Merry Christmas,

Can you believe it is time to say that. I hope and pray that you have a absolutely wonderful Christmas! I want to take a moment to invite you all out to our Christmas Eve service at 7pm, please feel free to bring friends and family. While we are on the topic of Christmas, I would love to receive Christmas updates on Christmas day letting me know what you are doing and what you received. Please look over the newsletter below and again I hope to see you on Thursday!

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Dave
Contents

1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Uh, That’s Funny?
=================================

1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

Wild Night: Light in the Dark

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” (Luke 2:8-9)
I think most of us tend to root for the shepherds in the Christmas story. They represent us. No matter what role you played as a kid in your church Christmas pageant, none of us are angels. And though we’re all learning to have faith like Mary, none of us will ever have her experience exactly.
No, we’re the shepherds — just living our everyday lives and suddenly terrified to realize that God has noticed us and overwhelmed to understand that the message He is delivering is Good News. For us. And it’s happening right now.
Like the shepherds working the night shift, we live in the dark. And like the shepherds, God’s light broke through the darkness of our fallen world with a spectacular opportunity: Believe in Jesus and live in great joy.
Don’t be afraid the light. It’s a good thing.
Think: Have you ever tried to imagine what that night was like for the shepherds out in the dark? Why do you think the shining “glory of the Lord” was so terrifying?
Pray: Thank God for making sure you heard the story of the shepherds and the angels so you could understand Jesus better.
Do: Think about reading Luke 2:1-7 to get caught up with the story again.

A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2009 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.

2. SURF REPORT
~ Movie Review of Avatar
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2009/avatar.html

~ Book Review of “Marked”
http://www.planetwisdom.com/books/review/marked/

3. FORGETTABLE FACT
A snail can sleep for three years.

4. POTENT QUOTABLES
Those who wish to sing, always find a song.
~ Swedish Proverb

5. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?
Q: What goes up and down without moving?
A: Stairs.

–
www.twitter.com/dpda2j
www.dpda2j.wordpress.com

A lot of businesses have been using email marketing for a while now, and others are just starting out. No matter where you are, we have all had problems with our email click through rates, racking our brains as to why people just aren’t clicking that link! Which is why I have published this post; to give you a few ways to overcome this, and improve the click-throughs.

Over the past few weeks, I have had a lot of emails asking me how to overcome this; and the majority of them asked if they should make pictures in their emails links. My answer to that would be yes. Wherever you can put a link, put one in. (With certain limits of course!)

Pictures can be a great way to get more people clicking your links. As long as your viewer knows it’s a link, great.

Another way would be putting links into your signature box at the end of the email. You want to put this under where you say goodbye, and personally, I make them picture links. While you won’t get as many clicks from these links as you would links in the body of your email, the people clicking these links are a lot more interested in knowing more about you or your product/service. The reason for this is that they have gone all the way to the bottom of the email. You may or may not be surprised, but a lot of your database probably doesn’t make it to the bottom of your email; and this is a great way to test that.

Layout. Where your links are is very important. If you introduce links too early, the reader will think that that is the sole purpose for you emailing them; just to get them to go to a certain site. Try and incorporate links into your text, replacing certain words with links, like I’ve just done.

This one might sound a bit obvious, but a lot of people don’t do it; just tell them. A lot of businesses sending out emails don’t tell the reader what action they want them to take, and this is essential. Don’t be timid about telling them what to click, and don’t ask either. Tell them, and if you can, include a benefit for them clicking that link, such as ‘Click the link at the bottom of this email for a free e-book’ or something like that. Also, if it’s an important link you want to redirect them to, write a few paragraphs about it, and include the link between paragraphs. I’ve found that, for me, 3 is the magic number.

Try and use a more tag as well. This one is great for re-directing to a blog, or if you have a blog on your website. Not a lot of explaining needed, literally just take an excerpt of a post, put it in the email, and then place a more link at the end,

The last little tip I’m going to leave you pondering about is to make your headers links. This way, if the reader finds that specific article interesting, he/she will click on the header for some more information. As with the picture links, though, you need to make sure that they know the headers are links.

Thanks for reading, I hope you found this post helpful; let me know in a comment.

NEWSFLASH!

Just wanted to inform all readers who aren’t already aware of this – Quilter’s Connection Magazine (Canada’s only quilting magazine) has a great e-newsletter, Loose Threads, that is sent to your in-box every month!  Loose Threads includes free quilting projects from great Canadian designers, tips and techniques to improve your quilting skills, and information on upcoming events across Canada!

Sign up for our free newsletter today!

Contents

1. Youth Group News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Movie Reviews
4. Forgettable Fact
5. Potent Quotables
6. Uh, That’s Funny?

=================================

1. YOUTH GROUP NEWS

• Christmas Party THIS Saturday @ Leslie Pontes’ home!  6:30 to 8:30pm
  • Optional $5 Yankee Swap
  • Guys bring drink to share & girls bring food to share
  • Fun, Games, Friends, & Encouragement for the Season!
  • Feel free to invite friends.
• Keep your eyes peeled for some overnighter activities the week of school Christmas Vacation!  More info coming soon!
• There will be NO formal Youth Group the Saturday after Christmas 12/26/09 or Saturday 1/3/10
• Camp Berea is right around the corner.  Don’t forget to pay your remaining balances.  If you need to know what your balance is contact Pastor Mike.  Also don’t forget to download, complete, & turn in all of your forms!

2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

Bigger Grace: God is Faithful
“He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Did you ever pick teams for a football or basketball game or something? If you’re the one doing the picking — and you really care about winning the game — you pick the strongest players you can get first, right? You know you’ll get stuck with a few weaker players, and you’ll have to figure out how to keep them from making you lose.

Way too many people think God works the same way, that He stands in heaven picking those He wants on His “team” (in “fellowship with his Son”) based on how good or strong we are, but that’s exactly backwards.

God looks for people weak enough to know they can never do anything to earn a spot on God’s team — and then He gives us a spot and makes us strong enough to do exactly what He wants done.

God wants people who need Him to be faithful to them, not people who think they are strong enough on their own to be perfectly faithful to Him.

Think: Do you sometimes feel like you’re always trying to earn God’s approval by being strong or good or faithful? What’s wrong with that idea?

Pray: Thank God that He called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ and that He is faithful.

Do: Read what Paul wrote about our weakness and God’s strength in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2009 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.
================================================

3. MOVIE REVIEWS

Lovely Bones

Read Review:

Invictus

Read Review:

4. FORGETTABLE FACT

Starfish don’t have brains.

5. POTENT QUOTABLES

There has been only one Christmas – the rest are anniversaries. ~W.J. Cameron

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. ~Larry Wilde

6. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?

Q: Why did the banana go to the doctor?
A: Because it wasn’t peeling well.

Tonight is Friday, December 11 2009. The second Friday of the month for December. Tonight, I should be hosting Cerridwen’s Mug tonight but I’m not. We celebrated our eighth anniversary event last month, an event that was met with a good crowd, amazing energy, and tons of support. All after I spent weeks worrying that none of that would happen. Awesome! I made an announcement that night that I would take next month off to give people the chance to focus on the upcoming holidays and it would also give my boyfriend/co-host to be (PsycheDiver) and I time to scout for a new location and make the changes that we collectively feel the Mug needs in order to grow.

I took over the Mug four years ago from the original hostess. Cerridwen’s Mug was my first outlet into the Toronto Pagan community when I first started attending back in 2002 and it was still a very new moot. I loved the idea of a gathering of people at a pub, or in this case, a coffee shop who just so happen to be Pagan or had Pagan tendencies, coming together to discuss Pagan topics. I finally felt like I had my way into the community, something I had searched for years but never found. The reason why I wasn’t finding it was because back then I was still a teenager, a teenager living in the suburbs with barely a friend at all that was actually Pagan (that I knew of at the time) and the one existing moot at the time (Toronto Pagan Pub Moot) was at a bar where you had to be 19+ to enter. But the same thing happening at a coffee house? Perfect! I swallowed my nerve and trekked downtown for my first ever moot.

The crowd was warm, the hostess friendly and I realized I had found something I could see myself returning to for a while. Back in the day, Tamryn was the hostess, I met Heather from the Wiccan Church of Canada and members of Caer Avalon (formerly Coven of the Mysts from York University) who have since dispersed. That was a great, fun crowd, I learned a lot. I also…got put in my place plenty of times for making very “green” comments. And by “green” I mean “new”. Every new-to-scratch Pagan has run into that. Being in a crowd of people that know, have practiced and experienced far more than you happy to point out how vitally wrong that statement was. Hey, ya learn, right?

From there I found Toronto Pagan Pride where, that same year, Toronto Pride became my first big Pagan outlet that I had ever experienced on a larger scale. Thankfully that time I had someone to share it with when I learned one of my first friends in high school was also a closet Pagan. Back then, being a suburban sheltered teenager and rarely heading into the city, I was nervous. Paganism in a crowd outside of my makeshift practices in my own bedroom alone was a big deal. I wouldn’t've gone without a friend.

I am so glad I did. The Mug became my catalyst. I kept attending, very rarely missing one event and feeling horrible if I did. It introduced me to faces, names and paths in the community. It taught me of places and events I should also check out. It got me involved in Pride, it also got me involved in other community-centric initiatives (the short-lived Sacred Crossroads that resulted in a trip to the Renaissance Fair).

Years after I became a dedicated regular, Tamryn pulled me aside and asked me to take over hosting. She informed me that she had plans to move to Scotland and would require someone that was community minded and dedicated to take over hosting reigns and she immediately thought of me. I was flattered and beside myself that this one very special thing that I was happily a part of being just a member was being handed to me wrapped in a ribbon. I thought then that I would have time to grow accustomed to the idea before taking over as the one in charge. Only that didn’t end up happening at all when Tamryn informed me that situations in her life were preventing her from being able to handle hosting duties anymore and she would have to hand over the reigns to me the following month.

Shocked, I asked my friend long-term Pagan-from-high-school friend Sodayah to please co-host with me. It was a slow and steady start but we managed to get it going on our own just fine,  a change in location went without a hitch and an anniversary event was celebrated with good cheer. Not bad for our first year.

Soon, Sodayah’s life caught up with her and situation prevented her from being able to host with me. The years passed and I continued to host. Another pub moot was birthed and flourished and now the city had three to call their own (there were others but the Beaches Merry Meet and Uptown Pagan Pub Moot didn’t end up working out).

The Mug reflects my life as a Pagan, I see it come full circle. I started my journey into Pagan with company through the Mug and now I host it and call it my own. I started my venture into big events with Pagans and a lot of company through Toronto Pagan Pride and now I can consider myself a co-host and fellow organizer. It is pretty amazing.

Granted, one of my challenges now is making sure I have room in my social Pagan responsibilities for my actual spiritual responsibilities but the balance is being regained.

Now Cerridwen’s Mug is eight years old and it may be time for a change. That one issue that prevented young people from attending (that whole 19+ in a pub) is no longer an issue and teens and parents with kids can happily attend and not worry getting turned away at the door. Our regular crowd is beginning to overcrowd most coffee shops and some aren’t too happy with our occupying of tables for five hours on end. People also like having dinner around 7 pm on Fridays so a place that also served food would be optimal. Do we change the coffee moot into a regular pub moot? We’re attempting to let the crowd decide and hopefully we can find a new place suitable in the month to come. Next moot, we’re hoping, will be on Friday, January 8 2010 but since finding time to scout locations in between work and the holidays may prove difficult, there’s a change we’ll have to postpone until February.

There’s a lot I can say about the Mug, and whatever carnation it may take next. It has been a source of pure joy and love as well as heartache, grief and drama. I usually am not afraid of change and growth but when it comes down to this creature you helped build and forge, this masterpiece, this Thinker, and you start to see it crack and crumble at the seams, it’s not easy to accept that it won’t simply take a new coat of wax and ash. It may require a bit more, like an overhaul. I sat and cried on PsycheDiver’s couch over this once.

I’m bound to wax poetic about the trials and tribulations about the Mug itself in future posts to come. I’m nowhere near ready to stop hosting the Mug/moot in some way or form and if it requires an overhaul then that’s what it’ll get. There will be something and it will be back.

I knew I had to write about the Mug this month as I also published an article in the Building Bridges Newsletter this month on how to start and host your own moot (scroll down to page 11). It was the same topic matter of my talk during this past Pagan Pride. Apt, considering the crossroads I stand on in regards to it and it bids me the opportunity to reflect on the past it’s granted me.

We shall see where this goes. Until then, happy reading.

Coming in 2010….Cini-Little’s e-newsletter!

With the holidays upon us, it’s sometimes easy to lose focus of business goals. With a struggling economy that has hopefully reached a plateau, if you’re not in the retail business, November and December can be tough months for your company. It’s the end of year and 2010 is right around the corner.
Now is not the time, however, to become complacent and blame your lower revenues on the holidays. You have to continue to think outside the box and even step up your game to end the year with a bang. Here are five ways we’ve come up with to give your company the boost it needs to start 2010 with fireworks!

1. Host a holiday open house! If you’re late on this bandwagon, consider hosting your event after the New Year! As December calendars are most likely already filled with holiday festivities, celebrate 2010 by inviting your customers and clients to enjoy appetizers and drinks and really show case what you’ve got. We, at Serendipit Consulting, can help you plan and invite your attendees to maximize your exposure and introduce yourself to new business opportunities.

2. Send holiday thank you gifts. This can be a simple card to say thank you for your customers’ loyalty throughout the year. Go GREEN with this venture and send an E-card instead! You can also make a donation to a charity that is aligned with your clients’ mission statement.

3. While we’re speaking of charitable donations, invite your clients to give back to your community by promoting volunteerism. Invite your customers to your local food bank and sort donations hand in hand or ask them if they’d like to participate in a holiday food or toy drive. You can do this in a way that will not only show that your company cares, but also build a lasting impression of good will with your clients.

4. Share your goals for 2010 with your clients. Recap the accomplishments you’ve made in 2009 and let them in on what to look forward to in the coming year. Serendipit Consulting can help you create a compelling newsletter (or e-newsletter) to your clients and investors to highlight your company.

5. And finally, don’t forget your employees! Giving back to them this holiday season is an important way to boost morale and send them running full speed ahead into the new year. When holiday bonuses may not be an option, reach out to your partners for industry trades. Present gift certificates and invites for fun (donated) activities to your employees in place of a monetary bonus! They will appreciate the recognition and your efforts will be much appreciated!

We hope that you’re in the midst of a wonderful and festive holiday season and wish you all the best for the holidays! Serendipit Consulting is growing each month and we are looking forward to a plentiful 2010 for you and your own! Happy Holidays!

Hello my GPS gang!

Christmas is getting so close. We have so much going on in the next couple of weeks. I sure hope that you are able to join us for all of them. Here they are:
12/10 – Collecting food for Washington Christian Outreach
Please arrive at church @ 6:30pm
We will return @ 8pm so please notify your ride
Dress warm – we will be outside most of the time going door to door
12/13 – Sunday School @ 10am
Making “WISE” Decisions
James 1:2-8, 12-15
Worship Service @ 11am
Children’s Program
Message: Time For Salvation
Meal for all provided immediately following the service
That is all just for this week and more things to come.

I am afraid to tell you that I have still not been able to contact the paintball company. If I am able to I will let you know immediately.

Prayer List:
Our events this month
Jack – my nephew in the hospital
Our relatives that don’t know the Lord
How can I pray for you?

Godspeed,
Pastor Dave

–
www.twitter.com/dpda2j
www.dpda2j.wordpress.com

Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Uh, That’s Funny?
=================================

1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
Humility Week: What Mary Said
“And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.’ ” (Luke 1:46-49)
Mary was probably a teenager when an angel showed up and told her she was going to be pregnant with and give birth to the Son of God — even though she’d never had sex. I’d guess someone in that position could see it all as either evidence of her own greatness — or as the worst news ever.
Instead, Mary shows us what humility looks like. How? First, she believed the message of the angel. Believing things you can’t understand takes humility. Next, she accepted the assignment; allowing God to change your plans and send you into a potentially humiliating situation takes a lot of humility.
Finally, she praised God for noticing her humility and lifting her up to a blessed position for His own glory. As we’ve seen this whole week, that’s what God promises to do for humble people.
Mary was just a girl, not without weakness or sin. And that’s the point. Like us (kind of), she received a gift of grace, the call to carry inside of her the Savior, the hope of glory. The only reasonable response for her — and for us — was to humbly say “yes,” then “thank you,” and then “for Your glory.”
Think: What can you learn from Mary’s example? Do you think you would have said to God yes, thank you, and “for your glory”? Have you done that with the assignment(s) He’s given to you today?
Pray: Ask God to help you to respond to His direction in your life with humility, gratitude, and a desire to see Him get the glory.
Do: Read Mary’s whole song in Luke 1:46-55.
A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2009 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.

2. SURF REPORT
Music Review: Susan Boyle

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/reviews/2009/idreamedadream.html

Movie Reviews: Everybody’s Fine

http://www.thesource4ym.com/moviereviews/moviereview.asp?ID=405

3. FORGETTABLE FACT
An adult skeleton has 213 bones.

4. POTENT QUOTABLES
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. – Virginia Woolf
As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. – Buddy Hackett

5. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?
Q: Why did the man put his money in the freezer?
A: He wanted cold hard cash!

Contents

1. Youth Group News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Reviews
4. Forgettable Fact
5. Potent Quotables
6. Uh, That’s Funny?

=================================

1. YOUTH GROUP NEWS

• Deep Freeze winter retreat @ Camp Berea is coming up soon!  We have a one spot left that we will be getting rid of soon if no one claims it.  There is a long waiting list to get into this weekend, so once we let go of this spot the chances of getting it back are very slim!  Don’t delay…talk to Pastor Mike ASAP!  All we need is a $50 deposit!
• Our Christmas Party has been changed from 12/12 to 12/19!
  • The party will be at Leslie Pontes’ home from 6:30 to 8:30 (directions to come soon)
  • Guys bring drinks to share & girls bring food to share
  • There is an optional $5 yankee swap (make sure to keep it gender neutral)
• Join us on Saturday for Youth Group @ the church from 6:30 to 8:30pm
  • Fun, Friends, Games, Songs, and encouragement
  • We will be watching another video this week and discussing it using the 3D method we have learned
  • You are always welcome to bring friends!

2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

Humility Week: What Mary Said

“And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.’ ” (Luke 1:46-49)

Mary was probably a teenager when an angel showed up and told her she was going to be pregnant with and give birth to the Son of God — even though she’d never had sex. I’d guess someone in that position could see it all as either evidence of her own greatness — or as the worst news ever.

Instead, Mary shows us what humility looks like. How? First, she believed the message of the angel. Believing things you can’t understand takes humility. Next, she accepted the assignment; allowing God to change your plans and send you into a potentially humiliating situation takes a lot of humility.

Finally, she praised God for noticing her humility and lifting her up to a blessed position for His own glory. As we’ve seen this whole week, that’s what God promises to do for humble people.

Mary was just a girl, not without weakness or sin. And that’s the point. Like us (kind of), she received a gift of grace, the call to carry inside of her the Savior, the hope of glory. The only reasonable response for her — and for us — was to humbly say “yes,” then “thank you,” and then “for Your glory.”

Think: What can you learn from Mary’s example? Do you think you would have said to God yes, thank you, and “for your glory”? Have you done that with the assignment(s) He’s given to you today?

Pray: Ask God to help you to respond to His direction in your life with humility, gratitude, and a desire to see Him get the glory.

Do: Read Mary’s whole song in Luke 1:46-55.

A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2009 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.

*******************************************************

3. REVIEWS

Music Review: Susan Boyle

Read Review:

Movie Reviews: Everybody’s Fine

Read Review:

4. FORGETTABLE FACT

An adult skeleton has 213 bones.

5. POTENT QUOTABLES

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. – Virginia Woolf

As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices:  take it or leave it. – Buddy Hackett

6. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?

Q: Why did the man put his money in the freezer?
A: He wanted cold hard cash.

Volume 1, Issue 1

December 2009

The 110th Annual Christmas Bird Count

From Dec. 14 — Jan. 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual mission– often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday Season.

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations—and to help guide conservation action.

From feeder-watchers and field observers to count compilers and regional editors, everyone who takes part in the Christmas Bird Count does it for love of birds and the excitement of friendly competition—and with the knowledge that their efforts are making a difference for science and bird conservation.

For more information:

National Audubon         

Tropical Audubon

December Calendar of Events

 Crandon Naturalist Ecology Series: Seagrass

Saturday, December 5, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

$10 / person (Bring your own mask and snorkel gear or rent ours for $8 you get to keep the snorkel!)

Crandon Park Visitors and Nature Center

(305) 361-6767 ext 112

Sunset & Moonlight Kayak

Saturday, December 5, 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM

$40 / person

Crandon Park Visitors & Nature Center.

(305) 365-3018

Night Hike & Campfire

Saturday, December 12, 7:00 PM– 8:30 PM

$8 / person

Bill Sadowski Nature Center

305-255-4767

Night Hike & Campfire

Saturday, December 12 & 19, 7:30 PM—9:30 PM

$8 / person

AD Barnes Nature Center

305-662-4124

Crandon Naturalist Ecology Series: Mangroves

Saturday, December 19, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

$10 / person

Crandon Park Visitors & Nature Center

(305) 361-6767 ext 112

Yoga

Thursday, December 10, 6:00 PM—7:30 PM

Sunday, December 20, 10:00 AM– 11:30 AM

$10 / person

Bill Sadowski Nature Center

305-255-4767

Everglades Sunset Bike Hike & Wine Tasting

Sunday, December 27, 4:30 PM – 7:30 PM

$50 / person

305-365-3018

 For a full list of events, including on going programs click here

Feature Event for December:  Winter Camp

Week 1: December 21-24

Week 2: December 28-31

Kids  can enjoy winter break with these fun and active nature camps. Activities include exploring nature trails, interactive presentations, games, arts & crafts and so much more.

Camp will be held at the following Nature Centers:

AD Barnes Nature Center (ages 6-12)    305-662-4124

Arch Creek at the Greynolds Park Boathouse (ages 6-14) 305-944-6111 / 305-948-2891

Bill Sadowski Nature Center (ages 6-12 )   305-255-4767

Ask a Naturalist

Q: I have a small, sunny area that I would like to plant with a native ground cover that would also attract butterflies. What would you suggest?  – Amy, Miami

A: The native blue porterweed, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, is a low-spreading plant that is about one foot tall at maturity and has long, green spikes with blue flowers that attract a wide variety of butterflies. It would be perfectly suited for a small sunny area. Plant blue porterweed about one or two feet apart when used as a ground cover.     

 Have a question for our Naturalists? Send it to us here.

Kid’s Corner

 Do you know what bird is listed as Florida’s state bird?

 The mockingbird is the Florida state bird and is a resident of Florida year-round.

The mockingbird mimics many other birds’ calls, and is sometimes described as “mocking” the songs of others. Its scientific name, Mimus polyglottos, means “Mimic of many tongues.”

 The mockingbird eats fruit, insects, spiders, and other small animals (like lizards and snakes). Maybe you will see one if you participate in the Christmas Bird Count! Good Luck

Visit our Website to sign up if you would like to have the e-newsletter emailed to you each month.

For information on customized or group tours please contact:

 EcoAdventures Office

4000 Crandon Blvd.

Key Biscayne, FL 33149

305-365-3018

email

A lot of SME’s (Small to Medium-sized Enterprises) have already embraced the idea of e-marketing, and are welcoming it with open arms. In this post, I am going to tell you why I think that SME’s should invest in e-marketing.

Firstly, a lot of SME’s are tight on cash, and are pouring half of their marketing budget into advertising or direct mail. E-marketing is cheap, and, in my opinion, a lot more effective. Nearly everyone is now using the internet, and that is why companies have started to take advantage of the internet to market their products/services.

The second benefit of e-marketing over traditional marketing is that it is so much easier to track; if you send out an email, you can see who opened it, who clicked which link, etc. If you choose PPC, you can track how many people clicked that. In e-marketing, because you can track your marketing campaigns in more detail, you can see where you are going wrong, and change it.

The third point I am going to discuss with you, before I give you some examples of e-marketing, is the reach of your online campaign. If you were doing a direct mail campaign, for example, how many people do you usually reach? With e-marketing, you have the potential to reach BILLIONS of people; for very little cost.

So, let’s have some examples of e-marketing. First, Social Networking. Social Networking is sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, where you interact with people from around the world, and all of these people are potential customers. The idea of a Social Networking campaign is literally just to interact with your prospects, give people some advice, and direct them to your website/blog.

Which brings us onto our second example; blogging. The word blog originated from web log, and that’s exactly what a blog is. Some people use it as an online diary, others to make money, and others use it as a marketing tool. Basically, you write posts, and if you are doing it for marketing purposes, you write about your industry, establishing yourself as an expert. Once your readers start to trust you and consider you an expert in your field, then you start including links to your website in your posts.

Hopefully you found this post helpful, and if you would like any more information on any form of e-marketing, have a look around my blog; if you can’t see what you’re looking for, leave me a comment and I’ll write a post about it.

www.keepers.info

Contents

1. Youth Group News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Reviews
4. Forgettable Fact
5. Potent Quotables
6. Uh, That’s Funny?

=================================

1. YOUTH GROUP NEWS

• Interested in joining us on our Deep Freeze winter retreat @ Camp Berea? Contact Pastor Mike to get on the waiting list ASAP!
• Our Christmas Party has changed!  It will now be on Saturday December, 19th instead of the 12th.  Here are the details:
  • Meet @ Leslie Pontes’ home from 6:30 to 8:30pm
  • Boys bring a drink to share & girls bring food to share
  • Yankee Swap (optional) – bring a gender neutral gift (please don’t spend any more than $5)
  • As always, feel free to invite your friends

2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

Thanks For What: Just Sing Already!

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

Do you like to sing? I don’t always dig it. For one thing, Im not very good. I don’t really enjoy the sound of my own warbling. I’d much rather listen to you (unless you’re just as awful as me).

Also, after mumbling my way through a bunch of songs in every worship service since they let me out of the nursery, I suddenly wondered one day, “Why in the world do we do this? What a weird thing, now that I think about it. Couldn’t we do something else for 20 minutes?” Then I read this verse.

Oh.

And in the process of trying to get over myself (and trying to sing right out loud without caring what you think), I discovered that saying thanks in a song really helped me to express to God how thankful I felt in a way that words by themselves can’t quite accomplish. Apparently, that’s exactly what God wants me to do.

Think: Do you like singing, in general? Do you like singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together with other Christians? Does singing like that help you to feel more grateful to God?

Pray: Ask God to help you to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to Him?

Do: Remember this verse the next time you have a chance to participate in singing with a group of fellow Christians.

A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2009 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.
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3. REVIEWS

Movie Review: Surrogates

Read Review:

Music Review of Fireflies from Owl City

Read Review:

4. FORGETTABLE FACT

Got gas? 40% of all indigestion remedies sold in the world are bought by Americans.

5. POTENT QUOTABLES

Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.
– J. C. Penney

God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them.  [or perhaps to show us that we cannot do it on our own strength, but only with God's]<–that last part was added by pastor Mike
– Anonymous

6. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?

Q: How do you get a kleenex to dance?
A: Put a little boogey in it!

Before I started doing some writing for aHa! Modern Living, I was a compulsive lurker on the site, and twitter friend of the owner, Jayme Jenkins.  She has some DARN COOL stuff.

A few weeks ago, she debuted a brand-new site design, and a truckload of new products.  (I have one of the Floral Clocks.  It looks fantastic with my blue and brown and beach decor.)

Starting soon, she’ll also have a once a month e-newsletter. I probably subscribe to 100 e-newsletters.  Some, I skim, others I read to the letter.  With her cool stuff, fun personality, and, well, cool writers, I’m betting that Jayme’s e-newsletter is going to be pretty fab.  SO–run right over and sign up!  You won’t be sorry. . .

Sign up for the Aha! Modern Living E-Newsletter (scoll to the bottom of the page).

I have written a lot of posts about e-marketing, and I realised; I haven’t actually wrote a post about what e-marketing actually is.

So, off we go;

E-marketing (Electronic Marketing) originated in 1995, but has only really taken off this decade. The idea of e-marketing is that you can market your products/services to potential customers over the internet.

Specialists at CESCO came up with a definition of e-marketing;

eMarketing is a generic term utilized for a wide range of activities – advertising, customer communications, branding, fidelity programs etc. – using the internet. More than the simple development of a website, eMarketing focuses on online communications, direct dialog with consumers who thus participate to the creation of new products, finding efficient methods to win customer’s fidelity and ease their business-making process. eMarketing is the sum of activities a company makes with the purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.

So; that’s what e-marketing is.

It could be Twitter, where you interact with your potential customers, or using emails, which is again interacting with your prospects, but also advertising to them.

So, there you have it; a brief explanation as to what e-marketing is. Have a look here and here for some examples of e-marketing, and some tips for implementing them.

www.keepers.info

It’s been my dream for many years to start my own Pagan publication for my community. It seems like this is my path in life, as slow going as it is with as many false starts as I’ve encountered. I even managed to go to school for it.

It’s all a matter of time and effort, really. Unfortunately the two have yet to combine properly for the dream to actually launch. Northern Invocations Magazine was started, well the production end, anyway. A project this big is not a one person job and I had a team working with me. But life gets in the way for all of us, N.I. fell to the wayside unfortunately. Again, slow and steady process. Writing, editing, layout, design, art, distribution, subscription, advertising, sponsorshp, funding…it’s not easy.

My co-editor, co-conspirator, when Northern Invocations started, Crystal has formed an e-newsletter for the local pub moot she co-runs, Building Bridges. The aptly named Building Bridges Newsletter began as mostly a calendar of events for the local and surrounding areas. It soon grew to incorporate a masthead of staff (albeit a small one), articles, photography, and a rather strong following of thousands of hits a month. It didn’t take long before I decided to throw my efforts of N.I. in to B.B and combine the two so at least something would start getting out to readers. I mean, the readership is already there and Crystal has more connections to reach more people than I do. So…go with it.

The biggest difference really is the fact that I wanted to start in print so people would have something paper and substantial and material to hold on to. Unfortunately, printing costs far more than web hosting and with the Internet, you can reach more people. That’s why the e-newsletter is working the way it does. Besides, Crystal has stated that she’s looking forward to go into print very soon and that’s where I further step in.

Currently, I’m the Culture & Entertainment writer for the e-newsletter. My first article, a review of the Dragon Ritual Drummers‘ CD release party for Tribal Magik at the Hammertown (Hamilton) Pagan Pub Moot last month appeared in this month’s edition.  (Scroll down to page 4)

This will be the predominant focus of my writing and editing for the next foreseeable future, it’s a step in the right direction of being the Pagan journalist I’ve set out to be. For more, don’t forget to subscribe to the Building Bridges Newsletter by e-mail (check the website for more information) or through Facebook. I’ll also be posting the link to the newsletter here.

Happy reading.

Contents

1. Youth Group News
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Movie Reviews
4. Forgettable Fact
5. Potent Quotables
6. Uh, That’s Funny?

=================================

1. YOUTH GROUP NEWS

• There will be Youth Group this Saturday 11/28/09.  Join us for fun, friends, and encouragement!  We are in the middle of a great series about watching all your media in 3(D)!  As always feel free to invite your friends.
• I posted a great article the other day about how you can share your faith during this Thanksgiving holiday…check it out here:
• There are VERY few spots left for our Camp Berea Deep Freeze Retreat (January 22nd – 24th).  See Pastor Mike about availability.
• Youth Group Christmas party Saturday December 12th…Mark your calendars…more info to come!

2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

When Plans Change: Start Where You Are

“But Jesus said, ‘You feed them.’ ‘With what?’ they asked. ‘We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!’ ‘How much bread do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and find out.’ They came back and reported, ‘We have five loaves of bread and two fish.’ ” (Mark 6:37-38)

Problem: Lots of people; no food. Solution: Send the people off to buy food before it gets too late. At least, that was the perfectly reasonable plan the disciples came up with. Then in today’s verses, Jesus said, “No, I want you to serve them by doing the impossible.”

The disciples were tired, hungry, and under-funded. They got stuck on the impossible part: “We don’t have the resources.” Jesus rejected that answer just as quickly as He rejected their plan: “Count what you do have.”

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. God has nixed your Plan A (and your Plan B) — either through your circumstances or your parents or the weather — but He still expects you to follow His plan. And it feels impossible. And you clearly don’t have the resources.

You have a choice: Give up or expect God to use what you’ve got to do the impossible.

Think: How often do you feel like it would be impossible to do what God wants you to do? Do you tend to give up or jump in even though you don’t have a good plan to make it work? How does that usually turn out?

Pray: Ask God to help you to trust Him to provide everything you need to do what He wants you to do — even when you can’t see, yet, how it will all work out.

Do: Ask your parents or youth leader or some other, older Christian if they’ve ever seen God provide a solution in an impossible situation.

**
A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2009 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.

3. SURF REPORT

-The Twilight Saga: New Moon Review

Read Review:

-Planet 51 Review

Read Review:

4. FORGETTABLE FACT

There are 10 human body parts that are only three letters long.  (leg arm hip eye ear toe jaw rib gum lip)

5. POTENT QUOTABLES

Praise God even when you don’t understand what He is doing. – Henry Jacobson

If you want to change your life, try thankfulness.  It will change your life mightily. – Gerald Good

6. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?

Q: What is a vampire’s favorite fruit?
A: Neck-tarines

Photo courtesy SXC.

Just in time for your holiday pre-planning, Creative Liberation, the official e-newsletter of Creative Liberty, has rolled off the virtual presses. You should subscribe to the letter to make sure it gets delivered to your inbox each month, but you can get a sneak peek of what you’re in for by reading this month’s edition.

In this month’s edition, I provide some suggestions for keeping your creative edge during the holidays, as well as cool linked culled from all over cyberspace. Enjoy!

Hopefully you enjoyed Part 1, for those of you who haven’t read it, click here.

Me: What is your opinion on e-newsletters?

Karen: At the moment, personally, I am sending HTML emails that discuss various blog posts I’ve done in more detail, but my Newsletter list is only a sub-set of my database. I don’t have any images, it’s all text, but I do format the text so it’s easier to scan, because that’s the other thing; people don’t read it the same way they read a book, so you have to structure it so that people can scan it and pick up the right information, and then go to wherever you are pointing them. I’m not necessarily using the format of a Newsletter, but I’m still doing the same function, and I think that depends on your market. If your email isn’t easy to read without the images, then I do tend to unsubscribe. That’s my own personal behaviour, so I think if I’m doing that, perhaps people who are reading my Newsletters are doing that, so that is why I don’t have a lot of images.

Me: How often would you recommend sending out emails?

Karen: I think that depends on your market, where they are in the buying cycle, and what you’re trying to do with them. First of all, your email marketing should have a schedule; you should know what you are going to be doing, with a combination of content and promotion. Providing you’ve got the content and promotion mix right, then the frequency will really be down to what the market can bear and what the market likes. You can find this out by asking for feedback. So I’m afraid there’s no rule; there are some ‘schools’ that say you must be in contact with your customers every week. Well frankly, if some of my suppliers contacted me every week, I would probably not continue to be a client.

Me: What would your Top 5 Tips be for start-up Email Marketers?

Karen: My first tip would be to sign up to an email marketing client. This is really important – they all have the mechanisms you need to maintain your email reputation, and your reputation is key to this, because you don’t want to end up being blocked, which is why sending mass emails from Outlook is just not a good move.

My second tip would be to create a Lead Magnet. By this I mean having different sign-up boxes for different topics you email about. This is good because people want to know about that topic, and then you have something to communicate with them about. Putting ‘Click here for our Newsletter’ might have worked 5 years ago, but it doesn’t work now. People haven’t got time to read newsletters just to see if there is something of interest to them in it.

My third tip would be to create an Ideal Customer. By understanding who you are emailing to, your emails will be more effective, because you use the language appropriate for that profile, and you will include information that that person actually wants to know about.

My fourth tip would be to keep headings under 41 characters. This is for both the subject line, and headers in the body of the email.

My fifth tip would be to track your stats. Even though I’m giving you these tips, you may say it doesn’t work for me. This doesn’t mean my advice isn’t right, it means that it isn’t right in your particular instance, but it’s giving you a good starting point. Although marketing has elements of science, largely it’s an art, and you will increase your performance in marketing by measuring, tracking, evaluating and using that feedback to alter your marketing in the future.

As a bonus tip, I would tell you to plan. Have a programme of communications you are going to have with your list. Try doing a rolling 3 or 6 month programme, depending how fast-moving your business is, that’s enough for you to have an idea of ‘OK, this is what I’m going to do with giving them lots of information, this is the information I’m going to give them, but why am I giving them this information? Because I want to promote xyz later on.’ If you’ve got that worked out, writing content doesn’t become a chore because you know why you’re doing it.

And that’s all folks! I’d like to say a special thank you to Karen for agreeing to be interviewed, and if anyone’s interested, her blog is here.

www.keepers.info