Your Website Should Tell Your Story

On your home page, you should start to tell your story; the story of the church. I mentioned covering some of this on the About Us page and you can certainly put it there but truly, the first image of your church for the new visitor will be your home page. 75% of new visitors say they visit churches online before coming to the actual building. That makes the website and other online channels the most important welcoming ministry for your entire church. Your message to them must be engaging, personal and it must draw them in. A great home page creates interest in the user so that they continue clicking around your site and hopefully decide to come to you church.

Three mediums through which to tell your story are text, images and video. Text is important in explaining concepts that images cannot. However, a professional photo of your pastor, or your congregation, or your local ministry working in the community goes a long way to drawing the new visitor in deeper, telling your story. Images are vital into today’s visual world. It allows the user to move faster because they don’t have to read paragraph after paragraph of written text. When I talk about images, I’m talking about photos and/or graphics. I will talk more about video in the multimedia section, but for now let me state that videos are the one of the most engaging form of multimedia. Videos can take text, images and audio, put it all together and create a form of media that can tell your entire church story. Just know that crafting your story to show the user who you are and what you are all about it a must and it should mix text, high quality images and video.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

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How to Lead an Innovative Organization

My friend, Greg Atkinson, has written a brand new book that releases worldwide on Tuesday, April 29th, but we are asking as many as will to pre-order it today, April 15th. Greg has been traveling, teaching and researching the subject of innovation in a Biblical context for the past 6 years. The result of his work is his new book entitled  Strange Leadership: 40 Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization.

Greg’s friends came up with the idea to have a Strange Leadership Pre-Release Party for him today. Greg will be doing special promotional and pre-release stuff all day today, including an interview and live Google Hangout with Christian Media Magazine Featured Writer Jason Curlee at 11am CST and then Greg will be a guest on the Social Media Podcast with DJ Chuang at 4pm CST.

About the book:
Are you a leader in a Christian organization? Is your church, ministry, or business lacking innovation? Perhaps you’re experienced in trying new things and moving in new ways, but you haven’t ever tried anything strange. Truly innovative leaders are often considered strange. Don’t settle for everyday leadership; immerse yourself in Strange Leadership!

Greg gives 40 different ways the Bible teaches us to be strange leaders. Greg pulls from Scripture to illuminate these concepts and, from the words and writings of other leaders, to drive them home. Strange Leadership is practically an encyclopedia on the subject of innovation.

What’s Should You Do?
To find out more about the book and/or to order your copy today, go  HERE. Let’s support Greg in his new book project and encourage his ministry to church leaders around the world. There is a free downloadable team discussion guide on the book website. I encourage you to order multiple copies for your whole team and go through it with them. Innovation is possible and you might just find that you don’t mind being called a "Strange Leader."

*** I’m proud of Greg’s continued work with churches and church leaders and encourage you to connect with him online:

• Follow @StrangeLeader on Twitter HERE.
• Follow @GregAtkinson on Twitter HERE.
• "Like" Greg’s author page on Facebook HERE and keep up with his writing, work and ministry to the Church.

Here’s what some key leaders are saying about the book:
Innovation is imperative in today’s leadership culture. Strange Leadership reminds us all that innovation is about doing a whole new thing, that ultimately flows from God, the Chief Innovator. Thanks Greg for pointing us back to our true source for innovation and inspiration. - Brad Lomenick, President and Key Visionary of Catalyst and Author of The Catalyst Leader

Strange Leadership provides leadership help to teach you how innovation can come about in your life and organization by keeping God at the center and will equip you with practical thoughts to lead with integrity. - Pete Wilson, Senior Pastor of Cross Point Church and Author of Plan B and Let Hope In

To be effective, church leaders must be open to innovation. We have to be willing to allow something new to happen in our churches as we seek God’s leading; we have to stay on the cutting edge, so we can be relevant in the world we are trying to reach. One of the best ways to stay innovative is to listen to and learn from those who model biblical innovation every day, like my friend Greg Atkinson. - Nelson Searcy, Founder and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, Author and Founder of ChurchLeaderInsights.com

Because leadership in Jesus’ upside-down Kingdom is so different and distinct from the world, it is "strange leadership." In his book, Greg offers practical and helpful thoughts on leading others as one under the rule of God. - Eric Geiger, Author and Vice President LifeWay Christian Resources

Strange Leadership is an engrossing and enchanting collection of probes into the emerging field of innovation studies. It is filled with firecrackers, and sometimes even fireworks. - Leonard Sweet, best-selling author, professor (Drew University, George Fox University), Chief Contributor to sermons.com

It’s not a coincidence that God chose to introduce himself in the first verse of the Bible as a “Creator.”  I believe God puts a far higher value on creativity and innovation than most people believe.  That’s why I’m thrilled with Greg Atkinson’s new book.  It’s a wake up call to the Church and a powerful reminder that change is here whether we’re ready or not, and whether we like it or not.  Leaders – dismiss this book at your peril.  - Phil Cooke, Ph.D. – Filmmaker, Media Consultant, and author of Unique:  Telling Your Story in the Age of Brands and Social Media

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Christian Leadership Alliance Conference 2014

I want to let you know about a transformative Christian leadership session I will be teaching at CLA Dallas 2014, April 14 – 16, called The iChurch Method: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.

CLA Dallas 2014 #CLA14 is America’s premier educational conference for Christian leaders. Sponsored by Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) it features more than 100 practical, biblically-based learning experiences. The theme of the conference is “Kingdom Outcomes,” and keynote speakers include influential Christian thought leaders like Francis Chan, Rich Stearns, Nancy Ortberg, Michael Oh, Tony Evans, Shirley Mullen, Jedd Medefind, Mark Hanlon and more.

By attending CLA Dallas 2014, you’ll be joining leaders from many of America’s most influential Christian ministries, churches and businesses, and will find a great place not only to learn but to build a collaborative network for your kingdom work.

And the best news is that I can offer you a special faculty discount for attending this one-of-a-kind event. You will receive a discount of $100 off the full registration price of either the “Academic,” “Workshop,” or “Academy” learning experience at CLA Dallas 2014 by using my special “CLA_Faculty” registration code when you sign up. The CLA_Faculty discount code applies to either the Academic, Workshop or Academy experiences. It is for new registrants only, and there are no refunds. Register at http://ift.tt/1hkyCqh

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope to see you in Dallas. I know that this event will make a real difference in your life as a Christian leader, and in the organization you serve.

http://ift.tt/1hkyCqk

The Future of TV – (Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and Amazon Fire)

The TV industry is ripe for disruption and it’s holding on for dear life. The traditional content producers (studios) and the cable companies are holding on to that old business model till the last dollar is squeezed out of it. Unfortunately for them, the market is starting to dictate how things will play out and just as the music industry was made to adapt, the television industry will have the same fate.

Let me clarify what adapt means, it means television viewing will go from analog delivery to digital media, we will become more immersed in social media connected viewing along with second screens and we will watch what we want to watch, when we want to watch and from any device we want to watch, no more cable bundles and set showtimes.

The best examples of the future of TV is Netflix.com, Hulu.com, Apple’s iTunes and Amazon.com’s Video on Demand. We have the option with these stations to watch whatever we want to watch based on their offerings. Ala Carte channels and not bundles will become how we choose our channels, which is vastly different from our current cable company offerings.

Likewise, as the internet continues to infiltrate every aspect of our lives, we find that we are able to connect from more and more places with faster broadband and mobile connections, thus that gives us the ability to consume more media anytime, anyplace from any internet enabled media device.

Currently, Internet television devices such as the Roku, Google ChromeCast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple tV or Xbox are just getting started in changing our living room experience. But what if in the future the living room TV device watches us, allows us to connect with social media and actually knows us better than any Nielsen device. It will know our watching habits, what our eyes do during commercials, what we talk about during shows as well as our demographics. This will be a goldmine for advertisers and they will monetize this information, which will in turn motivate the content producers which will motivate the cable companies. That is the final piece in helping the content producing studios (and even cable companies) in moving to this future television experience because now the financial benefits are realized.

Now how does the church get involved, well they can now get on Internet TV enabled devices such as Roku or Amazon Fire and establish channels so that when the public continues this migration, they will be used to consuming church media from these devices.

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The Amazon Fire is Good and here’s why I bought one… (churches, roku, internet tv, gaming)

I received my Amazon Fire on Thursday, which basically reveals that once this device was announced Wednesday, I immediately ordered it and used my Amazon Prime for Next Day Delivery. Now I’m not going to go into all the features, Techcrunch has done a great job of that here:

http://ift.tt/1pQSGRs

http://ift.tt/Pj2YOL

My thoughts on ordering it quickly were three things:

1. Is this platform open? Can I create an internet tv app for my church like i did on Roku
2. Does it run quickly and smoothly, like the Apple TV and Roku
3. Will other games be as good as this Minecraft game it comes with that I see my daughter playing on the ipad all the time

1. Open Platform
One of my first emails upon seeing this new announcement was to my internet TV software vendor to see if our current software that we use for Roku could be distributed to Amazon Fire TV as well. The answer I received today was YES! Thus, the Amazon Fire TV passes my “is it an open platform” test. If you are a developer and want to create an app from scratch there here is the link – http://ift.tt/1h31UdV, for the majority of people that are not, just connect with http://ift.tt/1i5ZINZ and get an account setup to submit to multiple Internet TV platforms.

2. How does it operate, is it fast and fluid?
The user experience was good, I look at the interface the same way I look at Roku. It’s not as easy on the eyes as Apple TV but it’s definitely as fluid as Apple TV. It’s streamlined like Roku but with better search features and of course the builtin voice search is a killer setup.

The backend is connected with the Amazon library as well as your Amazon account so this device can really adapt to you. The common players are all there such as Netflix, Hulu and WatchESPN but noticeably missing are HBOGo and Aereo. The processor inside is 2GB and it shows how much faster (more responsive and quicker loading times) the device is than Roku and Apple TV. The only thing that took a long time was the initial setup, which probably wasn’t that long but I am very impatient.

3. How are the games, is it a gaming system?
This is what really impressed me, I played a few games including my daughter’s favorite, Minecraft (which is way different then the Minecraft I used to play 15 years go). This game ran quite fluidly and if Amazon is setting this device up to be a gaming platform along with a media hub, then THAT’S THE KILLER FEATURE! This device ran quite well, now it won’t replace my Xbox One but as a device for my kids to have where they can play games and watch Netflix, Amazon Videos and Hulu, well that’s a game changer for me.

Overall, it wouldn’t replace my Roku or Apple TV but that’s because I’m a tech geek and want ALL MY TOYS to play together but overall it’s definitely in the game and here to stay. Now I just need to see how fast the adoption rate is so that I can start to develop an Internet TV channel for my church.

http://ift.tt/1hazUF7

Why Your Ministry Should Have a Mobile Website

As mobile device adoption increases, we are seeing a great opportunity for ministries to reach people on their mobile devices.

Mobile Stats
Over the last two years there’s been an average of 162% increase in mobile usage.
• Africa – 155%
• Asia – 192%
• Europe – 183%
• North America – 69%
• Oceania – 162%
• South America – 96%

One fourth of the world’s mobile phones are smartphones.
91% of mobile Internet access is for social activities versus 79% on desktops.
86% of mobile Internet users are using their devices while watching TV
50% of Twitter users are mobile.
200 Million of the 4 Billion daily YouTube views are from mobile devices.
Mobile Internet usage is projected to overtake desktop usage by 2016
4 Billion people have mobile devices

SMS Texting
SMS is an abbreviation for Short Media Service or otherwise known as texting. Texting is really the best way to communicate and reach people because it’s instant. The time it takes to dial a phone number, wait for a connection, wait for an answer and then started talking is eliminated. That’s why people use it so much. In fact, the average person checks their text 90 times a day and people are 80% more likely to check a text then an email. The ease of which someone can type a text simply adds to its popularity. With the new smartphones, you can talk into the telephone while it types your text for you making it even faster.

When ministries are developing their mobile strategies, they initially think about a mobile app or website, unfortunately they very seldom consider the impact of texting. Yes, mobile websites and apps get the most media and are the hot button topics but when it comes down to getting results, texting is the best start to an effective mobile strategy.

A Mobile Site
When a smartphone user searches the internet and lands on a website that is not mobile optimized, the user sees the actual computer/laptop style website. The Wall Street Journal is a good example. When you explore that site, it isn’t mobile optimized. You have to blow up individual sections just so you can read it. The Wall Street Journal has made a conscious decision not to have a mobile website. Most businesses, however, have made a decision to have a mobile website.

The advantages of a mobile website are self evident. When a smartphone user accesses a website that has a mobile site, everything fits. You can easily read the information and access the proper links without having to make size adjustments.

Geek tip: Websites can be programmed to automatically show a different version (mobile or regular) of the website based on what type of device you are using. Whether it is a laptop, desktop, mobile device or tablet, a program called a “sniffer” detects the user’s web viewing device and directs the mobile user to the mobile site instead of the normal full size website.

A good mobile website should include (but does not have to be limited to) the following pages:
Home – This page should consist of links to the banners of current series and events.
Locations and Service Times.

Online Media.
- Live services.
- Archived Sermons or past TV shows.
- Podcasts.

Online Resources.
- Links to other ministry resources such as blogs or documents.
- Online Bible.

About Us.
- About the Pastor.
- About the church/ministry.
- Volunteering/working at the ministry.
- Mission/Vision statement.

Online Giving.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

http://ift.tt/1gYavOT