Technology and the Small Church/Small Business

I just stumbled across an article on Church Marketing Sucks that touches on one of my favorite aspects of IVM Communications...helping the smaller organizations use the big-ness (I know...I made that word up) of the world wide web. There are so many free or nearly free resources to utilize on the web that can help you or your organization communicate your message. Click the title below to read the whole article and check out some of my favorite tools of the web below.

Small Churches Should Embrace Cheap Technology
While the need and the cash might not be there for small churches, I think there are still some inexpensive benefits they can gain from technology. Every church needs to connect their members and keep everyone in touch, and cheap to free technologies like e-mail newsletters, web sites, blogs and social networking sites can do just that. These same technologies can make it easier to reach out to your community as well. You might not be able to afford a newspaper ad for your church garage sale, but a Craigslist post is free.

Resources that I recommend:

• Facebook - social networking at it's best. Relevant for your business or church. Free!
  
  
• iContact - e-mail marketing solution great for newsletters, promotions, and keeping your brand in front of the masses. Inexpensive and effective.
  
  
• Google Calendar - Great resource for keeping your schedule or many people's schedule on track. You can embed it into your website, invite people to events, get text message reminders before events, and much more. This can idiot-proof your life so you never forget an appointment again. Free!
  
  
• Google Docs - Another great one from Google. Collaborate with others online with documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. You can embed the presentations on your website, chat with your collaborators online, and print or save to your computer. Again, FREE!
  
  
• YouTube - Ever want to be on TV? This is nearly as good, if not better. YouTube is a viral catapult for businesses, politicians, non-profits, and anyone else who has a message, talent, or funny happening in his/her life. I put a short video of my dad singing a song once, and it's been viewed 5,679 times! Click here to see it. FREE!
  
  
• Blogger - Free blogging tool. You are looking at a Blogger blog right now. Again, FREE
  
  

If you are interested in learning more about how these and other online resources can benefit your business or organization, we are available for face-to-face consultations in the Central Arkansas area. Please call me (Rob) at 690-5628 to set up an appointment.

Sincerely,

Rob McBryde
President | Web Developer
IVM Communications
www.ivmcommunications.com