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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Red Tails - One of the Best Movies Ever

I went to see Red Tails last night with my Aunt and cousins. It was one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. Check out the Red Tails Trailer below.


Thank you so much, George Lucas for fighting so hard to tell this story. It's always been an intriguing tale for me since my visit to Tuskegee University many years ago. I've always admired the Tuskegee Airmen for so many reasons. It had to be hard enough fighting the prejudices of Tuskegee, Alabama. But, to have to deal with the same madness from American soldiers, in Italy, including top ranks, had to be rough.

Anthony Hemingway did an amazing job as the director. Red Tails is his first feature film. I think he was able to create a loyal following with this high quality movie. The movie had something to keep the entire family intrigued. There was action, drama, love, and believe it or not, lots of humor. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I'm not usually into Wikipedia, but I recommend you check out the Anthony Hemingway Bio they have featured.

And, to answer the questions of many, many parents... YES, TAKE YOUR KIDS to see this movie. Although it is about "Black Airmen", it's a story of American history... period. There is no nudity, maybe two curse words, no sex, and the only violence is war. This story is important to our culture as a country. It shows how far we've come to learn how to fight together, as one... We The People!!!


The following is a post from imdb.com about the controversy behind getting Red Tails to the theaters:

"George Lucas began developing Red Tails around 1988 but was unable to secure funding from any major studio, as any he approached believed that producing a film featuring an all black cast would be unmarketable. As a result, Lucas ended up funding the project with his own money, investing $58 million into the production of the film, and a further $35 million towards marketing.

In preparation, George Lucas and his staff interviewed surviving Tuskegee Airmen and were given access to their original mission logbooks. 

A prequel and a sequel are planned. George Lucas wants Lee Daniels and Spike Lee to direct them, respectively.  

In an interview with The New York Times, George Lucas stated that the personalities of Easy and Lightning are based on Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, respectively."

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

3 Reasons Why Only a Dummy is Too Smart to Keep Learning


While surfing the web, I found the most profound saying online about learning: “Don't Stop Learning-You’re Not As Smart As You Think You Are”, which is a blog post by Adam Donyes and Brian Wang. This post is featured on their blog site “The Lid, A Collaboration for Change” where they begin with:

For the first 18 years of our lives, make that 22 if you go to college, we read and take tests. We learn stuff we like, and other material we hate, but we learn the material because we are told we need to in order to succeed. Then we complete college. No more tests, just deadlines and paychecks accompanied with television and movies. We figure we no longer need to read if no one or no test is holding us accountable, and for the vast majority of college grads we stop learning. We shouldn’t, we should be life long learners if we desire to have life long impact. So as we look at week 12 of ”What Do You Wish You Knew Then That You Know Now.” We look at, Don’t Stop Learning-You’re Not As Smart As You Think.”

Adam and Brian refer to a blog series written by Michael Hyatt entitled, “What Do You Wish You Knew Then That You Know Now”, which is very similar to their post. It talks about the struggle we all go through just trying to memorize what we can so we can graduate from high school. We do all of this learning, only to continue it when we get to college. We learn what the school administrators insist we will need to know to success in life. Then, after graduation, we are relieved to no longer be bombarded with textbooks and texts as we start our new careers. We just simply make the choice to stop learning. But, according to these blog authors, everyone who wants to have life long success must continue to be open to learning new things for the rest of their lives.

3 Reasons to Keep Learning Knew Things

Here are three reasons why Adam and Brian believe that you have to be a dummy to think you're too smart to continuously learn new things:
  1. Relevance
  • Jesus had such a major impact on civilization because he made it a point to study. He knew it well. This gave Him the ability to come up with parables that anyone and everyone could relate to. His parables were full of mind impacting examples, letting people know that He was wise about life.
  • We must continue to learn throughout the course of our entire lives. This helps us to stay relevant in a society that's continuously changing. Staying relevant means more people will engage with us, allowing us to have an impact on their lives and their cultures. Otherwise, we become irrelevant, meaning we are of no use to the society we live in.
  1. Stay Sharp
  • Continuously learning allows us to continuously grow. This continuous growth keeps us sharp and keen in many different areas. When we choose not to learn, we choose to become dull and boring. We no longer live up to our full potential. Romans 12:2 says: “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is , His good, pleasing , and perfect will.”
  • A sharp knife will always have more of a positive effect than a dull one. This is the same for humans. Sharper college students are more effective, believing they have the knowledge and power they need to conquer the world (like Pinky and the Brain). Then, when they get jobs and become bored with not learning knew things, they're motivation levels drop. That's because they were only sharp when they were in a learning environment. After leaving school, it's up to them to create their own.
  1. Guidance Through Life
When we have important, hard decisions that need to be made, it's our education that helps us make the right ones. We are educated in many ways, including learning from the mistakes of the past. Without learning about these mistakes, we are “doomed to repeat the past”, like those who choose not to learn about the past. We must allow God to guide us and teach us continually. He will guide us by teaching us what we need to know to walk in the path He has planned for us. “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance,”... Proverbs 1:5

Whether we choose to learn from our spiritual beliefs, our past mistakes, mistakes others made in their pasts, textbooks, teachers or whatever, we are giving ourselves a lifelong gift. Learning knew things, languages, technologies, etc... will keep us relevant in the world we live in. As adults, it's our responsibility to put ourselves in environments that continue to teach us. We must also be open to learning something new everyday, because only a dummy is too smart to keep learning.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Online Jobs - Article Writing, Article Spinning

I am looking for someone to spin articles I have written. I currently have about 40 articles that need to be spun ASAP. The gig pays $4 per article spin. Articles WILL be scanned by CopyScape to ensure that they are unique. Articles will also need to be uploaded to my blog and ezine account. This pays $1 per upload. This job starts immediately. Please review my blog for an idea of some of the articles I need you to spin for me: http://kieshajoseph.blogspot.com.

Qualifications:
  1. Must have article writing or spinning experience.
  2. Must have internet access.
  3. Must write English fluently.
  4. Must be willing to spin at least 10 articles per week.
  5. Must have an active PayPal account.
  6. Must be able to write SEO articles using provided keywords.
Payment Details:
  • Gig pays $4 per spun article + $1 for uploading to my blog + $1 for uploading to my ezine account. Total is $6 per article.
  • Payments will be made to your via PayPal. (No exceptions)
  • You will be paid twice per month, on the 1st and 15th of each month.
  • You will be paid as a 1099 independent contractor. I will need you social security number or tax ID number for 1099 purposes.
If you are interested, please follow these steps:
  • Be sure to put "Article Spinner Gig" in the email subject line. If not, it will be sent to spam folder and I will never see it.
  • Cut and paste three examples of your work.You can also provide links to them instead, if they are published online. (No attachments will be accepted).
  • Send links to two online references for your writings. IE, Articles that have been published online, original content blog posts, profile page on your writing gig website, etc... 
  • Send to: kieshajoseph at gmail dot com

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

What is SEO? What is Inbound Marketing?

What is SEO?

As I continue to market myself as an SEO Website Marketer, I get the same questions from small business owners all the time. What is SEO? This blog post is to help you get more of an understanding of the processes of SEO and Inbound Marketing and how they relate to your website or blog.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a method used to assist search engines in finding your site. If done correctly, it gives search engines what they need to rank your site higher than others in your niche. In other words, a specific keyword or phrase is entered into the search engine and your page appears on the first page, possibly the first line, of the search results. Making your site or blog SEO-friendly, ultimately brings more traffic to your site or blog.

What is niche inbound marketing?

  • Niche marketing is the process of locating a specific target audience that may be interested in your product or service, and creating a marketing strategy that supplies the needs of that audience.
  • Inbound marketing is the process of bringing you target audience to your site, rather than trying to generate sales through traditional outbound marketing methods, such as cold-calling, mass-mailing, etc...

Niche Inbound Marketing for Small Businesses

Here are three tips to help you create a successful inbound marketing strategy for your small business or entrepreneur owned website or blog:

1) Make sure your site is SEO-friendly!

  • Your URL, webpage titles and description, as well as the webpages themselves should be optimized for maximum SEO performance.
  • Use high-ranking keywords in your site. There are many online tools that can help you find the right keywords. A great free one is the Google Adwords Keyword Tool.
  • Remember to make your keywords flow easily. Search engines do not think highly of sites that just throw keywords around in ways that do not make sense in sentences.

2) Provide informative content related to your niche.

  • This is usually done through your company's blog. Blogs give you a place to provide content in a structured and organized manner, while allowing your site to remain as a sales tool. Because your blog and site link to each other, the more popular your blog becomes, the higher both your site and blog will rank in search engines.
  • Online visitors like to search for information related to what they are looking for. Providing information that can actually help them, even if you don't sell them anything, creates a level of trust in your company.
  • Once the level of trust is created, you will reap two main benefits:
    1. Your online visitors will return over and over to locate more important content that your blog has to offer.
    2. When these visitors are finally ready to buy, they will most likely buy from you, their trusted content provider that knows their niche.
  • Note: It is very important to make sure that your site and blog link back to each other in many different areas and ways. When your blog visitor is ready to place an order, you want the transition back to your website and shopping cart to be as easy as possible.

Optimize your site to keep visitors occupied.

The longer you can keep your online visitors on your site, the higher your chances of turning them into online sales. Here are just four quick tips that you can implement into your site or blog imediately, quickly and for free:
  1. Contact Us Forms – allow users to contact you directly with important questions. Answering one question could make your user feel confident enough to make a purchase.
  2. Comments – allow users to comment on blog posts and other comments, as well as leave positive reviews about your product or service.
  3. Surveys – provide surveys for your users that provide statistics on your marketing ideas. Give incentives for completing them, such as percentage off coupons, 2-for-1 deals or free shipping.
  4. Social Media – Social Media Marketing is the most popular and exciting inbound marketing tools around. Create social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc...) for your small business. Engage with your network members regularly. Be sure to place your badges all over your sites and blogs. Most online users participate in one or more of these networks.
SEO is a process that must be done right in order to rank high in search engine results. It may all sound a bit tedious, but it is the difference between your small business remaining a neighborhood conglomerate and an internationally recognized enterprise. 
 
The techniques I have provided here should be just the beginning of your Inbound Marketing Plan. Inbound marketing must be an ongoing process. You must be prepared to spend a reasonable, but very regular amount of time marketing your site. If you would like assistance, Contact Me. I will help you.

How to Contact Me

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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Can I still keep my house if I file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

A client of mine asked me to write this for them. They changed their mind after it was already written. I decided to share it myself as it may be of value to someone. If you like this article, I can ghostwrite articles and blog posts like these for you at reasonable, competitive prices. Just let me know. Contact Me.

If you're facing foreclosure and wondering, “Will I be able to keep my home in bankruptcy?”, there may be options for you. Filing for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can possibly delay your foreclosure for a few months. A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy filing may even assist in saving your home altogether.

Reaffirmation Agreement

In bankruptcy, a contract signed between the lender and the debtor.
  • Reaffirms the personal liability for the debt.
  • Must be entered into before the Discharge in Bankruptcy is filed.
  • Must be approved by the court.

Pros of Reaffirmation Agreement

  • Usually to lenders advantage because it keeps you binded to the debt.
  • You have 60 days after document is signed to revoke.

Loan Modification

  • Permanent change in your mortgage loan terms.
  • Allows for the reinstatement of the loan under the new terms.
  • New terms include a new mortgage you can now afford.

FDIC Sponsored Loan Modification Program

  • Helps borrowers who cannot make their payments due to insufficient income.
  • Provides options for borrowers who are up-to-date on their payments, but can't refinance because of a substantial decrease in the value of their home.
  • No fees for borrowers through this program.

Can I Keep My Home in Bankruptcy?

When you're asking yourself, “Can I keep my home in bankruptcy?”, keep a few things in mind.

Order of Relief

When you file for bankruptcy, an Order for Relief is automatically issued by the bankruptcy court.
  • Includes an “automatic stay” ordering all creditors to immediately stop all collection actions and activities.
  • Any scheduled foreclosure sales are legally postponed during the pending phase of the bankruptcy.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Mortgage

1st Mortgages & Chapter 13
  • Arrearage is paid off over the length of the new repayment plan.
  • As long as repayment plan followed, foreclosure is avoided.
2nd and 3rd Mortgages & Chapter 13
  • Court can “strip off” 2nd and 3rd mortgages.
  • 2nd and 3rd mortgages can be re-categorized as unsecured debt, making them last priority.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Mortgage

  • Time to Save – During the pending phase, you can live in your home free for up to several months. This gives you time to save money to relocate, or possibly save your home.
  • Get Debt Canceled – Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cancels all debt secured by you home. This includes your 1st mortgage, 2nd mortgages and home equity loans.
* For more information on bankruptcy, talk to an expert.

My Very First Personal Blog

I am so active online that I blog daily. I have blogs of my own that I use for business purposes:
I participate in blogs related to my passions:
I ghostwrite SEO friendly articles and blogs for all types of companies. I currently write about 30-50 articles for blog posts per week.

This morning, I realized that with all that blogging, I don't have one single blog dedicated to personal side of me. So, I took all the business stuff I had on here and moved it elsewhere. This blog is now my personal blog.

I'm not sure if I'll ever have a niche for the blog. All I know is that there are a lot of things I would like to say sometimes, that I don't want to say on Facebook or Twitter. I know for sure that I plan to share some good information about things I have to research for my ghostwriting.

If you know me, you probably call me a geek. If you don't, that's great. I get a chance to make my own impression on you. To start, I am not just a geek. I'm an Urban Geek. One of my current online goals is to own the largest small business owned search engine in the world. Soon, you too will be doing your searching on GhettoSearch.

Well, that's enough introduction. Time for me to start blogging!