Proximity Marketing Ministry Case Study Update and Internet Evangelism Day

Howdy all?!? I'm in the thick of my own personal case study on bluetooth broadcasting and I should have something concrete to report in the next few days. In the the meantime, I bring you news of a coordinated worldwide church focus on internet evangelism...

Churches to Hold Web Focus Day April 27
"How can we use this new-fangled Internet thing to share the gospel?" Christians are asking. A worldwide "web evangelism focus day" is helping to provide answers. Sunday, April 27, has been designated as Internet Evangelism Day. Churches can download free materials from the Internet Evangelism Day website. These materials make it easy for churches to create a short presentation about online outreach on or near that Sunday. A PowerPoint, video clip testimonies, drama scripts, music and handouts can be used to create their own customized program lasting from one minute to 50.

Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited. "This is a huge help for small churches such as ours," writes a church leader from California.

The Internet Evangelism Day team emphasizes that web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. "There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all," says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.

Christian leaders are also enthusiastic: "I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day," says Dr. John Stott.

Churches can start planning their focus day now. More information is available at:
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

Free Church Website Tool Released
The people behind Internet Evangelism Day also provide year-round resources about online outreach. The ministry explains many ways that Christians can share the good news, including through church websites. Churches often find it difficult to create a site that will engage with outsiders in their area, and find themselves asking, ""How can our church website help us reach out into our community?"

A new online tool released by IE Day provides churches with a free 15-page evaluation report. Users assess their own website by answering 55 simple questions. Their customized report is immediately displayed online, ready to print or save. The report's recommendations are tailored with specific practical suggestions, based on the questions that were ticked. View the evaluation tool here:
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/design

A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the community. "Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else," writes one growing church in London.

The tool also provides the parable 'A Tale of Two Golf Clubs' (which is available to republish) to illustrate the principles of effective church websites: www.InternetEvangelismday.com/golf

Church leaders have welcomed this new resource. "This competent evaluation tool provides a valuable service to churches that will help them strengthen their effectiveness in outreach through the Internet," says Dr. Sterling Huston, director of North American Ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Gary McClure of LifeWay Ministries agrees, saying, "This checklist is an invaluable tool to identify critical areas for improvement. Every church should study this regularly and act on it!"

For more information on IE Day, visit
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

Contact: Tony Whittaker, Coordinator, Internet Evangelism Day
Tel: +44-1283-702334 (GMT office hours)
email: InternetEvangelismDay.com/feedback
IE Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, a group of online ministries, at Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, US, and is coordinated from WEC International's Derby UK office. It is completely free with NO fund-raising component.
Leaders available for interview: InternetEvangelismDay.com/publicity
Photos: InternetEvangelismDay.com/photos
Leaders supporting: InternetEvangelismDay.com/supporting
More article ideas: InternetEvangelismDay.com/free-articles

Has Your Ministry Sprouted Lately?

I know, strange headline. But the question pertains to a new technology that you don't have to possess an advanced computer sciences degree or be the church "techie-in-residence" to use to greatly impact your ministry.

What does this have to with BlueTooth ministry? It will help you easily produce cool content to Blue Tooth broadcast to your church neighbors, use at events, and much more!

Sprout is a new web-based program from the makers of ChipIn. ChipIn produces cool widgets to enable folks to give to ministries and other non-profits online. See the eye-popping Chip-In widget to the left of this post, through which you can give to Lucky Rock Ministries and keep this blog rolling. Check out a short video of the Sprout Builder demo launch here.

Sprout is nothing short of awesome! If you're like me, you want to create cool, interactive stuff for your website, emails and more that the Spirit might use to push believers and non-believers alike toward Christ. Unfortunately, even the best software, such as Flash CS3 doesn't make it easy to create "rich content." Thus, most ministry folks are left out in the cold.

Enter Sprout.

Sprout allows you to build jukeboxes, slideshows and other cool stuff through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Sprout even allows you to upload "assets" such as pictures, music files and sermon audio/video. For an example of what you, yes you, can do in just a few minutes with Sprout, check out the audio player found at the top-left of the recently-created Crown True Financial Freedom Stories blog.

Some of you more tech-savvy readers will find Sprout doesn't let you do all the really cool Flash fly-ins, etc. But Sprout isn't for the ministry tech gurus who know ActionScript, Flex, and Flash. It's for folks who want to create cool content on the fly.

One more thing...

Sprout also comes with click-thru tracking, to help you optimize your media for maximum impact. As the Spirit said through the Apostle Paul, "(make) the most of your time, for the days are evil," (Eph. 5:16).

Though Sprout is still in beta-testing, this program delivers. I strongly encourage you to sign up for a free account today and have some fun. And if enough of you ask for it, I'll soon post a mini Sprout tutorial.

Sprout often...

Blue Tooth Marketing for Christian Businesses...Make Some Money, Give to Ministry

I promised you I'd post another round yesterday, but seminary reading and company coming to town proved too formidable a duo. I digress...

This post is for all you Christian business owners. I just can't resist "tearing the roof off" of your techno-understanding, (sorry to steal your term, Francis Schaefer). Christian business owners need to wake up to new Blue Tooth revenue streams and use the excess cash to fund ministry.

A few Blue Tooth broadcasting possibilities...

1) Radio stations. We've all heard remote broadcasts at car dealerships. Imagine a radio station booking additional revenue by offering to broadcast on-site Blue Tooth alerts about the hottest vehicles. Suddenly the dealership is generating leads that they otherwise may not get, because most folks don't want to talk to a salesperson and just want the info on the car(s) they're interested in.

2) Grocery stores, coffee shops, bookstores (basically any retail outlet). Why aren't you using Blue Tooth to broadcast coupons, new merchandise, this week's specials, and so much more? Get a long-range dongle, buy some software, and amaze your nearby customers with your technical prowess and with the deals you're advertising.

3) Got an oil change yesterday. Now wondering why they're not setting themselves apart from the other oil change joint right across the street, by using Blue Tooth to broadcast their car repair specials.

4) Concerts. Use Blue Tooth to sell band merchandise right over the phone, to be mailed or picked up at the table in the back. Blue Tooth broadcast fan club subscriptions, album info, upcoming events, etc.

5) Movie theaters. Blue Tooth snack bar specials and opt-ins for your frequent movie watcher club.

The list goes on. The possibilities are endless. Praise the Lord! Make some cash and give it to ministry, (maybe the Lucky Rock).

By the way, if you're not sure how to manage your business or your money God's way, check out Crown Financial Ministries' great website and buy a copy of the classic CD series God's Principles for Operating a Business.

Follow-up to Blue Tooth, Location-Based, Mobile Ministry

In my last post I mentioned the incredible potential of Blue Tooth marketing. Again, the range of at least one low-cost device is purported to be 900 feet (600 feet from dongle to phones)!

As you consider Blue Tooth broadcasting (for which the Spirit-led possibilities for helping people know and grow in Christ are pretty much endless), please be sure of the following:

1) Supplemental signage is key. Don't just broadcast into oblivion; put notice of Blue Tooth alerts on your church sign and on billboards. Also put adverts in your church bulletin. And if you use video monitors to show the worship service, add a small graphic letting folks know about your Blue Tooth content. Such signage will also help you reach folks who've turned off their Blue Tooth devices, who obviously would not otherwise be reached by your Blue Toothing.

2) Less is more. Even though Blue Tooth is opt-in, don't just constantly stream a thousand different ads to see what sticks. Certainly some experimentation will help refine your messaging, but don't go nuts. Whether you're a church or parachurch ministry, keeping it to simple ministry info and interest surveys is probably best.

3) Keep file sizes to 10K or less (unless you're located in Europe or Japan). Most phones simply can't process big files efficiently, thus your latest super cool church video will just be annoying and likely off-putting. A slick graphic with links will fit within a 10K limit.

Alright, I can't resist giving you a couple more Blue Tooth ministry ideas...

1) Set up a short-range (150 feet) Blue Tooth dongle in your Sunday school/education wing. Broadcast a simple listing of the various classes available with links to more info.

2) Youth/college events. I know, I know youth and college are worlds apart. But they use Blue Tooth like it's hardwired into them (HA!), therefore Blue Toothing them should work better than other groups. Send out evangelistic info, news of upcoming Bible studies/discipleship opportunities, and a calendar of upcoming events.

3) PRAYER!!!! Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul commanded, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," (Eph. 6:18). Send out Blue Tooth invites to submit prayer needs to everyone who walks through your doors and to your community. The goal is not to let folks know that the "great genie in the sky" is now granting wishes. Rather, we're proactively fulfilling the Spirit's exhortation to pray at all times for the saints and we're presenting God as sovereign, able, and loving to the lost. Praying for lost and found according to God's will is absolutely biblical and I quite frankly can't think of many better ways to use Blue Tooth than to efficiently collect prayer needs.

Nuff said for now. Feedback?

Blue Tooth Location-Based Mobile Ministry

What in the Wide World of Sports is Blue Tooth, location-based mobile ministry? It's a means of effectively reaching folks that is easy to accomplish and could absolutely revolutionize your ministry impact. In a nutshell, Blue Tooth broadcasting (BTB) through a simple USB adapter or through a Blue Tooth transmitter, will allow any computer to become a broadcast hub for your ministry.

Though I'm still in the midst of feverish research and gathering price quotes, I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about the ministry prospects of Blue Tooth broadcasting. For all you techno-challenged folks like me, let's briefly survey the technology involved with BTB. Then I'll offer a few ideas for using Blue Tooth broadcasting in your ministry.

Thankfully, the technology involved in BTB is quite minimal. Basically you need a Blue Tooth dongle (a silly word, indeed) or a Blue Tooth adapter, and software to run an ad campaign to folks within range of your transmission. The BT transmitter sends out a signal to any passers-by with Blue Tooth devices and lets them know that content is available. If recipients opt-in, then they'll get your ministry info, links to websites, coupons, and more (the possibilities are pretty much endless).

Proxiblaster has the best deal I've found for Blue Tooth ad software ($129) and they offer a n affordable long-range dongle (range up to 900 feet for $129). They also sell relatively cheap software that will run campaigns on multiple computers ($199). No, I don't work for Proxiblaster; they're simply the best BTB solution I've found thus far.

Onto the ministry possibilities...

With Blue Tooth your church could:

1) Send church invites and evangelistic info with web links to folks in your neighborhood.
2) Give attendees the opportunity to learn more about specific ministries, without their ever having to stop by a ministry table or fill out an interest survey. Blue Tooth could be especially helpful during ministry fairs and serving-focused teaching series.
3) Offer coupons for discounts at your church bookstore/coffee shop.
4) Send missions updates, prayer requests, and more to interested members.
5) Broadcast church info to folks visiting your church for a major outside event (concerts, bible conferences, etc.).

For ministries who regularly host conferences & events, you could:

1) Gather contact info through a simple form Blue-Toothed to a attendees. As a former fundraiser and event organizer, I know follow-up is an incredible challenge after ministry dinners and conferences. Folks who are jazzed up/thrilled/inspired at events, often fail to provide their contact info/avoid you like the plague after an event. Not anymore. With BTB, you could capture their contact info, interests, and maybe even donations at the event!

2) Blue Tooth a simple menu that allows folks to choose the ministry(ies) they'd most like to receive info on. If you've got a new project requiring funding for personnel, technology, and more, you could recruit folks to give to those things they're most interested in. Or if you're running many different ministries with diverse focuses and goals, you could use Blue Tooth to capture attendees most interested in specific projects/ministries.

A few closing thoughts...

In case you missed it, BTB is permission-based. Folks have to opt-in to receive content. You won't just be spamming them into oblivion.

No more "kitchen sink" follow-up letters. Through BTB you'll already know what the folks you're writing to are most passionate about. Rather than throw all your projects into your ask letter and hope something jumps out at them. BTB should empower you to highlight specific opportunities they've already expressed interest in and perhaps even help you tailor the gift amount you seek.

Best practices worth mentioning. Proxiblaster also offers an informative guide to BTB content. Among their tips, they suggest you keep file sizes to 10k or less and post signage letting folks know they can receive your Blue Tooth content.

I'll keep you posted as I dive deeper into BTB. If you're already using Blue Tooth location-based marketing, I'd love to hear about your successes and failures.

Happy Blue Toothing...