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Featured Member
Mary Beth Lewis
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Mary Beth Lewis was born in New Orleans! She relocated from Shreveport, Louisiana, with her job at AT&T in 1989 to Columbus, Ohio. She attended Park University with a major in HR. She has two grown children and four grandchildren.
Mary Beth retired from Lucent Technologies after 28 years of service in 2001. While looking for adventure in her "new" life, she heard on the radio about Christian Business Network at Grandma's Pizza. She had just started her own business with Sunset Money Matters, and this was an opportunity to grow it among fellow Christians. Taking a vacation day from Lucent, she went to her first meeting of Christian Business Network and became a member of the second chapter started in Columbus. It was there where she began to serve at the registration table and shortly thereafter became Director of New Members/Visitors.
Mary Beth is also the Regional Manager for Prolific Payment Solutions.
She is married to Ken for four years on April 29th. Ken and Mary Beth spent their 1st wedding anniversary at the Weekend to Remember conference in Indianapolis and are now Group Coordinators for Family Life's "Weekend to Remember" Marriage Conference. It has been a great enhancement learning more about each other, and what the Lord wants in marriage. The next "Weekend to Remember" marriage conference will be on March 6th-8th at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati with a special discount for CMN members. Web site code: CMN
If you have a suggestion for Featured Member, please send it to the editor. |
| Featured Ministry
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NONE SUBMITTED
If you have a suggestion for featured ministry send it to the editor.
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Happenings/Events | | BEGINNING IN JANUARY DAYTON'S SOUTH CHAPTER GOES BACK TO BEING A REGULAR CHAPTER.
THE DAYTON REGION WILL BEGIN IN JANUARY HOSTING A QUARTERLY LUNCH & LEARN. MORE DETAILS SHORTLY. THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD AT INDIANA WESLEYAN JUST OFF 1-75 ON JAN 29TH.
THE DAYTON REGION WILL BE HOSTING A BUSINESS EXPO/HEALTH FAIR ON FEB 14TH WITH THE FOCUS BEING ON HEALTH. IT WILL BE HELD IN SPRINGBORO, ONE MINUTE OFF I-75.
More information on these events can be found by visiting the Christian Marketplace Network web site.
Let us know what is going on in your region! |
Other Events
Just Announced
Our ministry partner, AT WORK ON PURPOSE has announced their next event, Spiritual State of the Marketplace in Mason on Feb 21st from 8 - 11:30AM. Many of our members have attended and been blessed by these events in the past. Help us support a ministry partner. More information will be available on the AWOP web site shortly.
IT IS OFFICIAL!!
There will be a gathering of and workshops by Marketplace Ministry leaders at the Call2All National Pastor's Conference that is coming to Dayton Jan 20-23.
You should have received a special e-mail on this a couple days ago.
Christian Marketplace Network will have a booth all 4 days of the event.
Church leaders speaking include Kay Arthur, Lou Engle, Loren Cunningham and Steve Douglass.
This is an exciting opportunity for Christian Marketplace Network and we hope many of you can attend a day or two. It is 5 minutes from the I-70/75 junction.
You can visit the web site for more details and registration.
Christian Marketplace Network has been happy to assist in assembling the business workshops.
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Helpful Business Hints |
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Christian Marketplace Network Web Site
Many of our members are not taking advantage of this excellent free tool. This is the way other members and non-members can find you on the web site.
First of all, we suggest you look at a few other members and see how they are using it.
To log onto your web page, go to member log-in on the top right of the home page. If you do not know your user name and password, click on "retrieve account information". If you don't receive anything in your e-mail in a couple minutes, send an e-mail to our admin and ask her to make sure you have a user name and password assigned.
When you get to the page, check out all the information for accuracy. Especially check your e-mail address. It might be incorrect. (We use a separate database for the newsletter so it can be correct in one and incorrect in the other.)
Then make sure you have all the business categories filled in that are applicable. Also make sure you fill in the short and long business descriptions.
The short business description is what previously was known as metatags. These are terms people would use to search for you. You can use as many as you like. This section is not viewable on the public side.
The long business description is viewable on the public side and is what you use to describe your business. Many times you can use what is on your own web site. It provides great consistency in branding. Don't forget words in here are also searchable.
Finally don't forget your own web site name.
We look forward to seeing more of your information.
We are always looking for tips for saving time and/or money or help with producing additional revenue. Please share them with others. |
| Don't Forget
Constant Contact |
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Don't forget CMN-USA is a business partner of Constant Contact. By subscribing to Constant Contact through CMN-USA you can save additional money and provide us with a little income.
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From the Editor... WOW!!!!
by Bill Gaffney
First I just read an article by marketplace ministry leader Os Hillman about looking at adversity from a different perspective. Hence, the reference in the newsletter subject. That article is the first one in this month's newsletter. I would highly recommend it, even if you don't read anything else.
As I was sitting in a Dayton chapter meeting last week, Nancy Roberson, a long time member and trust attorney, was doing a presentation. (Hers are always enjoyable and fun.) I started thinking how many people in Christian Marketplace Network she was "business partners" with and how many others have been referred to her by other members and visitors.
Then I started thinking the same thing about all those people in her "business partner" network.
But the really neat thing is these relationships go way beyond business. We know about each other, each other's families, businesses, etc. That is the real strength of our relationships in this organization. When we are recommending someone we are also recommending a friend we trust. You cannot put a monetary value on that.
So the next time you think about Christian Marketplace Network and networking think about these things. Also be patient. Relationships are not built over night. But these relationships will truly last a lifetime.
Enjoy this month's newsletter.
Bill
PS DON'T FORGET TO RENEW
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ADVERSITY: HOW GOD SHAPES A LEADER
by Os Hillman
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I briefly sketched in my story. For 20 years, I had been a highly successful advertising executive. My list of clients read like a Who's Who of the corporate world: American Express, Steinway Pianos, Parisian Department Stores, ADP Payroll Services, Peachtree Software, and on and on. I was active in my church, and I led a men's Bible study. People thought I was the model Christian businessman.
But something had happened to change all of that. Two years earlier, beginning in the spring of 1994, I had experienced a series of catastrophic personal and business setbacks that destroyed my marriage and left me financially ruined. The past two years had left me feeling defeated as a Christian.
Os Hillman is president of the International Coalition of Workplace Ministries (ICWM) and Aslan Group Publishing, and directs an online website called www.faithandworkresources.com. Os is an internationally recognized speaker on the subject of faith and work, speaks to business groups and churches, and writes on various faith- and work-related subjects.
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TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS
By Dr Michael Zigarelli
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There's a lot of advice out there -- some good, some not so good -- for how to handle that conversation you've been dreading. Here's a handy checklist from the most reliable Source.
Michael Zigarelli is an Associate Professor of Management at Messiah College and the editor of Christianity 9 to 5.
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SPECIAL HELPFUL BUSINESS HINT:
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
By Sherri Schwartz
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OK Let's get you started. As you might already know Organic just means the "natural" search results as opposed to the pay-per-click ads that show up at the very top and right-hand side of the page. Organic results show up on the left hand side under the Pay-Per-Click or Sponsored ads. Some people say they know they should be doing SEO but just don't know how to start.
Here are 4 Easy ways to start:
1. 10 keywords- Choose 10 keywords to start that describe your company's products or business that you think people might enter in search engines. Go to your Competitor's Web sites and see what keywords they are using by clicking on View Source and looking at their meta keywords and how the meta tags are set up. You will use these 10 keywords to start in page titles, meta descriptions, meta keywords, alt tags and body copy.
2. Link Strategy- Add a related link page and link to it on your Home Page Footer and in your Site Map. These can be links that are already linking to your site. Edu and Org sites are great ones to add. Quantity is not as important as Quality here in other words Sites that complement your Site and are relevant.
3. Fresh Content- Search engine bots love fresh content. Add articles, archived newsletters or press releases.
4. Site Map- Add a Site Map. Not only will search engine bots love it but also your site visitors will love it for navigation
Sherri Schwartz has worked as a Senior E-Commerce Manager where she was hands on with search engine marketing, affiliate programs and web analytics. She is in transit and looking for her next full time position/opportunity in Cincinnati or virtual as a general marketing manager or online marketing manager Her e-mail is sschwa5391@aol.com.
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MAKE YOUR MEETINGS FAR MORE EFFECTIVE
By Steve Marr
(reprinted with permission from Wisdom's Edge)
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Have you ever been stuck in a meeting that dragged on and on? It felt like the discussion would never wrap up. All you could think about was the pile of work on your desk. And to make matters worse, you weren't even sure what the point of the meeting was.
If you've been in a situation like this, you know how frustrating it can be. So if you're the one in charge of running meetings, there's one simple thing you can do to make the most of your meetings.
In 1 Corinthians 9:26, Paul tells us it's important to have a plan in place. He says he does "not run like a man running aimlessly." In this verse, Paul is discussing his approach to the Christian life. But we can certainly apply this principle to our meetings as well. After all, time is one of our God-given resources, so we should use it wisely.
So how can you be sure you aren't running meetings aimlessly? First, pinpoint the key decision that you need to make, the objective you hope to accomplish, or the information you want to gather. If you can't specifically determine any of these things, perhaps the meeting isn't necessary after all.
If you do need the meeting, use your stated goal to help you plan out an agenda. Outline the topics you need to discuss, and try to set a time limit for each one.
Now that you have an agenda, use it to keep the meeting focused. Share the objective at the beginning of the meeting. When the inevitable tangents arise, guide the group back on track. Remind them of the goal of the discussion.
Once you've made the decision, gathered the needed information, or reached your goal for the meeting, the next step is simple. End the meeting.
If the people on your team know why they're in the meeting, they will be less likely to feel as though you're wasting their time. And running meetings with purpose helps everyone involved be more productive - making valuable use of the time God has given them.
Ed: One last tip I will throw in is from Michael Gerber, author of "The E-Myth": "Hold your meetings standing up." Try it and see the results.
Steve Marr is a consultant, speaker, radio host, and president of Business Proverbs. And he's the author of several books, including Proverbs for Business, Roadmap to Success, and Integrity in the Workplace.
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ODDS & ENDS
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ARE YOU LINKED IN?
There are several Christian Marketplace Network LinkedIn groups including Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and National. Check out the front page of the web site for the links. While you are at it check the LinkedIn group for your particular city. There are also sister Yahoo Groups. These are great networking tools.
WEB SITE
We are starting to put together our plan for updating the Christian Marketplace Network web site. If you have suggestions e-mail them to: websiteideas@cmn-usa.org.
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IMPORTANT
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Please remember to use Christian Marketplace Network in all of your correspondence, ads, signs, etc. By now we should have dropped any reference to Christian Business Network or CBN-USAAlso CMN-USA should not be used for external purposes as we are not currently trademarking that.Don't forget that we also have a new logo. If you need the logo please contact our administrator, Paula Goodnight. |
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