The Facebook Missionary Challenge

Hey folks,
I'm launching a new program called The Facebook Missionary Challenge. It's fully functional, but still in beta, and not heavily promoted yet. So I'm hoping to get feedback and fine tune before a wider launch.

Here's how it works. I've produced a series of explanatory videos called MormonsMadeSimple (http://mormonsmadesimple.com). Participants of the challenge will receive a new MormonsMadeSimple at 1-week intervals to post to their Facebook account. Included in the email is advice for answering questions related to the content of the video. The user then posts the video to Facebook and tries to spark casual conversations about the Church.

I've set up a Facebook group, which I'll be using to evangelize the challenge on Facebook. It will also serve as a community where people can share successes, get up-to-date tips, etc. However, all sign ups will be handled at mormonsmadesimple.com/signup/.

The main purpose of this project is to provide members with a missionary tool to open casual, informative conversations about the Church with their non-member friends. A side goal is to drive up the view counts on these videos really high so they show up first in YouTube and Google searches for phrases like polygamy, joseph smith, golden plates, etc, and crowd out the other anti-Mormon content.

I'd be interested to get feedback on this idea/project. Specifically:

• Does anyone have any ideas for how to spread the word and get signups?
• Do you foresee any challenges or roadblocks?
• See any bugs on the website, or in the sign up process?
• Any videos you think we should produce next?
• Any ideas for the general vision/direction of this project?

Thanks in advance!

douglas.a.hatch wrote:Hey folks,
I'm launching a new program called The Facebook Missionary Challenge. It's fully functional, but still in beta, and not heavily promoted yet. So I'm hoping to get feedback and fine tune before a wider launch.

Here's how it works. I've produced a series of explanatory videos called MormonsMadeSimple (http://mormonsmadesimple.com). Participants of the challenge will receive a new MormonsMadeSimple at 1-week intervals to post to their Facebook account. Included in the email is advice for answering questions related to the content of the video. The user then posts the video to Facebook and tries to spark casual conversations about the Church.

I've set up a Facebook group, which I'll be using to evangelize the challenge on Facebook. It will also serve as a community where people can share successes, get up-to-date tips, etc. However, all sign ups will be handled at mormonsmadesimple.com/signup/.

The main purpose of this project is to provide members with a missionary tool to open casual, informative conversations about the Church with their non-member friends. A side goal is to drive up the view counts on these videos really high so they show up first in YouTube and Google searches for phrases like polygamy, joseph smith, golden plates, etc, and crowd out the other anti-Mormon content.

I'd be interested to get feedback on this idea/project. Specifically:

• Does anyone have any ideas for how to spread the word and get signups?
• Do you foresee any challenges or roadblocks?
• See any bugs on the website, or in the sign up process?
• Any videos you think we should produce next?
• Any ideas for the general vision/direction of this project?

Thanks in advance!

sign up has broken links

Thanks for letting me know. Which links exactly are broken?

douglas.a.hatch wrote:Thanks for letting me know. Which links exactly are broken?

The one broken link I could find right off was the link to View Our Privacy Policy (to the right of the green Join Now button), which goes to:

http://stuffmadesimple.com/MMS/info/privacypolicy.html

but it should go to:

http://mormonsmadesimple.com/info/privacypolicy.html

(at least that page actually exists and seems to have appropriate content).

douglas.a.hatch wrote:Hey folks,
I'm launching a new program called The Facebook Missionary Challenge. It's fully functional, but still in beta, and not heavily promoted yet. So I'm hoping to get feedback and fine tune before a wider launch.

Here's how it works. I've produced a series of explanatory videos called MormonsMadeSimple (http://mormonsmadesimple.com). Participants of the challenge will receive a new MormonsMadeSimple at 1-week intervals to post to their Facebook account. Included in the email is advice for answering questions related to the content of the video. The user then posts the video to Facebook and tries to spark casual conversations about the Church.

I've set up a Facebook group, which I'll be using to evangelize the challenge on Facebook. It will also serve as a community where people can share successes, get up-to-date tips, etc. However, all sign ups will be handled at mormonsmadesimple.com/signup/.

The main purpose of this project is to provide members with a missionary tool to open casual, informative conversations about the Church with their non-member friends. A side goal is to drive up the view counts on these videos really high so they show up first in YouTube and Google searches for phrases like polygamy, joseph smith, golden plates, etc, and crowd out the other anti-Mormon content.

I'd be interested to get feedback on this idea/project. Specifically:

• Does anyone have any ideas for how to spread the word and get signups?
• Do you foresee any challenges or roadblocks?
• See any bugs on the website, or in the sign up process?
• Any videos you think we should produce next?
• Any ideas for the general vision/direction of this project?

Thanks in advance!

This is totally awesome, Douglas! Great idea and great implementation. It is one thing to come up with a great idea. Turning that idea into reality is what really impresses me. I think this is exactly the type of project these forums should encourage!!

Brad O.

OK, I just fixed some broken references that were preventing the confirmation and thank you pages from showing up during the sign-up process. I think everything is working now.

Brad, thanks for the feedback! It's been a lot of work. Nice to get some positive reinforcement.

Outstanding! I already have it on my FB and now I'm waiting for responses...Love the videos!

Wouldn't an application like this breach the request we received recently not to create or promote any unofficial church web sites? Or was that only for ward and stake web sites? I also remember a recent talk in general conference encouraging us to use social networking sites as a missionary tool, so maybe I'm off the mark with my query.

jltware wrote:Wouldn't an application like this breach the request we received recently not to create or promote any unofficial church web sites? Or was that only for ward and stake web sites? I also remember a recent talk in general conference encouraging us to use social networking sites as a missionary tool, so maybe I'm off the mark with my query.

There is no policy against unofficial sites created by individual members that are not connected to an organization or unit of the Church. The prohibition is on sites created by units or organizations within the Church. See the Authorized Church Web Sites official letter for the actual policy.

douglas.a.hatch wrote:Hey folks,
Here's how it works. I've produced a series of explanatory videos called MormonsMadeSimple (http://mormonsmadesimple.com).

Went to the website above and clicked on one of the video choices. The video doesn't show up with either of the 2 browsers (Firefox, Safari) I tried on my iMac (Mac Os 10.4). And when I downloaded the video, it would not play on my default player (Quicktime). I haven't tried using a different player or other browsers.

Greggo wrote:Went to the website above and clicked on one of the video choices. The video doesn't show up with either of the 2 browsers (Firefox, Safari) I tried on my iMac (Mac Os 10.4). And when I downloaded the video, it would not play on my default player (Quicktime). I haven't tried using a different player or other browsers.

Have you installed the required Adobe Flash Player to your browsers?

Greggo wrote:Went to the website above and clicked on one of the video choices. The video doesn't show up with either of the 2 browsers (Firefox, Safari) I tried on my iMac (Mac Os 10.4). And when I downloaded the video, it would not play on my default player (Quicktime). I haven't tried using a different player or other browsers.

The videos are embedded from YouTube, so I believe it's a localized problem with your browsers. The video is only downloadable in MPEG2 format--which I don't think works on the Mac. Sorry!

I discovered the problem.
The internet protection software I'm using (K9 Web Protection from Blue Coat Systems - a great program by the way) blocks Youtube, but it didn't give the normal warning.
Once I set it to allow Youtube, I had no problem viewing the videos (which are excellent, by the way).

Hey that's pretty cool! I like it.

Douglas,

I think your Facebook Missionary Challenge is fantastic! I have given the challenge to several members of my ward who have taken it seriously and love it. Great job. By the way, the videos are masterful. What a great way to spread the gospel! I commend you on your great work.

TB

Hey Douglas,

I just watched the new "Mormon Temples" video. Absolutely ingenius!!! Love it!!! Can't wait to receive the Email to make that my next Missionary Challenge Facebook post.

http://www.mormonsmadesimple.com/watch/temples.php

Brad O.

I agree. Well done!

Hear, hear! Great work and thank you for sharing.

I just noticed that "Jospeh Smith and the Restoration" is "Coming Soon". I can't wait to see that one!

Please do as I did and go to the site and donate something to help move the work forward. Producing those videos takes a lot of resources.

http://mormonsmadesimple.com/info/donate.html

Brad O.

Great Idea. I personally search around, find a church ad and post it each Sunday to my facebook page. I am one of those people that refers to the over used nick-name of the church very rarely. I have actually started lengthy gospel conversations with non-members telling them that I am not Mormon but I have the same beliefs that he did. I was not really excited when the Church decided to use mormon.com as their face on the internet (vs. lds.org) So while your idea is a great one, I likely will not participate. Mormon is a respectable name that people recognize. I understand the need for an abbreviation or nickname for the Church but evidence has shown that this overused nickname is a huge source of the misconception that we are not Christian. My brother says it my attitude is a matter of preference and maybe even a generational thing (not sure if he was being empathetic or insulting)