Because I love to promote things that enthuse me, I started thinking about the specific strategy of cross promotion. Cross promotion has propelled many products and organizations through various campaigns around the world. Right now, it seems to be everywhere, from Visa, to Bono, to those True North Commercials that get me vaklempt without fail.

“Talk amongst ya-selves.”

From my observation, cross promotion is: one famous person or organization and another famous person or organization, who promote each other.  Apple makes an iPod to promote the Red Campaign. They know it will support a good cause; make them look good; AND sell product.

This is brilliant.

Enter: Joy’s Evolution of Cross Promotion:

Today with blogs, websites, Facebook, Twitter and more, we all have the capability of being public figures, viewed by anyone.  (Mental note:  next job interview, delete photos off Facebook from posing as polygamist wife #3.)

You no longer have to be famous to endorse something or someone, and you don’t have to have a relationship to call them “friend” and be mutually associated. As individuals, when we promote an organization or product, we too can sell ourselves.

1) We have a tie to the organization or product. (Your profile states your name or picture on that product or organizations site. Forming your web identity.)

2) The organization has the advertising for free, via YOU, who knows other humans. (Gives the organization or product credibility to your “friends.”)

Humans need to hear or see things five times before it sticks. In this way, cross promotion is beautiful, especially in light of all the social networking avenues we have. My friend, Sam, started an online networking site called World Wide Open which connects people and ministries to make the most effective impact.  It allows people to have their own profile and features non-profits such as These Numbers have Faces started by my friend Justin.

My father always says “relationship determines response, Joy.” The element of “friends” online creates an environment for this credible marketing response that has initially been reserved for famous people who we “feel” like we are friends with.

Take Oprah.

We can attest that her “favorite things” is slightly more effective than a billboard. She says. We buy. She says “jump,” we say “how high.”  I realize not everyone falls for Oprah’s “helpful” guide to consumerism, but we all have our person or influencers that we allow to dub what is “cool” for the moment.

A little while ago someone said that AIDS is no longer the big cause people are fighting for; Hollywood is onto something else.

Um, seriously?

Let me just call Africa and let them know I’m kind of bored with AIDS now. If they could give me a new genocide or something, that might be more stimulating to talk about.

My goodness.

Once we have something we see as cool to promote, we then have to decide what we will do as a response. If on Facebook, I unthinkingly accept a page request about clean water, will that cause me to do anything beyond the click of a mouse? My friend Kathy said it well by noting,

“Sometimes I think we hide behind affiliating ourselves with people who do good, instead of actually doing it ourselves, and in doing so, we waste our own opportunities.”

As it becomes easier to cross promote electronically how will this affect us long term? I am not saying we should stop promoting things to somehow be more authentic. But I need to remember that the body of Christ is made up of different appendages. We all have different strengths, which will play to how we serve.  My fear is that in my desire to create my identity, I can promote and know a little something about everything, but ultimately be distracted from the opportunities to think and serve an area that gets me all vaklempt.

My question:

Is the online world giving us identities as promoters (veiled in intellectualism and activism) who really don’t have time to think and serve?