The first time in her life that Tracey Dugas, from Louisiana, saw a sister dressed in a habit was in a mystery movie about a convent. Today, Sr. Tracey, of the Daughters of St. Paul, tells her story in an eight minute video posted on YouTube.

Holding her guitar, the talkative and friendly sister explains how, after she saw the movie, she went to the library and took out books to find out about religious life. The video, with a shakey camera and poor audio quality, has nevertheless found its way into the hearts of more than 6,000 viewers in one year. Five websites and blogs link to this video, with one sending 100 clicks.

You can read 18 comments made about the video. One viewer responded, “It’s great to see people answering the call to religious life!!!” and another said she had some questions discerning a possible call to religious life, and this “vid” helped her.

It is interesting that this young woman discovered religious life not through the traditional route of growing up with sisters in her parish or school. On the contrary, she saw a sister in habit for the first time on the media.

Online videos are where it’s at. One expert says that, “More than 145 million Americans watched more than 13 billion videos in February 2009. … The duration of the average online video was 3.5 minutes, so the average online video viewer watched more than 5 hours of video.” Five hours seems kind of a high number to me, but then many people spend lots of time in front of the computer.

To learn about our two-minute video production service, contact Kevin Banet.

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.

For many of us, getting out from behind our desk does us a lot of good. Besides fresh air and lively friendship, a conference among our fellow workers stirs the pot for new ideas.

I was getting ready for a short road trip to the April 17-19 National Meeting of the Institute on Religious Life (IRL) in Mundelein, IL, when on the spur of the moment I grabbed my video camera and thought, “Why not shoot some real live interviews of priests and sisters? It would be fun.”

The IRL’s annual conference, the largest of its kind in the country, hosts some two hundred religious from around the country, as well as young men and women from church youth groups in the Midwest. Some communities are large, more established religious orders, and some are feisty start-ups of ten or twenty years old. Some of our TreeFrogClick clients are here as well.

I got to the conference and talked to attendees there, and offered to put their interviews on YouTube at no cost. The interest was immediate, with many religious thanking me for the free publicity. I asked questions such as, “Why is it good to become a sister today?” “Why should a man become a priest in your order?” and “What have you enjoyed about this weekend?” (See our YouTube videos.)

Those interviewed were vocation directors, or those who recruit others to their communities. The interviews were spontaneous and lively. I was impressed with their zeal for serving the Lord with their calling. Many were young, with fresh faces, and all had a clear idea of what religious life was all about.

My idea was to help these religious enter the exciting world of social media, starting with videos. It’s a good idea to learn more about YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of the new “Web 2.0″ — they are big, and they are getting bigger. Why, in just four days since posting one of my videos from the conference, I received 26 views, and with no publicity. People are looking for new things on YouTube.

In the two weeks since the conference, I’ve been in touch with several people who have shown an interest in our work, whether through website design, press releases, or videos.

We’ve put together four videos, each of five minutes or less, and all together they take in 13 interviews of about one minute each. See the YouTube interviews, or learn more about the Institute on Religious Life. For more info, Contact Us.

When it comes to treating infertility, look to where the money points.

A 12-page special advertising section of the Chicago Tribune published three days ago called “Fertility and Pregnancy” gives a glimpse of the mammoth infertility industry. There is a load of articles on the artificial means of procreation, but scant attention paid to a less expensive approach that is actually more effective.

That would come as no surprise to the three hundred-plus participants of the Dignitas Personae conference held in Chicago the same weekend. It was a gathering of fertility and respect life workers sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Dignitatis Personae, Latin for “On the Dignity of the Person,” is the name of the document released last Sept. 8 by the Vatican that treats bioethical questions related to in-vitro fertilization, or IVF.

“The medical profession has skipped over the root causes of infertility,” said Dr. Thomas Hilgers, pioneer of one of the nation’s leading methods of treating infertility naturally. Hilgers, who spoke at the conference, said that infertility treatment took a “sharp left turn” in 1978. Today, “IVF is promoted as the only way to get pregnant,” he said.

What may be surprising to the millions of women who cannot conceive and bring to term a child is that NaProTechnology is nearly three times more successful than IVF for assisting infertile couples, according to a group founded by Dr. Hilgers at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, NE called the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction.

Infertility at the institute is treated by determining the fertile time of a woman’s cycle, as well as by using surgical techniques such as laser treatment and ovarian wedge resections. Couples travel from all over the country to the university for treatment, or get help from the 215 fertility care clinics in the United States trained in NaProTechnology.

With artificial means, couples can spend up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for the various means to “produce” a child, which involve donor eggs and sperm, surrogate mothers, and hyperstimulation of a woman’s ovaries with dangerous levels of hormones, Hilgers said. And, I would add, don’t forget the many tiny human beings in zygote stage “left over” from these processes now awaiting an uncertain future in frozen orphanages around the country.

The costs are great in dollar terms as well, with a couple paying $5,000 to $40,000 for the successful harvesting of an egg. A gestational surrogate, or one who carries the baby until birth, can cost as much as $100,000. The costs go on and on, depending on the type of treatment. And yet less than one-half of one percent of all women with fertility problems are helped by IVF to have a child, said Dr. Hilgers.

With that kind of money flowing, it’s no wonder that the medical profession as a whole is led by the nose by the pharmaceutical industry. It’s time to direct the healing effort toward the woman and man’s own body, in a way that respects the dignity of the human person.

Contact the national headquarters for NaProTechnology in Omaha, NE. In Rockford, IL contact the Family Health Center at (815) 972-1000. In Phoenix, AZ, contact Life Choices Women’s Clinic.

The AIG scandal makes one wonder what kind of goofy thinking is coming out of Washington. A few years ago there were two banks. One was Continental, which lavished its executives with all kinds of expensive perks. Another was Wells Fargo, a scrappy, hard-working company whose executive would pick the stuffing out of a broken part of his chair during staff meetings.

Guess which company did well? Continental went bankrupt, while Wells Fargo prospered. As a matter of fact, Wells Fargo stock has showed healthy gains over the last five years, except for the recent market downturn.

Now, let’s apply the current thinking in Washington to this situation: “Say, look at those two banks. I feel sorry for Continental. It’s obvious that Wells Fargo doesn’t need any help. Let’s tell Continental what we think of their excesses and throw lots of money at them. That will make them get better.”

“Great idea.”

Reminds me of a Rogers and Hammerstein tune that my mother used to sing, “Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, and they’ll make you ruler of the queen’s navy.”

You can make your advertising dollars go much further when you feed information to the many news reporters and bloggers hungry for news.

I recently saw a TV news story about a unique service that removes lice from people’s head. Although it dealt with a disgusting topic, it showed how for a premium price you could get the little buggers removed from your hair and out of your life.

How did the TV station get a hold of this story? Very likely with a public relations firm that simply called up the station. Thus, this news feature of about two minutes probably garnered the value of tens of thousands of paid advertising by simply calling a reporter.

How reporters get news

This happens more often that you might think. Some years ago, several months after leaving my job as a reporter for a suburban newspaper, my brother Dave asked me what I thought about his idea of calling the newspaper with a story idea. He was earning money during his college years as a lifeguard at the local pool. They were having a “Christmas in July” event, complete with Santa Claus dressed up in all red in the sweltering heat, talking to youngsters by the side of the pool.

“They will ask you to write a press release,” I objected, thinking that it was just not that simple.

“I don’t know much about press releases,” he countered. So Dave nevertheless called the newspaper. Now, I must explain that my brother has a good way to pitch a product. (When he was single, he was able to tactfully advise a girl that she needed to lose 15 or 20 pounds, and she would thank him for it.)

In the end, my brother called the paper, which thought it was a great idea, and the pool got a picture and story about it, at no cost.

Scoring with Email

Of course, with the internet today you can contact reporters with email as well. About a month ago, our publicity service at TreeFrogClick sent a press release to various news outlets throughout the country for a client, and we sent one email to the overall news editor and feature section editor of a newspaper in Texas. The news event was an upcoming post-abortion retreat offered by a religious community. I talked it up in my email, about what a great service they offered.

Less than two hours after sending the release, my client got an email from the reporter asking if she could attend one of the sessions.

A little hype sent to the right person goes a long way.

About journalists: “When they speak in print it is the newspaper that is talking … and then their utterances shake the community like the thunders of prophecy.”

- Mark Twain, 1873 speech

I always had the understanding that the sweeping New Deal policies and work programs of the 1930’s helped the country get out of the Depression. After all, the schools and media have been rolling out this tune for decades. Aren’t they always right?

It hasn’t been until now when I have heard serious debate that maybe Franklin Roosevelt’s game plan might have hurt, more than helped us. Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has brought this up, saying that Roosevelt’s policies actually postponed the economic recovery for seven years. Whoops

I would never criticize Roosevelt so glibly if my mother were still alive, since she and her family had the greatest respect for this four-time president. But I think the issue deserves discussion. I’m not an economist, but if the government can help the nation by controlling some business, why not reap greater benefit and have it control all businesses? However, this plan didn’t work for Soviet Russia, which suffered from 80 years of a bad economy (Except that their military was well run - they were good at that).

When it comes to Obama’s economic stimulus plans, what kind of wisdom is there in spending large amounts of money for social programs when you just don’t have the funds, and can’t expect to repay the loans anytime soon? I would not be able to get such a loan for myself. The loans would outlast my life, and the banks would laugh at me.

But then the government lives forever, doesn’t it?

When it comes to inviting youth to become tomorrow’s Catholic priests, brothers and sisters, things have moved to the internet.

Eighty percent of new recruits, or vocations now come from the internet, a vocations director of a major men’s religious order told me at the annual Here I Am Lord Youth conference this past weekend in St. Charles, IL. Hundreds of youth converged at St. Patrick’s Catholic parish in this western Chicago suburb to hear top Catholic speakers and musicians help youth find their calling in life, whether it be marriage, the single life, or a religious calling.

Getting their feet wet

Among priests and sisters staffing the booths, some were very experienced in using websites, enewsletters and online advertising, while others were just getting their feet wet, perhaps feeling a little behind in things. “I know I have to learn about these things,” one priest told me. He knew how to use a word processing program, but that was about it. I was happy to explain to him about enewsletters, and how the popular social media site, Facebook works. Once you sign up with Facebook as a member, which is free, you can invite others whom you meet to become your friend. When they agree to accept your invitation, they can see your profile and what your other friends have written on your “wall.” A religious brother told me, “When I get an email from someone on Facebook asking me to be their friend, I naturally assume that it is because they are interested in a vocation. So I say yes.”

Car sales ride on the internet

These new ways of promotion hold true in the business world as well. I spoke with the general manager of a large Toyota dealership in the Chicago area recently. “Fifty-five percent of our sales are done completely over the internet,” he told me. He had a staff working the internet as well as walking the lot. “When they come in,” he said of the internet sales, “all they do is the paperwork.” Whether it be recruiting Catholic vocations or making auto sales, promotion is all about relationships. It is something that is not easy, but it takes knowledge, experience and persistence.

Listen up

“Young people, in particular, have grasped the enormous capacity of the new media to foster connectedness, communication and understanding between individuals and communities…” - Pope Benedict XVI, apostolic letter on the internet Jan. 29, 2009

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.)