MARKETERS unite: December 2025

Colossians 3:9-10

King James Version

9 Lie not one to another,

seeing that ye have put off

the old man with his deeds;

10 And have put on the new man,

which is renewed in knowledge

after the image of him that created him:

This marketer just realized she's been in the online marketing arena since 2015.

And as 2025 closes to an end today, in my time zone, I realized I've been at it for 10 years now.

(Longer, if you'll count my kid's idea of creating tiny straw flowers, perched on a toothpick "stem", selling it for a few centavos, and gingerly placing these in a tiny, choco box. Selling five of such pretties got me the moolah to buy my favorite cupcake with choco frosting. Simple, childlike pleasures, folks!)

Yes, I guess I had been an entrepreneur all my life.

Through it all, I've had -- just like every entrepreneur -- hits and misses.

But what are "misses" for, but for essential learning.

(No, it's not a "cop-out", it's reality.)

It's the only way to look upon such.

Because I've much mileage to my years, this entrepreneur started selling the old-fashioned way.

Face-to-face.

Shaking hands, even giving hugs, out of gratitude.

Nothing like genuine warmth, for every customer that buys, or enters your shop, even just to browse.

With us making sure our stuff is "legit".

And fairly-priced, too.

And if you're an old-fashioned entrepreneur -- a one-man army -- you can imagine you need to put on many exciting hats.

You'll create, craft, and design your products, or services.

You'll look for materials yourself, and if you don't have any, you have to get creative -- the more economical, the better.

You'll do the marketing, merchandising, and moolah-ing (the actual selling).

Sometimes, customers and I "bartered".

Their idea, really.

Customers are creative, too.

When lacking cash, they think up a solution.

"Would I be open to the idea of exchanging stuff?

A book (which they think I might like),

for a glassware I have (which they definitely want)?"

How can you turn down a customer who wanted something so badly, they'll part with something they cherished (or maybe not)?

Nevertheless, they got creative, and thought up a solution.

Maybe they should be in my place, and become an entrepreneur, too.

Or maybe they already are.

I know I'll never get rich the typical way.

My heart's too soft.

Now, that's really old-fashioned marketing:

Having a soft heart.

Bartering with customers.

Having a fair exchange.

Making sure both parties come out happy.

There was no internet marketing then.

Sure, it had been created, but only for the techies, scientists, research purposes, and the military.

The rest of us entrepreneurs had to do plenty hard work.

And if you're a legit entrepreneur, you don't mind so much.

It's all part of the process of learning, and selling.

But boy, we enjoyed it, too, for you saw your "baby" growing.

Or, as it also does, failing to grow.

But that's all part of the essential entrepreneurship process.

If you don't have guts, you will not have "glory".

If you hesitate, you may lose out on "opportunities".

If you don't listen to your customers, you won't learn a thing.

If you don't have failures, how can you know what doesn't work?

You have to "test" the genuineness, usefulness, and durability of your product and/or service ALL the time.

As this marketer often reminds herself, and others:

"There's only one way to find out!"

But first, you have to be a believer in your product/service.

Not doing so makes you a "fake" -- a charlatan, a pretender.

This marketer believe in authenticity.

You also have to be prepared for the faulty waters of life.

And be aware of the faulty character of man.

TRUST is always an issue in marketing.

And hopefully, you both come out winning.

Meaning, you deliver the goods, or services asked, and get paid fairly for it.

What better joy for a true entrepreneur if the customer is pleased?

Even overjoyed.

What is true entrepreneurship if only one benefits from it?

But as we all know, many don't follow that ideal.

Many have written their own books of "trade".

What I do know about trade, (and my brain is really simple), is that it's give, and take.

Again, a fair exchange.

Finally the social media scene "called" in 2015.

All because some friends egged me on.

They said they needed to "connect".

And yet, we could still have had coffee in town, had they chosen to.

Nevertheless, this marketer jumped in -- curious.

Fun enough, for a time.

And eventually saw online, money-making opportunities, too.

For, by then, the internet had shared many ways of doing it.

Talk about finding "traffic" to "sell" your online stuff, like cryptocurrencies, or many other programs people have.

Or finding "subscribers" to your money-making ideas, and programs.

More like Ponzi schemes, really.

You get others to "invest", with them thinking they'll experience what program creators have achieved.

Of course, we didn't.

We noticed, only a few at the top, did.

It became base-heavy, and top light.

More losers than winners.

Then, you were induced into using your credit cards for "payments" of "subscriptions", or to purchase items online.

And so many payment programs rose from all that.

Unless, of course, you had crypto.

So, this marketer tried that, too.

When it came time to "collect" small earnings, the online "company" gave us a taste of it.

When earnings got bigger, we found they folded up.

As with money made in a "cloud", it, too, went up in a cloud.

There were too many of that, if you would take time to listen to online marketers.

Unless you're one who has experienced that, too.

There's really no way of finding out if programs are legit, unless you can't "collect" from your sales.

Because I kept marketing online, I discovered "traffic" programs, too.

Wherein you discover avenues to show, and offer, your programs online.

The idea being you click for "credits".

You view other people's programs, and earn credits so you can also show them your program(s).

For me, that was a better option.

You really get to help each other.

You also have enough manners to read their offers.

Not to mention, you expand your knowledge about online offers.

In the process, this marketer created a blog just for that in 2017:

"Band of Banners"

(Patterned after the "Band of Brothers" movie,

for after all, aren't we all brothers and sisters

trying to make a living?)

Am done with money-making online programs now.

I had not experienced much success in it anyway.

I just didn't have the spirit to mislead others.

Plus, something else happened in 2019.

Four years after my first foray in online marketing, GOD decided -- enough of my "foolishness".

(I was paying more, than I was earning, that's why. Hoping for the next big thing, the one that might just pay, and everyone benefits. Which never came, of course.)

It was time to take my learning to His level.

Wherein I'd "promote" His WORD instead.

Once I knew His ABSOLUTE TRUTH, through His HOLY SPIRIT, that part was easy.

I swam to the Bible, like a fish to water.

The LIVING WATER was warm, safe, sure, and secure.

GOD even made me dream about Him that way.

Now, all I'm interested in -- after over six years as born again since 2019-- is offering you legit traffic.

Since I'd been scouring the internet for 10 years, I got to know some trustworthy folks, and sites, who offer it for FREE.

Of course, you can always upgrade, for maximum exposure.

These are people who really care you succeed, as you use their mailers and traffic sites.

One such is Ed Lawton of Solo Castle and Sonic Instant Mails.

There are a few more trustworthy mailer/surf owners, by the way.