Baby Boomers Raise The Bar for Family Values | Guest Post by Kristi Carter (Plus a Giveaway)

Guerrilla_Marketing_to_BB_cover

Please welcome to my blog Kristi Carter, co-author of the wonderful book Guerrilla Marketing to Baby Boomers. She has some wonderful tips, so be sure to check out her book AND enter to win a copy! To be entered, simply leave a comment on this post with your name and email address. I’ll announce the winner next Friday!

In my book I show how large and small businesses can optimize their marketing effort to the targeted audience of baby boomers. I teamed up with Jay Conrad Levinson, the father and originator of Guerrilla Marketing, on this book. It was a joy and an honor to work with him. Many businesses are realizing that baby boomers are buying for three generations; their children, themselves and their aging parents. The baby boomers are the biggest sector of consumers with disposable income, and they demand high standards in the products they purchase. Baby boomers have a consciousness that past generations were not as concerned about. Boomers have actually helped our society raise the bar for more sustainable items and environmentally sound products. They care about the world around them and what they will be leaving as a legacy to their children. In Guerrilla Marketing to Baby Boomers, I discuss the boomers’ perception of the world. It is crucial for marketers to use the right language and method to activate interest in their prospects’ mind. It is important to know that boomers are changing the world for a better and simpler place.

In my book I show several marketing methods that help simplify our marketing plans ranging from using social media to delegating certain tasks to professional services such as Odesk. Working efficiently is the key here. For the entrepreneur, my book shows how to set up and use autoresponders, viral marketing, and landing pages to drive traffic to their product or services. More and more people are preferring the “work at home online” model of business so they can spend more time at home with their families. This book speaks to them and points the way. Family values and time freedom are the buzzwords that so many entrepreneurs use to propel themselves onto great success both personally and professionally as they work at home online.

In this book you will learn:

* The basic principles of marketing online
* How to get an audience of people begging to buy your product
* Why and what baby boomers are buying
* How to automate your business so you can spend more time with the family
* The importance and influence of social media
* Secrets that baby boomers don’t want you to know
* Developing and sustaining your marketing plan

There are resources throughout each paragraph of the book to educate and help marketers reach their goals. In chapter seven, “Secrets for Selecting the Best Marketing Methods,” there are links to demographic studies, e-media, and info-media. If you have the Kindle version, you can simply click and go to that link immediately. Plus there is a number of case scenarios that shows the cost and time frame for running ads in the Yellow Pages, television ads, and radio ads. This book provides 150 ways to reach your audience through mini and maxi marketing methods. Chapter nineteen disusses using Skymall as a resource to promote your business. The later chapters show how to put all of these methods into action. This book is a hands-on marketing tool that is up-to-date with the current methods of marketing online and offline. Using a few different marketing methods, both online and offline, will your heighten your exposure to the baby boomer customer. I wish you all much success, happiness, and lots of family time.

You can purchase the book, Guerrilla Marketing to Baby Boomers, by clicking here. You can also contact me by emailing kristiacarter@gmail. Or visit me on Facebook here and here.

Thursday on Amish Wisdom – Thrill of the Chaste | The Allure of Amish Romance Novels with Valerie Weaver-Zercher

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

This week on Amish Wisdom I’m welcoming back Valerie Weaver-Zercher to talk about her new book, Thrill of the ChasteValerie’s book studies the exploding subgenre of Amish fiction from every angle: Why is it so popular? What are readers seeking? Do these stories truly reflect the Amish? What motivates the authors? The publishers? Thrill of the chaste is sometimes hard-hitting but always fair, and this fascinating book is a must-read for anyone interested in the plain life. Join us Thursday at 4pm CST.

Leave a comment {HERE} for a chance to win a copy of Thrill of the Chaste (or email ckrumm@litfusegroup.com if the comment box isn’t working.) Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Valerie: Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Orion, the Christian Century, Mennonite Weekly Review, and Sojourners, among other venues, and her work has been nominated for and received special mention for a Pushcart Prize. She received a 2009 fellowship in creative nonfiction from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Weaver-Zercher and her husband and three sons live in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Visit her website for more information.

More about Thrill of the Chaste: The Allure of Amish Romance Novels:

Browse the inspirational fiction section of your local bookstore, and you will likely find cover after cover depicting virtuous young women cloaked in modest dresses and wearing a pensive or playful expression. They hover innocently above sun-drenched pastures or rustic country lanes, often with a horse-drawn buggy in the background—or the occasional brawny stranger. Romance novels with Amish protagonists, such as the best-selling trailblazer The Shunning by Beverly Lewis, are becoming increasingly popular with a largely evangelical female audience. Thrill of the Chaste is the first book to analyze this growing trend in romance fiction and to place it into the context of contemporary literature, religion, and popular culture.

Valerie Weaver-Zercher combines research and interviews with devoted readers, publishers, and authors to produce a lively and provocative examination of the Amish romance novel. She discusses strategies that literary agents and booksellers use to drive the genre’s popularity. By asking questions about authenticity, cultural appropriation, and commodification, Thrill of the Chaste also considers Amish fiction’s effects on Amish and non-Amish audiences alike.

 

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: 24/6 Sabbath Rest with Matthew and Nancy Sleeth

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

Rest. I could sure use some. Not the veg-out-in-front-of-the-TV kind of rest, but soul-rest. This week’s guests, Dr. Matthew and Nancy Sleeth (Almost Amish) will be joining me to talk about Matthew’s new book, 24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life. The Sleeth’s know rest doesn’t just happen. It takes intentionality, commitment and restraint. 24/6 provides a life-giving prescription for a healthier, more God-centered life amidst a digitally-crazed, always-on world. The Sleeth’s will share how their family was dramatically transformed when it began adopting Sabbath practices —physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.

Leave a comment {HERE} for a chance to win a copy of 24/6 (Or email Christen (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com) if you are having problems with the comment box.) Winner will be contacted next week via email.

More about Matthew Sleeth: Matthew Sleeth, MD, a former emergency room physician, treated a growing number of patients with physical symptoms from working too much, consuming too much, and having too little time to focus on their faith and families. Following a new calling, Dr. Sleeth resigned from his position as chief of the medical staff and director of a busy ER to teach, preach, and write about the biblical call for a 24/6 life. A highly sought-after speaker, Dr. Sleeth has spoken at more than 1,000 churches, campuses, and events in the last five years. Dr. Sleeth lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with Nancy, his wife of more than 30 years, and their two grown children.

More about Nancy Sleeth: As co-founder and Managing Director of Blessed Earth, Nancy Sleeth travels throughout the U.S. speaking and writing about faith and the environment. Prior to heeding this spiritual and environmental calling, Sleeth served as communications director for a Fortune 500 company and as an educator and administrator, most recently at Asbury University. Sleeth is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds a masters degree in journalism. She is the author of Almost Amish: One Woman’s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life. She also authored Go Green, Save Green, the first-ever practical guide for going green from a faith perspective. She and Matthew Sleeth have been married for more than 30 years. They are the parents of Clark (a Physician preparing for medical missions) and Emma (creation care speaker/author for teens and young adults).

Learn more about the Sleeth’s by visiting their website, Blessed Earth.

More about 24/6:A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life:

“MATTHEW SLEETH HAS CRAFTED A COMPELLING INVITATION TO CONSIDER AND PARTICIPATE IN SABBATH-KEEPING, AN INVITATION THAT IS, IN MY EXPERIENCE, WITHOUT PEER.” –EUGENE H. PETERSON, Author of The Message

“Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.”

Sounds nice, but how do we find rest in a 24/7 world? Just as the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, we have become slaves to technology. Our technological tools allow 24-hour productivity and connectivity, give us more control, and subtly enslave us to busyness itself. Sabbath is about restraint—intentionally not doing everything all the time just because we can. Setting aside a day of rest helps us reconnect with our Creator and find the peace of God that passes all understanding. The Sabbath is about letting go of the controls one day a week and letting God be God. So how do we do it?

In 24/6, Dr. Matthew Sleeth describes our symptoms, clarifies the signs, diagnoses the illness, and lays out a simple plan for living a healthier, more God-centered life in a digitally-dazed, always-on world. Sleeth shares how his own family was dramatically transformed when it adopted Sabbath practices and helps readers better understand how their own lives can be transformed—physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually—by adopting the 24/6 lifestyle.

Thursday on Amish Wisdom | Better Self-discipline in 2013 with Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom.com!

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

Welcome to 2013! My first guest of the year will help get 2013 off to a good start. Crystal Paine will be back on the show this week to talk about her new ebook, 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life. Crystal is a wife, mom of three, and bestselling author of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget and the e-book 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life. Visit her blog, www.MoneySavingMom.com, for high-value coupons, online bargains, freebies, and practical ideas and inspiration to get your life and finances in order.

MoneySavingMom.com - one of the top personal finance blogs on the web and averages over one million pages views per month. Crystal has contributed to articles in Woman’s Day, as well as being mentioned on National Public Radio and CNN.com, in USA Weekend and Real Simple magazine. Crystal has also appeared as a guest on the 700 Club, and featured in numerous other local newspapers and radio and television stations.

Crystal is giving away a copy of her ebook. Just leave a comment {HERE} for a chance to win (or email ckrumm@litfusegroup.com if you’re having problems with the comment box). Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about 21 Days to a More Discplined Life: Stop Letting Life Just Happen to You and Start Happening to Life!

Do you have ideas, hopes, and dreams for what you want to accomplish in your life, but you feel like you’re being held back by a lack of personal discipline?

Are you easily overwhelmed by your big ideas or projects, and you just don’t know where to start and how to make real progress?

Do you find yourself making “all-or-nothing” plans for transforming your life, and then three days later you crash and burn under the weight of your plan?

Learn more about Crystal at her website: http://crystalpaine.com.

This week on Amish Wisdom: Ingrid Hess, Rhonda Shrock and Christa Black


Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner. 

Welcome to Amish Wisdom. This week we’ll have three guests on the show. The first half hour will feature guest host Rhonda Schrock who will be interviewing author and illustrator, Ingrid Hess. Ingrid has a delightful new book out called An Amish Alphabet. Then during the second half of the show I’ll be sitting down with Christa Black, author of God Loves Ugly. She’ll be sharing her inspiring message and personal story.

Leave a comment {HERE} for a chance to win a copy of either guests’ book. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Rhonda Schrock: Rhonda Schrock is the mother of 4 sons, ages 6 to 22. She and her family live in Northern Indiana. She is a telecommuting medical transcriptionist and the writer of the weekly column, “Grounds for Insanity,” which appears in The Goshen News.  A prolific blogger, she’s written professionally for Bethel College while contributing to parenting and humor blogs and maintaining her own.  She appears twice monthly on Suzanne Woods Fisher’s website and writes once monthly for Sherry Gore, author and founder of “Cooking & Such” magazine. Rhonda is also the editor of “Cooking & Such,” and her column is featured there regularly.  You can find her at www.RhondaSchrock.com.

More about Indrid Hess: Ingrid Hess is an illustrator, graphic designer, and graphic design professor living in Rochester, New York. The simplicity in her work is heavily influenced by her Amish and Mennonite heritage; the bright colors and patterns are inspired by art from Costa Rica, where she lived for four years as a child.

Ingrid holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Indiana University with an emphasis in the book arts and has worked in the publishing industry since 1996. Her dual passions of design and illustration work well together and help her tell stories through pictures. Her research focuses on economic justice as a way to bring peace to the world.

Ingrid is author and illustrator of Herald Press titles Sleep in Peace (2008 Rodda Book Award winner) and Walk in Peace. She also wrote Think Fair Trade First in which she seeks to empower children to understand that they can make a difference in the world. Learn more about Ingrid here.

More about An Amish AlphabetA is for Amish; B is for barn raising; C is for church. What is it like to be Amish? In this delightful and whimsical full-color book, author and illustrator Ingrid Hess offers an entertaining yet informative introduction to Amish faith and life. In a style that will capture the imaginations of children and adults alike, Hess takes readers behind the scenes and invites them to think about living out faith in new ways.

More about Christa Black: Christa Black is a popular blog author, speaker, and singer/songwriter whose songs have been recorded by multi-platinum-selling artists Jordin Sparks and Michael W. Smith. She has toured with The Jonas Brothers, Michael W. Smith, and Jennifer Knapp. Christa lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband and rescue dog, Nala. GOD LOVES UGLY is her first book and corresponds with her CD/Album God Loves Ugly. Learn more about Christa at her website, www.christablack.com.

More about God Loves Ugly: DO YOU EVER LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND HATE WHAT YOU SEE? Your eyes can lie. Rejection, shame, and self-hatred can poison perceptions and hinder us from seeing and believing what’s actually true. In GOD LOVES UGLY Christa Black shares her personal victory against powerful adversaries–her thoughts, feelings, and reflection. From world-touring stadium performer to rehab-bound bulimic binge eater, Christa’s unashamed transparency will win your heart, hold your attention, and give you practical tools to overcome the monsters that can consume our lives. She invites the reader into her own painful struggles and spiritual journey, providing solutions to life’s problems in a highly entertaining and vulnerable, yet empowering way. You were made to live free. Whether you are struggling with an eating disorder, depression, addiction, or just feeling a little insecure, GOD LOVES UGLY will shift the way you think, motivate permanent change, and inspire your heart to find peace.

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: “Who are the Anabaptists?” Round 2


Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner. 

This week we’ll be revisiting “Who Are the Anabaptists?”. The first show featured Ira Wagler, Sherry Gore, Erik Wesner and Mary Ann Kirkby. On Thursday’s show we’ll welcome back Erik Wesner and also hear from a former Old Order Mennonite, Osiah Hoorst and a practicing Hutterite, Linda Maendel. Not sure of the differences between, Amish, Old Order Amish, Mennonite & Hutterite? Well, tune in and have all your questions answered.

For a chance to win an advanced copy of  my latest book The Haven - leave a comment {HERE} (or email amy@litfusegroup.com if the comment box isn’t working)! One winner will be notified via email next week.

More about our panel:

Erik Wesner:

Erik is the author of the popular blog “Amish America.” He has visited 30+ Amish communities in nearly a dozen states, and met around 5,000 Amish families.

Erik is the author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive, and Kim sa Amisze?, the first book on the Amish in the Polish language.

He has contributed to Amish-themed articles featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other print media, and was the 2008 Snowden Fellow at the Young Center at Elizabethtown College.

Osiah Hoorst: 

Osiah Horst grew up in an Old Order Mennonite family in Canada.  Osiah’s father Isaac wrote a column for a local newspaper which eventually grew into the book A Separate People: An Insider’s View of Old Order Mennonite Customs and Traditions, a witty and incisive look at Old Order Mennonite society.

Isaac penned 2 dozen books and many columns, before passing away in 2008.  Osiah has kindly taken some time to answer questions today about Old Order Mennonite life and his father’s work.

Linda Maendel:

Linda Maendel and was born and raised Hutterite. She lives on a colony in Manitoba, Canada and works in the local school, teaching English and German to K-6 students. During the summer months she enjoys helping with all the other colony work, cooking, gardening and canning. In her free time she loves to read, write and maintain her blog, Hutt-Write Voice. She has one published German children’s book and has translated a set of Bible Stories into her language, a Carintian German dielect which they fondly call Hutterisch, and orginates from the province of Carinthia in Austria.

She Speaks! Proverbs 31 Conference

I’m still floating from the She Speaks! conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. I knew I would have an interesting, challenging  weekend–(was leading two workshops)–but I didn’t know that I would enjoy it as much as I did!  Proverbs 31 Ministry knows how to put on a conference–it was outstanding. Here’s what amazed me:

Attention to detail. Every minute counted and every person counted, too. The attendants’ time was highly valued–each workshop was filled, the speakers were excellent (not just good but excellent), and they cared about the little stuff. Kleenex at the tables, coffee and snacks in all the right places.

Toolbox. If you had an interest in speaking or writing (non-fiction)–this is the place you want to be. They provided speaker and writer evaluations, tips to improve, a photographer for headshots, workshops that tackled specific concerns (writing a book proposal, telling a powerful story), agent and editor appointments.

Encouragement. This is what wow-ed me. I made a point to sit at different tables for every meal, to meet as many people as I could. I can’t think of one single person who hadn’t received some kind of encouraging news during the weekend. Even if they weren’t leaving with the dream realized that they had come to the conference with…their dreams were still intact. And a little closer to coming true.

Our hotel was next to NASCAR. I know more about NASCAR, after visiting Charlotte, North Carolina, than I had ever did before. Or ever will again.

650 women attended the conference. 350 on the waiting list…and it was capped.

I met Zondervan author Amy Clipston for the first time and had a nice catch up with Revell author Lynette Eason.

Lysa TerkHeurst, President of Proverbs 31 Ministries, gave a number of fantastic workshops on improving speaking skills. She’s amazing. Ain’t no flies on that girl.

Liz Curtis Higgs was the keynote speaker. My sides still hurt from laughing so hard! What a gift she has.

If you need a little help with speaking skills, or you’re wanting to ratchet up your nonfiction writing, this is the conference to attend. I can’t recommend it highly enough. I was sorry to leave. Here’s the info:  Proverbs 31 Ministries, She Speaks Conference.

Win an Advanced Reader Copy of The Haven!

There’s nothing more valuable than a recommendation from a friend!

Would you be willing to do a few one-minute things to help spread the word about The Haven, Life with Lily and/or Amish Proverbs?

It’s easy! And impactful.

And as a thank you, you’ll be entered to win one of 50 Advanced Reader Copies of The Haven!

To be entered in the giveaway just do one or more of these 10 influencer activities (or maybe you have an idea of your own!) and fill out the short form below. Giveaway ends June 30th!

Please email Amy (amy@litfusegroup.com) if you have any questions.

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: “Who are the Anabaptists?” with Erik Wesner, Sherry Gore, Ira Wagler, and Mary Ann Kirkby!


Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner. 

Enjoy an encore presentation of “Who Are the Anabaptists?” this week on Amish Wisdom. Tune in to hear the panel Erik Wesner, Sherry Gore, Ira Wagler, and Mary Ann Kirkby talk about the differences between, Amish, Old Order Amish, Mennonite & Hutterite communities. In August, we’ll be having another “Who are the Anabaptists?” panel discussion. Stay tuned for details.

For a chance to win a subscription to Sherry Gore’s Cooking & Such - leave a comment {HERE}! One winner will be notified via email next week.

More about our panel:

Erik Wesner: Erik is the author of the popular blog “Amish America.” During the interview we chat aboutErik’s book, Success Made Simple, and about Amish businesses. Since 2004, he has visited 20 Amish communities in five states, and met roughly 5,000 Amish families in total.

As the 2008 Snowden Fellow at the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Erik delivered a lecture entitled “Is Success a Four-Letter Word? The Amish Approach to Business Achievement”.

Erik has contributed to Amish-themed articles featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other print media. He’s have also served as a consultant for numerous authors of Amish fiction and non-fiction.

Sherry Gore: Sherry Gore is the author of Taste of Pinecraft….Glimpses of Sarasota Florida’s Amish CultureandKitchens. She’s a writer/food reviewer for the Pinecraft Pauper, Florida’s first Amish newspaper, and a scribe for her community for the National Edition of The Budget. She co-hosted the Pinecraft Writer’s Presentation in Florida with Professor Emeritus Richard Stevick, author of Growing up Amish; the Teenage Years.

She is a year-round resident in Sarasota, Florida, the vacation

paradise of the Plain People, and is a member of a Beachy Amish Mennonite Church. She is currently chronicling the adventures of everyday life of the Plain people in Pinecraft for the second edition of Taste of Pinecraft, due to be released 2012.

This mother of three, and full-time caregiver of her twenty-year-old daughter, loves to swim in the Gulf of Mexico, as she attempts to combat her pathological fear of sharks. It is her life-long dream to ride in the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile.

She is the non-resistant owner of a double barrel shotgun with an affinity for pie. She learned the hard way one spring day not to wear Chap-stick while driving an open buggy behind a shedding horse. Find out more about Sherry at her website: http://www.sherrygorebooks.com/.

Ira Wagler: Ira Wagler was born and raised in an Old Order Amish community surrounded by family, farms, horses and open spaces. Ira writes about his family and experiences with honesty, respect and compassion. His decision to leave was, as is the case with others, a moment of great anxiety and freedom. Words, books and knowledge were a part of the Wagler household – Ira simply wanted more. He entered college as a non-traditional student and there discovered literature and writing. He was deeply affected by Thomas Wolf’s “You Can’t Go Home Again.” Though his career has taken him in other directions, including management and law, he never lost his passion for narrative and writing. After some personal hardships, Ira decided to seek solace where he had found freedom in the past, in words. Three years ago, he started a blog. Initially posting weekly, he began to give words to the largely oral stories and traditions of his childhood with the intention of weaving them into a book. Visit his blog here: http://www.irawagler.comIra’s book, Growing Up Amish,  is to be published and released by Tyndale House on July 1, 2011.

Mary Ann Kirkby: Mary-Ann Kirkby was born on a Canadian Hutterite colony near Portage la Prairie,Manitoba. One of nine children, Kirkby was raised in the Hutterite tradition, similar in some respects, to that of the Amish or Mennonites. At age10 her life was turned upside down when her parents abruptly left behind the comfort and security of the colony and relocated their family to a lonely farm house in the “English” world. The transition to a startling fast-paced society was overwhelming for a young Mary-Ann as she clashed head on with popular culture.

Growing up in the isolated self-sustaining Hutterite community of Fairholme Colony, Kirkby had little contact with the outside world.

 A primarily agricultural community dominated by male leadership, Kirkby’s childhood dreams included a happy marriage with healthy children, good food, strong friendships and a deep devotion to her unique way of life. Those dreams where shattered when her parents packed up their large family and moved to a new world, full of unknowns.

Thrust into a foreign universe that she didn’t understand, Kirkby worked hard to adapt to a new way of life and a new identity by abandoning the culture that had defined her. She struggled to reinvent herself by denying her Hutterite heritage in an attempt to avoid the stigma and cruelty associated with being different.

A graduate of the National Broadcasting Institute Kirkby made her way into the world of journalism as a news anchor and reporter. She was the senior reporter responsible for aboriginal issues at CTV in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and worked in Ottawa for several years as a freelance journalist and as Media Relations Consultant for the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. The recipient of two Can-Pro Awards, Kirkby has made a career of telling other people’s stories. She is gifted singer, a sought after speaker and member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

Finally embracing her role as a daughter of two cultures Kirkby has used her talents to chronicle her own life story. Her first book, “I Am Hutterite,” was published in Canada in 2007 and will be released in the U.S. by Thomas Nelson Publishing in May 2010. The book has garnered rave reviews as readers react to the Kirkby’s honest and compelling story told in her charming style. “I Am Hutterite” won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2007. More about Mary here: http://www.polkadotpress.ca