YouthPartnersNET Resources: Tony's Top Tips

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Tony's Top Tips by Tony Scialdone

June 2006

This monthly column features some of the best internet resources for ministries around. If you'd like to contribute a favorite resource, we'd like to include it! Let's get started...

Top Links:

Teen Life Ministries
They take the guesswork out of youth work. They also offer free stuff, which we all like. When you give them your email address, they'll send you a free issue of The Monday Maximizer, and give you access to all back issues. They'll also give you a free copy of 101 Super Tips for Youth Ministry, which may give you a few new ideas.

The Kristo
Every once in a while it's good to see a gospel presentation from someone else. This is a Flash video version that includes some pretty edgy graphics, music, and good eye-catching motion. If you need to send someone a link to an online gospel presentation, this is a pretty good one.

Top Music Videos
You're busy. It's easy to get out of touch. This isn't a Christian site...it's MSN. Because youth are usually crazy about music, it's important to take a little time to see what their music is saying. Browsing this site will give you some insight into their world that you might not otherwise get...and it might give you some ideas about countering the culture. Listen to the lyrics and ask yourself "do my teenagers really believe these words?".

Devotionals:

Elisabeth Elliot
Many know the name of Jim Elliot, a missionary killed by the Quichua Indians of Ecuador in 1956. His story has recently been put onscreen in a movie called The End of the Spear. Elisabeth is his widow, and she continued his work with the Auca indians for many years. She went on to write a number of books, and has been heard on radio around the world. Her website has a daily devotional that many enjoy, and I'd recommend it for those days when you need a quick bite, but still want something you can chew on.

Website Faux Pas:

Faux pas: a French phrase meaning "false step" or "social blunder". It's easy to commit a website faux pas, so I'll outline one at a time to keep you out of trouble.

Send in the Clowns
Before the web, there was the internet. The net is a text-only medium, and still exists in good old black and white. The web is different: it's a multi-media sort of thing, allowing us to display colored text, pictures, sound, animations, and even video. This is a good thing.

Of course, any good thing can be overdone. While good designs and pleasing colors make websites look nice, a lot of color and animation make websites look bad, not better. They keep visitors from seeing what you're saying because their eyes hurt and their brains are overloaded. Let's look in the mirror and be honest: some of the worst websites ever belong to Christians. We're not in a contest with the rest of the world, but this is an area that keeps some of us from spreading our message as effectively as we can. This problem has plagued churches and religious organizations for some time and, while some are getting the message, others are creating websites that drive people away.

Here's a link to one of the worst websites ever. It was made that way on purpose, to illustrate what NOT to do with your website. Taking their advice will keep you from making some huge mistakes.

Not everyone is a graphic artist, I know. The idea isn't to make your website the best ever...it's to give visitors to your site an opportunity to take advantage of the message you're offering. If we run them off with horrible colors, bad layouts, and tacky animations, they won't get the message. In case you're thinking that I'm exaggerating, consider this: visitors to your site make a snap judgment about you and your content in less than one second. That's right. Blink slowly, and someone will have decided whether your entire ministry is worth their time. Make the most of your opportunity.

If you're not artistically inclined, or if you don't know how to turn your great idea into digital pictures, find someone who can do it for you. Ask yourself this question: if your website was a book on a shelf, would you pick it up and read it? If not, maybe you need to rethink your approach.

Take heart. Your website doesn't have to be amazing. Look at the YPN site: it's not amazing. It's clean, clear, organized, and makes good use of a couple of colors. Look at some of the biggest sites online. They're not flashy, they're useful. The wrapper on your content is just that: a wrapper. Make it look nice, and they'll open it up and taste what you've got inside your website.

If you need some ideas, visit a few of the sites below for inspiration. Each site lists some great designs, so click a few links and browse around a bit...you're bound to see something that inspires you to kick your own site's design up a notch.

That's it for now. I'll be back next month with more information on using the internet to enhance your ministry...and, of course, let YouthPartnersNET know if you have a resource you'd like to share. Have a great day!

Tony

Tony Scialdone has been online since 1997, but he isn't a web pioneer or an innovator or a groundbreaker. He is, however, a geek. In addition to spending almost enough time with his family, Tony operates Straight Street Design, a web design and hosting company in Morrison, Colorado. He manages the YouthPartnersNET website, and recently completed the new website design for YPN.

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