Seriously! I can run  forever on this sort of thing:

“Your Dad’s work ethic is unmatched. I don’t know how that man functions on so little sleep. I’m excited about the future with him. Big things are going to happen.” Ryan B., North Olmsted, Ohio 44070

This was received last month during monthly billing. It came from a client who came on board two years after our initial consultation. I followed up often but not to the point of being  a pain in the a##. We became friends and then he became a client of The Ultimate Internet Image of Lakewood, Ohio.

And do you know what?

Ryan is right because I will never stop working for him!

My Relationship Formula and the Key to Suucess

Connection → Consultation → Follow-up → Acquaintanceship → Follow-up → Trust → Business Relationship → Friendship →Client for Life

By the time we get to Friendship, I can honestly say I am genuinely fond of my clients and care about their future. I am fully invested in their families’ futures, the future of their businesses, and the future and well-being of every employee attached to that business.

As I have said in the past, my relationship with my clients (i.e., marketing clients, tutoring, mentoring, coaching, education consulting, test prep, etc) becomes a scared trust!

I am forever grateful for the opportunity to serve and for clients who take the time to write things like the email above!

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image, LLC – Inbound Marketing Consulting and Social Media Management
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004 (office)

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Just a note about the previous post: The Intangibles: Payment Comes in Many Forms

There were several points made earlier today. The one point I left alone, unsaid, is the one dealing with costs.

I feel I must at least touch on the subject, based on a couple of questions that have been raised via social media.

So, here goes!

My first economics class was Economics 101.

The very first lesson, on the first day of class, was entitled:

Rule Number One: There is No Free Lunch!

Rule Number Two: Refer to Rule Number One!

To that end, and referring to clients who do not pay fees in the conventional sense?

Refer to Rule Number One.

Then, refer to Rule Number Two.

There is always a cost!

Significantly, the ultimate cost for someone willing, and able, to pay the going rate up front and in full is usually far less than the cost incurred over time by the individual receiving an initial break in price.

Once again, there is always a cost…it may be paid using a different form of exchange…but there is always a cost and it is always paid.

I felt that needed to be cleared up. I hope it is for those of you who expressed concern or, at the very least, asked for a clarification.

Feel free to comment or contact, anytime!

John Zajaros

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Change – Old Friends – The Old/New You

I had an interesting conversation with an old friend the other day.

However, before I talk about the conversation, I think a bit of an explanation, based on an observation, is in order.

The thing about old friends is, they knew you…before…way back when.

“Way back when!”

Before everything!

And then, very often, during everything else.

They knew you “way back when!”

When you were someone else.

When you weren’t the person you’ve, hopefully, grown into.

Grown up and into.

They knew the person before the person.

The person you had to grown into…just to get here…to where you are now…hopefully!

There’s the key word:

hope

hopeless

Hopeless

Hopelessness

hopelessness

hopeless

hope

Hope

Hopeful

Hopefully

HOPE

Unfortunately, most of our old friends will never see us as anything other than that old friend…the person who no longer resides at your address.

In your body.

Under your skin.

You know the one I mean?

The person who died…so you could live…hopefully!

Your true self!

Does anyone really know their true Self?

It takes a lot of searching to come to terms with the True Self.

Without getting all Eastern on you…

…I believe that if we are to succeed in life…

…I mean truly succeed…

…we have to come to terms with…

…come face-to-face with…

…our True Self!

And own him or her!

 …as the kids say, anyway.

It has been said that “You can’t change the spots on a leopard.”

At least that’s what everyone says.

You know everyone, don’t you?

Sure, we all do!

Do we?

People resist change.

That is a certainty!

Is it?

Yup!

Most, anyway.

People resist change with every fiber of their being.

Both in the singular…and collectively.

Religions, political parties, unions, administrators; they have all made it a way of being, the defining characteristic(s) of their organization or organizations.

Nuns and even many priests left their respective orders enmass after Vatican II!

Politicians have been decimated at the polls for flip-flopping once too often on a critical issue.

In spite of all that, people do change…and often.

All we have to do is watch the current presidential campaign, and particularly the Republican debates, to get a sense of just how crucial our ability to change is; and, how adept we have become at it.

When it comes to the mechanisms of change…and the justification for change…we have become inventive in a way that would make Thomas A. Edison proud.

Thank goodness!

We have to change….

While it’s more comfortable to believe that people…things…circumstances…everything…remain the same…constant.

Can you imagine a life of complete and utter certainty?

Sameness?

Permanence?

Forever?

I hope not…it sounds like death to me!

That brings me to the topic of today’s post. That conversation I had with an old friend.

Phew! Bet you thought I’d forgotten all about it, didn’t you?

You see, my old friend knows just how hard things have been since 1998….almost 14 years ago.

He knew me before.

He knows how it started.

He knows how sick I was.

He knows how hard it was to find a doctor who hadn’t written me off.

He knows how impossible my family’s situation became.

He knows just what we lost.

He has no idea what we gained.

He was too close to the loss.

The Pain.

The Depression.

The Addiction.

The almost utter defeat!

Thank God for those 2 words:

almost

&

utter

You see, I was addicted to paid medication. An addict!

In spite of our enlightened, outward attitude with respect to addiction, and particularly a medically supervised addiction, we are still quite Victorian just beneath the skin.

Maybe some things won’t be, can’t be, changed?

The debate will, undoubtedly, resurface here and from time to time.

Be that as it may, it is quite impossible not to develop an addiction given the illness, the amount of time, and the number of surgeries it required…just to survive.

I was, some say always will be, an addict.

As a consequence of chronic pain, chronic depression, and crushing despair, the way my friend looks at me has been forever tainted.

Imagine that?

A double whammy!

Two stigmas neatly wrapped into a single package, a single self:

Me!

An addiction: To drugs

A mental illness: Depression

The funny thing about people…and the way they see you?

Very often, once someone has seen you at your worst, it is often impossible for them to get rid of that picture and see you for all you overcame…all you are now.

Instead of being able to look at all you’ve endured, all you’ve overcome, that stigma persists. Perhaps that sort of thing is hardwired.

Who knows?

So, imagine my friend’s response the other day when I told him I had taken on a client and had done so gratis…sans fee…on the cheap…for free.

Well, he looked at me as if I had just lost my last screw. He knew I had several loose, had to have. After all, I started my own business rather than find a safe job in academia or as a trainer somewhere.

Now I was in business for myself and taking on clients and forgetting to ask for the order and a check.

I could have said:

Think about it for just one moment, Bill. Think about the place I have to be at, with respect to my business and my family obligations, just to be able to consider taking someone on for less than a full fee.

I could have said:

I am thinking 2, 3, 4 years down the road. I know this kid will make it and, when he does, who do you think is going to be there?

I could have said:

I am getting paid in many ways. The intangible rewards will far outdistance any perceived losses. The set up fee and monthly maintenance fees will be recouped many times over…and within the next 12-18 months.

I could have said:

Bill, you should know me better by now. You should know that I have already thought all of your concerns through, many times over…and this is still a Win/Win!

Instead, I said:

Bill, I appreciate your concern, and your friendship, but let’s keep business and personal separate and distinct. I understand how you feel, I felt the same way, until I considered the intangibles. Bill, I have my reasons and, I am certain that when the time comes, you will see as I do, that this made good, long term business sense.

Bill looked at me, smiled, and shook his head. Then, he mumbled something about the “Feel, Felt, Saw” close I had just walked him through, smiled again, and patted me on the back. Bill was no doubt wondering, perhaps one last time, if I had lost all my screws or if one or two were still rattling around up in my head, somewhere.

It’s somehow sad that another man, a new client who’s known me for less than 2 years, aware of what I’ve recently overcome and seeing it as an advantage, was able to look beyond all Bill lived through. The former has placed his new business, and by extension his and his employees’ families’ welfare, in my hands.

Sadly, a man who has known me for years, knows first hand the battles I’ve fought and won…the war I won…was unable to get beyond the stigmas associated with a protracted illness.

Perhaps we haven’t changed that much after all?

I am still an optimist.

I am still hopeful.

How could it be otherwise after all I have been able to overcome…after all my family has overcome with me.

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

John Zajaros
johnzajaros@gmail.com (personal email address)
440-821-7018 (cell)

NOTE: Connie has a new garden. A new home. We have replanted ourselves and Connie no longer needs to feel sad. All summer and through the fall, Connie has decorated our new home with baskets of flowers. Life has returned to The Zajaros Household.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Success is About Helping the Other Person Get There! 

A new client wrote:

Jack-ok-you’re stuck with me. LET’S DO THIS!!!!

I kind of look at this not just as an Internet thing but you are almost a life/business coach as well.

Your experiences as a business owner are invaluable.

I’m Extremely excited to get this moving.

You da man!!

I wrote back:

No! You da man!

I’m glad to have you as a client, a mentee, and a friend! This will be fun for both of us!

Let’s meet tomorrow or Saturday. I’m proud of you (name here). I know it was a tough decision….

This email exchange made everything worth it:

• The sacrifices
• The late nights with no sleep
• The hours invested in developing relationships via social media
• Watching StomperNet videos until I couldn’t watch another
• Reading book upon ebook
• Immersing myself in articles, blog posts, and ecourses
• Overcoming the self-doubt we all face. Yup! We all have it…it’s how we work through it that defines us
• And all the hard work….

Once again, I am the luckiest man alive. Not only because of my business successes but because I have the support of an amazing family and the privilege to work with exactly who I choose to work with…and when! Can anyone think of a better way to spend your working life?

And to think I almost lost my life to illness!

Have a wonderful life. Because it is indeed a wonderful life!

John Zajaros

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Happy Holidays from My Family to Yours: Treasure the Moments – They are Gone in a Instant!

There are moments in everyone’s life, particularly when raising children, moments that last a lifetime. Whether it is a moment like this or the moment Marc Warnke refers to with his son, Jaken, climbing a rock in his wonderful book ONO: Options not Obligations or myriad others parents carry with them through life, the moments remain treasures, the gems that keep us going…all of us!

This was one of those moments, a blink and it was gone, and yet here it is, my daughter’s Facebook profile picture. The magic I felt so long ago and feel to this day is magic shared. The profound affect and impact the moment had on me was shared by 4 that day…a jewel throughout our collective lives!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa!

Celebrate life in each and every moment, because it is the moments taken collectively that define us and remain our legacy, as evidenced by a profile picture taken 17 years ago, a moment that remained in a 6 year old’s heart all these years!

John

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Pay it Forward this Holiday Season: Help a Family in Need Today!

Every year for years for years we would get the name of a family in peril, a family who sought help from the system just a bit too late…and the system had nothing for them.

We always sought out families who contacted United Way or the Salvation Army but were unable to be helped because they were too late and the cupboards were bare, so we would step in.

And then we became one of those families, at risk of homelessness, and worse. It was terrible!

The empathy and compassion I feel is real and you can experience it too, it will rip your heart out and reward you all in the same moment!

It is not too late to do the right thing this holiday season, to Pay it Forward, to help a family struggling, with nowhere else to turn!

ACT TODAY!

Call your local church, Salvation Army location or United Way Hotline at once and get the name of a family with children, a family that may not have a Christmas if it were not for your intervention…and help them!

Thank you in advance…for them!

Merry Christmas and God Bless You!

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526 (home)
216-539-7412 (bus)
Skype: johnzajaros1
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com
johnz@johnzajaros.com

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Kailyn and Grandpa: The Most Precious Moments are the Unanticipated Ones, the Intangible Rewards of a Magical Life!

Once in a while you have to stop everything and take a moment to take in all that truly matters. Grandchildren are the ultimate do-over, they provide you with one last chance to get it right, to not only make your life more meaningful but to touch the lives of all of those around you!

I was fortunate to have quite a few years between my son, now in his middle 30s and my daughters, all in their early 20s. That time span gave me the same sort of do-over mentality with the girls and I am carrying it over with my grandchildren. The opportunity to get it right rarely comes around twice. However, when it does, it is amazing and provides rewards beyond measure.

I just thought you might like to share a moment with me and my oldest granddaughter, Kailyn, as we visit our favorite hangout for strawberry sundaes, tin roofs, pretzels, peanuts, and some conversation!

John

John Zajaros
216-712-6526
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Family First Entrepreneurship Isn’t Just a Catchy Phrase, It’s A Commitment to a Way of Life that Provides so Much!

Today I share what is possible when your family comes first, in all things!

The remarkable thing is that a year ago, had someone told me I would have had the kind of day I had today? I would have questioned whether they had been into my pain medication…or worse!

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed making it. Well, most of it. Connie helped with the ravine stuff, I was kind of busy! I thought I would give the ravine a shot. It looked a lot more precarious than it was. The sack of potatoes, Kailyn, loves being thrown around and has complete confidence in my ability to keep here safe. I don’t know the same was true of Connie?

Once again, and I can’t state this forcefully enough, Family First Entrepreneurship isn’t just a catchy slogan, it’s a life commitment, and a way of life, every day!

This is just a short note to mention we took Sunday off and spent the day with our two little granddaughters, Kailyn and Brynn, and it was wonderful!

If you would like to share a moment with the Zajaros/Purdy Family, there are other moments on my YouTube Channel and I am currently building my channel at isofa.tv, a really cool video platform.

Ultimately, the rewards of a Family First lifestyle are myriad!

If you haven’t read the book ONO: Options not Obligations pick up a copy today, you can find it at bookstores or there’s a link to it on many of my blogs! It is a fast read but you will want to read it more than once. It will change your life!

Another great book, along the lines of accumulating wealth in a responsible manner and not through any of these new wave, hyped methods being espoused of late, is The Millionaire Next Door, while a bit dated the principle and concepts are as robust today as they were in the mid-1990s.

Apply the above works to your life and you will have charted a course to a life of successes. Apply the Family First Entrepreneurship ideal and you will be a complete success!

Contact me anytime!

John Zajaros
216-712-6526 (HOME)
216-539-7412 (BUS)
johnz@johnzajaros.com (contact me anytime)

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

The Meaning of Life and The Definition of Success

Life is funny sometimes!

Life is funny…as in peculiar, perplexing, uncertain, difficult, a conundrum. And yes, sometimes life is also funny, as in ha-ha, amusing, and downright hysterical! Very often, it is somewhere in between.

Success in life, on the other hand, is elusive, perplexing, rewarding, frustrating, and amazing. In other words, success is the ultimate paradox, disconcerting and awesome, often all in the same moment, at times in the same breath.

Success is elusive because most people don’t understand what success is, perplexing because they are chasing something they think will define success, without actually understanding that success is nothing close to what they envisioned or imagined.

Success is rewarding because, when it comes, and regardless of how fleeting it may be, it validates our efforts and is one of the most amazing experiences we can have as human beings…providing we recognize it along the way!

Success is a paradox because it is often accompanied by incredible heartbreak, even failure; and, it tests our mettle in ways we never imagined, in the fires of life.
While exploring the rain forests of Central America we used to say Heaven and Hell were one in the same, around every bend, in every experience, in each and every moment.

The reason for this?

We had to endure incredible hardship on our way to amazing experiences. We had to endure incredible physical trials in order to get to pristine locations, places where few people had been for hundreds of years, untouched and unspoiled by humans. We had to endure bugs that would literally turn any exposed skin into sores, sores that, if scratched, increased in discomfort exponentially, all the while taking in some of the most incredible experiences of our lives. We had to endure intense heat and humidity, enough to stagger many in our party, only to jump into a river, clothes and all, a river so clean you can drink from it without fear of any of one hundred possible diseases or infestations. Imagine snakes and tarantulas along side of the most amazing lightening bugs imaginable, as big as silver dollars lighting up the sky. Imagine one hundred different tests each and every day while experiencing the time of your life, in each and every moment!

Life is like that!

Success is like that!

We often hear people say that life is a process, a progression, but deep down inside many still assign success to things instead of to experiences. Success, like life, is experiential!

Why is success experiential? Because it is a process!

That’s why people say it is a progression. Success is very much like life, in that as we progress through it we can either live one year 30 times or we can live 30 years.

Life, like success, is a process, a learning opportunity we are not meant to survive…but it can be amazing along the way. The end result is the same! It is up to each of us how we progress, how we experience the tests along the way.

I often mention Tony Robbins when I talk about success because I have been listening to Tony and people like him for decades. Napoleon Hill, then Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, J Douglas Edwards, Wayne Dyer, and others all have the same message, enunciated in different ways…but there is a common theme.

The theme?

Build one day upon the one before!

*Whether as a template for a lifetime, as Napoleon Hill suggests.
*As a 30 day all out quest, repeated again and again, as Earl Nightingale challenges us to do.
*Or as CANI! Constant and never ending improvement! as Tony Robbins suggests.

The result is the same, an incremental approach to life. The method is similar, using forward motion, baby steps to build something amazing!

Baby steps?

What About Bob? is one of my all-time favorite movies and does the whole baby steps thing in such a great way! Take the time, Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus at their best!

While we are on the subject of movies, and Bill Murray, watch Groundhog Day! Talk about a message cloaked in comedy! Do it over until you get it right, can you imagine? Can you imagine being given the chance to live every day until you get it just right?

You do!

You are!

Each and every day is a major do-over!

We have two choices, we can go on into the next day, week, month, year, decade in the same way as the one before…or we can have a do-over. Because every day we live is in essence a chance to reshoot the day before, to get it right…Groundhog Day!

If you haven’t watched those two movies, do so! They will not only make you laugh until you cry, therapy in and of itself, but you will learn something about life and do-overs! We all get them each and every day…it is all about perspective and about living each moment and building upon the one before, learning from our successes and our failures on the way to CANI!

Constant and Never Ending Improvement!

Well, enough for now! The video below will help you get a sense for the mindset I have been developing over a lifetime. I thought I might share a little of it.
Remember! Build, remember, and make it better each and every day. Your life will be amazing and success will be a done deal!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com

johnz@ultimateinternetmarketing.info
Video Title:
Life, Success. and a Sculpture on Halloween!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

It seems like only yesterday and it’s been over 5 months already! Time flies by, particularly as we age!

I treasure every moment I am able to spend with my grandkids. The silver lining in all the health issues I lived through was that I was able to spend a lot of time watching my kids growing up and being a part of their lives. Now, I get to do it again with my grandchildren! Talk about an awesome do-over!

Nothing big here, just a very special moment and a proud grandfather showing off his newest addition to the Zajaros Family! Actually, The Zajaros/Purdy Family!

New blog post later today on a more serious note…shifting perspective. I hope you enjoy both this one and the one to follow!

John

John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com

Be Sociable, Share!

•