John 1:1-3 Strategy

John 1: 1-3:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

When I hear this verse and think about applying it to both my walk and the way I approach business, it is clear that God had a plan. He is so amazing, that He has a plan that was set in motion from Day 1. Jesus was with Him and God knew we would send His son to free us from our sins.

Thinking about this from a business standpoint, the art of being able to look forward and plan projects around a larger strategy is very biblically based. God gives us many tools to help understand His plan and how we fit into His strategy.

1. The Bible
2. The Holy Spirit
3. Church
4. Other Godly people
5. Gift of a spouse
6. Gift of children
7. Gift of His armor – Ephesians 6
8. Gift of His love – mentioned over 600 times in the bible

The list could probably go on and on and on forever. When you apply this to higher education and Taylor University, your online strategy should wrap around the tools and the resources at our disposal. A good online strategy will speak directly to the staff’s skills and overall goals of the organization. If attracting the best class of students to Taylor University is the goal, then how can we leverage the student body to drive the online message? If becoming the best Christian University in the country is the goal, how can we leverage and promote this message in the best way possible on the web site? Or if the goal is to have the world’s best Christian University web site, how can this be accomplished in a way that glorifies Christ and promotes the University in a way that will speak directly to the student audience?

While it is hard to answer these questions without really immersing myself in the everyday workings of Taylor, I will say that the web site should be a direct reflection of the heart beat of your ministry. The strategy should be obvious to anyone who visits the web site. Students base a huge portion of their decision simply by googling ‘Christian Universities Indiana’ and seeing what pops up.

Your web site is now your first point of contact and by both maximizing and optimizing every single page and click, Taylor will be positioned to be the leader in the space.

Picture the web site as if you are sitting in a living room discussing the benefits of attending Taylor to a prospective student. How should this conversation go?

As Director of Online Communications, I would implement a formal rolling strategy that would change with the industry and also allow prospective students to leave the site and say, “Wow, that place looks like a place where I can develop under Christ and get an awesome education, a place where I can rise above with Christ.”