“The RoseBouquet”

I’ve got boxes and greeting cards strewn all over my living room last week and this - well, until tomorrow night. Then I hope to get it all cleaned up and put away.

Who am I kidding? I still have to get around to making my own big batch of Christmas cards and gifts. All this has been in preparation for a Craft Party tomorrow night, as a Halloween alternative.

A few weeks ago, Arnold Stobbe, the director and I were talking at our Western Tract Mission offices. I mentioned that I had not had the heart to throw out 4-6 boxes of old greeting cards in my move, and now I was trying to use up a bunch for my Christmas gifts and mailing. He pulled a shopping bag full of cards up from behind his desk, and asked what to do about those. Oh my! I suggested a craft party to get others in on using them up. Arnold loved the idea. “Go for it!” he said. “You can even use the large meeting room downstairs.”

So I’ve been making invitations and handing out whenever I get a chance, and I’ve managed to sort through three generations and several families’ old greeting cards. I pulled out all those that had notes that might help me with family history, and that were personal in nature, and now I have four boxes of cards ready to offer up. Hundreds!

I also asked the printing company where we get our WTM printing done for cuttings. I got 3 boxes full! I’m well stocked up.

Basically, I’ll show them how I make pretty gift boxes with the cards, and a few other quick things, like booklet covers, bookmarks, and so forth, (maybe even a laced up basket). Then I’ll circulate around the room and help those who need help, or who want to chat.

I’ve also made a batch of Prachakuchen (begger’s cookies) and need to finish making a chocolate berry flan. I’ve no idea how many will actually show up, but I’ll have some food to offer.

I’ve already promised one subscriber a photo story of this project next week, so you’ll get to attend vicariously. You might be able to throw a craft party at your house too.

I’m continuing on all fronts of my business ventures, but the area that is most interesting right now is my progress with my new SBI site software. Last week, as I said, I was working on the brainstorming stage. This week I’m up to what they call Day 3.

Here I narrow down a lot of those fantastic keywords, and try to come up with a blueprint of how I’ll lay out my site. I’ve usually made a plan for my sites, but more loosely, letting it grow as I got more ideas and had more time. This time I’m led by the video guide to make a very clear outline of what the site will contain Spending time to be careful here, means that the site will almost write itself once I get that stage.

I tell you though, the thoroughness of these steps, and the access to info that would cost hundreds of dollars if I were to try to buy into those databases on my own - it is flabbergasting. I am beginning to see that I was right to call this the creme de la Creme of site building methods. (By the way, you may watch the videos without paying here; Demo-videos)

It is also a challenge to not get carried away with the profit factor and lose sight of the fact that I really want a site that HELPS people and that shows them a godly perspective on how to use God’s pharmacy all around us to heal us of the afflictions in our bodies. So it pays to go slow and do it right. Believe me, you’ll see me rave about this some more. It will be a strong income stream by next year!

I nearly forgot to tell you. SiteSell which offers SiteBuildIt! is having a Halloween sale which is over at midnight tomorrow night, October 31. For just $100 extra you can have two SBI sites, domain names, and hosting, and SEO submissions, and WordTracker ALL included!

Now, trying to build two sites at once is rather tricky. But if you have a family member or friend who wants one at the same time, you could go together and split the cost up the middle, giving you both a discount on the full price of $299 US.

If you are ready, hurry, time’s running out… After midnight October 31, it will be tooooooooooooooooooo late!

$100 Halloween Special

I’m astonished that some of my earliest efforts at building a site have become so vague in my memory. My sub-conscience must be trying to forget them. Do you think? But I’m in a mood to review my past efforts and see how far I’ve come.

My very first efforts were with a program called Composer that came with my Netscape browser. It was limited in what I could do with it, but it got me started and convinced me that I could learn to build a site. My first few pages were like a posted resume to introduce myself and my goals to the world. I tried out all kinds of possibilities as I discovered places online where I could download and insert pretty left borders, pulsating red hearts, and many pretty fonts. It was like discovering a new craft skill.

Then I learned that HyperMart was offering free accounts that were the most like paid domain hosting. I went for that, and because I was also subscribing to all kinds of ezines, and learning tips from other web designers, I built a more complicated site called A Journal of God’s Provision. It had a mint green textured background, with very dark green text, and it offered articles about my growing knowledge of doing business online (in my case on a shoestring so short I couldn’t tie it around my finger). I published my first ezine, a weekly Digest of my daily online journal (way before blogs came into being). I had a section where I offered my translation services from German Gothic script to English, and another one that gave peeks into my novel that I hoped to publish.

I loved building web sites, so whenever I came across another site that offered free web space, I would sign up and start another one. There was one on Crosswinds that I called Friendship Garden and it featured my poetry, another one on Netscape was called Bouquet of Enterprises, and that’s where I plastered all my affiliate banners until I learned that was a big mistake.

I tried another poetry site on HostingHelps to show off entries in a contest I had run in Jounal-Digest and have discovered it is still up, although I’m not allowed to login any more. (http://www.hostinghelps.com/RoseBouquet/index.html).

But then in 2000 I won a contest and won a year’s free hosting, including the registration of a domain name. It was worth over $400! I was thrilled. I got to figure out the administrative cPanel, and worked hard to design a professional site about my novel. I pictured it with many different areas like a huge sprawling park.

I had that hosting package for just about six months when the ABC Hosting company went under. Fortunately, they allowed me to get access to my domain registration myself, and to find another hosting service, where I had to pay, but I got professional treatment. The Lord seemed to come up with the money to signup for another year, every year just before my birthday. I believe it was something like $179/year.

This site, Ruthes-SecretRoses.com had some general pages around the main index page, and then sub-folder areas like one for my novel’s sales pages, the Author’s Arbour, where I put pages that are more about myself as an author and a person. My photo stories go in that area, and pages about being a writer. The Sharing Library area has a stash of articles I’ve written and also a large number of book reviews.

The Journal-Digest morphed into the RoseBouquet and it has always had it’s own section on my site, with back issues and articles and profiles of my friends (which I compared to roses). I did a total renovation of that area last year, and now the blog has it’s own sub-domain and the RoseBouquet section is where I put my articles about friendship, one of the themes of my novel.

My affiliate pages were in the Resources section until I got another domain site for my Bouquet of Enterprises. Now I feature my business ideas and plans on that site, and the Resources section on Ruthes-SecretRoses.com has become quite neglected. Currently I’m re-vamping it as a new section for gift ideas and other books I publish.

When I found a much cheaper hosting service for a friend, I decided to put my sites there, and also built a genealogy site. I discovered that domain registration at GoDaddy was under $10/year, and the hosting at Revolution was also under $10/year. It was getting much more affordable to have a circus of sites up.

I started building sites for friends, and have really enjoyed that.

About a year and a half ago, I decided that I could manage a re-seller package. With 5 GB of hosting space, I can put up as many sites as I like, or rent out space, as long as I pay the basic monthly fee. That’s when I took on creating of some sites for missions and ministries which could not afford to hire someone else to do all that.

It has all happened fairly gradually, but my journals are still full of God’s provision and guidance. I am still learning all the time, but I know enough to consider myself a professional and to charge for my services now.

Here are the main lessons I’ve learned;

A free site is like a sandbox - a great place to learn basic skills

To look professional you need a domain name, and good hosting service

Some free hosts may hijack your web pages

It pays to shop around for domain registration and hosting services - they are not all equal

A web site is not built with bricks or one-ton rocks - you CAN re-do and improve it - re-work it when necessary.

There is a lot of room for creativity, but some things are consistent for a professional and technically smart site - learn them.

I’ve shared this review in hopes it helps you when you consider taking on site-building. But you will be happy to know that you don’t have to have a seven or eight year history zig-zagging through this learning maze. SiteBuildIt! will have your web business up and running in just a few months. If you invest the time and bring your own motivation and creativity, you cannot help but succeed within a year. Or less!

Do you need more proof? Right here, Proof!

As I’ve said I try to do most of my domestic chores on Saturdays. Slowly I’m getting more of the yard work done , and also tidying up inside. This past Saturday, a friend from WTM who is a part-time farmer, part-time business man, brought over his rotortiller in the trunk of his car, and went through my garden for me. I had been sort of wishing someone would offer to do this. I can’t recall that I prayed very hard about it. So it was a nice surprise.

While we were pulling wilted squash vines from his rotor’s blades in the back alley, a man from the Granada family restaurant came over. He’d been standing outside their kitchen doors for a smoke. He said that it was nice to see some “decent” people living in this place for a change.

I ignored the implication that we might be a couple, but thanked the man, and mentioned that my neighbours on both sides had been glad to see me move in too.

It gave me a good feeling to know that other neighbors have noticed the change in ownership at this address. This includes the staff at the restaurant - I had no idea they were watching me so closely.

After Lynn left, I took my spade and dragged what was left of a bag of peat moss around to the front and scattering the clods into my flower bed, took time to spade up the bed in the front of the porch and along the sidewalk on the one side. I left the other side for next Saturday.

Inside I’ve been re-organizing my bedroom cabinets and also my office desk drawers. The top of my desks still has to-be-filed boxes on them, but I’m making progress. When I’ve got things more neatly arranged, I think I’ll start taking photos for my annual Christmas story in my card.

I’ve also been waiting and waiting for the inspector to come assess the repair projects still needed on this house, but which the RRAP plan of the government might cover. Last week I learned that they are three months behind, then got another call, and the woman said I should hear from the inspector soon. That has got my hopes up that it could still happen before winter really arrives with a vengeance.

This is something I do pray about daily for it could involve a new roof, new furnace, new water heater, plumbing fixes, outer doors, maybe windows, and a new back fence and gate. If you’d like to join me in prayer - I’d be so honoured!

By the way, my face has nearly lost all those vivid colours, and my knee is okay except for kneeling on it. My nose may have a hairline fracture, but is okay as long as I don’t manipulate it. , and I should have my new lens soon. Perhaps today yet. A big thank you to all who wrote to express sympathy for that minor crisis.

Business-wise I’m continuing with my full schedule. And then squeezing in a bit more of this and that.

I’ve made it through Day 2’s Brainstorming step in SiteBuildIt! (SBI). I now know that my site concept will be about aloe vera plants and natural herbal remedies that God has placed all around us for our health.

I was thrilled to discover as I used the Google keywords analyser that there is so much money in those keywords! I have already been using AdSense on all my sites, but they’ve only been bringing in pennies per keyword, whereas the words I’ll be using on this site, will be bringing in dollars! Yes, each click!

For sure I want to follow the video action guide closely and do all the steps just right. (I even backtrack if I think I haven’t fully grasped one instruction). I’m hoping I can apply a lot of what I’m learning to the other sites I work on the usual way.

I’m also planning and preparing for a Craft Party as a Halloween alternative for next week Wednesday evening. I was wondering how to dispose of all the boxes of greeting cards that I had not been able to throw out when I moved. Our Director and I were talking at WTM the other week, and when I suggested a craft party to let others in on some of my ideas for ‘using up’ my cards, he enthusiastically offered that I could use the basement meeting room at the office. So I’ve made up some invitations using old Christmas cards, and am handing them out to anyone I think might agree to come.

I’ve already made up some small gift boxes as samples, and am trying to whip up a few other ideas. Basically I’ll show them how to do these things, and then circle around the room helping my guests make whatever they want and as many as they want. They get to take them home afterwards. So if they get a batch of Christmas gifts done, or gift boxes, they’ll be well ahead of others.

Me too! At least I hope I’ll be ahead!

(Yes, I hope to take photos…)

Yes! If you will accept a free PowerMall from PMC-Ministries and use it for your normal online shopping, you get rebates, and they get a small percentage for their church and projects to help their poor in Tanzania. Let Ginny explain further PMC-Ministries Mall Discover more about their needs.

I was looking at the Lord’s Prayer in my devotional time. It is considered a perfect prototype for how we should pray. It openly asks God for daily bread, a symbol over all time for food. We all need to eat on a daily basis. Some need to eat less than they are, but a bit of food each day keeps us alive. Jesus seems to be indicating here that we ought to ask for even this daily food in our prayers to God.

We often think it is up to us to provide for the basic standard of living in our country, and if we want anything fantastic over and above that, then - yes, we ought to ask God for that miraculous addition. That is not thinking like God.

I suppose the reason people resist asking God for their daily and most common felt needs and wants is because it implies a dependency on Him. They really don’t want to be so beholden to Him for everything.

Have you ever made a list of your true needs vs. your desires? What do you need to survive and what would be nice to have, but is not crucial to your well-being?

I’m about to do this for myself. Maybe you’d like to do your lists at the same time. If so, sit down, we’ll work on this together.

Let’s consider our Needs first. We’ve just had our first one suggested to us; daily food. Not all the treats and junk food most North Americans eat, but just basic food groups, some fruit and vegetables, and bread and water will keep us alive.

As winter draws nearer I am well aware that we need a home, and some basic ways of heating it. (It is possible here in Canada to freeze to death inside a house).

For similar reasons we need warm clothing. This reminds me that it is okay to pray for a parka and good boots here. In other parts of the world they may only need enough cloth to cover themselves for decency’s sake.

For our emotional health we need at least one or two family and friends to love and encourage us. Don’t you agree? Let’s put family and friends on our Needs list.

The Bible says that he who doesn’t provide for his family is an infidel, so if we are in a position of needing to bring in an income for these basics, it should certainly be necessary to have a job, or means of income. So let’s add job/income to that list.

Ah, one need is for our spiritual health! We need to know the gospel, and be taught in the Bible, so in my heart I’m convinced a Bible and a church to attend is vital too.

Can you think of anything else? Let’s look over our list.

Needs
~~~~~~
daily food
home (with heat in some places)
warm clothing
job/income
Bible/church

I’m sure as individuals we could add more items to that list. That is a bare bones list. If I am to refine my list and add another one with things I’d like to have, but don’t have to have, it might look like this;

Believe me, I could spend more time and add more to these lists, but I’m mainly trying to set a good example, so you can prepare your own lists, and take them to the Lord. From personal experience I can say that you will have some lovely surprises! The important thing is to know whom we really should ask for these things

If you like you can share your lists with me; I might learn from them.

Have you ever had a streak of good things happen and then suddenly something bad happens? Life just seems to grind to a halt, doesn’t it? Well, that’s my spot right now. Lots of positive and encouraging things have been happening to me, to give me a cozy loved feeling.

In fact, last week Thursday a pen pal and her brother from Alberta showed up and sort of kidnapped me to take me shopping and shower me with gifts. (Just wait until I can do that for others!) Another friend brought over some potatoes from his farm on Friday, and I bought an SBI site. I made major progress on my unpacking, this time all my sewing stuff, on Saturday. Sunday was good too. Someone slipped me some money in church. Things were just coming along tickity-boo.

But yesterday morning when I called the government RRAP program to see how much longer I would have to wait for the inspector who is to okay some renovation projects around here that they will pay for - I learned they are backlogged for three months!

When I left for my 3 times a week exercise/walk to the Western Tract Mission office to have lunch with the staff, who are also my friends, I was all excited because I’d had a call about Elsie’s stereo and these people were going to meet me there. I’d only gone less than ten minutes into that 30 minute walk when SPLAT! I found myself on my face on the sidewalk. My runner must have caught an up-raised crack in the cement, and before I knew I was falling I was connected with the hard cement!

I managed to roll over to a sitting position and whimpered aloud, “Oh Lord Jesus, come help me! Help me!” My left knee was feeling really bruised and raw, so I hugged it. My glasses were bent out of shape, but I managed to look at them and put them back on. Not broken. My nose felt scrounched into my face.

In moments a strong young man showed up and asked how I was. I realized that the worst was probably the shock, but if I continued to walk to WTM, by the time I got there or wanted to head home, my knee might be too swollen. So I just asked him to help me get to my feet, and then I went home. On the way I felt better already and decided that I could take the car and still keep my appointment. I grabbed a small pair of pliers to bend the left arm of my glasses with Joe’s help, if I couldn’t do it. Took a look into a mirror and saw that I had a bit of blood in my left eyebrow and my nose was getting a thick bridge, but otherwise I was whole. The worst damage was the scratches on my left lens of my glasses. I washed them, and still they seemed dirty. The cement had done a number on the left one.

I showed that couple the stereo, and received a mid-month support check from Helen, (which had extra in it!) so I headed out to do my banking and then went to an optician whom I’ve seen in the past, who is able to order in my special prescription lens and get it inserted in a local lab, so I will only have to be without my glasses for about 10-20 minutes next week.

Today I’m counting my blessings again, and realize that it could have been much worse. The one lens alone cost me $237. If my glasses had been irrepairably broken, it would have cost me over $500! I might have had broken bones too. Now I’m just going to have a colourful face for about a week or two. I’m able to carry on and feel blessed and watched over.

However, I am seriously considering asking the Lord each time I set out to send me an angel as a walking companion. One who can grab me quick before I go down! Have you ever tried that? Does it work?

What’s that? You’re worried about me and need to see my face?

Oh, all right. I can be that humble…

last night’s coloration - and improved this morning.

Yes! On Friday I bought my first SiteBuildIt! (SBI). That’s something I’ve been wanting for years. Well, you are likely to hear more about this adventure as I progress. For now I will say that you start by watching some training videos that give you the big picture and then break down the process into steps. The first major one is brainstorming with certain online keyword tools.

They urge you to take your time and do each step thoroughly before moving on to the next one, and I like to work that way as it is, so no problem. I already have had an idea of what my site concept should be, but I still wanted to go through all these steps to make sure it is the wisest choice. I did the keyword brainstorming yesterday for that site concept, and was tickled to discover that if I go that way, and use a lot of the related keywords it brought up, I will make a handsome AdSense income besides anything else I will add. Yes! Just as I’ve been reading at the forums.

However, they suggest doing brainstorming for at least three ideas before you settle on one for this first site. So it may get better yet.

Naturally, I’m trying to keep all my other commitments, so the only spots I’ve found in my schedule to work on this SBI site for now are on Saturday evenings and for an hour on Monday mornings, and another hour on Friday mornings. But hey, most of my projects are jogging along at that kind of pace, so not to worry. I will take my time going through all the steps, and I think by the end of the year it will be a very productive and healthy income-producing site. [BIGGRIN]!

Do you want one too? BuildIt.sitesell.com/provision.html is where you go.

Incidentally, with the Canadian dollar now valued higher than the American dollar, and with the extra money gifts that have come in recently I’ve ordered a batch of my own novel so I can sell them here locally at a decent price for a change. Watch for more progress in my self-promoting author role.