When I worked as public information director for a Natural Family Planning (NFP) organization, I used to get snickers when I told others what I did. And I don’t mean candy.
Now, a survey shows that when couples understand how their sexual life is a communication of love, they take a real interest in NFP. See my article on the NFP Chicago website.

The colorful bride’s maids dresses sparkled in the afternoon sun, but the small dress shop was empty of customers.

“I don’t want a website,” the shop owner, a man in his 30’s, said flatly.

I said, “A website will bring in more customers — and young customers who are getting married are using the internet. Older people my age still rely on the Yellow Pages sometimes, but young people are looking on the net to find local businesses.”

The bright dresses, typical of the festive choice of the shop’s hispanic customers would look good displayed on a three-page website, I thought.

I’ve been making calls on Berwyn, IL businesses to tell them about my web design and promotion services, and am finding out a lot. Many shops up and down the main shopping street often have no customers when I walk in on a sunny afternoon, a symptom of poor economic times and, I think, just the difficulty of doing business.

Small Businesses Get Left Behind

I think these shop owners are just ignorant of the changing nature of advertising. But if they don’t act soon, they will be left behind. They should take note of the rising use of the internet.  For example, the number of Americans with fast internet access increased 15 percent over the last year, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. Sixty-three percent of adults now have access to broadband internet, even though the average cost of fast internet rose $5 per month in that time. That’s news, especially when we all trying to tighten our belts in these times.

“For many Americans, a home broadband connection is a conduit for connecting to community and economic opportunity,” said John Horrigan, of the Pew Internet project, as reported in the Chicago Tribune last week. “That puts broadband in the ‘must keep’ category for most users.”

Businesses and non-profits, take note: the internet is where your customers are. If you aren’t there, they will go to your competitors.

Just the other day while I happened to be visiting someone in the hospital, I bumped into my friend Fr. Stashu, from the old neighborhood. He was eager to talk to me.

Click photo for YouTube videos on ordination to the priesthood

“I want to ask you about that You Tuber thing,” he said, closing his sick call briefcase.

“Oh, you mean YouTube — the popular video sharing site on the internet?”

“Yes. My altar boys are all talking about it, and I don’t see what’s the big fuss.”

“Well Father, it’s a great place to promote the priesthood and religious life. As a matter of fact, I was just looking at a video that some guy named ScottXfan made called ‘Catholic Priests.’ This three-minute music video is a great presentation of the priesthood. And guess what? It got 5,500 views in two years.”

“That’s more than all the preaching I do on the priesthood in that amount of time,” Fr. Stashu said.

“What’s more, it’s set to music that enhances the  still shots of good priests celebrating Mass and distributing the sacraments. The whole effect is very inspiring. Even more moving than a whole lot of words.

“Tak,” he said, harkening back to his native Polish. “Sometimes beauty does more than yakking.”

“Since videos are easier to make nowadays, and since they can be distributed on the internet, you can reach tens of thousands of people at a low cost,” I said.

“A very good thing,” he said, “I’ll have to call you about this.” He bade farewell, mentioning something about going to his next communion call.

We can put you on YouTube

In the past, video promotion cost thousands of dollars. Today, because of software and the internet, you can have an attractive visual presentation that can be seen by millions for a fraction of what it used to cost.

We at TreeFrogClick can put together an attractive music video for you:

Two-minute religious music video
–  17 picture slides
–  Title, closing slide
–  5 text slides to describe your community
–  Gregorian chant throughout, men’s or women’s
All of this, for only $325.

Free YouTube channel

Besides this, we’ll put up a YouTube account, or channel for you, at no extra cost, so that viewers can learn more about you and go directly to your website. (A $40 cost) You can get this deal with the free channel if you act now — before June 13. Call me at 708-393-4080, or kevin@treefrogclick.com.

Our videos are attractive, and they inspire single persons looking for vocations. See our video “The Joy of Religious Life,” which got 113 views in three weeks with little publicity.

Call Kevin Banet today for videos, web design and internet marketing at 708-393-4098, or go to www.TreeFrogClick.com.

Business videos available, too

We can also make videos to promote your business, and post the videos on your website and attract new customers. Call us today.

High-dosage birth control pills.

Three years ago the FDA approved a birth control pill so powerful it could knock over a horse. Well, OK, it isn’t that strong. But you wonder what kind of thinking went into the kind of decision that puts millions of women at risk.

Plan B, also called the morning after pill, consists of two pills taken days after intercourse. Its hormone dosage is ten times higher than that of normal birth control pills using the same hormone, according to FDA research.

Whaddya think of this: Plan B does not require a prescription, while the birth control pill, taken every day, does. So if the daily birth control pill is strong enough to require a doctor’s appointment, how can a more powerful pill of a similar kind be bought over the counter? Go figure.

Read more about the goofy thinking of Plan B in this expose news article at WomanCare Services.

Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition features 336 pages of helpful info.

Everyone loves a baby, right?

It amazes me that so many people have turned to poking themselves with needles and probes to help bring a child into the world, when there are many normal, natural means of enhancing fertility that a lot of folks don’t know about.

A new edition of a popular book, Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition, talks about many ways that one’s fertility can be enhanced by simply eating and living right, and detecting the fertile time of a woman’s cycle. I was surprised to find the book, authored by long-time nutrition expert Marilyn Shannon, at the top of the list at Amazon.com under the search for nutrition and fertility.

Read the full story of the new edition at Couple to Couple League (CCL) of Chicago, or buy the book at the Couple to Couple League International for $18.95 plus shipping and handling.

Non-profits and businesses are benefiting by website content services.

Don’t blink or you’ll be left behind.  At least one Chicago-area non-profit has ditched its Yellow Book online advertising campaign, favoring our own new website update and promotion service.

Our client, a Chicago-area counseling center, had been running both Yellow Book ads and our own TFC SearchRank program. TFC SearchRank offers this client custom-written news stories three times a month, in addition to posting news releases on publicity websites.

The counseling center’s Yellow Book ads had been shut down for several months, and all of the center’s paid online advertising was coming from our TFC SearchRank program.

I was elated when I found out that our program was doing all the muscle work. I suspected it, but wasn’t sure. Now I knew. The number of people that came over the internet for our client more than doubled in January compared to the month before, according to their records. We’re happy that the program has gained so much traction since it began in June 2008.

Face it — local search is growing. It’s mostly about search engine optimization. Businesses and non-profits should take note that the old method of using print ads and even online directory listings, such as the Yellow Pages, is just old hat, depending on one’s own market.  If it’s not working for you, dump it.

Our TFC SearchRank program uses a combination of research, newswriting, and placing original articles on both the client’s website and on internet news services, among other techniques.

Although the recession has seen a slowdown in online advertising this year, local online spending is still expected to grow by 5.4% in 2009, according to media-research firm Borrell Associates.

Our secrets can be learned by downloading our free PDF whitepaper, “Seven Proven Ways to Drive Visitors to Your Website.” Religious communities can download the PDF, “Seven Proven Ways to Drive Vocations to Your Website.”

Give us a call at 708-557-9491, or email us today and let us bring you up to speed, internet-wise.

(The TFC SearchRank program, as well as SpunkyBiz.com, is a project of TreeFrogClick, Inc.)