Likes are not the harvest.
Conversations started. Emails collected. People who showed up or prayed. One or two true stories you can tell next month. A simple test: *Did this help someone take a next step?*
That is how you measure ministry marketing when you have no analytics budget and no appetite for vanity metrics.
I am Jube Dankworth, founder of Net Media Consultants—PR and digital marketing since 2001. Below is the 30-day checklist we hand out in workshops for new ministries and small teams. Do these in order as much as you can. Consistency matters more than doing every item perfectly.
Days 1–7 · Get clear and get a home base
Write and test your one-sentence mission. Formula: *We help [who] [do / receive what] so that [hope].* Say it to three people who are not in ministry (or not in your industry).
Choose one home base and one capture tool. Free website, well-organized page, or Linktree-style hub—plus a simple email signup (“pray with us / get updates” works).
Create a simple, consistent look. Same name, one color pair, one free Canva template.
Write a 150-word “why we exist” story. Founder story or the first person you felt called to serve.
Record one 60–90 second phone video of that story. Good light, quiet room, captions. Post it on the home base.
Own your domain, site, and list when you can. Rent social on purpose—then fish people home.
Days 8–14 · Give first and start gathering
Create one free gift. Prayer guide, 5-day email, one-page resource, or short teaching.
Open a free email list and send email #1. Mailchimp, Brevo, or similar. Email #1 = the story + the gift.
List 20 people who already trust you. Friends, pastors, small-group leaders, people you have served, happy customers.
Personally invite those 20 to follow, pray, or share. Text or email. Ask for a share, not a donation.
Show up in 2–3 places your people already gather. A Facebook Group, church bulletin, community calendar, Nextdoor.
Days 15–21 · Borrow trust and stay visible
Ask one established church, ministry, or complementary business for a mention. Announcement slide, newsletter blurb, or a table at an existing event. One good introduction beats 100 cold posts.
Post three times on your main platform. Story / helpful resource / invitation. Same sentence every time.
Print or photocopy a one-page flyer. Mission sentence, three points, QR or link, next step.
Have one real conversation with someone you serve. Listen more than you pitch. Write down what they actually said.
Collect names the old-fashioned way too. Notebook, clipboard, or a simple form.
If you are planning a gathering—not only online visibility—fold in the spirit of a simple engine: clarify the encounter people must experience, honor local partners early (borrowed trust), recruit people who will both serve and invite, keep a cheap content drumbeat, do ground game where digital never reaches, and amplify with spend only after proof. Improve the encounter before you enlarge the ad budget.
Days 22–30 · Measure, thank, and invite again
Count what matters. Conversations, emails collected, people who prayed or showed up—not likes.
Tell one new story from the first three weeks. A moment, a need met, a prayer answered. Keep it short and true. No exaggeration.
Thank everyone who shared or showed up. A note, a text, a public thank-you. Gratitude is marketing.
Choose one small next gathering. Prayer night, coffee, Zoom, a table at someone else’s event.
Write your next 30-day plan on one page. Keep only what you can actually sustain as a solo founder or small team.
Starter budget mindset
Spend first on what makes the invitation believable: a clear home base, cards or a flyer, sound people can understand if you host something live, a phone to capture testimony with permission.
Wait until proof for large paid ad campaigns, heavy merch, cinematic productions before you have footage, and billboards with no local engine behind them.
Rule of thumb: improve the encounter—and the follow-up—before you enlarge the ad budget.
Traps to avoid in the same 30 days
Waiting until everything looks professional
Trying to be on every platform
Talking only to other leaders instead of the people you serve
Asking for money before anyone knows why you exist
A burst of energy, then silence
Closing charge
You already have the most powerful assets: the story God gave you (or the craft you built) and the people already around you. Marketing is how you steward that story so someone can hear the invitation and take a next step.
Digital marketing is not only for big businesses or big ministries. Small actions—claim the listing, tidy the home base, send email #1, ask for one mention—compound.
If you want a potential-client roadmap session after you work the checklist, Net Media Consultants is available for a free consult at 713-851-0743 or netmediaconsultants.com.
Start where you are. Tell one person today. Then count the conversations, not the likes.
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