So, this is my contribution, Guy.

Please keep in mind that I am a Registered Nurse, with 13 years of experience in various areas of healthcare. I’m not just spouting off regurgitated news feeds and blowing hot air in your direction.

6 Reasons Swine Flu is Not a Big Deal

The CDC posts an annual report disclosing the leading causes of death sorted by age range. Can you guess what the most common cause of death for all age ranges was last year?

Year after year, unintentional injuries top the list.

You are more likely to die in a car crash than from the flu. In fact, the flu ranks eighth in the list of leading causes of death last year. And that was the REGULAR flu, not the swine flu. There are at least six other things to fear more than influenza A and B.

1. Unintentional Injuries (such as falls, motor vehicle accidents, accidental poisoning)
2. Cancer
3. Heart Disease
4. Homicide
5. Suicide
6. Birth Defects
7. REGULAR Flu

http://webappa.cdc.gov/cgi-bin/broker.exe

The regular old run-of-the-mill flu that many of us get every year is more dangerous than the swine to date.

In 2006, influenza types A and B were listed as the sixth leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, and the seventh leading cause of death in adults over 65. Like most other commonly contracted communicable diseases (other than STDs) the very young and the very old are affected the most. The rest of the population goes on with life mostly unaffected by contracting the flu. The swine flu is no different.  (For more information about last year’s flu outbreak check out the CDC’s website: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/season.htm)

Dreaded Swine Flu Statistics

So far, there has been one death in the Untied States due to the H1N1 virus. ONE!

286 people have been diagnosed with Swine Flu as of today, May 4, 2009. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ That means 285 other people have recovered or are in the process of recovering from a miserable week of feeling crappy. They aren’t scarred for life from contracting the swine flu, they aren’t shunned from public places for life, and they don’t have to wear sweaters with a giant “PF” for pig flu around.

What to Do to Prevent the Flu

Wash your hands. This simple act can decrease your chances of getting all kinds of nasty bugs by as much as 90%. You don’t have to use antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer; just normal everyday suds and plenty of running water for 60-90 seconds is adequate. Sing Happy Birthday to yourself while you wash if you like. Just remember to clean your thumbs, wrists, and under your fingernails. Germs like to hang out in these places.

Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. When you’re out in public and can’t get to a bathroom to wash, just keep your hands in your pockets or avoid touching your face. Germs have to find a way into your body in order to make you sick.  Don’t help them out.

Stay out of elevators and confined spaces. If you are in close proximity to someone with the flu, they are most likely going to cough and sneeze. You can get sick from breathing in infected droplets of moisture that float in the air. Staying in a larger, well-ventilated area or even outdoors decreases your chances of infection by airborne particles.

If you have a compromised immune system (e.g. you have HIV, are taking immunosuppressant medications, or are already sick) stay home. Keep newborns at home as much as possible. If you must go out often, consider contacting your physician about getting vaccinated. He or she will be able to give you specific instructions on how to stay well in public.

What to Do if You Get Sick

DON’T PANIC! Most cases of swine flu and even regular influenza never require medical treatment.

Rest often, drink plenty of liquids, and take Advil or Tylenol for the discomfort. Put your tissues directly in the trash. Wash your hands often and open a window for some fresh air from time to time.

Monitor your temperature and call your healthcare hotline or your physician with any unusual symptoms or if you are not improving after 7 days. Antiviral drugs are available to shorten the life of the flu, but are not necessary for most people.

When to Panic

The CDC recommends seeking Emergency medical attention for the following symptoms (which apply to nearly any illness, not just the flu):

In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

* Fast breathing or trouble breathing
* Bluish skin color
* Not drinking enough fluids
* Not waking up or not interacting
* Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
* Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
* Fever with a rash

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

* Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
* Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
* Sudden dizziness
* Confusion
* Severe or persistent vomiting

You can learn more about treating influenza from the CDC’s website. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/.

The swine flu sounds scary; I’ll admit it. I don’t want to catch anything that came from a sick pig. I live on a farm. Pigs are gross animals. But swine flu is no more of a concern than the regular flu that plagues us all year after year.

Get the facts, wash your hands, and relax.

Life’s too short to spend your days worrying about the pig flu.

These American Christians attend church on Easter and Christmas to take communion, and they volunteer to walk for Relay for Life when asked. Some may even sit in a pew every Sunday and sing in the choir. An ambitious few may help feed the poor and go on missions trips to Africa and China.

American Christians grew up singing Jesus Loves Me, and playing with felt board Moses and Nativity sets. They pray at sporting events and before meals. They were baptized as children and walked the isle to join the church when they were old enough to read and write and follow the rules of the church constitution. They were married in white dresses before an ordained pastor or priest, and they put crosses on the graves of their loved ones.

Religion in Today’s America

We’ve come a long way from the days of Mayberry, R.F.D. Families no longer live behind white picket fences and drive American cars. It’s not cool to speak out against homosexuality In fact, it’s not even cool to say “homosexuality”. The correct terms are “gay men and lesbians”.

Tolerance is a way of life. After all, it’s your body and your life and you have the right to pursue your own personal brand of happiness. But we still believe in Christianity. Just make sure you remember to wear clean underwear when you leave the house, tell your mama you love her, and pray when you get in trouble.

It’s the American Christian way of life.

Seeking Truth

But what does the Bible say about Christianity? Jesus said:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’~ Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus didn’t say some, He said many. Many Christians will be deceived about their salvation.

Christianity= Following Christ

What Christianity is Not

It’s not about going to church.

It’s not about religion.

It’s not about being a good person.

It’s not about how many prayers you say.

It’s not about the music.

It’s not about the way you dress for church.

It’s not about how many Scriptures you can quote.

It’s not even about love (love is not enough to be a Christian).

What Christianity is About

It’s about a personal dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s about believing in Him, trusting Him, and submitting your life to Him. And for most of us, that’s not an easy order to fill.

Walking the isle, making a profession of faith, and being a good person is not enough to make you a Christian. There is no such thing as “Fire Insurance” for your soul. It’s all about Jesus Christ.

Judas knew Jesus, he did good works in the name of Jesus Christ, yet he still wasn’t saved. He looked good to everyone around him, but he still missed Jesus as the central element of true religion.

Pastor Perry Noble asks the question: You go to church. Are you still missing Jesus?

Do you really know Jesus? What about that person sitting next to you on Sunday morning? Do they need a personal introduction to Jesus Christ instead of American Christianity?

Are we living in an age of Christless Christianity?

The deception runs deep in our churches. Your local church pew is the new missionary field. Are you willing to introduce your family and friends to Real Christianity?

Show them a better way of life. Show them Jesus.

photo credit: Nessa Land

One of our life-mottoes here at Blue Duck is that relationships matter. In fact, we believe life is all about relationships, everything else is just fluff or icing on the cake. That doesn’t make us relationship experts, or even mean that we get it right all the time. It just means that we expend considerable energy on improving and maintaining personal and professional relationships.

For those who don’t already know, I’m in the process of getting my Master’s Degree in Psychology in my spare time. In my studies, we took a look at Carl Jung and his theory on personality development, and I wanted to share that experience with you.

In my former life as an RN, I was responsible for providing a monthly inservice for employees, and I often chose to present an overview of differing personality types. When reading about Jung’s theories, I was instantly intrigued by the similarities and differences in Jung’s views when compared to what I had taught. So, I took the Carl Jung and Isabel Myers-Briggs typology test to see how I would score according to Jung’s categories. I was shocked to see such an accurate depiction of my complex personality. (Less than one percent of the population has the same personality type as I do.)

Empathy

All too often, we tend to view the world strictly through the rose colored glasses of our own thoughts and experiences and fail to infuse our relational interactions with a modest amount of empathy. We are often incapable of seeing things from another’s point of view.

In order to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, you must 1) get to know that person beyond the veneer of social fronts, 2) understand the motivating forces directing that person’s behavior, and 3) often take into consideration the major life events that helped shape that person’s view of the world.

Empathy is a powerful tool, in both personal and professional relationships. It can help you analyze your own strengths and weaknesses (as well as those of your competition) and strengthen the quality of your relationships. Empathy can help diffuse a confrontational situation, provide a connection to a new acquaintance, and produce insight into the behaviors of those around you. It is a crucial component of healthy relationships.

One tool that can help you increase your level of empathy is personality typing, like the one provided by Jung. You can take your own personality test for free here: Carl Jung and Isabel Myers-Briggs typology.

Understanding your own personality is often the first step in personal growth and professional achievement. It’s one of those little nuggets of truth in life that should be taught universally, at least in my opinion. If you would like to learn more about personality types, a popular view is the Four Temperaments. And for those of you familiar with Jung’s theories, I am not supporting all of his views. As with many of the major personality theorists that shape our modern view of psychology, he produced some insightful elements and some wonky ones. If you would like to read more about Jung’s personality theory relevant to the MBTI scoring, PeopleMaps has a decent post about the subject.

If you are interested, I scored as an INTP. My personality is that of a Rational Architect. If you’d like to comment on your own MBTI results, feel free to drop me an email or start a discussion below. You may be shocked at what your test results reveal.

How to make Money With SEO by Seth Godin

Oh! And because bloggers are on top of things today, Aaron Wall of SEOBook has written a post about Seth’s latest. You can read it here: Aaron Wall on SEO strategies.

photo credit: Dr Stephen Dann

Now, I have no desire to acquire hordes of possessions, climb to the top of some corporate ladder, or become a rock star at 35. I think this is more of a spiritual nudging that I’m not living up to my full potential. I am capable of more; I was created for better things. YOU were created for better things, too.

So, where is all this borderline motivational drivel leading to, you ask? In my quest to plan out a course for achieving more, I found a wonderful little nugget of truth and wisdom, tucked away in a far corner of the Internet, and I’d like to share it with you.

You see, I have a small problem; I am not an entrepreneur by nature. Confidence and drive and persuasion do not come naturally to me. But I am an innovative thinker.

I’m looking for a new road map today. I’m planning a route for better personal and professional relationships, a deeper spiritual life, a robust education, and a solid, innovative, fulfilling online business. I’m doing a life make-over, an early mid-life crisis, reinventing the wheel- whatever it takes, and I found an excellent starting line today thanks to Sitepoint.com and WhitneyHess.com.

If you are looking for a starting point for your online business, or even if your focus has gotten a little hazy, this presentation titled Evangelizing Yourself will help set you back on track. Watch it more than once and take notes, because Ms. Whitney is about to provide your road map for success with a side serving of motivation and confidence.

Not interested in fame, just the fortune? Want a more realistic plan for online business success? You could concentrate on making the best of your website with SEO practices. The right keyword is a powerful tool. When carefully selected and put to work properly, it holds the potential to make your online business an instant success.

The Honeymoon’s Over

Selecting the perfect keyword phrase for your website is pretty anticlimactic. You sweat, cry and bleed over the keyboard for days, researching different keyword combinations. You finally find the perfect keyword for your niche with good search traffic, a decent PPC return, and a low page rank. You snatch it up, register a domain name, sit back, and scratch your head. Now what?

Well, lots of SEO blogs will tell you to run right out and hire an SEO writer to incorporate your new found treasure into your website before Google launches you out of the Sandbox. But the truth is, that may not be the first thing to do. In fact, your primary keyword phrase may not even show up on your website.

What You Talkin’ Bout Willis?

SEO experts have shown that it is possible to rank highly for a given keyword that rarely or never shows on your website. That means, in theory, you could select “Ice Cream Dream” as your primary keyword phrase for your Dairy Queen knock-off website, but not list it in your meta description, headers, domain name, or content, and still rank in the top ten for that phrase. How? Through inbound links.

Search engines currently place great value on anchor text. (That’s the blue text that is highlighted when a live link is displayed on a website.) With that in mind, imagine what would happen if you invested two hours a day sowing quality backlinks containing your primary keyword phrase as anchor text. Excited yet?

Have you ever gotten a comment on your blog that reads: Jamie Simmerman- SEO Writer, and wondered what the heck possessed that girl to post her name like that? Well, Ms. Simmerman is sowing her keyword phrase on your website to help boost her SERPs.

Now, before you feel used and offended, keep in mind that if someone is sowing backlinks on your website, they feel your website has something to offer them. You either have quality traffic, quality content, decent page ranking, or a heck of a lot of potential for them to invest their time in leaving a link. It’s a lot like putting a seal of approval on a website- they like you and think you’re cool enough to hang out with the popular kids at recess.

On Your Mark, Get Set…

So where the heck do you put all these lovely backlinks? You find websites that relate to your keyword and you join the discussion on their latest blog post, or even an archived blog post if you like. Websites with higher page ranks are obviously a natural choice, but any relevant site will do if the content is regularly updated and they draw traffic. (We’ll talk about how to determine those qualities in a later post, so don’t worry if you don’t know how to check the profitability of a website.)

That means commenting on your competition’s website is a definite plus. If you sell ice cream, you want to comment on every post Dairy Queen publishes. You also want to locate other blogs that talk about making ice cream, list ice cream facts, websites that sell ice cream, hate ice cream, or have ice cream fetishes. You want to place your name and backlink any place your target audience is likely to visit or congregate.

You may also want to spend some time finding higher Page Rank websites of any topic that allow backlinks, even if they are REF=NoFollow. (But you still have to follow etiquette and abide the rules below.)

STOP!

What you don’t want to do is contribute to the huge amount of worthless content floating around on servers and clogging up an otherwise good system. Only comment if you have something intelligent or helpful to say. Comments like “nice post” or “you suck” are inevitably destined for the spam file. If you can’t participate in the discussion, do some research or read along for a few days until you catch on. This not only helps build your SERPs, but your online reputation as well.

Always play nice. If you can’t say something nice, then keep your fingers off the keyboard. If you have a legitimate gripe or an opposing view, be responsible and state your comment without attacking or belittling anyone. You don’t always have to agree, but you don’t have the right to give a complete stranger a tongue lashing Internet-style either.

GO!

If you read the blogs of your friends or family members on a regular basis, ask them about backlinking before you post. Explain what you’d like to do and ask permission first, it’s considered polite to bring it up if you have a personal relationship with the blogger or webmaster. With that said, you should know that Blue Duck posts all backlinks, as long as they are not spam-y or offensive. Feel free to link to your heart’s content.

Keep in mind that it might take an obscene number of backlinks to see the results you want. Be patient and remember that every link counts.

BONUS SEO TIP: If you haven’t seen results in several months, you may need to rethink your keyword phrase. It’s possible that too many other SEO savvy bloggers are competing for the same phrase.

We’ll post another SEO writing tip next week, so stay tuned. And if you have an SEO writing related question, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section of this blog, via the Blue Duck contact form, or in an email.

With that in mind, I have an innovative thought for you: you can be your own SEO writer. Yep, you don’t need to hire me unless you are too strapped for time to learn the basics and write your own content. In fact, most of my clients come to me after they have been writing their own content for some time. Perhaps they have gotten too busy, sometimes they admit to exhausting their knowledge on a subject, often they are desperate for better results. That’s what I’m here for. But, if you have your own website, are strapped for cash, and have some free time on your hands, welcome to the world of SEO writing!

Paying it Forward

Rather than have you blunder your way around the web for the next six months, I thought I’d give you a hand up and share a few SEO tips to help you get started in SEO writing. Why would I do such a thing and endanger my future business profits by teaching you my business? Because someone did it for me, and I like to pay back my debts. God has blessed Blue Duck, and I believe He will continue to do so. But if He decides it’s time to close the doors and pass the business on to some young talented SEO writer, then so be it. So welcome to the first ever Blue Duck Copy SEO Writing Tips for the Rest of Us.

SEO Writing Tips for All

I had a hard time deciding where to start in all this. Do I start from the very beginning and define SEO and the terminology? Do I dig right in and give you the steaming hot latest SEO news from the experts? I decided to take the middle ground and go for something you can immediately put to use, keywords.

What This Tip Is Not

This post is not about how to choose the right keywords, or what keywords are, or how they should be used on a website. This is not a discussion about keyword density or siloing, or any other keyword building techniques. Those topics may appear in the future, just not here and now.

The Prerequisites

Before you put this tip to use, you’ll need to understand what a keyword is and how it is used to help people find your website. You’ll also need to have a list of the most profitable and relevant keywords for your website. The process of choosing the right keywords is often a hotly debated topic. If you don’t have a primary keyword phrase for your website, get one through whatever process you think is logical and acceptable.

You can find scores of information about keyword selection. I recommend visiting a few websites like SEO Book, Bruce Clay, SEOmoz, and Court’s Internet Marketing School. (And in case you noticed and are wondering why I’m suggesting marketing websites for SEO research, search engine optimization and search engine marketing are like peanut butter and jelly; you can eat them separately, but they go better together.)

For archival and search purposes, I’m going to publish the actual SEO tips separately in their own little posts. This may be a slight inconvenience for some, but it will give you a few minutes to do your research if you need to and give you something to look forward to in an hour or so.

You can read the the first installment of Blue Duck SEO Writing Tips here.

Hidden Office Gems

One tool that can help you work smarter is most likely sitting on your hard drive right now, Microsoft Office. I use Microsoft Word daily, hourly, obsessively. The grammar and spelling checker is one of the best available, and overall, the program is easy to work with. To be honest, I bought Office just to get Word. Excel, Access, Power Point… those were just taking up space on my computer. Sure, I’d poked around a little when I first got them, and I had a vague sense that they could do much more, but was never motivated to take the time to learn what each program was capable of.

I recently finished a college course on advanced Excel and Access functions, and was I surprised at what these programs can do! I canceled my subscription to Freshbooks, gave away my Freelance management program, and streamlined my daily tasks enough to sneak in a nap in the afternoons (or a few minutes of quality time with a good novel). With an investment of a few minutes of my time I set up custom invoices, a database of my regular clients, a streamlined email list, custom reports and graphs, and a financial analysis of my business income- all in less time than I would normally spend managing paperwork with my old system.

Excel Features

Did you know that Excel can:

• Automatically find inconsistencies in your spreadsheets
• Import and export data to and from other Microsoft programs like Outlook, Word, and Power Point
• Sort data without altering the original information
• Perform complex calculations like displaying the names of employees eligible for a 401K program with the requirements of more than one year of employment, less than $200,000 yearly salary, and full time status
• Add long columns of figures without errors
• Record repetitive functions to be performed with a single click
• Calculate loan payments
• Figure the amount of interest and principal paid each month
• Determine the break even point for your business
• Figure the best possible price for a product or service based on your operating costs

Microsoft Office online has pre-made Excel spreadsheets for popular tasks like balancing your checkbook, creating a budget, tracking grades, and planning events. I even created a special Excel workbook for analyzing keyword profitability.

Access Discoveries

Entering customer information into Access was quick and painless with the import feature that took my information straight from my Outlook address book. In a matter of minutes, I was able to create custom invoices and generate reports such as outstanding payments and projects due in the next week. The switch-over was quick and painless and produced professional quality results.

It may seem like a no-brainer, but I was really pleased to find a few hidden gems already in my software library. Microsoft offers online classes for Office products, and your local library carries lengthy manuals covering all the simple and complex functions of each program if you’d like to learn to take advantage of your Office programs.

If you’ve discovered other hidden gems to help you work smarter, please drop me a line in an email or in the comments below. I could really use a few extra minutes to work on my fiction writing. 

I have several posts planned on business tools, keywords, and SEO, but I feel the need to rant a little first. I suffered a bit of culture shock this morning after cocooning for over a week- I watched the news.

Naked Confrontation

Okay, perhaps I’m tired and still a little drained and I can blame it all on the flu, or perhaps today was a wake-up call for me.

I may be a little idealistic, but I found CNN down-right offensive today. I was sitting in the local McDonald’s with my boys and my ears perked up at the mention of a conflict between the Chinese navy and one of our own ships in International waters. The reporter stated that a Pentagon spokesperson described the incident as “one of the most aggressive actions we’ve seen in some time.” (Well, what a wonderfully typically vague political statement.) So, I continued to watch through the commercial to find out what happened. That’s when the disgust hit. The headline posted at the bottom of the screen read “nearly naked confrontation”.

What?

It seems that the USNS Impeccable felt threatened by the Chinese ships and responded with the only “weapon” they had- a fire hose. They soaked the sailors, who stripped to their underwear and continued the harassment.

Okay, the whole thing is a little comical if it were a Saturday morning cartoon, but this was real life. It disturbs me that CNN would stress the nakedness of the Chinese sailors over what such hostility actually means. At the end, the reporter quickly mentioned that pentagon officials speculate the Chinese government is testing the new U.S. president.

Not So Personal and Private it Can’t be Headline News

I changed channels. On Headline News, Nancy Grace was up in arms over “personal, private home videos released of Caylee Anthony and her mother”. People flashed across the screen and debated whether these videos were released to help Casey Anthony’s defense. Callers argued that the videos clearly show that the woman loves her child, therefore she couldn’t have murdered her.

What?

Casey Anthony refers to Caylee as “that little girl” when telling reporters how much she misses her daughter. Would you refer to your then-missing daughter in such an impersonal, third-person description? And who says mothers can’t suffer from mental illness, or get mixed up with some guy who wants the little bundle of joy out of the picture? Do these scenarios sound familiar? Perhaps the mother associated with the wrong people and they killed Caylee to make a point, or get even? What do home videos of a mother playing with her daughter prove? Do you really expect to see someone shooting home videos of Casey Anthony telling her daughter she is unloved, unwanted, a mistake? (Point a camera in my direction and I instantly smile. We put on our best Happily Ever After face.) Yet millions tuned in to watch the videos, because we have a sick fascination with the case. The show went on to talk about the interviews, book deals in the making, and thousands of dollars paid to Casey Anthony and her family for their stories. Does this not make anyone else nauseous?

Your Pain, My Gain

Next up on the news is everyone’s favorite feel-good talk show host- Oprah. She’s pictured telling Rhianna that Chris Brown WILL hit her again.

Okay.

Girl, if she didn’t get the the message as her lover’s fists pummeled her face and choked her into unconsciousness, do you really think telling her it will happen again is going to have any effect?

But it’s good showmanship to speak out against domestic violence and give the appearance of “helping”. Goof for you, but if you’re going to talk the talk, walk the walk. Roll up your sleeves and volunteer at a domestic violence shelter, send Dr. Phil to her house for free counseling. Don’t preach at the girl when you have no idea what it’s like to be a victim of domestic violence. Rhianna is a victim, she doesn’t deserve to be humiliated or brow-beaten over her situation.

Nauseous News

Do we have to resort to sensationalism and sex for every event? Are we that depraved?

Oh, but nearly naked sailors, pictures of bodies lined up in the streets of a foreign country, pictures of bloodied swollen faces of beautiful stars, and stories of mothers who kill their children draw ratings!

B J sent me a heads up about a recent poll on religion. It shows more and more Americans are abandoning organized religion, and giving up faith all together. I don’t blame them, organized religion smells. It’s tainted, corrupt, discouraging.

So what can we do? Pray for this country. Pray long, pray hard. Fast on behalf of America, grieve for our nation. We need it.

Rant Complete? Check.

Up later this week: Office Tools for Your Online Business. You probably have an invaluable business tool sitting unused on your computer right now. We’ll show how to save money and work smarter with common software programs you may already own.