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.

http://ift.tt/1hPsYOj

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

http://ift.tt/1eKsenv

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.

http://ift.tt/1ipEPxt

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

Creating Podcasts of Your Sermons

Getting your sermons onto iTunes as a podcast is fairly easy and affordable, using a popular service called Podbean. Like YouTube for videos, Podbean requires that you create a free account for your organization.

Setting up an account with Podbean allows you to select a public channel in the Religion category, include your church logo or photograph of your pastor, describe your ministry and select keywords that will help anyone searching for your content to find you, and even provide contact information.

In this way you can make your podcast accessible on iTunes and also on Podbean, to reach a whole other population of people who may not have ever even been to your church – yet. Like YouTube, this gives you a whole new channel whereby to establish a presence on the Internet, to reach many more people all over the world.

You can provide links to your podcasts on your site; make them available for download at your Web store and more. Podcasts are popular for listening to while driving or doing other activities that are conducive to listening to music or inspirational messages.

Use Sound Bytes to Peak Interest

Consider placing short clips of your latest podcast on the front page of your site, to entice visitors to want to hear more. As audio files, podcasts are much easier to download, upload, and play, whereas a video might take much more time.

Podcasts are a powerful way of getting your message out there. You can even stream podcasts live during the actual sermon, so that those who are unable to make it to your church due to illness or travel can still listen to the sermon, and feel as if they were physically there on site with the rest of the congregation.

Podcasts can be archived, by subject, by date or by speaker, and even sold as collections for those who are looking for uplifting subject matter, or who like to listen to a particular speaker, or who missed a month of sermons and want to catch up. Be sure to take advantage of this valuable technology to get your message out to many more potential parishioners than old-time country preachers ever dreamed possible!

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/1aTwHa8

Is Your Ministry Website Ready for Mobile?

The future is mobile, a great iChurch should be accessible to anyone, from anywhere, anytime and anyplace. No longer are Internet users limited to computers plugged into their Internet connection at home or work. Folks are now mobile, on the move, all day long. This year, more smartphones, tablets and mobile devices are being released than any other prior year. As you are reading this, the transition from desktop/laptop computer users to mobile users is happening very quickly. In fact, recently for the first time since Facebook was launched in 2006, more users accessed their Facebook page via their mobile device then their desktops. This means that to reach all these users, your ministry must appear on mobile phones. When someone searches for God or Hope or Help from any device, your church needs to be there to answer them even if they are searching on a mobile device. With the mobile iChurch, you can do it.

I want to take a moment and tell you a couple of stories. This first one has to do with people in Africa living in very rural areas. These folks have cell phones that they charge up on car batteries. Even though their screens are low resolution, they can still visit the websites of churches and attend service with them, watch inspiring videos and receive the Good News. Their hunger for Jesus pushes them to find ways to reach Him.

Now imagine that “someone” who lives in your city, types into their smartphone “Is God real?” They see your iChurch on the search rankings and click on your website. Perhaps they send a text or email. Your staff instantly receives this inquiry at 8:30 p.m. and responds with an uplifting message directing them to a church service for more help. It happens every day.

How do get you there? First, you need a strategy. There needs to be a vision for the mobile presence of a ministry and how it will further the ministry. Let’s look at the options your mobile iChurch has available.

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/1qPGlAb

Join me in Hawaii, Yes, I said Hawaii!

Join me Friday, March 21, 2014 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the http://ift.tt/1erYlIn as I will be teaching two sessions. The first session will be The iChurch Method: How to Advance Your Ministry Online (10:30am) and the second session will be The Internet Church Campus (8:30pm). While I have taught the iChurch Method numerous times, this will be the first time I have unpacked and taught The Internet Church Campus which consists of how to implement an internet church campus, online groups and the internet TV channel.

I am looking forward to a great conference and an even greater experience. You can follow my updates conference Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

http://ift.tt/1lWbqS3

3 Innovative Options for your Ministry Website

When I look at the innovative web design/development techniques that are helping take websites to a new level, I see three things happening. One, CMS systems are being used much more consistently, which is a great way to manage websites with a large number of pages, allow internal users to update only their area of the website and a great way to update the website without knowing code. Two, Parallax animation features using jQuery, HTML5 and CSS has rapidly increased and we are now seeing website that are horizontally or vertically scrolling with the click of a button. Three, more and more websites are being built with Responsive Design features that work equally well on every device.

Content Management Systems (CMS)
If your site has numerous pages and collects information from a variety of ministries and internal departments, a CMS is a must. It allows non-technical users to update their own areas of the website. It also allows the technical staff to manage the website, restrict access and change the look of the website with minimal repetitive work and time. The best feature of the CMS is the ability to add plugins and add ons that enhance and expand the functionality of the CMS much more quickly then having to update and revamp the entire application.

A great example of this is WordPress, WordPress has long been considered a blogging platform and initially it was, but over time it has evolved into one of the best Content Management Systems for websites on the market. It’s price tag of FREE is very attractive to many churches and ministries who have limited budgets but would like unlimited website capabilities. With over 23,000 plugins, WordPress has an ecosystem of developers that are continually enhancing the abilities of the CMS. There are hundreds of thousands of websites that are using WordPress as a solution and with great plugins such as “adapt to mobile”, “block spam comments”, “online shopping cart” and “social media sharing”, this system is a great one fore ministries. Likewise, there are over 20,000 templates, which give WordPress the ability to change layouts quickly with the click of a few buttons. Anyone who has participated in the redesign of a website knows how drawn out this process can be and to see the possibility of it occurring in a few clicks is great progress.

Responsive design
According to Mashable.com, responsive design uses “media queries” to figure out what resolution of device it’s being served on. Flexible images and fluid grids then size correctly to fit the screen. Responsive design techniques also detect the type of device and change the site’s behavior accordingly.

As we look to the evolution of websites that churches and ministries can use to reach the masses, it’s imperative that we use techniques like responsive design to give online users great website experiences no matter the device. Google and Facebook are leading the charge in this space in their rollout of websites that are based on Responsive design. In March 2013, Facebook launched a major update to their users and created a timeline that looked the same no matter the device the user was on. The only way Facebook can look the same on a smartphone, tablet and laptop is by the brilliant responsive design layout. Likewise, Google+ started using responsive design techniques late 2012. This was the first time Google showed any real attention to their design aspects of their products. Google had already established itself as a company with great online software products but their design was always simplistic and minimal. With responsive design, Google is now showing their design chops and creating a synonymous experience on all devices.

In the mobile section of “The iChurch Method Volume 1″ I spoke about creating websites that have a version for the Laptop/Desktop and a version for mobile devices, which is a great solution but essentially double work. With responsive design, you can create one website and program it accordingly to adjust and adapt to multiple devices and give a unified online experience. Here is a good website with great responsive design templates, http://ift.tt/nIoCVq

Parallax Design
Another amazing website design/development feature that is gaining popularity is Parallax. Parallax animation features using jQuery, HTML5 and CSS has rapidly increased and we are now seeing websites that are horizontally or vertically scrolling with the click of a button. This development style is creating a single loading, interactive, animated web experience that engages users in a more effective manner and is often integrated into the responsive design layout. There are many templates that are available to create this experience for online users. Good ones that I have seen are:
http://five3.me (a wordpress template) and http://ift.tt/wqevtv (a HTML5/CSS template).

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/1lOoM2F

How Can a Small Organization Establish a Large Social Media Following?

“We are just a small organization, One Million fans seems unattainable.” I cannot count how many times I have heard this statement. Yes, I do agree that One Million social media fans is a lofty goal and the truth is we were not aiming for that number when we started at our organization. Our goal was to provide a good mix of “social” and “media.” We wanted to make sure we were “social” and interacted with our online users while providing “media” through a steady flow of high quality content from our organization. But trust me, this goal is attainable. Later in this book I will give you specifics on “what to post,” “what times to post” and “what types of content” to post. Those specific strategies will help you learn how to build your audience and increase interaction and reach One Million fans.

Another key step in building your social media following is to integrate your social media with your offline marketing. I will discuss this later but here are some examples:

• Adding social media sharing features to your website and allowing people to share with their social media networks.
• Adding social media follow icons to your website and high traffic webpages. This allows people to follow your organization from the pages they visit often.
• Adding social media to all of your marketing materials (fliers, ads, print publications and anything that your organization puts out).
• Have the CEO/Pastor buy in and use social media, as well as employees. Make social media a significant part of the online marketing strategy.
• If you have online video, add #hashtags and @twittername to the broadcast so people can communicate with their social network about what they are watching online or on TV.

No organization starts out with a large online following. We all start with a few and have to work our way up…or do we?

For more information on this and other Social Media topics, get your copy or How to Get One Million Social Media Fans today.

http://ift.tt/1eMetbl

How to Set up Your Internet Campus

There are a few services you can use to setup your internet campus such as LifeChurch’s http://ift.tt/1hlk0WI, or 316 Networks http://ift.tt/1eJh3Kp and these are some good services. But the online software that has the best user experience and is the most cost efficient has to be Plain Joe’s Media Social (www.mediasocial.tv) Internet Church Campus software. Media Social has come up with the easiest solution; if we look at the following screenshot we see how they setup their online campus software.

Here are the features of Media Social’s Internet Campus Software

• Ad Space – Ad space area for the ministry with images to showcase products, events and services of the ministry.
• Login/Logout – This is the login/logout area of the administrator.
• Who’s Online List – This area shows who all is logged in to the internet campus. This area is used for the ministry to communicate with individuals as well as see important information about everyone logged in and watching.
• Video Player – This is the major viewing area of the online campus. The live or archived video stream is shown here in 640×480 format.
• Announcements/Polls – This great feature allows for real time announcements and polls displayed right under the video player. A great way to communicate with online viewers in a quick and efficient manner.

Here are additional features with Media Social’s Internet Campus Software. Let’s start by looking at the icons that are in the left column of the interactive module beneath the announcements/polls area.

• Livewall – The livewall is the live chat area for real time communication and chatting with administrators and online viewers.
• Notes – The Notes tab allows users to take notes and email them to themselves or others.
• Schedule – The schedule tab shows the schedule for live and/or archived shows.
• Facebook – The Facebook tab is the facebook integration where users can interact with facebook within the internet campus.
• Map – The Map tab shows the locations of online users, anywhere in the world.
• Unlock Tab – The unlcok tab allows the tab to unlock from the page and become it’s own webpage module.
• Additional Ad Space – Beneath these tab features is additional space for image ads for ministry events, products and services.

With all these features setup for you, your organization is responsible for providing video content that you want to stream (mp4 video files) as well as a live streaming provider. In my last book, The iChurch Method Vol. 1, I talked about how to use livestream.com or Ustream.tv as a free live streaming provider and that solution could work with Media Social as well. Another feature not mentioned here that’s available in the back-end is the scheduling feature. Many ministries want to broadcast at a certain time and/or setup a schedule of shows for the day or week. This feature is available via Media Social and the internet campus can become an entire media center for the viewers with scheduled programming very similar to the traditional television experience.

http://ift.tt/1hlk0WU

What’s an Internet Church Campus?

If you go to a mega church, you will likely observe a sprawling sea of buildings. You will also find a huge variety of places to go and things to do. There might be a women’s conference in one building. A group of men will be having a Bible study in another. There may also be a live service in the chapel. Some churches even have bookstores where you can buy the latest Christian books and movies. The fact is, this large physical campus gives you many choices to pursue your faith.

So, what is the Internet Church Campus? It’s the same thing as the campus described above except for one difference: it’s all online. The official definition of an Internet church is as follows: a multimedia-driven church experience that is entirely online. An online user can attend a Bible study, donate, attend live services, watch past services, attend a conference, buy the pastor’s book and do just about everything you can do in a physical church except the laying of hands. And it’s all driven by video, audio, images, chat and documents.

Here’s how far we have come. In the good ole days, you went to church Sunday mornings and then possibly to Bible study or another service on Wednesday evenings. Now, instead of you going to church, the Internet Church Campus brings the church to you. And the church doors are open 24/7 365 wherever you are because your mobile device, tablet or computer allows you to attend. That’s pretty exciting!

Chat Live
One option for your Internet Church Campus is the ability to chat live with your friends. If you were in church, you could lean over and chat to your neighbor about the service or message. With Chatroll.com, the Internet Church Campus can duplicate that. Some users really love that feature especially if they are watching the same program but from different locations.

Groups and Communities
Another great feature of Internet Church Campuses is online groups. Online groups are small groups that meet online to discuss Bible lessons, minister to each other and give the online group a sense of community, very similar to the home-based groups that are in some of the largest mega churches in the United States. Online groups use common group features provided by Facebook Groups or Google+ Communities. These social network group/community features allow a set number of people to interact online, share information and documents and form an online community all within Facebook or Google+.

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/1hKf2mg

How Can eCommerce Help Your Ministry?

Obviously, anything that brings in revenue helps to finance the activities of your ministry, enabling you to spread the word, grow your congregation and continue to do all of the wonderful things that you do in your community. Here are some of the most successful ways you can use eCommerce.

Online Donations
Making an online donation is as easy as putting a bill in the collection plate these days, thanks to technology harnessed by the Obama campaign in 2008 to raise $125 million from an impressive army of small contributors. Paypal.com and kimbia.com both have free donation modules you can add to your website without much difficulty, which will allow your parishioners to donate via credit card.

For those who don’t like to use credit cards, eChecks allow someone to make payment to your ministry directly from their bank account. For parishioners who tithe regularly, this is an exceptionally convenient way to do it.

Online Event Registration
For events that require a ticket, you can get paid online in advance and allow participants to print a receipt. This saves time and money, negating the need to print tickets, handle cash, deal with bounced checks and other headaches. You can set a limit on attendance and stop selling when the tickets are sold out. Registrants can get information about the event at the same time, such as parking, directions, time and date and more.

Selling event tickets online also allows you to capture information about your attendees, such as name, address, email, phone number, age, marital status and gender, which you can use to market other events and services later on.

Online Store
Add an online store to your website to sell DVDs, CDs, video and audio downloads of sermons and lectures, books, church tee shirts, calendars and more. Digital products, such as video and audio downloads and eBooks are the best source of revenue for your online store, as they are pure profit. The parishioner pays via credit card to download the product, receives it immediately, and you don’t have to worry about shipping and handling or anything else of that nature.

Selling videos and audios of your sermons and major church events is also a great way to spread the word about your ministry, and can help you expand your congregation significantly. Consider posting some of your sermons on YouTube with a link to your store site to generate more interest.

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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Why Your Organization Should be on Social Media

Traditionally we start our church organizations to impact our communities or even have a national presence but very rarely do we realize that once you create a website or social media account, you become an international organization. Social Media is one of the best ways to reach people with your message because it allows you to reach people right where they are at, on their social network of choice, and let the information flow from your organization to their social profile. Additionally, very few organizations understand how important their ministry content is to people, who are in areas where they cannot worship openly and proclaim their faith, thus leaving them worship in online settings and utilize online content to help them in their spiritual walk. Organizations should strive to reach people wherever they are at, on whatever network they are on, via any device they pick up. This is the opportunity that social networks give us.

While working with T.D. Jakes Ministries I have had the great opportunity to see the impact of social media and how it can impact millions. When I arrived at the ministry in Jan. 2010 the ministry’s main outreach focus was television, conferences and church letters, now fast-forward to Jan. 2014 with 2.2M Facebook fans, 1.4M Twitter followers and over 5M YouTube views, we have integrated social media into every aspect of our ministry and no matter how you connect with us, we inform you about our social media networks. One of the great ministry stories I’ve seen using social media is when Bishop Jakes decided to start a prayer chain one morning, he started with a prayer that he posted on Facebook and asked people to add to the prayer and about two hours later with over a million views and 50,000 shares, real time ministry had blessed numerous people via social media.

Which Network is the Best?
Is it Facebook and their one billion users? Is it Twitter and their easy-to-use network? Is it Pinterest and their Pictures and Videos? Is it YouTube and their massive video network? Which one is it? Well, the answer is simple: the best social network is whichever one your organization knows how to use. That’s the hard part for organizations to grasp when they start social media: start with the network that your staff knows best. The Social Network your organization should be on depends on your content, where your audience is and capability to use the network. If you have a just a small amount of content and the people you have on staff know Twitter best, then start on Twitter. If you have people on staff that are familiar with Facebook then use that social network. Ask your audience which networks they use the most and get started there. You don’t have to be on ALL of them but it’s good to be on as many as your staff can handle. If you can only be on one network, then make the most of that network until you get the ability to expand to more.

What Should We Post?
To give you some guidelines, here are four focal points in establishing your organization’s message via social media:

Inspiration – Make sure to provide inspiration and motivation via your social networks. These are the best types of posts. Whether they are quotes or photos with encouraging words on them, everyone wants some type of inspiration in their life.

Information – Provide information about your organization via your social networks. Don’t assume that everyone reads your website or saw your eblast. Distribute the information about events and other happenings via your social networks. You can also repurpose flyers, newsletters, eblasts and other marketing materials and send them out via social networks.

Communication - Social media is “Social,” therefore it should be a two-way communication. If you post to a network and people comment, ask questions and take time out of their busy day to respond, then make sure your organization takes time to acknowledge them and respond back. Don’t appear too arrogant to respond to your social network fans, even if you don’t have the staff or time to answer every comment or question. At least answer some. Show that the organization sees their comments/questions and cares.

Consistency – The network that you push content out to your online users is irrelevant if there isn’t a consistent strategy behind it. The networks will come and go but the strategy remains the same, make sure the content from your organization flows consistently via your online properties to your online users.

For more information on this and other Social Media topics, get your copy or How to Get One Million Social Media Fans today.

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2014 Pastors and Leadership Conference

Coming up quickly, March 6 – 8, 2014, I will be teaching/attending/working at the 2014 Pastors and Leadership Conference. It’s always a great experience for me at this event because this was the first conference I ever spoke at back in 2011. It also was the event that I released the first iChurch Method book in 2012. Another great thing about this conference is that in addition to speaking at it, I work the conference’s online experience including social media, mobile apps and online streaming experience.

This year I am looking forward to teaching four sessions which include
Social Media Basics, Social Media Advanced (twice) and Digital 360 (The iChurch Method). I am also continuing my pattern of releasing new products at the conference by announcing that I am releasing the following products:

• The iChurch Method Workshop Training DVD
• How to Get One Million Social Media Fans Workshop Training DVD
• The iChurch Academy Online Training Course – Updated and Expanded
• The iChurch Method Digital Download Card with all iChurch Method Products and Online iChurch Academy Access

Make sure you join me there!!

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Where is Social Media going?

Here’s a question that many people are asking, where is social media going in the future?

More Mobile Device Integration – Right now we see social media integrated into many aspects of our lives and that will continue to grow. Facebook Home is a newly released platform that integrates Facebook very deeply into your Android Phone experience, basically putting your social media network front and center on the phone. This makes social media the main focus of the phone instead of the traditional focus of emails, text and phone calls. This advancements shows how deeply integrated social media will look to become since millions of people carry their mobile devices with them. Social media is looking to be the #1 use of your mobile device. Facebook has been the #1 app downloaded on mobile devices for quite some time.

More Website Integration – With Twitter cards now being more accessible via websites and the Facebook graph becoming more utilized, our social networks will play a role in our browsing and online usage. We will consult our social networks’ opinions in our shopping, online decisions and therefore make sure we are logged into our networks so that each website is catered to our likes. Facebook and Google look primed to lead this evolution.

Share as much video as we do photos – Right now it’s not as easy to share and consume videos like we do photos. Social networks and bandwidth restrictions make it much easier to share photos than video. Videos are increasing in consumption but they do not have the volume of creation and distribution that photos and graphics currently have. As technology progresses and networks continue to focus on visual content, video will become just as important as photos.

Social media will continue to integrate into new industries – Education and Health Care are two great examples of industries that are starting to use social features much more. This will continue to increase over time and more industries will see the benefits of having social sharing features more integrated into their online processes.

For more information on this and other Social Media topics, get your copy or How to Get One Million Social Media Fans today.

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How to Manage Your Social Media Networks

The first question that a ministry needs to answer is how many people will participate in the social media strategy of the ministry. My recommendation is that you have two people at the beginning and see how that goes. The reason that I suggest two people is that one person should be in charge of gathering content for the ministry and the other person should be in charge of pushing it out. Of course you can have more people do this because you may want to have people commenting and responding to users on the social networks. But initially, the main focus is gathering content and pushing it out.

How many hours per day? Social media operates 24 hours a day. However, it’s unrealistic to believe that someone will be managing your social media properties for the ministry 24 hours a day. Instead, dedicate 2 – 4 hours daily gathering content, scheduling it for social networks and responding to online users. As time progresses and you get more people involved on behalf of the ministry, you will increase those hours. Hopefully though, your process will be much more streamlined.

Software to help – Hootsuite.com is a free scheduling software that makes social media management much easier. Hootsuite connects with social networks Facebook and Twitter and allows you to schedule updates, add files and coordinate a full social media strategy from one location. The main benefit of Hootsuite is that you can schedule out all your Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter posts for the week (or month) at one time and let the software automatically post items for you. This will keep a continuous stream of content coming from the ministry and allow you to focus on other things such as gathering more content or responding to online users from various social networks. Hootsuite also has great reporting features that can help you identify some key metrics in your social media campaign such as who are your top 10 followers, how many people clicked the link you sent out and how many people are “liking/subscribing to” you weekly on social networks. Add this capability in with the Google Analytics for Social Media features where you can track social media links coming to your website and you can start to see how effective your social media campaigns are on a grand scale.

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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Online Church is Effective

Normally I would talk about how to implement an online church or quote stats on how it has impacted churches but today, I just want to do something different. I want to tell a great story.

This past weekend I taught quite a few sessions at the econnect conference and it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had for a variety of reasons. Here are the reasons:

1. I was able to meet the great people at Group Publishing (including Brian Abbot and Bob D’Ambrosio) and they truly took care of me and Nils Smith.

2. I was able to teach, fellowship and serve with my friend Nils Smith, a great guy and as I always tell him, my long lost brother in digital ministry.

3. I taught, interacted and engaged with a diverse crowd of people that were eager to learn how to utilize online tools more effectively for ministry. This crowd was hungry for knowledge and they were open to everything we were teaching. Even with their past traditions and church informal ways, they looked past all of that and said how can we reach the millions that are online and do church in a new way! And best of all, I cannot say how many times people mentioned to me that they were appreciative of what I taught….that blessed me immensely.

4. This is the most important thing, I heard a story that encouraged and transformed the way I think about what I do. First let me say that I have had moments where I wondered how effective The iChurch Method was and should I change my focus from churches to businesses and teach in that realm. Well after this story I am about to share with you, I will surely let you know that I am on the right path and The iChurch Method will continue well into the future. I was talking with a guy and he mentioned that his wife recently passed due to cancer but prior to passing she spent much of her time bed-ridden. But she managed to worship by watching T.D. Jakes Online and to be more specific, the internet church page that I played a role in creating. His wife also used Social Media to form a facebook group for women with cancer and they communicated and shared what they thought heaven would be like. And he just wanted to thank me for what I was doing and he was happy that he met the guy who created the page that helped his wife worship prior to her passing. Those words encouraged me so much that I knew I was on the right path.

I feel blessed!!

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Which Social Network is the Best for Your Organization?

Is it Facebook and their one billion users? Is it Twitter and their easy-to-use network? Is it Pinterest and their Pictures and Videos? Is it YouTube and their massive video network? Which one is it? Well, the answer is simple: the best social network is whichever one your organization knows how to use. That’s the hard part for organizations to grasp when they start social media: start with the network that your staff knows best. Consider these four key points.

One. The Social Network your organization should be on depends on your content and capability to use the network. If you have a just a small amount of content, a few photos, text updates and videos, and the people you have on staff know Twitter best, then start on Twitter. If you have people on staff that are familiar with Facebook then use that social network and push text, video and photo updates there. Use whatever network you have people familiar with and your content will work on.

Two. Repurpose your content for each network. Once you have decided to use more than one network, you can repurpose the same content for multiple networks. For example, if you have a motivational quote from your pastor’s sermon, you can take that quote and put it out on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can then take the quote, put it over a picture of your pastor preaching and then put that picture out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest. Also, you can use the actual video of your pastor saying the same quote and put that video clip out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube. So you see, different types of content can go on different networks.

Three. Each network has its own community and its own best way to use it. For the sake of time, many organizations will have their Facebook posts go to Twitter or their Twitter posts go to Facebook. While this does conserve time, it takes away from the uniqueness of each network and hinders genuine growth on the network that stuff is being pushed to. Usually, the network that stuff is being “pushed to,” is the one that’s not being monitored. Therefore people that want to interact with the business on that network are not being answered because that network is usually just something that is being fed content and not attended to.

Four. You don’t have to be on ALL of them but it’s good to be on as many as your staff can handle. If you can only be on one network, then make the most of that network until you get the ability to expand to more.

For more information on this and other Social Media topics, get your copy or How to Get One Million Social Media Fans today.

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