Brian Aaby and Youthmark

WOMM: Word of Mouth Marketing… the best form of marketing!  Can you help spread the word?

Over the last 4 weeks I have “toured” to six different cities to do preview meals for Youthmark Mission Ventures.

The Strategy: Invite Youth Pastors to a lunch that Youthmark pays for so that we have the opportunity to share about our YMV’s.

I still have two lunches to come, both in our own backyard.  On Thursday, November 19, Youthmark will be hosting a lunch for Youth Pastors/Directors at the Tukwila Old Spaghetti Factory (new one just south of Southcenter mall near Kohls).  Then on Thursday, December 3 we will be at the Portland Old Spaghetti Factory (the one on the water).

If you are a Youth Pastor in the greater Western WA or Western OR region, we’d love to have you attend the meals.  If you attend a church that has a Youth Pastor/Director, please invite them to visit www.youthmark.com and click on the Free Lunch banner on the bottom of the homepage.

I look forward to sharing our hopes, vision and strategy to see students trained for the 51-weeks outside of the mission trip!  Of course we use the mission trip as a catalyst for that change  and motivation for the training, but with your prayers and word-of-mouth marketing perhaps we’ll ultimately see teens become the best missionaries we have here in the US!

Speaking of that, did you know that teens need it modeled as well?  Let’s model effective missional living by sharing in word and deed!

Thanks for spreading the word to the Youth Pastors you know!

Grace,
Brian

A good friend of mine did something very cool this week (without any prompt from me, I promise)!  He shot a video of himself plugging YMV’s and posted it to Youtube!

I’ll be able to use this at the lunches I am hosting to promote Youthmark Mission Ventures!

Thanks Aaron!  If you have about two minutes, check out the video!

Grace,

Brian

Okay, so the Seattle weather doesn’t quite reflect the title of this post, however, I am thinking Spring right now.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive up north (Burlington/Mt. Vernon) to meet with a couple different friends.  First I met with Mark Moder, the CEO of Youth Dynamics.  We grabbed some coffee and caught up on life.  You can pray for Mark, he has served as the President of Youth Dynamics for almost a year, yet, has been doing so by commuting from Idaho.  He and his family have yet to sell their home in Post Falls, ID.  He spends a couple weeks in WA and a couple weeks in ID each month.

Yep, this is Joe.

After my meeting with Mark, and the reason for  ”Thinking Spring,” I met with Joe Poppino.  Joe was my worship leader for our two Spring Retreats last spring (and did a fantastic job).  Well, a few weeks ago I officially made the ask for him to consider doing it again.  I let him know we have three retreats in WA this spring and he jumped on board.  I then let him know that we are doing one in Portland, and he jumped at that one too… then I asked the impossible. I asked Joe if he’d be interested in coming to TX, CA and CO for the three out-of-the-northwest retreats.  And after prayer, consultation and more prayer, The Joe Poppino Band is officially the band for Youthmark Mission Ventures Spring Tour!

Joe Poppino is back!

I’m excited to have Joe and his band on board. With Joe coming to all seven training times I will be able to utilize his giftedness beyond the music.  Even yesterday we were dreaming of what could be in the Spring of 2010!  Pretty exciting stuff!

Grace,

Brian

If you have friends in the great Dallas, Houston, LA, San Diego, Portland and Seattle areas, this post is very much for you!  Let the post begin…

I love my job.

Years ago I discovered that I have a bit of an entrepreneurial bent.  I like thinking about the risk/reward side of things.

As I walked into Starbucks this afternoon I quickly discovered the re-arrangement of the furniture, and surmised the reasons as to why they made the change.  In talking to the Barista I was confirmed in my thinking.  Much of the decision was based on streamlining the customer experience; from walking into the store, to seeing the merchandise to being ushered out the door (quickly) so that you come back often, but don’t stay too long–it’s all been considered.  Brilliant on their part.  I buck the trend though (I’ll stay for several hours).

I like thinking like a businessman.  But I also love thinking like a Pastor.  A great mix for me at Youthmark.

As Youthmark is expanding beyond the King/Snohomish and Pierce County boundaries, I am trying my hand at marketing.  One discovery I have made is that word-of-mouth advertising is by far the best form of advertising.  For instance, last week in Colorado and the YMV preview lunches; though I sent out mailings, we made phone calls and I personally sent over 150 emails, I had just a handful of people show up who were not connected to either me or one of my close friends in the area.

So, with that knowledge, I am trying a bit of a different tactic for the last six youth leader meals Youthmark is offering to preview the 2010 Youthmark Mission Venture materials and trips.  Soliciting help!  Specifically, soliciting help from you!

I hope you think like I do: Teens in the U.S. can/should be the best missionaries we have!  Let’s train them to reach their own campus, club and community.  If this is something you believe, perhaps you can partner with Youthmark in a new and creative way!

If you have friends in any of the below listed metro areas, I would greatly appreciate your w0rd-of-mouth (and/or email, text or call) advertisement to get friends and acquaintances to the meals.  Specifically we are targeting the Youth Pastors (and/or Pastors if they make the decisions for the Student Ministry).  If you could point people to the registry at  youthmark.com I’d greatly appreciate it.  Of course they can click here to get all the info about YMV’s as well. Here are the dates and times for the meals:

Greater San Diego Area:  San Marcos Old Spaghetti Factory, Wednesday, October 28, Noon.

Greater North Los Angeles Area: Valencia Marie Calendars, Thurday, Oct. 29, 10:00 AM Brunch.

Greater North Houston Area: Spring TX, Stracks Restaurant, Wednesday, Nov. 4, Noon.

Greater North Dallas Area: Buca Di Beppos, Thursday, Nov. 5, Noon.

Seattle: Southcenter (Tukwila) Old Spaghetti Factory, Thursday, Nov. 19, Noon.

Portland: Old Spaghetti Factory (on the River), Old Spaghetti Factory, Thursday, Dec. 4, Noon.

If you are interested in more information or would like to send a specific invite complete with a pdf of the postcard, don’t hesitate to email me and I’ll get you the graphics for this.

So, what do you say?  Can you share the love?  Your prayers and your practical help is so appreciated!  Let me know (comment) if you plan to send off an invite!

Grace,
Brian