New Michigan Blog: Detroit Church Blog

There is a new Michigan Blog that I have found, that I have been meaning to link to called Detroit Church Blog. It is a nice blog that features pictures of many of the famous and historic Churches in Detroit, and makes your local blog writer here long a bit for a place with such beautifully built Churches.

It is more than just pictures too. Andrew does a nice job of explaining some of the more unique features and historical facts of the various Churches. It isnt just for Michiganders either because it is such a nice visual treat. So please, show him some love and click on the link below!

Check it out:

detroitchurchblog.blogspot.com

Personal Productivity: How To Jump-Start Your Writing Projects

Generally speaking, thoughts and ideas need time to percolate. As such, it is not unusual to procrastinate and “spin one’s wheels” at the onset of most writing projects.

Needless to say, in the Business World, most of us cannot afford to wait for our ideas to crystallize as deadlines are often non-negotiable. In the same light, there are times when ideas and words just wont flow, no matter how long one stares at that blank screen.

A more productive and logical way to facilitate the Writing Process is to get in the habit of outlining your writing objectives.

This is an elementary writing technique for sure, but unfortunately, it is one that many modern Business Communicators tend to disregard. Granted, Word Processing Programs make it easy to edit as you write, but this ignores the merits of "planning your work, and working your plan".

The upshot is that when you take the time to articulate your objectives, it forces you to focus your energy and creative instincts on the task at hand. Simply speaking, it gets the project off “square one” by providing a framework for all the subsequent steps in the Writing Process.

If you have gotten out of the habit of planning and outlining your writing projects, why not reacquaint yourself with this valuable time-saving tool? You may be surprised at how this simple technique will help get your projects done on time and with less anxiety.

As you begin your next writing project, do the following:

1. Spell out your writing objective in clear terms.

2. Use this objective to outline your main points.

3. Collect and organize your supporting data, if applicable.

4. Construct a detailed outline.

5. Expand the outline into a working draft.

6. Review, edit and refine your document.

7. Finalize your communication.

As a final note, be mindful that the more time you invest in the preparation and planning of your projects, the more productive you will be in the long run. And outlining is the time-honored way effective communicators "jump-start" their projects. It beats staring at a blank screen.

Jack

Battle Ready: Sharpening your sword

My new post is up up over at CatholicDadsOnline.org as part of my weekly feature: Battle Ready.


Go check it out:

Sharpening Your Sword

Mike Pence hits a homerun in Motown

As I posted earlier in the week, I am a Mike Pence fan. So, when I heard he gave a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, I just had to blog about it. Only thing is, I went snowshoeing with some friends yesterday, and wasn't at home for a 24 hour period. When I finally got to blog again, I realized that I had been scooped by my Catholic Political Blogging nemesis Joshua Mercer over at CatholicVote.org.

In all seriousness CatholicVote.org is a GREAT website and Mercer is a fantastic writer. I am just jealous that he got to write about it and  I didn't. So rather than trying to compete with him, I will let you read his words instead of boring you with mine.

So go check out:

Mike Pence calls for both economic and moral reform

Also check out the full speech:
Mike Pence Speech at the Detroit Economic Club

Free SEO Webinar: How To Get Number One Spot On Google In 10 Minutes

My good friend from the beautiful UK... Has created something totally unique that is changing peoples lives daily!

His name is Phil Henderson has agreed to share the exact same strategies with
you via a live screen share 30th November (tonight) at 7pm EST. So, I interview him so he can tell you in his own words what is all about.

INTERVIEW:

Me: What can entrepreneurs expect from the webinar?

Phil: During this live webcast you'll get to see the exact methods I uses to get ranked on Google in under 10 minutes!

Me: Some people might think this is pure BS, pardon my French, but is too many marketers claiming things and never deliver. You know that!

Phil: True! But, now this is a "reveal all" SEO webinar, there's no "smoking mirrors" this is tell it as it is type of training. Your audience will be able to see me work right on their computer screens.

Me: So, is this a great strategy for beginners? As you know many newbies are online trying to make money but haven't found the right to do it.

Phil: Of course Luis! The best part about this SEO training web seminar; what I'm going to share is so Stupidly Simple a six year old child can do it!

Me: It's awesome that after some... OK a LOT of "arm twisting"... you agreed to share your hidden Facebook strategies. After the VIP webcast I said to myself "This is GOLD DUST..." :o)

Phil: I feel lucky I managed to crack the code to getting facebook fan pages ranked on Google out of Millions of competitors.

Luis just imagine that, a free Facebook page out ranking his competitors who
will have...

** Paid for their domain names.

** Had to pay a pretty penny for hosting their site.

** Spend hours creating their sites or paying someone else to do it!

** Have to work hard to get them ranking or again paid some one a pretty penny to do the SEO.

Me: I know! It's so awesome that you're doing it all for free, day in and day out!

Phil: Yes, I use it to drive a TON of web traffic to my CPA Offers, my other Affiliate offers, websites, customers websites...

You name it and I can deliver free traffic buy the truck load.

And you know what traffic means...

MORE SALES!

Me: Of course! Now this is the only presentation of it, I know you gave a little notice because you didn't want many people to know about it.

Phil: Yes, Luis, this is probably the last time ANYONE will ever get to see these methods as they really are that POWERFUL.

I only agreed to do this as I'm winding down for the Christmas period and I wants to give back.

Me: I just know listeners are going to be blown away with the information and the strategies you use.

Phil: Yes, you'll also be able to set these up yourself in a matter of minutes and begin dominating the search engines at will.

Yes these methods really are that incredible.

Me: So for one night only everyone are going to get access to this no-holds
barred event.

Here's the link again.

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/891677430

I look forward to seeing you all there. I hope you can make it!

To your success

Luis E Galarza,
Web & Social Marketing Specialist.

Add list building to your arsenal for long term business:
http://ListBuildingBullet.site50.net

Tweet me after the webcast to discus the strategies at:
http://twitter.com/Luis_Galarza

.

Sent from my BlackBerry® by Boost Mobile

Preparation of A Career / Busines Travel to Outside the City

Carry out new tasks while adapting to a new city also very challenging. You will be confronted with two claims, namely adjustment of employment and to the environment. Not only in the workplace, but also an adjustment to the new home environment that may have never visited before.

Well, before you decide to pack up and find a place to live in the city, do a little research. So, you can make good and careful planning. For information, dealing with a new job may be easier than face the problem of adaptation to new environments. There are several factors to consider.

* Ready to Move?
Adjusting to a new job is a challenge. Also to adapt to a new city to build networking outside of work, adapt to local culture, etc., making the challenges you will face complex increasingly, moreover if you are not alone. You must adapt not only you but also family members. But if you are still alone, you can get your escort. For example, if you want to make a business travel to, you can hire Kensington escorts to accompany you when you are alone, because Escorts in Kensington are ready to accompany you. Or, there are many choices of London Escorts you can take out. It is boring being alone when in business travel.

So, take to consider when visiting the area at least once before you decide and sign the offer letter mutation. Create some positive and negative comparisons, new disconnect. However, if you remember one of the questions the interviewer during the recruitment process before, are you ready to be placed anywhere, should you already know the answer. This question is usually asked companies that have branches in various regions.

* The possibility of "Forward"
Another thing to consider is a move to rationalize plans your career advancement opportunities in the new city. Try to analyze how the industrial development in the area. If moving closer to your field, this will open up opportunities for your career growth.

However, it is important to note how your understanding of local economic trends and evaluate it based on your career long term goals. Then, do not forget to observe whether the development of industrial / economic area and the long-term career plans will be consistent and create profit for you.

* Cost of Living
Besides the opportunity to climb a new career, salary increases is the main reason why many people are willing to accept the offer of employment to move out of town. However, do not forget to take into account whether the increase in earned income will be balanced with the amount of expenses you'll pay. Remember, be resettled and settled in the new city will cost not less. You ready?

For that, try to examine again how your financial situation before signing a contract removals. Then, make sure that the changes in salary will be commensurate with your expenses there. And, it would be better if these salary changes will make you able to return to the city with big savings.

* Fair deal
Many companies that provide attractive relocation package now offer a transfer out of town. It is generally determined large package of employee seniority. However, given the package can include cost for removal, could also be included in the salary package in the form of allowances or facilities, or in the form of reimbursement alias refund your costs for housing and car rental, transportation costs (if you use public transportation), and others.

So, try to estimate how much you’re spending each month. Then, compare with the relocation package that you receive from the new job. However, relocation to a new city would have brought many changes. Not only new career opportunity, but also the opportunity to explore new work culture and environment. Make sure your decision to move to another city with a new job in accordance with your career goals.

Catholic Politicians and Communion

St. Thomas More

A recent column in the Catholic Anchor tipped off a reader, whom promptly contacted me and let me know how pleased they were to see such a piece in the paper, and how I should certainly link to it. As I read it, what struck me first and foremost was how good it really was. Not only that, but it is just one, in a long line of excellent pieces that have appeared in the paper over the last 8 months. The Anchor has consistently gotten better, and the level of orthodoxy has continued to increase with each passing day. The article that peaked both my reader's interest as well as my own is entitled: "Catholic Politicians and Abortions" by: Bob Flint.

···•°···

Now, for my consistent readers, you will certainly see glaring similarities in Flint's piece to some of my posts on the same subject. [Links: Here, here, and here.] Flint's premise is that you can't be a Catholic Politician and be Pro-Abortion, in any form:

Bob Flint

Religion informs and educates the conscience, but does not govern. Political activity belongs to the citizens, not the church. Most principles are general, and prudential judgment means that Catholics can follow sound moral principles yet come to different conclusions. There are, however, grave issues where the judgment of the church is specific. Abortion ranks at the top.

~•~

“Pro-abortion Catholic in good standing” is an oxymoron. 

The real bite to Flint's piece is that he goes after both Alaskan Senators, and with a piercing ferocity. He raises the question of whether Communion should be withheld from them due to the very public support of abortion:

How should the church deal with such dissent?

America has two new cardinals who express different approaches. Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Church’s highest court, recently stated:

“To ignore the fact that Catholics in public life …who persistently violate the moral law regarding the inviolability of innocent human life . . ., lead many into confusion or even error regarding the most fundamental teachings of the moral law, in fact, contributes to the confusion and error, redounding to the gravest harm to our brothers and sisters, and, therefore, to the whole nation. The perennial discipline of the Church, for that reason among other reasons, has prohibited the giving of Holy Communion and the granting of a Church funeral to those who persist, after admonition, in the grave violation of the moral law.”

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, no less condemnatory of scandal, fears publicly denying Communion would politicize the Eucharist.

The debate will continue. Whatever the outcome, each Catholic must follow the direction of the local bishop. Only he can make the prudential decision how to deal with those publicly espousing gravely sinful acts.

Pope Benedict

He goes on to argue that politicians must understand incompatibility of supporting abortion, and their role as public office holding Catholics. As I have stated before, it comes down to whom they feel they serve first, "Caesar or God." In the case of Alaska it appears that both of our Senators serve the former first. But what can really be done? Is denial of communion a legitimate and proper option? Pope Benedict, writing as then Cardinal Ratzinger explained in 2004:

On the question of Communion for Catholic politicians, Cardinal Ratzinger outlined a process of pastoral guidance and correction for politicians who consistently promote legal abortion and euthanasia. That process could extend to a warning against taking Communion, and in the case of "obstinate persistence" by the politician, the minister "must refuse to distribute" Communion, he said.

So what constitutes "obstinate persistence"? Is it actions? Words? Or is it a voting record? This has always been a hot button topic, and Flint doesn't shy away from painting the picture exactly as he sees it. He explains the incompatibility issue, he argues the damage that such a politician does to the mindset of the public, and even goes so far as saying that Senator Murkowski's position seems to come close to supporting abortion, and therefore if true would be incompatible with the Faith. He states:

Catholic politicians must understand the incompatibility of supporting abortion and being a faithful Catholic. They must confront themselves, consider the damage they do the church, and conclude, as all of us must, that when in grave sin, penance and reparation are a precondition to receiving Christ in the Eucharist.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski 

Senator Lisa Murkowski answered the Catholic Anchor poll that she was “personally opposed” to abortion, the common preface of pro-abortion Catholics, but was required to uphold the laws of the land, i.e., Roe v. Wade. This is disingenuous. She is not a judge who is required to apply the law created elsewhere. She is a legislator whose job it is to make law. Defending abortion is a position incompatible with the Catholic faith.

Many Catholic public officials reverse Saint Thomas More’s declaration. God takes second place to the king.

Now, what is most striking here is that this article appears in the Archdiocesan paper, in which the Archbishop himself is the publisher. I would not be so foolish or brazen to assume where His excellency comes down on this, but I will say it is a rather welcomed piece.

What lingers is what affect their public stances have over fellow Catholics. This is a hard question to answer, and it is an even harder problem to deal with, especially for the Archbishop. Should the public and official support of abortion and other stances held contrary of the teachings of the Church be grounds for denial of Communion? Should a pastoral guidance occur prior to that denial? What information, if any, should be made public regarding the official and the Church's discussion on the matter? What Catechesis is necessary for lay constituents of the official when situations like this occur?

Personally I disagree with Cardinal Wuerl that denial is somehow akin to politicizing the Eucharist. It isn't a matter of a Bishop denying Communion to somehow convince a politician into changing their policy stance on an issue. Instead, the action is taken to preserve and correct the soul and heart of a Catholic that is under the protection and guidance of a particular Bishop. Archbishop Schwietz is in the unenviable position of being the Ordinary over two Catholic Senators, both of whom have incompatible stances on several Catholic issues. We must remember to pray for the Senators and our Archbishop. This is no easy decision for a Bishop, and yet left unchecked the people of the Archdiocese suffer. Catholic Politicians cannot be pro-choice, that view is incompatible with the Faith; the only solution may be that the Bishop is required to deny that official Communion at Mass. This would be done in an effort to reform both the public official, and the people hurt by that official's open and public stance on issues contrary to the teachings of the Church.

Measure how customers interact with your ads

New AdWords features such as Product ads, Sitelinks and Click-to-call allow you to create more interactive ads. Product ads and Sitelinks help customers find the most relevant pages on your website and Click-to-call allows customers to call your business directly from the search results.

As ads become more interactive, you might want to know how they'll impact your business's key metrics like clicks, click-through-rates and, most importantly, conversions.

To help answer this question, we’ve added a new report to your AdWords account that allows you to measure the performance of each click type you’re using. You can think of a click type as how your customers interact with your ads. Did they click on the headline, a sitelink, or some other aspect of your ad?

You can access the new click type report in the Campaign, Ad groups or Keywords tabs. Select “Segment” then “Click type.”

click for full size image

With this added data, you’ll now have the ability to compare performance of each click type side by side. If certain click types perform well for your business, you may want to consider expanding them to other campaigns. Comparing click types by campaign, ad group or keyword will also highlight areas that need work.

Given the success we’ve seen searchers and businesses have with more interactive features in ads, you can expect to see more of these types of features in the future. With the new click type report in AdWords you can measure the impact of these new features and continue to get the most out of your ads.

Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

Now available with Google Apps: Google Alerts

Editor’s note: We recently launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what’s new and how your organization can benefit.



Welcome to Google Alerts
No organization is an island. If you’re in business, it’s critical to be connected to what’s happening in your market and to hear what your customers are saying. If you’re in education, you need to stay on top of the latest announcements and innovations within your field. But given the immense amount of data being created every day on the Web, how can you possibly keep track of new information as it's published?

Now Google Apps customers can tackle this problem using Google Alerts with their Apps accounts. Google Alerts is a content monitoring service that notifies you when Google’s search engine encounters new content - such as web pages, newspaper articles, or blogs - that you’re interested in from all across the Web. Simply enter your search terms and Google Alerts will notify you via email whenever Google finds new results that match your terms. To avoid information overload, you can configure Google Alerts to send one email per day or per week, compressing the most important results into a brief message.


Once you’re up and running with Google Alerts, try setting up an alert on the name of your organization or industry. Use quotes if your search term is longer than one word (for example, “small business financing” or “solar power”) - you’ll get more accurate results. Then wait and see what turns up in your inbox. You might be surprised to find out who’s writing about you!

Learn more and get started
Google Alerts can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com] (replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). If your organization isn’t using Google Apps yet, you can learn more and sign up today at http://www.google.com/apps/more.

For more information or answers to specific questions about Alerts, visit our Help Center pages.

Share your story
Have you already started using Google Alerts at your organization, or plan to now that it’s available? Please share your story and your organization could be featured in the next Gone Google ad campaign!


Posted by Oli Gaymond, Product Manager, Google Alerts

Note: Google Alerts may not be available in all areas.

Improving team collaboration and productivity with Google Sites

Effective collaboration has become a key driver to improve team productivity. Project teams, often located across disparate locations and time zones, produce and distribute content in different formats and platforms. Teams need to consolidate relevant information in one place that’s easy to navigate and retrieve. Contributors and reviewers have specific needs to manage the creative process, maintain the project plan and keep all stakeholders informed.

With Google Sites, you can easily manage projects and create, share, find, and publish content across your organization. Easy to use features such as site and page templates and embedded documents make it easy for any user to create useful sites. Google Sites can be used for company intranets, portals, team project and more. Furthermore, the Google Sites API gives third-party developers a way to access, integrate with, and extend the platform. The To-Do gadget is an example of extending a Google Site with a tool that can enable teams to track and manage tasks.

Join Scott Johnston, Group Product Manager of Google Sites, and me for a live webinar on Tuesday, December 7th to learn more about improving collaboration and team productivity. I’ll start with an overview of Google Sites and highlight features that can help teams be more productive. We will be featuring a live demo.

Register to attend the live webinar on 12/7 @ 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6 pm GMT.

We hope to see you there.

Posted by Lisa Ding, Google Sites Team

Google Apps Marketplace - Project Management highlights, 11/30/10

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts on apps in the Google Apps Marketplace that have caught our eye here at Google. We’ll do this every so often as we see things we'd like to share. Look for the label "marketplace highlights" and subscribe to the series if you'd like to stay tuned.

Today, more than 3 million businesses and thousands of universities not only have access to Google’s core suite of applications, they also get easy access to 200+ of the best apps on the web through the Google Apps Marketplace. These installable Marketplace apps are easy to try and buy, and offer single sign-on and hassle-free access from the Google universal navigation bar. Beyond the convenience of single sign-on, many apps integrate with users’ Gmail inbox, Google Docs, Google contacts, and Google calendar to improve productivity even further.

Across these businesses and schools, there’s one thing all users likely have in common: they have projects to complete. The good news is whether you have a product to build or market, a research study to publish, or an internal project to deliver, there's likely an app in the Marketplace to help you and your type of project succeed.

And since projects come in all shapes and sizes, we’ve categorized the apps in to 5 groups based on their focus, and then further ordered them by most installed first. This should help you better understand which of these 30 apps are right for your projects.

Project Management
Project management, with a focus on planning and tracking

Mavenlink - an end-to-end solution for professional services delivery
Gantter - powerful desktop scheduling right from your browser
Smartsheet - online project task sheets w/dependencies, Gantt charts & files
Zoho Project - beyond planning...get your projects done faster

Viewpath - manage project tasks and resources with drag/drop simplicity
Cohuman - task-centric communications to synchronize people & teams
Comindwork - fully customizable Gantt views, workflows and to-dos

Teamup - anytime, anywhere project tracking for businesses of all sizes
WorkforceTrack - online collaboration, reporting, time tracking and billing

Project Collaboration
Project management, with a focus on communication and sharing

Manymoon - social productivity, project management & task management
Teambox - project management software and social collaboration
Bright Green - intuitive project collaboration - Agile, Kanban and Waterfall
LumoFlow - project workspaces that motivate people to participate
Glasscubes - organize your day to day work - manage projects, info & people
Emforge - project platform with a wide set of tools for distributed teams
DeskAway - simple yet powerful web-based project collaboration tool

Task Management
Project management, with focus on task list sharing and collaboration

RapidTask - make project management as easy as email
Producteev - turn your emails into tasks
GQueues - share lists, assign tasks, get reminders, stay organized
Thymer - project management and task planning for people who hate it
ToBeeDo - simple online task management service with time tracking

Timesheets
Project management, with a focus on tracking and billing hours

gTrax - simple time tracking app to manage resources & project budgets
Harvest - simple time tracking and timesheets for teams and freelancers
Paymo - easy online project management, time tracking and billing app
BeeBole - a fast timesheet for teams - fully customizable.
TrackMyHours - a powerful time tracking & billing solution
Cube - start tracking time and expenses in less than 15 seconds

Product Development Projects
Project management, with a focus on software development

Acunote - enterprise online project management and Scrum software
Jira Studio - software dev tool suite with Subversion and agile management
Gravity - a simple but powerful tool to help you manage agile projects

If you’re looking to improve the way you manage and collaborate on projects, we encourage you to evaluate these apps. We’re adding new apps to the Marketplace all the time, so continue to check back for apps for all your organization’s needs.

Posted by Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead, Google Enterprise

Managed Cloud Services for the Public Sector

Cloud is not a one-size-fits-all proposition – clearly, the right approach depends on your organization’s needs and priorities. Different service and deployment models can be adopted to match the requirements of different types of workloads from across the whole organization.

To illustrate some of these solution trade-offs, we’ll profile public-sector organization needs, and their related information technology and communications service requirements.

Government entities will use a variety of Cloud configurations. Those of sufficient scale will likely adopt similar Cloud models to those of large enterprises. Organizations with common needs and interests may join together to build and share community clouds.

Some government services may be provided through the public clouds of managed service providers. A major issue for public-sector organizations will be balancing concerns and regulations regarding privacy and security with aspirations for transparency and sharing information.

Community Cloud Use-Case Scenario

• Governments are challenged to provide seamless, open, and transparent access to services and information while protecting security interests.
• End-users (e.g., constituents, journalists, government analysts, law enforcement, military, intelligence analysts) need secure access to information from various media, formats, and geographies.
• Traditionally, public sector organizations have taken a silo approach to data management (e.g., mapping specific information to specific communities of users). While the siloed approach offers some security benefits, it limits true collaboration potential.

Role for Cloud Technologies

• Community clouds offer a consolidated approach to shared resources, allowing data and applications to be stored collectively.
• Different end-users are able to work securely and collaboratively using these common datasets, thereby increasing transparency, cooperation, and efficiency.

Application Considerations

• Security and compliance policies must still be defined and managed (particularly for sensitive data sets).

We anticipate that there will be growing demand for collaboration solutions to support secure and rich collaboration experiences within and across government agencies -- and with external organizations.

While government organizations may also see tangible benefits in using public clouds, we expect private and hybrid cloud models to be popular. Hybrid clouds will come in many flavors, including the virtual private cloud model in which an organization has access to dedicated resources in a public cloud. An increasing percentage of total IT spend will move to managed hybrid clouds as the technology and applications mature.

Government organizations should invest the time to determine where Cloud applications are most appropriate, based on workload-specific requirements around cost, risk, and performance.

Panama City promotes open government with Google Apps

Editor’s note: Today our guest blogger is Richard Ferrick, Network Administrator for Panama City, Florida, one of the first governments in the country to adopt Google Apps for Government. Join Richard for a live chat on GovLoop this Thursday, December 2 at 2pm ET / 11am PT / 6pm GMT.


Panama City, Florida is a beautiful resort destination on Florida’s Emerald Coast; our white sand beaches attract vacationers year round. We’re also home to 37,000 residents who care a lot about open access to their local government. Our city government makes it a priority to make our operations transparent to citizens, businesses, and visitors alike. At the same time, with a three-person IT department supporting nearly 250 city employees, finding ways to work smarter and conserve funds is essential.

Google Apps has freed our IT team from maintaining email servers and updating websites to focus on important transparency initiatives. We started with a 50-employee pilot of Google Apps in 2007 and gave all city employees the Google email and collaboration tools in 2008. Earlier this year, we became one of the first users of Google Apps for Government to take advantage of its government-specific security measures.

We decided to move our public facing website to Google Sites after experiencing a catastrophic server crash with our old site this spring. We were happy with our previous website, but now we like our site even more. Google empowers people in other city departments to update the website with ease. For example, major changes are underway for Panama City’s Comprehensive Plan. Planning staff post announcements, updates and amendments as they happen. Human resources adds new job postings and other departments collect input from residents using a simple form. IT no longer needs to make every update ─ and when we do, it can be from anywhere. This keeps the website more current and saves valuable time. Plus, we’ve had a lot of compliments from citizens who say everything is easy to find.


Google Apps also simplifies finding information to respond to public records requests. The state puts a high priority on the public's right of access to government information. This daunting task is now simplified with the email archiving capabilities of Google Message Discovery. What would take hours for a single request now takes minutes.

What’s more, mobility limitations for the staff are now a thing of the past. Previously, employees were forced to use a VPN connection and remote desktop. With Google Apps, no VPN is required. Some staff even access Apps securely from personal mobile devices. Employee productivity is at an all time high.

With time savings like these, our IT staff has more time to focus on open government initiatives. In 1967, the state passed the “Sunshine Law” establishing a basic right of access to most public government meetings. This used to mean people could attend these meetings in person, but that isn’t always practical. We wanted to make the proceedings more broadly accessible. So, we added live streaming of all public meetings to pcgov.org. Then we set up our own YouTube channel, making past meetings readily available to the public. We will also start testing video chat for use during city meetings, and look for more ways we can use Google Apps to open up our government.

Please join Thursday’s live chat on GovLoop to learn more.

by Richard Ferrick, Network Administrator / Web Development, Panama City, Florida

Posted by Dan Israel, Google Apps for Government Team

Good News 2010 Holiday Sales Are Up

After such a great Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday marketing performance, you and every retailer or e-tailer need feel more confidence that you will have a great 2010 holidays revenue, if you haven't already.



Black Friday marketing events alone brought in a $45 billion in total sales, online and offline. You need to be ready to claim a piece of the billions that consumers and businesses will spend on Christmas and New Years events.



Here is how the U.S. Holiday shopping compares with previous years so far (2000-2010. Amounts are in billions):



- 2000 - $352.2.



- 2001 - $364.1.



- 2002 - $368.8.



- 2003 - $386.3.



- 2004 - $409.1.



- 2005 - $431.5.



- 2006 - $444.7.



- 2007 - $452.8.



- 2008 - $435.2.



- 2009 - $437.



- 2010 - $447.1.



Source: National Retail Federation & U.S. Department of Commerce.





The last amount is an estimate that is actually in the right path to be met.



Don't forget to plan some marketing and promotion campaigns for pre-holiday sales. Remember that most people will spend on presents before Christmas. Is your chance to increase your income and get a great 2011 start!



Yours truly,



Luis E Galarza.

Internet Business & Marketing Specialist.



The best campaign is in email format, learn how to build a list of leads today!

http://ListBuildingBullet.site50.net



Tweet with me at:

http://twitter.com/Luis_Galarza







.

Sent from my BlackBerry® by Boost Mobile

Developing Self Esteem

One of the important issues that parents need address while their children grow up is how to develop their children's self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to the degree that we respect and love ourselves for who we are. You need to Improve Your Self Esteem

Although it may be developed over a period of one life, the principle of self-esteem is often developed during the growing years when the ego is still under construction.

Busy scientists and experts believe that unlicensed psychology self-esteem is a matter of chance. There are babies born with high self-esteem and there are others that require further development. Some even say that unlicensed parents who have high self-esteem are likely to produce babies who also have high self-esteem.

But does it is a matter of genes or personality lottery, no one can say with certainty. Although there is evidence to show the genetic relationship, have never been proven yet.

This is not to say though an unlicensed what we are born with will stay with us and that unlicensed we are basically a prisoner rather than what has been given to us. We can really develop our self-esteem at any time. But of course, have a good principle of self-esteem when we are young will not hurt us in the long term. Playing area is a major role in the development of self-esteem. In fact, one's experience may increase or decrease the level of our self-esteem.

There are many factors that may influence the development of self-esteem and thus lead to low self-esteem. Parental practice, for example, is a major factor, especially for children who are growing. How do we bring out our parents will determine how we treat ourselves when we grow up and how we let other people bring out our.

Another factor is the experience of social groups that we face in our lives. For example, positive experiences will enhance our stage as an opponent rather than negative and traumatic experiences, which bring low self-esteem.!

The friends we choose is another factor that will influence the kind of pride that we have. Friends who care and a big influence to us will help us develop and improve low self esteem while they are trying to put us under will only contribute to the downfall. This is why it is important to also select the collection that we will go together when they can determine the kind of pride that unlicensed we will develop as we are with them!

Our surrounding with people can affirm our talents and abilities, people who believe in us, increasing our confidence. And when we trust ourselves enough to do our job well, we really do a good job. This leads to the positive orbit that will enhance our self-esteem to a high level. We have to know about Self Esteem From The Inside Out.

Other factors that foster self-esteem are the type of activities that we enjoy and the things we do. For example, because the stuck with the College course we do not like can do bad things for our self-esteem as opposed to that registered in a course that we enjoy and are interested in!

Being able to do the things that you love, it can help to Improve Your Self Esteem. When we love what we do, we become enthusiastic and we do our best. This leads to the achievement and exceptional achievement, which in turn will enhance our self-esteem.

Just War? The Korean Situation

Mindyleigh raises a rather interesting questions over at The Devout Life:

At each Mass, prayers have been expressed for peace between North and South Korea, but I keep raising an eyebrow. How about they NOT reconcile? How about South Korea goes in and takes out the dictatorship of North Korea and liberates its suffering people?!? Lord, hear our (okay, "my") prayer!

Human Rights in North Korea

Now, I don't want to say I haven't thought the same thing. I haven't actually analyzed this situation under "Just War" analysis, but my off the cuff response is that she might be on to something. Do we really want reconciliation here? Sure some ultimate reconciliation where North Korea says, "We messed up, please come in and show us what freedom is like!" But apart from that, Ms. Mindy appears to be on to something.

Oh I know, I am just some war mongering neo-con.

Welcome, Google Apps users!

Google Apps recently launched an improvement that made dozens of Google services available to Google Apps users for the first time. As part of this launch, Google AdWords is now available to our Google Apps users with their Apps accounts.

Google Apps is Google’s suite of cloud-based messaging and collaboration apps used by over 30 million users in small businesses, large enterprises, educational institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations around the world. If your organization hasn’t gone Google yet you can learn more about how to lower IT costs and improve productivity and collaboration with Google Apps.

For those current AdWords users who have a Google Apps account, we're currently in the process of wrapping up some necessary infrastructure work to ensure that the transition for those users will be a seamless process. For new users without data to transition, if your administrator has enabled this service you can begin using AdWords with your existing Apps account at adwords.google.com today.

For more details, read the complete post on the Google Enterprise blog and follow all the updates on other newly available services for Google Apps users.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew

Now available with Google Apps: AdWords

Editor’s note: We recently launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. This series showcases what’s new and how your organization can benefit.



Welcome to Google AdWords
Every business wants to connect with its customers and this is often one of the goals that a business spends the most time on. Now, your business can more easily use the power of Google AdWords to connect with your customers using your Google Apps account.

AdWords gives you the ability to reach more than 80% of Internet users* as they are actively searching for information about products and services on Google and Google’s advertising network. AdWords enables you to connect with your potential customers at the right time with the right message, by letting you select Google search keywords related to your product or services so that users searching for these keywords can see your advertisements.

Setting up an account takes only minutes and controlling costs is easy - you only pay when people click on your ad and land on your site, and you can set a daily budget to limit your total spend. AdWords also offers great flexibility, allowing you to change your budget on the fly. Plus, if your business serves certain geographies, you have the ability to target your ads only to people searching in a particular state, city, or region.



Now that AdWords works with Google Apps, collaborating with other people in your organization to manage campaigns in AdWords is simple as well. You can invite colleagues to access your AdWords account with their existing Google Apps accounts and grant them differing levels of access depending on how much or little control you’d like them to have. Whether your business has one person that handles all of the online marketing or a team that works collaboratively, AdWords can accommodate your needs.



Also, in addition to collaborating in AdWords itself, tight integration with Google Apps lets you export your reports to Google Docs in a single click. This lets you share your campaign data with colleagues and collaborate in real-time in the same way that you already collaborate on other documents and spreadsheets using Google Docs with your Apps account.



Be sure to check out some success stories from businesses of all sizes, including First Crush Restaurant, which was able to increase traffic to its website by 400%, or Happy Hound dog daycare and boarding facility, which gets over 90% of its business through AdWords.

Learn more and get started
Google AdWords can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com] (replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). If your organization isn’t using Google Apps yet, you can learn more and sign up today at http://www.google.com/apps/more.

For more information about AdWords you can visit our information page or you can find the latest news and tips at the AdWords Blog.

Share your story
Have you already started using Google AdWords at your organization, or plan to now that it’s available? Please share your story and your organization could be featured in the next Gone Google ad campaign!


Posted by Kit Broussard, AdWords Team

Note: Google AdWords may not be available in all areas.
*Source: comScore Media Metrix (US, May 2009)

Z Gallerie goes Google and moves its 55 retail stores to Google Apps

Editor’s note: Today our guest blogger is Howard Kolodny, CIO of Z Gallerie. To learn more about other companies “going Google” check out our community map or test drive life in the cloud with the Go Google Cloud Calculator.

Z Gallerie is a Southern California-based home furnishing and accessories retailer with 55 stores in 19 states. We were started in 1979 by 3 siblings as a poster shop and have grown into a national furnishings store with over 1,000 employees.

We started looking at Google Apps to solve a key problem. In our stores, the only computers we have are also cash registers, so data security is definitely a concern. We didn’t want any confidential information stored on store computers. Moving to a 100% web option with Google Apps instantly improved data security at our retail stores. Now we don’t have to install software on hundreds of computers all over the country, and there is no need to worry about data being accessed on those computers, because it’s all safely stored and protected in the cloud. Plus we’re able to offer a greatly improved email service for our employees.

In addition to added security, we’ve also seen improved productivity since moving to Apps. Before we switched to Google Apps, we had an antiquated email system that made it hard to find emails, and word processing software that hindered collaboration and forced us to do a lot of manual work. Because of the lack of functionality of our previous tools, we often resorted to using paper request forms and faxing information back and forth between corporate offices and retail stores.

Supply ordering has completely changed after moving to Google Apps. Each store used to print out a form, fill in what they need for the store, and then fax it in, only to have someone in the office manually add it all up. Now we have a spreadsheet with all available supplies and each store enters what it needs. We use a similar process for our modified holiday hours. Previously each store would send in their updated hours and someone at headquarters would enter them all into a spreadsheet and send it out to everyone. Shared spreadsheets have saved us hours of tedious manual work, not to mention a lot of paper.

Employees have enthusiastically embraced the new technology and their extra time is put to good use. Many already used Gmail outside of the office so the transition was easy. Google Apps partner, SADA Systems, helped with training and deployment to get employees up to speed. Since deployment, we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much positive feedback we’ve received from employees. They’ve been particularly appreciative of the speed of search in Gmail. Knowing that they can always easily find something in their inboxes has made it easier to follow up on consumers’ questions about promotions that ran months before, or emails from headquarters. Everything is right at their fingertips.

Google Apps provides a more secure way to store and access data, an easier and cheaper way to maintain our information systems and has increased employee productivity tremendously. This change has also improved morale by giving our employees faster and easier ways to do their work and allowing them to work together. With the holidays approaching, it’s comforting to know that we’re ready to handle anything that comes our way because we have the right tools in Google Apps.

Posted by Howard Kolodny, CIO, Z Gallerie

Music Business/Law Tips - "Free Goods" (Part 2)

Record Club. It is quite common for a record club to offer records for free as an incentive for a new member to join. The problem is, since new members are given a choice of which artist's record they want for free, there is no way to really control how many copies will be given away. The only way to handle this dilemma is for the artist to restrict the number of free records which can be given away without paying a royalty. The protective language included in the record contract should provide that the number of free records given away through record clubs will not exceed the number of records sold (i.e., royalty shall be payable on not less than 50% of records distributed through record clubs).

Promos. A promotional record, or "promo", is often lumped together with the free goods because it is, in essence, also a free good since there is no royalty paid. A promo is generally a record given away to a radio station to promote airplay. It is not meant to be sold in stores and will contain a stamp on the record that reads: "not for sale". A big problem with promos is that they often ultimately wind up being sold in used record stores anyway, with the artist not being paid a royalty. Since airplay is so important to the success of a record, there generally are not restrictions placed on the number of promos sent to radio stations, etc. because in theory they are not intended for sale.

Since the number of free goods given away can substantially lower the royalty payable to the artist, the artist needs to be keenly aware of a label's policy and make sure this area is well defined in the contract.

Ben McLane Esq
benmclane.com

Optional attendees in Google Calendar

Time is one of our most precious resources. Despite their necessity, meetings tend to vary in importance for different attendees. John might be really interested in his team’s weekly meeting, whereas Jane, who is working on a unrelated project, may want to skip it.

Guests’ roles in meetings tend to vary as well. Some people have to be there to lead the meeting or help make decisions, whereas others are gathering information they may be able to digest just as well via the notes. Without knowing which attendees are crucial and which are optional, it can be difficult to know which meetings you really need to attend.

That’s where Google Calendar’s new “Optional attendees” feature comes in. With a couple clicks, you can openly communicate the importance of a meeting for each attendee. Click on the “Make some attendees optional link” above the guest list and then toggle the role of each attendee by clicking the icon next to his or her name. So far, this feature has helped us more effectively manage our own time on the Calendar team — we hope it does the same for you.

Posted by Karol Stosiek, Software Engineering Intern

Learn about media planning in a live course in the AdWords Online Classroom

This Wednesday December 1st, we’ll be hosting a live course on media planning in the AdWords Online Classroom. The course will highlight the best practices of media planning and break down the planning process into 5 simple stages. We'll also give an overview of a number of Google tools that you can use to achieve high ROI, relevance and reach for your Google Display Network campaigns.

The course will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will last for approximately 1 hour, including time for Q&A. It will take place on Wednesday December 1st, 2010 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EDT (New York), 7am-8am PDT (San Francisco).

Make sure to sign up now if you're interested!

Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew

The new AdSense interface: More controls

Based on your feedback, we’ve worked hard to give you more control over the ads on your site by improving the ad blocking options and making them easier to use. You can now block ads by advertiser URL, block categories of ads from showing on your site, and search and review placement-targeted ads by ad type, keyword, URL, or ad network to easily find, approve, or block ads in the ad review center. The video below provides an overview of these features:



We’ll see you next week for our last video in this series on the new AdSense interface. Don’t forget the popcorn!

Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense team

Extra Credit: What more can you do with Apps for Education?

Update December 17, 2010: Added links to webinar video recordings.

Is your school already using Google Apps for Education? Want to move beyond the basics, and learn how to customize, integrate, and extend Google Apps on your campus?

This December, we’re kicking off a series of free “Extra Credit” webinars covering advanced topics for IT leaders in education, such as integrating Google Apps with LMSes (learning management systems), SISes (Student Information Systems), and other common learning programs, like student e-portfolios.

We’re excited to have experts from Northwestern University, Truman State University, Clemson University, SunGard Higher Education, and Appirio, Inc. sharing their experience and learnings in this first set of webinars, running December 6 - 9, at 11AM PST daily. Topics will include:

• What EDU can learn from Enterprise deployments [video]
• Google Apps as an Eportfolio solution at Clemson U. [video]
• Integrating Google Apps and Blackboard™ with Bboogle at Northwestern U. [video]
• Integrating Google Apps with SunGard Higher Education ® products at Truman State U. (includes Luminis 5 / Google Apps demo) [video]

Learn more, and reserve your spot at google.com/apps/extracredit. Registration is free.

Posted by Jason Cook, Google Apps for Education team

Black Friday Email Campaign + Affiliate Marketing = Success (Case Study)

As you know Black Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the best sales and marketing events of the year in the U.S., and is normal for affiliate marketers to take advantage of this great sales generating event online and offline.

In this case study we use:

- Create two report or ebooks with good quality information.
- A 4 to 5 days mini-course.
- Email campaign to our list.
- A simple video host on Veoh (http://www.veoh.com ) or any other video sharing site.
- A easy to set up landing page.
- A special offer with a coupon code.
- A high quality affiliate product.

If this email campaign is done right you can increase sales and your revenue in that single weekend.

THE STRATEGIES.

Ok so here are the steps to follow:

1) Decide what product you want to offer. Try to pick a product that is on demand or an evergreen item (a product that is always on demand).

2) Write four to five useful articles as part of the email mini-course you gonna send.

3) Create two reports one about mistakes made in your niche, and the second one make it a list of 10 or more useful tips.

4) Deliver both download links on a "thank you for being a great subscriber" landing page. Send the first one on Tuesday together with the last article from the course and the second one on Wednesday.

5) Add your affiliate link and promotional recommendation at the end of each article from the course, in each of the digital reports, in your "thank you" landing pages. Without any type of deal or bonuses.

6) At the end of your email course ask your subscribers to please share the message with their peers. Even post them on their blog or as Facebook notes. But they need to let the copy and links untouch!

7) Send your offer on Thursday morning before noon (12pm), so they can get your offer before they go party and before they spend all their wallets at Walmart.

8) Now send the same message in the afternoon and on ever single day until Sunday. But, each time before sending it add a industry fact, news, or mistake at the beginning of your message to show them how much they need that product.

9) Make sure your offer is a very irresistible one, but over do it! Think of something you can offer to make your leads take action today.

10) On the offer landing page video explain the benefits of the product, the benefits of your offer. Tell them what they getting and when the offer will expired.

Here is the first email ad copy that we send to our opt-in list:

"Subject: [BLACK Friday] 50% OFF All Packages at *HostGator* (Video Inside)

Copy Body: Don't Miss This SALE Luis

This Is Really Going To Help!

Watch The Video Here...

>> YourURL.com/BlackFriday50OFF

I'd advise you to take
action FAST...

Then Get a Hold Of Me
and Let's get Rolling..

Hurry and Get Your Complementary Marketing and eBusiness Start Up Coaching By Email Today.

To Your Success,

Your name.

>> YourURL.com/BlackFriday50OFF"

You can use this system for the day after Christmas and New Years sale promotions. So, put it to work and see how good it works. Tomorrow I show you how to boost your sales from the same campaign.

To your success,

Luis E Galarza,
Email & Affiliate Marketing Specialist.

Learn how to build a responsive email list:
http://ListBuildingBullet.site50.net

Tweet with me at:
http://twitter.com/Luis_Galarza

.

Sent from my BlackBerry® by Boost Mobile

Inspiring Internet Success Is A Passion

The book "Think & Grow Rich" open the success mind set that has been a strong directional force in our lives. Having had a lot of different jobs in our early years, we found that they were not stimulating and or fulfilling to us.

In the pursuit of happiness we kept trying until we realized that there had to be a better way. Taking matters into our own hands we created businesses of our own. Some met with success and some didn't.

We still were led by the feeling that we had not found what we were meant to do. Each step along the way brought us closer to understanding our purpose.

Then in 2007 when the recession or economy down turn started you saw your industry fall in "self destruction" we were forced to look at re-inventing ourselves yet again. As we saw so many people that we had worked with and cared about experiencing negative consequences and losing their joy, we realized that their joy had not been stolen but that they were giving it away.

We all exist in a universe that is abundant in opportunity. If we can free ourselves mentally from the patterns of thought that we establish as a result of what we do becoming a means of defining ourselves and thus limiting us, we have the opportunity to experience joy and fulfillment.

We realized that our purpose was to pursue something that we had both been passionate about for decades. That was a dedication to learning, growing and empowering others. My wife and I decided to create a new way for us to inspire others like you, just not knowing exactly how it was going to manifest but believing in ourselves and our ability to be creatively led.

Let me tell you, it was the best decision of our lives. We planning to put together a great list of motivational thoughts in a new book "The Joy Of Success" and a new blog that will be launch at the beginning of next year. We ask what would it be like to do something that you loved so much that it didn't feel like work? It feels great, full filing, and motivate you to do it again every single day!

Is not about becoming a business owner, but making your job or carrier a joyful part of your life.

Stay tune for the launch of our new blog.

Best regards,

Luis E Galarza,
Internet Marketing Specialist.

Boost Your Marketing Success By Building Your Own Email List!
http://ListBuildingBullet.site50.net

Tweet with me at:
http://twitter.com/Luis_Galarza

.

Sent from my BlackBerry® by Boost Mobile

New Balance Apparel Planning Analyst

Apparel Planning Analyst Location: US-MA-Boston Job ID: 6614 Category: Apparel - Positions More information about this job Overview New Balance has a history of 100 years of enduring performance and is still running strong today. Part of what makes New Balance so unique is our commitment to making products that not only provide performance, but also superior fit and comfort. The same attention that is placed on our athletic shoes and apparel is also placed on our associates. We seek talented individuals that fit into our team-oriented atmosphere. Additionally, we are proud to have an environment that offers the comfort of a true work/life balance. If you are looking for a NEW BALANCE, read on! Responsibilities As an Apparel Planning Analyst, you will execute buying, forecasting, and operational aspects for the Apparel Division by supporting the development and implementation of plans and programs. You will optimize inventory levels to maximize sales and profitability and mitigate risk using turn, weeks of supply, and in-stock percentages as barometers. You will work cross-functionally to finalize an effective domestic forecasting and buying process that helps drive accuracy and on time delivery of product. You will facilitate the inline buy process by linking sales input with product management recommendations. In this role, you will partner with various internal teams to identify and seize opportunities, fulfill customer requests, and manage account merchandising needs. Based on your analysis of historical sales and trend data, you will offer product assortments that maximize sales, profit, and fill rate. You will ensure the timely coordination of order tracking, retail release and launch information, order confirmation, cancellation summaries, and delivery information. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years of related business experience. Must display a strong aptitude for numbers and analytical, detailed thinking. Understanding of wholesale and retail math concepts and principles, including turn, weeks of supply, acceleration and margin. Excellent computer skills, Excel and database skills required. Strong communication and presentation skills. Ability to work autonomously, multi-task and prioritize. Our products are designed to meet the diverse needs of consumers and our benefits are designed to meet the diverse needs of our associates. We have developed a benefits package that is sure to fit your way of life. Our low-cost medical and dental coverage and onsite wellness program will help you lead a healthy lifestyle. We offer a 401k plan with an employer match, making it possible to save for retirement. Most positions offer a flexible work schedule, work from home options, and a 37.5 hour work week. We provide a generous vacation package and even allow paid time off to volunteer in the community. New Balance encourages its employees to take advantage of our tremendous training and development programs, as well as our tuition reimbursement plan. We are a business casual environment where our employees are encouraged to wear NB product which can be purchased with our significant employee discount. Parking is free at all of our facilities. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer Apply for this job Posted by Stephanie Coronado