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Thanksgiving 08

Wow, what a great thanksgiving. We were able to spend some great quality time together w/ some family and great friends. We ate great food and the desserts rocked!

We thought about waking up early to shop on Black Friday. Yeah, that was about it, just a thought, 4AM came and went in a flash. We made it out around 9AM. There was really only 1 thing we wanted to buy that early, it was a present for Reave. I am glad we didnt wake up and fight the lines, Wal-Mart only received 3 of them, they were gone in the 1st minute. I think that is horrible that people advertise merchandise and only get a few in stock.

What has this society come too? Savage beasts! Can you believe people act like this??

Just to save a few $$... A crush of humanity.



This man lost his life because people wanted a better deal. WOW!
www.ryancook.net

Bringing Home the Holidays

Christmas time is the best time of the year! Great foods are made, presents are given and love is shared. Not only that, those that may be far away from Christ are drawn close to Him during this season. Because of that, Christmas time is a perfect opportunity to invite your family, friends and neighbors to church.

In a recent survey, 1 in 4 people asked to attend a church service, will. Word of mouth is the best advertisement. At GJFA, we have set up a couple easy ways for you to do that.  First, we have set up an electronic  invite through our website called an e-vite.  Log onto www.gjfa.org , click on the invite a friend tab, enter your friends emails and send.  Also, if you attend our church, we have invite cards located in each foyer that you can pick up and simply hand out to your friends.  Invite a friend today.

I hope each and every one of you have a Rockin Thanksgiving!

www.ryancook.net

This week so far......

This week so far…..

I got the privilege to hear these guys sing. Bob rocked the base! ☺

We have gotten many rave reviews from our ‘what is love’ video.

Went to the doctor on Tuesday. In August my grand total weight was 268 lbs, 2 days ago it was 240lbs, YEAH!

I am getting more and more excited for Thanksgiving. I am gonna attempt to make some molasses cookies and some candy.

Found out our new youth pastor got to skydive w/ a midget.

Heard some great youth worship tonight! These guys keep getting more and more talented!

I also got to listen to our new youth pastors’ Mike and Janelle. A few highlights:

1. We are passionate about serving God and want students to be passionate as well.

2. You can live bigger than you are living right now. There is a better way to live.

3. We want to help students find their identity and purpose.

4. Always allow God to touch your life here.

5. We will cry together and pray together.

6. We want to build real genuine relationships w/ you guys. We didnt leave everything we know to come here and play church.


When you guys see Mike and Janelle, help welcome them to GJFA.

www.ryancook.net

What is Love?

FINALLY! The highly anticipated & much requested independent movie of the year 'what is love' is her for all to see.
Starring Ryan Cook & Brian Steele
Special Guest Appearance by Edmond 'the janitor' Mah
Directed & Produced by Caleb Nichols

-Peace
www.ryancook.net

Michael Tate & Marketing

Yesterday, my compadre Brian and I had the opportunity to attend an Advertising Forum put on by the local Cumulus Media Group (Kevin Wodlinger) and Michael Tate.  When we first walked in, we thought it was going to be a giant sales pitch, but to our delight, it was not. Michael Tate was full of great info and nuggets of information. It was quite intriguing to hear and learn what he had to say about brand awareness and advertising.

Here are a few quick tips we picked up on:

1. Avoid frames around your newsprint ads, they tend to blend in and dont catch peoples eyes- it looks like all other adds. The white of the paper will attract your eye faster than the box around your ad

 2. About 98-99% of one time blast direct mailers, to an unspecified group, most likely end up in the trash and unread.

3. Pick the share of the market you can afford and go after it repeatedly. Its better to reach 400 people 40 times than 4000, 1 time.

4. Advertising is primarily for people that have already bought into your brand.

After I came home, I read this article from Fast Company and a quote from John Wang, Chief Marketing Officer of HTC:

Let me share with you how we think about brand. There is a very important difference between brand value and brand recognition. Brand value means something to the end user. Brand recognition, all it means is a bunch of advertising to make people recognize the brand name. At HTC we care about brand value, not brand recognition. Building brand value is like earning respect; you have to earn respect, you cannot buy respect. And the way to earn respect is by continuing to deliver innovative products and creating value for the market, and that has to be done time after time again. It is a journey.

You can read the article in its entirety here.

You can see how brand value, repetition and reputation are so highly important in any organization.

Does anybody have any marketing tips they want to share, what works and what does not? Click on the comment tab at the bottom of this blog @ www.ryancook.net

-Peace

 

Life is GOOD

Man, I have been a little sporadic on the blogging scene. I am not sure why. The other day my friend Brian said he missed the reads and asked what was up. I really dont know. I just have not been feeling it. Maybe one of the things is I dont schedule it. I get caught up in things, the everyday hustle and bustle, work, play, exercise and then the day is gone, and we cant get it back. 

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and Christmas is right around the corner. WOW! Where does the time go? 

I do know one thing, life is flying by, and its not stopping for anyone. Not only that, in just a couple of weeks I will be 37, man, that’s almost midway. SCARY! But I do think I am getting better w/ age. I am feeling the healthiest I have felt in all my life. The kids are all doing well. Wifey is rock’n and roll’n w/ youth worship and working a part-time job. Life is GOOD. 

So all that to say, I have missed blogging, giving of my highly opinionated mind and have missed throwing my life out on the web.

-Peace

Please leave all comments at www.ryancook.net