Skip to main content

A New Chapter Part 2: My Journey In The Online World

 It seems like every ten years I get the itch to sell things online.  In 2003 I had big dreams of writing service music, selling the lead sheets, and getting royalties from CCLI.  I put everything together and then ... crickets.  I knew nothing about marketing and promoting, so my efforts fell flat.  But I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.  Now I can tell people that I started a very unsuccessful music label, and ran it into the ground.  I started with nothing, and I have most of it left.

About ten years ago I tried out Clickbank.  Again I put together a music program.  This time it was a six month program for learning the guitar fingerboard, developing speed, and strengthening your ear.  I followed their marketing plan, and managed to sell a few copies.  Still nothing huge to write home about, but I did enjoy the process.  Now I knew a little about marketing, and did slightly better with email lists and such.  Then Clickbank changed their platform, my wife and I bought our first house, and I moved on to other projects.  A few years later we adopted our son and the dream faded away into all the sleepless nights and was replaced by the sweet smell of baby formula.

So what's going on today?  I found Russel Brunson's material online and was struck by what a robust marketing program he has.  I'm learning a ton, and implementing it little by little.  I'm developing my daily content and posting it to Facebook.  I'm finding tools to schedule the posts so I can work more efficiently.  I'm sketching out ideas for my frameworks so I can communicate my concepts effectively.  My head keeps spinning with new ideas and I frantically write them down in my notebook, determined to arrange them into a coherent whole over the next weeks and months.

Who knows how much blood sweat and tears I'll shed in the near future.  Maybe this endeavor will flop and I'll have another learning experience with a fun story.  Or maybe I'll find my marketing stride and distribute my storytelling program across the Church.  Whatever happens I look forward to the ride, and I appreciate all the people who have encouraged me so far.  Thank you.  Until tomorrow ...

P.S. - If you want to help me out, give me a like at Ministry Development.  If I get 25 followers I can get a custom Facebook URL.  WooHoo!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Chapter: Putting Old Tools To New Use

 I've begun a new chapter in my life.  A few months ago my family moved to Cherry Hill, NJ after living in Norfolk, VA for over sixteen years.  My wife got a great call in Philadelphia, and I'm currently looking for my next call.  In the mean time I'm keeping busy. I decided to take my skills in Congregational Development and bring them to the online world.  I launched a Facebook page called Ministry Development , and I'm following Russell Brunson's model in Expert Secrets to reach as wide an audience as possible. My goal for this phase is to dedicate 2024 to learning, developing, and teaching the art of storytelling as a vehicle for sharing faith.  This is remarkably different from the idea that many people have in their heads.  In some quick Facebook polls, I found that many people fear sharing their faith for one of two reasons.  The first is that they have had bad experiences with evangelists in the past - the kind where someone would get in your face and tell y
Post a Comment
Read more

Setbacks, Disappointments, and New Opportunities

Yesterday I received a phone call I had been waiting anxiously for. It was about a job I had put in for - and I didn’t get it. The person delivering the news was kind, and even encouraged me to apply for another position that, in her opinion, was a better fit for me. It is a different kind of job, would require a decent commute, and I’m not sure I have it in me to enter another process right now.  This morning I got myself showered and dressed and put on my clericals. Even though I was home all day I wanted to shoot a video and hence the outfit. Somehow just dressing up had me feeling less dejected - like I still could do something I was proud of. I remember years ago when my dad was looking for work. Each day he put on a shirt and tie before filling out job applications.  After the video I scheduled some more content, opened up my notebook, and started working on my plan. The ideas began to flow, time seemed to flow by, and before I knew it I had a pretty great outline for a half day
1 comment
Read more

My Journey: How I got here

In the summer of 2023 my wife received a phone call, offering her a job as rector of Christ Church Philadelphia.  I was excited as the prospect of moving closer to family, it was a great opportunity for her, so we made the decision to accept.  After the goodbye tears at our old congregations we watched all of our belongings being packed into a moving van and made the trek up to the Northeast.  When we arrived and settled in to our new home I began looking for a call myself so we both could exercise our priestly ministries.  Then the responses started coming in.  “No, no, no thank you, no, heck no, this isn’t a good fit, no, no, no, and no.”  In between fits of rage and general despair I started to pray, “Okay God, here I am.  I want to serve and add value.  What would you have me do?” As one does when pondering, I distracted myself with Facebook.   An ad came up offering a free masterclass on how to earn a living online as a musician.   It looked intriguing, and I love playing music so
Post a Comment
Read more