Evolving Your Business or Ministry...Not So Fast

According to the late Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould, the "trade secret" of paleontology is sudden appearance and stasis. That is, creatures suddenly appear in the fossil record and largely stay the same thereafter.

Of course, this phenomena presents all sorts of problems for Darwin's theory of slow and steady, slight modifications leading to the complex organisms we now observe. But sudden appearance and stasis should be quite instructive for your business.

Contrary to the much-touted though altogether ambiguous mantra that business must evolve to survive, you should consider your own company or ministry's evolution in micro, not macroevolutionary terms. That is, what small changes can you make that will ensure that you thrive, even as you survive? Your goal should not be to locate the missing links that will transform your business from a shoe company to a broadband provider or your ministry from a church to a homeless shelter, but to firm up the parts that are lacking to maximize sustainability and effectiveness.

Darwin prophesied an abundance of missing links easily detectable within the fossil record. 150 years later, paleontology has produced little more than debatable transitional forms.

Today the prophets of business and ministry trumpet evolving to survive, pointing to Darwin and friends. Perhaps in view of sudden appearance and stasis, you should keep your own "trade secret" that encourages micro-innovation within a constant whole.

How Not to Launch Live Streaming - Ministry and Business Marketing & Media Blog

Major League Baseball recently announced that they're launching live, locally-available online streaming of baseball games, with the net proceeds to be split between the League, teams and local media interests including cable TV providers. Check out this quick article on the move.

This effort has been years in the works and as the article relates, MLB brass still aren't sure exactly how things will pan out, particularly in regard to fan interest. If I may be so bold, I predict that their current modus operandi will either be a colossal failure or will not net nearly the viewership (read cash) that could be realized through a better game plan.

Chief among their mistakes is the requirement with all of their streaming agreements, that users be existing subscribers to the local cable company or otherwise with broadcast TV rights.

Yo estoy no stupido.

I get that cablers and others are wanton to smash anything that threatens their lucrative broadcast audience. Still, MLB must realize that the existing subscriber requirement will utterly hamstring their online audience building. Perhaps a better way would be to cut the broadcasters in on the action.

Regardless of your industry, MLB's missteps should offer a useful object lesson for your online broadcasting. Namely, don't erect self-defeating barriers to audience growth be they cumbersome registration, unsustainable fees or lack of content mobility (read virality).

Decide beforehand what will be allowed to spread unfettered and to which content you want to attach audience capture efforts and even revenue generation. Otherwise, your home run cut will be a swing and a miss.

Bringing Live Concert DVDs Online - Ministry & Business Marketing & Media Blog

Earlier this month I trekked to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for our annual "man trip" featuring paintball, Texas Hold 'Em and plenty of Wii. Concert DVDs by Matchbox 20, Eric Clapton and Rush provided the soundtrack for our extravaganza.

If you're a music lover or just a big fan of a special group of bands, you've no doubt plunked down $35 or more for these concert DVDs, which according to our trip DJ--whom himself is a killer percussionist--is the next best thing to being at the show. This from a guy who's seen literally hundreds of concerts including U2, Elton John, Tim McGraw, Rush, Billy Joel and many more.

Frankly, it amazes me that such a solid musician and huge audiophile would want to see his favorite bands on the small screen. But my friend's love for concert DVDs got the gerbel in my head back on its wheel...

Why don't bands sell online season passes to all of their shows? Unless fans are utter Dead Heads, Parrot Heads and/or perpetually unemployed, they won't be able to make it to every show. But with the advent of synching your computer with your TV, killer home audio and unbelievably fast broadband access, any true fan should be able to see every show.

Imagine a concert DVD that features every tour stop! How much would you spend on that? $49.95? $99.95? More?

And what about music festivals? Imagine Alive Fest, Lilith Fair and the thousands of other music fests--either with several stops or one multi-day show--offering live online concert packages! Add to that user-gen contests leading up to the show and fan video uploads after the show(s) and you've got a recipe for huge fan response and big revenue? Did I mention online title, video and banner sponsorships by existing sponsors?!?

The concert DVD was just the beginning. Now it's time for bands, promoters and fans to bring the show online.

Hulu Social Networking and Making Money Online - Ministry & Business Marketing & Media Blog

Hulu, the second-most popular online video destination, is adding a host of social networking features to its community, including member profiles and video sharing. This makes for coverage by the Wall Street Journal and friends, but as Shelly Palmer of Media Bytes asks" "are they making any money?"

Hulu and YouTube cast a big audience net, but this often fails to translate into big cash for those sites and the producers featured therein.

Content producers of all stripes should utilize mass market video websites to generate views. But producers must be uber-diligent to drive that traffic to their own custom-branded communities. In the words of a top Disney digital exec: "what is most monetizable is the social activity around our branded content..."

Even if Hulu and YouTube add loads of goodies to their communities, thus enabling folks to spread content far and wide, the end result is the same: their brands will benefit first and foremost. Better to harness these biggies to drive traffic to your own playground, where social media tools can provide you with the most oomph, i.e., brand identity and revenue.

Niche Online Video + Loyal Audience = Big Ad Dollars

On the heels of Comcast & Time Warner's murmurings about offering cable content free-of-charge to existing subscribers, CBS has nearly sold out $30 million in ad inventory for its upcoming March Madness on Demand.

Through MMOD, basketball junkies can stream all of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games. MMOD even comes with a "boss button" that pops up a fake spreadsheet if at-work fans sense The Man approaching (sponsored by Comcast, of course).

If you're sitting on a niche content library with a faithful audience--be it entertainment, ministry-related, or otherwise--think about the implications of CBS' success for your online offerings. While you're at it, consider that other networks are capitalizing on tremendous demand for niche content through paid subscriptions for video on demand and live online events. In one previously unreported case of which I'm intimately aware, a Christian ministry netted thousands of subscriptions and a whopping profit from a recent live-streamed convention.

Whatever your model, if you've got a niche content library that's already generating interest, you're halfway there. Now you simply need to combine your content with an easy-to-use/easy-to-manage Internet TV platform.

Social Networking That Pays the Bills - Ministry & Business Marketing and Media Blog

Check out this insight-packed interview with Albert Cheng, executive vice president of digital media for the Disney-ABC Television Group. Among his many worthy observations, Cheng asserts:

"Tying into Facebook and other social networks doesn't mean we can necessarily monetize our content, because open social activity is going to be more monetizable in our branded environments. What is most monetizable is the social activity around our branded content anywhere."

Translation: your branded environment, not YouTube or another mass market website, is the best place to encourage social networking around your brand. And be sure that folks can access your content in any place and on any device.

Too often brands deploy the right social networking tools but do so within the wrong context. That is, folks can add your content to their Facebook pages, comment & link to your goodies, reference them on Twitter and more, but not enough of this activity leads them to and occurs within your branded environment.

Encouraging social networking around your offerings is great. Using social networking to drive traffic to and spur interaction within your brand-centric setting is what pays the bills.

Video Producers Cannot Survive on YouTube Alone - Ministry and Business Media & Marketing Blog

The world's most popular online video site is easily the top choice for amateur and professional producers looking to post their video content online. However, media creators large and small pay a high price for using YouTube alone. Playlists featuring other artists, search bars and even the pending wave of Hollywood-produced content threaten every company that relies on solely on YouTube for online video distribution.

A better strategy is to utilize YouTube in combination with a custom-branded Internet TV platform in which you or your company are the only star.

Unlike what you'll get with YouTube alone, a fully-branded video platform such as Endavo Media's service will allow you to capture subscriber information, generate a much greater CPM than YouTube's paltry payout to Partners and give you a dedicated distribution network that performs better in peak times than YouTube's over-burdened network.

Perhaps best of all, a sophisticated Internet TV platform will allow you to maintain brand vitality and avoid the Expedia Effect. The Expedia Effect refers to the watering down of the brands of most major airlines that sell tickets via Expedia.com. Do most passengers differentiate between Delta, Continental, American, United and others? A big part of this brand dilution is due to these airlines relying solely on a mass market website to sell their services, much in the same way that many video producers lean exclusively on YouTube, Vimeo and friends.

Tap into the reach of YouTube. But be sure to use your YouTube presence as a means to drive traffic to your custom video platform. Your brand and your bottom line will thank you.

For a live example of utilizing YouTube and your own brand-friendly video platform, check out Dave Days' YouTube channel and new Endavo Media platform.

YouTube and William Morris To Team for Premium Content - Ministry and Business Marketing & Media Blog

Word is swirling online that YouTube and major talent agency William Morris will team up to place premium content on the world's largest video portal. This serves the dual purpose of meeting YouTube's need for content they believe they can fully monetize and the needs of William Morris clients to have yet another platform to market themselves, perhaps after they've been rejected by major film and television studios.

This brings a couple questions to mind concerning both the William Morris clients and existing YouTube partners.

What will appearing on YouTube do for top-shelf WM talents? It used to be that top film stars refused to appear on television becuase the small screen was perceived to be for small-timers.

Clearly, for those closer to the bottom of the food chain YouTube could represent a killer opportunity to build a fan base. But for those already doing well, how many will be willing to appear on YouTube and how will doing so impact their brands? Brad Pitt and friends showing up for a Jimmy Kimmel bit is one thing. Showing up on YouTube in a low-level star's video is another.

On the flip side, what impact will the appearance of established stars have on the traffic of YouTube partners such as Smosh, Fred, Dave Days and others? Perhaps new Hollywood talent will bring new viewers to YouTube? Then again, if the decreased audiences of top-tier TV shows in a sea of 300 channels is at all instructive, then existing YouTube partners should seriously consider branching out.

Also consider the impact of YouTube's overall efforts to make their site more user-friendly and keep folks on their portal longer.

Search bars, menus of related content from other producers and other functionality is great for fans, but most assuredly dilutes the brands of individual YouTube producers. What then will a flood of not just prosumer but studio quality content do to existing YouTubers?

Be Courageous, Mr. President by John Piper - Ministry & Business Marketing and Media Blog

Wrestling Great Lex Luger Shares About Finding Christ and Getting Paralyzed - Ministry & Business Marketing and Media Blog

YouTube to Allow Major Partners to Serve Their Own Ads - Ministry and Business Marketing and Media Blog

As TechCrunch broke today, YouTube is rumored to be planning to allow big media partners to serve their own ads, with YouTube getting a piece of the pie. As the article further points out, most of YouTube's revenue is currently generated from ads placed with these media partners and YouTube would love to expand that revenue stream.

This new strategy might allow YouTube to capture a bigger piece of the advertising pie with global media companies, but it brings one big question to my mind: what about YouTube's other partners including Fred, Dave Days, Corey Vidal and others? What if they want to bring other advertisers to the table? Will YouTube share revenue with them as well?

Many of these partners have developed or are developing into full-fledged media brands. Why not allow them also to bring advertisers to the table with revenue-sharing?

To this point, advertisers have generally been reluctant to place ads on YouTube's smorgasbord of content. Why not allow any partners who break through with advertisers to run their own ads, whether they're Warner Brothers or Household Hacker?

What do you think? Would you open the ad gates to everyone or would you only play ball with media empires?

Corey Vidal and Why Record Labels Might Be Their Own Worst Branding Enemies - Ministry and Business Marketing and Media Blog

Brand Management 101:
1) Promote brand love.
2) Don't promote brand hate.

On the heels of their decision to stop suing single moms and other small-time copyright infringers, record labels still don't seem to understand how to engender good will around their brands and build a long-term fan base. Case in point, Warner Music Group's decision to remove a YouTube tribute to John Williams.

The video in question by choreographer and musician Corey Vidal, featured a four-part a capella performance set to the Star Wars theme. It received 4,064,130 views and reminded many, including yours truly, of Williams' brilliance.

What was WMG's response to this incredible, free publicity among a new generation for the brilliant composer whose catalog they own? WMG had the video removed for copyright infringement.

The result, of course, is the loss of a promotional opportunity for WMG and now more bad will for WMG and all record labels. Want evidence of the incredible backlash against WMG on this front? Just check out Corey Vidal's YouTube page and read the comments. Though I'll warn you in advance that many of them are unfit to reprint here.

Perhaps a better course of action for WMG would've been to create a contest around the video and to feature the Star Wars soundtrack throughout. In fact, why not hire Corey and have him wear a t-shirt for a website where fans could download John Williams' music?

What do you think? How would you have managed your brand similarly or differently?

Update: Indeed, John Williams is not dead, as I erroneously alluded to in my original post. Thanks to the anonymous commenter for catching that one.

Simple Google Trick - Write a Blog -- Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

If you spend any amount of time on industry-specific web forums, you'll see a mountain of posts on how to improve search engine rankings. No doubt organic search results are one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website and generate business and ministry possibilities. In fact, you can check out a few quick tips from us here.

One tried-and-true tactic that gets little mention is starting and regularly maintaining a blog on your website. A good blog will help meet client needs and will be chock full of the keywords that Google and friends just love.

Car dealers could blog about new models, warranty questions, vehicle reliability and dealership awards, and community happenings. Builders could blog about new home models & developments, financing and charity work they're proud of. Churches could blog about missions, youth activities, outreach & community service.

Again, regularly blogging (2-3 times/week) will meet the needs of visitors and help you achieve high search engine rankings. These posts don't have to be long to be effective. 250-500 words will do. Keep it snappy & interesting and folks will keep coming back.

Blogging...your new SEO best friend.

Reaching Business Leaders Long-term, Bluetooth Marketing - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

What if you could impact churches, companies and communities all at once? You can, if you change the hearts and minds of the influence leaders -- businessmen and women.

Last week I attended the graduation dinner for the first class of Lifework Leadership Tampa Bay. Lifework Leadership began in Orlando in 1992 and trains business leaders through a 9-month program that features top corporate speakers, ministry leaders and others.

One of the cool things about Lifework is that the training and the classes are for real. Two cases in point...First, the $3K price tag per student. No business leader is going to drop $3,000 on a superficial program, unless its name starts with Harvard or Yale.

Next, students do actual work including case studies and interaction with fellow classmates. Through this program bonds are formed that can last a lifetime.

In Orlando nearly 700 business leaders have graduated from the Lifework course. The Spirit only knows how many people continue to be impacted by these Christ-centered leaders being sent out into the marketplace.

Find out more about Lifework Leadership at www.lifeworkleadership.org.

In other news, Bluetooth marketing continues to heat up here in the States. In a nutshell, via Bluetooth you can send free, opt-in content to folks at events and/or your church. If yours is a large congregation, you should definitely consider installing low-cost Bluetooth transmitters to send campus maps, church info, event calendars and more to members & visitors.

One of the great features of Bluetooth broadcasting is that you can re-use your church's existing media by simply resizing it to be cell-phone friendly. Imagine sending a shorter version of the nifty video on serving you showed in this week's church service to everyone with a Bluetooth-enabled phone. That's just one of many possible uses.

If you want to start exploring Bluetooth, click here.

New Bluetooth Broadcasting and Proximity Marketing Blog - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media & Strategy Blog

You may have noticed that it's been a while since my last post. My time away is thanks to a new arrival in the Lucky Rock household. No worries. I snapped a picture of myself sleeping, to help me remember what rest feels like.

For your reading pleasure and business/ministry success, Lucky Rock Consulting just unveiled our Bluetooth broadcasting and proximity marketing blog. Check it out here.

The latest post is features a great example of Bluetooth marketing at Trafford Centre in the U.K. If you're still wondering if Bluetooth broadcasting is for you, just notice the consumer response rates mentioned in the article.

If you're interested in Bluetooth broadcasting and you'd like to know the costs involved and how-to info, just drop us a line here.

Quick Links for a Happy Wednesday - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

I love learning about a wide variety of ministries and businesses. Not only do I get bored easily, I also find others' successes and failures to be profoundly instructive regardless of what I'm currently slaving away at.

Sometimes though, insights are lurking not around the corner, but within my own organization. Check out this great post on The Consultant Within.

You likely have folks within your ministry or business that came from other fields, utilized different technologies, and found solutions that you've perhaps never considered. Next time you're stumped, seek out these talented problem solvers who've successfully sown in a variety of soils.

On a completely different front, this great article from Fox Business chats up commerce in the "recommendation age." The key thought: don't miss the chance to participate in and encourage online conversations about your organization. These discussions are happening with or without you.

No, you shouldn't become as obsessed with what's being said about you online as a teenaged girl vying for prom queen. But you shouldn't fool yourself into believing that virtual ratings and dialogue won't impact your ministry or business success.

Want proof that you're living in the recommendation age? Look closer at the next news article or blog post you read online? Those "digg it," "fave it," "seed it," and other buttons allow folks to recommend or bash the content at hand. And tens of millions of web watchers depend on such ratings to choose ministries and businesses.

Embrace the recommendation age. If you're not sure where to begin, drop me a line.

Bonus Features that Sell - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

Start your day off with this insightful article from the Hollywood Reporter. I know, I know, you don't make films and you're not in the entertainment biz. Don't let that stop you from considering the article in light of your ministry or binistry (business that's your God-given ministry).

You ministry leaders should think about how you package your sermons/conferences online. If you have video capabilities, try adding a special pop-up interview as the main speaker takes the stage, which will introduce the sermon or talk at-hand. This intro can be given by an Associate Pastor or other ministry leader, and could cover the content of the talk, offer a funny related story, or even be a teaser for folks to stay tuned after the sermon.

Your goal is not to "package" Christ in such a way to make Him palatable to the "wicked and perverse generation among whom you shine as children of light." The world, devoid of the effectual drawing of the Holy Spirit, will never want what you have. In fact, Jesus Christ declared that the world hates the light and will not come near it, lest their deeds be exposed. (John 3:20)

However, you can add cool and informative "special features" that the Spirit might work through to help you become "all things to all men, that by all means (you) might win some."

You business owners and corporate leaders should think about ways to make your content pop, especially through your website--one of the lead-generating/sales producing engines which you can modify slightly, without great expense and fanfare.

A great example of using "bonus website content" is Aprimo marketing software's wide variety of client case studies which reinforce their sales message. This content amounts to more than giving your pitch in a different way or the usual "I used them, you should too" testimonials. These case studies offer a real "nook and cranny" view of how Aprimo might help large businesses and non-profits increase their marketing impact.

Other web-based possibilities include audio or video interviews with clients, which put flesh to case studies and testimonials. In fact, if you want to reach out beyond your website (the answer is "yes"), then you should make multimedia interviews available in widgets for your re-sellers to add to their own websites and blogs. And be sure to reference these new resources in your print, email, and radio/TV advertising.

Adding special features which help you cut through the clutter is not as hard as you think. Take a cue from the above article about DVD/Video on Demand bonus content that actually sells. You just might stick out, to the glory of God.

Marketing Strategies for Any Budget - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

In case you missed it, check out this survey from Media Week's 2007 Media Plan Award Winners. If you're short on time, skip to the coverage of SanDisk's brilliant anti-Ipod campaign which won for "Best Plan Under $1 Million," or check out McDonald's uber smart Seattle campaign which won for "Best Use of Nontraditional Media."

Great ministry and business buzz spreading doesn't have to cost a lot of money. In fact, you shouldn't think about what you'd do if money were no object. Rather, take a cue from SanDisk and prayerfully consider how to break through the clutter, to the glory of God.

I also strongly encourage you, to beat an old drum, to use viral widgets to spread your media and message far and wide. With the new, free SproutBuilder, you can build slideshows, music players and more without hiring a Flash programmer. Check out my recent post on Sprout and widgets here.

And you need to research and prayerfully consider Bluetooth broadcasting. It's hot for good reason in Europe and doesn't have to be a pain to consumers.

In fact, why don't you pastors and ministry leaders create simple graphics/promo stuff, load low-cost Bluetooth broadcasting software onto the smart phones of your students, and send them out to concerts & coffee shops? Call it guerilla ministry!

Why don't you store owners set up a low-cost Bluetooth receiver and send coupons to passers-by and customers? Check out Powerade's use of Bluetooth marketing here, complete with scanners that read barcodes right off of mobiles. Again, Bluetooth marketing doesn't have to be annoying and invasive; solid consumer response to past such campaigns shows that a significant percentage of customers actually appreciate this targeted marketing.

Feedback?

Ministry and Business Marketing News - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

A couple of quick items for your Happy Monday...

Media Execs See Multiplatform in Their Future
Ignore the headline of the linked article and skip down to the part about future sources of revenue growth. If you want to maximize your effectiveness, you have to think about messaging across your website, TV, radio, blogs, and more. That may seem like a lot of planning, but it's easier than you think.

Your church can show a video in Sunday services, which is then made available on your website (if you own the copyright). Your website can publish great articles and further offer them in shareable widgets to be placed on blogs, Facebook profiles, and more.

That's My King!
Click on the video below to enjoy this classic short film on Jesus. If you don't know Jesus, drop me a line through the "Contact Lucky Rock" button to the left of this blog. I'll be glad to tell you all about Him.

Christian Prison Guard Drives Gay Son to Mass Murder - Ministry and Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

No, that's not a headline from today's New York Times. But it was a major plot point from last night's episode of one my favorite TV shows: Criminal Minds.

You've no doubt heard of this epidemic of bigoted Christian parents pushing their homosexual children to become serial killers. What's that? You haven't so much as read a single story or seen a lone sociological study about this pandemic of hate-filled parenting? Then why would the writers for a hit show put forth such an outlandish story line?

Group think.

Group think is the boneheaded thoughts and actions that result from a group of people working as one, with no outside influence. Left unchecked, group think allows us to commit intellectual suicide and it can cause massive problems for your ministry or business.

Unfortunately for the Criminal Minds writing staff, what is accepted reality in the entertainment community, is known to be a laughable farce by most folks living beyond the gates of Studio City.

Don't suffer the same fate.

Ask reliable people you don't know about their perceptions of your ministry or business. And use your website to generate real feedback. Yes, you'll have to sift through a mountain of garbage comments. But the resulting insights will help you overcome the group think typical of nearly every ministry and business.

Another proven method of fighting off group think is maintaining relationships with the low men and women on the totem pole within your organization.

Are you a ministry leader or business executive? Why aren't you meeting regularly with those on the front lines of your work? Scary as it may be for your fragile ego, your underlings may have thought of better ways of doing things and may have spotted significant organizational failures. But you'd never know it, because you're too busy asking your fellow execs how to get things done. After all, the cream rises to the top. Right?

Of course, at its core, the unbiblical and fundamentally ridiculous Criminal Minds story line mentioned above, springs from mankind's utterly sinful nature, inherent hatred for the things of God, and desire to prop up all that is wicked, in order to distract from and justify one's own sin. (see Romans 1) But the inane shared worldview of hit TV show writers also teaches us about group think and serves as a warning to all bent on true success in ministry and binistry (business that's your God-given ministry).

Don't let group think kill your effectiveness, innovation, and purpose. Pray about and actively seek opportunities to think originally, for God's glory. And maybe Google search potential plot points before you script hit TV shows.