Boyink! - Spring Forward on the Web

Well, I hardly even know where to begin.

How do you deal with the apparent failure of a pet project?

I’m talking about the ministry site I launched last November, StoriesAboutGod.org.

The launch went well - the initial announcement was generously picked up by quite a few bloggers, and many even added it their blogroll.  Checking Google for who links to the site shows a healthy number of links.

The site is fully indexed by Google, and ranking well for certain keywords.

I’ve gotten quite a few postive comments about the site as well, so from both the implementation and PR angles things have gone well.

Yet traffic is falling, with January down 20% from December, and February on track to be down another 20-30%. No new members have registered since 12/19, membership sits at 17, and only ~80% of those have posted a story.  Only 7 comments have been posted on the 10 existing stories.

So I’m starting to think that, as an experiment, the site overall has failed.  And I’m not sure why. 

- Does the design not encourage people to post (there was some concern that the color scheme was too drab and formal feeling)? 

- Do people not have stories to tell (you can’t convince me this is the case - I see and hear them all the time).

- Have we lost the ability, as 21st Century Christians, to tell stories at all?

- Do people need to feel comfortable within a community (online or off) before teilling their story?

- Do people not see the value of their own story, or the value of someone else’s?

- Do stories not stand on their own well enough?  Does a context need to exist before a story can?

I’m just not sure what to do with the site at this point.  Other than the domain names there’s no ongoing cost to keeping it out there.  But the older the newest story gets the less it seems likely someone will add another.

Obviously the “build it and they will come” thinking failed again - would a heavy PR campaign of some sort evenhelp at this point?

Comments are closed, but you can read the comments other people left.

1. AJP on February 20, 2006

   I had to deal with the same thing on our 20-somethings site. Membership was good, but real content never came up.

   People just didn’t think that they had anything to say. Or that people don’t want to hear what they do say. Shoot, that’s the reason why I haven’t posted on that site, or why I frequently start and stop posting on my blog.

   On our site, we banded 10 people to commit to post something of substance once a week, and it has done wonders to get other people to post.

   I’ve thought about posting on there a few times, but everytime I think, “what story will I tell” and I either come up empty, or think it just doesn’t matter enough, or isn’t powerful enough.

2. nate Klaiber on February 20, 2006

   I am not sure I would count it as a ‘failure’ just yet. According to your statistics, it may look that way - but there is NOTHING that says you can’t change some things to reverse the effects.

   Overall (and I have seen it since you first started the site), I never got involved for a few reasons:

   1. Community. I know, I SHOULD have gotten involved to help this. But, sometimes its hard to post your story when it’s to a majority of strangers. I, for one, wasn’t too inclined to tell any stories. But, if I knew several of the people there - I would be more inclined to share stories and comments with those I know. It seems like a catch 22 there - but that was my initial thought. This goes along with some people needing to feel comfortable before really opening up.

   2. Lack of pictures. I know this is somewhat of a dumb reason - but it leaves the site feeling ‘empty’. What kind of pictures could be added? Im not sure. Maybe user icons that they could choose. Maybe some different pictures on the homepage. I just know that it felt a little (As you said) ‘drab’ without some visuals. Maybe even some more colors/contrast would help ‘pep’ it up a little bit.

   I know that sounds like a lame reason. But I am more inclined to get involved/tell stories on sites where there are people that i know (Reason 1), and when the site is aesthetically pleasing. I visit 20 or so sites a day, regularly (some via RSS). Some of those I will only look at the feeds because the site is not that inviting. Others I will instantly click to get more involved.

   3. Value. As you said, this is very tough to really place value (or even emphasis) on the different stories. It is a great resource for those who want to read from a screen - but sometimes its hard for people to sit and read stories from a screen (maybe a printable option? Im not sure…). There are some stories I do see value, and others I question. This goes hand in hand with the need for context and understanding before really seeing the true value.

   Whatever you do - don’t give up with it! Its the tough part of the digital age (getting people involved), yet its the great part in that you can change and evolve over time.

   I am just one opinion, and I hope to see your site succeed!

   God Bless,
   Nate

3. Tim Bednar on February 20, 2006

   Mike—

   Generating community is really, really hard and frustrating.

   1. your site still has no page rank and that might be because in google’s eyes you are still too new (only four months). e-Church has only about 100 more backlinks that your site—yet its rank is 5/10; mostly because the backlinks are old

   2. you suffer from not being provocative or controversial—I’m sorry to say that helps getting noticed and generating conversation—just something I learned along the way

   3. here is an idea—for everyone who posts a story—create a unique “badge” or button to their story that they can post on their blog to your site

   4. from my experience at e-Church—people rarely come to a site ready to publish conent—they usually have to come to the site several times before they think they have something to say—they often start with a comment—so maybe allow folks to turn comments into stories

   5. also maybe people need “helps” on what to tell a story about—maybe create areas to for stories about abuse or recovery or teens or whatever

   6. Also I have found that I have about 80% bounce rate on the “sign up” form, then I lose 50% who sign up but never post a blog—I have been messing around with lazy registration which does not seem to work— I’m working on a design to put the “sign up” or create a blog/story in the masthead as part of the design

   Anyways that is my first thoughts—keep going; thanks for sharing the realities of doing this kind of work.

4. Frank Johnson on February 21, 2006

   Mike: don’t give up! Echoing AJP’s comment, I’ve stared at the screen at StoriesAboutGod a few times, thinking “What story should/can I tell?” Always coming up blank, I think to myself, “I’ll come back later and maybe I’ll have something to say.”

   Would another round of mentions in the blogosphere help? I have a feeling that ongoing PR (as versus a static link in several blogrolls) might help - it would keep the site fresh in people’s minds perhaps.

5. Michael Boyink (Author) on February 21, 2006

   Sounds like I need to play up the guilt aspect….you KNOW you should be posting a story…;)

   Thanks guys…honestly at this point I don’t know what to think so the easiest thing is to let it sit a while longer and just pray for some direction.

   I guess I didn’t see it as a “community” site but maybe that’s where I fell short. 

   Personally I don’t find sites like http://www.43things.com/ all that intriguing (I guess I just don’t care what other people “want to do” nor do I care to my goals with others on the web) but since that site is apparently succeeding maybe I should look to it as a model with the icons, tagging, tag clouds, all that “Web 2.0"ness it has…..

   Hmmm…

6. Rich Schmidt on February 28, 2006

   Michael,

   I was just pointed toward your storiesaboutGod.org site this past week because I’m thinking of starting something similar for our local community (only mine would probably be open to life-stories in general, not just stories about God).  Anyway, I like it! 

   Two thoughts that come to mind:

   1. At the start, you’ll probably need to personally encourage (arm-twist, guilt-trip, etc) individuals you know to submit their stories, until you reach some sort of tipping point or critical mass or whatever.  I’m thinking that once you provide a certain amount of content yourself (through your personal contacts), the variety of content will attract more visitors and provide more examples of the types of stories you’re looking for.  You might consider spreading out those stories over time, maybe one every week, so people keep seeing new content regularly.  I’d think that after 15-20 weeks of that, you’d have people submitting their own.

   2. You might consider adding some helpful hints on how to tell a good story.  Right now your guidelines seem to be more oriented around guarding against the stories you don’t want instead of helping people write the stories you do want.  I like your guidelines, and they need to be there, but maybe you could have a page like “Need Help Writing Your Story?” with ideas for topics, plots, outlines, etc.

   To me, the site is a little bit intimidating.  It’s not like a forum or blog, where people just post whatever, whenever.  It seems to be asking for more thoughtfulness, more polish, more depth, etc.  That’s why I think perhaps a “Need Help?” page might, well, help.

   Keep up the good work!  Don’t give up on the site yet.  Some of us are just discovering it…

7. Michael Boyink (Author) on February 28, 2006

   Thanks Rich—good stuff.  I think initially I was reluctant to post a “Need Help” page because I wasn’t sure what to expect, and didn’t want to dissuade someone from posting a story.  Now it makes sense to do so.

   I won’t be able to get back to the site for a bit yet…but am mulling over all of this feedback and distilling it into an action plan for change…

8. salguod on March 04, 2006

   Mike - Don’t give up on it, i think it’s a fantastic idea.  The thing that I feel about the site has to do with the design.  When I go to the main page, it doesn’t look like “Stories about God” but rather “about storiesaboutgod.org” along with “Headlines of Stories About God.”  The content, the stories is buried another click away, and that next click isn’t obvious.

   Why not organize it more like a blog where the stories, or at least the intros to them, are right there on the main page.  I’d go as far as having those prominent quotes that are on each story page there on the main page as well.  Those are great and help draw me into the stories.  That would serve to draw people in to read them.  The more they read, the more likely they might be to get sparked to tell their own.

   I think Tim summed up the comments of most here, which I agree with:<blockquote>5. also maybe people need “helps” on what to tell a story about—maybe create areas to for stories about abuse or recovery or teens or whatever.</blockquote>Maybe in the sidebar or somewhere on the main page, you need a “Think you’ve got nothing to say?” link.  There you might have a series of questions intended to prompt the stories out of people.  When did you feel God’s presence the most?  When did God rescue you from your self?  Have you witnessed a miracle?  When have you gone out on a limb for God?

   Another idea would be to pick stories you find on various blogs and ask if they’d post them to storiesaboutgod.org.  That would serve two purposes:<ol> <li>Fresh content</li> <li>introductions to storiesaboutgod.org</li></ol>

   Anyway, don’t give up, it’s a great idea.

9. Michael Boyink (Author) on March 07, 2006

   Thanks…maybe the decision to purposefully make it “not a blog” wasn’t a good one - your point about the content being somewhat buried is a good one.

   I’m still thinking about the site in the back of my mind, but have gotten very busy the last couple weeks as well, and not sure I see a slowdown for 4-6 weeks at the earliest.  Maybe later this spring I can do a getaway/site re-vamp somehow…

10. Rich Schmidt on March 07, 2006

    Personally, I like the design & think it works better than a “blog” layout/style.  The titles of the latest stories are right there, and the topics addressed (categories) are right there, too.  And, of course, it looks great.  Maybe you could include, along with the story titles, a brief, compelling snippet on the front page.  Just enough to make the reader think, “Ooh, I want to read that!”

    Whatever.  I’ll be interested to see what you do with it when you have time.  :)

11. Sasquatch on March 17, 2006

    Heya Mike,

    Just caught this post and checked out the site. I had to show it to Tina, too. I think it’s a great idea, really. I think the biggest issues keeping people from posting would probably be a combination of being comfortable, seeing the value in their story, but also in feeling the ability to tell their story. It wouldn’t surprise me that a lot of the people out there with good stories just don’t think they can write it down in a way that’s interesting or compelling. Just a thought.

    Brian

12. les on March 29, 2006

    so, this is going to take a different direction here Michael… have you prayed about the site? And what has your conversation with God been about it? I’m not saying to wait until God bestows the perfect design or inspiration on you, but it is a ministry site. And when I see a ministry site questioning its existence that generally speaks to the heart of persons behind it. If I were in your shoes I’d gather up a couple close friends and spend 1 hour in prayer about the site once a week for a month and see what happens.

    This isn’t an accusation or anything. I know that in my own life when my ministry stuff (or anything else actually) starts hurting the first place I need to go back to is Jesus and see what he has to say about what I’m doing. Unfortunately my instinct is instead to look at the technology, the design, the PR, the other people involved, etc… instead of turning to the source of Life.

    Second thought:

    Writing a story and telling a story are two very different beasts. I have a 1000 stories to tell about God but when it comes to writing a short, condensed, non-rambling, presentable version of that story in written form, its difficult.

    I think for a site like this to work, it needs to provide a more focused approach that helps people transition a story they could tell in person to a story they can write for the site. Maybe instead of an open-ended submission it would have interview style questions or have “theme weeks” like the Friday Five where there are specific opportunities to tell specific types of stories.

    For example, if we sat down in a coffee shop and you simply said “tell me a story about God” i’d have a difficult time knowing where to start. I’d get there, but it wouldn’t be as easy as asking me “so, tell me a story about when God provided for you financially, or helped you through a time of great sorrow or did something small, but significant just to show he cares or turned your world view on poverty upside down or…” you get the idea. Now I have a starting point and a context.

    However, back to the first point. If you don’t have that conversation with God about the site, no idea, regardless of brilliance, is going to make it come alive ;)

13. Michael Boyink (Author) on May 03, 2006

    OK - what do you guys think of this…

    As much as I don’t always like Christian knockoffs of web successes, what about an approach more like Digg?

    So broadening the scope to more than just personal stories to also include any story where you see the hand of God at work, and bringing in more of the community aspect of changing the site’s content through voting, commenting, etc?

14. Rich Schmidt on May 03, 2006

    Maybe you’d better be more specific… because all I can picture right now is “a Christian knockoff of Digg.”  :)

15. Michael Boyink (Author) on May 03, 2006

    Not sure there’s really much more to say..;)

    Digg w/o the “holding area” for stores that haven’t made it to the home page yet. 

    Multiple ways to sort the stories - most popular, most viewed,  most recent, most voted on, most commented on.

    Basically allowing the posting of pointers to other stories on the web, commenting on them, and voting on them to affect the stories position on the site.  In addition to still allowing publishing a story right on the site.

    More membership features - avitars, etc.

    More RSS feeds - per category, per user.

    
    OK, so a Christian Digg….;)

16. Frank Johnson on May 03, 2006

    I think it would increase the activity, but would it decrease the authenticity? Not sure if it would or not - just a question. The easy answer is that there’s not much authenticity when there aren’t many stories, and I understand that. I’m just thinking out loud at the moment.

17. salguod on May 03, 2006

    My first thought is that I’m slipping out of the mainstream.  First, Dean takes B4G to a tagging system that completely eludes me as to how it works, and now this.

    In other words, what’s Digg?

    OK, I wnt andlooked and based on that & what you’ve written above, it sounds pretty good.

    How about enabling an optional trackback to the originating site, if that sites supports it, so that the the site owner knows he’s been SOG’ed?

    I’ll come back to something I said earlier, you need real stories, or at least compelling snippets, on the main page.  Once people end up here, what’s going to draw them into the stories?  Also, if the main page ends up pretty static (IE few participants) than it’s not going to go anywhere.

    Lastly, what about stories that don’t exist on the web?  For example, I’ve heard at least 2 stories recently presented during church that are perfect for SOG.  Sure, I could put them on my blog and then link them, but will there be a way for folks with no other outlet to add their own (or other’s) stories to the web?

    It’s good to see the wheels turning again on this.  ;-)

18. Michael Boyink (Author) on May 03, 2006

    I’d structure the main page more like Digg - really a group blog.  Fresh content at the top - either voted there or by date or both.

    I’d keep the current functionality of being able to post stories right on SAG.  Actually adding the ability to edit stories you’ve posted, etc.

    Not sure about trackbacks - overall I’m not a big fan of them (feel they junk up the page and are only understood by hard-core bloggers, and site owners can see incoming links in other ways), but I might be persuaded.

    Ideas are easy…it’s still the time…;)

19. Rich Schmidt on May 03, 2006

    OK, so you’ve made clear that stories can still be posted/hosted at SAG.  Does the Digg-like functionality mean you’d also be including links to off-site stories, on blogs, etc?  Or are you still hoping to keep the stories hosted on SAG? 

    I assume that allowing links to off-site stories would VASTLY increase the numbers of stories available to SAG viewers.  I also assume that you’d lose lots of control over story quality, theological correctness, etc, and you’d have no control over the rest of the content/ads people would find on that external site once they’re there.

    Just thoughts, things to consider…

20. Michael Boyink (Author) on May 04, 2006

    “Does the Digg-like functionality mean you’d also be including links to off-site stories, on blogs, etc? Or are you still hoping to keep the stories hosted on SAG?”

    Stories would be both hosted on the site and linked to like Digg.

    I’m not too concerned about what people would see at the other sites - it’s a link, people are adults, not much you can do there.

    At this point I don’t think there’s too much to lose by trying…;)

21. Rich Schmidt on May 04, 2006

    Then go for it!  I’ll be excited to see what you come up with!

22. Michael Boyink (Author) on July 15, 2006

    I got some updates done to the site.
    http://www.boyink.com/comments/1286_0_1_0_M/

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