MinistryNet: Budapest 2005

Most of the presentation notes have been uploaded. When available, the specific notes are linked from the notes on that particular post.

As I receive other notes, they will be added.

Eric came back to tell us more about The Jesus Internet Project.

The next version of ConnaitreDieu.com (that is currently in French to be translated into many more languages) is the evangelistic website for the project. The site is potentially a five-step process:

1. The first part is a flash presentation of the love of God.
2. Second are many testimonies of many people.
3. Third is a flash presentation of the justice of God.
4. Fourth is a presentation of who Jesus is along with the ability to watch the JESUS film online.
5. Last is a summary presentation of the Gospel (Would You Like To Know God Personally?).

All along it is personalized for you and at any time you can jump out to a prayer of salvation.

Henri was a special guest speaker tonight. He is the Campus Crusade Director of Affairs for NAMEStan.

The Goal: Use media to develop relationships with each person then work with them all the way to them being an active participant in a local group.

Every day the number of internet subscribers and mobile phone users is increasing. We must be in these areas to continue to reach the lost. Continue to come up with more innovative ways. Be creative!

Right now they are looking to replace their database systems because they expect it to crash within 2 years because so many contacts are being added to the database.

“Evangelism without boundaries”

Measurements

• Measurements
• Common Measurements

Sources for pictures:

• ESC Media
• WorldWide Challenge
• iStockPhoto
• PictureQuest
• His Image

Design assistance:

• Xoops
• Open Source CMS
• Mambo Server

JESUS Film Online:

The JESUS film is freely available for you to use within your websites. All our completed versions are online or in process (more than 800 currently available). Many times we have the classic version, Old Testament intro version and Children’s version. We have designed the presentation so that your visitors never know they are leaving your site. It simply opens the presentation in Real Player. Get information on how to link directly to your language. All of the links are served from our InspirationalFilms.com domain, which is the generic domain that is not connected to CCC. This is so that sensitive websites can still link to the content.

The presentation includes the film, the 4 Laws (soon to be language specific) and a link to the ASSIST response center (you can contact Jim about translating the phrases into your language).

Let Mike know if you need a different presentation look. We can alter the various content pieces on the presentation. We can also show you how to embed the presentation within a webpage if that works better for your design.

Mike Waid
Internet Media Producer
The JESUS Film Project
www.jesusfilm.org

Allan spoke to us about digital media and pay per click advertising.

It does not matter how good a site you have developed if no one in your target audience knows it’s existence. We can be far more effective at promoting to our audience who are most likely be receptive at far less cost.

Don’t overlook the obvious: include URLs in all print materials, electronic signatures, digital testimonies, templates, videos, DVDs, etc. In addition, we can purchase keywords for “pay per click” advertising.

If you don’t have a evangelistic site, check out free ones at www.greatcom.org/links.htm. Choose good URL with both .com and .org and country domains if it’s relevant. Also get other groups linking to you.

For Pay Per Click, remember it’s an auction. Choose your main search engines, languages, and terms. Then develop good landing pages, follow up people coming, pray, and monitor results and adjust when necessary.

Are your goals fully developed? Do they require faith without being ridiculous? Pray and plan to be successful. Another strategy to consider is a Global Catalytic Task Force.

Download Allan’s PowerPoint.

Ray spoke to us about a project called 12 Words. The idea is to capture the marketplace by the 12 most searched words in the Arab world. We write about “Family”, “Children”, “God” and “Jesus” but are in the teens and twenties of search terms. Instead, this project wants to write about the most searched words. Some of the top words searched for is “sex”, “dating”, “health”, “love”, and “career”.

Jesus would be ministering to the people looking for these words, not what we’re writing about.

To accomplish this, local ministries have their own ownership, content development, and local relevancy…though these sites have a global impact. The pages take the visitor from their expressed or stated need to show their need for Jesus.

One nice thing about this strategy is that the sites market themselves because that’s what people are looking for! The team commits to develop an article per week for a year. If the site is well done, it’ll rise in the rankings.

Download Ray’s PowerPoint.

Rob shared several examples of changed lives because of the internet. (ironically, Rob is the one posting this…though typed by Patricia)

The role of marketing in changed lives:

• Identify audience
• Good website design
• Engage in ministry

How do you get your audience to the website? You can have a great site but if they’re not coming, then so what? The goal of marketing it to get the right people to your site.

Ways to get people to you site:

• Search engine optimization
• Linking strategies
• Traditional marketing

Find out what search engine your target audience uses.

Rob talked about using good keywords as well as different way of using them to get higher rankings in Google.

To get good inbound links write good content: quality, relevant, fresh, easy to read.

Ways to get someone to find a link to your website:

• Email: eNewsletter, signature
• Online communities (interactive): your online profile, blogs

Traditional Marketing (how do you get someone to type in your web address):

• Give out your web address on anything printed
• Word of mouth
• For ideas see escmedia.org

How do you define success? Getting your target audience to the site

Review:

• Design your site for people, have good content, have a good design, make sure your visitors can accomplish some goal.
• Design also for search engines because they send the people to our site.

Download Rob’s PowerPoint.

We had another special guest give the morning devotion on The Great Commission.

Searching for truth and happiness as a child, our guest became a Christian over 30 years ago while living in a part of the world where this wasn’t encouraged (to say the least).

1. We need to see the big picture — God loves [my country] and he loves yours too. God has a big plan to bring people out of their condition to Himself.
2. There is no…How to do it? — Jesus told us to go and preach the gospel, but He didn’t tell us how. We create our own tools to do it.
3. He is the sender, the message and the messenger — because this is true, we should give back the glory. He’s giving us the power to do it! It’s His commission, not ours.

Download the PowerPoint.

Marilyn spoke to us about writing for the web.

The internet allows us to be more persuasive and provide more in-depth answers. For example, a 30-second commercial introduces the brand. A 30-minute info-mercial encourages you to purchase because more time is taken to present the product. However, articles are written as clearly as possible. They are edited so that each answers the questions the visitor has.

Communication Objectives: Either

1. help someone understand who God is or
2. help them understand what a relationship with God is like.

At EveryStudent.com, each article addresses both the intellectual (as in John 3) and the emotional (as in John 4).

Download Marilyn’s notes in Word.

Patricia spoke to us about the importance of graphic design. Through some examples, she showed is some of the main points for design.

It’s not just about having a good looking website. The main reason you want to have a good design is because it’s about communication. All design decisions should be made because of what your audience would like.

When using color, in general, you should use only 3 colors. To help you pick colors for the web, try the Color Coordinator and Color Match. For more go here.

With text and fonts, the most important thing is making sure the fonts and colors are easy to read. Websafe fonts are Arial, Verdana, and Helvitica.

With graphics, use good quality, relevant photos (at 72 dpi). Don’t use animated GIF’s, background images, or poor quality photos.

White space is okay on a website.

For layout, use a grid. Draw one and use the boxes to fill it with content.

Download Patricia’s PowerPoint.