Get Your Ministry on TV…Internet TV

Over the last few years there has been a variety of stories on cutting the cable cord, rising costs of cable and the unnecessary bundles that cable offers. With streaming options such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus, streaming video options are becoming more popular, especially among young people who don’t feel the need to own cable. Thus the question is how can your church take advantage of this viewing transformation, well, i’m glad you asked.

Internet TV is a great solution for ministries because it removes the cost barrier that currently exists for traditional TV and the average church budget. The average church doesn’t have the budget to get on a national TV station or even the budget to produce a nationally televised broadcast, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a word that needs to be heard nationally. Instead of paying TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) $15,000 a week to broadcast a 30 minute show, a ministry can pay $250 a month to build a channel on Roku and broadcast 24/7/365.

In addition to Roku, Google TV has allowed ministries to build channels (apps) that can be installed and watched on television. Additionally, Google TV has a built in web browser (Google Chrome) that can be utilized to watch streaming services online. Later this year Apple TV is reportedly opening up it’s Apple TV software for apps, this would give churches yet another opportunity to establish a presence on people’s TVs and in our living rooms. Now the real opportunity lies in Microsoft’s Xbox. Xbox currently is leading the charge into the living room and ever since they started offering Internet TV options such as Netflix, Hulu TV, Amazon Video and ESPN Watch Now, there has been anticipation building as to when they would allow the masses to build channels for their hardware.

Overall, churches have a great opportunity to establish themselves in people’s living rooms for a fraction of the cost that are associated with traditional methods. As churches move from streaming videos on traditional websites to tablets to mobile devices to internet televisions, the impact and reach will continue to grow and reach the masses.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/internet-tv/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=internet-tv

Mobile apps and Mobile websites for Churches are now, Right Now

Last year I wrote a blog that said Mobile was coming and it was based on me speaking about the benefits of having a mobile website and/or mobile app for your ministry. Well, about a week ago my blog sent out a post from my archives (via Tweet old Post) and the software chose the “Mobile is Coming” post. On Twitter, my friend Antoine Wright (@mobileminmag) responded “Mobile is not coming…Mobile is Now”, and I totally agree.

I have had the opportunity to build quite a few mobile ministry websites and apps and I find myself continually looking at the google analytics to determine how many people are visiting these mobile properties vs. the traditional properties. Here are some great stats for you on some properties I have helped build:

TD Jakes Ministries Mobile Website – 1 in 4 users that visit TDJakes.org is on a mobile device. Overall, that’s hundreds of thousands of users that interact with the ministry via their mobile device. If the ministry did not have a mobile website, the experience of interactive with the ministry would be greatly hindered. And here’s another tidbit, the #1 thing that people are doing when they are on the TDJ mobile website, watching live or archived video.

TD Jakes Ministries Mobile App (Apple – Android) – Most recently, TDJ launched an iPhone and Android app, within the first few weeks we had tens of thousands of downloads with very good reviews. Thus this tells me two things, 1. People were waiting on this app, and 2. People prefer an app over a mobile website.

Ever Increasing Faith Ministries Mobile Website – 1 in 5 users that visit Faithdome.org are on a mobile device. These users are looking for 1 of 2 things, either they want to watch videos (live or archived) or they are looking for the daily devotionals. This shows that these mobile users are very interested in receiving ministry no matter where they are via their mobile device. This is a great thing.

Ever Increasing Faith Mobile donations has increased 400% from the month the mobile website first launched compared to the most recent month. This mobile commerce figure was a bit of a surprise to me. I knew that we could make the online donation process mobile friendly but what I didn’t expect was how quickly people would use it.

Overall, I see that churches should have a mobile delivery plan for their web properties in order to reach more online users. Also, to answer an age old questions, which mobile property should a church do first, website or app, I always say website then app. The mobile website will reach more devices than an iOS specific or Android specific app.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/mobile-is-now/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mobile-is-now

Social Media in the Church

On January 27, 2013, I have the great opportunity to teach my course Next Level Social Media for Ministry at the NY13 Communication Workshop in Bronx, NY. I have been invited by the NAD SDA Communicators and I appreciate this opportunity. I look forward to presenting great concepts from the Social Media section of my upcoming book, The iChurch Method Vol. 2: Changing the World When You Login.

The Topics I will speak on are:

• How Visual Content can enhance your Social Media
• Many platforms, many conversations, how do you manage it
• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+
• Are Google Hangouts a game changer?
• Inspiration, Information and Communication.

I believe that this will be a great workshop, and as long as the internet connection is high speed, I will broadcast and record this presentation via Google Hangouts on Air and The iChurch Method Live website. Join me in person or online!

http://ichurchmethod.com/social-media-in-church/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=social-media-in-church

The iChurch Method – 2013 – Here We Go!!

As we gear up for 2013, we here at The iChurch Method look forward to some great advancements, new book releases and some innovative ways to help you advance your churches online. We just wanted to give you a preview of some of the things coming in 2013.

• The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When you Login, with book trailers and interviews. This book will be released in March/April 2013
• Guest blogging on Churchm.ag, I have been presented with an opportunity to guest blog on Churchm.ag so look for some great church and technology posts on there courtesy of yours truly, Jason Caston.
• Launching The iChurch Method Web and Social Media online course with Azusa Pacific University and Christian Leadership Alliance. Coming this April 2013, the Web and Social Media online course will be launched with content from The iChurch Method. We will provide specifics later.
• Prof. John Weaver is using The iChurch Method in his course at Abilene Christian University with special video content we recorded while on campus at the AT&T studios. This video content will be released later this year.

• Developing and launching an internet church campus at T.D. Jakes Ministries. We are currently working on a full internet church campus for The Potter’s House of Dallas and T.D. Jakes Ministries, this will be a major feat and we are looking at having at least 10,000 people to start.

• Releasing interactive book apps for The iChurch Method volumes 1 and 2. We embrace the interactive experience on the iPad and will develop interactive apps that take The iChurch Method book experience to another level.
• Teaching at as well as attending numerous conferences this year such as
• • T.D. Jakes Pastors and Leadership Conference
  • FICWFM Annual Convention
  • Biola Digital Ministry Conference
  • Christian Leadership Alliance Annual Conference
  • ACU Summit
  • Various “Leadership Network” events in Dallas, TX
  • iMinistry 2013 Conference
  • SDA Conference
  • NRB conference
  • NACC conference

This looks like it will be a great year, can’t wait!

http://ichurchmethod.com/the-ichurch-method-2013-here-we-go/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-ichurch-method-2013-here-we-go