A contractor found himself without sufficient work to continue providing for his family. For the first time in 15 years, “Joe” found himself in a very dark place. It hurts just thinking about such a place, one I certainly have been to many times.

For months Joe attended networking meetings. For months he wrote and rewrote his resume, cover letters and 30 second elevator speeches. For months he spent countless hours in front of the computer searching for work.

Once or twice a week Joe shared he would “get an ear full from my lovely wife” in an attempt to motivate him. “She was no motivational speaker if you know what I mean.”

Turns out Joe’s wife was actually a very nice woman, well liked and very popular within her Texas based Baptist church. She spent over 30 hours a week at church teaching bible study classes, leading high-school worship band and involved in all aspects of marketing, publishing and online presence. In theory she would have been a perfect candidate to promote Joe, her husband and head of their family.

The Problem is She Didn’t. Ever.

There’s a problem alright. No one knows YOU best, even though more on a personal level than professional. The main reason why people seldom promote their spouse is lack of tools. That’s right! Not courage, or pride, but plain ignorance!

To solve this issue here are 5 ABSOLUTE THEY MUST HAVE to help turn your raging spouse into your #1 Networking Partner:

1. Carry a Minimum 3 of His/Her Business Cards

2. Know Exactly What He/She Does for a Living (Previous Position, Role, Companies, Etc.)

3. Have Cell Number and Email Address Memorized

4. Conduct/Partake in Daily Meeting (KISS, Short and Sweet, Include Accountability System)

5. Real Kiss (Passion Recommended but Not Required to Achieve Effect)

Joe’s wife, Jane was now equipped to go out and talk about her wonderful husband who’s looking for work. Both their daughters, Janet and June caught someone’s attention in the lobby at church. Both their shirts read on the front “My Daddy is Looking for Work” and on the back “He’s in Advertising!”

After good laugh the man, coincidentally the owner of the land the church laid on had been looking for fresh ideas for his real estate billboards. Frank found Jane and her children…

“What does your husband do miss Doe?” asks Frank. Jane replies “He’s a creative director, used to work for Disney but after he was saved, he went on to work with more faith driven companies. A couple months back he lost a big contract, now he’s looking for opportunities in advertising where he feels blessed to serve the Lord. I got his card riiiiiiight here. There! Check out his website, did it himself, trust me it’s a keeper!”

By 10:00am the nest day Joe was working. He’s still working, for Frank and for the Lord.

Never underestimate the power of God and His plan for your life. Your spouse and children should be considered TOP networking partners in any job or work seeking endeavor.

Dear God,
Thank you. Another wonderful day starts, rather late but still, better late than never right?

We had a challenging staff meeting last night at iWork meant to discuss existing format and services, and plan ahead for 2011. I am truly blessed to be a part of this ministry.

It looks like Trinity’s behavior is slowly improving with the surgery, thank you Lord for strength and courage in dealing with her temper and tantrums. Thank you for allowing Elizabeth and I to enjoy her further, I really feared the worse last week…

Elizabeth, Grace, Trinity and Faith are at Cindy’s this morning, making hair bows for our girls. The Coleman’s also have 3 daughters roughly the same age as ours.

Today I’ll be glorifying you Lord by working with Frank Fenby on the Edify Ministries website, an anointed endeavor, also I have some work planned on the iWork, Ponce Foundation and Bravo Resumes websites, and of course consult with 2-3 clients via Skype, answer a few dozen emails, then send ten thousand more. Add a couple phone calls and a Google teleconference this afternoon, and there’s my service to you Lord.

Help me focus today so I can deliver the very best work I am capable of.

Driving the BMW last night was awesome, she’s still putting out a cloud of smoke big enough to engulf a city block but I can’t afford to fix her, the dealer tells me I’m looking at over $6,000.00 in engine repair, maybe I should take a look at the intake valves myself? After all you did lead me to fixing the ignition… :)

You’re funny! Alright, you find the way to get me the tools and I’ll do it…

As some of you know our car has been on the IR list for 2 weeks since falling to the infamous BMW Ignition Syndrome. The defective parts, and there are a few, puzzle the most seasoned mechanic minds. Even mine.

After more than 2 weeks of trouble shooting and reading forums and talking to mechanics, I finally broke down today and ventured down a desperate road, to hotwire my BMW 540i and drive it at any cost…

With the advice of my father, who’s been a mechanic all my life of 44 years, I ventured down a desperate road leading to the ghost town called Hotwiring, FL. (In plain English I decided not to wait for the replacement BMW ignition part, instead I started my car myself using a paper clip – Read on, it gets funny at some point :)

In a 5 minute phone conversation my dad revealed the basic concept behind most cars’ ignition switches. Typically a simple plastic cube with 4 wires connected to it (and also a hole on one side in which fits the metal ignition pin spun by the car key as you engage and start your car).

“The big thick red wire is juice straight from the car’s battery” he shouts. He’s hard of hearing you see. “You want to take power from the big red wire and spread it to both the main electrical wire and, for only a few seconds the starter wire also.”

Those 2 other thick wires are one for the main/power (lights to the dash and power throughout vehicle) and the other wire goes to the car’s starter motor. This wire should only have “juice” when the car is not running.

There’s also a small wire to tell the switch the car’s engine is running which normally automatically cuts off juice to the starter motor.

Simple right?

Wrong… The BMW doesn’t have 4 wires in the switch, it has ELEVEN!!!

With the basics in mind, I tested each wire for juice and found most of the thick ones had power except for the brown/yellow wire.

Since I already had juice in the dash and accessories from the ignition barrel stuck in “on” mode, to start the car I simply twisted a paper clip which I then held with insulated pliers connecting a powered green wire to my brown/yellow starter wire (this is not recommended, because it’s unsafe and can kill you in too many ways to list here – like getting punched right in the face by an exploding airbag while holding your little paper clip because you triggered a spark on the wrong lead – seriously if you are desperate enough to try this, wear protective goggles, a mouthpiece and a thick coat of Vaseline on any exposed section of the head, neck, arms etc.)

To my own amazement, the car cranked and started. I was finally able to hear the rumbling of the V8 engine. I drove around the neighborhood before taking the ignition switch apart, fiddled with it spinning the selector with a flat head screwdriver simulating the pin/key turning. It clicked! I then put the switch back and voila! It’s a Miracle! The ignition now works great!

Far more labor intensive than my typical work day, today’s endeavor and tremendous success proved once again that through faith, I can do all things through Christ.

PS I saved over $2,200.00 in repairs by doing the work myself instead of waiting 4-6 weeks for a $85 replacement part to get here by boat from Germany…

PSS What actually happened? When I turned off the ignition that day I did so with too much velocity for the old plastic & metal part assembly. While I turned the key (and metal pin) counter clockwise to stop the engine, the selector inside the ignition switch did not spin backwards.

Therefore the ignition switch got stuck in the wrong mode, the “on” mode which meant the switch distributed power in this “on” mode feeding continuous power to the accessories and dash. Once the selector inside the plastic switch was spun backwards to match the key mode, turning off the ignition was back to normal. So is starting :)

Here I am, 7 years later, married with children.

Married to a gorgeous, godly wife whose courage and strength continues to amaze me every day. I am also blessed with 3 daughters, Grace, Trinity and Faith.

Though I no longer cast such a shapely shadow, I cast one of much greater magnitude. Walking in the shadow of my Lord Jesus Christ, I am today a much bigger man than I ever was, yet seemingly so far from the finish line. I am humbled by the journey I am on and by the pace I am blessed to enjoy.

Earlier this week I stepped on the doctor’s scale which flirted with 160 for the first time since this picture was taken on Clearwater Beach. Can you believe in about 5 months I’ve lost almost 40 pounds?

On the eve of a holiday weekend I praise God cooler temperatures will allow for the long awaited beach vball comeback, and overall more time spent on the world’s most beautiful beaches.

Have a great weekend! God bless America!

Earlier today my 3 year old daughter Trinity underwent surgery in both her ears to help heal and prevent infections she’s struggled with since birth. It was her first surgery, the first time Elizabeth and I saw one of our children being carried away in such a dramatic manner. What stings the most about all this is it could all have been avoided… we could have lost her.

The fact is we ignored the signs and relied on medication and careless physician advice which eventually led to hearing and behavior issues caused by, surprise surprise, pain emitting from either one or both inner ears. The ending result? A child in pain for years that’s rebellious and unable to focus. Sounds familiar?

The procedure Trinity underwent will hopefully help heal her current infection and prevent further complications in the future, praise God.

How does this apply to You?

Procrastination is seldom at the root of great success.

A funny thing happened to me earlier today, as if there’s such a thing as earlier than 4:15am, I was editing an ebook when I noticed the writer, and consequently designer seemingly didn’t care to his book’s layout and over appearance. I found myself almost offended by the way my initial work was being destroyed.

You see I had been selected as the senior graphic designer in charge of producing the ebook’s graphics and design shell using Adobe InDesign, the industry standard for digital and print publishing.

The ebook I produced featured compelling high resolution custom designed graphics, not clip-art! My titles were centered, or aligned to wrap around graphics, not cluttered. My links were subtle, not obnoxious! My choice of fonts and colors… oh well!

The point?

While I was busy thinking of the countless way to improve on the ebook, the fact of the matter is the ebook is written and currently being sold to the public, who are buying in waves from email marketing and social network campaigns. While I am envisioning these great ebooks I am one day going to write, I’m not writing anything… I know better!

While we keep putting projects or entire campaigns off, our competitors are not only getting ahead, they are getting away! It’s time to catch up and avoid the eventually of green puss gushing from your inner ear.

When it comes to video marketing, the same rule applies. To get ahead, you have to be moving at some rate of speed. Take it slow or blast through campaigns like a video marketing superhero, either way do something each day that will keep you moving along the fine line that leads to video marketing success…