|
Most church-sponsored magazines
are designed for a Christian readership. Some
church-sponsored magazines have such a religious look and
“Christianese” feel to them (and boring content) that the
average man or woman on the street may be turned off at
first glance.
We have deliberately designed
this issue to have the look and feel of a professional,
general market magazine, motivating unchurched people to
open the cover to read its contents, check out the ads and
perhaps even consider visiting the sponsoring church...your
church. It is a multi-culturally astute, non-denominational
resource developed to help a follower of Jesus start a
conversation with most anyone.
Need an exceptional door-opener
for knocking on doors in your community? Need a relevant
handout for your booth at the next county fair? Need a
different kind of a family-friendly resource to bulk-mail to
new home buyers in your region every month -- with a letter
from the pastor, inviting the recipients of the magazine to
visit your church the following week?
This unique 32-page magazine can energize the
outreach of your church – paid for by ad sales and
distributed FREE at grocery stores, doctor’s offices, hair
salons, banks, barber shops, auto repair garages, local
businesses and neighborhoods.
It’s a win/win/win/win scenario,
benefiting:
— readers of the magazine (high quality,
practical and informative
articles)
— business enterprises (ads for marketing their
businesses)
— congregation (growing in
their desire to share Jesus in their everyday lives)
— church as
a whole (more visitors, personally invited by
congregational members)
|
...everyday people living their everyday lives...
--------------------------------
"I went to the store to share Jesus. While I was
there I picked up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread."
"I drove to the gas
station to share Jesus.
While I was there I filled my tank with gas."
"I went to the
dentist to share Jesus.
While I was there I got two teeth filled."
|
How does the church win? The church
has an ad in a prominent place in the magazine --
Strategically placed at the end of the Ben Carson interview. When handing
the magazine to a co-worker, a neighbor, or a stranger in
everyday life, a congregational member can mention, “Check
out the ad for our church on page 9. If you visit, I’d love
to sit with you and introduce you to some of the other
people.” Plus, members of the congregation will now have
a practical tool for reaching out to people with
conversational evangelism.
Using the
magazine, church members grow in their passion for sharing
Jesus wherever they are...in an easy-going manner that makes
it effortless in starting an interesting conversation and
doesn't turn people off.
Each participating church will
have its own licensed region (about 5-7 miles around church
property), so that there is no official distribution
overlap. We don't want churches to be grumpy with each
other, so we will work hard to give every participating
church enough distribution space to have fun with sharing
Jesus through the vehicle of this magazine. First come,
first served in your area.
As an example, the Severn, MD
church (where the first edition of everyday matters® magazine
was printed) is located about half way between Baltimore and
Washington, DC -- about a 15 minute drive from Annapolis. We
discovered that 6,195 residential properties are located
within a 2 mile radius of the church building. As we
expanded the circle around the church, the number of
residential mailing addresses became an enormous
distribution footprint. My point is -- if your church wants
to utilize this magazine for a door-to-door outreach or for
a mass mailing, a 5-7 mile radius around your church
building will keep you busy for a long time.
If your congregation is located
in a smaller community, you may want exclusivity as the only
church printing and distributing this particular magazine
-- and we will probably agree with you.
| Some congregations in
highly-populated urban regions, like LA, NYC, Dallas, etc. may have
a smaller official distribution footprint because of the
number of dwelling places in a concentrated area. Some
congregations in rural regions may have a larger licensed
distribution footprint. We'll make sure that everyone has
enough of a distribution footprint to impact their local
communities with the magazine's message. We'll work with
you so that everyone is happy. You get the picture. |
Dr. Ben Carson in the Operating Room |
This is almost a turn-key
project. We have done all of the "heavy
lifting" so that the research, the work and cost on your end is barely a fraction
of what you would need to do if you were starting a
professional magazine from scratch.
Plus, when you request a copy of the comprehensive
24-page document (below), you will see how we have set aside
enough pages in the magazine (paper real estate) for your
team to generate a realistic potential total of $16,665. I'll
show you the math. Even if your team sells only $10,000
worth of ads, it's more
than enough to pay for all of the costs associated with the
printing and distribution of this magazine...with money left
over for your local church. Let me be clear: Your church
keeps every penny generated by ad revenue. The camera-ready graphics template (on disc,
with file in Adobe InDesign v.
CS4) with
the contents of everyday matters® magazine is
available to selected churches in North America and in
English-speaking countries around the world. We will make
the ultimate decision on who can receive and use the
template, based upon a few basic qualifying factors.
We have been given
the rights by the authors of each of the articles to grant
third party permission to reprint the magazine, with each
article included. There will be a very reasonable charge for the
graphic design and the licensing of specific distribution ZIP codes
-- and helps us develop future editions of this magazine.
That up-front charge is recouped by your team's ad sales.
Chris
Peeler, a seasoned pastor who loves Jesus (see below) is
ready, willing and able to come to your congregation and
train them in personal evangelism -- with or without the use
of everyday matters®
magazine. Chris' passion for Jesus is contagious! He
connects with the head and the heart as he trains
followers of Jesus to share their faith with others in a
relevant manner.
The everyday matters®
magazine model is different. Here’s a quick overview:
- Timeless content,
with a felt-need emphasis designed to strengthen families.
- Content driven.
- Self sufficient
project -- just enough ads sold to pay for printing and
postage.
- No salaries paid.
- General market
appeal.
- Distribution
continues until all 25,000 copies have been distributed in
a credible manner...even if it takes 18 months to do so.
The sale of ads is important for
the funding of the printing for your local edition. But everyday
matters® magazine is primarily
"content-driven." Most publications like
this have a mere 30%-40% content and 60%-70% ads.
In
contrast, everyday matters® magazine has over 75% of
it filled with excellent content and less than 25% ads. Our
model is designed to work so well that advertisers will
clamor to be a part of future editions. Why? Because there
are fewer competing ads. That means more "eyeballs" per ad!
An advertiser's dream.
The magazine does not
have the plan of salvation in it because it is designed to
be a conversation-starter for followers of Jesus who can
look for opportunities to share their faith. Their personal
story and the plan of salvation is in their hearts.
But some Christians are timid
about sharing their faith. Ben Carson has written and
granted permission for a straight-to-the-point tract that
can be included with the magazine. Review the four pages of
the tract below at the bottom of this page.
|
How is the
magazine distributed? |
Here are a few practical ideas:
-
After each service or Bible study,
congregational members grab 10-20 magazines to serve as
conversation-starters in their everyday lives. "By the
way, feel free to take a look at our church ad on page 9.
I'd love to invite you to visit next week. I'd be glad to
sit with you and to introduce you to some of the other
members of our church."
-
Congregational members will adopt
certain places of business to make sure that quantities of
magazines are restocked in grocery stores, doctor's offices,
hair salons, auto repair shops, etc.
-
Business owners who have purchased ads
will give away many magazines. "Here's a magazine you'll
love. By the way, feel free to check out our ad on page 18.
We make the best widgets in the country!"
-
Hundreds of copies of the magazine can
be bulk-mailed to new home buyers and or to all of the home
owners within a limited radius around the church
building...every month. A letter from the pastor can be
included with each magazine, inviting the recipients of the
magazine to visit the following week -- with the promise of
a free gift if they mention the magazine as the catalyst for
their visit.
|
Imagine a young mother
at a fast food restaurant, with her young child next to her.
You sit down at the next table. A few minutes go by and then the
child suddenly proclaims loudly, "Mmmm, these fries are good!" You
look over. The mother smiles broadly with a mixture of pride
and embarrassment and you both make some
small talk about the crispiness and tastiness of the fries. You
then give her a
magazine. It all happens so naturally and doesn't feel
rushed or pushed.
"Thank you," she
responds. She looks at the cover and immediately comments,
with a laugh, on the title of the article, Raising
Kids Without Raising Your Voice. "I could have used this
article this morning!" she says with a bit more laughter.
This could very well be the way to start an interesting
conversation about raising children.
A conversation-starting article |
As she turns to the article she mentions that having a child has changed her life in
many ways. She is surprisingly open.
After a few minutes of give and take you hear yourself responding to a
specific thing she has just said, “Yes, I remember my own
children growing to the age when they were asking a lot
of questions. Their inquisitive minds were working
overtime. And it was exhausting sometimes! They would
ask stuff like, ‘Who is God?’ or ‘What happens after we
die?’ or ‘Where is heaven?’ Those were tough questions
to answer. (pause) By the way, how would respond to
questions like that if your daughter were ever to ask
them?” |
Interested in learning more
about your church printing and distributing everyday matters®
magazine?
Email me. Tell me a little bit about what interests you,
including an overview of your church when you request more
details. Ask for the 25-page document “Outreach Magazine Model For
Churches: Overview” and Agreement to be
emailed to you.
Do you want an actual review
copy of the 32-page magazine? If so, indicate that in your
email to me...along with the best mailing address. The
magazine will be mailed out to you right away.
By the way, everyday matters®
magazine is a great win/win concept for church-related
entrepreneur clubs. Check out the emc2
entrepreneur club
website
to learn more.
ATTENTION CHURCHES in
North America, Australia, NZ, parts of Europe and many of
the Caribbean nations -- I look forward to the reality of
Bible-believing churches all over the English-speaking world utilizing this unique model for outreach...for such a time
as this. It's all about making Jesus famous!
(I am very open to the "anglocizing"
that will be needed to make the wording of the magazine work
in some parts of the world like UK, NZ and Australia, etc.)
Thank you for allowing me to
parachute into your day...
100,000
Blessings,
Joel
Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D. --
BIO
Editor-in-Chief, everyday matters® magazine
Private line: 410.729.4011 Cell: 410.991.9718
Email
|
 |
| P.S. The everyday matters® magazine
model is our expression of love for local churches. Please point other
pastors here: ( www.YourLocalMag.com
) -- by reading this website, it can be understood how
they can print and distribute this same magazine in
their local churches, without draining their church
budget one penny. It is a proven model that works! |
______________________________________________________________
|
In the development of
the magazine there
are three aspects that we have anticipated:
We are all growing in what it
means to share Jesus with others. None of this is static.
Hopefully the person who is terrified with the thought of
sharing his or her faith today will be less timid a year
from now.
1.
Some Christians are absolutely frightened about having
direct contact with people when sharing their faith: No
direct contact with people is required. Quantities of
magazines can be placed in grocery stores, doctor's offices,
etc. We trust the Holy Spirit to draw readers to the church
ad on page 9, encouraging readers to visit the following
week where they will hear the clear gospel message. The
church ad is placed in that prime spot because it is right
at the end of the Ben Carson article and also Ben has just
responded to a question about his church attendance on the
opposite page. Plus the Ben Carson tract can be placed in
each magazine.
|
ZIP/Postal
Codes Taken
20706
20784
20703
20716
20717
20774
20785
20721
20775
21144
21054
21108
21113
|
2. Some Christians are
timid about sharing the gospel message...but do not mind
including a tract that can do the talking for them: They
can give the magazine to friends, neighbors, co-workers and
complete strangers, saying, "Here's a magazine that may
be of interest to you. You can take a look at the ad for my
church on page nine. I'd love to sit with you if and when
you do visit. By the way, here is something that Ben Carson
wrote that shows how one can make peace with God." The
tract will be given, with the explanation that it as an
additional message from Ben Carson, to be reviewed after the
Ben Carson interview has been read.
3. Some Christians are
ready and willing to share their faith and are looking for
openings to do so: The primary purpose of the magazine
is to be utilized as a tool for starting a conversation.
Like Jesus, with the woman at the well, a follower of Jesus
can start talking about one of the real-life topics covered
in the magazine. They can then watch how the Holy Spirit
opens the doorway to share their faith in Jesus.
Here's what Chris Peeler had to say about the way the
magazine can spark a conversation:
I think it can be a very useful tool in evangelism. The articles
are interesting and really deal with issues that are
current, alive, and timeless.
If I were working with people on how to utilize it for evangelism,
I would do some simple training. First, I would make sure
they were trained well in how to share the gospel
clearly.
Then, I would role play with them on how
to use the magazine as a touch stone toward
relationship. "Hey, Frank, have you heard about this
great magazine? You haven't? Well, it's really good.
You've heard of Ben Carson, the famous neurosurgeon,
haven't you? There's a great interview with him. It
really shows him as he is. And there are great things in
here about other issues also. And, besides that, it's an
easy read. I'd like to pass it on as a gift . . . I'd
love to hear, later, what you thought...."
Then, I would encourage the folks to be ready to interact (perhaps
later) in a way to get right into the issue of issues--the
state of their friend's soul: "Hey, Frank, what did
you think...? Yeah, I thought it was helpful also. Did
you notice how Ben Carson spoke so freely about the
importance of faith in his life? How about you, are you
interested in spiritual things? Do you have a church
background?"
At this point, the training on presenting the gospel kicks in. Of
course, each person and situation is different. Through
prayer, the "giver" of the magazine would have to discern
the right timing.
|
Chris
Peeler is a seasoned pastor with a love for sharing
Jesus in his everyday life.
He travels all over the country (from MD) training
congregations in personal evangelism.
Please feel free to
contact him to learn more about what he does and
how he can help to inspire and train your
congregation in sharing Jesus. Watch this
video of Chris Peeler at the Inner Harbor
(Baltimore) to gain a better understanding. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If your church decides to fund the entire magazine -- with
no ads other than the full-page church ad -- the extra pages can be filled with interactive
items like: crossword puzzle, suduko, weird scientific
facts, unusual statistics that tell a story, a cartoon or
two, etc.
____________________________________________________
The Ben Carson Tract
(folded size of tract: 3" x 5")
The camera-ready graphics file for this tract is
available for
free to anyone who wants it.
____________________________________________________
First Page (front cover)
|
Second Page (inside left)
|
Third Page (inside right)
 |
Back Page
 |
|
