VisionBox: The Development of a Flagship Resource

New ideas are so valuable. They push you out of a certain frame of thinking that it’s so easy for any organization or business to get stuck in. Whether you act on them or not, being willing to ask hard questions about how you’ve been doing things will always solidify or reshape your organization’s effectiveness.

That’s what happened for 95Network, an organization that resources small and mid-size churches, in November 2018.

Throughout the prior year, 95Network had focused their strategy on localized conferences across the country, hosting gatherings of pastors in communities in the U.S. However, the efficacy of the content from those conferences really stopped once the day was over.

Which led to a question.

“What if we created a resource that made our conference content available to pastors at any time, and that allowed leaders to take the content back with them from the conference?”

It seemed simple. But there were some obstacles:

• A large portion of our audience wasn’t tech-savvy. The resource had to be simple and, quite frankly, physical.

• A decent percentage of our audience (pastors) didn’t have wifi in their church buildings to share a digital video during a team meeting.

• Our organization’s budget was small, so this resource couldn’t be expensive upfront to create and it had to quickly pay for itself.

These constraints led us to settle on the development of VisionBox , which quickly became 95Network’s most-requested resource:

To develop VisionBox, the to-do list wasn’t short:

• Shorten five 45-minute conference sessions into five 20-minute videos.

• Record those videos in a professional format and quality.

• Design a VisionBox logo that incorporates the 95Network branding.

• Design eye-catching boxes to sell after conferences that can also be shipped safely to fulfill online orders.

• Write and design a Leader Guide to be included inside VisionBox for leaders to understand the resource.

• Design and print DVDs to provide equal access to leaders whose facilities aren’t as updated.

• Develop an extensive VisionBox online hub so pastors have the option of printing handouts for their team and accessing the videos digitally.

• Clearly communicate the free 95Network Membership received with every VisionBox purchase.

• Effectively promote VisionBox for a healthy launch in January 2019.

In my role on the team at 95Network, each of those things fell on my shoulders to ultimately make happen. And I led the charge to complete and launch the resource in only 2 months.

In line with our budget, we completed all aspects of the resource and stocked 150 VisionBoxes for under $2,000. Within 6 months, this resource had brought in 15% of our annual budget, which, for a small nonprofit, was particularly significant.

The success of VisionBox was founded on a multi-faceted strategy that focused on the actual experience of a high-quality resource by the end user, along with an interwoven marketing strategy that incorporated design, video, email marketing, blog content, social media, and more.

There’s a reason this resource still sits on the shelf behind my desk every day. I’m really proud of how it came together and the fact that it has made, and continues to make, a real difference.

Here are just a few things we heard from leaders:

"So incredibly thankful for this resource. It really does help start the important and sometimes difficult conversations." - Pastor Cody in Indiana

”We just really were at a loss of vision and a loss of clarity around our purpose. I was invited to a 95Network seminar, and bringing VisionBox back to my team helped us work through a manageable process to renew our structure.” - Pastor Ron in Pennsylvania

“This was SO HELPFUL! Thank you so much for making this available to us! - Pastor Darren in Michigan

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Thinking through the process of developing this resource really shines a light on the value of a Content Manager with a wide set of skills. Had we hired out the development of VisionBox to multiple “experts,” we easily could have spent triple the overall cost (if not more).

But a combination of skill, hustle, and a clear focus allowed us to develop a resource that will be 95Network’s flagship product for years to come.