With millions of users of Facebook, it’s the perfect audience to spread your youth group news and blog updates!

Youth Group News Facebook Application

If you have a youth group website or blog, put your announcements right where all your kids will see it — on their Facebook profiles!

• Your students have direct access to your youth group news right within Facebook.
• All their friends will also see the youth group news, a great outreach tool.
• Every update title automatically links back to your site for more info.
• Students can invite their friends to add the application to their profiles, too, thus spreading your news even further.
• It’s one of the most ideal way to communicate with students on their turf.
• The app only shows headlines and a summary of the content so it doesn’t overcrowd profile pages.

Blog/Website Facebook Application

Pushing your blog or website’s RSS feed through Facebook is the perfect way to promote your content.

• Give blog/site visitors another way to subscribe to your updates.
• Gain more visibility by steaming updates to Facebook profiles.
• People are more apt to read content when it’s recommended by a friend, or in this case, their profile.
• All content titles link back to your site.

FAQs

1. Can I check out a live example of this app before buying? (Answer)
2. What requirements do I need to have in place for this to work? (Answer)
3. I don’t have a site yet. Where can I get one for free that supports this? (Answer)
4. I have a site, but I don’t know if it supports this or not. (Answer)
5. How can I make sure Facebook updates with my latest content? (Answer)
6. Will this app increase my Feedburner stats? (Answer)
7. Can I see how many people have added my app to their profiles? (Answer)
8. What does the cost of the application include? (Answer)
9. Do you have instructions on how I can build this app myself? (Answer)
10. Will you submit my app to the searchable Facebook application directory? (Answer)
11. For what reasons will you refund my money? (Answer)
12. Will you customize or modify the Facebook app for me? (Answer)
13. Why does the application cost more for non-youth group sites? (Answer)
14. I have a pre-sales question or a support request. How do I contact you? (Answer)

1. Can I check out a live example of this app before buying?
Yes, and I strongly encourage you to do so. Check out the Life in Student Ministry Reader app and see if it meets your needs and expectations before placing an order. It is exactly what you will get for your youth group news or blog website, so make sure you’re satisfied with the product before buying it.

2. What requirements do I need to have in place for this to work?
In order for this Facebook application to work, you must have a website that utilizes an RSS feed and the RSS feed must contain the news updates you want to broadcast in Facebook.

3. I don’t have a site yet. Where can I get one for free that supports this?
If you do not have a website or a blog that uses RSS, sign up for a FREE one at Wordpress.com and use that to post your updates and content. Wordpress is 100% compatible and recommended for this Facebook application.

4. I have a site, but I don’t know if it supports this or not.
If you are unsure whether your site has an RSS feed or is compatible with this Facebook application, don’t worry. Submit the purchase form and I’ll check it out before sending an invoice and payment instructions. If it’s not compatible, I’ll let you know and no invoice will be sent.

5. How can I make sure Facebook updates with my latest content?
You don’t need to do anything at all to update your Facebook application. My server will check your RSS feed every 30 minutes or so. If it finds new content, it will automatically update the Facebook application for you.

6. Will this app increase my Feedburner stats?
No, not really. Your stats will go up by 1 reader, but that’s it. Even if 100 people add your Facebook app to their profiles, Feedburner sees them all as one person.

7. Can I see how many people have added my app to their profiles?
Yes. Once the application is complete, I will send you an email containing a link to where you can add it to your profile and also a link to the application’s “About page” in Facebook. This page includes a brief description of your app, a discussion board, a user reviews section, and will show a list of your friends who have added the application. It also will show you how many active users you’ve had in the past 24 hours and what percentage that is of the total number of users. Divide the number of active users by the percentage of total users and you’ll get a pretty close estimate of how many total users you have. (Example: If you have 6 daily active users and it says that is 10% of total users, 6 divided by 0.10 is 60.)

8. What does the cost of the application include?
Unlike everything else on this site, these Facebook applications are not free. For youth groups, it costs $45.00 a year (only $3.75/month!), paid annually. For blogs and other websites, it costs $85.00 a year, also paid annually. This cost includes setup, maintenance, hosting and support.

9. Do you have instructions on how I can build this app myself?
Sure, do! Check out my complete tutorial.

10. Will you submit my app to the searchable Facebook application directory?
Yup. Once your Facebook application has at least 5 users, submit a support request and I will add your application to Facebook’s searchable application directory so others can easily find it and add it to their profiles. In your support request, please include a 75×75 pixel logo and a brief description no longer than 250 characters (including spaces).

11. For what reasons will you refund my money?
All sales are final. No refunds will be issued unless I choose to discontinue your service or the application does not function properly due to faults of my own. Refunds will be pro-rated based on the number of months remaining in your account.

12. Will you customize or modify the Facebook app for me?
I am open to modifying the Facebook application for your specific requests, but the extra time may incur an additional fee, depending on what it is. Contact me with your customization request and I’ll tell you if I’m willing to do it or not and if there will be an additional fee. For example, a free customization would be to change the number of news headlines displayed in the application. A paid customization would be to change the app to include text formatting or full-length posts (both, of which, I advise against).

13. Why does the application cost more for non-youth group sites?
My main reason for offering this service is to help equip youth workers to communicate with their youth groups. An application like this from another company will easily cost at least $100 just to setup. Being a youth pastor myself, I know a lot of youth ministries don’t have budget resources to cover that kind of an expense, so I want to offer it to them for only $45.00 to help cover my annual expenses for providing the app. I offer the exact same application to other blogs and websites for $85.00 just to stay competitive and encourage other companies who offer similar services to lower their prices.

14. I have a pre-sales question or a support request. How do I contact you?
Just fill out and submit this form and I’ll be in touch via email as soon as I can. Please understand that I am a full-time youth pastor and offer this service on the side primarily to help youth leaders effectively communicate with their youth groups. I do my best to respond to your requests as quickly as possible, but I appreciate your patience as I do so. Thank you!