Just wanted to put my idea out there...

[Dayne]

Hey guys,

I am new to the forum and reading MJ's book. Very insightful! I just wanted to post my idea and site to the forum for any feedback. I was a youth pastor for about 6 years and always created my own teaching material. I discovered a lot of people in that world do. Currently you need to purchase big box products from the major guys and it can be expensive so I decided to create a site that is a marketplace for youth, children's, and small group pastors. I don't have a lot of movement so far and in fact have not had one sell. I know part of this is due to the hustle of getting the world out to the right niche. I am working on that! The site is www.ministrylessons.com

I am loving reading through the forums and learning all that people are doing. Looking forward to being a full-time entrepreneur some day and getting to meet all of you!

 

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[mayana]

Have you posted an introduction yet?

We'd love to "meet" you first!

 

[CarrieW]

just a thought (I love your idea)

there is a huge homeschool market... if you could create something that could cross into that realm it could make your target customer audience wider...

there aren't many stand alone products that touch on this subject. there are a lot of box material on this subject(all in one curriculum programs) that a lot of people are unhappy with.

 

[Dayne]

@mayana I have not posted an introduction. I can definitely do that! I will do that now.

@CarrieW Yep! That is our next idea and homeschooling is HUGE in our area. We are working on getting it up and running and from this experience I have learned a lot and could get the site started faster. The site I currently have is a phase 1 type site (low cost/easy setup) and then if the idea works we are going to get it custom made. I haven't started on the homeschool site yet because I wanted to at least give a good push to this one to get the word out. Thanks for confirming that idea!

 

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[CarrieW]

awesome I look forward to seeing your progress... we are a homeschool family... we have hated almost every curriculum out there that we have found... I have resorted to my own devices in this area of schooling (discussions, reading from the childrens bible, etc)

Good Luck!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Love the idea. How was the reception been thus far?

 

[Dayne]

@CarrieW Thanks! I will definitely keep everyone updated as it moves forward and I might have to get the homeschool one up and running soon.

@MJ DeMarco Well, it has been well received from those that know about it. I even had one youth pastor who runs his own conference contact me about investing in the site once we see some movement and that was a nice confirmation on the idea. The one hurdle I am seeing as I promote it is that most people are not creating their own material with the thought of others using it after them. So, once they use it personally they then have to go back and spend more time to fine tune it for others. That is one hill we need to overcome. The other is simply getting the word out about the site and getting it populated with sellers and material.

 

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[AroundTheWorld]

First of all, Welcome! Looking forward to seeing you around here.

Just throwing out some random thoughts:

1) Tough market because churches are SO theologically diverse. There is a reason that youth pastors and small groups leaders come up with their own stuff - it is because the belief system / language used in their particular faith community is unique / different and the main stream items on the market don't fit. The groups that find a fit with you will be small, because there is such a diversity.

AND

Not only are groups theologically diverse, but youth groups can also be quite diverse. Certainly a youth group that is comprised of mostly unchurched folks is going to have different programming than one in which the people have been raised in extremely religious settings.


2) Also tough, unless you will be marketing to, getting plugged in with a specific denomination. Depending on the denomination, some of the materials used in youth / small groups "tend" to come from the top down, and I don't mean starting with the pastor (or the big guy, LOL). I mean with the denomination as a whole, or maybe at the conference level. If you are starting with a specific denomination, you would want to get plugged into that level. Many denominations have their own publishing houses or book stores to supply the congregations.

3) You will run into point number 1 above all over again in the homeschooling community. Homeschooling families are extremely diverse in the reasons they homeschool, what they are looking for in a curriculum, philosophy about education. There is a reason homeschool families put together their own stuff.

If your marketplace is addressing this, than you have a great start! The descriptions should be pretty clear about the theology contained in the lesson.

 

[Vigilante]

I like the idea.

Retool the web site. The first thing I see when I get there is you wanting to buy more lesson plans. Turn off to prospective customers. Anyone interested in selling you some lessons can find that opportunity through a smaller link at the bottom.

The above the fold space (the top portion of your web page) is way too critical to not be addressing your real customers.

Focus the web site on what you DO, which is make life easier for ministers and youth leaders.

However, your concept is EXCELLENT. Now you just have to execute it.

 

[Vigilante]

Run a banner ad here:

http://youthspecialties.com

offering $1 commission per lesson plan* sold
(*on editorial approval)

then on the landing page for the ad, put in the language about how they get paid the commission, and the content approval process.

Use this landing page:

http://www.ministrylessons.com/promotion/

but change the formula. $1 FOREVER commission.

You don't need to give them 100%. Give them a fair deal, and make it perpetual.

Make sure that YOU get the copyright to their uploads, so that the material can be

(c)MinistryLessons.com, all rights reserved.

In exchange for you giving them a free platform to upload their work, and $1 per unit sold, they give you the copyright for the material. BTW, you don't actually need to FILE a copyright on anything. Just attach a proper copyright statement to the bottom of each submitted lesson plan.

 

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[Dayne]

@AroundTheWorld Thanks for the feedback and I agree with all of your points to some level. I have tried to add things to the site to work around those issues. We have a refund policy in place, there is a review and rating system in place, you can write a description that covers everything about your lesson, and you can list a bio that you can include your denom. or beliefs. For myself I would be willing to pay less for something that someone has created and it worked for them even if I have to change a few theological thoughts in the message. I think most people are doing that with anything they buy. Just my two cents. Time will tell I guess.

 

[Dayne]

@Vigilante Thanks! The concept has been that we don't own the material, but are simply a place to list and sell it. The creator still owns it. Is that not something you agree with? Would love to hear your thoughts. The reason for the listed message is because without material we don't have anything for people to purchase. So the first push was to get material on the site and then change to focus more on getting traffic to sell it. (Although, I think a lot of our sellers will be buyers to some degree.) I LOVE the banner ad idea!

 

[Vigilante]

My thought process is they :

1. Get to be "published"
2. Probably don't care about the content copyright
3. Would be agreeable to relinquishing (c) in exchange for your value proposition

It is in YOUR best interest to secure the copyrights, and I bet they would give them to you freely. This eliminates the competition.

If you are successful, what is to keep me from starting ministrylessonplans.net and overnight having the same content as you? Part of what you are going to need to do is think less like a pastor, and more like a business person.

Fast forward a year, and success. Critical mass. How do you protect your idea? Your CONTENT is what the secret sauce is. How do you protect your CONTENT? Exclusivity. How is it exclusive? Simple. The authors give you the ability to copyright it in exchange for you giving them the platform to be published authors, and sell their works.

"Once a year, we will select the best curriculum submissions for publication in hard copy form for distribution through Christian distributors at no cost to you. If your material is selected for hard copy distribution, you will receive a royalties from the sale of that material, also $1 per copy sold."

 

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[Dayne]

@Vigilante Interesting...thanks! I definitely have something to think about on the model.