Life, Love & Livelihood Victorya Rogers
Coach
Changing the World & Spreading Your Message on a Suddenly Zero Budget The economy is tough all over and yes, the crunch has devastatingly spread to the Christian industry. Ministries are cutting back, laying off or closing all over. How do we as Women in Christian Media continue our influence when it’s hard to even feed ourselves? Do we give up and get a “day job” or what? I mean, how can we possibly move forward when pressure on our own lives is overwhelming? This is the first of a 4 part series on what you, a woman of influence, can do today to continue changing the world and keep spreading your message for Jesus, even on a suddenly zero budget. The answer? We Look and Reach! Yes, 2 simple words that can change your perspective, your pocket book and yes, your influence! This is part 1 of a 4 part series where I share the secrets of Looking and Reaching to Increase our influence when our lives and finances seem to be falling apart:
LOOK: Look to see what is really going on Today I’m talking about looking into the pocketbook. Where has the money been going in our personal ministry and livelihood. Are we effectively using our time and finances? Honestly, I’m being very real here, I am shocked often when I hear the high prices fellow authors, speakers and leaders are paying to maintain their influence on today’s budget when there are less expensive or free alternatives available. And guess what, contrary to what most think, these alternatives are quality! One colleague of mine was sharing how destitute her finances are today, when she had six figures to spend on her ministry last year. In my opinion, part of the reason is because she blew through her budget spending extremely top dollar on the website, graphic designer, video shoot, DVD reproduction, packaging, marketing, conference calling, social media and such. The money was gone before she could even dream of recouping cost in mega sales. Her products are great, solid productions, but she also could have them on a much smaller budget. During all this, any time I would recommend a less expensive or free alternative she would say “you get what you pay for! Or “So and so uses this person so I have to if I want to reach her level.” Or “If it’s cheap or free it will not be good.” Guess what, my friend is wrong. Yes, be a good steward and try to produce the best quality products for your ministry, but accept that some of the best things in life are free. And God wants us to be good stewards. In today’s economy, every penny counts. To increase your influence, a website is a must. Social media is important to get your message out. If you’re an speaker, you’ve got to have product for TV and radio programs to invite you. But, let’s be real. You MUST work within your means. You can always upgrade later, that is, if you want or need to. Page 1
Below are my suggestions on how to immediately begin saving money and continue to increase your influence for Jesus even on a suddenly zero budget! Ask others for help, referrals and suggestions, especially your colleagues at Women in Christian Media. Then, always get more than one quote. Again, just because they’re expensive does NOT mean they are good or best!
Go for FREE Free, quality services exist. Some of the best things in life ARE free. Of course there’s Facebook.com and Twitter.com. Then YouTube.com for your videos, WordPress.com and Blogger.com for blogs. FreeConferenceCalls.com for conference calls, UStream.com for live video streaming, Skype.com for free calls world wide and much more.
Get Quality for Less Hear are some inexpensive vendors I use: VXDomains.com (under $10/yr for your each of your domain names), VistaPrint.com for business cards ($20 for 250 cards), Vonage.com for phone (about $10-20/month) or MagicJack.com ($39 a year per phone line). Accepting credit cards for free is available through Paypal.com and Google.com under merchant accounts. As far as website design, you can start with a template you can get free online or through VXDomains, or you can hire someone. There are many designers out there. About $1500 should get you a quality website. I use www.WilcoAds.com. Photography can be expensive. Yet your headshot is very important. The Dallas chapter of Women in Christian Media has a fabulous photographer who is extremely reasonable and very good--Cindi Starr (www.shootingstarrphotography.com). Merchandise and apparel to promote your ministry is vital. I use Wilco Apparel Store for great quality and prices. (http://www.catalogsportswear.com/cgi-bin/hw/phwPseudo_Submit.w ?hwCN=1092261&hwCNCD=aqaixdsbupUivkhj) If you take an honest look at what is available, you can indeed impact your world, even on a suddenly zero budget. Today we’ve LOOKED at the money side of influence. Keep checking back for upcoming editions of this newsletter for Parts 2-4 where we continue to look at my secrets for Women in Christian Media to Look and Reach to Increase our influence when our lives and finances seem to be falling apart.
Former Hollywood agent Victorya Michaels Rogers is a Life, Love & Livelihood Coach, equipping women to create and keep healthy relationships. Rogers has over 25 years experience in media including 10 years as a talent agent, 14 years in Live Television, 3 years teaching at UCLA and more. She authored four books, including Finding a Man Worth Keeping, and has been seen and heard on national TV, Radio, and print—from MTV to Focus on the Family, Cosmopolitan to Woman’s World. She lives here in a suburb of Dallas with her husband, Will, and their two kids.
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