We’ve been looking at various elements of the social media.  So far we’ve discussed video sharing on sites like YouTube, and Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Now I want to get all high-tech on you.  It’s not really all that high-tech, but it is a bit more technical than Facebook or Twitter.  Then again most things are.  We’re talking about podcasts.  So, what’s a podcast? Read more…

I came across an article from ChurchMarketingSucks.com based on a poll that asked the question, “What is your number one church marketing fear?”  The idea behind the poll is that many churches do not market themselves (or do very little marketing) because the church is afraid.  Maybe it’s a fear that the marketing will not be any good, maybe it’s a fear that the church will become dependant on marketing instead of spiritual growth.  Are you being controled by fear? Read more…

I came across an interesting video today on YouTube added by BeyondRelevance.  They call it a video parable and it imagines what it might be like if a coffee shop run itself and marketed itself like a church.  It was a pretty amusing video, though certainly a stereotypical idea of what the video makers think most churches are like. Read more…

We’ve been discussing social media a lot here on the Church Marketing Online site as we’ve been going through the “Is Your Church Social” blog series.  I’ve written a lot about the benefits of churches using the various social media, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.  While I take the approach in most articles of how a church can use the media to market itself and why it can be beneficial, I also realize that most churches can’t use all the social media either because of time or expense and that not every social media outlet is a good choice either for your church marketing strategy or even your church.  It’s not that any of the specific social media outlets are inherently ineffective, but rather that each church has its own strengths and foci and those may not match up with some of the social media. Read more…

Over the past two weeks Paul and I have posted several articles related to the Interactive Church Conference, articles about church communication and interactive church websites.  One of the big stumbling blocks a lot of churches run into when deciding whether to have an interactive website is the fear of user created content or member created content…the loss of control of the website content.

• What if someone posts theology that is not what the church teaches?
• What if someone posts something negative about the church?
• What if people spam the site?
• What if people post inappropriate content?
• What if someone just attacks our church website outright with vulgar content? Read more…
  

One of the topics we discussed at the Interactive Church Conference was about the concern some of the pastors had about how people would interact on the website.  There were a variety of concerns, but some of the main concerns were how to prevent the website from being just self-focused (the users only being focused on themselves) and having inappropriate conversations.  Not just conversations about inappropriate topics, but public conversations about private matters or members arguing over an issue instead of having a discussion.  So, how do we keep our church sites from becoming a gossipfest or places where people are constantly arguing? Read more…

With the rapid increase in the popularity of Twitter, it seems everyone and their uncle are creating Twitter tools and Twitter related websites.  Some of these tools and websites are very helpful and can be great resources, while others leave much to be desired.  So what tools should you use?  What sites are good resources? Read more…

Yesterday, I posted a blog on the Christian Web Trends blog about why churches should have an interactive website.  I assume every church is now chomping at the bit to get their new website , but perhaps some churches aren’t quite sure how to go about it.  Thankfully they addressed some of those issues in the Interactive Church Conference.  Read more…

 In the Church Marketing Online University (CMO University on left of page), we talked a bit about using search engines as a primary marketing tool for your church.  The folks at Radiant Church in Colorado Springs recently discovered this and are using search engine marketing to turn their declining church attendance around and start growing again.  What’s their secret…

Read more…

I mentioned in a previous post that there were two upcoming webinars related to the “State of the Church Online” survey which was put together by Drew Goodmanson.  Last Wednesday I attended the first of the webinars, “The Truth about Church Websites and Effective Online Outreach.”  I thought I’d pass on some notes about the webinar for those who may not have been able to participate. Read more…