5/29/2002   First of Its Kind Catholic Content Service Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

ParishWebmaster.com, the first company to provide Web-only content for Catholic Web sites, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Content Subscription Service.

"To our knowledge, no one else is doing what we're doing," said company founder, Brandon Jubar of his company, which provides ready-to-publish articles for Catholic Parish Web sites and newsletters.

One of the challenges that a Parish encounters when developing a Web site is keeping the material on the site fresh. Without new articles and constantly changing, up-to-the-minute content, people won't revisit a Parish Web site.

And creating that content is a burden that many Parishes are not able to bear.

"What we do is provide the Parish with a steady supply of new material each week," explains Jubar. "The full text of the articles is published directly on the Parish's Web site, rather than just a headline linked to some other site. That means that traffic is driven to the Parish's site, not someone else's."

ParishWebmaster also provides a weekly electronic magazine, LifeTimes Catholic eZine, that can be customized for the Parish, and linked back to the Parish Web site. "The goal is to help drive repeat traffic to a Parish Web site, not to ours."

The key, says Jubar, is the eZine -- or more precisely, email. Email allows a Parish to tell its parishioners when new content is available online. "We encourage Parishes to differentiate between online ministry and online advertisements for offline programs. They both have their place, but they should be separate in the mind of the reader." The fundamental difference, according to Jubar, is that busy people won't necessarily read about what's coming up -- but they will read something that ministers to them right then and there. "People want to stay in touch with their faith, but they don't want to feel guilty in the process. They may be too busy to stay actively involved throughout the week, but they'll spend a few minutes reading and reflecting if you make it easy for them. That's what we help Parishes do."

And that's what ParishWebmaster.com has been doing for a year now -- helping Catholic Parishes keep parishioners connected with their faith by providing fresh content week after week. Can Jubar and company continue to generate articles at the same pace? "We have almost 300 articles and editorials scheduled for 2002, and the Spirit has provided more than enough inspiration," says the founder with a smile. "Ask me next year when the service turns two."

For more information on the ParishWebmaster.com Content Subscription Service, visit their Web site, email Brandon Jubar directly, or call ParishWebmaster.com at (810)348-9807.

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