Really Prayed

• I really prayed today.  I came to the Lord following the AWCIPA approach (just provides structure to prayer), and it was a great experience.  I felt that I connected with my creator.  It wasn’t an ultra-powerful, earth-shaking experience, but a subtle whispering, which is what I have learned is what to expect anyway.
• I am exactly where He wants me to be – focusing now on my relationship with Him.

• He wants me to continue working on MBD, but noted that He is not asking for me to quit my job or invest my family’s resources, yet.  I didn’t get the impression that it would be asked of me, just that it’s not being asked of me now.  He said that, if anything, the work I do will help in the growth of my relationship with Him (which is worth it, in and of itself).

• I prayed for [my wife], [my oldest daughter], [my middle daughter], the baby, mom and [step dad], dad, [step mom], and [brother H], George Bush, and Israel.

Continue MyBibleDiary?

The Irresistible Offer notes

• Experience God in 3 simple and Biblical steps (learn, pray, and obey)
• The site will assist you with your study, help you gain insight from prayer (talking with God, and make it clearer how God is leading you)
• High ROI
• Touchstone – answer 2 or 3 of the big 4 questions
  • Here’s what we’re selling
  • Here’s how much it will cost
  • Here’s what’s in it for you
  • Here’s why you should trust us
  • Guidelines:
    • Clarity – don’t leave anything to imagination
    • Simplicity – simple statement, easy to understand
    • Brevity – Keep it really short – one crisp eyeful
    • Immediacy – cut right to the chase
• ThreeStepsToGod (ThreeStepsToChrist) – He’ll carry you the rest of the way.  He’ll carry you right into Heaven
• Believability
  • Social proof: testimonials with a picture, email or web address
  • Technical proof: scientific validation
  • Factual proof
  • Endorsements
  • High profile customers
  • Qualifications
  • Awards and recognition
  • Logic
• I wonder if a book about how to experience God in the format of The Irresistible Offer would be valuable
• Steps
  1. Create the Irresistible Offer
  2. Present it to a thirsty crowd
  3. Sell them a second glass
  • Don’t be afraid of losing money to acquire new customers, when you can reap gains over the long term “loss leader”
  • Up-sell
  • Cross-sell:  accessories, complements, add-ons
    • Legitimately help the customer get a better result
  • Up-sell / cross-sell AFTER first sale consummated
  • Continuity sales: subscriptions
  • Recipes
    • Education: how to use your product
    • Consulting and service
    • Package deals (bundling): don’t sucker them
    • Insurance and warranties
    • Logical additions
    • Referrals: partner and sell other business’ products
• Your most valuable asset is your time.  Spend it wisely
• Points of contacts
  • Thank you cards
    • Thank you email with link back to website for a special offer – or a voucher to send to a friend
  • Birthday cards
  • Service due reminders
    • Reminder emails to ‘slacking’ users, tell us how we can improve
    • Include a little valuable education with your reminder
  • Newsletters
  • Special events

• Urgency
  • Use the code on the back of this postcard by tomorrow midnight for a free 2 week trial period
  • Be careful with contriving this
  • Live up to it – keep it valuable
• Added value
  • Stack on unexpected value as part of your closing process

• Remove risk
• Always back up with money-back guarantee
• Payment plan
• Loss leaders: first one free
  • Not for the amateur or cash-flow crunch
• Warranties
• Pay for results
• Free support
• Try before you buy (most powerful)
  • Submit credit card info now, bill in 30 days only if you don’t cancel

The Irresistible Offer

I feel that the Lord has led me to a practical study of marketing and I am now reading The Irresistible Offer.  It has turned out to be incredibly valuable to me in my questions about how the site needs to be able to support itself financially – while I know that it is truly the Lord who provides, I feel that I should be using marketing strategy and tactics to maximize profit, in order to first be able to dedicate my time fully to this and other related projects, as well as funnel proceeds to other positive, Christian ministries.  

It’s not about the money, it’s about the ministry.

Next Steps

Heard from agencies

In the last two days, I have heard back from both agencies about the website project.  One agency seems to be more strongly geared toward web development, while the other seems to be more strongly geared toward the marketing aspects.  These two companies may turn out to be a good fit with each other.

The company focused on marketing will likely propose supporting the project by putting together a marketing kit for investment proposals, in order to raise the capital that will be needed to build the site to the extent that would be best for launch.  The website-focused company estimated (off-the-cuff) $100k-$300k, including much of the latter phase requirements / vision.  I re-focused him more toward core functionality for Phase 1, which he then saw and seemed to agree that we’d be able to accomplish much more cost effectively.  The marketing kit idea struck me positively, and that company also seemed to have a better handle on my needs as a startup, in needing to approach investors and establish partnerships.

One Step at a Time

I sent off my MyBibleDiary BRD to a couple of agencies yesterday, and it felt great.  I feel like, in a way, I’ve done my piece for the time being and now it’s in God’s hands to take or reveal the next step.  That gives me comfort, because I know that whatever God wills to happen will happen, and I have faith that if He wills it, he will reveal to me in His own way and His own time.

Work to do

I have been concerned lately that I have fallen away in some way from the Lord. I read the chapter in Experiencing God last night on obedience, and remember distinctly that it said that obeying God will require sacrifice. That there may be times where, for example, you’ll be called to pray in the middle of the night or all night. My thinking is this: if I have been called to launch this web service, and I’m not willing or not sure that God is calling me to commit full time to it, then I need to figure out another way to devote time to it.

Today I woke up at 5:45 am, and developed the impression that I ‘have work to do’.

Time as a Tithe

With MyBibleDiary, I’ve had some mixed feelings about it lately. I do feel though, that if I were to view it as a tithe, that it wouldn’t matter whether it made any money or supported me and my family financially. My focus should be on souls as a return on my money. If my work brings others closer to Christ and God, then it doesn’t matter whether I can buy a bigger house or a new car because of my work. I am blessed to have a job that earns a good salary; I do not need a get rich idea. I want to contribute to God’s work – period. I feel that the bottom line is that God is calling me in this direction. Who cares how it would make money??? Do I really think God cares how it would make money??? God is saying, Michael, get on board, for His glory.

Asking for Feedback

I looked back at an email I sent to my dad a couple weeks ago. It said, “Please take a look at the attached project plan for the website venture when you get a chance. Let me know what I’m missing or not considering. The dates are pretty aggressive, but in my experience I prefer to push myself with aggressive dates than to take a casual approach.”

Problem is, this is worded in a way that puts the credit on my shoulders, which is asking for failure for something that God is calling me to do. There even may have been a problem in that I was seeking human feedback instead of simply trusting God.