Attention Entrepreneurs (yes that is you church planter)

*Church launcher: if you do not have time to read the story: scroll to the bottom for the free online resources! If you do have the time - you need to be meeting more people. Your coach is watching. :)

Launching a church is one of the most entrepreneurial projects on which one can embark. We are visioneering directions for non-existent organizations with little to no staff/employees, smaller amounts of money than most small business start-ups use to launch, while relying on an all volunteer "work force." (And most of these volunteers are people you are meeting "on the fly" and asking them to join a journey they understand little of with a person they hardly know.)

In short, if you can pioneer and lead such organizations - you can probably be the entrepreneur of anything! Now before you jump on the "we do this not by our might but God's strength" band waggon you may want to read the other entries in my blog. I do not feel the need to clarify that God supplies the creativity, the power, and the open doors. This is basic truth for our lives - let alone being an entrepreneur (or in my case John a pastorpreneur:)).

During my nine months in Orlando, I learned of the website Meetup.com. This site is an online community of people searching for other people with the same interests. These meet-up communities cover topics ranging from travel, small business, to people who love "Leave it to Beaver" television reruns. Each community has a facilitator that arranges meet-ups to discuss, network, and learn. If you are launching a church - find this website. It is an outstanding networking tool.

I am not naturally a person that will just walk up to anyone on the street and say, "hey you, I'm launching a church - be there" ... and have them respond positively. Though I meet people well and have met many people, via Fidos, I want to meet and network at a faster pace. Through the meet-up website, I was able to find a meet-up group for entrepreneurs. (Also, google your area you may find a local page that functions in the same manner: www.linktonashville.com)

This past Tuesday evening I attended my first Entrepreneur meet up here in Nashville. During a networking exercise we had the chance to hear and share vision. After I was finished sharing, I was flooded with "see me" and business cards! In total I walked out with twelve contacts! That would have taken me a good month of networking on my own. Before the networking, Sherman, our presenter and group facilitator did a great presentation on the below websites:

• Zoho.com is a free resource that has three major items that coaches/planters could use. There is a section for web conference (placing slide presentations online) for conference calling. The other section that caught my eye is the CRM (customer relations management) section. The final section, that I believe is the most important, is the Zoho Creator. We all have websites and when you cannot provide an HTML programmer, the Zoho Creator allows you to create boxes and forms for your website - and then generates the HTML to copy and paste into your site - for FREE! In addition, Zoho offers a way to give "tests online" under Zoho Challenge. The catch: it is all free with certain limitation that requires you to purchase a higher level of membership. However, based on my research, you will not need a higher level of membership anytime soon.
• Newsroom.com is an online, up to the minute, news feed from sources such as Reuters, AP, and CBS. Why is this important? There are news feeds for many different topics (sports, health, entertainment, financial) relevant to our culture. This news feed is not something you link to. This news feed generates the HTML to place directly in your site! PLUS, anytime someone clicks the news feed - you can earn money! The catch: there are ads placed on the news feed. That is why it is free and you the site holder can make money! Though I am just beginning to experiment with this program, I am not finding objectionable ads. (Anyone who knows more about the service, feel free to comment.) In short, you can make yourself the news source for people visiting your site.

One additional organization that I want to share with you is Toastmasters. As a public communicator I decided to be a guest and attend a local Toastmasters meeting. Three things happened when I attended: I enjoyed myself, I had the chance to speak for two minutes, and the club asked me to return and speak to them as a guest speaker. (I will be addressing the topic of "Find a Vision for Your Life.") As a church launcher, attend and join a local Toastmasters club. You have the chance to share your heart, polish your public speaking, and make great connections!

In conclusion, connections and "free stuff" is the name of the game when starting a business or church. (I recently found that Wal-Greens occasionally does printer ink cartridge refills for free. Refilled cartridges are never as good as new, but if you can use refilled cartridges to print non-public documents - you have saved yourself some money!) You need people and you need your support money to be freed up to market, advertise, and to live! And though "man cannot live by bread alone" - bread helps!

*No time to read: www.Zoho.com, www.Newsroom.com, www.Toastmasters.org