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! Shannan is also one of the newest coaches at Million Dollar Body.  |
