Tag: Marketing

  • Finding a church home: Pre-search thoughts

    Pre-search thoughtsThis week marks the beginning of a new era. For the first time in more than 10 years Kristen and I begin a search for a new church home. Sure, there were other searches before– but they were always tied to employment so that’s a little different. Now that I don’t have a church job we are looking for a new church from a whole new vantage point, and that’s kind of exciting!

    And so the search begins in earnest.

    What are we looking for? There’s no simple answer to that. I wish I were one of those people who could say, “I’m looking for a church of 350-500, a certain type of music, a certain program of discipleship, a certain set of theology, a certain demographic, and looking for families like ours.” But I’m not that kind of person and this isn’t that simple.

    So, here’s the deal. We’ll visit a church at least two weeks in a row before deciding if its worth more of our investment or not. It’s simply not fair to judge anything on one shot. (Well, unless the vibe is bad. Then we may not stay beyond the cup of coffee.) We’ll play the role of visitors. We’ll fill out the cards, chat with the people welcome team, etc.

    How will we chose the churches to visit? The old fashioned way. We’ll ask some friends. We’ll search the web. We’ll drive around where we live. Stuff like that. But we’d be open to a church marketing to us. Want us to check you out and play secret shopper? Leave a comment or send me an email. Here’s a family of four looking for a place to not only attend, but contribute… come and get us! San Diego, East San Diego County, bring it.

    The non-negotiables… because we do have some standards.

    – We’re looking for a church that teaches the Biblical truth.

    – We’re looking for a church where kids are important.

    – We’re looking for a church that expects us to jump in and get involved but will be patient enough to let us settle in.

    – We’re looking for a church that is practically passionate about reaching the community we live in.

    – We’re looking for a church that values its people, all of ’em.

    Other than that, we are open. It can be an old church or a church plant. A big church or a little one. One that has a pretty white steeple or meets in a store front. A church that is huggy… uh, better skip the huggy ones. Fast and loud music or soft and boring.

    Last Sunday during the service I looked at Kristen and said, “I’m ready for the next step.” She nodded in agreement. As much as we loved our time in Romeo, it is time.

  • Always and Never

    As a 20 year old I sat next to Kristen in pre-marital counseling wide-eyed. The pastor knew we were crazy for one another and he said, “Make sure that you limit the times you say “always” and “never.” 

    That’s why I chuckled when I read Seth Godin this morning.

    “I’ll never buy from you again.”
    “I’ll never vote for that candidate if my candidate loses.”
    “I’ll never invest in that stock.”

    Never seems like a really long time, doesn’t it? Practically forever.

    Here’s the thing. People who say ‘never’ actually mean, “until my situation or the story changes materially.” Making bad decisions in the now to honor absolute statements in the past isn’t particularly sustainable. Consumers, short-sighted as they are sometimes, are able to realize this pretty quickly.

    In fact, the only thing shorter than ‘never’ is ‘always.’

    How true is that in your church? In your youth group? 

    Leaders lead people where they “never” wanted to go or “always” avoided. It’s not a popularity contest. Follow God above all else.

  • Youth Ministry Ad Network

    youth ministry ad networkMaybe you’ve noticed that there is a small block of ads on the right side of my blog. What is that all about?

    Patti & I have been thinking of a very focused, very profitable (for both advertisers/bloggers) niche` ad network for youth pastors for a long time.

    Essentially, our goal with it is to connect the best youth ministry bloggers with the best youth ministry advertisers. Its a natural fit… but it needed someone to be the conduit. That’s where YMX stepped in.  For the last two years we’ve built relationships with many of the best companies in youth ministry and we’ve done “direct sales” of ads since the beginning. In other words, we’ve had our own internal ad network for a couple years… so creating another separate network was a natural fit for us.

    Next step. From there it was all about finding the right people and letting people know about it. From January 1st-March 31st we ran a pilot program. When that went well, we decided to keep it going… and here we are!

    Why is it different? Unlike the two most common forms of online advertising (Pay per click [google ads] and Pay per action [affiliate links]) our bloggers are guaranteed payment just for displaying the ads. That isn’t altogether unique… but our payment structure is! The ad network only makes 20% of the revenue… whereas the accepted standard is 50%. That means we’re passing almost all the money onto our youth ministry bloggers. They are happy. Our advertisers our happy. It’s a cool thing.

  • Test Your Awareness

    I saw this on Seth’s blog, it is quite interesting.

    Seth relates it to advertising. The video relates it to driving. What are some things you’d relate it to?

  • 30 Day Sex Challenge

    Relevant Church in Tampa, Florida has certainly attracted some media attention. Check out this challenge.

    • “An openly edgy Christian church is launching what they’re calling a 30-Day Sex Challenge to help members improve their relationships and rediscover themselves.”
    • “Single folks are to abstain from sex for 30 days…Married folks, on the other hand, are supposed to have sex every day for 30 days.”
    • “Relevant Church leaders know the campaign may shock, even disgust, some people in and outside the church. But that was the idea. Create a buzz about a topic a lot of people don’t like to talk about.”

    What do you think? (No debate here this is pretty close to what the Bible teaches about sex.) Is this too far ? Not far enough? Are right on with the culture?

    HT to Tim Stevens

  • The Google Fridge

    google fridgeSometimes you see something and you think, “Can that be true?“ Apparently Google rewarded some of their bigger advertisers with this little dandy of a logo item. It’s a mini-fridge. Actually it is so cool that it both cools and warms things depending on your preference. Also, it comes with a car connector for using it on the road.

    I can’t lie. I want one. I use Google docs. Google’s homepage, iGoogle. I use Adwords and Adsense. I use Analytics. I use Feedburner. I use their search engine. I use their mobile apps. Essentially, I am a Google-phened webdork. And I think the Google Fridge would compliment the rest of my Google stuff.

    So what would I do if I had a Google Fridge?
    I’d proudly display it in my office. I don’t truly have a need for it. But as the standing internet guy on our staff, I’d like to display it so that I can solidify my status permanently. I just plain want the thing.

    And I started thinking about the other ad companies and wondered what they are giving high rollers? What would it take for me to display one of their promo items in my office? I mean, I do have standards. So how much of a freebie would it take for me to take the ribbing of having their products in my office? I mean, I can be bought… so here’s what it would take. (You can see how much I like these companies.)

    1. Yahoo! Plasma TV… I’d put that up.
    2. Linkshare MacBook Pro… sure.
    3. Amazon Associates digital photo frame… I’d rock that.
    4. Auctionads Bose… OK, I’d do it for that.
    5. Microsoft adCenter Toyota Prius… only if it were dark when I came to work.

    What about you? When it comes to freebies, what are your standards?

  • Whopper Freakout: Freakish Solid Marketing

    I don’t like Burger King and I can’t stand the Whopper. But this video is flat out good marketing.
    What do you think? What is it about this video that you like? Dislike?