Christian Business Owners
Maximize your eEvangelism via Social Media without Burning Yourself Out!
Feb 2nd
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence. “
Frederick Douglass
Or at least one essence of it. Many times I hear Pastors and ministry leaders “fretting” about social media and how ‘impersonal” it is and WHY there’s just not enough time in their day to really TAKE IT ON.
A tid-bit to my surprise, (lol) when I walked into the auditorium, the hall was PACKED, with faces I recognized and many more I didn’t. Sure enough, many reported they had been invited via their friend or saw a post or email on the event. They were happy to be there and I was more happy to see them. Here’s a photo from the service.Could Strategic Prayer Be THE Solution For Your Career or Business?
Nov 22nd
I always say there is absolutely NOTHING like the Power of Prayer, especially when you pray God’s Word. I really believe IT is THE SOLUTION for all of our issues. Although I do realize FAITH without WORKS is dead, praying strategically and prophetically as God leads regarding specific situations is IN MY BOOK, the BEST THING any of us could do.
That’s why I’m so pleased to be able to OFFER Power Prayer Calls for Marketplace on Mondays. I believe, prayer is one of the most neglected actions we as Christian Business people turn to. Unfortunately, we tend to forget that PRAYER IS A SOLUTION.
Whether you’re a hair stylist, teacher, administrator, C.E.O., Business Manager, Mechanic, Small Business Owner, Publicist, Actor, Entertainer, Musician or even Author, I guarantee if you take the next 30 days to strategically pray regarding obstacles you may be dealing with in your career or business, you will see a change.
If you need help JUMP-STARTING your prayer life in that regard, join myself and the G.I.C.M.P. Company of Prophets every 2nd and 4th Monday for Marketplace Monday Power Prayers for Christian Industry Leaders.
Just dial 712-432-1630 code 418609.
We pray as God leads and end with The Word Of The Lord for this season in your business.
Since starting the prayer line up again a month ago, we’ve heard tremendous testimonies of how the calls have impacted LIVES, VISIONS and BUSINESS PLANS in great ways! Let God do the same for you! Go here to get the RSS feed to digitally download all the prayers on your computer.
Our next call is Monday, November 22 at 7am EST.
Dwann
LISTEN TO THE PLAYBACK!
P.S. Don’t forget we pray Globally for all on 1st and 3rd Fridays. And you can always call in to listen to the last recorded prayer by dialing this ARCHIVE line: Dial – (712) 432-1283 Enter Access Code – 418609#
Why I Don’t Recommend Paying For “Magazine” Features
Aug 5th
As one with a Broadcast Journalism Degree who’s worked in TV NEWS, Entertainment NEWS and yep, Christian Media for roughly 19 years, I love observing and analyzing the trends.
And for whatever reason, right now it seems like every week there is a NEW Urban ADVERTORIAL PUBLICATION, hitting the pavement, with a little confusion about how to operate and how to identify the right target audience that will help sustain the publication in this new digital age we live in.
Trust Me when I say, it takes a lot of work, experience and ingenuity to stay around as long as publications like Ebony, Jet, Gospel Today, and Black Enterprise. And these publications do not call someone to request an interview and then ask the subject of the interview to PAY for that feature.
That’s NOT how it works.
However, it seems like every other week I have conversations with popular faith-based Marketplace Leaders who have some FUNKY story to tell about their experience with a Christian-based advertorial magazine publisher, who doesn’t seem to understand the difference between Journalism/Entertainment Journalism & STRAIGHT UP ADVERTORIAL PUBLISHING.
The conversation goes something like this:
Christian Advertorial Publisher: “Hi, Marketplace Leader, I’ve heard a lot about what you’re doing and would love to feature you as a cover story in my magazine”
Marketplace Leader: Great, tell me a little bit more about your publication and I’ll let you know my availability for an interview.
Christian Advertorial Publisher: We publish once a month and feature leaders of faith like you that are making a difference. You can visit our site at www.christianmag.com, plus I’ll send you a few copies in the mail.
Marketplace Leader: Okay great, I look forward to the interview and to reviewing your publication.
About a day or so after the initial conversation, the Marketplace Leader then gets an email similar to this one:
Hi, Mr. Marketplace Leader thanks so much for agreeing to be featured in my magazine. Please decide on which feature size you’d like and then just click here to pay $$$$ for your feature.
EXCUSE ME?
You’ve got to be kidding, right?
Unfortunately, many are not!
That’s right, now all of a sudden I see more and more Christian “advertorial” magazines that appear to be posturing themselves as legitimate Journalistic or Christian Entertainment Publications, when in actuality they are really more like those MONEY PAGES magazines we all tend to throw away every other month.
You know the ones, full of advertisements, yet no REAL content?!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE reading great magazine features. But the ones I love the most are the ones created with some journalistic integrity. Meaning they don’t do a “switacharoo” on you, after asking to FEATURE you in their magazine.
The great long-lasting magazines that we love to read, are mainstays because of ADVERTISING dollars and READERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS. Yep, that’s right, the advertisers pay big money to advertise in their publications because they know the readership subscriptions are legitimate and can be measured accurately. Those advertisers also know that they are filling a specific need to a specific audience!
One of the best articles I’ve seen on this subject is “ 5 Reasons Why New Magazines Fail”
So, here’s my “2 cents” worth of advice to all you Pastors, Ministry Leaders, and Marketplace Leaders who continue to call me asking whether or NOT you should pay to have a feature piece done on you…
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I’ve been featured in Ebony Magazine, Local & Regional Newspapers and Christian Entertainment Shows and NOT ONCE HAVE I PAID to have the publication “cover me!” And as a former Publisher of a city-wide alternative URBAN entertainment publication, not once did we ask folks to PAY us to cover them!
There are so many media opportunities out here now, that if you invest in a good strategic media & P.R. plan, you might be surprised at where your message will land.
Trust me, if you keep doing what you’re doing and MAKING the right strides, the RIGHT people will see and God will OPEN DOORS THAT NO MAN CAN SHUT, without you having to PAY $$ TO WALK THROUGH THE DOOR.
What are your thoughts & experiences?
Christian Business Owners, Are you making these FATAL mistakes?
Jul 12th
Drumroll please (lol) ….
ABSOLUTELY NO MARKETING?!
I am seeing businesses fail, left and right these days.
None of us are immune.
As a matter of fact, my colleague Karen Swim and I were just talking about this, as we’ve noticed more and more business owners discussing NOT HAVING any business.
Nevertheless, we did research and noticed that even in this fickle economy where everyone is pinching pennies, there are some business owners who are MORE THAN surviving.
They are providing a well needed solution and the phone keeps ringing and the doors keep swinging open.
This one thing has never changed; if folks don’t know about you or your fabulous product, your business will be short-lived. That’s one reason why Karen and I hold each other accountable regarding “weekly marketing goals”
Neither of us have a huge budget for marketing, that’s why we have to be creative and consistent.
But you know what?
There are some simple and fairly inexpensive ways you can “ramp” up your marketing, even with the smallest budgets.
1. Plan at least (1) day a week to spend at least 75% of your time doing some sort of marketing or networking! I do this every Monday! I tell myself it’s a “Marketing Monday” and then I make sure I do follow-up emails to past clients, research rates for marketing, introduce myself to folks who I believe may KNOW others who might need my services and lastly, that’s when I also try to get my ezine’s together.
2. Pool Your Marketing Funds with a colleague who has a different yet similar and complimentary business. This helps double your marketing budget and you can agree to a specific plan that works for both or agree to share in the expenses for a particular ad or account.
3. Develop a Tips sheet that you can send out to the local media that may garner interest in your business. For instance, if you a CPA and you have some great ideas that may help other small business owners save money, type those tips up and send them out to local news organizations, business associates etc …You never know when that reporter may ask if they can interview you as the local expert OR when that association president may invite you to SPEAK at there association meeting.
4. Send a REAL message or email to some strategic people you have met via social media. What does this mean? This means review your FB, Link’d N and twitter contacts and really take the time to get to know some of your “friends” you really don’t know that well. Remember, social media is about nurturing relationships, much more than it is about providing “updates on your life”
5. Ask for referrals! One of the most fatal mistakes I see small business owners make is NOT asking for referrals from satisfied clients. When was the last time you presented a client with a customer survey that ALSO asked for a few concrete referrals with names, phone numbers and email addresses that you can follow-up with.
I hope these tips help you and remember you can always RENT-MY-BRAIN (for real!) if you need help with the marketing of a specific idea or product. You can check out Tell Your Story Like A Pro to find out more or give me a call directly at 877.595.9117 ext 3





