“The RoseBouquet”

Have you been cringing or turning away from SiteBuildIt! (SBI) because you are not a do-it-yourselfer? You don’t want another learning curve, and you would just as soon focus on doing the part of your business you know best, and hire this part out? Well, guess what - SBI now has a Services Dept that will Do-it-FOR-you!

DIFM (do-it-for-me) gives you….

1) the unmatched track record of SBI! success

2) to skip the learning curve and focus on business

3) a Specialist who thinks more like a business partner than a Webmaster. The focus is on building the business!

Find out more here; Services - SiteSell

P.S. I’ll be training my students/interns to DIY, but once I have hired some VAs, we’ll offer to serve DIFM people too!

[To commemorate my seven years of ezine publishing, I thought I’d bring forward the very first article I wrote in my premier issue of JournalDigest. I doubt there are many left who remember it. If you do, let me know, okay?]

Most of us don’t presume to speak for God, but it wouldn’t hurt to consider His viewpoints. Keeping in mind what He has said about His own thoughts and attitudes will go a long way into discerning what He thinks about us and our actions.

Money is like gravel to God. It’s common material stuff, but humans have assigned value for trade. What God really cares about is people!

In my pondering and reading on this matter I’ve made a short list of five priorities God has for us. He will see to them before He makes us rich. Or, God will use any riches we have already to accomplish His goals.

1. God hates pride and self-conceit. He allows us to come to an end of ourselves and become yes - even financially helpless, so that we will repent and turn to Him to humbly ask for His help. Then we must learn to trust and obey His words. It is with the gentle, gracious and self-giving people God really accomplishes great deeds.

2. Character-building means a lot to God. A lot of traits can only be learned by in hard times. Do you want to be patient, grateful, forgiving, and spiritually enduring, alert and discerning or wise? Guess what - they’re learned from opposite experiences! Like not having the money you need to carry out dreams right away.

3. On the other hand, we may be off on a wrong track, and God MAY be deliberately blocking all our efforts until we come to our senses and turn around. (I can vouch for this one too!)

4. From Bible stories, like Joseph, the 11th son of Jacob, we learn that God allows us to go down in hard times to train us for future leadership positions. Now, just thinking about this I could go off to write several other articles to develop this idea in more depth.

5. Lastly, it COULD be the fault of someone else, practically and spiritually-speaking that you are poor. Oh-oh, this might be a can of worms!

But think and reason carefully about it. What people have had power and influence over you? Might it be someone you haven’t even noticed or thought about? (Now, let’s not get angry and vengeful). Could it be you (or your parents or grandparents) offended someone years ago, and that one person is still influencing others against you?-

How would God want you to clear THAT mess up?

What if we became cooperative with God on all five points? If we, like King Solomon, asked for wisdom to do our duties well in our area of influence, I believe God would bless us with riches and honors just as Solomon experienced.

How Solomon changed after he became rich is another study altogether!

For myself I usually just make energy bars (basically granola), which I merely press into a pan, chill, and cut. I also bake my high fibre super-duper deluxe muffins about every three weeks and they are a staple of my breakfasts. I cut them in half, and top each half with peanut butter, date puree and a slice of cheese. I also bake rye bread, because I like it for cucumber and raw veggie sandwiches. But these days I’m cramming in some conventional baking of sweets. It is sort of fun, but I also feel a bit guilty as I sample my baking, ’cause I know how much sugar and margarine went into them. After Friday night there will hopefully be no more temptation in my house.

Our Western Tract Mission is having our third annual spring Music and Dessert Night this Friday evening as a fundraiser and a way to mark our anniversary. We used to do a soup and pie supper for a few years, but that was so labour intensive that some ladies had to take off time from work to get all the big buckets of soup and noodles cooked ahead of time. We tried to nab every volunteer we could to bake all the pies needed as well. We usually had a good turnout but the women got weary of the time investment.

So we switched to a musical concert followed by a smorg of desserts, mostly squares and such. This is not so much work and brings in even more donations to the mission in the free-will offering. We all like this fundraiser idea better, but still some of women have to put in some time in advance to make some pans and sheets of squares and treats.

In my sister’s cookbooks (now mine) I found a recipe for a big batch of cookie mix. There are about 8 different recipes of things to make from that basic mix. I’ve done two batches now of sesame wafers. These melt in my mouth!

I did try another squares recipe with the mix, and it turned out quite well, with candied marchino cherries/fruit, and coconut, but I made the mistake of opening an old sealed (!) bag of nuts, and tossing in a handful at the end. Moments later I decided to sniff them. Ugh! Rancid. I baked them but that taste did not go away. Cancel taking those!

So I want to try another squares recipe today, and probably tomorrow, and Thursday too. I have found some back up recipes, and if I can snatch enough minutes over my lunch and supper hours I should have enough to bring a good load of desserts for Friday night.

We are having the Derksen family from Rosthern perform the musical program. They have six children all singing and playing various instruments. You can see a photo here; Derksen Family Of course, you are welcome to come!

Last Wednesday it looked like my major mission supporter had failed me, but Thursday morning they sent a check for both March and April. Praise God! (I think friends were praying for me!)

Then Thursday evening I drove out to the country home of new friends, Art and Rosella Willock. He is the new director of Expanding Youth Ministries International, and I’ve taken their website on as a paying client. (http://eymi.net) I’ve got their old site transferred to my hosting service, and now need to develop it. We needed to talk about some things, which would work best if I could show Art on his computer.

He is a fast talker and a prolific writer too, so we’ve hit it off quite well. He’s already given me one old computer and a couple of printers for my business, but Thursday night he also gave me an older laptop that he has not used much, except for two trips. It comes complete with a fancy carrying case with all kinds of extra pockets. In return I will help him get his articles published online and paying him some income. Since we’re both very busy we’ll fit this in gradually over a long term.

Before I left he had me drive up to their on-farm gas tank and he filled up my car with gasoline! Isn’t that terrific?

Very few of my friends really understand what I’m going through with starting up a business, but this couple were sympathetic and prayed with me. I tell you, I came away greatly encouraged.

So now the laptop saga. I took it to the office on Friday and tried to install my favourite operating system over the old Windows 98. (Remember, I’m a Linux fan). It didn’t work. I got a message saying that the cpu was too old for that kernel. I tried another and another, and each time got this message. Hmm….! Well, I took it home planning to try some other systems on the weekend.

I tried some more on Saturday evening. Even FreeBSD balked. So I tried the Debian netinstall disk. That needed some info from me, but then it was off and running, only it goes online to fetch files so I had to disconnect my desktop and let the line go to the laptop. When I got a message that it was going to take another 5 - 6 hours, I went to bed.

Sunday morning I discovered that it was 95% done, and then stalled at the bootloader. I gave it some answers, but when it was done, I couldn’t get into the system. In the evening I did more online research and learned that there are some wonderful systems out there for the older computer. (Linux comes in over 400 flavours!) So I picked a few and started downloading. Fortunately I have high-speed here at home as well as at the office, so this is not a problem, but most of these systems take hours to download, then I have to burn them to a CD as iso images. One for each system. This generally takes only minutes.

I now have three or four options which I hope to start trying out today yet. With patience and perseverance I expect to get a good office laptop out of this. In its case it is too heavy to carry like a purse when walking, but I’ll drive it over. It should mean that I can work at either location with ease.

Yesterday I took the morning off for a prayer retreat, and reviewed all aspects of my business plan with the Lord, with an open mind. In the end I saw that it really is a good idea. It will succeed. I was reminded how last year the finding a new home in the city looked like such a huge problem, and the delays were frustrating, but by holding on from March 19 to June 1, I was a home-owner. By the end of July I had finished cleaning up Dad’s house. Now, in a few weeks I expect to have all my quotes in and sent to the RRAP inspector. Then this house will see some major repairs - at government expense!

Although I could willingly step back and just work at home and squeeze more and more clients and websites into my life here, I realize that in the long run, I still do need to teach others what I know, and that God will bring it to pass. He seems to like me living on the edge of fresh challenges. Always learning and growing. To prove I believe He will bring in the right students, I’m going to do all I can from my end.

I’ve rearranged my schedule a bit to get a better grip on the most important stuff, (like I’m clearing three mornings a week to work on the SBI site. That will pay the office rent soon!) but I am confident that the Lord will provide those first four students or interns. Once they are caught up in the course I have planned, their word of mouth is going to get others lining up for when the next course starts.

Life is good when you know you are on the right track. But there’s always a faith factor, isn’t there?

Yesterday I discovered a catchall default email was plugged with over 4400 bounced emails! Yikkes. It took a while to delete them all. In the midst of a slough full of bounced emails from an address I haven’t used in many months (meaning someone has hijacked it to use for spam), I found a bunch of bounced emails from my RoseBouquet subscribers to the Ezine edition. Whoa! What happened?

I copied down a number of them to discover any pattern, and it seems the most common error message was; “temporarily deferred due to user complaints.”

And that means?

I realize not everyone checks for emails regularly, so their inboxes can get very full. They may also have set spam filters, and forgotten to whitelist my RoseBouquet address, so since it has links in it and may use some words on their no-no list these friends just don’t see my RoseBouquet any more.

I’m going to delete today those addresses that have shown up the most often. If that is yours, or if a friend of yours complains that my RoseBouquet is not coming any more, tell them to check their filters, and see about re-subscribing, or -

Another option is to see if you don’t already have an RSS reader on your computer (if not, install such a program), and then insert in your list of sites you want to read this link; http://ruthes-secretroses.com/RoseBouquet.xml You will of course, need to develop the habit of checking the RSS reader regularly, but then what you will see instead of the email, is titles and short blurbs for each section showing up - you can click on them, and go to the blog to read the full piece.

The reason RSS is getting so popular is that it bypasses this whole messy matter of filters and missed emails. When I get caught up on my email/ezines, I want to switch over to RSS too.

(A Division of Bouquet of Enterprises)

Solo web Business Incubation/Training

You are invited to take a four-month intensive training course in my Azaleas office. I insist on a small class of only four students at a time so that you can get detailed individual attention and training. The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the first course term going from May to the end of August, 2008. (All going well the next term will start in September).

You Will Learn…
Your mornings will consist of lessons in basic virtual office assistant skills and some practical assignments working for some of my non-profit, or mission and ministry clients.

Your afternoons will be focused on helping you brainstorm, plan and start your web business in an incubator setting, with over-the-shoulder guidance and encouragement. By the end of the four month term, your business is quite likely to already be bringing you an income. (Assuming you don’t go off on too many tangents and don’t complete on schedule).

I have finished some sites with only one evening a week to spend on it, and been done in three months, so if you are working at it five half days a week, it should be thriving in four months!

You will learn all the basic skills necessary to run your web business from your computer at home. However, if you discover you cannot manage some aspects, you will learn to make use of others who are quite capable as virtual assistants. In fact, if you are willing, you can easily take on clients for your own Virtual Office Assistant business on the side.

Unique Training!
No one else is offering quite this kind of training. It is very unique! You can take some university or community college courses to help you learn all about computers, or all about running a business downtown. But who will train you to run your complete business from your computer at home? Never mind helping you set it up so that once it is established you only need to give an hour or two a day to keep up with the email contacts from visitors to your site, or handling sales and recording transactions - so that you have time for your family - or, starting another business on a different topic.

Ready to apply? APPLICATION FORM

Specific Online Skills
You will learn to use these for your own business, or offer to do them as a Virtual Assistant to other business owners.;

* in depth research online - finding exactly what you need to know

* brainstorming and planning your own web business and web site. (SBI or d-i-y, or both)

* setting up the site domain registration and hosting service

* creating web page templates

* creating graphics and web content for a site

* proof-reading and editing web content, business documents and articless/books

* promoting a site with listing submissions, link exchanges, press releases and articles

* setting up contact and subscribe forms

* setting up and editing, publishing blogs and ezines

* how to track your STATs and change methods when necessary

* setting up bookkeeping and online banking

* creating office stationery, business cards, and filing systems

* using email ethically to do business with the public and website visitors

* how to compile and create books and e-books

* the steps to self-publishing and promoting books for sale through a website

* research and discern the difference between a worthy online business and a scam

* installing Open Source operating systems and software on a computer

* some basic computer repairs and trouble-shooting

Whether you have an idea for a business, or just hope to find a paying job, this course is likely to be a turning point in your life. If you would like to learn ALL aspects of running your own business and to do it the most frugal and cost-effective ways, you’ll get that from this course.

In 1999 I went online, determined to learn how to publish my book. I could not afford training, so I disciplined myself to sit in front of the computer 6 to 8 then to 10 and 12 hours a day, seeking out information and learning by doing and trying things out. I’ve inherited a strong resourceful streak from my Dad, and can usually find or make a way, even when everyone else thinks there is none.

My ideal student would be someone who is also eager to learn, and willing to follow instructions, and able to read and think well in English. If words flow easily for you and you are able to express yourself plainly and tactfully, you will find this work very fulfilling. If you are an idealist with alturistic desires to help others we will hit it off very well. I’d love to see maturity and strong Christian ethics in my students, but can be flexible and accepting. (Rude students who try to dominate and hijack the class will not be tolerated.

Ready to apply? APPLICATION FORM

Review of Basic Facts on this Course:

What?
A four-month course with an internship, incubator aspect for a web business of your own

Who?
Taught by Ruth Marlene Friesen - to just four students in a class.

Where?
401 33rd Street West Ste 210, Saskatoon, SK. S7L 0V5

When?
May 1, to August 29, 2008 for first term. (2nd Term to start September 2 - December 24).

How much?
Just $5 per hour. Or $2,730 + taxes for the full-term, based on number of days in this period. or $700 + taxes payable monthly. (An SBI site with SiteSell is optional but recommended. We’ll watch for specials).

How to apply?
Click APPLICATION FORM to begin the interview process.

Notes: Because this is local to Saskatoon, if you live outside of this city you should contact me for an application form and interview before you make plans to move to Saskatoon.

My hand is healed up, though I think two small scars will remain.

Perhaps today I should talk about the weather. We’ve had a cool, slow spring for about a month now, so the snow drifts have disappeared, but there is less danger of flooding in basements, for which many are grateful. I see that this week we are going to hover around 0 Celsius, (freezing point), but next week things are to pick up and our temperature will creep higher, like to 6 C.

In other parts of Canada, like the greater Vancouver area, I understand they have temperatures in the two-digits above 0 already, and the flowers are blooming, and so forth. No doubt if you live closer to the equator, you only notice whether it is raining or not. Or if the air feels more hot and humid than yesterday. It’s those of us here in the Canadian prairies who really know how to appreciate spring. We’ve borne through 4 to 5 months of winter, and so every little sign of spring is noticed and welcomed here. Some folks count the summer birds as they arrive back from the south.

When I lived on a farm as a young girl I used to go into the pasture to hunt for crocuses as my sign that spring was finally, fully here. (That reminds me of a poem of mine I should share with you today; I’ll put it in the Ruthe’s Roses section).

Naturally, once spring is really here there is more yard work to do again. So I’m pondering how to adjust my schedule to sneak in some outdoor chores. I can’t count on Dad to do them for me this year. Let’s see, my list looks like this;

clean and turn over the rain barrels
vacuum and wash the car
rake the lawn
dig up the garden to bury the compost (unless someone will come with their rotortiller to do it)
sow the early stuff like radishes and spinach, lettuce, etc.

By that time we’ll have inched our way into summer and there will be even more to do! I just don’t know yet whether Snowflake will join me outside, or stay an indoor cat. Some say that’s best. So far she’s too timid to do more than stand just outside the door and sniff the air with trembling and tense body. I have a feeling she’ll get over that though!

I’ve got the web pages up and a press release out to describe my courses. I’m still looking for more places to post it, but am quickly reaching the point where all I can do is place it all in the Lord’s hands, and see what He will bring to pass.

My first student of earlier, wants more private tutoring sessions. Another new friend has indicated interest for a short one-week course. So I think this is going to come together. However, I am asking for God’s help in bringing together the four trainees/interns that I need for May 1st if this plan is to work as planned. I don’t think I can keep the office if I don’t have committed students by then.

Mind you, I enjoy working alone at home and could return to my old schedule and push hard for success on my own sites…. Especially my SBI site. It holds such promise, if only I can put in some serious hours on it.

It it will be interesting to see what God brings to pass in this new month, April.

At a meeting on Friday evening I meet two poets, and got to thinking of my own poetry. It’s a great way to express what’s going on in our hearts, isn’t it? Do you write poetry? Did you know you could publish it on a website of your own?

Perhaps you’ve had your look at SiteBuildIt! (I’ve referred to it often enough, right?) But you weigh your own busy schedule and recognize that there would be a learning curve in doing that, and you simply can’t see yourself fitting that in. Maybe you already have a successful offline business running, and you agree that a website would sure be an advantage, but you’d rather pay someone else to do it for you.

Well, I’ve got good news for you! Ken Evoy, the founder/owner of SiteSell and all those products has announced that now they are offering a new service. They will be your webmaster and build your site for you if you subscribe to this service.

Many small-business people lump “Web sites” in with telephone, business cards and signage. But more and more offline businesses of all kinds are realizing that a Web site should be much more than “just another signpost” for your real-world, brick-and-mortar enterprise. Your Web site must be a powerful business-driver. And it must do that before your competitor’s does.

Let’s get you a Web site that works now.

You have worked hard to grow your own offline business. Now you need a Web site, one that takes your business to a whole new level. Building a site is easy, but building a high-traffic site requires special online business-building expertise that your local Webmaster doesn’t have.

In many cases, local businesses have paid $10-$20,000+ to local webmasters. Sooner or later, these business people start to look for a Return On Investment (”ROI”). And sites without visitors have no business-building ROI. What if instead, you could have a website that builds your business, for under $2000? One where everything is done for you? Do yourself a favour and check it out; http://services.sitesell.com/provision.html

Lord, do show me a crocus, please,
We desperately need a sign of spring.
Five months the snow’s been to our knees;
The land is rested, now let it sing.

Send showers of blessing to refresh,
I need a spiritual sign of spring.
My hopes and confidence are in a mess,
Bruised, in hurt tears to You I cling.

You’ve said season shall follow season,
So where’s a sign of Your promised spring?
I know You always have a good reason,
Perfect timing too, when YOU do anything.

I suppose as long as I can believe that,
My faith in You is my sure sign of spring.
You and a friend gave me a comforting pat;
Soon, like a bell, my life will clearly ring.

(c)1996 - Ruth Marlene Friesen

[Note: this is one poem out of my chapbook, Heart 2 Heart, which was originally published as a limited gift edition. If you check out http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com/R/Heart2Heart.shtml you can see how you might get a copy of it today].