Month: March 2009

  • Saturday Tunes

    Saturday TunesHere we are. Another Saturday. We’ve all awoken in a new place this week and it’s been fun. One thing we can’t get over about the new house is how quiet it is. No more noisy cars zooming by, no loud noise when the furnace kicks on, and we’re not so close to our neighbors that we can hear them sneeze.

    This morning we are off to Anza-Borrego State Park to see the desert flowers. Yesterday, Tic told us we had to go this weekend or we’d be sorry. With advice like that we can’t go wrong. I’m sure we’ll have a ton of pictures to share of our adventure later.

    In the meantime, I’m chilling in my super quiet house listening to music. Here are the next 10 tunes flowing this morning. Completely random, ratings included.

    #1- Don’t Give Up by Sanctus Real ***

    #2 Deliver Me by David Crowder Band ****

    #3 Leader of the Band by Dan Fogelberg ***

    #4 It Just Takes One by Addison Road ***

    #5 The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen ****

    #6 Gotta Have You by The Weepies

    #7 Shine for You by Hillsong United ***

    #8 Free Fallin’ by John Mayer *****

    #9 What’d I Say by Ray Charles ***

    #10 Burn for You by Steve Fee ***

    Eh, hopefully today will be better than these 10 songs. My ipod hates me.

  • Maintaining Stellar Customer Service

    In the last 30 days I lead a big change in how we send emails at work. We ditched our old email delivery service for MailChimp. One small part of the decision was that MailChimp offered a better price. That was important– but the selling point for me was stellar customer service.

    There have been a couple of times recently when they lived up to that expectation. Last week I was trying to do something and couldn’t figure out how to make it work. So I dialed up their live chat and explained what I needed. The person told me that their system couldn’t do what I needed it to do, but it should. So, while I waited, they created a solution for me. Yeah, that’s unheard of!

    So I wasn’t surprised to see that MailChimp had earned a 5-star rating for customer service from their customers. My question for them was, “How do you keep it up?” Check out the comment that Ben, one of the head chimps had to say:

    I can tell you that my co-founder, Dan Kurzius, is in charge of customer service here, and he does not handle customer service the traditional way.

    His philosophy is, “Don’t just answer. Explain.”

    Explain what’s happening, so the customer learns something. People like to learn, so you just made them happy. The bonus, when you explain, is they won’t do it again.

    So everything we do is based on “explaining things.”

    All departments are focused on the customer experience. Here are some of the strategical things we’re doing in each department.

    Design:
    – Build the product so it “explains” while you use it. That’s ongoing and never ending. Help text, hints, intuitive interfaces, usability tests with customers. We’re hooked on clicktale, crazy egg, google analytics, yslow.

    Hiring:
    – Only hire people who are smart and who like to explain. No call center drones.

    Marketing:
    – This, IMHO, is the biggest one. Do our best to only attract customers who like learning, who have a good sense of humor, and who like to tinker. We call them “power users.” Scare away customers who need too much hand-holding (either because they’re too new to email marketing, or they think they know everything, but ironically, demand account executives to help them with everything). Big giant monkeys on our home page, and saying stuff like “reports that’ll make you poop your pants” tends to do the trick. :-) If you attract the wrong people with the wrong expectations, they will never, ever be satisfied.

    Webinars:
    Weekly webinars that go over all the basics. Right now, Dan does them. Soon, every member of the customer service team will do them. Terror and stage fright keeps things fun.

    MailChimp Academy:
    – Videos teach people how MailChimp works so they can learn on their own time. They’re on mailchimpacademy.blip.tv, but also peppered throughout the product.

    There are a million other things the customer service team is experimenting with, but that’s sort of a high level view of our strategy.

    The question is… how does this philosophy work in the world you work in?

  • The McLane Stimulus Plan

    big-money1

    Since it’s clear the Obama Administration is going to be giving 100% of the stimulus money to failed companies like GM and AIG and nothing in cash to the middle class, Kristen and I had to make our own bail out plan. (Sorry for the dig on Obama, I was a big fan of Bush’s free money system!)

    Our challenge was pretty simple. How do we live on 70% of our income for the next 24 months? If we could do that, this is what we would have at the end of it.

    – No debt

    – 3 months living expenses in the bank as a rainy day fund

    – 1 months living expenses in the bank as general savings

    – Still faithfully giving to our church

    Our 2008 scenario was like this. Prior to moving to California we lived at about 105% of our income. Basically, we had been swallowed by inflation and struggled to recover. Each month we went a little deeper into debt. When we moved to California we had about 4 months where we lived at 200% of our income. Why? We had two houses, we moved 2500 miles, and stuff like that.

    Our plan, live on 70% of what we bring home after taxes. Roughly, the breakdown looks like this. (+/- 2% per month)

    10% of our income to paying off debt accumulated in 2007-2008. (Our credit cards jumped from 17% to 29.99% last year, we alone in that?)

    10% of our income to savings.

    10% of our income to regular charitable giving.

    This is where the McLane plan differs from the pop culture financial planners. Most of them would say, “Concentrate on paying off the highest interest thing first, then focus on savings.” I’m not going to lie… I can’t bring myself to not save and spend that much paying down debt while not putting anything into savings.

    We’re about 3 months into this plan. It seems to be working for us. For those in love with budgeting, it’s a semi-budget. It leaves about 20% of our money as flexibility… which really works for us.

  • Why Do Church Leaders Count?

    counting-sheep

    If ministry is about people and not numbers, why do we count people?

    I’ve been going to church a long time. I’ve visited and been a part of probably a dozen churches. Typically, churches count heads either during the offering time or during the sermon of the Sunday morning services. And counting is a big part of everything else that goes on in a church as well. How many in Sunday school, how many at youth group, how many in the choir, how many pastors, how many chairs are unused, how many people cars in the parking lot, how many donuts, how many old ladies, how many envelopes were in the offering… the counting never stops.

    People in churches: I find it devaluing to be counted. If that’s you… communicate to your leaders to stop counting you. When people have to sit on the floors because the preaching or program is so good, we’ll know to give to a building campaign. Until then numbers mean squat. Tell your staff to focus on who does come to church and not how many more they need to reach a goal or propose their next fund raising campaign.

    People on church staffs: Stop counting stuff. Find something better to talk about in your team meetings. If you’re judging everything by a number then you’re judging things by the wrong denominator. I’m all for measuring success and failure. But find a measurement device that isn’t butts in seats or dollars in the plate. Don’t give me that crap about the parable of the 99 sheep. That’s not why you’re counting! Counting heads, cars, envelopes isn’t about finding lost sheep... it’s about ego.

    Admitting that is the first step towards recovery.

    You can have a church that doesn’t count. It’ll work. Trust me. Next time someone asks you how many ____ come to ____, tell them you don’t know.

  • YS Podcast

    Hard to believe that this is the 28th episode of the re-launched YS Podcast. I like that we’ve kept it simple, short, and all about youth ministry.

    I’ve talked to Sean a bunch of times about this piece. His ministry helps youth groups around the country buy airtime on local radio. Not event spots… but real ministry time. A very cool concept and surprisingly cheap. The second segment is from Tic… obviously! I love what he says about Lent and taking care of yourself. I know I need to hear this type of thing and I’ve already watched it a couple of times.

    The most consistent feedback I get from the show is from the closing. It always amazes me, but at least once a week I’ll get a voice mail, email, or Facebook message says… “I needed to hear that my ministry matters this week.” All that to say, if you know a youth ministry volunteer or paid staff member take a couple of minutes this week to express to them how they are making a difference in your church and community. Don’t assume they feel appreciated.

  • Fast Tuesday, Temptation

    fast_tuesdayA full week into Lent, today marks my first Fast Tuesday. Not sure if “pumped” is the right word to use for entering a period of fasting, but I am prepared to enter this season of preparation.

    I woke up thinking about this passage:

    Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

    The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

    Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.”

    The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

    Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

    The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
    ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
    they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

    Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

    When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Luke 4

    Lent is deeply rooted in the 40 days fast Jesus observed in the desert as he prepared for his earthly ministry. I think it’s amazing how many times I’ve come into Lent and missed the meta-narrative of what Lent was preparing me for. Lent is a 40 day fast of preparation of the observance of Easter… duh, right? Wrong! There was a two-fold point to Jesus’ 40 days of preparation, wasn’t there?

    Point one: Pay the penalty of sin with death, making a way for man-kind to have a relationship with God. (Bringing the Gospel message to us individually)

    Point two: Open the door for all believers to act as agents of God’s mercy, regardless of earthly decension. Previously, this belonged only to the tribe of Aaron. (Bringing the Gospel message to the whole earth.)

    Lent isn’t meant to just prepare me for Easter. It’s also to remind me to continually prepare for my lifelong ministry as a believer. Conversely, my role as someone called to “professional ministry” is to not only call people to the cross, but to prepare and encourage God’s people to act as agents of the Cross wherever they go.

    So Jesus went to the desert to fast and prepare for his ministry. And while fasting the devil tempted him along three lines a Messiah would be tempted. I’m a pretty self-reflective guy… and I don’t think the temptations I face are anything like those. But let me share some of the tempatations I wrestle with as a ministry leader.

    The temptation to attack. Part of that giftedness is a strong sense of what ought to happen in just about any organization I’m exposed to. (Schools, libraries, sports teams, churches, work, families, game shows, and even organizations I’m not tied to, just curious about.) The temptation is stop trying to gently reform and just nail 95 Theses to the wall and walk away. There is a big difference between pushing something to get better and being rude. And while being a jerk is often times more effective at fixing things it hardly reflects a Gospel-driven approach. So I feel constantly tempted to say things in ways that aren’t helpful, blog about things in an attacking manner, etc.

    The temptation to invest in the wrong things. Anyone who knows me knows that I struggle deeply with balance. I tend to fall in love with something to the point where things get out-of-whack… thus messing up the thing because of a lack of balance. For example. There were about 2 years in Romeo where things were very balanced. Home life was great, work life was great, and working with the golf team helped me keep both in check while somehow making both better at the same time. Then, I allowed a pressure from work to push me out of helping with the golf team. That was my centering activity and from that point on life spun further and further out of control. Had I just stood up to that pressure and resisted the temptation to allow myself out of balance, who knows what would have happened? I need to resist that temptation continually as it comes.

    The temptation to lead instead of serve. I don’t know if I’m the only one who notices this, but a lot of church leaders have a jacked up view of leadership. They lead with ego, talent, and brute force. Unfortunately for them, Jesus called us to lead by serving others. (see John 13) I have to admit, it’s a huge temptation to try to lead things in the way I see church leaders being successful! I want to ram-rod my will on others all the time. But as we see in the Gospels and the early church in Acts… Jesus’ ministry came to conquer the hearts of mankind. You can’t conquer a persons heart by force… in case you didn’t know, that doesn’t work.

  • Re-branding the Recession

    recessionAre you tired of the recession yet? Maybe it comes from living in Detroit and hearing how the economy was slowing down for 3 straight years before the rest of the country went into recession? If you want to play an interesting game, take bets before the nightly news starts on how many news stories wll not mention the economy. They even weave it into the weather and sports! “The left fielder is in an economic slump of his own, he signed a new contract for the league minimum.”

    Talk of the economy tanking has become a self-fulfilling prophesy! Of course it is tanking, we are told there is no hope 100 times per day.

    I see something completely different. I see us on the horizon of a great cultural correction. I think we’re on the verge of a new wave of innovation not seen since the industrial revolution. The days of negative cash flow entrepreneurship are over as a new wave of cottage industry uses new media to compete with corporations… often with little or no capital investment… thus getting these new businesses in the black almost immediately. What I see today is opportunity!

    Don’t believe me? Check out Mark Cuban’s self-created Stimulus Plan. He’s putting his money where his mouth is, too. Propose a good idea and he’ll get you going in a month.

    Don’t believe me? We got YMX off the ground with almost no capital costs and turned a profit on the first day.

    Don’t believe me? My friend Bob Carter created a massive iPod repair business out of his basement and now employs several people. He turned what Apple said was junk into profit! Soon he’ll be franchising his idea across the country.

    Don’t believe me? Thousands of small businesses are being created right now and marketed through Etsy, Ebay, and Craigslist for little or no capital investment.

    Don’t believe me? Smart entrepreneurs are investing in a depressed real estate market. They are buying up neighborhoods to turn single-family homes into investment property. These are the Donald Trump’s of Main Street… they are using real money to make more money tomorrow.

    Don’t believe me? Community colleges across the country are jam packed as laid off workers learn new skills. And many of them will create their own small businesses.With no money to borrow almost all of them will be positive cash flow businesses from the start.

    I’m going to keep preaching this truth until people get it. Out of desperation comes innovation. Big companies depends on expensive research and development departments to come up with new products. How many billions of dollars were invested in concept cars in the last 10 years? And how many of them were profitable? See what I mean?

    But anyone who has a hungry family to feed can create a product the market wants. Tommorow’s poor are waiting for the government to bail the out. But just like in any industrial revolution… the ones who get started early and estrablish themselves early will have the advantage.

    This recession is a needed correction. Smart companies will learn to depend less on borrowing from a broken banking system and get in the black faster.

    There are millions of new ideas out there just waiting to be taken to market. Chances are you have one already. So what are you waiting for?

  • Sushi Conveyor

    I’ve always wanted to go to one of those sushi joints where the food comes out on a conveyor belt. Here’s what happens when a fun-loving tourist puts her video camera on one in Japan. If you’ve ever traveled where there are lots of Japanese tourists you’ll appreciate the irony of their reactions.

    HT to Cory

  • Social Networking 101

    social-networking-101

    Yesterday, I had a crazy thought. Big surprise, I know. It was listening to a story on KPBS about how all of the community colleges in California are jam packed with laid off workers trying to learn new skills. And I started thinking… that’s a lot of small businesses… that’s a lot of people looking for jobs… that’s a lot of people with time on their hands.

    What if I offered a class in social networking? Something that covered entry level and helped get people started without looking like a moron? Spend 5 sessions covering stuff like creating accounts, building a network, etiquette, promotion, style, generating content, creative commons, etc. The weekly sessions would cover:

    – Facebook

    – Blogging

    – Twitter

    – YouTube, Flickr, and other media sites

    – PhotoShop/just enough for your social networking needs

    Do you think people would actually pay for something like that? I’m thinking it’d be fun to do it tutor-style. Small group of people, meet at my house, 30 minutes of instruction plus an hour or so of practice.

    I know there is a need for this because I’m constantly helping my friends already. While I don’t mind helping my friends at all, it makes me think that there is a large population who wants to learn how to do those things for themselves or their business who just need someone to sit down and explain things, then show them how to get started.

    Of course, I am already silly with stuff to do. So I don’t think I’m really serious about this… but it does have me thinking.