Knocking on doors.....How successful is it? (page 2)

crazycate

When I was still in, a fellow "publisher" said to me, "Field Service is as much for our benefit as it is for the householders." I think she meant that it kept us strong and focused, but what I thought at the time was, it is nothing more than busy-work--meant to keep us out of "trouble." I've always hated busy-work, and would've quit any real job long ago that required it of me.

There are much more effective ways of reaching people these days, ways that wouldn't annoy people as much as the constantly knocking at their doors, but I don't think that's what it really is about. I think it is about keeping people busy and making them feel like they are part of something important.

Cate

Quirky1

When I went out in FS we spent more time and money on coffee shops and rummage sales..WTF!! I felt pretty stoopid going to a garagae sale in a suit...LOL

choosing life

I met 2 ladies in the d2d. Both of them are still dubs. So, I guess it works sometimes. Kinda a by-product.

I think crazycate is right. It is really meant to keep dubs busy and to give them a mission. Classic cult program.

Farkel

The numbers I saw was that it took over 32 years of preaching on average to get one convert. I preached for 25 years and pioneered for 3 years and never got one.

This last point I made is a segue to my next one:

Doesn't anyone find it interesting that while the WTS and its stooges will browbeat the hell out of a publisher or pioneer who is "weak" on hours, they NEVER and I mean NEVER browbeat people for not getting converts. Have you ever considered that one? If converts are the main goal of the WTS, then why don't they turn up the heat and pressure and GUILT because the actual number of converts cannot possibly justify the hours spent and literature distributed.

Why then, doesn't the WTS emulate the Mormons and other groups who've had success in getting converts by using television ads? I think the same answer applies to both questions I've asked.

Getting converts is a plus for the WTS, but a very minor and secondary plus. Printing and selling literature is the entire main business of the WTS. If they ran television ads and sent free literature (they cannot legally charge for it) to people who responded, there is no immediate return on investment and/or the return on investment cannot justify the cost of giving away the literature. Of course, they could dispatch local dubs to call on the tv respondents, but consider the cost of the television ad compared with the number of respondents, compared with the money they could make on any "donations" from the respondents. It's not a good business model.

They already have the best business model conceivable: a built in and captive market, i.e. dubs who MUST buy their shit and who must buy enough of their shit to look like they are going to be getting rid of their shit in their fake field service. I'm sure the WTS could get along just fine if they received NO new converts and dubs bred fast enough to keep up with the attrition through death and people fleeing away from their cult.

The WTS web site is just for show and costs next-to-nothing to keep up and maintain. Any "donations" they get from that is just free gravy.

I doubt you will see the WTS bidding for Google or Yahoo adwords to stay at the top of the search engine heap. Their book peddlers come free of cost and their peddlers must buy all their crap, or God will kill them.

What better business model could there be than that?

Farkel

viva

I would say its pretty ineffective. Most new members are born in. Many others were at the time disadvantaged or in need.

Not only do most JWs have poor technique, interest in religion is waning in general.

Homerovah the Almighty

Fear , guilt , fear and more guilt and the quickly impending Armageddon on the horizon,

all publishing is done for free, yes you might say they had the perfect business model going for them

for a long time . The converted suckers did most of the work for them, buying and selling their products,

and not to mention donations given to them over all those years.

Adds up to a lot of cash once you think about it, now I hear they want all of the property tittles of where

the Kingdom Halls are situated turned over and put in their name , which could fetch them hundreds of millions in assets.

The over all power and wealth of any given religion such as this is astonishing when you step back and take a look at it.

But I guess thats what drives men to do this in the first place.

Hittman

It's never been extremely effective, but it's got to be even less effective now.

It used to be common to have strangers knocking on your door trying to sell you something – cosmetics, vacuums cleaners, brushes, encyclopedias. They were an annoyance, but not unexpected. Now, if someone you don't know is standing on your porch, you're immediately more suspicious, and they're less likely to be welcome.

But service isn't just about finding converts. It's about taking up the sheep's time, proving their devotion, and getting the religion out there in front of people. Imagine the kind of trouble Dubs would get into if they were allowed to sleep in on the weekends.

drew sagan

I think what really needs to be done is a comparitive study on the stats. I know that recent numbers show that JWs dedicate an absurd amount of time to gain one new member. I wonder if that was lower back, say, in the 1950's or so.

dismayed

The most recent figures I remember were something like 5,000 hours for one new dub. That means a 10 hr publisher would have to go out 500 months, or about 41 years to bring someone in. Of course that doesn't even factor in that most new dubs are born-ins....yikes....no wonder it feels like your not accomplishing anything, cuz you're not!

donny

The success is quite low. In my decade as a Witness, I never converted anyone (thankfully) even though I had many studies over the years. After I was baptised in 1983, I called a former workmate of mine who had introduced me to the religion back in 1979 and he told me that I was the first one in his 20 years of planting that actually sprouted.

Don

Knocking on doors.....How successful is it?

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