theLAB

For our last meeting, until we reconvene in August, we tried a new day and a new time. After polling all our guild participants as to what would be a more  favorable time to meet, it was clear that something in the middle of the week and in the early afternoon (EST) would work best. So we tried that. We met today, Wednesday, at 2p.

Today we covered

• the fact that this would be our last meeting until August
• the new meeting day and time
• today’s agenda (interview, tutorial, and tips)
• we prayed (asking God to attend to Rachael Abbott’s needs and her family’s needs as they say their good bye to her grandmother)
• We then introduced Rafal Zielinski who has worked with us this year as a part of our Year One internship. We heard a little bit about of Rafal’s history up to the point in which he resides today, which a newly accepted staff member of our ministry. In the midst of his story is a unique quest he is in the midst of fulfilling which is a design a day. You can read more about that at his design blog.
• Greg and Sara showed us how we can share a color palate from one CS program to another. Greg gave a RGB example and Sarah demonstrated a pantone exchange.

We closed out with tips. We looked at:

• Tungle.me
• mpdgarden.com
• gist.com
• Default Folder (a Mac application with nifty shortcuts to typical Finder tasks)
• macupdate.com

It is amazing that all this development went on without the CCC Mac community learning about it. This has been a wish and a dream, but most of us have not heard of any actual work being done on it. Well it has been announced that a tool is now in beta. See the announcement at the GCX web space.

To view in a larger screen click here.

I failed to mention in our last meeting that in two weeks our update letters are to be ready and out the door by May 8. That means that this week you will want to gather your ideas as to what to share with your team partners to help them experience the journey of our mission. So be on your toes.

Also we have talked about spending a day with the Lord. A few have done this already and I am pleased. It is a great encouragement to me, and I am looking to follow them. Perhaps you are like me and your schedule is quite full for April. Due to previously scheduled commitments, and little time to adjust I won’t be able to take a whole day in April, but I will almost get two half days. If you are like me, do it, and if you can still get a day in do that. I believe God would be so pleased that you would show up for a day with Him. Also, plan your day in May while there is time to clear a whole day.

Remember the Worldwide Day of Prayer tomorrow.

I look forward to serving with you this week. Peace.

via ClickBooth’s Affiliate Marketing Blog » Don’t Forget About the Youth Market.

I saw this from a person who markets to Gen Y for sales purposes. He mentions in his article these four things to keep in mind in selling to Gen Y. They seem valuable for us to heed as well:

1. You don’t need to talk like them if in real life you don’t. Gen-Y was brought up with slang being a common part of their pop culture, where text messages many contain little to no words that Webster tells us is proper for the English language. However, if you are selling something professional, keep it professional. You can loosen up, but beware that the young generation can spot out phony advertising; fake campaigns and read through your non-authenticity. Gen-Y will respect your honestly vs. your attempt to be cool.
2. Use video. YouTube continues phenomenal growth, with billions of views every month. 12 Seconds is one of the fastest growing start-ups in the valley. What these sites do, is plays off of Gen-Y’s short attention span. 3 minute shorts and 12 second clips are dominating our society. Put a face to your offer, talk about it genuinely and have it thrown into the mix of messages that Gen-Y checks out in between segments of Family Guy and Guitar Hero.
3. Gen-Y loves them some video games. Find a cheap flash programmer and make a video to attract attention. Have them sign up to receive your offers as well as bonus levels and free updates. It’s a great way to get them talking about your company, interacting with your product and passing it along with hands off marketing.
4. Offer products in deeply segmented groups. With your Gen-Y prospects, it is extremely important to segment your lists into deep, drilled down lists. The more targeted you get the better. They are so accustomed to seeing thousands, upon thousands of ads, product offers, etc that if you are not in the right place at the right time, you can bet they have their blinders on full blast. Word.