The old Mars Hill website was an industry leader, helping to serve up millions of downloads of sermons and media content each year. As the church has grown to over 13,000 people and 14 locations in four states, including the launch of four new churches and a sermon series in which 2,000 churches participated, the need for a website that better represented the church to new visitors and helped serve as a resource for fostering engagement with the church became paramount.

I was privileged to work on the new marshill.com with our great team of in-house designers and developers, who developed a fantastic minimalist-design site that is mobile friendly, responsive, and a joy to use. In developing the content strategy for the site, the driving philosophy was accessibility. The goal was to produce a copy deck that kept the end-user in the forefront, explaining in everyday terminology what Mars Hill stood for and believed. Additionally, we wanted the site to foster connection, not just be a digital repository of information. With that in mind, the goal was to give just enough information to create a next step, whether visiting the church or contacting a ministry leader.

The result? Lower bounce rates, higher engagement times, and an increase in traffic by around 30%. See more at marshill.com.

The Team

Project Lead: Mike Anderson

Development: Seth Faxon, Daniel Ott, and Perry Azevedo.

Design: Patrick Mahoney, Perry Azevedo

Copy: Jake Johnson

Nighthawk Radiology was one of the leading tele-radiology providers in the country and a publicly traded company. I worked with Terralever to help Nighthawk do a much needed revamp of their website.

NightHawk Radiology was a leading provider of teleradiology, a specialized service that works with radiologists to supplement their services. The publicly-traded company wanted to create a web presence on par with their size and reputation. We worked in conjunction with our friends at Terralever to create a website that moved away from the drawl corporate medical speak most competitors employed, and focused on leveraging NightHawk’s position as a partner in the radiology industry.

We wrote the entire copy deck for the website and worked with Terralever to consult on site structure and cross pollination of sidebar widget ads.

Nighthawk subsequently merged with competitor vRad.

Team

Jake Johnson, Terralever, OVO

Client Testimonial

“Jake Johnson has the uncommon ability to quickly grasp and translate a complicated industry like teleradiology and communicate it as if he’s been in the business for years. Not only that but his talent for understanding our brand on short notice—and staying true to it—was invaluable. In the end, Jake delivered copy for our website that we loved—and right on deadline.” - Keri Couples, Marketing Director for NightHawk Radiology Services

Study Guide

True Christianity was a three-part series on the essential beliefs of Christianity, what those beliefs say about who we are as humans, and how our beliefs and identities should inform our actions and behaviors.

Each of the three parts had a different creative approach to the video components with a central design theme to tie the series together.

The first part of the series, Beliefs, covered topics of a cerebral and philosophical nature. We sought to capture the beauty of these concepts with more abstract films that utilized simplicity and beauty.

I was the project lead and worked with the Praxis team to develop the design, concept, and strategy for the series, including writing the scripts for the videos.

The campaign included concept, copy, design, a study guide, videos, and promotion on Facebook and Twitter.

Team

Jake Johnson, Mike Giles, David Hildreth, Stephanie Horn, Jon Ashcroft, Silas Kyler, & Erik Dominguez

The Rich Dad Company is the financial education business of New York Times-bestselling author, Robert Kiyosaki.

With over 26 million books sold, Kiyosaki is a leading authority on money and investing. I’ve had the priviledge to work with Robert on many books and projects—including the full copy deck for Rich Dad’s new website, which included a landing page geared towards building their registered user base.

As part of the project, I ghostwrote Shooting the Sacred Cows of Money, which was based on a website and documentary by the same name.

The website was a new direction for the company, moving from a static description-based site to a dynamic educational site with constantly updated news, blogs, and information on money and the economy. See more at RichDad.com.

Just as it seems that all the media can offer are pronouncements of doom and gloom for the world in general, and business in particular, Ken McElroy provides the work force with a truly inspiring voice of optimism in his fourth book, The Sleeping Giant. McElroy’s, contributors, twenty self-employed entrepreneurs, are well-springs of knowledge, advice, and entrepreneurial inspiration.

The Giant of the title refers to the burgeoning number of unemployed who are awakening to their own great possibilities and talents, and not only discovering niche markets for themselves, but in the process, creating new jobs for others. This awakening is long overdue and is happening out of necessity, McElroy asserts. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. You can thrive while others cling to an old and dying system, he says. The world is entering into a very exciting time. We agree. The Sleeping Giant is an excellent guidebook for those looking for a new place in the work force or thinking of making long overdue life changes.

Team

Jake Johnson, Ken McElroy, Mona Gambetta

Praise

Ken McElroy has written an insightful book based on entrepreneurism that deserves to be read. Times have changed and The Sleeping Giant makes that very clear. McElroy addresses the entrepreneurial spirit and provides a great tool for entrepreneurs and hopeful entrepreneurs. – Donald Trump

McElroy, a successful self-employed entrepreneur, encourages would-be entrepreneurs to take advantage of the wealth of opportunities available even in the current economy. He identifies an emerging group of people who are creating their own employment destinies–a group he calls the “Sleeping Giant.” To illustrate the varied yet pragmatic paths available to those seeking to take charge, he includes 20 stories by successful individuals who carved out careers for themselves with an idea and little experience or money. While some of McElroy’s terminology seems dated–new economy versus old economy and the Internet and its endless possibilities–the stories he includes are just the opposite. Fresh, practical, and full of warts-and-all commentary, the advice these entrepreneurs share is insightful and of value to those contemplating starting their own businesses. Carol Frank’s “Choose Your Partners Well” is a cautionary and frank account that everyone starting out should read. Neil Balter’s “A Twenty-Year Overnight Success Story” shows the importance of resilience and highlights best practices as well as mistakes to avoid. And “Follow the Cash” by Richard Levychin shows that sometimes new business opportunities find you and advises on everything from cash flow to brand integrity. Interestingly, McElroy’s own story is missing, but he more than redeems himself in his solid choice of contributors who harness a wealth of wisdom that can set new entrepreneurs on the right path. – Publisher’s Weekly

Conspiracy of the Rich was a book written in real time as a response to the 2009 financial crisis. The book was initially published entirely online for free and featured the ability for reader feedback. Hyperlinked questions within the online text took readers to discussion forums where they could discuss the book with other readers.

The book was subsequently published by Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette. The print edition included select comments from readers within each chapter.

The site, conspiracyoftherich.com, is still live and features weekly updates by Robert Kiyosaki for registered users.

My work on the campaign included concept work, collaborative editing on both the online and print book, compilation of the manuscript—including reader comments selected from over 10,000 comments, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and continued editing for the website updates.

The website received over 1.2 million visitors, over 100,000 registrations, and over 10,000 reader comments. Facebook and Twitter accounts amassed thousands of followers. And the printed book reached #4 on The New York Times Best Seller List, #5 on BusinessWeek Best Seller List, #5 on INC.’s Best Seller List, and received a Red Star from Publishers Weekly.

Praise

“Like many other business books on the market, Kiyosaki’s latest explains the origins of the economic crisis and how best to weather the storm and restore financial standing. But its clarity, hands-on approach, and practical tips make it far superior and user-friendly than its competitors.” – Publishers Weekly, review of audio version.

“This book is the result of an exemplary online interactive project during which Kiyosaki invited the millions of Rich Dad fans to provide feedback, comments, and questions that would form the basis of the contents. That cutting-edge technique is fascinating, of course, but the money question is ‘What is the book about?’ The answer is simple: Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich is designed to help average Joes and Janes through these harrowing economic times. Sharpened over several months in response to several thousand reader queries and commentaries, the book offers a no-frills guide to wading through our present financial muck.” – Barnes & Noble

Team

Jake Johnson, Sarkissian Mason, Metaphour Digital, Rich Dad

In the summer of 2010, two large churches in the Phoenix, Arizona metro-area, Praxis Church and East Valley Bible Church, merged. Unlike most mergers, this was a true combining of strengths, as both churches were well-off financially and growing. The leadership team overseeing the merger wished to express the unique nature of the merger by shedding the previous branding of both churches and combining to form a new entity—Redemption Church.

My work on the project included: a full re-brand from the ground up, including design, messaging and copywriting, a website, content strategy, video, and consulting on the roll-out, including social media.

Working with a great team of freelancers, we announced the merger, completed the rebrand, rolled out the elements and messaging, and launched the new website within six months.

The Team

Project lead/copy: Jake Johnson
Consulting/video producer: Lukas Naugle
Art direction: Greg Lutze, Jon Ashcroft
Web development: Terralever

Despite these numbers, Pastor Mark never had his own website to share what’s on his mind or to collect the significant amount of media created by him and spread across the web.

PastorMark.tv is the solution to that problem. The site allows for aggregation from content created by Pastor Mark on other associated sites and also allows for original content.

Additionally, the site serves as home for Campaigns, which is an initiative to share all the sermon research and collateral for Mars Hill sermon series with other churches for free.

Launched in September 2011, the site is on pace for over 2 million unique visitors.

The Team

Art direction and design: Jordan Butcher
Copy and project management: Jake Johnson
Development lead: Seth Faxon
Front-end design: Perry Azevedo

To promote Mark and Grace Driscoll’s new book, Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, & Life Together, we created a eight-page newsprint ad for Thomas Nelson. The paper was a mixture of a sample chapter—broken into three “stories,” statistics about sex and marriage in the US, and advertisements for the Real Marriage Campaign and the Real Marriage DVD curriculum.

Thomas Nelson was so pleased with the piece that they bumped their initial order of 20,000 to 120,000, distributing it to all their retail partners and at various conferences.

Team

Art Direction: Jesse Bryan, Mike Anderson
Design: Patrick Mahoney
Copy: Jake Johnson

Karl Clauson is the former pastor of Changepoint Church in Anchorage, Alaska, the largest church in the state of Alaska. Karl’s book is a Christian-living book focused on rediscovering the thrill-filled life in God.

I worked with Karl to take his existing manuscript and make it publishing ready. The project took six months and involved collaborative editing.

The book was published by Anchor and picked up for national distribution by a number of faith-based retailers.

Praise

Thrill will not only challenge you to run to the One Alone Who is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think”; it will help you slay the giant “thrill killer” who would keep you from this life of power and fulfillment. As Karl writes, may your heart be fully His so you can experience the journey that is “tough, powerful, uncertain, awesome, and fills life to the max with a whole lot of joy.” — Kay Arthur, Co–CEO Precept Ministries International. Author, When The Hurt Runs Deep

Who Karl Clauson is comes out in every line of this book. I think normal is killing our country, our city, our families, and us. I think Karl has articulated the path out of this valley of the shadow of death. Purchase two copies of this book, one for yourself and one for someone you love dearly. —Dean Curry, Senior Pastor, Life Center, Tacoma, Washington