Podcasts about 20summer

Will Falk be mastered by The Trailmaster? Which man leaves a longer trail of bodies? What does “GORP” stand for? Listen to find out!Trailmaster, episode 87 of This Gun in My Hand, was blazed and trailed by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, information on how to subscribe, and to buy my books, such as Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. What heroic nickname have I given to my most devoted henchman? This Gun in My Hand!Show Notes:1. “PR Monster” aka “Preezy” is an artist whose works and tags can be seen in at least two cities in southern Michigan, probably more. The audio and text of This Gun in My Hand are works of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.2. The bouncy, chipper music used in the commercial is titled “BULLETS AND BAYONETS” by John Philip Sousa.Credits:The opening music was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.Music Title: Bullets and BayonetsComposed by John Philip Sousa Performed by The United States Marine BandLicense: Public Domainhttps://musopen.org/music/43780-bullets-and-bayonets/Music Title: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - Morning MoodComposed by Edvard GriegWhistled by Rob NorthrupLicense: Public DomainSound Effect Title: Park ambience - mostly birdsLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/Mafon2/sounds/274175/#Sound Effect Title: some cowsLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/vermontrobinsson/sounds/529448/Sound Effect Title: Cows.wavLicense: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/mikewest/sounds/394220/Sound Effect Title: Cutlery drawerLicense: Public Domainhttp://soundbible.com/591-Cutlery-Drawer.htmlSound Effect Title: Glass Bottle Breaking License: Public Domainhttps://freesound.org/people/IENBA/sounds/607910/The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of a panel from the public domain comic book Mark Trail on Safari Number 5 (Summer 1959). Pencils and inks by Ed Dodd.

https://archive.org/download/saturday-morning-samoflange-308-top-5-things-i-did-as-a-kid-over-the-summer-audio/Saturday%20Morning%20Samoflange%20308%20Top%205%20Things%20I%20did%20as%20a%20kid%20over%20the%20Summer%20audio.mp3 

The Heartland Institute's Donald Kendal, Jim Lakely, and Justin Haskins are joined by the Center of the American Experiment's Isaac Orr for episode 400 of the In The Tank Podcast. A new batch of regulations imposed by the Biden Administration are going to result in more strain on the already taxed energy grid. With the summer heat coming, should we brace ourselves for waves of black and brownouts? How crippling to our energy grid will these new regulations be?PRIMARY TOPIC - Your Coming Summer of BlackoutsWSJ - Your Coming Summer of Blackoutshttps://www.wsj.com/articles/north-american-electric-reliability-corporation-nerc-summer-assessment-power-blackouts-green-energy-2ddc6510?Fox News - Biden's radical green energy policies strain our electric grids. Here's how bad it will get if they continuehttps://www.foxnews.com/opinion/bidens-radical-green-energy-policies-strain-electric-gridsIER - EPA's “Good Neighbor” Rule Increases the Cost of Electricity for Consumershttps://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/regulation/epas-good-neighbor-rule-increases-the-cost-of-electricity-for-consumers/CAE - Biden Blackouts: EPA's mercury rules could mean lights out for Minnesota, MISO, for no measurable environmental benefitshttps://www.americanexperiment.org/biden-blackouts-epas-mercury-rules-could-mean-lights-out-for-minnesota-miso-for-no-measurable-environmental-benefits/NERC - Two-thirds of North America Faces Reliability Challenges in the Event of Widespread Heatwaveshttps://www.nerc.com/news/Pages/Two-thirds-of-North-America-Faces-Reliability-Challenges-in-the-Event-of-Widespread-Heatwaves.aspx#:~:text=%E2%80%8BATLANTA%20%E2%80%93%20NERC's%202023%20Summer,at%20elevated%20risk%20has%20increased.

 With the coming of Labor Day weekend, we unofficially bid summer goodbye, and joining us in this effort are some songs and an episode of Bing Crosby's radio show. Meanwhile, Sydney is under the impression that he's in dire need of help, so we've got that to deal with.https://archive.org/download/220903-summers-end/220903%20Summer%27s%20End.mp3

In this episode, Nick and Matt discuss what content marketing is. Should churches even be using marketing? Why is content marketing so effective? And what are some examples of blogs, pillar pages, white paper, ebooks and podcasts to help your church reach Gen Z and Millennials in a Digital and Hybrid form of ministry? Follow us on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/hybridministry Or check us out online - http://www.hybridministry.xyz LINKS EBOOK EXAMPLE https://21023629.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/21023629/101%20Things%20to%20do%20this%20Summer.pdf?utmmedium=email&hsmi=220409116&hsenc=p2ANqtz--GvYYsBn799IT7tZQ07OLdeLeNshWl6rRnS5f0wNelRUcxnmSP6GBZ4rNYmusr63ghavYI8SAUk3drn2tD3kuUF929s7xlw622qVQVuVCXDVsrlvE&utmcontent=220409116&utmsource=hsautomation WHITE PAPER https://www.dare2share.org/gospel-advancing/value1-prayer MICHAEL HYATT'S BLOG https://fullfocus.co/blog/ CROSSROADS PODCAST NETWORK https://www.crossroads.net/media/podcasts/ PILLAR PAGE EXAMPLE https://www.typeform.com/blog/guides/brand-awareness/ TIMECODES 00:00-02:42 Intro and Beard Discussion 02:42-05:33 Should churches do marketing? 05:33-11:02 Why Content Marketing is so effective 11:02-16:53 How do develop a church ebook 16:53-23:49 How to use White Paper for churches 23:49-27:45 Blogging for churches 27:45-33:29 Podcasting for churches 33:29-34:24 Pillar Pages for Churches 34:24-37:00 How to convince your boss 37:00-38:37 How to get started on each item 38:37-40:48 Which one do I start with? 40:48-44:36 What are the best services to use to capture this stuff? 44:36-45:38 Outro TRANSCRIPT Nick Clason (00:01): Well, hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the hybrid ministry podcast. In today's episode, we are going to be talking about marketing in the church. And what exactly is content marketing? I'm your host, Nick Clason sitting in alongside my amazing friend. The bearded wonder himself, Matt Johnson, how you doing this morning? And how's your beard. Matt Johnson (00:27): Beard is good. Trimmed up, you know, a little bit cleaner, you know, we're, we're in summertime. So, you know, I like to keep a little shorter and, Nick Clason (00:34): Uh, is that like shots fired at me? Is that shots fired at my no, Matt Johnson (00:37): No shots fired at you it off. Cause when the winter comes around, I stopped trim it. So Nick Clason (00:45): Yeah. It's nice. Well, I mean, I just announced everybody that I'm gonna be moving to Texas, so I don't even know if I'm gonna see winter anymore. Matt Johnson (00:54): Probably not. No. I think, uh, your winters are in the past now, so which is really good for you. Nick Clason (01:00): Yeah. And my wife told me my Beard's looking kind of boxy, so I'm not sure what to do with that. I feel like that's code code for trim it. Matt Johnson (01:08): code for shape it a little bit. Nick Clason (01:11): Yeah. Come on, get rid of the box there. So yeah. Anyway, I interrupted you. You said you're doing good. Matt Johnson (01:17): Yeah, I'm doing good. How are you doing Nick Clason (01:19): Great, man. Great. I'm a little sleepy cuz you know it's it's Thursday. We had church last night. So of course I was out late, but oh as well. Um, some do idiot decided to plan an event with silly string. And then I watched as the facilities team looked glaringly and begrudgingly on at the mess that was being made on the patio. And I thought to myself, dang it. Now I probably should clean this up. So that took a minute Matt Johnson (01:51): Oh, let me get a little silly string, Nick Clason (01:54): Um, silly string and then Matt Johnson (01:55): We're very messy Nick Clason (01:57): And then we're getting ready to do a, a, a baptism out on the patio. So there's a big tub out there. And of course all the kids are like getting water from it and throwing it on each other. So whoever thought let's get this set up on a Wednesday before the event, they, they obviously forgot that we were gonna be out there. So Matt Johnson (02:15): Yeah, like let's get ahead of it. Be prepared. Oh actually we made a bigger mess and we had to refill it up. Nick Clason (02:22): Exactly. And they're initially stringing it now. So Matt Johnson (02:25): well, people are getting baptized Sunday. You know, you might find some silly string. Nick Clason (02:31): You might come out with some, uh, lines of pink on you. It's okay. Don't worry. It's not no need that's it's just silly string. Matt Johnson (02:38): No need to concern yourself. Nick Clason (02:40): So, uh, Matt, one of the things I think is an interesting conversation and I'd like to talk about it first here is like, is marketing a thing that churches should even be focused on? Cause a lot of what we're talking about, uh, in, in all these episodes is marketing is kind, kind of like brand recognition, getting yourself out there and different tips and strategies for that. And so I think there may just be a natural aversion to the word marketing, cuz it sounds very secular. It sounds very like businessy. Um, so what, what would be your response to someone who is like marketing in the church? Like, you know, you should be flipping tables for that. Matt Johnson (03:19): absolutely. No, I, I used to be under that ideas. Like why would you ever market Jesus? Like that's not something that needs to be marketed mm-hmm and I think something that you should think about when we think about marketing is not your traditional sense of marketing, of like, Hey, there's a billboard for us. We have commercials. We have radio ads or even like Facebook or TikTok ads. Um, that's not what I'm talking. That's not the primary focus of market anymore. Primary focus marketing is, uh, really just awareness and something. I always go, Seth, always you're marketing, trying to change world with your marketing, you're failing as a marketer. Um, so when you put that in a context, your marketing mind should shift cuz I mean we're working in the church and you should be trying to change the world. So this is definitely something that we should be, you know, evangelizing essentially. Matt Johnson (04:11): And it's I'm so what, how a good way to put this in your mind is like, Hey, how do we do a, you know, have an evangelistic mindset for our church in the modern era. And uh, I always just think back to, you know, the pastorals they've marketed Christianity in a totally different way. So it's always been quote marketed, but you just gotta think that brand awareness, bringing awareness to what you're trying to do and how you're trying to help the community and that stuff not, Hey, come by Jesus. Cause if, and if that's what you're at, like you're totally missing the entire point of everything we've talked about. Nick Clason (04:46): Yeah. I think about Paul says, uh, I become all things to all people and I think that he would use the digital means that are available to him today, you know, to, to help get the message of Jesus spread. You know, I think one of the, I dunno, probably issues or maybe concerns would just be that there seems to be an oversaturation maybe of messaging out there. And so how can, uh, how can the church stand apart? Like what sets them, you know, in obviously we're, we're coming from a different position, but how do we do it? Well, because if we, I feel like if we don't do it well, we're just gonna get lost in a sea of kinda white noise that's out there. Matt Johnson (05:31): Yep, exactly. Nick Clason (05:33): So, uh, one of the, one of the things you told me the other day was, uh, this idea about content marketing. So first of all, mm-hmm what is content marketing? Matt Johnson (05:45): Yeah. So content marketing is this idea that you're using content that you're creating to market. So it's like, again, we're not talking about, you know, TikTok ads, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, we're not talking about, um, popup ads or uh, um, ads before a YouTube video. We're actually talking about giving people in our churches and that we want to come to our church content, that markets who we are. Um, so we'll get into all the nitty gritty details of what that looks like in a little bit, but uh, it's just providing a value, um, more than just a Hey here's who we are. Nick Clason (06:25): Yeah. Or here's service times, right? Or here's, here's our address. You should come to our service. Like it's, it's providing, I like that we're providing value, you know, giving them something that they can, that that's useful to them valuable to them. And Matt, do you think, um, before we get to nitty gritty, do you think that this type of thing, if you're gonna try and provide quote unquote value, can it be done on multiple levels? Can you provide value, um, and information content to people that are already disciples inside your church and people not inside your church? Or do you feel like you need to choose one or the other? Like what would you say to that? Matt Johnson (07:07): No, I would say it could be both very easily. Um, as you start, you know, deciding what the content you wanna do and what the purpose of your content is, you can really start to figure out what that value is. You add, um, content marketing can virtual your people that already disciples, and then it can also bring in you new people can be an evangelism tool at Casa breed, new discipleship tool. You have so many avenues that can go with content marketing, um, and all that stuff that we had talked about, like services and, uh, we, this, Nick Clason (07:54): No, I was say, yeah, if you add value, then there's gonna be a more natural trust that's built and then an easier step into coming to service or coming to that event because you've already, you've already built a bridge and a relationship to those people. Matt Johnson (08:10): Exactly. Yep. Nick Clason (08:12): So I think, you know, so then if it can be done for both, then this doesn't feel like such a, such a foreign idea to the job description of most local church pastors. I think what it does maybe feel like though is, uh, like a lot of extra work, um, at least, you know, for me, you know, not cuz I'm not really sure what we're talking about with the, when it pertains to content marketing. So let's dive into that, but first tell, tell everyone the stat you told me the other day about why content marketing is so effective. Matt Johnson (08:47): Yeah. Content marketing is the most effective form of marketing that, you know, us marketing experts have identified right now. And I can see this, this personally and all the stuff that we've been testing through my career, but, uh, it's 64% more effective than traditional marketing. It's three times cheaper. So when you hear that, you go, okay, I'm gonna get better results and spend way less money, which is always news, good news to the years of anybody that's got a strict budget. So yeah. Uh, if you can really start implementing some of this, uh, content marketing strategy, uh, you're gonna start seeing results and you're gonna be able to grow your torch or church organically. So mm-hmm Nick Clason (09:29): Yeah. And so like, alright, so then let's take all that. So we're not marketing Jesus. We're just creating awareness around our church, which our church is truly speaking. The best message that there is in the entire world, the literal good news that you can have death, or you can have life because your sin has caused you death. And so we want to share that message with people and we want to, uh, go to the ends of the earth. And so we're going to use the digital means that are given to us. We've become all things to all people to get this message out there. And in light of all that it is the most effective form of marketing secular or not. And it is also the cheapest or maybe it's not the cheapest, but it's three times more cheap you said than, than some of the other ones. Nick Clason (10:12): So in light of all that, it bodes really well because all, all it really requires of us. The cost, it really requires of us is just some, some like additional work or some, you know, this sounds so old, but some elbow grease, I don't know if that's a thing people say anymore, but just get down, get down. Yeah. I don't know, whatever. Get in there, make some stuff happen. Um, create some things. And so I think like the way I think about it is there's really like two prongs to it. There's the content and then there's the distribution of it. Right. So let's talk through just some of the actual content first. Um, and then when we get done with that, let's just chat through like different ways that churches can begin to create a distribution model for it, whether that's through setting up ads or websites or whatever the case may be. Sound good. Matt Johnson (11:00): Mm yep. Sounds great. Nick Clason (11:02): All right. So, uh, what the first one I have in mind is an ebook. Can you, I mean, most people know an ebook is, but can you give a few ideas or a few examples of what an ebook might look like for a church or how they could use an ebook as a form of content marketing? Matt Johnson (11:18): Absolutely. So I'll give some like real practical examples too, that, uh, I've personally helped create or that we've used. So, uh, one of our most recent one was the summer ebook, which I believe we probably talked about in a performer. Uh, and we're about to launch our fall ebook and, uh, what these eBooks are designed to is for our next gen ministry at, uh, our current church. And that is really to help, you know, promote everything you can do with your kids, um, in the summer or the fall at the end of the ebook we're promoting event. So for the summer one, it was to really promote, uh, summer jam, which is our version of vacation Bible school. And then now for the follow you book, we're gonna be promoting trunk or treat, which, you know, we all know what trunk or treat is. And it's just a good way to like, Hey, we have this resource for you. Matt Johnson (12:03): That's not all about who we are, but this resource can also bring you to us. Um, another good example is like, uh, you, Nick who's, you know, a youth leader, you could create an ebook for your summer camp. Um, like, uh, mm-hmm, , here's, uh, the summer camp checklist for every student, for every parent. Like you can create an ebook about that stuff. Or, um, for small groups you can create ebook about like, Hey, here's everything you need to know about joining a small group or, um, you know, so on and so on and so on. So they're just sit down and think of like, okay, what could I actually fill, you know, like 10 pages of, with some fun stuff and it doesn't have to be like, copy extensive. It can honestly just be a lot of images checklist, but you have a ton of opportunity there. And it's a way to get people to actually give you their email and their phone number mm-hmm and then we can reach out to them. And it's also a good way to promote, Hey, this is what we have going on. Nick Clason (13:00): Yeah. So like, so on a workflow side, the ebook, we curated ideas for families. So all we did was we just sent out emails and texts to people who have young kids and say, what are things you know about? And then we just threw it all together in a big Google doc, and then we organized it. And so like a couple of fun things that we did within that was we did like a park list. So broken down by city or community, we just gave them names of good parks. Another thing we did was we created an ice cream trail, uh, so that families could have a, like a, a goal to try and hit every ice cream shop or whatever over the course of the summer. Um, and that, wasn't a thing that was created. Like we just gathered different ice cream places. And then we created, uh, this quote unquote trail, you know, like, like when I lived in Cincinnati a couple years ago, there was a, an official like donut trail. Nick Clason (13:58): And that, you know, that was a thing that was like actually known and marketed, but like this ice cream trail thing, like we just came up with this. Um, and then other thing we did was we made like a, we made like a scavenger hunt, um, in, in there about like different parks and stuff. So if you figure out like a local park or preserve or whatever, like try and find a caterpillar or try and find a leaf or whatever. And so theoretically you could print that out if you're like a family and you could take that to the preserve with you or to the park, and then you could do your little scavenger hunt thing. And so I think, like to Matt's point, what you're saying is you're like, this is the thing that provides value and it isn't even a promotion of an event or a promotion of our church. Nick Clason (14:37): It's really just a way for us as a, as an organization to help support, um, families, you know, in, in this time to give 'em something to do over the summer. Cause everyone's looking for different things to do, you know, over the summer. And so, so you can do that. Yeah. That's what we did, but you can do that all kinds of different things. So I'm gonna throw the link in there to, uh, our ebook into the show notes in case you wanna check it out. Um, but, and you might get subscribed to our email list as a result of that, but Hey, that'd be cool too. Um, anything else on eBooks, Matt? Matt Johnson (15:11): Um, no, I think that's about all I have on eBooks, honestly. Uh, yeah. Nick Clason (15:17): How Matt Johnson (15:17): Long they use 'em they're really easy to make. Nick Clason (15:20): Let me ask you this. So we, we crafted, we came up with all the content, right? Like here's the list of things and then we organized it and then we handed it to you and you actually, you know, usually you outsource this, but this time you just created it, how long did that take you to create it? And where did you create it? Matt Johnson (15:38): Uh, I created it in Canva cuz I just, uh, wanted to, you know, see what, what we could do with Canva. I'm not, I usually use Adobe and stuff for that kind of, uh, project. Um, honestly probably took about two to three hours to do the whole thing, um, of actual work it's, I mean it took, you know, more time cause there was a lot back and forth and approval processes and all that kinda stuff, but uh, yeah. And then when can have cheap, you can do it for like 12 bucks a month and for the pro version of it and really create something nice, but you can use free version to make a pretty ebook. And if you really wanna get like creative, you do Photoshop and illustrator and um, put all in design. So, Nick Clason (16:17): And last, last I checked, I think Canada has a nonprofit license for churches. So you can look into, into that and reach out about that. And so that's a really great free resource. So, you know, theoretically from cover to cover, you did that in two to three hours. So anyone with even a little bit of design ability should be able to throw that together. Not, not too, it's not too much work once you kind of get everything built together. So, um, Matt Johnson (16:43): Yeah, you can work off a template. Nick Clason (16:45): Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's one of the advantages of Canva. It comes with those things prebuilt in there. So mm-hmm all right. Uh, white pages, um, what, what are those and why are they useful? Matt Johnson (16:58): uh, white pages are honestly one of my favorite things to do in marketing, uh, and a white page is usually just an informational document that, um, can highlight features of like the church, your product, like whatever that looks like to whatever you're trying to market, um, could be your services, uh, and what you can do with like white papers, which we, uh, I did when I was working at dare to share was, uh, we did a white paper for all the gospel advancing values, all a sudden values. So each value had a white paper for it and it was a, you know, a highlighted solution of like what those values looked like. And those were one of our greatest lead generators to get leaders, to become gospel advancing leaders. So, um, find that thing that you were like, okay, we could actually write an informational document about this. Matt Johnson (17:50): So, uh, could that be, maybe you provide daycare at your church, like you're, you should probably do a white paper about why your is a great solution for in the community, just to some there, um, maybe your church, uh, it takes a, you know, um, baby dedication very seriously. So why not do a baby dedication white paper to talk about like the biblical reasons behind that and what the difference between baby dedication and baby baptism is. And, um, especially in our culture, which is, you know, primary Catholic, that's probably something that we should do so people can understand, like we're not, we don't really baptize babies, but we would love to dedicate your baby. And here's the reasons why and stuff like that. So, um, you can really define those solutions. You could honestly do a white paper for all the ministries that you have going on. So we could do a student, uh, white paper. That's all about like what students offers and uh, why, you know, students is a great opportunity. Um, and these can be long documents or they could be, you know, kind an infograph, uh, and I've seen both work really well. And the idea of the white paper is just to have another way to people download and get some more information from you. Nick Clason (19:01): Hmm. So it, it sounds like this is like, like a PDF or something like that, that people can download. And then it, it is that what's the reason why that is a good, uh, searchable or lead generator for people. What makes the fact that it's a PDF? What makes it, um, what makes it so good for marketing, I guess on the back end? Like what makes Google find it? Or, you know, whatever. Matt Johnson (19:31): Yeah. So you're, there's a couple things. So the big thing that's gonna differ white paper from like the ebook or, um, even some of this other stuff we're gonna talk about is a white paper is a lot of information usually, and people are looking for that for like, you know, uh, literally searching for that information they wanted. They're trying to build trust within. You're gonna build a lot of trust if people download your white paper, mm-hmm so the back end of Google, it's gonna wanna like, so that conversion rate's gonna be really high for the people that are searching for that, which Google is gonna like. Um, so it's gonna be a little more, you know, specific to, um, what you're creating the white paper for, but if people are searching for that, they're gonna Mo you know, there's probably like a 60% chance they're actually gonna download it, which is way better than, you know, an ebook you're probably looking at, you know, an 11% chance to download it if you're, you know, on a good day. So, Nick Clason (20:27): So this is something that's like a, a PDF document that you create your positional paper or stance or whatever, maybe with infographics and stuff like that on baby dedication. Why is it good to have all of that information in a downloadable, uh, nice looking PDF style thing, as opposed to all that, like all those keywords and words and verbiage sitting on a website. Matt Johnson (20:52): Great question. So the big reason in my mind is cuz it's a marketing lead for me. It's a lead generator for me, so I can get people to download it. Um, and they're gonna give their info and we know, uh, that because people are gonna wanna download it. If they're searching for it, you're more likely like that conversion rate is gonna be higher on it for those white papers. Uh, you're also, um, we'll get into content cluster and we don't want, you know, uh, or pillar page. Uh, those are gonna be a little bit longer. Honestly, a white paper is usually about 2,500 words and I've seen pillar pages that are 30,000 words. So, you know, OK. It's, uh, it could be very, it's a little bit more digestible, but it's a little bit bigger than the ebook. It's more info. Um, it's just kind of a next step for people. So if you are somebody that loves to write, um, you know, you're a pastor that loves writing their sermons a lot, uh, and you are like, Hey, I've always wanted to write a little book or whatever the eBooks, a great Legion, but I wanna write like in depth about, um, something that's going, some solution that we have at our church for, you know, maybe it's for alcoholism or something. And you guys have great solution for that. You have ed, you might write a big thing about that and get that known. Nick Clason (22:07): Well, I'm even just thinking about, like, we have a, we have like a, um, in person wall, you know, in our building. And one of the things we have a little pamphlet there and it's just called like the guide to student ministry at our church. And I was like that right there with, I feel like the right like amount of like search terms and, and keywords and stuff like that. That would, that would be a great example of what we're talking about here. Mm-hmm again, right? Like when we created it, we were only thinking about in person experiences. So only people that are gonna be in our lobby looking for it in our lobby, as opposed to also creating it and finding a place for it to live and exist on our website so that people can also find it there. It's just it's that switch. Right? It's that flip of a switch of thinking like you, you, more than likely already have something like this because you've created a brochure or pamphlet or something like that. Mm-hmm so then turn that same piece of content into something that can go, um, on a website, like, like you're talking about. Matt Johnson (23:06): Yeah. And, uh, you we've started, I mean, you've probably seen this Nick when we were like staying at church on Sunday, but I don't see a lot of people go to our physical walls without, you know, direction to so, uh, it's not a good awareness piece, you know, I've had plenty of people come on, go what's the student ministry about, I'm like, oh my goodness, we have failed, you know, give them more content to, you know, be able to figure out, you know, and identify these solutions for them. Nick Clason (23:35): Does, does that, uh, dare to share, like, do those websites, do they still exist? Like could we link to them? Matt Johnson (23:41): Uh, they should. Yeah, I can. I'll uh, I'll dig 'em up. We just, we revamped the whole website since we did those. So I'll just have to find where we re put those, so. Nick Clason (23:50): Okay. Yeah. So I'll give you a link to that. Give you a link to what the summer ebook looked like. Uh, the next thing is, um, blogs. Let's talk about blogs. Blogs seem like, um, old news they've been around forever. So are they still useful piece of content marketing? Are they still worth our time? What, what would you say to that? Matt Johnson (24:08): Uh, I'd say blogs are probably the lowest hanging fruit that anyone listens in this podcast could start, you know, um, doing right now. Um, and the reason I say that is cuz they don't need to be long. Uh, if you get a consistent rhythm of blog writing, you're gonna have consistent search. Uh, your SEO's gonna continue to be updated. And also you're gonna have, uh, consistent reason for people to continue to come back to you, which that's the key of a lot we've talked about. We want people to just come back to us and we don't want it to only be on Sunday mornings at church. We want to come on a Wednesday at work when they're on their lunch break and go, Hey, I wanna check out what my church has going on with it. So, um, blogs are honestly one of the easiest things to start implementing right now and the traffic and the potential of a blog is still massive. Matt Johnson (24:58): So a great example of this is Michael Hyatt, um, who, uh, if you guys don't know who Michael I Hyatt is, you know, they grow up full. He, uh, he's a designer, full focus planner. He was an SEO or a CEO at a book publishing company. Uh, he's a hugely influential person in the marketing world and he started his entire company based off of blog writing, um, by giving like daily tips, um, like, uh, how to balance your day, uh, how to be a good boss, how to be a leader. Um, and he was doing that while I was a CEO. And then, uh, he turned that into an entirely functional company right now and full focus. So, uh, that is a great example of like what a blog can do for you. Uh, and blogs are just, uh, something that everyone can write, honestly, like it's your voice, it's your personality, that's your opinion on it. So, um, and they don't have to be long. Like you can write a, you know, 300, 500 word blog and that's all you need. Nick Clason (25:56): Yeah. Great. So here, like, and Matt correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like most like template website builders are sort of built on like a blog style, uh, idea, like it's built with the idea of like posts. So it's pretty easy for most church websites to create some sort of blog type thing where you just throw quick hitters of like your thoughts. Matt Johnson (26:19): Exactly. And you, there's probably not a lot. You need to change. You just gotta look at some formatting stuff. Uh, like I said, it's gonna be a huge win for you. If you can actually start getting your blog going and be consistent, that's the one thing you will say, don't start a blog if you're not gonna be consistent and you're not gonna write it. So if you're gonna commit to a blog, say I'm gonna have a blog up every day. Like every Tuesday at 10:00 AM, make sure it's up every Tuesday at 10:00 AM, cuz that's gonna help also, uh, unlike the algorithm side of things. So Nick Clason (26:50): What's a good, what would be a good recommended rhythm? Would you say for someone who's gonna blog? How often, how frequent all that stuff? How long? Matt Johnson (26:58): Yeah, so I would start once a week, you know, get your, your toes wet, your fingers warmed up as you're typing for. Um, uh, and I would pick a day that you might see that might be the best day for traffic, for you at your, uh, at your church. So like for us, we have found Thursdays at, you know, 9:00 AM to be the best time to post anything. So, uh, that's when we would post, uh, you know, a new blog or whatever. Um, and then, uh, as you like start building your blog up or if you're like, Hey, this is something that I could definitely add more to start doing two a week or three a week. Um, you know, Michael Hyatt was doing one every day, which that's pretty, that's pretty intense. So I mean, if you have the time to do that and you wanna do that and you have the drive to do that, go for it, but I would just start with one at day right now and then build on there. Nick Clason (27:46): All right. Great. So let's talk a little bit then Matt, about podcasts. Um, are, I feel like podcasts similar to blogs have been around forever? Are they still like a useful marketing tool? Matt Johnson (27:59): Oh, absolutely. Yeah. If people are, wanna find a topic, um, they're gonna, um, traditionally look for podcasts now, especially the younger demographic. Nick Clason (28:09): Yeah. What was like, what was the, what was the stat hubs stat came? Hub spot came out with a couple of weeks ago or months ago about, uh, the average, average American or average person listening to podcasts. Matt Johnson (28:22): Yeah. So podcast listeners. So those are people that send a podcast, 84% of them listen to eight hours or more podcast a week. You have 78% of Americans are aware of podcasts and almost 60% of people in America listen to podcasts. So, um, a lot of people are, I mean, podcasts are continually to grow. Um, I mean younger people, it's definitely something that they do to pass the time now, especially on commutes and walking and, um, runs and working out and all that kinda stuff. And then, uh, you, you know, older people, old, older generations are starting to, you know, jump on the podcast bandwagon. So Nick Clason (29:01): Yeah. So do you think that it's just recording your sermon, throwing it in on a podcast? Is that what you're recommending here? Matt Johnson (29:09): Uh, I mean that, that's where you can start, honestly. I mean, that's not gonna give you, you know, the traditional traction of a podcast, uh, just because, you know, you're only gonna get people that wanna listen to your sermon at that point. They're not gonna necessarily be searching for like that topic for help. So, so like creating a parenting podcast or like an interview type podcast where people are like, Hey, I'm kinda looking for this kinda thing, but it is a good place to start and you already have the content. Nick Clason (29:37): Yeah. Yeah. Um, crossroads in Cincinnati, uh, they have a like almost entire podcast network. Um, and I was I'll link to it in the show notes, but I was scrolling through it the other day. And so like, their pastor's name is Brian to, so they have a podcast called the aggressive life with Brian to then they have one called freed up it's about money. Then they have one called you can do this and it's a parenting podcast. And then they have one called, um, IKR question mark. It says real conversations with real women. One called I love Cincinnati, one called too long. Didn't read. And that's like a cliff notes version of like the Bible one called man skills, one called spirit stories. Um, so yeah, like they have what, whatever that is like seven, eight, something like that podcast summer, obviously. Right. I love Cincinnati. Nick Clason (30:32): That's very like regional to them. And so it's just a podcast about yeah. Cincinnati and showcasing the best things about there. And, um, he, he does interviews with interesting people from Cincinnati and then they got one on like just the Bible, like, Hey, maybe the Bible, isn't something that's a regular rhythm or discipline to your life, but here's a quick hitter of, of different books, different chapters, you know, stuff like that. Um, so I, I I'll link to that in the show notes, but I love their approach to that. Cuz I think like you said, a lot of people are just starting with just the sermon. Um, and obviously crossroads is a big church, so they have a lot of resources to make some of these things happen, but you can begin to start thinking and looking and seeing ways that you can create other topics or other podcasts that might be interesting. And it's honestly, man, yeah. This is like episode what, seven or eight for us like this isn't been that hard. Like it's actually really fun. no. And Matt Johnson (31:27): So fun. It's easy and it's yeah. Nick Clason (31:30): Yeah. You're just having a conversa conversation. We're just recording a conversation, you know, between you and me. And so if you can get two people that don't sound awkward on a microphone, like which is in a church is probably pretty easy because you get people that stand up talking to microphones all the time. So that that's not that that, you know, far off of a skillset of what they probably already have within their repertoire to do exactly. So. Yeah. Yep. Um, and then out of that, uh, one of the things that, uh, I think I've heard you recommend is transcripting those so that you can get all the words onto a website Matt Johnson (32:09): Mm-hmm yep, absolutely. Uh, highly recommend doing transcripts, uh, cause everything we've talked about over the last half hour or so is all, you know, searchable terms. So, and you can do, there's plenty of transcripting services out there that are fairly, very cheap to, you know, that you could just upload your MP3 two and they'll transcribe it for you. Nick Clason (32:31): Yeah. I mean basically every time we do this, it's anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes and a AI subscription service through rev.com, um, will basically give me this transcript for anywhere from eight to $10. And so that's not super expensive. You, you put that along with the link to the podcast, whether you're using a hosting service or you're hosting it directly on your own website, um, and boom, there you go. You got all the words from it and you know, sometimes they messed stuff up. Like they spell my last name wrong every time. Yeah. But that's the catch go change it. Solos deal. Well, no, they put a Y in it when I say Clason it's there's no, Y a Y so Matt Johnson (33:13): Whatever to call you, it says calling Nate Clauson. Nick Clason (33:17): Cause you know how everyone says the word Jason and Mason, right? Like that's, that's how you're supposed to say those words too, obviously. Sorry. Matt Johnson (33:26): Nick Clason (33:28): All right. Uh, pillar pages. What are those? We talked about those a little bit last time. So if you, if you didn't listen to the last episode, go back and listen. We went pretty, pretty nerdy and pretty in depth on those. But for those that weren't here, give a quick, give a quick hitter of what those are and the purpose of them, Matt Johnson (33:45): Uh, pillar page is a page specifically designed to help with SEO. Um, so search engine optimizations, and it's a large page also known as a content cluster of lots and lots of copy and information about something that's searchable. So good example of this is that we, uh, we're working on a pillar page right now at our church called, uh, the everything you need to know about Christian Small groups. And we identified those search terms. And now we're gonna just write a bunch of content all about that. So, um, and that's gonna be, you know, a pillar page to help drive traffic to our find your people stuff. Nick Clason (34:24): So let's pretend that you are marketing genius. You are sitting here or you're at least marketing interested. You're hearing this. You're like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But you are like multiple steps away from decision making. You are not the senior leader in your church and you go to your senior pastor and you experience some form of opposition. How would you Matt advise that person to enter into said conversation about one of these things? Matt Johnson (34:58): Just any of them? Nick Clason (35:00): Well, yeah, let let's hit Matt Johnson (35:02): Pillar Nick Clason (35:03): Pages. Let's hit it from a no from, from all of 'em. All of 'em. Yeah. Let's hit it from a high level. So you're, you're not the, you're not the decision maker, but you want to, how do you go about convincing your senior leadership that content marketing is worth doing? Matt Johnson (35:19): Yeah. Uh, I would go to your senior leadership with just a lot of this information we talked about. So, you know, a big way I started pitching a lot of the stuff, you know, at a current church is a lot of the stats that, you know, we're seeing, um, in the marketing world. So, uh, we know how effective content marketing is and how it can actually, you know, nurture our, uh, congregation. I, um, for your church, it could be the blog. It could be the podcast. Um, really depends. So, uh, I would go in with that in mind, go in, um, with change management in mind. So just, you know, go in and, uh, talk about, uh, what you're seeing, what the goals are and why you can do it and how you're gonna be able to do it, uh, is my best advice for all that it is gonna, can be kinda challenging, especially if you have, uh, older church and older, uh, executives on your team to kinda pitch some of this stuff. Matt Johnson (36:25): Um, um, especially some of the stuff that, you know, they might not see instant gratification from. So like a podcast you're not gonna see instant numbers from, it's something that you put time, money and effort into. That's gonna take, you know, um, a while to actually build your community up. But once it's built, it's usually pretty solid. And people typically once they're, you know, in the world of a podcast or whatever they can, uh, um, they stick around. So that's just the kinda stuff that you need to come in, ready to answer. So pick something that, you know, you can succeed at that, uh, can give you some fairly quick wins. Um, and then, uh, just be able to talk about that with that change management in mind. Nick Clason (37:00): So let's, let's, uh, keep, let's do this super quick, but let's pretend that you, uh, got approval to do one of these things. And in one month, what would be a win? I wanna just go through each of these. I want you to just lay out what you think a win might look like. So what would be a win if in one month you launched an ebook, what is a, a measurable win, something that you can point to your, your boss about like, Hey, look at this, this is what we saw. This was a win because blank happened. Matt Johnson (37:31): How many new people downloaded your ebook Nick Clason (37:34): And Matt Johnson (37:34): Depending on the size of your church, that number is gonna vary. Nick Clason (37:37): Sure, sure. Sure. What about white page? Same thing. Matt Johnson (37:41): Uh, white page. Yeah. White papers, probably pages. I would say the same thing is, uh, probably how many new people actually downloaded it. Nick Clason (37:49): Okay. How about a blog, Matt Johnson (37:52): A blog? I would just say how many, uh, people have read your blogs so you can actually get those stats, you know, you don't want people skimming it, um, not, or just bouncing away from it. So like actually having that bounce rate low and that read rate high on it. Nick Clason (38:06): OK. Podcast, Matt Johnson (38:09): Uh, podcast, it shows, uh, how many people are listening to it and these don't need to be new people. Like I said, a podcast is really gonna start with your and then grow Nick Clason (38:18): And then pillar page, Matt Johnson (38:21): Uh, pillar page is going just be how many people clicked on the page that's SEO related. So the bounce rate could be really high, but if you get someone stuck on for also biggest of that in mind. Nick Clason (38:35): Yeah. Okay, great. Um, alright. So you're a small church. You don't have anything of any one of these things and we just hired you to be our marketing consultant. What would be your number one project that you'd say, Hey, do this to get started, Matt Johnson (38:53): Look at this, the stats and who your congregation is and who your target is. But, um, most 90% of the time, I would say blog or podcast, just because it doesn't take a lot of extra effort on your end, um, podcast. You're gonna have to do a little bit editing, of course. Um, and the blog, you know, you're gonna have to set that up and, but the time commitment's a little bit less than some of these other things. And ebook is a quick way to get, you know, huge, uh, like to not get huge numbers, but to start seeing some of the new numbers come in a white paper, you'll have better, stronger leads. And then, uh, you know, a pillar page is a massive project. I wanna reiterate that there're a lot of work, so, um, but they won't give you the most traffic to your website. Nick Clason (39:33): Well, and I think like, if you, if we're thinking about this from like an in person ministry strategy, like everything you do for in person requires a lot of work. Like I'll just say, as a youth pastor, I have to build an entire schedule for an entire semester. I have to recruit in, uh, secure several different like locations, host homes, small group leaders, get them screened, um, create like a theme for every week and teaching and content and all these different things. Like there's a lot of work to be done. And so mm-hmm, um, like just because what we're talking about here in, in like digital form is a lot of work. It doesn't mean it's, it's not worth it, or you should only take the easy way out. It just means that you also have to set up all the infrastructure and framework to make it work too. And once you do, mm-hmm, , it's gonna be worth your while, but you have to have someone who cares about it and keep it going. Just like you have someone who cares about your student ministry, just like you have someone who cares about your women's ministry, keeping those things up and running and keeping them organized and brought together and the framework built and all the same types of things that we're talking about here. Like, it is a lot of work, but it's also worth it. Matt Johnson (40:47): Mm-hmm exactly. Yep. Nick Clason (40:49): So, so last thing, Matt speaking around this idea of organization, like all these things are a great idea, but how like, like, especially like eBooks white pages, like you're trying to capture emails. And so what is the best way to get your, get the word out there with these things? Um, is there like, cuz you, you know, you wanna do some sort of like email marketing type of thing and your church may have that may not mm-hmm but so you're gonna want to grab people's names, grab people's emails. Um, you're gonna need websites. Like what is the best distribution method? Is it advertising E like talk through it, just like that entire process from, um, getting it out there on Google, getting it, getting it out there on Facebook for ads, getting people to click on your thing, getting people to put their name in, um, where's all that stuff go, how's it how's doing. How do you keep it, keep all these things, uh, all these parts of the machine moving and working together. What's the best way to do that. Matt Johnson (41:50): Yeah. We could do a whole episode about advertising, probably a couple episodes, honestly, cause it's such a beast. Um, and distribution in general, but I would say like to get you started, I'm just gonna give you a soft answer since we've already given you so much info in this one is social media. So just do what organically on social, figure out what your delivery method is. So if you wanna, you know, do MailChimp, I don't know what your church has in place right now. So if it's a that you have, or, um, maybe you're doing a hub or you have rock RMS, whatever that you're capturing people already. So you have some way that you're capturing emails already. There's probably a form option that connects to that, that you can deliver PDFs for. Um, I would say probably nine times outta 10. That's probably true. So, um, Nick Clason (42:42): Well in most of those, most of those, whether, yeah, most of those, whether you pay for them or not, um, you know, cuz there might be churches here that don't, that don't have those things built yet, you know? So you gotta, you gotta land something as a distribution. So figure that out. There are some free ones, but it they're all gonna be limited until you start paying for 'em. And so if you're not already paying for one, you can go find a free one, but it, it may take some time to find one that works for free because certain features like automatic, like opt-ins with automatic email triggers, like that often costs a little bit of money, you know? So you just have to be yeah. Kinda aware going into that. Matt Johnson (43:23): Yep. Oh absolutely. And, and that's, and then just post that on social to start out and get people to share that organically. Um, especially if you, like, I don't have any money for advertising. Don't worry about advertising right now. So start with some organic, um, ways to do that and build up your social presence, which will help you when you get to the advertising stage and you might have budget. Nick Clason (43:47): Hmm. Yeah. And you can, I mean, think about it. You you're in an organization, no matter like, even if you're under a hundred people like that, you have uh, 50, 75, whatever raving fans about you. So ask for their help to get the word out because how many times Matt do you and I like make a decision based off of a word of mouth recommendation, more than Yelp mm-hmm more than the stars on Google. Like if you tell me about a good restaurant, like I'm gonna trust you way more than a restaurant with 505 star reviews. Like I just am. Yep. Cause it that's just, that's just how our brains work for one reason or another. Like we don't all the other people that we don't know don't matter as much to us. Um, but, but you tell me about a good restaurant. I'm like, yeah, I'll try it, you know? Matt Johnson (44:34): Yep, exactly. Yeah. So keep that in mind. Nick Clason (44:37): Yep. For sure. All right. Any listen, tons of stuff here. Um, we'll try to link all the different examples that we put in there, uh, in the show notes so that you can see, cuz I don't know about you, but I'm visual. So we're talking about eBooks. I wanna show you an example. We're talking about white pages. I wanna show you an example. Um, but any, any other like last parting thoughts around this stuff, Matt, that you have before we, before we sign off? Matt Johnson (45:02): Um, no. I mean pick one of these and go, try to, you know, start brainstorming some ideas to get it done. So Nick Clason (45:10): Love it. All right guys. Good luck. Let us know how it's going. We'd love to hear from you@hybridministryontwitterhybridministry.xyz is the website and uh, we'd love for you to subscribe to this podcast. Give it a rating, give it a review. And if you found this helpful man, please share it with a friend. Uh, same thing we just said, let people know you found this helpful. So until next time we'll talk to you later. Bye guys.

Even the Prison Officers Association say that the majority of prisoners should not be locked up in prison. But what would calling for the abolition of prisons mean now? What does justice mean for us now and what would it mean in the socialist future? "Do we need prisons?" introductory speech by Anita Downs in "The state, crime, prisons, and police" series of meetings. All meetings coming up at: https://workersliberty.org/c19-online . Video: ***Notes from meetings below*** **Key facts** • 79,645 people in prison in the UK • 69% of these have not committed any violent crimes • 27% are BAME (13% in UK population) • 5% are women. 89% of women have not committed any violent crimes • Percentage reporting drug addiction rose 8.4% from 2013/14 to 15% in 2018/2019 (effect of spice) • Mental health – 26% women & 16% men had mental health treatment in the year before prison • 87 suicides in 2019 • 1 in 3 have learning disability or learning difficulty • 62% have reading age of 11 or lower (compared to 15% in population) • 1 in 7 homeless at release (37% of women) • Only 17% in PAYE job a year after release • The number of detained children has decreased, but less so among BAME children. 50% of detained children are BAME • Short sentences of 6 months or less are less effective in reducing reoffending than community sentence. Yet number of community sentences has fallen by half in a decade • 44% leaving prison reoffend within a year **Trends:** • Self harm, violence to each other and staff are all at record high levels. • Prison population was rising until last two years • Overall length of sentences increased • Staffing and budget reduced 2010 – 2015 (POs reduced by 26%) • Inspectors issued ‘urgent’ notifications for many prisons – uninhabitable, inmates in cells for long periods due to lack of staff. Cuts & privatisation • Recruitment from 2016 – POs now 10% down compared to 2010 • No relationship between prison numbers and crime figures **Covid in prisons:** • April – up to 4000 planned to be released due to Covid (vulnerable / pregnant • Less than 100 actually released due to poorly understood plans (up to end of May) • Single cell occupancy would require release of 10,000 – 15,000 • Opted for restrictions rather than release (stopping visits, association) • Prisoners complain of lack of PPE for officers **History:** • Before 1700s – death penalty, public humiliation, corporal punishment, transportation. Prison while awaiting trial. 1777 John Howard – debtors & murderers, women, children, men, should be separated! • 1800s – hard labour, religious instruction. (last public execution 1868)(Hulks ended 1857) • 1877 – 1907 - idea of reform and training, • Early 1900s Churchill, prisoner in Boer war 1899 – reforms – shorter sentences, less harsh • 1948 – Abolished penal servitude and flogging • 1965 – Abolition of death sentence • 1990 – ‘Prison works’ more punitive approach – subsequent Labour and Tory governments – increased prison population, privatisation • 1990 – Strangeways riot Woolfe report (cells should have toilets!!) • Incentives and Earned Rewards Scheme – slavery? **References:** • http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley%20Briefings/Prison%20the%20facts%20Summer%202019.pdf • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49324718 • https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/09627250802476668.pdf • https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2010/08/10/prisons-tool-capital • Prison Reform Trust • Howard League for Penal Reform

Who will be crowed the official thespeakpodcast beer of the summer 2020?!?! Tune in and find out!We celebrate the 4th of July by sampling 7 beers and ranking them in order of bestest, to least bestest. We felt we were clever by picking 7 beers 'cause July is the seventh month of the year... And that's kind of where the logic stopped.Here is our lineup on this episode:Fountain Square Brewing Company: Working Man's PilsnerFounder's Brewing Company: All Day IPAThe Devil's Trumpet Brewing Company: Classic PilsnerRhinegeist Brewery: Mosiac Pale AleBlack Acre Brewing Company: Saucy Intruder IPAPeople's Brewing Company: Ol' Tavern Lemon RadlerLagunitas Brewing Company: Little Sumpin Sumpin Ale

On this episode, the featured piece is Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but only the Spring and Summer parts. The rest will come on the next episode.

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http://ia801501.us.archive.org/29/items/003EndOfSummer2018ShmupNewsBHS/003%20End%20of%20Summer%202018%20Shmup%20News%20-%20BHS.mp3End of Summer 2018 Shmup News.Shmup Creator Indie Page:https://www.indiedb.com/engines/shmup-creatorFlip Grip Kickstarter Pagehttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fangamer/flip-gripShmup 'Em Allhttp://shmupemall.comThe Electric Underground Shmup Podcast - w/Mark MSXSoundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/user-306325657Follow me @Twitter - http://twitter.com/Sensei_PongYouTube - http://www.youtube.com/mrsenseipongLick & Scrubside

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Let our three hosts and intrepid travelers, David M Frees, Somnath Sikdar, and Alex Frees, show you how to take your travel from fantasy to reality with over thirty planning tips, hacks and tools to give you the trip of a lifetime. Cabeau neck pillow https://www.amazon.com/Cabeau-Evolution-Cool-Travel-Pillow/dp/B01B7NG782/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1498418016&sr=8-4&keywords=evolution+pillow+cabeau Ear plugs https://www.amazon.com/Ear-Plugs-Sleeping-Shooting-Study/dp/B00ZU2VIR2/ref=sr_1_23_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1498418105&sr=1-23&keywords=ear+plugs+for+sleeping sleep mask https://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Patented-SLEEP-MASTER-Sleep/dp/B0015NZ6FK/ref=sr_1_19_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1498418195&sr=1-19&keywords=sleep+mask+comfortable https://www.smartertravel.com/2017/06/22/fly-almost-free-using-credit-card-points/?source=91&u=4UNFXRAKPL&nltv=&nl_cs=35784533%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A https://www.afar.com/magazine/where-to-watch-the-total-solar-eclipse-in-august https://www.afar.com/travel-tips/21-of-the-worlds-most-exotic-luxury-beach-resorts?email=dmfiii%40aol.com&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Where%20to%20Watch%20this%20Summer%27s%20Rare%20Solar%20Eclipse&utm_term=Daily%20Wander%20Newsletter 10 Ways to Make the Most of an Epic Trip A big trip can mean lots of logistics and planning—here’s what you need to consider. When it’s time to start planning your once-in-a-lifetime trip, whether it’s for a honeymoon, a family reunion, a solo adventure, or a multiweek (or longer!) grand tour, choosing the right mix of destinations and activities will ensure that your holiday is an unforgettable one. Finding that perfect combination depends, of course, on where you want to go, the length of your trip, what you want to do, who’s coming with you, and how far you need your budget to stretch. Here are 10 things to consider as your starting point. Think about your budget. It’s hard to relax and enjoy your time away if you’re constantly worried about the bill. Luckily, the world is a big place, and what you want out of one pricey destination might be accomplished with a more affordable option. If, say, an African safari sounds dreamy but it’s not in the cards, you might want to consider another destination that offers a similar rustic wildlife experience, such as Costa Rica or Nicaragua.  Try a travel advisor. Keep in mind that travel advisors are more than just transactional tools. The best advisors can be your secret weapon for complicated trips. They’re destination experts who can handle time-consuming logistics so you don’t have to. They’re also there for you when disaster strikes and have the pull to help wrangle you perks and upgrades. Be open to destinations. It’s perfectly fine, of course, to have a clear picture of where you want to go, but don’t limit yourself too early. Be sure to think about what you really want out of your trip. If the purpose of your getaway is quality time with your extended family, think about going off the beaten path. Check out a few family travel ideas here.   Timing is everything.Planning is key when it comes to weather, pricing, availability, and crowds. Rates start to drop at Mediterranean resorts in October, for example, but there’s still plenty of sun, while the European Alps are ideal in April because there are fewer crowds. Even hurricane season in the Caribbean is worth considering—rates are lower and most resorts and airlines have good cancellation policies. Arrange something special to mark the occasion. Going the extra mile to plan a singular experience on your trip will make it all the more memorable. Again, this is when you might want to call in a trusted travel expert for his or her advice and insider contacts. If you’re on your honeymoon, this might mean a secluded beachside dinner. Family reunion? Perhaps a hot air balloon ride or even a private cruise. When it comes to your itinerary, sometimes less can be more. The idea of an “epic vacation” might conjure up a laundry list of places. But consider the actual experience—are you allowing enough time in your itinerary to actually soak in the places you want to explore? Think of a destination like a friendship: the more time you put into it, the more you get out of it. Consider your company. Choosing the right partner—and deciding when to travel alone—can have a huge impact on your experience of a place. Maybe you don’t need a travel companion on that yoga retreat in India, but a friend could be great when you’re exploring Berlin. If you’ve got a new travel partner in mind, try a quick weekend trip together to compare your travel styles before committing to something more lengthy and far-flung.   Consider a house or apartment rental. Sites like Airbnb, OneFineStay, and the family-friendly Kid and Coe allow you to live like a local in your destination. You’ll often have access to more residential parts of a city and amenities such as a kitchen. This option is especially great for multigenerational groups in need of a base of operations for exploring a destination. Record your memories. The experiences on your trip might feel exciting in the moment, but keep those precious moments from fading forever when you’re back in your daily grind. This goes beyond pictures: Write your thoughts in a journal. You don’t necessarily have to record a play-by-play of your trip, but if a idea, a revelation, or an insight comes to mind, take note of it. Keep the post-travel blues away. Returning home and reentering your routine after a life-changing trip can be a bit of a downer. Ease back into the daily grind by having something fun planned on your return—maybe it’s dinner with friends to catch up and share your trip stories. If you can, try to work in an extra rest day between your flight home and your first day back at work to take off some of the pressure.

Hello everybody! Glad you made it! Our first cast is a little longer than what we plan on it being in the future but we go through a lot of movies in this one and we will mainly focus on one in future shows.So, here it is. Check it out! Click below to play or subscribe (bottom) with your preferred podcatcher.5 Most Anticipated Movies of the Summer PodcastLike us on Facebook! facebook.com/dakotaboystalkmoviesPlease Subscribe!

A man can't be held responsible for what he does in this kind of heat, but we pulled ourselves together to record this week's Lone Stars in The Dog Days of Summer. Lone Stars on YouTube→ https://youtube.com/LoneStarsFred on Twitter→ https://twitter.com/ThatsMyTrunksForrest on Twitter→ https://twitter.com/SirCaptainCobbLos on Twitter→ https://twitter.com/LosFerrandLone Stars on Twitter→ http://twitter.com/LoneStarsLPLone Stars on Tumblr→ http://LoneStarsPodcast.com/Lone Stars on Facebook → http://bit.ly/LoneStarsFB

Dock with Silver Sonic and float into Outerarrow Smithspace.Digging deep over ninety hazy minutes, onboard Silver Sonic every 12” sunk is a masterstroke. Slow chuggers for weightless lovers intent on nocturnal grooving. Set phasers for stimulation with seventeen slabs of funk, cosmic disco, dubby house grooves and slutty space soul.This trip's for Lynne, my intergalactic partner in gravity crime.Mixed live Sunday 27th September 2015 at The Beachouse, South Fiji.Enjoy!Silver Sonic - Deeper Disco - Sept 20151 Tony Tee - The Feeling (Original Mix)2 Woodhead - Party Hearty (Original Mix)3 Deep and Disco - Married On The Moon (Original Mix)4 Matt Hughes - Star System (Original Mix)5 Sunner Soul - Keep In Touch (Original Mix)6 Matt Hughes - Rodeo Warrior (Original Mix)7 The Groovers - The Spirit (Original Mix)8 Bosq - Riding High (Original Mix)9 The Owl - Feel Good (Original Mix)10 Harry Wolfman, Skinny Love - Celebre11 Joey Negro, Kola Kube - Why (Hot Toddy Club Mix)12 HNNY - For the Very First Time (Dirtytwo's Midas Touch Version)13 Tambien - Deep Hai14 Dr. Packer - Groovin' Behind (Original Mix)15 Jack J - Thirsting16 Alkalino - I'm Ready (Original Mix)17 PBR Streetgang - Return To Page One (Tuff City Kids Disco Mix)213.6 MB | AAC | 320 kbps | 1'33'05The track list also appears in the ‘Lyrics’ tab of the track info.Use the iTunes ‘Chapters’ menu to jump between tracks in the mix.Playlisted and mixed at The Beachouse, South Fiji

It seems that even six months off work doesn’t give me enough of a window to fill the gaping abyss left by mixes waiting to be sorted. Enough gap-filling, time for something contemporary. This update is built solely from 2015 tunes, mostly from August / September, and so predominantly tracks I’ve been caning whilst traveling. It’s probably as close as you’ll get to I’d be playing out right now if I hadn’t officially hung up my headphones a few years back.It’s an upfront house session, mainly influenced by Jane and Heath as we were staying with them in Melbourne when I sorted the tracklist. I have fond memories being driven around while banging through their awesome tech and deep house playlists. Seeing as I have a bit of spare time on my hands (it’s raining here in Fiji), I’ve edited the feck out of this session. As a result it moves along pretty quickly. I don’t usually edit this heavily - it can makes mixes feel a bit too much like a Ministry compilation - but on reflection I quite like the results when verses, or over-lengthy breakdowns, are cut. It keeps the vibe consistent and continuous. And given that my last mix was nearly three hours long (who’s going to listen all the way through that?) this means I can squeeze nineteen tracks into a CD-friendly 80 minutes. I haven’t edited like this since Minidisc days.Stand-out tracks: Dusky’s Skin Deep is my tune of the summer. The Hayden James opener is from the start of the year but is an earworm I can’t dislodge. It’s great to see Full Intention back on form this year, ditto Roisin Murphy. There’s the usual re-rubs of familiar classics in the mix and even a junglist breakbeak twist on Jamie XX’s Loud Places before we end with my favourite remix of Holding On, the first outing from Disclosure’s second album. Enjoy!Yashima UFO I - Deep & Tech House - Summer 20151 - Hayden James - Something About You (Original Mix)2 - The Juan Maclean - A Simple Design (Purple Disco Machine Remix)3 - The Beatangers - Bring It On Down (Original Mix)4 - Frey - Good Vibration (Original Mix)5 - Detroit Swindle - Figure of Speech (Original Mix)6 - Josh Butler - The Essence Of House Ft. Lono Brazil (Original Mix)7 - Full Intention - Who's Getting Down (Original Mix)8 - Dusky - Skin Deep (Original Mix)9 - Pele, Shawnecy - Better For My Brain (Original Mix)10 - NY's Finest - Do You Feel Me (Bontan Remix)11 - Volkoder - Sensation (Original Mix)12 - Roisin Murphy - Evil Eyes (Claptone Remix)13 - Full Intention - So Confused feat. Mira (Piemont Remix)14 - Bontan - Firefly (Original Mix)15 - Apres - Chicago (Club Edit)16 - UMEK, Mike Vale - All I Want (Dosem Remix)17 - Cari Golden, Bambook, Mennie - No Reason (Original Mix)18 - Jamie XX, Romy - Loud Places (Special Request VIP)19 - Disclosure, Gregory Porter - Holding On (Pomo Remix) 188 MB | AAC | 320 kbps | 1'19'40The track list also appears in the ‘Lyrics’ tab of the track info.Use the iTunes ‘Chapters’ menu to jump between tracks in the mix.Playlisted early Sept at Jane & Heath’s, melbourne. Mixed 26 Sept, edited and chaptered 27 Sept 2015 at The Beachouse, South Fiji. I have never owned or used a Yashima cassette tape but it seemed fitting given we’ve been through japan recently buying records. It has UFO in its name. It’s ‘high energy’ and ‘ultra dynamic’. What more do you need?

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.mediafire.com/view/yk1tvff98z7c4gz/PJ%20Mix%20-%20SUMMER%202014%20%20(v.35).mp3 It Takes Two (Dario Xavier Private Remix) Katy Perry  Pills N Potions (Liam Keegan Remix) Nicki Minaj  Really Dont Care (Toy Armada and DJ Grind Remix) Demi Lovato Money On My Mind (DJ Nejtrino & DJ Baur Remix) Sam Smith All That I've Got (Lotfi Begi Club Mix) Rebecca Ferguson  Finally (Danny Verde Mash-up) Ce Ce Peniston  Soul Survivor (Bimbo Jones Ext Mix) Beverly Knight I Love It (Wayne G & LFB Club Remix) Icona Pop (ft. Charli_XCX)  Problem (86 Extended Mix) Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea  Lay Me Down (Todd Edwards Vocal Mix) Sam Smith Your Love (Cahill Club Mix) Nicole Scherzinger Strong (Liam Keegan Remix) Janine Berenson Turn It Up (Mauro Mozart Remix) Wanessa Story Of My Life (Wayne G WPPS Anthem Mix) One Direction Love & War (Danny Verde Remix) Tamar Braxton Chandelier (Enrry Senna SP Mix) S.I.A. First Love (Bryan Reyes Club Mix) Jennifer Lopez Once In My Life (Toy Armada and DJ Grind Remix) Mel B Aftermath (Here We Go) (Ralphi Rosario Club Mix) Dave Aude (ft Andy Bell) Go Your Own Way (Julian Marsh Mix) Fleetwood Mac Rather Be (Danny Verde Motivation Mash-Up) Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne Bang Bang (Jad Desenchanntee Vs Wayne G Remix) Jessie J (w/ Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj)  Parachute (Haji & Sheldon Club Mix) Olivia Somerlyn Giant in My Heart (Patrick Hagenaar Colour Code Club Mix) Kiesza Lift Me up (Dave Aude Club Mix) Lena Katina Parachute (Haji & Sheldon Club Mix) Olivia Somerlyn Falling In Love (aka Deeper & Deeper) (Barry Harris 2K14 Remix) Madonna

Summer is here! The glorious sun rises above the land, a comforting heat washes over us, and fun and festivities begin! But what are Two Guys and Their Joysticks hosts, Charlie 'The English Dream' and the ever Polish Jacek doing? Perhaps going to the beach? Maybe hanging out with their friends in the summer sun? NOPE, THEY'RE PLAYING GAMES! In this special episode, they invite you to check out fifty of their gaming recommendations each to kick off the sheltered-in season of digital hype. Here is the episode: Episode 10.5Here is our Facebook Page: Eternal Happiness

In this message from July, Jay Swanson challenges us to consider what it means to make disciples of Jesus Christ and how we invest our time.Parable of the Soils