The iChurch Method Book is now on Apple iBooks

The iChurch Method is now available for your iPhones and iPads. In addition to being on the Kindle, Nook and PDF format, we have made this book available to the millions of iBooks readers that were requesting the book in this format.

How Entrepreneurs can better use Technology [Audio Interview]

In this audio podcast interview, I discussed how entrepreneurs can better utilize technology in order to help expand and enhance their business. [ylwm_vimeo height="400" width="600"]47572965[/ylwm_vimeo]

Church Social Media and Technology Google+ Hangout

I finally got to participate in a Google+ Hangout on Air focusing on Church and Technology. It was a great time with Chip Dizard (www.chipdizard.com) and Joel Sams (www.symbiota.com). We started talking about how social media is being used in the church today and then we touched on mobile and other technology topics. So many nuggets of knowledge that I just couldn't write them all. [ylwm_vimeo height="400" width="600"]47634599[/ylwm_vimeo]

Church Social Media and Technology Presentation Excerpt

In July I was in LA for the FICWFM conference and presented a session on Church Social Media and Technology. Here is a short excerpt from the session and as soon as the final version is edited and released I will have it here on The iChurch Method. [ylwm_vimeo height="400" width="600"]46858607[/ylwm_vimeo]

Church Technology, bring the people in or take ministry to the people?

I was having a conversation with a childhood friend (who is now a pastor) about Church and Technology and we came to a crossroads about how we thought churches should utilize technology. We both agree that churches should use technology to reach people and expand the outreach of the ministry, but he asked me how often does technology result in additional people in the sanctuary. My approach to technology and the entire premise of The iChurch Method was to use technology to take the ministry to the people. I developed a strategy that would inform your local congregation and give them a way to connect with the ministry online, increase your online audience that is not local by providing them online tools to connect and providing information for future church supporters by positioning the ministry to be accessible in numerous ways via technology. To help churches make sure they were taking ministry to the people, a supplement to their base premise of creating a location for people to come, get healed, change their lives and participate in ministry.

It never occurred to me that there was a focus by pastors to utilize technology to get people into the sanctuary OVER building an online audience and increasing the supporters that may never set foot inside the church. It appears easy for pastors to understand tv ministries and using TBN or The Church Channel to broadcast their churches to millions around the world and look for donations from their tv supporters, whom may never step foot into the sanctuary. But there seems to be a disconnect by these same pastors when it comes to building an online ministry using video, social media, mobile devices and streaming to build an online audience that they may never see but will still support the ministry via online donations.

Therefore, I believe that churches, ministries, pastors and Christianity in general will need to embrace technology, invest in online ministries, websites, mobile solutions and social media. Churches will need to continue to take the ministry to the people and make sure whatever device a person picks up, their ministry is accessible from it and accept the fact that online audiences will continue to grow and the church will have supporters that they see every weekend for services and supporters that they don’t see but still embrace the church as well. What are your thoughts on Churches embracing technology?

FICWFM conference event (Updated with Presentation)

On Thursday, July 26, 2012 I taught at the FICWFM conference in Los Angeles, CA. It was a session on How Churches can best use Social Media and other aspects of the iChurch Method. The session was a great success and many churches were able to get a better grasp of how to use technology and social media to advance their ministry online.

Here is the PPT presentation from my session - FICWFM social media conference presenation (PDF file).

Mobile Websites vs. Mobile Apps

Most recently at a conference I was asked which mobile option should a church take, a mobile website or a mobile app? This question seemed to quickly get the attention of all the attendees at the conference because a strange hush came over the room in anticipation of my answer. Thus, I took a deep breath and said with all confidence, “Both...now let me explain”. I am a proponent of mobile apps, I thoroughly love my iphone and ipad and the numerous (128) apps that I have installed. I also have an Android phone with apps installed as well. The apps and their native integration into the operating system of the phone makes their usage much easier than a mobile website. Unfortunately, apps are phone specific and each app is limited to the phones that have that operating system, while mobile websites can be programmed for numerous phone because all of the latest smartphones have HTML5 Webkit enabled updated mobile web browsers.

A mobile website is the first step in a mobile web strategy therefore prior to a church investing in mobile apps, they should create a mobile website. One mobile website can encompass numerous mobile smartphones and that should be the focus of the mobile website, to reach as many mobile devices as possible. Initially, I used to say to only create a HTML Webkit enabled mobile website that will work with the latest mobile browsers but after attending the Biola Digital Ministry Conference, I learned that an even more scaled down mobile website should be created by the church to reach people in developing countries with limited mobile access. People in developing countries most often can only access the internet from mobile devices that have slow connections and therefore your church mobile website for this audience should load very quickly and not have too much going on. Remember, in order to do this you need to create a high level mobile website and a low level mobile website and program it to load either site depending on the connection and mobile device the user is on.

Therefore, let’s recap, if you are creating a mobile strategy for your church you first want to create a mobile website that can reach numerous mobile devices. Next, you want to create mobile apps for the iphone/ipad, next android, and finally windows mobile devices since those seem to be gaining attention as of the last few months. What’s your mobile strategy for your church or business?

Biola University Digital Ministry Conference

Last week I attended the Biola University Digital Ministry Conference (http://events.biola.edu/bioladigital/), and it was a very informative, innovative conference.  There were amazing speakers there and even though I didn’t get a chance to attend every session, I did attend some good ones and learned some very interesting things. Ranging from mobile ministry strategies, web content strategies and where digital ministry will be in 20 years, I think that overall the conference consisted of educated digital ministry specialists teaching other digital ministry specialists.  With that being stated, here are my notes from the conference.

• FaithVillage.com did a session on their christian social media platform.  This social media platform is the next step in the evolution of social media and a great place for christians and non-christians to network, interact, learn, shop and operate in a great online environment.  I am sure there is more to FaithVillage.com and I look forward to visiting their offices which are located near our offices.

• MobileMinistryMagazine.com founder Antoine Wright did a session on mobile ministry strategies and it was a great session indeed.  First and foremost, he taught the session from a mobile phone, the slides and entire presentation was from his Nokia phone.  Not my phone of choice (iPhone fan here) but the “practice what you preach” was in full effect for this session.  
• Coca Cola’s mobile strategy is 70/20/10 - 70% sms, 20% website, 10% apps.  Most people think that apps and mobile websites are the first steps in a mobile strategy but SMS was surprisingly the most effective approach.
• 52% of new phone purchases in the US are smart phones
• 70% of mobile web use is searching
• Before you get started develop a strategy that answers “what are my mobile goals” and “what are my mobile issues”.
• opera mini is the most used mobile website
• main questions of mobile users initially (and even non mobile users) is “where is the church located” and “what time is the service”
• mobify.me (web service that takes a website and makes it mobile) works with wordpress
• Develop a strategy for users that have less that smartphones, which is quite a few users of developing nations where bandwidth is at a premium.
• Going from a mobile website to a mobile app is whole bunch easier then going from app to website. Build the website and from there take the best parts of it and add that to an app.
• Dont add high res photos and anything that add unnecessary downloading
• Dont add complex features
• Dont limit your website to just high end mobile devices

• VisualStoryNetwork.org Clyde Taber gave a great explanation of Visual Ministry and the continuing transition of the entire online audience moving to a majority visual exprience online.  Also, there was a strong emphasis on telling a compelling story online.  Your ministry’s online properties should tell your story and not just try to push information.
• People are talking and reading less, viewing and social networking more
• A good book example is by Nicholas Carr - The Shallows - our brains are being reconfigured to consume information and push it out in small bursts
• The internet has gone visual
• Youtube is the second largest search engine
• People are becoming visual
• People love a story
• Know your audience
• Know your goals
• Know your technology

• Digital Ministry Trends session was about what trends are apparent in digital ministry today and what will be relevant in the next 20 years.  There was one consensus about anything digital, forecasting one year out is good, three years out is possible and five years out is just guessing, anything further than that really is pointless because technology will move faster than you think and the intangibles come into play.
• Social networks are integrated with everything online
• Everything will begin online, including ministry (85% of young people check out a website online before coming in and choose church based on website)
• The majority of churches ministry starts on the website.  
• 17% of searches now include a map or geographic feature
• Still many low-tech areas and people, billions are entering from the developing world and rural america
• For global reach you need low bandwidth sites and high bandwidth sites
• Your internet reputation is everything, you are being evaluated and researched online before people even come in the door.
• People are initially looking for location, service time, and children's ministry.
• Content needs to go from device to device
• Format wars (Apple, Android, Windows) will continue into near future but finally a universal format will win out
• Keep it simple
• Most people hate technology but use it because they have to.  They don’t want to feel confused, helpless or stupid.
• Live chat boxes will be helpful, people want instant interaction
• Customer service will be a winning factor
• Mobile devices have changed the entire landscape of the internet and they have been the fastest adopted technology in the history of mankind.
• Social Media will lead to a more customized internet experience and that is what people will come to expect.

• Web Content Strategy session with Drew Goodmanson from MonkDev.com. This was easily one of the best sessions of the conference.  Drew and his company Monk Development has been one that I have been following for quite a long time and I have went out to San Diego and met with them and talked about opportunities to further work with them.  Therefore, I was very much looking forward to Drew’s session and learning quite a bit from him.  
• There are 6 web strategy problems that most ministries have
1. Skymall syndrome - whatever the church sees it wants to do without thinking about strategy
2. Ministry schizophrenia - people more dedicated to their ministry within the church than the entire church vision
3. ministry narcissism - ministry web strategy is designed for internal people and not the normal world. They don’t know who is visiting their website, what they want and they expect people to figure out what the ministry is trying to say.
4. Blind men and the elephant - no one has experience building a website to reach the people. they believe that their previous experience is what makes them qualified to do this project.
5. Death by committees - technology moves fast, the decision process is extremely slow
6. Volunteer hostage situation - volunteer holds website hostage

• Discovery phase in developing website strategy consists of:
1. How are people using your ministry and website?
2. Survey members, do interviews. Use them for validation of what you are doing or want to do, not discover a whole bunch of new ways because you will lose focus of what you are trying to complete.
3. Use your previous website analytics
4. Plan your social media content calendar
5. Realize that your website is the first connection for people
• The church is a corporation, cause and a community

Overall, this was a great conference and I look forward to participating again next year.

Evolution of Digital Ministry

I was reading an article on the evolution of digital ministry and it gave a good explanation of where the church had been and where it was today. I spoke about this just last week at the Pastors and Leadership Conference in Orlando Florida. I explained to people that my job within the ministry was to make sure the ministry was able to utilize the most current technology that is available today as well as forecast where technology was going and make sure the ministry would be able to utilize that as well. As I read about where digital ministry had been, I started to see a more clear picture of how it got to where it is today and where it is going. Here is a recap: In 2000…Websites An increasing number of churches recognized the value of a church website. It was a digital land rush where most sites served as a digital billboard or brochures highlighting the church’s ministries. Unfortunately, this approach offered little value past the first visit. The website was a one way communication where churches broadcasted information to online users such as service time, location and church information.

In 2003…Multimedia As bandwidth access grew in homes, more churches saw the potential to distribute sermons and other media to a much broader audience than their brick and mortar congregations. Thus they started having archived multimedia on their website (audio and video) and using flash on their websites.

In 2006…Ecommerce Content management systems rose to popularity as churches took control of maintaining their own content through blogs, event calendars, and other features. Church websites transitioned from being a static brochure to a dynamic magazine. The arrival of e-commerce came with online donations and online stores.

In 2009…Social Media Many churches start implementing streaming sermons, social media (Twitter and Facebook), and some offer a church online experience (internet campus v1) complete with worship, sermons, instant chat, and online prayer.

In 2012…Mobile (and more social media) Due to smart phones, mobile web browsing is surging, but most church sites are clunky to navigate in a mobile browser. Church apps and mobile sites are becoming more interactive and facilitating a way to interact and communicate with the ministry. Social media integration is growing with a focus on social streams and social sharing of church content.

In 2015…Internet Campus/Internet TV/The Cloud With 4G and eventually 5G internet access the cloud will become a larger player in bringing technical costs down in online ministry. Online software such as Google Apps and Dropbox will be integrated into ministry technical solutions and work will not be limited to onsite at an office but be anywhere via a tablet or other mobile device. Sharing everything via social media will become more common with options such as seamless sharing via the social graph and facebook. Online Interactive Internet Campuses will become more common and triple in numbers. Church attendance will increase 50% but not in actual pew numbers, but due to online members who support churches from their computers and mobile devices. Internet TV will become more common with internet enabled televisions and internet tv devices becoming more powerful and common.

This evolution of digital ministry is the basis for The iChurch Method, as you can see each year highlighted above has a topic that was prevalent at the time next to it and these correspond to the chapters in the iChurch Method book, Websites, Multimedia, Ecommerce, Social Media and Mobile. This is the order we believe that your church online strategy should take. And of course the 2015 hot topics are what the next edition of the iChurch Method will focus on...stay tuned.

How Churches are using Technology, the interview by CW33 news

On Wednesday April 18, 2012, I was interviewed by CW33 about how Churches use Technology. The article was printed here. This whole story was based on a USA today article located here about "More congregations using online tools". The interview was shown on the Monday evening news at 9pm CST and here is the video. [ylwm_vimeo height="337" width="600"]40916919[/ylwm_vimeo]

Can the cloud help the Church?

First and foremost, let’s make sure we clarify that the cloud is a technical term for hosted applications and not an actual cloud or heaven, LOL.  A few months ago I did a post about the cloud and how it could help ministries (http://thenewichurch.com/websites/can-the-cloud-help-ministries/). Today we are going to update that post and give a great explanation of applications that a ministry can use to go to the next level. I did first want to extract a few points from a great post that I read over at Mashable.com about the Pros and Cons of moving your Business to the Cloud http://mashable.com/2011/07/26/cloud-computing-business/ and how this topic can be applied from our church perspective.

First the main benefits of moving to the cloud according to the Mashable.com article are:
It’s scalable. If your business takes off, it’s easy to adjust your computing needs. Most cloud-computing is billed at a monthly rate, like a utility. So, if your business grows, you can just order more server space.

The initial costs is are very affordable. With the cloud, you don’t have to set up a server and spend all the man-hours it takes to get one up and running.

It can save money in other ways. Virtual Office apps located in the cloud make the administrative costs of running a business minimal.

There’s less IT infrastructure staff to manage. With cloud computing, you don’t need to hire a tech team, and a smaller team will save you money on payroll, benefits and more.  

Now let's look at the main drawback:
Your business is in the hands of another company.  If the servers go down of the online applications that you are using, then your business comes to a halt.  Even with SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that guarantee 99.9% uptime, you still have to account for the .1% change that your business is affected and have the appropriate redundancy plans in place.

Now, what are great applications that a ministry could use, that are located in the cloud?  Well here are some great ones to start with:

• File Storage - A central location where files for the ministry can be accessed from laptops, desktops and mobile devices.  Also a place where backups and versions of files are kept as well as a secure environment.
• Dropbox - http://dropbox.com
• Office Software - Email, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Scheduling, Intranet, Photo Management, Analytics and other administrative software that can be accessed from laptops, desktops and mobile devices.  Also, this software has real-time collaboration features where users can work on files simultaneously.
• Google Analytics - http://google.com/analytics/
• Google Apps - http://google.com/apps
• Gmail
• Docs
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Calendar
• Sites
• Reader
• Picasa
• Project Management - Software that includes estimation and planning, scheduling, cost control and budget management, resource allocation, collaboration software, communication, quality management and documentation or administration systems, which are used to deal with the complexity of large projects. This software can be accessed from laptops, desktops and mobile devices.
• Basecamp - http://basecamphq.com/
• Intervals - http://www.myintervals.com/
• Phone and Video Conferencing
• Skype - http://skype.com
• Google Voice - http://www.google.com/voice
• Web Hosting and Content Management Systems
• GoDaddy - http://godaddy.com
• Wordpress - http://wordpress.com
• Social Media
• Hootsuite - http://www.hootsuite.com
• Facebook - http://facebook.com
• Twitter - http://twitter.com
• Youtube - http://youtube.com

Can the cloud help ministries?

With the announcement of iCloud by Apple, cloud computing seems to have gone mainstream.  What was once a topic reserved for tech geeks and IT debates, is now being discussed by soccer moms and middle age men.  Cloud computing has been around for years but not until Apple announced it, did mainstream media truly embrace it.  It seems that when Steve Jobs says “it just works” then it’s easy enough for commoners to embrace it.

I was reading the following article http://www.cringely.com/2011/06/iclouds-real-purpose-is-to-kill-windows/ and this was an interesting take on how iCloud’s real purpose is to kill windows.  Now I don’t necessarily agree with that but I do like the fact that iCloud now brings virtual office software to the forefront.  Google Docs has been around for quite a few years and is a great solution to online documents.  In my opinion, Google Docs is much better prepared to kill Microsoft Office than Apple iCloud, but with mainstream adoption, iCloud does open the conversation for the next generation’s Office software.

The strategy of Apple’s iCloud as well as Google Docs is that they are embraced by the younger generation.  Generation X, Y and I, have access to Google Docs via their google accounts as well as Google’s integration into schools/colleges by offering Google Apps for free.  Likewise, with over 100 million iOS devices being used by numerous young people, iCloud will be available to them on their devices and thus they will take full advantage.  Now, the best part of this strategy is that when you get the young adults and youth to embrace your technology, when they become adult workers, CEO’s and teachers, they will utilize and implement the technology they are comfortable with which will be Google and Apple technology.  

In terms of ministry, virtual office software can help ministries operate more efficiently by allowing them to conduct business anywhere.  If a ministry has a staff of 5 or 500, virtual office software allows them to have the infrastructure of a major corporation for a fraction of the costs.  Google Apps, iCloud and boxnet.com (online storage provider), lets a ministry have email, word processsing, spreadsheets, powerpoint, project management, contact management and a variety of other online software that can be accessed from any device (computer, laptop, tablet, phone) via the internet.  Now the ministry doesn’t have to be done from an office, but can be done anywhere.  If you add in skype video conferencing then you can actually have meetings online and each member can be anywhere in the world.  

I know this is alot to take in but we are in a time now where business is done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the world and the ministry needs to be able to compete and operate as an efficient business and utilize these tools.  The best part about these tools is that about 10 years ago, a corporation would have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to have these tools and it would all be connected to an office.  A company today can get them for a few hundred dollars and they can access it from any internet connected device, so instead of the employees coming to a location to do business, the business comes to them.  And that is the premise of iChurch, to take ministry to the people where they are at using technology.

To reach them all, you must go mobile

A great internet church will go where everyone is, it is not limited to just the computer. The future of the interet church is going mobile. With more smart phones, tablets and mobile devices being released this year than any other prior year, there will be more mobile users than desktop/laptop computer users. With that being stated, ministry needs to happen on mobile phones as well.

Of course everything has to have a strategy first. There needs to be a vision for the mobile presence of a ministry and how it will further the ministry. Here is a great article from http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=74897 that explains what mobile means for business and this has the same application in ministry. There is always a spiritual aspect that can be added to this strategy because ministry is more than just business but for the sake of the strategy, this is a great explanation of the impact of embracing mobile solutions.

Mobile Commerce: It’s More Than Just an iPhone App
Understanding what mobile means for your business

Mobile commerce is one of the most discussed, yet least understood, disciplines in commerce. What passes for mobile commerce today often amounts to little more than a simple iPhone application or a mobile-optimized Web site. Both of these are building blocks for a greater mobile commerce strategy, but they do not even begin to tap into the potential of the mobile platform.

Mobile truly has created an "always on" society, where people are online and accessible 24 hours per day. Mobile platforms have become more than simple communications devices; they are lifestyle assistants that enable people to connect, interact, inform, and influence. Because of this, they are also an incredibly valuable piece of the commerce puzzle; no other channel provides such a direct and continuous connection to customers and prospects.

Understanding mobile's strengths is critical to successfully incorporate mobile into the commerce equation. When implemented properly, mobile complements other channels, and vice versa. And yet, from a technology perspective, most mobile commerce initiatives today are either standalone efforts or "bolted on" technology to existing eCommerce platforms. Both approaches represent a problem: Mobile commerce is limited as a standalone function and can actually be counterproductive if it is not in sync with and appropriately integrated into other channels.

For example, an iPhone application that shows minimal product details and pricing is of limited use unless it includes a mechanism to drive customers to an online site or physical store where they can ask questions about and/or purchase the product. And it is of no use at all to the majority of customers who own Blackberrys, Android handsets, and other non-iPhone platforms. This is not to say there is anything wrong with iPhone applications that show product information and pricing, it just demonstrates that such an application does not an overall mobile commerce strategy make.

Unlocking Mobile's Potential

So how can you take advantage of the mobile channel and make it more impactful from both a customer communications AND a commerce standpoint?  There is a vast array of opportunities to drive business value immediately with mobile, without incurring unnecessary expense or complexity. Some of those opportunities include the following:

In-Store Shopping Applications: Mobile devices can become "virtual salespeople" by providing applications that enable customers to check product availability (both in-store and online), compare prices with other outlets, and access reliable product information. (Enabling price comparisons with other outlets seems counterintuitive, but it's actually beneficial because it can help to keep customers in-store to negotiate pricing rather than having them leave to check pricing elsewhere.)

Mobile Barcodes: Mobile barcodes are a powerful way to integrate mobile and in-store initiatives to drive customer engagement and in-store transactions. For example, when retailers enable mobile barcode functionality, customers can use the camera in their mobile phone to "scan" a picture of a barcode, which can then bring up a special landing page for that product or group of products. This can provide customers with instant product and pricing details and create opportunities for cross- or upselling. These same capabilities could also provide the ability to generate coupons or vouchers that encourage impulse buying in the store.

Location-Based Services: Also providing ways to drive in-store sales, mobile store-locator applications can guide customers to the nearest store, or the nearest store that has a specific product in inventory, and also provide coupons for use in-store.

Multichannel Engagement: Mobile can become the first point of contact with a potential customer, who can then be transferred to a different online or offline channel. For example, a coupon could be used as an incentive to download a mobile application, with the coupon redeemable at the online or brick-and-mortar store. Mobile is also a great way to provide customer updates. SMS messages, email, or automated phone calls can be used to notify customers of product availability or special promotions, driving them to stores, both online and physical, and providing them with vouchers to encourage purchases.

Closing the Sale: Actual mobile transactions have been slow to evolve, due primarily to security and technical considerations. Most of these issues have now been resolved, making mobile an appropriate channel for capturing customer information and executing transactions.

Today's mobile infrastructure has leapfrogged mobile commerce strategy, and mobile platform capabilities are progressing rapidly with the continuing proliferation of smart phones, powerful mobile browsers, and faster cellular networks. For this reason, mobile commerce must evolve beyond its current "iPhone app" phase of development to be most effective for businesses and their customers. The time has come for mobile to become a rich, multifunction commerce platform that drives traffic, sales, and customer satisfaction.

Mobile is coming!

I came across this great blog by Jerod at Church Juice Blog - http://churchjuice.com/blog/think-mobile/. This is a great summation of my thoughts on churches and mobile websites. Keep in mind that I am not referring to mobile apps, those I will address later, right now I am talking about mobile websites because any good mobile strategy should start with a mobile website and progress to mobile apps.

Out of the 5 - 6 church websites that I visit often, only one has a mobile website and that is Lifechurch. Their website, which is located at http://m.lifechurch.tv is a great mobile website, easy to use, quick loading and gives me access to live and past services, which is one of the things I like most, I love watching video on my iphone.

Unfortunately, most churches outside of a few top megachurches, do not have mobile websites on their radar. They believe that they will need to put these websites up but for some reason they are not focusing on it now. It could be the costs of creating a mobile website (which can be minimal), the cost of updating a mobile website (which can be minimal) or they just don't have the time or expertise on staff to make it happen.

Well here is a good mobile strategy for any ministry.

1. Mobile website first. Mobile websites are versatile and can be viewed on any smart phone or mobile device with Webkit 2.0 (iOS, android, palm, windows 7, newer blackberries, etc..). Thus, if you are going to have a mobile strategy, you have to include a mobile website first before you jump right into mobile apps.

2. Mobile sites can be part of your current website. If you have a template or CMS (content management system) that is mobile friendly, then your website will be a mobile website as well as a regular website. Wordpress is a great example of this, you can add the wptouch plugin to convert your website into a mobile website.

3. Let flash go. Flash was great three years ago and having flash intros with images flying around and music playing in the background was a great visually stunning thing. Now that Apple has released millions of iOS devices (iphones and ipads and ipod touches) you have to create websites that can be viewed on these devices as well as other mobile devices. The answer is HTML5 and JavaScript (Jquery).

4. Start small with a mobile website. For a ministry this can be something as small as a homepage with location, service times and a logo. A live broadcast page where you can watch the service online or archived, and a mobile donation page.

And as Jerod over at Church Juice Blog - http://churchjuice.com/blog/think-mobile/ stated:

Yes, mobile really is worth thinking about.  It can be easy to say mobile strategy is an extra bonus, not a necessity for a website.  But research shows 1 out of 5 Americans use the mobile Internet every day.  That skyrockets to 62 percent when you look at people who own smartphones.  The prices are coming down for smartphones and the tablet market race has just begun.  The number of mobile web users will keep going up fast.

If you have any questions or want to know how to implement these solutions, contact us here

What role should social media play in the church's web strategy

I was doing an interview for a conference I was speaking at and a great question was posed to me. The question was "What role should social media play in the church's web strategy?" As I took a second to think about the question, I came to this conclusion. I believe that social media is a great outreach tool for ministry and should be treated as such. The church should use Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Youtube as additional ways to reach people and expand the online congregation, but not as a main focus of the online outreach as the website is utilized. Social Media is a great free tool but it is controlled by outside companies and should be considered as such, an outside tool for ministry. On the other hand, the church's website is owned by the ministry and should be the focus of all online ministry efforts, very similar to how outreach ministries are extensions of the local church. Online ministry efforts should mimic offline ministry efforts and here are great examples. The church's website (online) should be likened to the church's local building. This is the main place where people gather and get the majority of their ministry and information from the church. The online store is similar to the church's bookstore, a source for products that the church creates as well as other products the church considers important. Social Media is similar to the numerous outreach ministries that the church supports and utilizes to reach the people outside the walls of the buliding. When outreach ministries go out and does ministry for members and non-members of the congregation, they are representing the church and attempting to bring people back to the church to join and support the ministry. Likewise, when content from the church is pushed out via social media, it should have links that go back to the church's website so that people that are on facebook, twitter, youtube or google+ can receive the updates and then click a link back to the church's website for more information.

Just as a church would not focus all it's efforts on a single outreach ministry, the church should not focus it's entire online ministry efforts on social networks, they are just extensions of the website and a way to get people back to the website. A good online strategy should be a website, social media, blog, online store, online donations, email blasts, online video, mobile and online learning. These areas are a good start and even though you may not be able to do them all, add in as many as you can and go from there. If you want a great book on how to take advantage of these online tool then check out The iChurch Method: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.

Ministries should utilize Internet TV

One of the best ways ministries reach large audiences is via television.  Many of the largest megachurches have a complimentary Television Ministry that usually puts their pastor in front of millions every week via television channels like TBN, BET, The Church Channel, ABC Family and The Word Network.  These channels as well as others had high entry fees and the production costs to create professional television show were also barriers to numerous churches establishing a television presence.

Fast forward to today and there are numerous online video options for ministries such as youtube.com, facebook.com, vimeo.com, ustream.tv and even creating your own online campus for archived video viewing.  While these options are great and can create a great online viewing experience for users via their laptops, desktops and mobile devices, they still don’t tap the builtin television audience that traditional channels reach.

Well the future is coming! I was reading an article at Zdnet on Apple TV, Google TV, Roku boxes and the entire Internet TV emerging market.  These new devices are setting up the framework for people to integrate the living room TV, which is prime real estate, with the internet.  The majority of people haven’t integrated the internet into their main viewing televisions but these devices are helping make the process a seamless transition.  Now, the question is, how can ministries take advantage of these emerging opportunities? I’m glad you asked...

Internet TV is mainly ran by apps and the open web, thus instead of ministries having to spend thousands of dollars weekly to keep their television show on the air in your local area, they can create apps for these Internet TV devices one time and update them with new shows for a fraction of the costs.  Google TV uses apps that are similar to the apps you can create for their android phones and tablets. Likewise, Apple TV will open their device up to apps that are similar to what’s created for their iPhone, iPod and iPad devices.  Lastly, Roku devices uses apps that are able to be created in a timely manner and not complex or overwhelming for a programmer.  Overall, the costs of making a ministry app for these devices that people can view from their televisions is vastly less than the cost of running a nationwide television campaign.  Of course, the technology has not reached maturity yet and the majority of people do not have Internet TV devices, but their audiences are growing and the future generations that churches are trying to reach are already familiar with this technology.

If your ministry or church is interested in learning more about Internet TV solutions and how they can take advantage of this upcoming opportunity, please contact us.

Internet Church is coming

Over the last few years I have been watching the Internet Church phenomenon and how it is evolving and taking shape.  Since I find Online Church/Internet Church as the inevitable next step in the evolution of The Church, I have been researching what new technologies and strategies are coming to the forefront and how churches can use these opportunities to advance their ministries online. What I am starting to see are more options for Online Church/Internet Church as well as younger people migrating towards digital ways of connecting to ministries instead of the traditional church interaction of weekly attendance.

Now don’t get me wrong, virtual church attendance will never supplant actual church attendance in terms of importance but I do believe that there are some churches that will need to address the fact that there will be people that will support their ministries, watch their streaming services and consider themselves members of the church and never step foot inside the church. I have seen churches address this with examples of Internet Churches setup by Lifechurch.tv, SaddlebackChurch.com and TDJakes.org.  Another great example of this was the Church on Facebook experiment conducted by Liberty University. I won’t recite the entire article but to sum it up, Liberty University conducted their weekly church service online because the location they were supposed to use was not available.  They used Facebook as the main tool of communication and streamed the services online and interacted with the online audience.  Here is a quote “What is Facebook, after all? It’s a community. What is church, after all? It’s a community. For us, doing church on Facebook isn’t innovative. It’s intuitive,” Moore wrote.  The experiment was a success and a great step for Liberty University to further develop their online church audience, which was more than 61,000 people last year.

There have been a few companies that have arisen to help churches take that next step and create their own online campuses.  Companies such as Streaming Faith and Streaming Church.tv have paid options that are available where a ministry can select a package and these companies provide the entire solution from streaming to social media integration.  But the best option may be coming January 9, 2011 when the most innovative and technologically advanced church, LifeChurch.tv releases their Online Church product for FREE.  This software will allow churches to utilize their own streaming software and integrate it into their online campus software and create that full online campus experience. The only addition that churches will have to supply on their own will be live streaming services and this can be done with FREE websites like www.ustream.tv or www.livestream.com.  

Overall, I believe that many of the larger churches with the resources will adopt these Internet Church/Online Church options within the next year or two but it will take up to five years for it to trickle down to the smaller churches.

What is The iChurch Method?

The iChurch Method is simple: a method to help ministries advance the Kingdom online and take the gospel to the world. It’s a five part approach to taking your ministry online and reaching the world: Part 1: Website – A Great Website that is Easy-to-Use. Part 2: Multimedia – Interactive Multimedia. Part 3: Ecommerce – Online Stores/Online Donations. Part 4: Social Media – Engage and Connect. Part 5: Mobile – The Future of Technology and Ministry.

With these five parts, a ministry can reach and change the world. The iChurch Method book is a MUST READ for every ministry leader who desires to have a global presence online. Caston Digital and CEO Jason Caston, created this method to help all ministries establish a global presence and utilize technology to the fullest, without having to worry about huge financial investments and hiring numerous technical specialists. As explained in the book, this method is as advanced enough for a technical expert to understand, but simple enough for a non-technical church leader to understand.

Order The iChurch Method Book today!!

Ministries Need to have great Customer Service

I have been a customer for about year or so at the local cleaners and have spent quite a bit of money there.  Unfortunately, this last time, the cleaners left numerous spots on my white Air Jordan basketball shorts and I was none to pleased.  I took the shorts back to the cleaners and let the owner know that they messed up my shorts and could she please get the numerous spots out.   Prior to picking my clothes up, I told my wife, if this lady charges me for the cleaners mistake, I will never take my clothes there again.  Well, as soon as she showed me the shorts, spots still there and all, she rang me up for $2.83, and with that I gave her $3.00, told her to keep the change and took my business elsewhere.  That was one of the worst cases of customer service I had ever seen.  That cleaners lost over $400 per month in cleaning services over $2.83, and she didn’t even notice.

Which leads me to my point, customer service is very important whether in business or in  ministry.  One of the main focal points of The iChurch Method is to use technology to provide better customer service for your members.  Whether it be through the website, social media, mobile or any of the numerous ways a member can communicate with the ministry, make sure your ministry acknowledges correspondence when they receive it from members as well as responds in a timely manner.

Here are three good examples your ministry can use to increase it’s customer service capabilities.  First, make sure when a user sends an email or request to the ministry online, use an autoresponder to show that you received the email.  Second, if you have a “contact us” form on your website, make sure you also have a “contact us” form on your mobile site so that people can reach out to the ministry even if they are away from their computer.  Finally, when online users reach out to your ministry using social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, acknowledge and respond to users and let them know that your social media channel is a two way, interactive, street.

Mobile - Take the ministry to the people

As I was reading Social Media Today’s article on “How Brands are using M-Commerce”, I started to wonder how ministries and churches could use M-Commerce.  M-Commerce, short for Mobile Commerce, is the process of doing business (financial or otherwise) via mobile devices.  Mobile devices are the future of technology and ministry...in my humble opinion.  Since mobile devices are so important to technology and ministry, they play an important role in the iChurch Method.

The Ichurch Method’s task can be broken down into one simple statement, “take the ministry to the people”.  That statement can be fulfilled with the numerous technological solutions that are available today whether it be via traditional computer or mobile device (smart phone or tablet).  If ministries are to effectively take ministry to the people, then they need to embrace mobile devices and develop mobile strategies.  

According to the article at Social Media Today, the top three ways companies use M-commerce are (1) Ensuring a mobile-friendly website, (2) Engaging and building loyalty via mobile and (3) Online shopping. These three ways are a great strategy that ministries can utilize as well, let’s look at this a little more in depth.

Ensuring a mobile-friendly website - When the church creates a website, normally the purpose is to put information about the church up so that people can access it online.  Service times, location and a bio on the pastor are the usual parts of a small church website.  There’s no consideration whether the website is mobile friendly because most church leadership only surfs the web from their computer so they assume that all their online users will do the same.  That single minded perspective greatly inhibits how the ministry can advance online.  With over 4 billion (and growing) mobile devices worldwide and numerous people ranging from teenager to senior citizen carrying smart phones, it would only benefit the ministry to have a mobile enabled website that anyone can access from anywhere on any device, mobile or computer.  

Engaging and building loyalty - With the abundance of mobile devices, and so many people using them, they are a great way to stay engaged with your online users.  Whether it’s mobile social media websites such as facebook, twitter and foursquare, you can engage and interact with your online users via mobile devices.  In addition to mobile social media, text messages are a great way to engage mobile users.  When you develop your social media strategy or text messaging strategy, setup people within your ministry that are able to respond quickly from their mobile devices since people will be able to interact with you quickly via mobile devices.

Online shopping and donations - Quite a few churches offer online stores and products for their members.  Again, this is normally created based on someone accessing the online store from their laptop or desktop computer.  Additionally, online donations are an offering of churches and the process is also usually created for a laptop or desktop experience.  While this a good initial approach, if there is no mobile shopping and mobile donation strategy in place, the ministry is inhibiting how people can support the ministry financially.  Yes, there will be numerous people that will donate from their laptop or desktop, but there will also be people, usually techies, younger people, or supporters from countries that use mobile more that are comfortable using their mobile devices for commerce.  This audience should not be excluded because it will go from the exception to the norm.

Overall, any strategy for a ministry that wants to continue to reach the masses into the future will need to consider mobile because it is the future of technology.