Stone Soup: A tale of how not to let your web ministry program get run over by the oncoming bus

March 15, 2010 in Web Ministry with 2 Comments

Stone Soup Image

Photo Credit: Kris Krug

The story of Stone Soup is a simple reminder that we are put on this earth to glorify God with all that He has provided. How better to use those resources than by sharing of our gifts, time and resources with one another. The power of the Internet offers each of us a means to help literally millions of people with a few simple tools and some basic knowledge.

I recall as a child being told the fable of Stone Soup, made famous by the Grimm Brothers and later retold in numerous forms and many languages. This is my interpretation as I remember it being told to me.

Once upon a time, two travelers come to a village. They are carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Times are tough so when the travelers arrive, the villagers are skeptical and unwilling to share what little food they have with the hungry travelers.

The travelers take it upon themselves to fill their pot with water, and drop a large stone in it. They place the pot over a fire in the village square. Curious, one of the villagers asks what they are doing. The two travelers explain that they are making “stone soup”. Stirring the pot for a bit, one traveler tastes the soup and shares that the soup could use some garnish for flavor. The villager scurries back to his home and returns with the needed garnish. It is quickly added to the pot.

In time another villager happens by, inquiring about the pot. The travelers again mention that their stone soup hasn’t quite reached its full potential. The villager runs back to her home and returns with a handful of seasoning.

Over the course of the day, more and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. By nightfall, the once empty pot is now overflowing with delicious soup. Our tale ends with the villagers enjoying the company of their two new friends over a hot bowl of soup shared by all.

I’m sure you’ve heard a form of this fable before, but I share it again for a few reasons — some obvious, some not so apparent.

No matter if you are managing a website for the first time or you are a journeyman, you will quickly find that it can’t be done in a vacuum, by yourself. Our use of the Internet is now highly social. Years ago, we were hampered by an archaic sender/receiver model where we consumed what was given. We are no longer in the business of pushing information at the people visiting our websites. Our site visitors have something to contribute. Managing a website requires a team of people that can support one another and assist when one member is unable to contribute. Excuse the raw analogy, but if you are the sole keeper of the password to the church website and get run over by a bus, the rest of us are left not only morning your loss, but possibly that of the website.

Related Resources

Best of PodCamp Nashville 2010

March 12, 2010 in Web Ministry with 0 Comments

Best of Podcamp Nashville 2010

PodCamp Nashville 2010

This past Saturday, I attended PodCamp Nashville — a popular local “un”- conference focusing on digital content and social media, etc. I have to admit, I’ve bailed on this event in the past, having been burned by wanna-be conferences that are heavy in networking (always important), but slim in content and resourcing. I am now a PodCamp loyalist and looking forward to participating as a presenter next year. I was once again reminded that Nashville has a healthy, vibrant tech community. Here’s a near-complete list of my favorite presentations and resources:

Mitch Canter – How to Use WordPress for Dang Near Anything

How To Use WordPress For Dang Near Anything Pcn10View more presentations from Mitch Canter.

 

 

Justin Briggs – WordPress SEO Strategies


PodCamp Nashville ’10 – WordPress SEO Strategies from Spurr Marketing on Vimeo.

 

 

Justin Davis – A User Experience Story

View more presentations from Justin Davis.

How to create your own friendly URL for Facebook

March 11, 2010 in Social Web, Web Ministry with 7 Comments

A client recently asked me how to create a friendly URL or vanity URL for their Facebook page. Here’s an example of mine: www.Facebook.com/MattCarlisle. A friendly URL is helpful when you are promoting your Facebook group or fan page; easily recognizable for quick access.  Here are the instructions I shared with my client:

  • Log into Facebook
  • Click “Account” tab in upper right corner
  • Chose “Account Settings”
  • Click the “Change” text link in the username category
  • You can then create your own unique username; this will be your domain extension (chose something short and identifiable). Be aware, you can only make this request once.

Simple stuff.

Stop creating SILOS and build what your site visitors need

March 10, 2010 in Web Ministry with 0 Comments

Build what your web audience needs, not solely what you or your leadership wants

Photo Credit: Timothy Vogel

A few weeks back, I received a call from a church communicator inquiring about my consulting services. She was hoping that I could review her web strategy and offer feedback … something that I’m more than happy to do.

Following a few exploratory questions, it quickly became apparent to me that the strategy had holes – she had fallen victim to one of the cardinal sins of website design and strategy develop … something I refer to as silo web design, or the act of only considering the needs of the organization and not those of your audience.

Fess up. We’ve all done it before — developed a project from beginning to end without seeking anyone’s feedback or only speaking to those who will tell us what we want to hear. To be transparent, the first church website I ever developed in 1995 was done so in the comforts of my office, alone without a word of feedback from anyone. Granted, back then many of us were simply exploring this new World Wide Web thing. Needless to say, I learned a lot during the process. And ultimately the biggest lesson is to build what your web audience needs, not solely what you or your leadership wants.

The ultimate goal of ministry-based web architecture and design should be to make new disciples and help your community of faith deepen their relationship with Christ and one another.

In this case, the church communicator I was advising had only spoken with executive leadership during the discovery process. Seeking feedback from stakeholders like executive leadership, church staff and committee chairs is very important to the process. In fact, they are a great resource in identifying the various user groups of your website. I reminded the communicator that church staff seldom visits the website, and that the ultimate goal of ministry-based web architecture and design should be to make new disciples and help your community of faith deepen their relationship with Christ and one another. With that in mind, the job of defining your audience and creating clear, concise messaging is simplified.

Finally, don’t let a fear of speaking to people you may have never met or the pressures of a rapid turnaround get in the way of listening to the needs of your users. Their feedback will guide the development of your web strategy.

Don’t fret, in the coming weeks, I’ll discuss how you balance the fine line between staying true to both the human-centered design process and meeting the needs of the organization and executive leadership.

Here are two resources that I’ve developed that you might find helpful during this process:

Free web hosting for 501(c)(3) non profits and churches!

March 8, 2010 in Web Ministry with 0 Comments

Free web hosting for churches!

Churches and non-profits can no longer use the excuse that they can’t afford to have a highly effective website. I recently learned that my web host, Dreamhost.com, now offers FREE web hosting services to 501(c)(3) organizations who are registered in the United States. When you marry Dreamhost’s free hosting with one of the many free open-source content management systems like WordPress or Drupal, you possess all the necessary tools to implement a highly effective web ministry.

While you have many hosting choices, I’ve not founder another willing to offer their services for free. I can attest that Dreamhost offers premier service. Their customer service department has always responding quickly and accurately. Not only do they care about those organizations helping to make the world a better place, they are employee owned and are a certified carbon neutral company (i.e. they’re a green company). And for those of you who are beginners, their one-click installs are very user friendly. Here’s what Dreamhost is offering:

DreamHost proudly offers free web hosting to non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organizations registered in the United States.

Non-profit organizations have dedicated themselves to making the world a better place – all without expecting anything (like a profit) in return! DreamHost recognizes their noble sacrifice and is happy to provide cost-free hosting to these groups which do so much with so little for so many!

This discount applies to a single hosting plan per non-profit, hosted within only one account, for US-based 501(c)(3) organizations. Domain registrations (other than any included with the plan) are not eligible for any discounts. Groups must be able to furnish DreamHost with an IRS-issued 501(c)(3) determination letter to qualify.

Visit Dreamhost’s site to learn more about this FREE offer.

UPDATE

After publishing this post, I received lots of questions from readers wanting to know what was included in the free plan. I was able to connect with the good folks at Dreamhost about their offerings, they offer their “Shared Hosting Plan” for free to non-profits within the United States. You can see what’s included at http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.html.

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