Strategic Evangelism Solutions For Global Impact
Posts tagged ministry in the marketplace
Can My Faith-Based Organization Really Prosper Online?
Sep 7th
One of the questions I receive the most from Pastors and Christian Entrepreneurs is “How can I or my organization really prosper online?” The see how “Household Name” Preachers appear to be leveraging their ministry following online or how some secular sales person somehow was able to get 5000 people on his teleconference and they begin to wonder, “can this really be done?”
I’m here to say YES, INDEED!
But the key, is are you willing to do what has to be done and to follow specific instructions in order to see and experience the results that others are experiencing.
Last year by dear friend and colleague Karen Swim hosted an online event entitled “ How To Go From You’ve Got Mail To You’ve Got Money!” One by one, we went through the list of top 10 action items that need to be taken in order for ANYONE to be READY to prosper online.
One of the top mistakes I see being made by many of the entrepreneurs I coach and consult with is the fact that they will not consistently capture the email addresses of those who visit their websites.
For anyone who wants to truly develop a revenue stream online, this is key! People come to your website for a specific reason. You have something they need or something they have been searching for!
Let’s look at this deeper from a ministry perspective:
One of the biggest challenges in ministries large and small is information dissemination, especially when it’s connected to fund-raising. How do you get accurate information out to a concentrated group, quickly in order for them to ACT on the information you’ve provided.
I mean, I have seen it all.
It used to be that ministries would rely on the phone. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen ministries create dynamic “phone tree systems” that never seem to work quite right because one of the branches of the tree seems to always break off.
And while direct mail is definitely effective, if you don’t have the financial structure and foundation to accommodate thousands upon thousands of dollars it costs to develop great direct mail campaigns, like some of the household names in mega ministry, the whole process can be daunting.
Why Supporters Want To Hear From You
Nevertheless, one way or the other you have to be able to communicate with your congregants and those who support your ministry. You need to be able to contact them and tell them about the implementation of the vision God has given you. You need to be able to let them know about the ministry issues and concerns you need them to continue covering in prayer. You also need to be able to let them know about all the great things God continues to birth forth through you and the ministry.
Believe me when I say, not only do they NEED to know, but they want to know as well. Despite your challenges of getting information to them, this is very important.
Don’t Forsake Your Online Home
Once you have your ministry website up and running it’s vital that you leverage your contact with the people who visit your site. If they’re coming to your site, that means they are very interested in what you are doing.
Unfortunately if your ministry doesn’t have a resident “web guru” or can’t afford to pay an outside agency or person to keep your content up to date, many times this part goes overlooked.
Many ministry & marketplace ministry website owners don’t seem to understand the importance of keeping information up to date on their site; Or at the very least sending that new information out to the people who want and need to know the information the most.
One of the easiest ways to do this, is through an email list. Simply put, email weekly or monthly ministry updates to your online audience. The good thing is, it can be as simple or as fancy as you want it to be.
The Biggest Mistake Ministries Make
By far the biggest mistake I see ministries make once they get a website is not capturing the email address of those who visit in order to start an email newsletter or what we can an ezine.
Yes, having an e-newsletter is that important.
It’s so important to non-profit organizations that there is a large percentage of non-profits actually developing and successfully employing fundraising campaigns online.
According to MRSS/Advocacy Institute ENonprofit Benchmarks Study (2005)
Organizations generating the most online advocacy actions had several key characteristics in common:
* larger email lists
* longer-lived online advocacy programs
* larger online communications budgets
* a higher volume of advocacy email messages.
Look at those key common characteristics: larger email lists and higher volume of advocacy email messages.
That’s what you as a pastor or media director has to keep in mind.
“How can I build my email list?”
And, “How can I work my email list?”
Answering these two questions will definitely help usher you in the right direction of developing an effective financial stream online. I’ll help you answer these questions next time I post. But in the mean-time, you TELL me, How Can You Build Your Email List? What Specific actions can you take to work your email list?
Almost forgot, if you need an AFFORDABLE STARTER WEBSITE for your personal ministry or new business be sure to check out AFFORDABLE STARTER WEBSITES. Or if you need a FREE “Get To Know You Session” to chat about your vision and how I may be able to assist you moving forward be sure to BOOK ME ONLINE via my online calendar system. I’d love to talk with you!
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
