John Zajaros Blog

I feel like someone who buys one of those Acai, or is it Acia, cleanses must feel like after the last 10 days!

In my opinion, we tend to think others see the world in terms of how we perceive it to be. When, in fact, there is a HUGE population out there totally computer illiterate and most don’t even know how to set up an email account!

That is good for the future of the Internet generally, and creative Internet marketers specifically, but it is a reality many seem to miss when shaping their world view, our world view!

The key to success online, to Internet marketing success, is not trying to sell each other, the trick is to tap into the virgin market still available and waiting for a creative approach and the right message!

Instead of preaching to the choir, we should be focusing on the masses…because that is where the real opportunity resides!

The choir knows the song by heart, it is in reaching those just beginning the search, just beginning the process of online education, whether in online, stay-at-home businesses or in some other form of Internet commerce, the real opportunity for service and for success rests with the novice, the “newbie,” and not in restating the same message to the same followers in the same way, day in and day out, online, whether through social media or whatever!

It is nice to be back with a fresh set of eyes and a new perspective. Often, the best way to understand something is to step away long enough, and in this case, far enough to be able to see the forest for the trees.

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com

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

Allie, Chris, Kailyn (2 years old), and Brynn Elizabeth (7 1/2 months) Purdy…my kids and grandkids!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

John

I was watching and listening to the HBO Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Rock Concert from Madison Square Garden this morning.

Watching the 25th Rock Hall Concert, I still can’t get over the aging rockers refusing to give in to age and, perhaps more inspiring, conventionality. I think the thing that struck me most as I watched was the diversity of talent, every man and woman, each solo artist and group all have their individual style and grace…their own voice.

Bruce and Bono!

As I was watched The Boss and Bono, along with the rest of U2, I was struck by their very different styles. These rock and roll legends, these men whom have done as much for others behind the scenes, in terms of philanthropy, as any two men alive; and there, side by side singing about life, love, and hope.

Interestingly, while engaged in the same profession, and with many of the same qualities, humanity, compassion, and empathy, they are still as far apart stylistically as two entertainers can be.

As I watched, and it was in watching, much more than listening, that their real differences became apparent, I was struck by the fact that these two men, so very successful in the same endeavor, were so different from one another in the same moment.

Bono and The Boss, as different as night and day, yet both creating beautiful music in their own distinct fashion, their own style. These two mythic performers, deities of the rock and roll era, standing side by side and singing in complete harmony were as different in how they deliver their message, their performance, as any two performers can be; and yet, their harmony was incredible.

Both performers clearly belong on the same stage, however different their stylistic expression may be. All you have to do is watch, and then listen, but mainly watch these two performers, so different and yet so much the same to get a real sense of the contrast between them.

So, what is it all about?

It’s about finding your own voice! Both men have found their calling, their love for their work, their love of life, their voice…literally and figuratively.

While watching night and day on the same stage, both creating something beautiful, individually and collectively, something different and yet uniquely the same, I was moved. The collective voice they created was something uniquely theirs in that moment.

Success in Life

Because each of these rockers had given himself permission to express his voice in his own way, they both seem at one with themselves, with their true nature.

One only has to watch The Boss and Bono standing side by side, so very different, and each succeeding in ways unimaginable only a few years ago, to know that all things are possible if you give rise to your own voice, your passion, that one thing we are all put this planet to do.

The one thing!

It is in finding that one thing, and giving yourself permission to explore and express your voice, that true success is achieved.

Success in business and in life is certainly a progression, a journey, but more than that, it is a consequence of finding your voice and allowing it to do what only you can do with it, in very much the same way The Boss and Bono have….

Sing!

John

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

Happy Thanksgiving from The Zajaros Family

Regardless of where you are in the world, there is something you can be thankful for on this day!

Even in the depths of despair and depression, there were things I could focus on, things that would remind me of why I was glad to be alive, and so I pressed on! More times than not, my family was my focus, it is what defines me and keeps me going when every fiber of my being wants to say…

“Uncle!”

We have all had moments when we are tested; and, those moments may range from seconds to weeks, months, and in the worst cases, years. Times and challenges may come when were feel more than a bit like Job.

And yet, if we persevere, if we press on and do not give up all hope, things turn and our lives become amazing…again!

Amazing!

The other day I was walking my Little Big Dog. For those of you who have watched Little Big Man (1970), with Dustin Hoffman, you will understand why I refer to him in this fashion. I swore I would never own a “little” dog, a “yappie” dog, and yet here I am with a 15 pound “little-yappie” dog who thinks he’s a cross between a Bull Mastiff and a Doberman. We inherited the puppy when my son-in-law and daughter had to pick up their household and move south for his US Army Reserves commitment, his second call-up.

I am a disabled veteran and am proud of him for serving. I hate war…I love my country!

Interestingly, our other dog, a Shetland Sheepdog, was also inherited through the same daughter when her boyfriend, another soldier (go figure!), was shipped off to Iraq and needed a home for his puppy. AJ never came back for the dog! He would have had a very hard time getting him back anyway.

Anyway, back to the Little Big Dog, dog number one…in his mind, anyway. This “Little Big Dog” has the perfect name, a name he earned after surviving terrible illness as a puppy, TuffGuy! TuffGuy is indeed tough. Yes, I do know we have played with the spelling, but once again that was a name we had no part in selecting. In retrospect, how could he have been named anything else?

Interestingly, that little dog, that tough little dog, TuffGuy, nursed me back to health very much in the same way, and at the same time, I was nursing him back from the grave!

So, there we were the other night, 3am in the morning actually, walking down the street as we do every night or early morning, both happy to be alive, healthy, and each other’s company! The ultimate Odd Couple, an Internet marketing entrepreneur reborn and a Puggle…Mutt and Jeff, just happy to be alive!

It’s funny how life often brings us back to certain points again and again. I can remember driving down the street in 1983, again in 1987, in 1993, and once again in 1998 (just before I got sick); and, in every instance I had the music up loud, the windows of the car open, and the wind in my face, literally and figuratively, just happy to be alive. Ecstatic, actually! These moments were all attached to specific events and/or periods in my life, periods of super achievement, living with a sense of what is possible. In fact, with a very real sense that all things are possible! There have been many more throughout my life!

That was the feeling the other night…that all things are possible!

As Yogi Berra would say:

“Deja vu all over again!”

It is the most amazing feeling in the world, it is better than any drug, it is a natural high…the likes of which you have got to experience to understand!

It is on that note that I say I am thankful, not simply because it happens to be a day earmarked by our government years ago as a time of celebration, but because it is a time in my life for celebration, for a victory dance of sorts, for being thankful, and for thanksgiving!

I have a wonderful wife who has stayed with me through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, until death do us part…through years of being in the hospital 2 of every 4 weeks, for months on end. I have 4 wonderful children whom I love dearly and would sacrifice my life for. I have two of the most amazing little granddaughters a grandfather could ever brag about…and I do! I have amazing friends, a few and I treasure them, and I have met a few new ones. I have Bart, a wonderful, quiet, and very special Sheltie we just paid over $6,000 to “save,” after he broke his leg. And I have TuffGuy…or he has me!

I am an extremely wealthy man!

Interestingly, I had a YouTube viewer comment that a video I made showed a lack of material possessions and that it must say something about my financial status.

In fact, it said more about his!

We have been to H#ll and back over the last few years…and I have survived, we all have. I have survived because of the wealth I have that has nothing to do with a bank statement and everything to do with the true value of life and the real measure of a man’s place in it…his family, his friends, and the things he holds dear!

And yes, sometimes that is a “Little Big Dog” named TuffGuy!

I am rich beyond words, beyond description, and it has nothing to do with my bookshelves or the background in my videos or the balance in my bank account.

Sam Walton, the story goes, was on his death bed and uttered these words:

“I blew it!”

I intend to say the following on mine:

“I did it!”

In the mean time, I will simply say:

Thank you, one and all for taking the time to be a part of my life, for reading my thoughts and feelings, for sharing your own. I am richer for the exchange, and I am wealthier for the knowledge you have shared with me.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving…each and every day!

John