Clean Design
One of the first mistakes many would be Facebook marketers make is in creating a page for their business that looks just like an ordinary social page out there. The fact is your business page isn’t for socializing, it is for advertising. To facilitate that, you want the design to revolve solely around your business and your offer. You don’t want irrelevant posts on your wall, you don’t want irrelevant images in your photo album and you don’t want important information such as discounts, coupons and contact info buried.

2. Have a Call to Action
Forgetting to have a strong call to action is a very common mistake for those new to marketing. All the advertising in the world is useless if you don’t have a strong call to action. People don’t want to have to bother thinking for themselves on what to do next after they read an ad, they want you to tell them what to do. Use strong phrases like “Don’t Wait, Click Here for Instant Access,” or something along those lines. Tell visitors exactly what you want them to do.

3. Give Visitors an Incentive
The most successful Facebook fan pages are often the ones that have a huge coupon or some other type of offer front and center when visitors land on the page. In addition to telling people to act you have to give them a reason to act. Special offers, coupons,  discount codes, special memberships and more is a great way to entice visitors to take action. Additionally there are apps out there that allow you to get visitors to click the “like” button in order to take advantage of these offers as well as allowing you to capture other info about them which in turn allows you to more accurately target your demographic.

4. Lead Capturing
As briefly mentioned in the above paragraph you want to do everything you can to get your visitor’s information. Age, location, sex and related info is great for narrowing your demographic but capturing your visitor’s email address and other contact info is the real prize. Once you have this you can market to them over and over again. There are apps and software that can do this for you, allowing visitors to opt into your mailing list and more.

5. Good Use of Images
Pictures speak louder than words, especially on the Internet. Don’t have a huge block of text as the first thing a person sees when they land on your Facebook page, give them an attractive image in the little profile space on the left and another large, eye-catching image front and center. As mentioned previously this can be an image to advertise a coupon, special offer or something of that nature. Combining this image with your call to action is also a great idea since you want your call to action above the fold since many visitors won’t scroll down anyway.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.

Some parents might be thinking video games and exercise can’t be related.  Hear me out because I’m going tell you the truth based on experience.

I’m not a fan of kids sitting down on the couch for long periods of time playing video games but you can use it to your advantage for family fitness.  My family had the Intelevision console gaming system in the 1980s. I have also had the Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, Xbox and the Xbox 360.

Only one of those has the ability to get some fun fitness in and that’s the Xbox 360.  Even though I don’t own one, I’ve also played the Wii and that can provide some fun family exercise.

If you are unfamiliar with how video games can provide exercise and not rot your kids’ brains, then let me tell you about them.

The Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board is an accessory that goes with the main system.  You can get fit with games such as strength training exercises, yoga, juggling, skateboarding, snowball fight, obstacle course and even a log-leaping game.

You can choose from specialized workout routines that focus on all-around individual personal fitness goals or certain target areas.

There are also plenty of other Wii games that utilize the controller. You have to swing the controller back and forth to accomplish a task, whether it’s bowling, tennis or baseball.

Let me tell you something.  Every time I play the Wii I work up a pretty good sweat and kids do too.

The Xbox 360 Kinect takes it a step further.  You don’t have to hold any controllers for this.  The Kinect system sits on top of your TV and you control the game based on your motions.

You and the kids can stand in front of the TV and have instant fun playing games like Dance Central, Kinect Sports, Your Shape Fitness Evolved, and one of my favorites, Kinectimals, which allows kids to use their creative skills too.

Each of these games promotes exercise simply by the fact that you are required to move around and sometimes for a good period of time. You’ll all break a good sweat and have fun as a family at the same time.

I have personally played the Kinect and you can get a workout and a half just playing 15 minutes of one of these games.

I know some people who use this as their primary source of exercise and others who can’t get their kids to stop playing.

Of course, as with any video game, I say let kids play them in moderation and after they do their homework and other priorities.

You should be excited these types of games are coming out because it provides another means for getting your children fit.

Video games and kids exercise can coexist, so the next time your child asks for a video game system why don’t you mention the systems and games above and see what they think.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: My Family Exercise founder Jeff Wise has created a line of ebooks and a Kids Health Club membership site to help children and parents decrease stress and improve physical fitness in a fun way.  Jeff has authored over 200 articles around kids’ health and is the parent of two children.  For more information, visit his kids health and fitness blog and for daily advice follow Jeff on Twitter.

“I just was thinking,” she began very seriously, “that we have not taken a trip lately.”

We once went to Thailand for several weeks, which was wonderful. One of the delightful things of that trip was visiting the elephant ranch and ride elephants.

As we were in line to ride the elephants the person in charge took one look at me and said, “No, no.” He said something in some kind of language I could not understand and then proceeded to pair my wife up with another woman and insisted I ride the elephant alone. From what I got out of his gestures and tone of voice was he thought I was too heavy to ride an elephant. Being compared with an elephant and being on the losing side of the comparison, is not something I enjoyed experiencing.

I have been insulted quite a bit throughout my life, and this certainly was one of them. But, being the congenial gentleman that I am, I submitted to his evaluation and rode the elephant by myself. I did a lot of bouncing, deliberately, on my elephant ride. I hope that elephant remembers me.

We have had other trips and have enjoyed ourselves tremendously. But when she asked about the last trip we took I could not bring into focus our last trip.

Not world travelers, of course, but we do like to take little jaunts here and there just to get away from the rat race. To participate in the “rat race” I suppose you have to be a rat. It is good to get away from other rats and associate with rats you do not know.

Nothing really came of my wife’s observation. She just mentioned it, then the subject was dropped, and we went on to what we were doing.

Several days later I was about to take the trip of my life.

I had bought some ink cartridges for my printer and happened to buy the wrong kind. The way the world operates today is that you cannot make a mistake and then take the product back and exchange it for the right one. The only way I could get any satisfaction about this was to call the company and put in a request to have this ink exchanged for the right cartridge.

I got the number and called the company. That was the beginning of my trip around the world.

The first stage of this trip is punching in numbers. I am not sure what the purpose is for punching in numbers in order to get to somebody that can help you. What happened to the good old days where you actually talked to a person you could understand what they were saying?

For about fifteen minutes, I punched in number after number after number. I thought for a moment I was reading the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. I do not mind numbers when they add up. However, what I really do not like are arbitrary numbers that absolutely make no sense to me. Of course, many things do not make any sense to me.

Finally, after punching numbers until my fingers began to bleed, I got an actual human voice. Ah, the great satisfaction of actually encountering a living, breathing human being on the telephone. I took a moment to enjoy the moment. It was not to last long.

As I began listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, I became a little puzzled. I heard the voice, she came through loud and clear, but I had no idea what she was saying. I said quite a few times when the conversation warranted, “Huh.”

After a few minutes of this, I realized the person I was talking to was in the Philippines. How I got to the Philippines, I will never know. I am not saying that the young woman’s English was bad, just that my ears were not able to catch the nuances of her phrases.

Not getting any satisfaction from this young woman in the Philippines, she transferred me to someone in India. I had just got accustomed, or so I thought, to the Filipino accent and now I was hearing someone talk to me from India with a completely different accent.

I spent a few minutes in India and what we talked about I have no idea. I just wanted to exchange my ink cartridges for the correct ones. I am not sure what somebody in India has to do with my problem.

Not getting any satisfaction from the chap in India I was transferred to someone in Idaho. I wanted cartridges not potatoes.

After some quasi-delightful minutes in Idaho, I came to the excruciating conclusion that it would be worth my while, not to mention the cash involved, to just forget the whole thing and throw those cartridges away and buy new ones.

On my way to buy a new cartridge, I thought of a verse of Scripture.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”   -1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV

I am looking forward to that final trip where I will see Him face to face, no misunderstanding then.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship and an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals, including GUIDEPOSTS. “In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer,” Snyder’s first book, won the Reader’s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 35 books altogether. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores, Florida. Rev. Snyder can be reached at 352-687-4240 or jamessnyder2@att.net.

Your landing page is most likely the first impression a viewer has with your company, so make sure that you are capitalizing on that traffic. Once people land on your page, getting them to stay connected with you should be easy, natural, and fun.

Here are the four techniques to promote a successful campaign with an effective call to action.

1. Keep Your Landing Page Uncluttered and Easy to Navigate

It should be immediately obvious what someone should do on your landing page. You should have a professional look, but it should still match the fun atmosphere of Facebook. Think of your business website as “suit attire” and your Facebook page as “business casual.”

You still want the same look and feel as your business, but it should feel comfortable and easy to understand. By reducing the dissonance from Facebook’s personal pages to your business page, you will have a higher success rate of keeping them interested.

2. Make Your Call to Action Clear.

Specify exactly how you want the viewer to interact with your page.

Caution: Make sure that you are only asking your viewer to do one thing at a time.

3. Create a Reason for Clicking ‘Like’

Provide an incentive for viewers to select ‘like’ and to become part of your community.

Tim Ferriss, who recently published “The Four Hour Body,” creatively offers a fan-only chapter.

Think of what “Facebook exclusive” promotions you could offer to potential fans. Also think of announcements that you could submit to your Facebook fans first. What are the incentives that your ideal customer would appreciate?

4. Provide an Incentive for Engagement

Godiva does a nice job of offering a “Rewards” chocolate club that you can join for free from their Facebook landing page. YUM! Free chocolate is definitely a nice incentive! Godiva collects email addresses and complete contact information when viewers opt in to the Reward Club.

As you can see, what the most effective “Calls to Action” have in common is that they are simple to understand (one at a time), and they show the benefit of becoming part of the community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sheahan is the founder of The Facebook Ads Lab, a full-service ads agency specializing in Facebook PPC ads. The FBAdsLab provides ad campaign management, training, and mentor programs for marketers. The goal of the FBAdsLab is to help business owners learn all they need to know to be successful in advertising on Facebook; to take control of their traffic so they can stay ahead of their competition and be leaders in their field. Helping people understand Facebook marketing and delivering outstanding results are the most crucial aspects of the FBAdsLab mission.