Highlights from around the web – 3/16/2010
Here are the latest things that caught my eye from around the web in the past few days. I subscribe to dozens of blogs and news sources via my Google Reader and share them. You can keep up with them by following me on Twitter or evensubscribing directly. I will also post them here in my blog from time to time.
- Learn Church SEO at Church Marketing Online UniversityPosted: March 14, 2010OurChurch.com is offering a set of articles for SEO - check them out!
- SEO & Social Media ROI: Ye Have Not Because Ye Ask NotPosted: March 14, 2010Great reminder that we need to go beyond the use of search and social media and be sure we are measuring as well.
- Top 10 Social Media WORST PracticesPosted: March 12, 2010From: CMO.comSome great ideas about what NOT to do with social media. Though written for businesses, ministries could do well to pay attention.
- Facebook To Announce Plans To Take Over The Internet With Facebook PagesPosted: March 10, 2010From: www.businessinsider.comFacebook wants to expand its "fan page" feature to all pages on the Internet. So now you won't need a separate page inside Facebook to get all the features of the social network. This seems like a logical evolution for Facebook - now companies won't have to maintain a separate Facebook presence.
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They use the Internet in Turkey too
During the first week of March, as many of you know, I had the pleasure of being a speaker at the Turkey Internet Evangelism Network’s 2010 conference in Istanbul (TIEN). I was invited to speak about my research in the areas of best practices and strategy, and also to share my insights into some of the current trends we are starting to see. There were over sixty different people in attendance, representing dozens of different groups from Turkey and around the world.
The Turks are serious about the Internet. Turkey is now the #4 country in the world in number of Facebook users behind only the US, UK, and Indonesia. The government has banned YouTube, but everyone I talked to knew a way to get around it. Wireless access was everywhere, and the quality was good. At the conference, I was struck by the fact that everyone had laptops and cellphones, including Mac laptops and iPhones. When I spoke at the conference, I never felt like anyone there did not understand what I was talking about – in fact, they were more Internet-savvy than many of the church leaders I have talked to here in the US!
In many ways, I felt right at home in Istanbul: most everyone dressed Western, many people spoke English, and I saw many of the same stores and brands that I see at home. In fact, at the local Starbucks, I could order the exact same thing I order here, no Turkish necessary (see picture). Yet in other ways, it was very obvious I was not at home: mosques were everywhere and the Muslim call to prayer was heard five times a day (see my Facebook video to hear what this sounds like – Facebook account required).
My time in Istanbul was a pleasure (at least once my body figured out that day was night and night was day). The people were wonderful. And brave. To live as a Christian in Turkey is to be different from the majority. It is to always wonder if the government is going to add some new restriction to your ministry’s efforts, or even remove you altogether. Though it is legal to be a Christian in Turkey, it is still not easy.
The title of this post, ”They use the Internet in Turkey too”, is obviously meant tongue-in-cheek. Many times, when thinking of ministering to muslims in a muslim country, we picture something out of Indiana Jones. But it is not like that, as I have described here in this post.
To be successful in fulfilling the Great Commission, we are called to understand other cultures and then determine how to best share the good news within them. This conference gave me a look at how this is being done; both through the people at the conference and through the Internet. The Lord is working in Turkey and, indeed, throughout the world. The Internet is being used as a tool “that everyone may hear”. And they all will, very soon.
Highlights from around the web – 3/9/2010
I haven’t been blogging much in the past week while I was speaking at the TIEN conference in Istanbul, Turkey. I am back and should get into the blogging groove again soon. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here is my regular update from my Google Reader shared items:
Here are the latest things that caught my eye from around the web in the past few days. I subscribe to dozens of blogs and news sources via my Google Reader and share them. You can keep up with them by following me on Twitter or evensubscribing directly. I will also post them here in my blog from time to time.
- TextMarks Makes Sending Mass Text Messages EasyPosted: March 5, 2010From: Mashable!Here is a way to set up a text message campaign quite easily.
- Understanding the Participatory News Consumer | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life ProjectPosted: March 5, 2010From: pewinternet.orgGreat research about how people get news. The points made here in this research are something to consider when developing strategy for online ministry. The importance of developing online connections with people cannot be understated!
- 9 Search Engine Marketing Questions Every Organization Should Be Able to AnswerPosted: March 4, 2010More search engine optimization insights...
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Highlights from around the web – 3/4/2010
Here are the latest things that caught my eye from around the web in the past few days. I subscribe to dozens of blogs and news sources via my Google Reader and share them. You can keep up with them by following me on Twitter or even subscribing directly. I will also post them here in my blog from time to time.
- Strategy Principles – SegmentationPosted: March 3, 2010From: Kingdom StrategistThoughtful article from Kevin Ring on using segmentation as part of your strategy. Good stuff!
- How Companies Are Using Your Social Media DataPosted: March 3, 2010From: Mashable!Interesting article on the importance of your social media data. That friend you have on Facebook may hurt your ability to get credit someday...
- Content Alone Doesn’t Cut It for Traffic, SEOPosted: March 3, 2010From: ChurchCrunchWhat is your search strategy? Great post from John Saddington on the other components to getting found.
- Growing Through Search Marketing – A Case StudyPosted: March 3, 2010More SEO insights from OurChurch.
- Holy Holograms!Posted: March 3, 2010From: Out of UrHoly Holographic preachers! Is this the next step for "online church"? What do you think?
- Yelp for Android Gets Bookmark Sync and Draft SupportPosted: March 3, 2010From: Mashable!If you are a church or location-based ministry, have you checked to see if you are on Yelp? This article reminded me that the convergence of social and mobile will include these types of applications.
- Mobile Social Networking Usage Soars [STATS]Posted: March 3, 2010From: Mashable!Mobile and social. The match made in heaven. If mobile and social media are not in your strategy, it's time to update your strategy.
- Making Videos That Work SociallyPosted: March 3, 2010From: tonystewardHere is some great insight on how to develop video for the online environment. From the new blog by Tony Steward. (HT: Collide Magazine)
- State of the Union of Church, Ministry and Search EnginesPosted: March 1, 2010Jump in with OurChurch.com this month on search engine issues. If you aren't doing anything with your search engine results, this is a great way to get started!
- Developing a Social Strategy: Slides and Webinar Recording –Share ItPosted: February 27, 2010From: Web Strategy by JeremiahTrying to put together a social strategy? Jump in to this series!
- Google Adds New Location-Based Options to SearchPosted: February 27, 2010From: Mashable!Does Google know where your ministry is? If you are a location-based ministry, be sure you are taking advantage of this.
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Highlights from around the web – 2/26/2010
Here are the latest things that caught my eye from around the web. I subscribe to dozens of blogs and news sources via my Google Reader and share them. You can keep up with them by following me on Twitter or even subscribing directly. I will also post them here in my blog from time to time.
- 5 Fantastic Facebook Fan Page Ideas to Learn FromPosted: February 25, 2010From: Mashable!Great examples of the use of Facebook fan pages. Learn from these examples!
- The Future of the Non-Profit InternetPosted: February 25, 2010From: Mashable!Predictions about the future of the Internet, with an emphasis on its effects on nonprofits.
- Facebook outreach and trainingPosted: February 25, 2010A great look at how Facebook is the place to be for online evangelism.
- New and Upcoming Books on Technology, Media, and FaithPosted: February 24, 2010From: Don't Eat The FruitHere are some books to consider for your reading list. I added my upcoming book in the comments.
- Social Media – What’s the Point?Posted: February 23, 2010Some good thoughts on social media from Paul.
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Interviews with leaders in the online ministry field
Have you ever wanted to pick the brain of some of the top names in online ministry? Have you ever wondered what they thought it meant to be “excellent”? As part of the preparation for our study on excellence and presentations for the CLA 2010 Ministry Internet and Technology Summit, StateOfMinistryOnline has conducted several interviews with top ministry leaders, asking the question: what does it mean to be excellent online?
Interviewees include:
- Cynthia Ware, Executive Director of the Center for Church Communications
- Eric Célérier, founder of TopChrétien.com
- Matt Perman, Senior Director of Strategy for Desiring God
- DJ Turner, Executive Director Communications Denver Seminary
- Dr. Richard Krejcir, Director of Into Thy Word
Here are some highlight quotes from the interviews, see if you can figure out who said them:
Sometimes online excellence is seen when someone has taken the initiative and laid the foundation for others to follow.
Great content must be wedded with high usability. If you have excellent content but it’s hard to use the content is obscured. Not focusing on usability creates distortion that gets in the way of the content. Even if you have financial resources and a competent staff, poor usability will lead to an ineffective website.
When you go to a restaurant, you don’t go just for the food or for the look of the dining room, you go for the experience. This is how Facebook draws so many people: not just the content, not just the design, but the experience of it. The experience of a web site is created by how you navigate through the content. When you are designing your site, foremost consideration must be given for how the users will experience it!
Go read the interviews at StateOfMinistryOnline to figure out who said these and to get much, much more insight!
Of course, it couldn’t let this finish without reminding you of the CLA 2010 conference coming up in San Diego in April. And encouraging you to come! I am part of the team putting together a special 12-session summit on the Internet and technology, where we will be taking the principles learned from these interviews and other research and presenting them.
Also, if you are interested in coming (or even if you’re not!), please consider taking the online survey we have developed to help us further our research. For your time (about 20 minutes), you will receive a $50 discount to the conference.
Getting in their stream
I wrote last week that I believe we are now in a “post-website” world, where the organizational website, while important, is no longer the centerpiece of how we interact online. Continuing to think along these lines, the question then becomes: what should be the main focus of our online communications and interactions?
My answer to that question is not simple. I believe that the best way to interact with our target audience is to build relationships with them online. And one way to build relationships with them is to insert ourselves into the “streams” of information that they consume everyday. To have the maximum reach possible, we must understand the streams that our potential audience wades through on a daily basis and become part of it.
Highlights from around the web – 2/23/2010
Here are the latest things that caught my eye from around the web. I subscribe to dozens of blogs and news sources via my Google Reader and share them. You can keep up with them by following me on Twitter or even subscribing directly. I will also post them here in my blog from time to time.
- HOW TO: Build a Facebook Landing Page for Your BusinessPosted: February 22, 2010From: Mashable!Here's one way to take advantage of Facebook right now. Create a landing page for your ministry using the "fan page" feature.
- ChatRoulette by Sarita YardiPosted: February 21, 2010From: apopheniaOK, this is an interesting one. ChatRoulette is a site that randomly pulls up a video chat with someone else on the site. Either party has the ability to hit "next". Sort of like Facebook "friending" I suppose, except at a much more intimate level. But the implications of something like this for ministry! What do you think?
- Being what they search forPosted: February 20, 2010Great post about a strategic tool: Google Insights for Search. Take a look. And how can we use this for ministry?
- HOW TO: Make Your Small Business Geolocation-ReadyPosted: February 19, 2010From: Mashable!This is a very nice primer on how to get involved in location-aware apps and why you need to start doing it RIGHT NOW. Churches, this is for you!
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A Framework for Seeing Our World: the Millennium Matrix
A I prepare to write my book and update my curriculum for my summer course in online ministry, I have been catching up on some recommended reading (many of which I pulled from John Dyer’s excellent list of books). One of the books that has come highly recommended is The Millennium Matrix by M. Rex Miller.
The goal of this book is to provide a lens through which we can look to better understand how the changes in communications technologies have affected our culture in general and the Church specifically. Published in 2005, this book gives clear insights into why we do things a certain way and why those things are beginning to fail. In many ways, this book discusses the same issues that books like UnChristian and, even more so, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture do. And, like those books, it offers a plan for moving forward to address those issues. But I would have to say that, of the three, this book is the most comprehensive and detailed. › Continue reading
Highlights from around the web – 2/19/2010
Here are the most interesting, instructive, and innovative articles from around the web that I’ve read in the past few days. I am sharing these, along with my comments on them, via Google Reader – you can read them all there or subscribe to the feed if you like.
- A history of media technology scares, from the printing press to Facebook. - By Vaughan Bell - Slate MagazinePosted: February 17, 2010From: www.slate.comA brief history of how technology has ruined our society over and over and over...
- Are We All Asking to Be Robbed?Posted: February 17, 2010From: Mashable!The flip side of the location-based technologies, such as Foursquare, are that by telling people where you are, you are also telling them where you are not...
- Microsoft Will Charge Carriers for Windows Phone 7Posted: February 17, 2010From: Mashable!Here's an early take on why Android phones will become the default operating system for phones - what do you think?
- The State of the Internet, Does this Change our Online Ministry Strategies?Posted: February 16, 2010From: ChurchCrunchThis is a cool graphic. But when you are developing your online strategy, you probably need to focus more specifically on your demographic than this graphic gives. But this is a starting point.
- Facebook Is the Web’s Ultimate Timesink [STATS]Posted: February 16, 2010From: Mashable!Some good statistics on the use of Facebook and other web technologies. Trying to figure out where to focus your energy? This may help.
- Understanding Users of Social NetworksPosted: February 16, 2010From: HBS Working KnowledgeThis one's a little old, but I just ran across it. Here is a report on some research about the use of social networks out of Harvard Business School. Some interesting findings and comments on just what a "social strategy" is.
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Welcome to the Lessons From Babel blog
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- Dave Bourgeois
