en-us Mon, 25 May 2009 12:07:10 CST Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:00:00 CST
Our new Facebook Starter Package includes setup and three months of event postings (invitations to Sunday services, group meetings, concerts and/or workshops on Facebook) for $229.

We also will integrate your Facebook page with your website to make it easy for your members and visitors to your website to connect with you on Facebook.

Some things to know:

• Last month, the number of Facebook users passed 400 million, exceeding the U.S. population. If it were a nation, Facebook would be the third largest in the world.

• Nearly all spiritual leaders and teachers are on Facebook. Just a few examples: The Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Joan Borysenko, Louise Hay, Alan Cohen and Colin Tipping.

• Facebook's moves this month to integrate with other websites suggest it may be positioned to overtake Google in web search and advertising. If you want your church website to show up in future web searches, now is the time to join Facebook.

• Unity, unity.fm, the Daily Word and dozens of Unity ministires already are reaching out through Facebook. You can easily connect with them on Facebook to help (for example) Daily Word readers in your area find your church.

• More than two years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported: "Back in the 90’s if you didn’t have a web site, you were irrelevant. The same was true of having an e-commerce site in 2001. That is where social networks are right now." It's time to catch up!

• Many churches have, in the past, used Yellow Pages advertising. As one social media expert has noted, "Social networks are like the Yellow Pages on steroids."

While a few fortunate ministries have staff members or volunteers who have taken responsibility for their churches' Facebook outreach, many churches have not made the move to the #1 social network either because:

1) they do not yet know how important this outreach is, or

2) they simply do not have room on their to-do lists for one more item.

We understand. That's why we're reaching out with the new Facebook Starter Package.

After we give you a great start on Facebook, we'll invite you to decide whether you want to take it from there or let us continue to assist with your social network marketing.

It's easy to get started; just visit our web store to get the package. We'll be in touch within 24 hours to begin work on your behalf.
]]> Cheryl Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:31:43 CST
I think yes, so be judicious in your use of the email features in Facebook and meetup. For example, if you post the same event (such as a workshop by a guest speaker) on both, send an email out only through Facebook or only through meetup.

Alternate the use of these features so you can see which is working best for your ministry.]]> Cheryl Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:50:25 CST
Log into your Facebook account.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, click on Advertising, then on Pages, then on Create a Page. Follow instructions...

To set up a "group" for your ministry on Facebook:
Log into your Facebook account.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Facebook Applications (lower left at bottom of screen), then on Groups, then on Create a New Group (top near right side of screen).
]]> Cheryl Wed, 27 May 2009 15:10:59 CST
Suggestion: Start slowly! Set up profiles at the rate of one every 2 weeks and see what response is so you are not overwhelmed.

You also can manage response partly by being conservative about what you post. At first, do not post every event and meeting at meetup.com. Post only meetings or events most likely to attract newcomers (A Course in Miracles, Reiki training, etc.)


]]> Cheryl Harrison