Reverse Mentoring

I got a phone call today from a friend in Virginia. He is a pastor that I met in grad school that I respect tremendously. His call was for some "reverse mentoring". If you're not familiar with that term it has been coined by Dr. Earl Creps and become fairly common in ministry leadership circles today. It is the idea of the older being mentored in the ways of the young.

In my friend's case it is about the use of technology. He said that he has seen the way I use technology and wants to learn how to do it. Blog, Twitter, Facebook, all of that was on the plate for discussion during my lunch break. So I gave him a five minute rundown, pointed him in the right direction and parted with a promise to help him if he gets hung up in any spots. I've already received two follow-up calls. (Thing is I enjoy talking to him so much I wish we had to meet at a Panera Bread or something so I could spend time walking him through step by step.)

I thought I might take a moment and post my tech approach.

Blog: Blogs are sooo 2006. In reality blogs are a thing of the past. Originally called "Web Logs", blogs were a place to journal online. Now they're mostly only websites that promote a product, you. What product does www.benjaminrainey.com promote? Digital discipleship in the cause I've given my life to. I spend more money each year renewing my domain name than I make from it. But if you look around the blogosphere you find bloggers like Matt Drudge that started with news stories they found interesting that now have more content than you can possibly read, and rotate ad banners to be profitable.
For what it's worth, I love blogging for me. I love keeping track of things that happen in my life and ministry. I enjoy writing, and get a creative outlet from writing at br.com. I also enjoy trying to help others grow in their understanding of Christian faith. People that read this blog hopefully get insight from my life and thoughts. I hope that's valuable to them, that is, you.

Twitter: I twitter pretty well. I've learned that the secret to twittering is following others more than trying to be followed. I'm very selective about who I follow, so when I get on twitter I'm reading the thoughts of people I respect and am challenged by. While I'm there I'll often post what I'm doing. I also like that it can update to my blog page when I can't get to post on my blog. Many people have all kinds of negative opinions about twitter. To me it is like anything else that people do it brings out security and insecurity issues. Twitter is a tool I use for inspiration and to get people to my blog.

Facebook: I'm not on Facebook very often. Some may be surprised because my FB status changes multiple times a day. Truth is I have twitter set to update at FB, and I have my blog set to update FB (through Twitterfeed.com). So it looks like I'm on there all the time. I'm not. I don't really have time to be. I only get on when I get an email that tells me there is something that needs my attention.

Analytics: google.com/analytics is a very valuable tool for me. It tracks all the measurable information related to www.severnriverchurch.com and br.com for free. I know how many people, from where, at what time, and how often checked into what pages, of what information, using what keywords, and stayed how long. You get the point it tells me everything except names and addresses. Sure do wish I could get that though :-)

Adwords: My latest involvement. I started a campaign with adwords to help people find the church's website. It is available through google and is a paid advertising program. When people google certain keywords they'll see a small ad for SRC with a link to our webpage. It costs only when someone clicks on it. I set an maximum amount per day, and they run the rest and bill my credit card accordingly. Very useful. We've received clicks each day since we started the campaign.

Well that's it I think. That about all the involvement I have these days. For me it is all about trying to get my life out there for others to follow. It's the digital equivalent of Paul's challenge, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

--Ben