Cherry Pie in Capitol Reef National Park

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Cherry Pie in Capitol Reef National Park

The most memorable part of Capitol Reef National Park was the pies. Yes, baked pies: apple, strawberry-rhubarb, cherry, peach, and mixed berry pies. All fresh, all warm if you get there early enough, and the perfect (luxurious) serving size for two.

The pies were for sale at the Gifford Homestead, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a small farmhouse and cultural demonstration site, situated amongst the 200 acre Fruita Rural Historical District and just a short walk from the Fruita Campground where we stayed for several nights in June.

We made it a daily ritual to go for a sunrise hike and, upon returning, grab a cup of coffee and pie from the Gifford Homestead. If I had to imagine heaven, the Fruita District of Capitol Reef might be in my top three scenarios. Still, there was much more to the national park…

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Determining the purpose of your non-profit e-newsletter

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Determining the purpose of your non-profit e-newsletter

Many non-profits have e-newsletters, but they’re often thought of as something that just “must” be done. Maybe you inherited the e-newsletter from a predecessor or your marketing team has decided to “keep in touch” with donors and supporters. But there are many purposes a non-profit e-newsletter can have and it’s important to identify the primary and secondary purposes so you can evaluate the success of your e-newsletter program.

So let’s take a look at three possible purposes for an e-newsletter and ways to improve given those purposes.

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Tutorial: Creating Google AdWords Image Ads for Free

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Tutorial: Creating Google AdWords Image Ads for Free

Google AdWords provides a great tool which helps create image ads for free. They’re not the most creative ads, but they will certainly do the trick if you 1) want to run a quick test to see if Google AdWords serves your organization or 2) you don’t have the budget to hire a graphic designer.

Here’s a quick tutorial on creating free Google Image ads:

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Five Days in Longmont, Colorado

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Five Days in Longmont, Colorado

Longmont, Colorado is the perfect epicenter for a mountain adventure, whether the priority is hiking, beer, food, bicycling, coffee, or photography. It’s 16 miles from Boulder, 30 miles from Fort Collins, 39 miles from Denver, and 43 from Rocky Mountain National Park, but it’s a suburb entirely worth its own visit if you want a hub from which to access these locations.

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Growing your non-profit e-news subscriber list

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Growing your non-profit e-news subscriber list

Along the spectrum of engagement, an e-news subscriber has taken the first very real step toward supporting your organization. But do you actively give all of your fans and supporters the opportunity to subscribe? Consider all of these points of entries and your e-news subscriber list could grow 218%, like the one I managed for three years at a statewide non-profit.

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Keeping Viewers Longer – Adding Cards to YouTube Videos

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Keeping Viewers Longer – Adding Cards to YouTube Videos

YouTube offers a nice option to overlay text, videos, or polls on your own videos. A card, which used to be called a Call to Action overlay, can be added to any video with the click of a button and a few options for customization.

For example, if your non-profit or business wants to add a poll, that’s an option. Or if you want to direct people to your best video or your website, the Card is a great way to add a layer of interactivity to the video.

Here’s a brief tutorial on adding cards to YouTube videos, after which I’ll describe when your non-profit or small business should insert the Card in the video to keep viewers on the video for longer:

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