For a good while now, we have been asked here about what we do to monetize efforts around the site. As you have probably been able to tell, there are no ads, and there is very little in the way of sponsored content. Part of the has to do with the low-overhead nature of MMM (online, opt-in email/RSS, free). And the other part is that it is generally pretty distasteful to have a site full of ad/sponsor space, and then pigeon-hole content into a site built around that.
What we used to do on the site was have a section of the front page called Ministry Partners, where people who financially, prayerfully, and socially supported MMM were recognized with a link to their site. The links were simply a small square icon, with a link to the partner site. We want to bring those things back to the site, but also in such a way that brings a bit of revenue and attention back towards MMM.
This is going to happen two ways. The first happens with the reintroduction of the Recommended Partners section. This is going to be added to the Mobile/Web Services page in its own section, and linked from the sidebar on each page (unless you are reading this via the mobile site). The links from the Recommended Partners area points specifically to those companies and groups whom are doing some activity related to answering the question of what happens at the intersection of faith and mobile. This could be marketing, software development, or ministry organization. These are pointing to service-oriented organizations/businesses, and so these links are tracked for referral revenue which comes back to this site to support Antoine (who runs this here solo).
The first two groups featured here are:
Both of these groups will be talked about in some more detail in a future article. We plan to unveil a few more of these Recommend Partners before the end of the calendar year. There is a bit of a process that happens on both sides before a partner is added. If you would like to begin discussions about this, please give is a buzz.
The second happens with the introduction of sponsored content. We have seen this in some ways with the press releases that have gone up the past weeks. We want to continue to highlight those groups which might not be partners, but have already done the work of creating content that talks about their efforts. Sponsored content is a bit different though in that this is something highlighted (featured) on MMM for a period of time. Once that period is over, that content folds back to the normal stream of content archives made here.
A note about the Recommended Partners. It may be the case that for MMM to engage in partnership, that we in turn have to offer some kind of services. This might include partnering on a project, speaking engagements, or other items. Where this is directly related to content on the site and does not break NDAs, we will make note of that on the respective articles. These partners might also have sponsored content appearing on the site in the form of articles or case studies. These too will be designated as such.
This was a long an prayerful decision process. But frankly, this site doesn’t make enough for me to live on with just the writing pointing to the content. Going back to the model where I worked partly in this space and then used those lessons to create content and conversation here would at times be good, but also a bit less restrictive. There is always the possibility of that happening again, but it more or less seems like if I am back working and doing MMM on the side, that it is because I am working on something to prove and validate the views held here, not something so at removed that it becomes another dealing of two lives.
It’s been a hard last two years. And I continue to learn a ton about how MMM fits into this space. This might or might not last. But, at least for now, I hope it’s offers some direction as to how MMM would like to continue being a suitable resource for you.