Know Your Market

When communicating your message, there are many things to consider. The most important however, is your market. You need to know what language they speak (literally and figuratively), and communicate your message in a way they can understand.

My wife an I are looking to buy our first house. We are very excited, and are constantly trying to be aware of properties available. One area has a lot of new condos that look very nice, so of course I have been casually watching it. I had a conversation with my boss about it today, and he said they were going for over $400,000. If we were still in Orange County, that would be a steal...but we aren't. We are in the High Desert. You can easily buy a nice house in a nice area for $250,000. That is a painfully clear example of the problems that beset you when you don't understand the market. While the O.C. lifestyle might appeal to people in the High Desert, the finances aren't here to support it.

The way we communicate our message as a church is no different. We need to understand our market, and make our choices based on it. How are we making our decisions? Are we looking at our needs in the context of our own community, or are we looking at what other churches are doing to meet their needs? Look to others for a guide on how to travel the course, but don't follow. Each church needs to solve its own problems in the context of it's community or it will not be as effective as it should be.

Adobe Freebie

Last September, I posted about a few freebies, including two online image editors. Well, Adobe has jumped into the conversation with an online version of "Photoshop" called Adobe Photoshop Expressions. I place "Photoshop" in quotes because this online version really isn't that powerful. To be fair, it is an online program. It seemed like it has the features that iPhoto or Picassa has for very basic image editing. It is nice to have the ability to store up to 2gb of photos free on their site, but overall I wasn't overwhelmed. I presume that if you absolutely have to make some minor adjustments to an image while not on your personal machine, it could help you out. Though I have to admit I have never been in a situation like that before. Try it out and let me know what you think. I might be missing something.

Blogging vs. Doing

I've been reading a lot of blogs recently that talk a lot about what other "movers and shakers" are doing with regards to a variety of trades and industries. Some of the individuals mentioned captured my attention, and I began researching them. What I noticed in my research, was that there wasn't a lot of information about them beyond a bio. No blogs, no podcasts, no twitter. That got me to thinking...is the blogging community a group of people who spend their time writing about doers rather than getting anything done themselves?

As I get older (I'm only 27, so don't read too much into that), I am starting to realize what a huge distinction there is between making an actual difference in the world, and a virtual one. Seldom does a blog post change my life. I can get some good information from a blog post, or find a neat little piece of software or new technology, but at the end of the day, nothing has really help shape me into who I am today.

Now as one who posts on a few blogs, I don't write to say that all blogs are worthless. Rather, I am writing to say accomplish something real with your life. Invest in your relationships and your passions. Spend your time acquiring depth in the meaningful things in life, rather than being shallow over a variety of fields an interests. Also, use technology for meaning. I am currently working on a blog that is exclusively for friends and family who are out of the area in order to keep our relationships connected and flourishing. Make the use of technology worthwhile.

Beyond us being church workers, we are Christians called to change the world for Christ. May we not spend our time distracted from the call that has been placed on us. I vow to blog less, and do more.

New Personal Database

You may recall my idea management post a few months ago. Well, FileMaker has jumped into the mix with a new product called Bento. I haven't yet upgraded to Leopard on my computer at home, so I haven't had a chance to play with the demo yet, but from the videos I have seen, it looks very nice. If you happen to be on Leopard and are looking for yet another option, Bento seems worth a look.

Internet Ministry Survey

The Center for Church Communications is doing a survey to see how various ministries are using the web, what is working, and what isn't. If you are the main web person (or hold the most knowledge about it), take the survey to help them gather their data. The data they gather will help all of us be more effective.

This Post is Green (How Trends can Devalue Your Message)

Through a blog I frequent, I was pointed to a New York Times article announcement of the "color of the year". It wasn't the color that intrigued me, rather, it was one of the quotes in the article. Now, before I go down that road, I just have to say that I find it quite amusing that a committee of people sit around talking about which colors should or should not be "in". Thanks for doing the thinking for me guys...now I can follow your lead like a mindless robot until the color is so overused that I blend in with everyone else trying to communicate their message. While that may be a cynical perspective, the quote that caught my attention points to a similar problem - how trends can swing from helping your brand to hurting it.

In the article, a comment was made about the color green. Thinking about our culture, and the huge trend towards an "environmentally friendly" public image, you would think that the color green would be nominated instead of the shade of blue that won. After all, green is green, right?

For educated consumers, Mr. Pean said, the overuse of green in marketing is increasingly a turn-off.

Wait. Isn't being environmentally friendly a good thing? Last I checked, it still matters. However, now that everyone is saying that they care, it begins to mean less. While I'm glad that Ford is green, so is Chevy, Toyota and Honda. The "greenness" of a company no longer differentiates them from everyone else.

I think this is a very important lessen for the church to understand. Too often, the recommendation for the next series title starts with "Make it look like those [insert ad campaign name here] ads". The issue however, is that unless the appropriation of these campaigns are done at the very forefront of a trend, the marketing materials have the potential to actually turn the target audience off. Yikes! Now, it doesn't mean that these ideas can't work, it just means that conversations and research should be done before solidifying a campaign approach like this. Make sure the ideas aren't already over saturated in the audience you are trying to reach, or that the value of the campaign has been diluted.

If there isn't a differentiation between the message of the church, and the message of our culture, then something is terribly wrong. After all, the church isn't supposed to look like culture...it is supposed to look different. Our marketing should be no different.

On the Shoulders of Normal People

I have been enjoying the benefits of community recently. Not "real life" community, rather, an online community. The folks over at Church Marketing Sucks graciously started a "lab" quite some time ago where church practitioners from various capacities (design, video, pastor, etc) come together to lament, critique, and brainstorm. Recently, I have gotten more involved and have tried to contribute to the needs of my fellow church designer. Today, as I was reading a post, I couldn't think of a solution, so I moved on a bit frustrated at my inability to help. I checked back a few hours later, and an idea was suggested that I really enjoyed. From that, I was able to suggest a specific application for that idea, as well a suggest new idea. I realized that it doesn't take an earth-shattering idea to come to great design solution. Instead, it simply takes a conversation. Not to say that the idea suggested was bad (because it was great), but it was the conversation that triggered a new idea to suggest.

Design can be one of the most selfless trades that I have seen. Our ideas are very rarely 100% ours. In fact, they are often 10-15% ours. We are simply the executers of vision, with a little sprinkle of us mixed in. As we continue to create, having resources like the CMS Lab, as well as co-workers and friends to have conversations about communications is vital. We don't always need to stand on the shoulders of giants to accomplish much in our trade. Often standing on the shoulders of normal people works just as well.