|
All
About Shannan Hearne (Written by a former web
designer) - 1999
Well, Shannan
found she just couldn't write this, so I'm writing it.
I am her site designer, Jan, and also her
collaborative team partner and business associate, and
last, a good friend, not always in that order. So it
seems appropriate for me to tell you about her. :} The
best part of this is I can put this up without her
even knowing about it, and I think that'll be fun. So
let's just keep this our little secret until she
happens onto it, ok? It's as much for her as it is for
you.
Shannan
specializes in internet marketing strategies for small
business owners. But beyond her professional
persona, there is so much more to this internet
marketing genius.
Shannan
lives in a small town, not far from a city with her
three -
count 'em, three kids, all under the age of 7, anyway.
She is the sole support of her family, and she is also
a southern young lady. One of those "Steel
Magnolias." The steel is in her backbone, not in
her heart or her personality.
We
kinda determined it's better for her kids not to tell
much about them, just that they're small and
active.....um, very active. There are no passive
children at her house. There's no passive anything at
her house, probably.
Now,
three kids would be enough for most of us, but Shannan
also has an old horse she's had, and loved, for 12
years. The horse is now 20 years old and in bad
health. She takes care of it, and hauls hay, mucks
out, everything you do for horses, every day, and does
it with love. This old horse is a golden palomino with
a flax/white mane and tail. If you were at this site
at Christmas you saw this masthead that I made for Shannan
with my brand new Paint Shop Pro program, and probably
wondered why on earth.... well, that's why. It isn't
very good, and I'm sorry about that--I wish it were
better.
Now,
you'd think that three small children and a sick old
horse to take care of would be enough, but Shannan
also has a black dog who is probably part chow and
part black lab, a gray short hair cat with white feet
and chin, and a solid black short hair cat with a half
length tail.
And that's just her
immediate family. Her parents live about five minutes
away. So when she says she's busy, she really is.
Whew!
I've
known Shannan
online for at least four years, originally from a
discussion newsletter that we participated in. She has
always been helpful, but she has also always had to
work hard to support the "eight members of her
family." She's been promoting my site for three
of those years, at least. She's kept my site at #1
under my most important keyword in Alta
Vista and #3 in Yahoo
through all the upheavals and changes.
In
addition to her promotion business, at which by the
way, she really is a master, she also sells Mountain
Gourmet hand carved, hand worked, heirloom quality
wooden kitchen utensils and such as things as Shaker
boxes--I'm not a cook, but I love those boxes. They're
cherry, and they will be passed from generation to
generation. I have one similar to them that was my
great-grandmother's, and they only become more
beautiful with age. If you're in her downline, she
also promotes your Mountain Gourmet site for you. She
makes her people successful, too.
But
back to Shannan.......she
has a degree, too. She is one of the finest
researchers online that I've met....that's how she
finds all the resources and all the linking
opportunities for her clients. She keeps in mind which
of her clients can benefit from the opportunities or
the resources
or the free software she comes across, and lets them
know about it. It's one of the perks of being her
client, and it really sets her apart from any other
promotion service on the web, if nothing else did.
She
edited some writing I was doing, and in the process, I
found out that Shannan
is a superb copy writer in her own right. Her edits
doubled the impact! The only thing is, neither of us
can seem to cut it down. :} She corrected my grammar,
and my spelling. She writes
some of the best ads I've seen, and she knows more
about tracking results on the Internet than anyone I
know. She's written many of the articles on this site,
and I think all of them have been published in other
people's newsletters.
Shannan
is very family oriented; you caught that right off,
didn't you? She is also a very religious person. She
doesn't talk about it, doesn't preach; she just lives
it. She sets an example. I found that out when she was
a little down at Christmastime when, so often, it
seems the Christ is missing in most of our
Christmases, so we tried to put a little of it back
with her site all decked out for Christmas and a very
special page for Christmas.
It was special enough
that I think we might include it for the rest of the
year as well, minus the graphics, of course:
My fondest Christmas
memory, and my charge to each of you, is the year
that untold numbers of women of the web reached out
and adopted my children and myself.
When
personal and family tragedy and crisis left my
children and I financially and emotionally strapped,
gifts arrived the entire month of December for my
children from as far away as The Netherlands. My
heart was warmed and gladdened each day as the UPS
man or the letter carrier would arrive. My children
found out that year that there is indeed a Santa
Claus.
I
challenge each of you to do the same. Whether you
adopt a child off a Christmas angel tree or a needy
family or a lonely neighbor - remember The Reason
For The Season and give from the heart.
Even
before Halloween this year, my children and I began
craft projects for the homemade Christmas presents
that we would give to friends and family. My
children have had the benefit this year, of thinking
of others before they were inundated by the media
with thoughts of "I want" and "I
need". What a joy to watch them paint and draw
and stir and glue and bake as they think of the
happiness that they can spread to others this
Christmas.
Our
extended family lives eight hours away so we will be
spending a lot of time on the road this Christmas.
With three children who run the gamut from reading
books, to looking at the pictures, to pulling the
pages out of the books, I'm planning ahead for
holiday travel fun. Whenever I go to the dollar
store, I pick up an item or two for car
entertainment. I know these little toys don't have
to last past Christmas morning when the real fun
arrives. But it gives them something new and
different to work with on the car ride. What do you
do to entertain your little ones for holiday travel?
As
the years have gone by, my family has shrunk and
grown many times over. At the holidays it is a
bittersweet time of remembering those who are no
longer with us and reveling in the joy of the new
spouses, children, aunts, uncles, neices, and
nephews. At my Grandmother's house, there is a couch
on which three men always sat at Christmas morning
for the gift exchange. Two of the three are no
longer with us, and we cannot help but look at the
couch with longing. But the spaces have been filled
with other men, and as times change, sometimes even
one of the women seat themselves on the couch.
My
family is also filled with survivors, cancer being
the predominate attacker. But we have a house full
of people for whom we say an extra thanks because
they are still with us. Don't forget to give thanks
this holiday season. God is so good.
Shannan
also spends time online networking, to find the
opportunities she shares with her clients and through
her newsletter.
If you haven't yet subscribed to her newsletter, I
urge you to do so. It's unlike any other newsletter
online.
And
last, if you have an online business, I can't urge you
strongly enough to take advantage of the promotions
she does. She really is superb at what she does.
What
she says about that is "well, after four years of
experience, I ought to be!" And she's right about
that. Four years of experience is a lot of experience
when you consider that she's doing site
promotion 9 or 10 hours a day, every day of the
week, and then besides that, does the research and the
networking that keep her up to date and bring in
knowledge of new resources. I often find that my site
is already listed in a brand new directory long before
I even know it exists, which means high placement. I'm
constantly running across links to my site that I had
no idea existed. After three years, maybe a little
more, it's no wonder that my business is so
successful. I have Shannan
to thank for that, and I don't thank her enough for
all that she does for me. Well, actually, it wouldn't
be possible--there just aren't the words.......but if
you're her client, you'll experience that, too.
Jan
Crowell, 1999
View
Shannan in the Clover Community Theater 2003
production of Bus Stop! Click
Here!
Shannan's
newest endeavors include L'Bri
Aloe Vera Cosmetics and Advocare!
Check
out Shannan's Direct Sales Business - Click
Here!
|
