I have grown up with the concept of business. At 10-years-old, my younger brother and I baked (with some of mom’s help) and sold banana breads (as well as blueberry, pumpkin, and zucchini) door-to-door. We also had a “distributor”, Grandma, who worked at a large office building with many of our subsequently happy customers.

At 16, I began an active pursuit in a growing area of interest, web development. By 18, I had written an article for a local newspaper and landed one of my first web development projects – I barely knew what I was doing and $600 seemed like a lot of money.

I continued my “career” in web development, constantly adding new skillsets and stretching myself from project to project. My maturing talent for writing and my desire to communicate as effectively as possible played a critical role in my success.

Today, at age 24, I have continued in the web development industry – and I am greatly enjoying it. My abilities have increased exponentially, as has my realization that there is so much more to know. The scale of the projects I work on has also increased greatly in size and complexity as well as in influence and impact.

I share all that for a reason. I have been in the business I am now, working with three of my closest friends, for almost four years. We have enjoyed a lot of success, especially by the standards of those on the outside looking in – yet we are keenly aware that its not yet what it could be.

Something hasn’t been what it could be. A lot of the “pieces” have been in place – the talent, the passion, the determination, the sticktoitiveness (its a word) – the components were in place, yet the success seemed to be more of occasional bursts than the desirable (and essential) steady stream.

I’ve had time for reflection these past few weeks. I’ve also taken the time (though I haven’t “had it”) to read. The reflection and reading, combined with a host of leading circumstances, have drawn me to a conclusion that my lack of success to the degree that I know God has given me the capability of has been through no fault but that of my own.

Tonight, that came to a head as I realized that somewhere along the line, I’m not sure where, I had lost sight of the nobility of business. I always knew that business was a part of who I am – yet I often wrestled with it. Being in web development means that I am often working with “intangibles”. You can’t “touch” a website. You can’t pick it up and turn it over in your hand. Consequently, for a time, I had allowed myself to put less of a value on the work that I do and that, in turn, consciously and subconsciously, impacted my ability to sell and deliver on my work.

No longer. Business is a noble profession that, I am realizing increasingly, is under heavy attack. When was the last time you watched a movie where the business man was the good guy? When you think of large, highly successful businesses – do you think of them as honest, full of integrity, and fully deserving of their success? I didn’t, and most people don’t. It wasn’t a conscious idea in my mind – yet it was an idea. That idea, the concept that business is something less than noble is a major inhibitor to success in business.

Think of it. We consider the hard-working American and the labor that he or she produces with his or her own two hands as “noble” – and rightly so! When, though, did that hard-working American become limited to the factories, fields, and mechanic shops? What about the men and women who build the businesses that employ many of these hard-working noblemen? Are the owners any less noble? Without a conscious consideration, I found myself thinking those thoughts and, subsequently, thinking less about the importance and nobility of my own work as a businessman.

That is changing, though. I am realizing that I have not valued the opportunities of business as I should. God has given me two eyes to see, hands to work, ears to listen, a mouth to speak, and a mind to think. He has given me the ability to work with those hands, to work hard and to do work that will bless others and be a blessing to me and my family in return.

The past 3 1/2 years of business have been the best and most challenging years of my life. I’ve undergone a lot of character development and as I have experienced those fires of growth and made choices for good, I have noticed and am continuing to notice a corollary increase in business success.

Business is noble. If you are working, you are in business, and I applaud and encourage you for that decision you made. Now, take a sanctified pride in your work. God has given you the ability to work – Do it with all your might. Put your heart into everything you do and focus on blessing those you work with – be they your drive-through customers, your lawn owners, your consulting clients, your large businesses, your government, your church, whomever – focus on blessing your customers.

I am excited to be in business. I am looking forward to what this year brings as I continue to grow, by God’s grace, in favor with God and man.

Jonathan Wold

P.S. The thrust of these thoughts came after reading the first chapter of Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Thanks to Joshua for pointing me in the book’s direction.

God has been doing amazing things in my life these past few weeks. He always has been – I’ve just been starting to pay closer attention lately. He’s been teaching me so much about the Christian experience and what it really means to know Him and to walk with Him. I love Him more and more each day.

Near the end of last week I was given an opportunity to test my growing experience when the front headlamp on the driver’s side of our HHR gave out. Several weeks prior, my younger brother (who is quite mechanical adept) showed me how to change the rear lamp and, armed with that experience, I was able to approach my task with at least a foundational experience.

I looked up the replacement bulb in my owner’s manual, purchased the bulb at our local Walmart, and set out to perform the task.

I started with the owner’s manual. It offered me the following instructions with the accompanying photo:

I turned the wheel and started on the fasteners. Realizing quickly that they weren’t coming out with my fingers, I grabbed a pair of flat and long nosed pliers and tried again. Have you tried to pulling out those fasteners before? They’re like a thick porcupine quill – they don’t want to come out. I called my friend Nick Johnson and asked for his advice. He suggested I just use force to tear them out and get replacements later. One of the fasteners was a bolt instead of a “quill” and it came it much easier.

After removing four of the fasteners, I attempted to “access the wheel well”. The accessing process, which they suggest rather simply in the manual, didn’t turn out to be so simple for me. After a few minutes of evaluating the plastic covering and realizing that I surely wasn’t going to remove the whole thing (I had noticed quite a few more fasteners), I decided to try and hold the plastic cover open far enough to squeeze my hand through. Success!

I’m now about 20-30 minutes into the process. In about an hour, my wife will need to take the vehicle and leave for class. Our son is sleeping peacefully, though nearing his awake time, and Joslyn is working hard on homework. Its cold outside, though not unbearable, and through the entire process, I have been talking with God.

So far, everything is OK. Its taking longer than I’d expected, but that’s alright. I feel for the lightbulb and, after a bit of hand manuevering, I secure it and attempt to pull it out. It doesn’t give (I had forgotten about step 4). After a few moments I attempt to rotate it – success! I pull it out down far enough so I can look at it through the opening.

I used my free hand and a few well placed bites to remove the new lightbulb from its package – taking care that I don’t damage it in the process. As I held the new bulb in my hand, I noticed a red ring around the base which the old bulb did not have. The color difference triggered a thought and, in hindsight, I see that God was putting a mark for my attention. I ascribed the difference to the fact that it was new and moved on.

Freeing the old bulb from its “socket” was a bit difficult. I didn’t know how the release worked and I experimented until I found the right place to squeeze. I put the new bulb in and, feeling success near, I worked the bulb back up to the lamp and pushed it in.

Thirty minutes later I was still trying to push it in. Try as I might, it wouldn’t go! I could see the bulb clearly through the lamp, but it wasn’t holding in place. I thought of leaving it there, but diligence would not allow. I knew God wanted me to do this right and I asked Him and continued to ask Him for the answer.

Over an hour had passed since I began the task and I was still working on changing that light bulb.

“Lord, what should I do?” I asked, and asked again. A thought was impressed to my mind “Go look at the other bulb.” I looked, and gathered some hints. The bulb was facing a certain way and, sure enough, my bulb was not far enough in. I went back at it and still, no success. I would push at it, turn it, twist it, re-angle it, and it just wouldn’t go all the way. It would get close and that closeness would seem so promising, yet it just wasn’t going.

“What should I do Lord?” I asked again, then again. Another thought was impressed to my mind, “Go take the other bulb out.” The thought had occurred to me earlier and I had ignored it – I wasn’t eager to repeat the fastener removal process again. This time, though, I decided to give it a try. I made my way over and, moving on the experience gained from the last panel, I removed the second panel much easier. I discovered that I only needed to undo three fasteners and not four. I accessed the light bulb, pulled it out, and successfully put it back in. It worked beautifully.

I went back to my new bulb and tried it again, armed with the confidence of success on the other bulb. It didn’t work. I went back inside the house, referred to the manual again, and noticed the direction in step 4 to turn it counter-clockwise. I had been trying that – at least I was attempting the right thing.

Joslyn came out with Jaiden in her arms, reminding me sweetly that she had to leave soon. I smiled and thanked her and assured her I was close.

“Lord, I don’t know what to do here.. I know You have the answer. Show me what to do.” I asked and kept asking, the smile still on my face. A thought came to me. I pulled the new bulb out and replaced it with the old bulb and attempted to put it back in. It went in!

I pulled the two bulbs out and examined them closely, looking for a difference. They were manufactured by a different company and, for a moment, I thought that I would have to find a new bulb somewhere else. An impression seemed to say “Keep looking”.

Then, I saw the red ring around the new bulb. I pulled it up and examined it more closely, realizing that the amount of space it occupied had been preventing the bulb from sliding in place. It moved to the touch! I pulled at it and, sure enough, it slide off.

I laughed and smiled, thanked the Lord, and quickly finished the installation, heading back into the house just in time to take Jaiden and successfully see Joslyn off to class.

Through the experience, I learned again that God cares about every single part of my day, however great or small. He wants to help me with all the details and He wants to work in me to solve the problems I face with a smile on my face, no matter how long it takes or how seemingly difficult the task.

Today has been a good day and, as God blesses me with another day, I look forward to getting to know Him more, growing in patience, and increasing my mechanical abilities.

Jonathan Wold

Taken this morning by the hospital photographer.

I’m writing as I look across the hospital room at my beautiful wife. She’s fallen asleep for a few moments, our son Jaiden, cradled in her arms. Jaiden Andrew Wold was born yesterday morning at 3:20 AM, weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces. He is amazing.

What I’m sharing now is an answer to my prayer to God that day for His help. May it bless and inspire you as it has me.

The 3Cs of a Successful Website

1. Context
2. Credibility
3. Call-to-Action

Let’s dive right in.

Context

When a visitor lands on your website, you only have a few seconds to get their attention before they’re gone. You need to give them an immediate context that says, “I have exactly what you’re looking for.”

Here are a few ways you can do that:

• Business/Project Name – Oftentimes, your business or project name will convey a basic sense of what it is you do. If this is the case, make sure you’ve made the most of it and you introduce your website with the right name.
• 3-Second Speech – You need to be able to convey what it is you do in three seconds or less. Work on it until you’ve got it down. Once you have it down, use the text in a prominent place on your website to give context.

Credibility

After you’ve established context, you need to give your visitors a clear and obvious reason to believe that you’re a credible authority and that you can help them.

Here are a few tips for establishing credibility:

• Testimonials – Share what others have said about you.
• Photos – Share a personal photo, a photo of your office location, photos of your products. Avoid using stock photography.
• Endorsements – “As Featured On”, “As Seen On”, “Recommended By”- Seek after and feature relevant (think back to “context”) endorsements
• Videos – Show the product in use, give a quick tour of your office, share a brief message from the president. Keep it simple and well done.

You’ll recognize a consistent theme here: let others establish your credibility.

Call To Action

This is where many websites fail. As you’ve established context and credibility, you must follow through with a clear call to action. To make it clear, your “call” needs to answer three basic questions:

1. What do you want me to do? – Tell your visitors, very clearly, what it is you want from them.
2. How do you want me to do it? – Don’t assume they know what the next step is, guide them clearly and let them know exactly what they need to do next.
3. What’s in it for me? – Why should they care? What do they get for doing what you’ve asked them to? This is the “benefit”. Don’t talk about the features of your great product or service, outline clearly the benefit they will receive.

Now, let’s pull it all together with an example.

I’ll pick on our own business, Sabramedia.

At the moment, it falls under the “bad example” category. Take a look: Sabramedia.com

The website, while beautiful, doesn’t offer a clear sense of what exactly it is that we do. Unless you’re a personal referral, you’re left wandering the site and uncertain about what to do next.

Here’s a good example of a “3 Second Speech” that explains clearly what it is that we do:

“At Sabramedia, we create and invest in ecommerce businesses.”

Here’s how we’ll be answering the 3 C’s for ourselves. Use it as inspiration for your own business.

1. Context – We’re marketing to business owners and entrepreneurs who are already in or are ready to break into the world of ecommerce. When they visit the website, we want to give them an immediate context that says, “Hey, we speak your language. We understand business, we’ve been there, we’ve had success, we want to help you and share in your success.”
2. Credibility – The majority of our business comes through personal referral. We’ll feature client testimonials and case studies that continue that work of referral.
3. Call To Action – Our call will start out as an invitation to a special report offering a step-by-step behind the scenes look at the launch of one of our ecommerce businesses. To get the report, we’ll ask for their name and email and, in exchange, they’ll be receiving a detailed look at some of our best work. We’ll use that report to generate leads for future ecommerce businesse ventures.

There’s some food for thought. Now, go look at your own website or business idea. Ask yourself the questions:

• “Who am I sharing my message to?” (Context)
• “How can I connect with them in less than 3 seconds?” (Context)
• “Why should they believe what I’m telling them?” (Credibility)
• “What am I asking my audience to do?” (Call to Action)

Call to Action: Let me know what you think about what I’ve shared. Did it inspire you? Can you apply this to what you’re working on now? Write a comment and let me know what you’re doing with what you learned.

Starting this month, I’m opening the doors for up to 3 WordPress projects. After full-time work in Sabramedia and spending evenings with my beautiful wife Joslyn, I have some time available in the early week day mornings and on Sundays.

If you’d like to learn more, take a look at my WordPress freelance page. I look forward to hearing from you :).

Until next time,

Jonathan Wold

I earn a good income as the Marketing Director and partner in a web development company in Jasper, Indiana. On the side, my wife and I have several successful niche projects that bring in regular income as well.

I have debt, though.

You see, in the years proceeding married life I had failed to develop positive habits of money management. I was convicted on it, somewhat, but the conviction rarely led to action. I was making more money than a lot of young people my age and, unfortunately, I wasn’t taking good care of it. For a long time, my sense of budgeting was, “Oh, I’ll just make more money..”. Friends and family tried to encourage me in a better direction but I wouldn’t let it all sink in.

And so, as a young unmarried man with good income, I began acquiring credit card debt like there was no tomorrow. After all, I reasoned, I’d be paying it right off. 3 years later, I am still paying it off and I’ve spent thousands in interest. Not a very wise use of funds.

As a married man, though, I’ve been humbled and, thankfully, begun to realize the great responsibility I have to wisely manage the income I’m blessed with. I’ve also been convicted that I should not be carrying around this high load of debt and have begun working extra hard to remove it from our lives. My dear wife has been very loving and supportive through it all and, bringing no debt to the marriage, has accepted my debt as her own and is working with me to take it off our shoulders.

Early in 2008, thanks to the support of a dear friend, I stopped using credit cards entirely and even gave them into my friend’s safe keeping to ensure that I wouldn’t yield in a moment of weakness.

It was hard..

At one point, in a crisis with no savings in the bank and a wedding in just a few short weeks, I took my car to the bank to apply for a loan. Providence opened the doors shortly thereafter that I didn’t need the loan, but “wow” was that a wake up call. Credit cards had given me so much “safety” and, because of that safety, I’d never really had to feel what it was like to experience financial difficulty.

That brings us to today.

With a family of 5 (2 adults, 1 dog, 1 bird, and a fish) to provide for, my wife and I have decided to turn up the heat on our finances and practice an even tighter level of economy. We’re working hard to cut out all the “extras” in our life and, as a big part of that, we’ve made the difficult decision to “downsize” our home.

Now, we’re looking at a much smaller home (Single bedroom, 1 bath, no garage). We’ve yet to see how it will all work out, but the principles are in place. Dave Ramsey has a quote from his book, The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness (highly recommended), which goes as follows:

“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”

So, we’re learning our lessons.

We moved to cash spending and started an envelope budgeting system and, though there have been some challenges, we’ve found it to be a solid step in the right direction for us.

Look forward to more posts on the subject, especially relating to “fighting debt”.

Have a wonderful rest of the day,

Jonathan Wold

I’ve been following some of the principles of more efficient time management for awhile now, but until this morning, they just hadn’t been brought together.

Last weekend I joined several of my close friends and family on the last Sabbath of Indiana family camp. While my wife and I had only been able to make it for one day, several of our friends and family members had been there for the days prior. During those days, they’d each been inspired on the topic of time management and scheduling. As a result, upon their return home, they began putting the principles into practice and working to set themselves and their homes on schedule. Their enthusiasm planted seeds of inspiration in my heart also.

A few months ago, my dear wife had put a lot of thought and energy into a schedule for our family which we then proceeded to follow faithfully for about 2-3 days. A busy school life and the slant towards unpredictability that newlyweds are often prone too was set against us and, though we recognized the definite importance, we let our schedule slide.

How many of you have experienced that before? Why is it that time management seems so difficult?

Several years ago (and a few of you faithful readers may recall this) I put a lot of energy into a “mastery of time management”. I had good intentions and did make apparent progress, but I was lacking a few critical ingredients.

As a Christian I now understand it my God-given responsibility to be a good steward of the time and energy He’s given me. To experience continual success, as a husband and as a businessman, I must be a master of the time God has allotted me and not a servant to it.

It’s quite a challenge. It can and must be done, though.

Here’s an outline of the schedule that I’ve set this morning.

4:00 AM – Arise and shine. Get up and begin my morning prayer and study time.

5:00 AM – Prayer and study ends. Go for a short walk. Return and plan the remainder of the morning.

5:30 AM – For the next 2 hours, my time is spent between answering emails, blogging, and working on side projects. Over the next few weeks, I will continue to focus on improving how this particular block of time is spent.

7:30 AM – Walk with my wife.

8:00 AM – Breakfast and preparation for work. Leave around 8:40.

9:00 AM – After prayer, work begins at our office in Jasper, Indiana.

—

Getting up at 4 AM can be a challenge my friends. Some of you have tried it and, like me, after a good night’s rest, wouldn’t ever think of starting your day another way. Even with good intentions, though, and a recognition of the potential that the early morning offers, it’s not an easy thing.

Each night before going to bed, I pray that God would wake me up the next day and, very importantly, that He would give me the desire to get up. The warmth of bed is inviting when your eyes first open, especially on these cold fall and winter mornings. If I don’t get up immediately, my eyes will close and I will sleep.

God has never let me down. He always seems to know exactly how much sleep I need. Since I began the habit 2 years ago, even on days when I had early morning appointments, I have never had to use an alarm clock. There’s something jarring and unhealthy about the alarm clock suddenly pulling us out of restful sleep into a state of unhappy alertness. In my study of the Scriptures I found testimonies of others that relied on God to wake them up morning by morning (Isaiah 50:4) and I decided to exercise that same faith and rely on God to wake me up. Alarm clock free for all this time, I get much better sleep and no longer dread the early morning hours. Try it and see for yourself.

And with that, I’m off to start on my next morning project. I’ll continue to keep you posted on my progress with scheduling and I look forward to hearing your personal reports as well.

Have a wonderful new day,

Jonathan Wold

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working together to bring consistency to our life. While we continue to be flexible, we tend towards a bedtime of no later than 10:30 and, ideally, closer to 9:30.

With my work as a partner in a development and niche marketing company, several side projects, work in my local church, and a family of my own, finding time for blogging, etc., unless I have control over my time, is impossible.

Here’s how a typical day will go.

I wake up, without an alarm clock, around 5-6 AM. I get up, drink a full glass of water, and then go into our guest room/office and spend time in Bible study, inspirational reading, and prayer. 45 minutes or so later, I close my time in prayer and then begin tackling the day. I’ll divide my time between answering emails, blogging, and working on side projects. This will typically go on until it’s time to eat and get ready for work. Depending on our schedule that morning, I’ll eat breakfast with my sweet wife, spend a bit of time together, and then off I go to work.

On some mornings, I’ll tune in to a message on audioverse.org while washing the dishes or doing some other general cleaning around the house. My wife takes excellent care of our home and helping out every now and then when things get backed up is the least I can do.

So, is it worth it?

Yes! A thousand times over, yes!

That extra time in the morning makes all the difference my friends.

In just the past few weeks, as I’ve had the extra time, I’ve been able to learn more, to move forward on my side projects, and be better prepared for the day’s work.

If you are already an early riser, I encourage you to keep it up. I’d love to hear your personal experiences.

If you’re not yet, how about giving it a try? It’s not an easy thing if you’re unused to it. I know what it’s like to be up till 2 AM and sleep till noon. It’s a hard cycle to break and for some it’s easy to decide that “Well, I’m just not a morning person”. It’s a habit, though, and like any other habit, old ones can be broken and new ones formed.

As I grow older and responsibilities increase the desire to have a mastery of my time and health continues to grow stronger. And as I am learning to control my time and keep priorities straight (God, family, work, ministry, side projects), I’ve been blessed with good health and success in the work that I take on.

I have much to learn and I look forward to more trials and a greater depth of experience.

Have a wonderful new day my friends.

Jonathan Wold

Using the design work of another has been a “no no” in my mind for a long time. Why? Well, why not just do it myself?

And that’s what I’d done.

The previous design of this blog had been put together by yours truly and it had taken me quite some time. I worked hard at it and had some positive feedback.

Design isn’t my strength, though. God has given me talents and abilities in other areas and rather than letting pride hold me back, I’ve stepped forward to make the most of the talents that God has blessed others with. If I had the time, I’d be interesting in learning more and putting the energy into an original design. The time I do have, though, needs to be focused on using the gifts I already have, working to improve and sharpen them.

I finished a book by Ben Carson this morning entitled “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story“. I highly recommend it.

In it, Ben talks about the importance of “THINKing BIG”. He encourages us to begin with determination and the full use of the gifts God has given us, then to go on for training and a sharpening of our skills. Look at the obstacles in life as hurdles, not barriers. Each hurdle conquered prepares us for the next.

In our business, we encourage each other to focus on our talents and work towards mastery. Making the decision to use an existing WordPress theme helped me clear up the block my “old design” was giving me and focus on writing once again. I was reminded to practice what I preach.

Have a wonderful rest of the day,

Jonathan Wold

It’s been some time since my hands have given expression to thought on this humble blog. I’ve contemplated new posts every now and then and, in one case, even began preparing a first draft. I didn’t finish, though, and a busy life provided little opportunity to think about blogging let alone to blog.

An email changed that, though.

I received an email letting me know that a sponsor was willing to pay for a new post on my blog. The sum of money was what I’d originally asked for when joining the service a year or more ago. I’d intentionally set it high as I hadn’t fully decided whether “sponsored reviews” was a direction I wanted to pursue.

That email got me thinking. Initially, I said yes. I’d looked over the site and, contrary to finding anything objectionable, found it interesting enough. With little time on my hands between family, work, and a few side projects, though, I hadn’t actually had time to write the review until this morning, a few days before the deadline.

I took a short walk before sunrise this morning and after asking God for wisdom, I came to my decision. I wouldn’t write the review.

Integrity is crucial. Those who requested the review had, understandably, requested that I not mention it being a paid review. That could easily lead my readers to believe that it was a personal endorsement when, in actuality, had it not been for the offer to be paid, I wouldn’t have written about this particular site.

So, it was a simple decision. The small sum I’d make upfront wasn’t worth the risk of losing your trust.

And, there was an added blessed in all this..

I’m blogging again :).

Have a wonderful rest of the day and look forward to more.

Jonathan Wold