And we do it for free...

Does this business have a prayer? asks AOL small business site:

If you deal in intangibles, you may sometimes find it difficult to prove to customers that you're delivering a solid return on their investment. For instance, if you're a consultant overseeing a sales team, it can be challenging to know -- at least right away -- if your advice is actually working. Or if you sell an energy-saving device, nobody's going to know how it's working until the utility bills start coming. But think how hard it is to prove a return on investment when you own a prayer business.

Joel Gross, 25, doesn't seem daunted by that -- nor by the fact that he is an agnostic. He now has a tiny stake in the $4.6 billion spent every year on Christian products and services, as reported by ChristianRetailing.com. Last August, he hung up his shingle on the Internet and created Prayer Helpers. The product Gross's company sells: prayers. If you're down and out and want someone to pray for you, you just send $9.99, and Prayer Helpers will pray for you.


Surprisingly, this business has competition in the pray-for-pay world, In the Company of Prayer and Information Age Prayer.

Didn't Martin Luther have something to say about paying for prayers?

Posted by Ann Fontaine on December 8, 2009 6:30 PM | |
Comments (2)

Coincidentally, Freakonomics ran a post yesterday about things that are OK to give away, but not OK to charge for.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/money-changes-everything/#comment-525647

Posted by John B. Chilton [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 9, 2009 9:55 AM

Thanks for mentioning In the Company of Prayer. We appreciate your taking the time to check us out. For clarification, we do not charge people to pray for them. We are more a community of like-thinkers, who value prayer and reflection. Our subscriber fees are to cover taxes, G&A and other expenses necessary to provide the service. I do happen to pray for our subscribers every single day because that's just what I do, and I sincerely hope they are praying for me and all of us here at In the Company of Prayer.

Again, thanks and many more prayers,
Leslie Bianco
Executive Editor
www.companyofprayer.com

Posted by Leslie Bianco [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 9, 2009 2:06 PM

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