One of my favorite motivational speakers, Zig Ziegler tells a story about one such man who did not. There are lessons to be learned for anyone who is serious about succeeding in their work on the internet.

For the sake of brevity I will paraphrase much of the story about a man who failed to use his time and talent well.

He tells of a man who lived in a small southern community and was well-known and respected in the area.

One day he was trading at the local general store purchasing some food and other items. The clerk had been washing some vegetables and her hands were still wet when the customer gave her a bright, new twenty-dollar bill.

She noticed that some of the green ink came off on her hands, and just for a moment she wondered if it might be counterfeit. She had known the man well for many years and dismissed the very foolish idea from her mind.

But later after he had left, her concern grew and she called in the local sheriff to examine the money. They decided to pay a visit to the man's house. There they discovered in the attic his equipment for making counterfeit money.

There was an easel, some paint brushes and a can of green paint. This man was a brilliant artist who was hand painting twenty-dollar bills so well that they could be passed undetected unless the receiver had wet hands.

They also discovered several beautiful paintings in the house that were later sold for very large amounts of money at auction following the conviction of the counterfeiter.

The paradox is that it took him about the same time and effort to produce one of these valuable paintings as it did to make one fake twenty-dollar bill.

So as you can see he could have been a very successful artist if he had only used his time and talent well.

It is my hope that this article will give you pause to assess your use of time and talent as you work on line. Use your talents and develop those other skills you need by reading, studying and practicing.

Best of luck with your promotional efforts.

-- Larry Johnson

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