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Most people watched the Superbowl out of shear entertainment, while taking it quite seriously at the same time. It gives their fans a sense of comradary and pride. There's nothing like a football game to unite people. Most of them know the rules inside and out and can make the calls quicker than the announcer. This leaves me asking, if so many people can understand this game, why don't they know God's rule book of plays in their own lives?

If more people would put that amount of time and effort that it takes to memorize all the players' statistics, why then can't they learn the statistics that God has given us for our own good? It's very clear that when we learn the proper plays in life as we go up against the opposing team, we will be more than just conquerors, we will be victorious! Everyone loves to have a victory in their life but do little about it.

As the game started out, the Sea Hawks won the kick off and got their first 3 points. I'm not saying that the Sea Hawks are the enemy, they aren't, but in God's world, we all have a very real enemy called Satan. He opposses us at every play. Once he gets his foot in the door, or his first 3 points, it's almost impossible from keeping him from coming all the way in...unless you know what your game plan will be to keep that from happening. Fortuneatly for the Steelers, they did know what to do.

The thing about the Steelers is, not one player acted any better than anyone else. In fact, they all pulled their weight and then some. They pulled together. When pride enters into our lives, the enemy will use that to beat us down. So through team effort, the Steelers came back with a 7 point touchdown and the game just proceeded from there to the Steelers advantage. The Sea Hawks could not over take them after that. But they tried valiantly, just as Satan will do to us. He will use stronger stradegies and hit harder.

In our Christian lives, we need to know without a doubt how we are going to oppose our enemy from taking the game over. Remember; just keep focused!

First of all, as we are new to this walk this is where we need to get all the practice we can get, we are still rookies. It's these rookies that Satan is waiting to recruit back to his team. If you don't stay strong in your game, you will be traded back to him before you know what happened. As any football player knows, his skills and knowledge comes from alot of time and effort put into it, until they know it inside out. It's no different for Christians who want to be at the top of their game either. Since God's Word can be overwhelming at first, we need to gather together with other Christians regularly to learn and to grow. That is why God gives us our coaches. They spur us on, they make us understand the plays to our advantage. The end result is to realize that all of our training is to honor God. The Steelers wanted to make their city of Pittsburgh proud of them also.

If you are serious about being a team player for God, you have to recognize the authority of Christ as your leader. You have to learn to humble yourself and serve Him by serving others. You can no longer be in the center spot light. But just as Big Ben gets most of the attention, he could not have done that one important play without the help of Heinz Ward. We need Christ to partner with us also in order to make our winning touchdowns! We can't do this game without the help of our Christian team players. God gives us pastors, preachers, teachers to talk with us and give us the rules to His game. If the football players didn't listen to their coaches, they would not be playing pro footabll. We must learn to respect the authority of those He puts in our lives. Our time of study and meditation takes alot of practice in order to get it just right. It doesn't all happen over night, or even in one lifetime. But the most important thing to remember is to keep doing what you're doing. It takes dilegence, patience, time, practice, and endurance. It's not a question of ever giving up. Yes, it's a hard road, but it's worth it in the end. Just ask any of the Steelers. They kept their eyes on the prize and now can say the acheived it! And I can't help but believe that they give all the credit to the Lord for their victory. God honors this.

"For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith. Who is it that is victorious over the world but he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact)?" 1 Jn.5:4-5 (Amplified)

Life is not all about football, but it does give us a sense of comradery and it also gives us a new insight in which to observe this game. Will you ever watch it the same way now knowing that your own life is based on the same principles?Is your life worth the time and effort of learning the stradegy plays between life and death as much as knowing the rules of a football game? Get determined to make your own touchdowns!

To me, I think football is alot more complicated than learning the True Word of God. At least I know if I make the right moves and do the plays His way, then I am sure to be victorious! I no longer just take it in a passive "whatever" kind of attitude. I am now determined to win!

This reminds me of how passionate people are about their home teams, but where is their passion for Christ? Is it lukewarm? I pray that it isn't because this is what Jesus says about those who are:

"I know your (record of) works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!" Rev. 3:15-16 (Amplified)

What will your scoreboard say when your game is over? Will Christ spit you out or will He embrace you in His loving arms?

To be a winner in God's team is to know you are not a loser!

posted by sdsd99498  # 5:09 PM 0 comments

Choosing a domain name can be daunting. Research the subject (after all, you're the type of marketer who researches, right?) and you'll be hit with a landslide of opinions, most contradictory. There is, however, two points that everyone agrees on:

Pick your domain before you launch your business.

This is especially true if your market niche has lots of competition. Research your domain before you commit to a business plan.

Don't wait too long if you like a domain.

While you're researching, you'll likely come across a couple of domains that attract you. You might be tempted to wait, since you haven't finalized or refined your business plan. Don't. A handful of domains isn't going to cost you much at an affordable registrar like GoDaddy, and once they're gone, they're gone. Chances are you can even resell the rejects at cost, if not a profit. Or "develop" them with unique content and point them to your main site for extra traffic.

Now that we have the easy part of the way, let's wade into murkier waters.

Q. Which TLD (top-level domain) is best?

A. If you're a juggernaut in the business world with a giant ad budget, the answer is dot-com (.com). If you're a smalltime business struggling for search engine positioning, the answer is still dot-com.

People do disagree on the value of a dot-com TLD. Some assert that dot-coms have no particular value in the search engines, which may be true.

However, the fact is, if you haven't yet seared your brand on the collective brow of the planet, dot-com makes you easier to remember. If you eschew dot-coms, then in some deep dark place inside, people will remember you as "that hard-to-remember URL with the ending that isn't dot-com." What's worse, if you pick an otherwise memorable domain ending in dot-net, -us, or (God forbid) -tv, some of your traffic will end up at that competitor who snagged the dot-com version of your domain. Okay, that's settled. Now for the controversial stuff. Which is best: the "keyword" domain, or the "creative-genius, snappy and brandable" domain?

Keyword Name vs. Creative-Genius Brandable Name

A Keyword Name is the boring, workhorse kind of domain. You seem them everywhere. They bristle with hyphens: "best-anchovy-pizza-in-siberia.com." Or "super-labrador-accessories-and-golfballs.biz." On the face of it, they're hard to brand. They're hard to fit on business cards. They're really hard to explain over the phone to Aunt Martha.

On the other hand, a Creative-Genius Brandable Name is the sexy kind of domain. The successes are sparkling: Yahoo!, Google, Amazon.com. You can shout these URLs across the room and the other guy will probably get it right. But note: the dot-com road is littered with hip, snappy business who failed to brand their product successfully, or get listed high in the search engines. Now their URLs all point to the same page: "server not found "

The debate rages on, but the first question you must ask yourself is:

How will people find YOU?

It was recently reported that "direct navigation" web traffic has started to outnumber search engine traffic. In other words, more people visit sites by typing in the URL directly than they do by combing search engines for results. So more gurus are recommending brandable' domains.

But think about this. As a small business owner, how will people find you? Word of mouth? Billboards on I-95? "Corporate sponsorships" on hockey arenas? Probably not: they'll find you through search engines. They'll type in "cheap purple widgets," and as a smart marketer, you will offer them a website optimized for the keywords "cheap purple widgets."

Still, this doesn't imply you should automatically pick a keyword domain. There are pros and cons to both types.

BRANDABLE: ADVANTAGES

The brandable domain is great for business cards. In fact, it's nearly compulsory if you're planning on offline marketing. In other words, if you're printing up stationary at Kinkos, you want a brandable domain name.

If you're also a marketing genius, this is a fit challenge for your talents. Finding a memorable, apt domain to brand your business is something no software-driven suggestion tool can do.

Most "hybrid" domains -- ones that are really crosses between keywords and brandable names -- are long gone. But if you create a unique idea for your brand, you can probably snag the dot-com name for yourself. Now all you have to do is burn that brand onto the world's collective forehead. If you do, you'll benefit from type-in traffic. That means that if someone hears about you, they can probably find you just buy typing in your domain.

BRANDABLE: DISADVANTAGES

The brandable name requires solid marketing skill, research and luck. Your name should be so catchy, it's almost viral. It should also convey your actual business or you'll have to work hard (often meaning, spend money) to associate the two. Your name should be "tested" on coworkers, cousins and dishwasher repairmen to ensure it has no undesirable connotations. Finally, your name should be available as a domain, and not suffer from competitors with similar domains. Sometimes, pulling all this off is difficult.

KEYWORD: ADVANTAGES

By keyword names, we're not talking about the glorious generic keywords the one-keyword kings such as drugs.com or business.com. No, we're talking keyword names you can afford.

This is where you buy the domain name www.cheap-purple-widgets.com in hopes of getting a top search ranking for cheap purple widgets.

Advantages are many. First, more keyword names are available. (They're ugly, and many people feel an aversion to hyphens.) Also, they do help you place higher in the search engines. It's true that search engines only give you a little credit for having a keyword in your domain, but "a little credit" counts.

Second, keyword domains leave no doubt in the searcher's mind about what you're selling. If you decided to call your widget business "Ableeza," a searcher might not get at a glance what it is you're selling, even if your rank is high.

Finally, if you can get people to link to you, those links will be valuable. No matter how Webmaster Joe describes you, the link part will always say, "cheap-purple-widgets." This is a powerful search engine strategy for moving higher.

KEYWORD: DISADVANTAGES

You won't get type-in traffic for a keyword name. You can't really explain it across a phone. It won't look pretty on a business card, and it's almost impossible to pair up with a cute logo. But if search engine traffic is going to drive your business, the keyword name is worth a long, hard look.

WRAP-UP

Regardless of which type you choose, don't play guessing games. If you go with a keyword name, use a search tool (like http://conversion.7search.com/scripts/advertisertools/keywordsuggestion.aspx to determine what keyword phrases people are searching on.

If you choose a brandable name instead, test it out on a variety of real people first. Pay attention to their reactions. Reserve your domain early, since brandable domains go fast unless they're very unique.

In the long run, both types of domains can work for you, especially if offline marketing is an option and you have a knack for branding. Overall, though, the keyword domain is probably the easiest path to success for the small-business owner.

posted by sdsd99498  # 1:43 PM 0 comments