The New Indiana Jones Movie and Your Ministry - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

Go with me here...

As many of you may know, a new Indiana Jones movie is coming out this summer. It apparently features 60-something American actor Harrison Ford pushing around a walker and popping arthritis medication, as he battles the bad guys in an action-packed adventure for the whole family. Kidding...

Actually, I have no idea what the plot is for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But that's not the point. I mention the movie to point out how they're promoting the film with great success and how you can use the same tactic to advertise your ministry or Christian business.

Say it with me: widget. A widget is a simple little tool that can be easily placed on blogs, websites, and elsewhere, that promotes something and is able to be shared with others. Notice the widget on the left of this post, offering you a chance to chip in a few dollars/pounds/rubles to support the Lucky Rock (your author's non-profit ministry).

The Indiana Jones marketing folks, geniuses that they are, created a trailer and then hired a company to make a widget out of it. The result--literally millions of people have watched the trailer! In fact, on the heels of the mind-boggling success of the first preview, they're now putting out a second trailer via widget. Read the Hollywood Reporter story about it here.

"I think the reason that studios are excited about widgets is that word-of-mouth and buzz is what Hollywood is after all the time," said Peggy Fry, senior vp sales and client services at Clearspring. "If you think about it, what a widget is, it's a digital version of word-of-mouth."

Now consider your ministry or Christian business. Do you have sermon audio, testimonials, video, music, or other content? What about links to key info on your website such as model homes, tax advice, investment insights, etc? You may not have all the advance buzz of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. But you likely have a group of partner ministries, supporters, or contractors that would be willing to help spread the word.

You can build a widget out of just about anything. And the cool thing about widgets is that pretty much anyone can copy and place them on other websites and blogs...the very definition of viral marketing!

I hear a bunch of you saying, "Hold the phone! How in the world do I build a widget?" That's where SproutBuilder comes in. I blogged about it extensively here.

Sprout is a free, web-based service (meaning the interface is online like Hotmail and others), that allows you to build, store, and publish slideshows, audio jukeboxes, link lists, and a bunch of other media. Log onto SproutBuilder.com, sign up for a free account today, and start building. If enough of you ask for it, I'll soon post a SproutBuilder tutorial.

Think about what your ministry or Christian business offers. Then think about how you can make it go viral.

Say it with me...widget.

I Almost Forgot...Sprout Also Comes with Stat Tracking! - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

One more thing about Sprout--the incredible new web-based program for easily creating cool content for your website, email newsletters and more.

Sprout also features click-tracking for every project. Thus, a media player featuring your own custom graphics, such as the one found at the top-left on the new Crown True Financial Freedom Stories blog, takes just a few minutes to build with Sprout and allows you to accurately gauge visitor interest and tweak your offerings accordingly.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for a free account today and Sprout some cool new content, to the glory of God!

Has Your Ministry Sprouted Lately? - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

I know, strange headline. But the question pertains to a new technology that you don't have to possess an advanced computer sciences degree or be the church "techie-in-residence" to use to greatly impact your ministry.

Sprout is a new web-based program from the makers of ChipIn. ChipIn produces cool widgets to enable folks to give to ministries and other non-profits online. See the eye-popping Chip-In widget to the left of this post, through which you can give to Lucky Rock Ministries and keep this blog rolling. Check out a short video of the Sprout Builder demo launch here.

Sprout is nothing short of awesome! If you're like me, you want to create cool, interactive stuff for your website, emails and more that the Spirit might use to push believers and non-believers alike toward Christ. Unfortunately, even the best software, such as Flash CS3 doesn't make it easy to create "rich content." Thus, most ministry folks are left out in the cold.

Enter Sprout.

Sprout allows you to build jukeboxes, slideshows and other cool stuff through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Sprout even allows you to upload "assets" such as pictures, music files and sermon audio/video. For an example of what you, yes you, can do in just a few minutes with Sprout, check out the audio player found at the top-left of the recently-created Crown True Financial Freedom Stories blog.

Some of you more tech-savvy readers will find Sprout doesn't let you do all the really cool Flash fly-ins, etc. But Sprout isn't for the ministry tech gurus who know ActionScript, Flex, and Flash. It's for folks who want to create cool content on the fly.

Though Sprout is still in beta-testing, this program delivers. I strongly encourage you to sign up for a free account today and have some fun. And if enough of you ask for it, I'll soon post a mini Sprout tutorial.

Sprout often. . .