Development Update

As camping season ramps up at Kanakuk Kamps so does development on LifeEcho. That makes for an exciting couple weeks!! We have spent the last 2 weeks preparing K2, Kanakuk's premier sports camp for teenagers that I help direct, with over 300 Jesus loving college students from all over the country. As we walk through our cleansing and filling process God is affirming the value of our LifeEcho process. Christian college students are HUNGRY. They long to be invest in. When they come into the Kamp gates they are dry and they drink up discipleship until they overflow. I believe that LifeEcho can multiply Discipleship on college campuses around the world exponentially.

We are currently in the midst of our polishing phase. Our development team is combing through the application in order to prepare LifeEcho for beta testing. I am eager to receive feedback from users as we pave the way for launch in the fall.

LifeEcho Financial Model

One of the challenges Tom and I have faced is the LifeEcho financial model. Through prayer and wise council we decided LifeEcho needs to be a Religious Not for Profit, 501c3. We are in the application process at this point.Thankfully the government has provided a provision for fund raising from individuals while applications are in process (ours has been in process for 9 months now). We raised the money needed to develop and launch LifeEcho in the fall of 2012.

With the "launch phase" quickly approaching we are putting our financial model into place to provide the "fuel" needed to keep the LifeEcho engine running. We believe we have developed a healthy financial model that will provide a strong application for individuals and organizations. People are used to using Social Media for free. Most of the time revenue is generated via advertisements/sponsors and through upgraded services. In light of these trends we have developed a 3 pronged financial model:

1. Donations: Tax deductible donations have funded LifeEcho's development and will remain a fuel source moving forward.

2. Community Annual Subscriptions: All discipleship in LifeEcho takes place under the banner of "Community". We do this for a number of reasons: it's Biblical, accountability, security, oversight, growth of communities, connectedness in the Body of Christ (according to the "Gospel Coach" 60% of professing Christians do not attend a Church!!), discipleship training, organizations absorb the cost rather than individual users, etc. In order to create a "LifeEcho Community" organizations will pay a small annual fee. There is a free 30 day trail period before the payment is processed to ensure that a LifeEcho Community is right for you and your organization. Here are the costs associated with LifeEcho Communities:

$25/year Small Groups

$100/year <500 in weekly attendance

$250/year between 500-1000 in weekly attendance

$500/year between 1000-5000 in weekly atttendance

$1000/year >5,000 in weekly attendance

3. Sponsorship/Advertising. LifeEcho will selectively promote approved resources that will provide LifeEcho users with tools that promote Discipleship. Promoted resources will include Christian Books, Blogs, Conferences, Bible Studies, etc.

The aforementioned approach will provide a "free" service to individual users while creating a sustainable model that postures LifeEcho for Global growth, Lord willing. It's all about Jesus...so we are excited for whatever He wants to do with LifeEcho.

Final thought...loving the freedom and peace that comes from walking with Jesus.

Details, details, details

As Shay and I go over our notes, workflows, and analysis for what feels like the millionth time, it never ceases to amaze me how each time we seem to discover something new or see something from a different angle.  It's like it already has a life of its own...which is cool because that has been the prayer from the beginning.

Currently, the life (no pun intended) of LifeEcho is in the details stage.  By this I mean we are going through the test site looking for anything that we can easily make better.  The word "easily" is the key because at this point we don't want to slow down the software developers by introducing a bunch of new functional changes, plus that's a good way to get in a dev's doghouse, and if there is one thing I know, it's keep the devs happy!  So to be specific, we are primarily focusing on the wording of every piece of text throughout the project.  The game is to word each text so it clearly communicates the intended message, using as few words as possible; this probably goes without saying, but most users click first and read instructions never.

As always, we would greatly appreciate you prayers!

Getting Connected

I am currently building out the spider web of social media connected to LifeEcho. The ability for a dream, project, product, website, etc. to multiply itself through social media is staggering. Unlimited marketing is at our finger tips-all we have to do is put together an intelligent strategy and be faithful to it.

LifeEcho now has a twitter handle @lifeecholife. Additionally, Tom and I are ratcheting up our own twitter use to maximize our own platforms: @shayrobbins  and @tomenewberry  respectively. @TwitterSmallBiz is an incredible resource to learn and grow with Twitter. I am still in the infantile stage though I am learning quickly.

LifeEcho also has a Facebook Page found here: https://www.facebook.com/lifeecholife

We are currently integrating the LifeEcho platform with Facebook, Twitter and Blogger. It's so fun to put each cog in its place as we poise ourselves for an aggressive launch this fall. If you have any marketing advice pre-launch please offer your insight. We need all the help we can get. I love stratergizing!

Development Update

Summer is quickly approaching which means our world will in intensify by 1000x around Kanakuk Kamps. My family will move out to Lampe, MO next week to begin preparing for close to 2000 teenagers at K2 this summer. As a result Tom and I are making a big push in LifeEcho development.

We are working on a number of projects at this point:
Developing Terms and Conditions
2012 Taxes
Preparing for the "polishing phase of development"
Filming 4 vision casting videos for the website (Thanks Justin Reppert...you're a BOSS)
Developing a marketing strategy for the LifeEcho launch in the fall.

Our development team is cranking in India! We are working with a phenomenal team that is committed to producing a quality product. The first round of coding should wrap up in the next couple weeks. Once coding is finished we will begin the polishing process where Tom and I will work through each page and clean up the functionality and look of LifeEcho. Once that is completed we will begin testing with a group of 5-10 people. I look forward to the results of the test group. We will take their feedback and enter another polishing phase prior to Beta testing later this summer.

Would love prayers over the LifeEcho project. Can't wait to see how God uses it!