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What I'm Learning at the Gospelcom.Net Conference
By Andy on 17 September 2005 terribly earlyCategory: Technology
For the past couple days, I’ve been in Chicago (although Caleb probably still firmly believes I’m at Costco) attending the annual Gospelcom Conference. Lifetime Guarantee , where I work, is a member of the Gospelcom.net alliance of ministries, an organization that has online ministry as its number one focus. Gospelcom.Net provides alliance members with all kinds of tools, services, and support, so that we can do ministry on the web better.
So what kinds of things would I learn at an internet ministry conference? Here are a few things:
We are the first generation to have the technology that can potentially touch every person in the world.
Live every day as if it were your last
One-half the people who have ever lived are alive right now.
The most abundant resource in the world is oxygen. The second most is silicon, the material of the digital age.
Avoid “mystery meat” navigation on your website. Don’t make people have to guess or wonder what’s behind that click.
Add pictures of people. Female faces crossover target audiences better than male faces. Why? Probably because everybody loves their mother.
People don’t read websites at first. They scan.
A car has standards: The keyhole is always just to the right of the steering wheel, and the gas pedal is always under your right foot. A book has standards: A table of contents is near the beginning and page numbers are on every page. Likewise, the web has standards. A few of the many are…
- Logo at the top right
- “About” or “About us” are links to learn about the website owner.
- Hyperlinks are underlined.
De-clutter your site. Every time you add something to your site, you make it a little less clear. Omit needless words. No, omit words. Get rid of half the words on the page. Then get rid of the other half.
When writing for the web, sell the sizzle, not just the steak. Sell experiences. Allow people to make an emotional, human connection with what you say. Write in a conversational tone.
You should never complete a website. It’s organic. It’s always being updated. There is no finish line.
Discover your ministry’s X-Factor (that which is your main purpose), and always be about doing that very, very well.
- Testing the comments — Andy Knight Sep 22, 04:27 PM #
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