Hello from Jamestown, Tennessee, "The Heart of Big South Fork Country," situated atop the beautiful Cumberland Plateau!

I was born in Norfolk, Virginia but was raised in Central Michigan and spent most of my life in the Flint area - mostly in the little town of Davison. I am the eldest of four children; our family of six includes my two sisters and my brother.

My dad worked as a laborer, and having never finished school, made every effort to instill in us the importance of a good education. Once we were all old enough to go to school, Mom began working as well. Things were tight many times growing up, but my parents never let on about it and did their best to make sure that we had what we needed.

During my junior high and high school years I was also very active in church. I attended AWANA Clubs from third through eighth grade and won the Timothy Award for completing three handbooks consecutively. It was through AWANA that I learned how to memorize, and during my high school years that ability was honed even further as a member of the Calvary Baptist Word of Life Quiz Team.

I've always loved to read and learn new things. My love of reading helped me immensely during my school years; I graduated Davison Senior High School with honors.

It was also during my high school years that I developed my entreprenurial bent. I had a paper route for two years that covered two to three miles. I rode my bike to deliver the papers except when it was snowy- then I did my route on foot. My customers loved me; they said that I was the best paperboy they ever had. I received an award for being an Outstanding News Carrier from The Flint Journal.

My next job was in the summer of 1982 as a Hav-A-Bar Ice Cream Salesman. No, I didn't drive a truck; instead I pedaled an ice cream cart up and down M-15 from Richfield Center to Davison six days a week. I won several contests held by my distributor throughout the summer and achieved record sales as well.

The summer following my senior year I got a crash-course in public relations as Deputy Assistant Registrar at Richfield Township Hall. This was where all Township business was conducted; I even worked as an election inspector for the August Primary.

I entered Grand Rapids Baptist College in 1983 and began a whole new chapter in my life as I was challenged to assess who I was and what I believed, and then apply it to every aspect of life. This Christian liberal arts college gave me the opportunity to travel with the Symphonic Band (I've played the clarinet ever since fifth grade!) and to go to New York City over spring break.

It was also at GRBC that I discovered the many avenues of the world of work. Although I had a couple of grants and took out student loans, through the college work/study program I worked my way through college. I worked in the dishroom (we called it 'the pit'); got up at 5:30 am on snowy days to drive the stepvan with the snowblowers from maintenance to the parking lot and then started helping to blow snow off the sidewalks; I worked for housekeeping during the summer of 1985 and for Miller Library in 1986.

I also worked for a while cleaning the science lab after hours, and, during the annual Bible Conference in February, I helped park cars. I even spent a little time now and then helping out my friends who worked at WCSG, the college radio station. And somehow in between these jobs I managed to go to class, study, have some fun now and then and finally graduate, making me the first person in both my mother's and father's families to achieve this milestone.

As a result of my work experience in college, I had learned to become a much better self-starter. A liberal arts degree doesn't get you a high-paid job so I began a series of jobs varying from roofing to painting to temporary work in factories to--selling vaccuum cleaners! One thing I quickly realized was that I didn't want to spend my life doing these kinds of things because I wasn't very good at them. It was then that I discovered those "Income Opportunity" magazines. I ordered some of the money-making materials and thus began my education and interest in Marketing.

It was in the summer of 1987 that I began the journey that brought me to Tennessee and to where I am online today. I received that money-making information along with some additional material. One piece left an indelible impression on me, and I still have it as my inspiration.

Because of that one odd-shaped piece of cardboard, I determined that I wanted to find or create a product or service that would truly help people, and that I would not be ashamed to promote.

Well, in the meantime I was rooming with my old college roommate and we both went through the job-to-job cycle for a couple of years. Then Michigan's economy began to falter, and shortly after that the build-up to the first Gulf War began, stagnating the economy. And then my car died, followed by my buddy's van. There we were: no job, no vehicle and rent coming due. And all of my "back-up plans" had failed.

We spent the next four months working for room and board in a tiny church in a tiny town in northern lower Michigan, thanks to the man who later became my roomie's father-in-law. During that time I learned about a camp in Livingston, Tennessee that needed counselors. Two weeks before camp I got my acceptance letter and that's how I moved to Tennessee!

I spent a year and a half there and then moved to Jamestown, just about thirty miles up the road. I worked as a cook at Sonic in Cookeville for three years, and also for a short time at Dairy Queen in Jamestown. Then I heard about the radio station, WCLC.

Having no experience whatsoever, I went in and made some demo recordings and that's where it ended. Except for the fact that I was so obsessed with radio, thanks to my brief encounters with it in college, that I hung around the station every chance I got. Well, seeing my interest and willingness to learn, the General Manager eventually hired me as a substitute. I did my first live solo shift on Thanskgiving, 1993.

After about six months I began to get better, and eventually I became the morning man and then hosted Southern Jubilee for two years. I did everything from writing commercials to voicing and producing them. I had discovered another way that I could be creative . . . it was great!

In the meantime I also re-discovered my passion for meteorology (weather) as we were required to monitor and do live weather coverage during periods of inclement weather. As a result of this I also began to want to do News. Following six months as acting News Director, the manager gave me the position, which I held for at least another two years. (Since the death of our late General Manager, Jim Cody, I have again assumed the position.)

During this period I was working part-time at the station and as an administrative assistant at Quality Home Health Care. Eventually I went full-time with the station, and then gradually moved to full-time at Quality.

I first met the hometown girl who is now my wife in 1995. We were married in the summer of 1998, and now have two wonderful children. As a husband, and now a dad twice over, I want to spend more time with my family, and ever since 1987 I have kept pursuing various income opportunities and continued my study of marketing, which is my passion.

I’d heard about the Internet since 1995, but being in such a remote place like Jamestown meant that the arrival of such technology was very slow. Local ISP dial-up service arrived at Quality in 1999 and I got a free e-mail account or two and started some online searching about Marketing - that’s when I discovered something called Online Marketing.

My online life began in 2000 and thanks to Ken Evoy I realized that I really could make money online. Since that time I've had the privilege of attending Ted Ciuba's live Internet Marketing event twice and Michael Penland's Internet & Joint Venture SuperConference twice, and the incredible experiences and opportunities at these events have changed my life!

I have met and conducted live interviews with Ted, Michael, Terry Dean and over a dozen more top-flight marketers at these events and am creating my own product with them. It was at Ted's event that I came up with a name for my own system that I've accidentally discovered and dubbed myself "The Premiere Info-Strategist"(TM).

And thanks to the friendships I have made with people like John Delavera, Gary Huynh, Joel Christopher, George Callens, Jennie Armato, Marc Goldman, Lonnie Amirault, Dennise Ryder, Kimberly Gordon, Richard Quek, Bryan Winters, Mike Mograbi and many others by using my creative Info-Strategies, I have been able to be a part of some great products and joint ventures.

My motto (and my business name, Eph5 Communications) is taken from Ephesians 5:16, which says, "Making the Most of Every Opportunity." By using my Info-Strategies, I seek to create unique, valuable and profitable win/win/win situations for my JV partners, their customers and myself using "ordinary" information and free or low-cost marketing methods.

The inspiration behind my Info-Strategies is this well-known phrase by Zig Ziglar:

“If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

My website, prosperityunleashed.com is dedicated to helping people to discover the tools they need to "Create Your OWN Brand of Success" thereby unleashing their own Prosperity. I seek to help them discover those tools based upon my own research and experience, which I share with them in my newsletter, ProsperityUnleashed!,"The No-Nonsense Source for Your Success."

I believe that life is a learning experience, and that applies to Marketing or any area of expertise. As a result of hundreds of hours of research and study, I have amassed, and continue to amass, a collection of proven resources, tools and methods that I'm using, and that you can use as well, to "Create Your OWN Brand of Success."

Thus my email and newsletter signature, in the spirit of Zig's quote, is always . . .

Seeking YOUR Success,

Stephen Boutelle

Stephen (Steve) Boutelle
"The Premiere Info-Strategist"(TM)

Click Here to Check Out Some of My Online Accomplishments