Church Online, Marketing, Ministry 2.0, Social Media, Web Design
June 19th, 2010 by Matt Haff
Catalyst
Many of you have probably heard of Catalyst but have you ever attended? I know it’s not about web or social media, or online video, or anything that I normally discuss on here… It’s about leadership, moving the church forward, igniting a revolution, building great leaders. I believe it is important that we instill leadership values into ourselves and our team. It also helps to have a vision as a whole of where the church is going. This is why at 12Stone® Church we get tickets for our entire staff, and I do think that it has an effect on how we work together.
An Event Apart
I haven’t been able to attend one yet but I’m hoping to sign on for the one in San Diego this year. Every year since they started I’ve wanted to go but haven’t had the money. It is one of the most expensive events for web developers, designers, etc. This is one of the more advanced conferences so if you’re just starting off this probably isn’t the one for you. But if you’ve been in the game for a few years and want to push yourself…this is where you want to be. Become a fan of them on Facebook and get an additional $100 off with discount code: AEAFBAEA
An Event Apart is an intensely educational two-day learning session for passionate practitioners of standards-based web design. If you care about code as well as content, usability as well as design, An Event Apart is the conference you’ve been waiting for. Your conference pass includes admission to all fourteen sessions at the two-day conference; breakfast, hot lunch, and snacks on both days; access to the opening night party; and a bag of swag.
M2Live
I had the opportunity to attend M2Live last year and it was a very affordable conference with great speakers such as John Saddington, Tony Steward, Jason Reynolds and more! The event is based around web, communications, social media, etc.
If you are a church leader or volunteer interested in learning how to develop an effective social media strategy, create a more appealing and usable church website, or would like to grow your ministry using web technology, M2LIVE Orlando is the event for you!
Ministry 2.0
June 2nd, 2010 by Matt Haff
M2LIVE.org will host its next webinar on June 8, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. (EDT); featuring Christian writer, speaker and trainer, Greg Atkinson. Greg will be discussing how to listen and respond to your social network.
A FREE webinar, the M2LIVE webinar features insight from many of today’s brightest church web evangelists. While presenters have opportunity to share their message, the format allows you ample time to ask questions and engage the presenter. To access the webinar, visit http://www.M2LIVE.org/live on June 8th at 11:30 a.m. (EDT). The webinar will last about 45 minutes.
M2LIVE is a grassroots effort allowing believers of all backgrounds to come together to celebrate Christ, while sharing and learning from one another. A series of web-based and live hands-on workshops, M2LIVE is designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using the latest in web and social media technology. Learn more at http://www.M2LIVE.org
Ministry 2.0, Social Media
April 12th, 2010 by Matt Haff
Free M2LIVE Webcast to Feature 8BIT Founder, John Saddington
The name may be a bit different, but the intent is still the same – to grow the Kingdom by embracing new media. M2LIVE.org (formerly Ministry 2.0) will host its inaugural webcast on April 14, 2010 at 11 a.m. (EDT), featuring 8BIT founder and North Point Ministries’ creative web director, John Saddington. Saddington will be discussing church social media strategy development.
The first in a series of FREE webcasts, the M2LIVE webcast will feature insight from many of today’s brightest church web evangelists. While presenters will have opportunity to share their message, the format will allow you ample time to ask questions and engage the presenter. To access the webcast, visit M2LIVE.org live on April 14th at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). Each webcast will last about one hour.
M2LIVE.org is a grassroots effort allowing believers of all backgrounds to come together to celebrate Christ, while sharing and learning from one another. A series of web-based and live hands-on workshops, M2LIVE is designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using the latest in web and social media technology. Learn more at M2LIVE.org.
Ministry 2.0
October 12th, 2009 by matt
4 Ingredients for a Good Blog
- Have a schedule
- Less about passion & more about discipline
- Have goals
- Team effort
10 Types of Blog Posts
- Date specific | ex. every 1st of the month
- Interviews
- Super Simple Posts (SSP) | Brainless but provocative
- Series | ex. anything over 200 words break-out into a series
- Dissertation | 1000-3000 words ex. walkthrough of a service or product
- Guest Post | Have someone else write a post for your blog
- Stats & Updates | How the blog is doing
- Give-Away | giving back to the community through prizes
- Change-Up | Something completely different from your usual posts
- Humor | Funny videos, images, etc.
Look at your blog as your story, it has to be something that’s compelling and worth the read. Think about your audience when taking the length of a blog post into consideration. Example. people that have more of a techy brain tend to be more ADD and jump around a lot. It would be good to have very short blog posts when they are your target audience.
Being Christians, we should set an example for other bloggers. Use best practices when it comes not only to language and content but also with copyright material. It’s best to use Creative Commons or Flickr when using images.
“Grace is giving things away for free without expecting anything in return.”
John Saddington
Ministry 2.0, Social Media
October 10th, 2009 by matt
Managing the Total Social Media Plan; Developing a Social Content Schedule
Use an index card with a topic to draw your attention to that topic. Your life is full of triggers to connect with, it’s just a matter of you noticing it. Example: When you buy a car, you’ll notice that car on the road more often. You don’t need to know what exactly is being said, just talk about the topic.
Video is really good to use, a good method is just to take video of yourself with an iPhone or Flip and just post it to YouTube. You don’t need really high quality stuff as long as it’s friendly and personal.
Huge difference between content and channels.
Encourage civil debate instead of getting rid of any and all criticism. If you’re having stuff accessible, it is possible that people will post negative comments. People don’t always have to agree but at least they had an engaging conversation about the Bible. If you always take away the negative stuff then you’re missing out on standing up for what you said and letting your community defend you. You’re encouraging critical thinking in a positive and healthy way.
If you’re doing a social media strategy, it’s good to have a community guideline for people to follow. If you delete a negative post, come back and connect with that person and let them know that you are up to the challenge but it should be worded in a more appropriate way that doesn’t demean people but instead facilitates a good mature conversation.
By deleting all critical posts you block all critical conversations and also cause people to feel that their voice isn’t heard there. By taking something down, people notice it even more.
When you post something crazy, apologize and be honest that you were upset when you posted it.
