Thoughts, rants and information about Gene Ilten
The Shepherd’s Story
By
Gene Ilten
December 2009
My name is Gedalya bin Menachem. I am of the tribe of Judah of the nation Israel. I am a shepherd as have been my fathers before me. I am old, now, but many have asked me to tell again the story of my youth. I was tending the flocks of my father.
It was a night like no other. Continue reading →
Sometimes success can be a double-edged sword. I got started in Internet Marketing around 6 years ago. I muddled through a couple things. Got involved in a MLM program. I never got much of anywhere. Then I bought a class on how to profit from Adsense. I followed the directions, put up a few websites. In 3 months I was up to $3,000 a month! Amazing. Then it went up to $10,000 a month. Fantistic! I was ready to quit my J.O.B. Got really cocky. Then the bottom fell out. As most of us know, the rest is history. Fortunatly my mentor at the time (He was 23, I was 49 at the time) told em to be sure I had different streams of income before I quit. Good thing I followed his advice. So that is the story of my brief IM success. Made over $100,000 in a little less than a year. Boy, I wish I had set up more sites! Continue reading →
This has not been an easy week. As you know from my “25 List” I have been an RN for 32 years. For 22 of those 32 I worked in Emergency Medicine. It is with pride I served those last 2 1/2 years (Of Emergency Services) as a Flight Nurse with Mountain Lifeflight of Susanville, Ca.
Mountain Life Flight was founded in the early 90’s as a fixed-wing air ambulance service. I joined them in 1995. I was honored to participate in placing their first EMS (Emergency Medical Services) helicopter into service in 1996. We were pioneers.There are not many rural based EMS Helicopters in the States. Due to increasing physical problems (your back starts to act up after years of pushing, pulling lifting and fighting with patients in the ER) I left MLF in 1997.
There’s a truth about those who serve in EMS. It never leaves. It’s a family you can’t get out of your blood. I also served as a Volunteer Firefighter. My heart broke when I saw the Towers collapse on 9/11 and heard the causalities of so many fellow firefighters. Your heart still races when you hear the sirens, or catch part of a emergency radio transmission. It’s been 12 years since I left MLF and I still find myself many times stepping outside to see them fly by whenever I hear the sound of a helicopter.
My heart broke again last Saturday. I had just arrived at work when one of the Correctional Officers told me, “Did you hear? Mountain Lifeflight crashed this morning.” I asked, “Fixed wing or helicopter?”
“Helicopter, Mountain Lifeflight 3.”
“How bad?” (hoping against hope)
“No survivors.”
To my sorrow, I later found out that a good friend of mine was the Flight Nurse and I knew the Flight Paramedic as well. My supervisor that day also knew them. We hugged, cried and had to get back to work. When I got home my wife, Vivian asked me, “How are you doing?” All I could say through my tears was, “It hurts, Viv, it just hurts.”
So this is to pay tribute to the Crew of Mountain Lifeflight 3:
Clint Reger, RN. Chief Flight Nurse, 39 years old. I have known Clint since he was an EMT with the ambulance in Susanville. He had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and in his relatively short career as an RN far surpassed anything I thought I knew about the subject. He was a consummate professional, and one of the most humble men I ever knew. He loved life and loved his family. Most of all he had a deep faith and love for his Savior, Jesus Christ. He leaves a wife and 2 young boys. He also leaves a loving family and countless friends.
Chris Ritz, Chief Flight Paramedic, 37 years old. I did not know Chris well, but he always treated me like he had known me for life. Chris had just started with the ambulance service when I left MLF. Chris was passionate about 1 person, his son. Chris taught CPR and was active as a Scout leader.
James Bradshaw, pilot, 37 years old. I did not know Jim, but from what was said at the memorial for the crew yesterday he was as much a man and professional as the rest of the crew.
These 3 men are true heroes. They lived their lives to the fullest and when called upon laid their lives down in the service of others. There can be no higher calling than that.But, there are other heroes: the families they leave behind. They are the ones who have to move on and try to put the pieces together.
So, what am I trying to say in these ramblings? Just this: God put us on this Earth for a purpose. We don’t know when our time will come. Seek Him for why you are here and pursue that with all you have. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes that whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. I think that’s what Clint, Chris, and Jim would tell us.
OK, so have you ever had problems with your computer? If so here is one way to deal with it:
Until next time…
Gene
What are Rich Schefren And Jay Abraham up to now? Possibly one of the most important ground breaking programs this century!
They have just launched ” They have spent over a million dollars developing this program and they are giving it away for free!
Now what about the program?
–Why learn from one guru when you can have 53 in your corner?
–When the doctor says you need a “second opinion”, you get it, right? So why wouldn’t you do the same for your business?
–Economic downturn spells big opportunity–if you know how to seize it
–Want to increase your profits by 1000% BEFORE the end of the year?
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FACTS ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
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sessions. All are sharing brilliant, ingenious, masterful and outright amazing ideas, concepts, strategies, recommendations and guidance never before available anywhere in any way or at any price
–Two of marketing’s top players just brought 53 of the business world’s finest expert minds together for a six-week long, brain trust experiment that’s unprecedented anywhere else in the business world.
–The League of Extraordinary Minds brings together power-house panels of experts all specializing in one major business building skill. In each session, these different panels will talk about the most important profitability issues, challenges and questions your business is facing and they provide the most actionable answers, ideas and solution you’ve gotten from anyone, anywhere, ever before.
–One panel consists of seven world famous marketers: Another has six celebrated mega-bestselling business authors. Another has internationally renowned legendary mastery in dealing with business competitors. Still, another is a legendary master icon in the field of persuasion and infamous prominent consulting-giants who charge $250,000 a day to share their prized perspectives.
–Yet, each expert has agreed to participate on a specialized panel interview that will run almost two full hours long. Every minute worth of uniquely original, highly innovative breakthrough approaches is packed with fresh new ideas for business owners, like you, to start using, right away.
–These experts included the top minds on consultative selling in the country. They include, probably, the foremost entrepreneurial expert on trends and consumer motivation stimulators that work best, too! They have the man, considered by the business press to be the GRAND, grand-master of sales psychology on the panel. They have the five top thought leaders on innovation, optimization and creative collaboration, all together on another panel.
–They have the most celebrated “online-selling” marketing authorities of all time on two separate panels. They have three of the top selling books in history. They have other unexpected, surprise guest, here, who has written 33 best selling business books. You all know and admire HIS powerful mind and ideas. But, I doubt if you ever had direct access to the man’s latest thinking — for nothing.
https://schefren.infusionsoft.com/go/loemo/Gene/
–Each expert that they’ll interview has the distinction of being THE absolute “top”” mind in their field. These are not lightweights. They earn seven, eight figures for what they know. They’re respected buy the biggest leading company, the world over.
–They each have either identified, uncovered, deciphered or invented more business breakthrough strategies, concepts, techniques or approaches than anyone else in their space.
–These are the people admire worldwide — having them help YOU devise breakthrough thinking and approaches for your business is an epic opportunity. That’s why Rich and Jay named their project, “The League of Extraordinary Minds”.
–Jay and Rich have purposely put this group of extraordinary business minds together and focused each expert’s content on ideas and advice that will quickly help any business out there that’s suffering from:
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–They’ve also promised to focus specific interview panels in this six week experiment on: these problems:
* Too common type product/service * No strong benefits to buyers * Massive competition * Mature business * Weakly performing start-up * Economy-caused drop in business * Lower response rates from “on and offline” advertising * Promotions not pulling well * Prospects not converting like you want them to * Margins eroding * Old way of doing business no longer works.
–Why not see if Jay and Rich’s League of Extraordinary Minds six week experiment interview Brain can be just the solution you’re after? Remember, it’s totally yours, gratis, for the entire six week experiment/try-out period.
–That means hundreds of thousands of people won’t get to hear any of those nine interviews, because they won’t get inside fast enough. .
The question you need to ask yourself is, Do I want to be left out?” If not I would suggest getting on the liks now
Go here now: https://schefren.infusionsoft.com/go/loemo/Gene/
You will be glad you did.
Gene
It was just pointed out to me by Andrew Vaughn that I have been lax in my posting. It’s nice to have friends like that who give you a good kick in the pants. I will try harder, Andrew.
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the recent departure of a well known Internet Marketer from the scene. He had to. It was either that or possibly to go to prison.
The short story: The FTC came down on him and he pled guilty to making false claims on products he was selling. Apparently there were trumped up testimonials and made up results. To his credit and integrity the person involved admitted it and pleaded guilty. I say to his credit because unlike some, he took responsibility and bore the consequences.
No good purpose can be served by flaming this man. He has already suffered enough in the public eye and is bearing the penalty for his actions. That is why I am not naming him; most people will know who it is. My purpose for mentioning this is the need for honesty.
We have all read sales copy with hype and filled with testimonial after testimonial. That is one reason I don’t write sales copy well. (Remember, “Please buy my book” is my type of sales copy.) I feel if I have to hype too much I am treading the balance of honesty. If you are offering a good product that has performed well for you, then you shouldn’t have to hype it up too much. I know, there have been studies that show that people respond to hype, but we need to be careful we don’t cross that line. Otherwise we may end up with the FTC knocking on our door.
Apparently the FTC is coming down hard on testimonials. They are requiring specifics and “results not typical” is no longer enough. You have to say something to the effect, “Results not typical, the typical user of this product gets this result…” If someone is blogging about a product and they received a “complimentary” copy, they have to disclose it. For further info look here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33177160/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
and http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/091005-132622
Of course, like any government agency, the FTC leaves a lot of vagueness. So to be real sure you might need to consult a legal expert. But the simple answer? Be honest. Don’t make claims you can’t back up. Don’t let your testimonials say more than, “I liked the product and Gene is an honest guy.” Or, “Gene delivered the product on time and stood behind it.” Build a relationship with your customers. Show them you won’t recommend anything that’s junk. As Alex Jeffreys says, provide value and you will not need hype.
I think testimonials like “I made $3,000,000 using Gene’s e book methods.” are going to be gone soon. Or you may see the following disclaimer: “Results not typical. The typical user of this book uses it in their outhouse to replace the Sears catalog.” (Yeah it’s old. Click here and read the article to see what I am talking about)
Till next time.
Well, it’s been a while since I have posted and this time it’s something fun…Well, at least I hope it’s fun…hmm I may regret this. Oh well…
My fellow Alex Jeffreys Student, Gary Simpson, has given us a challenge: Post 25 things that most people don’t know about you on your blog and “tag” at least 5 other people to do the same. This is a no brainer (do I have one?) for me as most people don’t know anything about me. So (for better or worse) here goes:
1. I am a devout Christian.
2. I am a wanna be geek. I mess (sometimes literally) with computers, have built them, blown motherboards, you name it. I mostly build through Dell now though.
3. I love model trains and trains (especially old ones) in general.
4. I am on the shy side (still wondering how I got interested in Internet Marketing). If I can ever afford to go to a seminar (Marketing With Alex 2 in Vegas?) you will most likely know me as the one hiding behind a pillar or under a table.
5. I have been married to the same woman for 31 years.
6. I write prose and have actually been published.
7. I work in a prison. (Note I said WORK not live in)
8. I am a Registered Nurse. Have been for 32 years
9. I live in Northern California.
10. One of then best comments about me was from a well known Internet Marketer (he was coaching me at the time) who said I would fit in well in the UK because I have a very dry sense of humor. (But keep it clean)
11. As in #10 I also love making puns.
12. I like woodworking, but don’t have much time for it right now.
13. I am a Volunteer Firefighter.
14. My favorite show is “Dirty Jobs” on Discovery channel.
15. This isn’t as easy as I thought it would be,
16. My dream Vacation is to take my wife to London to see “Phantom of the Opera.”
17. My favorite quote: “Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be!”
18. In light of #17, I tend to be an idealist and probably hopeless romantic. (My sanity may be in question too)
19. I would never make it as a copywriter. My best sales pitch would be, “Please buy my ebook.”
20. I am a closet “Trekkie” If I make it to Vegas and Star Trek, The Experience is open again, I will be there.
21. Don’t even ask how much I have spent on Internet MArketing related stuff and how much of it is sitting on my shelves or on my hard drive.
22. I published an Ebook about “How to Potty Train a Dog” Yes there is money in poop, but it cost more to advertise the book than it brought in.
23. My favorite comics are “Far Side” by Gary Larsen and “Calvin and Hobbs” by Dave Watterson.
24. My favorite drink is Dr. Pepper.
25. If I could buy any car it would be a ‘67 Camero SS fully restored.
26. If I could be gaurenteed success in anything I tried it would be to earn enough to live on 10% of my income and give the other 90% away.
There I even made up for #15. So now you probably know more about me than a lot of people. Maybe even me. Now either my blog will go up in readers or plunge into the abyss of Alexa.
Until next time…
I will list my 5 “tags” here:
1. Kin Lau
2. Norm Malone
3. Petra Weiss
4
5
Stay tuned to this post I will update it as they respond:
Gene.
Sometimes we need to take a time out. Alex goes into this in module one. (See Alex, I was listening) Today was one of those days. The way my schedule has worked out this month, I actually have 2 days a week off. I have had to pick up as much extra time at work as I can due to pay cuts. The past few months it has meant working an extra day a week, this month I work 16 hours on Saturday so I get Sunday and Monday off.
So, I have been looking forward to Mondays so I can get some uninterrupted time for the business. Today went fairly well, I spent about 7 hours working away on various projects. But a time comes when you hit a wall. I have felt guilty about taking time away from my business because eventually I hope it will produce enough to lower our debt and offset the overtime I have to work to make ends meet. That is the beauty of Internet Marketing, you can scale it to where you want it to go. So when I was coming up empty, I decided it was time to take a time out, otherwise all I was going to do was sit and check my email every 5 minutes. Alex suggests taking a walk, but I decided to veg out in front of the TV.
As Internet Marketers, or affiliate marketers, whatever you do you need to balance productivity with down time. Alex also reminds us that this is not a race. Although things are getting close financially for us, I also need to remember that I can only do so much and I am only capable of accomplishing so much. As long as I am giving my best effort, that should be all that matters.
Now after a few hours off, I am ready to go again. I don’t feel as discouraged, or that I am never going to make it. I am still a bit confused about traffic, but I will keep posting on blogs, and doing what I can.
So if you find yourself staring at your monitor, checking your emails every second, or just staring off into space, maybe it’s time to take a break. Solomon said, “Steady plodding brings posterity, hasty speculation brings poverty.” I guess I am one of the steady plodders. Maybe if Steve Snow has a virtual soda, I might join him on his boat. What do you do to take time out? Leave your comments.
Till the next time,
Gene
Thanks for the nice comments and thanks to Andrew Vaughan for insipring this post.
And yes, Melanie I did remember to check to see if it plays this time 
Until the next post,
Gene
Here is basically how I did my header graphic. I had one version that was too long for YouTube. After consulting with Iain Buchanan on the forum, who suggested cutting it in half, I revisited the video and decided to do it over again. I think this version is better.
Also I gave Michael Ottman a plug as well.
Hope this helps.
Gene
