In the fast-paced environment that is the internet, it can seem overwhelming for a ministry to branch out beyond their website to reach people. Whether you’ve been out of the social media spectrum awhile or this is your first entry, my advice is: Jump In!
Spread your Message Farther
If you had an upcoming event at your church, you would tell as many people as you know, right? You would print flyers, postcards, handouts, call friends, family, neighbors, strangers, etc. – The internet is the same way. You want people to know about your church or ministry’s events/needs. using social media is no different. There are various social sites to get your message out. Not all are applicable to every ministry, but here are some common ones that people use:
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Social News Outlets
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Digg – is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web.
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Technorati – collects, organizes, and distributes the global online conversation.
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Reddit – is a source for what’s new and popular on the web.
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Stumbleupon – helps you discover and share great websites.
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Communicate
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Photos
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Flickr – wants to help people make their content available to the people who matter to them and enable new ways of organizing photos and video.
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Video
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Youtube – video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos
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Vimeo – is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make.
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Ustream.tv – Stream a live broadcast, webcam chat rooms or free TV online. Web podcast, free Video Streaming, Live TV show broadcasting and LIVE VIDEO Chat by USTREAM.
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Music
New Ways to Spread your Message
I listed some great sites above to get yourself and your ministry involved and sharing. But why would you want to? Well, the internet is big. I mean real big. What other medium do you have such a huge opportunity to connect? you can reach people either locally in your community or take your message on a national level. The choice is yours.
Give, Rather than Take
The best advice for social media interaction is to be geniune and to be involved. People can tell if you truly care through your message, so don’t force it. Spend time learning in the circles you might be following and are interested in. People don’t want your first personal message to them to be about donating to your cause…Which leads me directly into a social best practice: it is good to give anywhere from 3-5x the amount of links/help/advice back towards the conversation or person for every one time you ask for something directly related in your ministry.
No Reason to Wait
You are not alone in waiting this long; there are hundreds of thousands of people signing up for these services monthly and starting to use them too. They come from all ages and walks of life, so don’t be afraid that you’re age, gender, or interests should hold you back. I often come across people whom I would never think would be interested in Web Design or Technology but often they have a question or just want to learn. My point is, we all benefit from this new form of sharing, interacting, and helping. Jump in the conversation and introduce your Church or Ministry and to get people talking about it. There’s nothing better than open, honest communication!
So what is your church or ministry doing to connect with people online? Are you localizing your message and focusing on people around you, or is your ministry working towards a national/worldwide connection? What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far in interacting online? Leave your thoughts or comments below.