“Social Media Staples” Fundamental Technologies that Make Learning the Web Easier
Posted on 03. Feb, 2008 by Aaron Marshall in Church, Church Technology, Church2.0, How To, Social Media
If You Only Read One Thing On This Blog, Read This
This post might be the most important post I have written. It deals with the basic building blocks of social media. There is a mountain of great tools and technologies that can be found online today, the key is to learn what I call the “Social Media Staples”. The staples are foundational tools that once learned make understanding and engaging the rest of the web much easier.
Let me re-emphasize this, if you learn these “Social Media Staples” learning other tools and technologies will be much less difficult.
RSS Feeds: Receiving, Absorbing, and Spreading Information
Links to RSS Readers I Reccomend:
A previous post about RSS Feeds
Social Bookmarking: Collecting, Organizing and Sharing Information
If you have any other technologies you think should be included as a social media staple, let me know in the comments.
Twitterpated!? A Tutorial For Managing Multiple Twitter Accounts
Posted on 09. Dec, 2007 by Aaron Marshall in Church, Church Technology, Church2.0, Evangelism, How To, Mobile, Social Media
Its nice to have separate Twitter accounts for different ministries and church groups. Some of the possible uses include:
- Daily Thought/Prayer/Verse Related to Sermon Series or Group Study
- Morning Prayer and Meditation Spark
- Reminders to Pray for Specific Items
- Daily Spiritual Challenges
Signing up for the individual accounts is easy… Managing them day to day can be difficult.
Learn RSS: The Best First Step for a Church or Ministry Wanting to Understand the Web
Posted on 11. Nov, 2007 by Aaron Marshall in Church Technology, Church2.0, How To, Social Media
How RSS Benefits folks in Church and Ministry
- Absorb large amounts of useful information without being overwhelmed.
- Make an easy way to keep up with news and information thats important to you.
- Create a constant stream of new ideas for your church and ministry.
- Keep up with multiple members, church leaders, and group blogs.
- Have daily devotionals and bible readings fed directly to you.
- Be aware of your local city and worldwide happenings without having to receive and read multiple papers.
Its very hard to keep up, let alone stay ahead. RSS feeds give a healthy boost of new and relevant information without overloading you. RSS is a foundational staple for understanding the web and keeping up. If you take the time to learn any new internet technology, take the time to master the RSS feed.
Instructional video to help you get started:
RSS Readers
Mobile RSS Readers
If you are like me and don’t like staring at computer screens I recommend using a mobile RSS reader. I dont read any RSS feeds at a computer, I do it all through my Blackberry. I will talk about mobile web content in the future. In my opinion its already becoming huge, and will quickly become a standard medium for receiving information.
Upcoming Posts about RSS:
How Missions Organizations can Benefit from using an RSS Reader
Awesome List of RSS Feeds for Church and Ministry
How to Fund-raise with YouTube
Posted on 06. Oct, 2007 by Aaron Marshall in Church, Church Technology, Church2.0, Evangelism, How To, Social Media, Social Networking
My life long friend Tony Coulombe is in the process of founding a new missions organization called the Mustard Seed Global Fellowship. They are headed for Japan and have an awesome vision of building Christian communities there. Tony has a lot of money to raise to be able to accomplish the mission so to help him I devised a viral fund-raising strategy using YouTube.
Step 1 Record Highly personal and direct videos that speak directly to prospective supporters
- Record in different environments: Try the park, a busy street or somewhere that reminds you of the possible supporter (Tony plans to record videos in little Tokyo)
- Be active in your recordings: Don’t just sit in one place, give the video some movement by walking around.
- Show your passion for the mission: Be authentic, be excited and don’t be scared to ask for money.
- Get them Engaged: Explain how you will continually use online video and blogs to keep them updated and connected to the mission.
- Make Hundreds of videos: The time it takes will make up for itself in the stronger commitments you will receive. (Givers gain)
- Use a cheap camera: No need for High Definition professional equipment here! Most digital cameras these days come with movie mode, use it!
- Keep it short: Between 1-3 minutes.
Step 2 Upload the videos to YouTube
- Files need to be under 100 megabytes: Another good reason for using a cheap digital camera.
- Don’t worry about people seeing videos you have created for others, it will only serve to support that you are dedicated.
Step 3 Setup an easy way for people to give, whether that be online giving or a simple way to receive information on how to give via mail.
- Realize how important this is: Your videos will deeply impact most people, give them a way to immediately respond.
- Google Checkout: Free for 5013c Non-Profits
- PayPal: Takes a commission so I am not a huge fan…
- See your Bank for possible methods or have a web developer get it done.
Step 4 Email videos to possible supporters
- Make it very clear: You want them to watch this video and they are accustomed to receiving spam so make sure they know it is a video from you made SPECIFICALLY for them.
Step 4.5 Submit the videos to various online social networks and Christian blogs creating a VIRAL reaction to a unique idea for raising support.
- Getting a Viral Response: This Idea is very young and unique. There is a window of probably a year that it will work virally to raise funds so GET ON IT!
Two Great Examples of the YouTube Fundraising
Raising support is getting harder and harder today. People are increasingly more difficult to engage and inspire about any specific cause or mission. On first reaction we could blame it on the laziness and depravity of the culture, but actually it is the recent evolution in communications. Though the mission maybe a very mighty one, the way we are accustomed to transferring inspiration, passion, and vision has been stifled to impersonal mass mailings. Lets change that. Lets start using Social Media to its fullest potential for the Church!
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