7 Trends To Watch For In 2015

As we begin a new year, it's popular for many bloggers and podcasters to make “predictions” about the new year. I prefer not making predictions (unless I feel inspired to do so), but I will point out 7 crucial trends to watch for in 2015.

I believe these trends represent some fundamental shifts in the way business is done online, and the way you will continue to build your platform in the new year

Other Reasons To Keep Listening

I will reveal one of the apps I'm using to help me meet my financial goals in 2015.
We will tackle the question, “if God is always good, then why do bad things happen to good people?”
I'll also share how you can get a plug or mention, or even an appearance on this show.

That's all coming up in today's episode…

Announcements:

Our Regency Mastermind Round One Membership filled up almost instantly. Stay tuned for news about round 2.

We're also working on a plan for a group mentoring plan for newbies… this will be a community that should be affordable for almost anyone. News to come soon.

I've decided to open the “insider only” invitation to our upcoming event Permission to Prosper to podcast listeners and subscribers. After all, you're insiders too! Click here for the details, but do it quickly.

Success Stories

I'm looking to share your success stories and good news. So if you've got a business triumph, spiritual victory, a story of God's miraculous intervention in your life or your business… I want to hear about it. Click this link to record a voicemail about your success story or testimony. This week's success story comes from Danna Demetre.

Tip of the Week:

I have some pretty huge financial goals for 2015. One of the main tools I am using for course corrections and double checking my progress is a free app called Personal Capital.

Using this app, I can see what is happening with all my accounts at a glance, and see an instant, up-to-date calculation of my net worth. Brilliant.

According to their website, Personal Capital provides “award-winning tools provide an in-depth view of your finances and help you eliminate excessive fees. Plus, our advanced analytics and expert advisors are on hand to give you a personalized investment strategy. So you and your money can have a little fun of your own.”

Spiritual Foundations: If God Is Always Good, Why Do Bad Things Happen?

This is not a new question. It's been dealt with by many great theologians, and I don't count myself as one of them. But I do know this: we really have one basic decision to make. Is God good, and can he be trusted?

And it really is a decision.

If you're looking for a mathematical formula to prove it one way or another, I predict you will be disappointed.

Personally, after I decided to settle this question in my heart once and for all, everything else became very clear to me. Even the subject of “mystery.”

Here are three explanations that might help us understand why bad things happen to God's people.

This is not heaven. We live in a fallen world, where the influence of the enemy still creates chaos and attempts to unravel the things which God has woven into place. The victory has been one by Jesus on the cross, and we live in an era when it is slowly but implacably being enforced by us, his “kingdom of priests”.
We cannot see the whole picture. Put another way, we simply don't know everything. It's possible that if we did, many things that we viewed now as injustices or the failure of God to keep his promises would actually be seen as the opposite. Think of it this way: your child may not understand why you are forcing them to undergo a painful and traumatic medical procedure. You, on the other hand, know that it's necessary for the doctor to remove the child's appendix so that they might live and not be killed by the very poison that conveys their system. A crude example, but perhaps illustrative.
Romans [8:38] assures us that God makes all things work for the good of those who love him, and who are called according to his purposes. If you are a follower of Christ, that includes you. And please note that it doesn't mean that God is not directly causative in whatever evil may befall you, but that he can, will, and does turn what was intended for evil to ultimately prove good for you.

I understand that all these answers may feel empty in the face of a devastating problem, such as a broken marriage, a cancer diagnosis, the sudden unexpected death of a child, or some other brutal and horrible experience that you may be undergoing right now.

It is in these places that the importance of the decision I mentioned earlier becomes obvious.

The time to make the decision that God is always good, and that he can be trusted, is before the crisis occurs. The time to exercise the faith for that belief is before you desperately need it.

Feature Presentation: 7 Trends To Watch For In 2015

Don't make the mistake of letting what you know get in the way of what you need to learn.

I often tell people that classic copywriting formulas will always work, because human psychology does not change. At the basis of that statement is I believe deep truth. However it can also be misleading.

If you assume that old-fashioned headline templates, for instance will work as well today as they once did, you may be in for a rude awakening. If you believe that the old school, hard-core, hard-sell, carnival barker style of writing copy still works as well as it did even a year ago, you are definitely in for a rude awakening. As I've discovered through my own business, and working with clients on theirs, there is a new elegance required to writing powerful, persuasive copy.

This is just one example of a new trend that does not cancel out a time-tested principle, but doesn't fact require a reinterpretation of that principle through fresh linens.

You will be much better prepared for doing business in 2015 if you keep the following seven landscape changing trends in mind. Ignore them at your peril.