The Hardest Design Lesson to Learn

Design is hard work. There is no question about that. It takes time, skill, and a lot of planning to pull off a great design. So what is the hardest design lesson to learn? Is it choosing that perfect font that communicates your message? Is it selecting the best color scheme that adds that extra flare? Or is it coming up with that creative concept that will blow the competition away?

While all of these steps in the design process are important. The hardest lesson for a designer to learn is to listen to the opinions of others. It echoes the age old principle, "The customer is always right."

Any designer knows that, to most non-design people, everything you do looks wonderful. In some cases, a customer's idea of a design gives you this strong desire to fix it and make your design despite what the client wants. Sometimes, the hardest thing for the designer, or even the client, to do is quench that desire and design with the audience in mind.

There are a couple of reasons for highly valuing how other people view your designs. The most obvious reason is to please the customer. If you, as a designer, tell a client, “Here’s my design, take or leave it,” then you won’t have many customers. The other reason has to do with how the design communicates.

This is where church design comes in. Churches don’t have clients. Oftentimes the designer is designing for the pastor, or maybe the pastor is the one doing the designs. When you design for yourself you receive no external input and, unless you make the effort to ask, you won’t get any either (at least before going to print, afterwards, you'll probably get plenty).

Let me paint an all-too-common scenario for you. As I have mentioned in the past, I am designer for a Christian school yearbook. Many times, I will come up with an amazing cover, fantastic new spread designs, and awesome layout concepts only to have them dissected and removed piece by piece by the administrator.

In those times, I’m tempted to think, “He couldn’t possibly understand the aesthetic features of such a bold and innovative design.” However, what I have learned is that if my design doesn’t communicate to him, it probably won’t communicate to my audience. What I thought was an awesome design, in reality, wasn’t as effective as it could be.

In order to achieve maximum effectiveness, show your designs to your spouse, your kids, your parents, your pastor, and anyone else who would come into contact with the design (within reason). Gathering input from a variety of age levels will help you create the design that communicates effectively to all audiences.

Let's do a brief exercise. Look at the picture below, but don't look at the text below it right away.

What was your initial reaction to each design? What first came to mind for the picture on the left? For me, immediately, Wi-Fi bars popped into my mind. The ad is about McDonald's offering Wi-Fi. That's successful communication.

What about the image on the right? My first thought is "dandelion" followed by"fireworks." However, the website I found the picture on says it's supposed to be a sucker cleverly designed as fireworks. Did anyone out there think this was a sucker? I asked a few people what they thought and no one saw a sucker. If that's what they were trying to communicate, they've failed. Effective design communication, that's what we're talking about.

I'm curious about your responses to our little exercise. Please feel free to leave your answers in the comments below.

Now, here's what you can do:

• Ask for their initial reactions. (Most important)
• Ask for their opinions.
• Ask how they feel about it.
• Ask what it says to them 

The Bottom Line

The hardest design lesson to learn is listening to the suggestions of others. If you can master suppressing the “my way or the high way” mentality then you’re one step closer to achieving success with your designs. It’s not easy. It may take some work, but you’ll be thankful for it in end.

What do you think about this?
Do you have a similar story to mine? Share it below.
Did you find this helpful? Chances are someone else will too. Share it with your friends.

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Top 5 Font Tips for Great Design

I have finally begun to read The Non-Designer's Design & Type Books. I received it a few months ago to critique and have barely touched it. I first looked at it last night.

The opening pages discuss what the author calls the "Joshua Tree Epiphany." He tells the story of receiving a tree book for Christmas. Excited about his new book, he opened it, ready to identify the trees in his neighborhood. The first tree was a Joshua tree. He told himself he'd never seen one of those before. As he began identifying the trees in his neighborhood, he realized that 80% of the houses had Joshua trees in the yards.

The principle he was making from this story is that you tend not to notice something until you are aware that its there. I pondered this for a moment and immediately font styles popped into my mind. Since I have the eye of a designer, I see bad font choices everywhere. It's my hope that after reading this article you too will see it everywhere you go.

Tip #1 – No More Than Three Fonts
This is called the golden rule in font design. Never, under any circumstances, should you use more than three fonts. It is best to limit your designs to two fonts.


As a general rule, you only need one font for the headline and another for the body copy. Occasionally, you may desire a different font for a sub-heading or some other special piece of information. This is where the third typeface might come in. But please, for my sanity's sake, don't use more than three!

Tip #2 – Make It Readable
If you go through all the effort to design an ad or flyer, make sure that the message can be read. Placing a picture behind the text or using the wrong color can ruin that message. Not only will your ad be hard on the eyes, but most people will be put off by the lack of professionalism.

I currently work as the designer for a Christian school yearbook. The ad to the right was designed by the company for our yearbook. It's a well-known and loved coffee shop in town, but the words are hard to read, making it an awful ad.

In addition to pictures, font style and color can also make an ad unreadable and unprofessional. Take a look at the example below and see for yourself. You can find these images and more examples like them at Photoshop Cafe.

Tip #3 – Fonts Have Feelings

The style of font that you choose will drastically affect the way your message is received. You wouldn't use a block font for a wedding or a script font for an athletic gym. Take careful consideration of what feeling you want to communicate when choosing a font.

Do you want to be professional and authoritative? Choose a standard font like Arial, Helvetica, or Times. Do you want to fancy? Try Edwardian Script or some other script font. Do you need to make it look childish? Try a hand-drawn font. If you need more fonts check out DaFont or FontFreak for thousands of options.

 Here are a few examples to show you what NOT to do:

 There is nothing tough about this club,

 there is nothing peaceful about this place,

and there is certainly nothing reliable about this company.

Though not directly related to fonts, the text that you use is also important. Be sure to use proper English and avoid the use of exclamation points or all caps. IT MAKES YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE YELLING!!!

To the right is another ad from our yearbook. No!! body wants to buy from a car dealer who yells at you!! Don't scare away your customers before they ever walk through the doors.


Tip #4 – Size Matters
How do you know what is more important if everything is the same size? The average body type is 12 points. The general rule of thumb is 14 pt. font or less for body copy and 18pt. font or higher for headlines. You can also use font size to differentiate the hierarchy of your body copy.

Take a look at these two examples from our yearbook. Notice how the one on the right shows all the text as the same size. I can't tell what I am supposed to be looking for. What's more important, what does the company want me to know? The ad on the left is far better at communicating the most important piece of information. It does this by being larger than the rest and by being bold.

Tip #5 – More Isn't Always Better
Just because you have 20 features, doesn't mean you should list them. Now I admit, the example below isn't all that fair because Pizza Hut is a well-known brand and everyone knows what they have to offer. However, it still serves its purpose.

The Pizza Hut ad draws my eye, I see exactly what I was meant to see and all the information is communicated to me in a simple manner. The only thing that would make it better is color, and since this too is from our yearbook, you'll have to deal with black and white. The ad to the right wants to communicate all these brands they have in stock and all the different stores they have, but it's so cluttered my eye doesn't know where to go and what I should read first.

The Bottom Line
 Great design isn't just creativity and concepts. You could have the best creative concept out there and absolutely fail because you chose the wrong font. Choosing the right font can easily become the most time consuming part of your design. When you find that perfect font, you'll know it and you'll be glad you spent the time to make your ad look awesome.

Do you have any more tips you'd like to share? It could be something that has always stuck with you. Maybe you learned it the hard way, or maybe you learned it by accident from just messing around with designs. Either way, I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

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How to Print Professionally

Have you ever made a design that you thought was going to be great, but then when you printed the file it came out all pixelated and blurry? Do remember being disappointed because it did not look as sharp as you had hoped it would be? This post seeks to help you avoid the woes of printing.


The All Important Rule
Any time you design a logo or poster for your church, make sure that the file is large enough for what you want done. Do you want a large 40" x 100" banner showcasing your church building project progress? Don't make the design on an 8.5" x 11" size document. When you go to print, the file will have to scale almost 10x it's original creation size and that will skew your design.

Notice the examples below:

4x6 Slide

40x60 Slide

Click on the 4x6 image. It's small, because that's the size it was created, and it's very clear. Now suppose I want that to be a super-size poster in my church. Click on 40x60 image above to see it full scale and notice how grainy and how bad the quality is. That is what happens when you scale your small raster to a larger size. For sake of being clear, this is what a portion of the file would look like printed out:

Another factor to consider is the files DPI, or Dots Per Inch. The average High Resolution image is about 300 DPI. If you are designing in Photoshop, you can set this yourself when you create a new document. If the file is originally a low DPI file (i.e. 72 DPI, the web standard), then your file will look like the picture above after scaling it two inches, let alone all the way up to 40"x60". The higher your DPI, the more pixels that are crammed into a square inch space. The more pixels in an each means it will stay clearer longer the larger you scale it.

Does that make sense? Therefore, if you plan to create something like this for your church, make sure the file size is the size of the desired print (i.e. 40"x60") and that your DPI is high enough for good quality (usually 300 DPI).

Okay, now let's talk about a potential solution.
 
I recently posted about the difference between Rasters and Vectors. Vectors prevent this problem. I said potential, though, because the image above cannot be a vectorsince  it contains a picture in the background and all pictures are rasters, that is they are made up of pixels.

However, using a vector allows you to take that small design and scale it to any size without any loss of information or clarity. This is the wonder of the vector image. Take a look at the examples below.

Screen Shot of  17" x 5"

Screen Shot of 70" x 18"

Click on each document to view them full size. You'll notice that there isn't a bit of difference in quality. That's the way vector works. Again, to full illustrate, take a look at a zoomed in shot of the 70" file below:

No pixelation. No blurriness. Only a beautifully clear logo.

Summary
All logos should be done in a vector format (Illustrator)
All pictures are raster because they're made of pixels
Make sure your file is large enough for your desired print
Use a High resolution DPI for printing

Can you think of any other printing tips regarding file size, raster/vector, or DPI that I did not mention? Feel free to share them in the comments box.

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Vector Vs. Raster

What’s the difference between Raster and Vector? It’s pretty much like the difference between a $5 bill and a $100 bill. Which would you rather have? Obviously you’d want the $100 bill. It’s the same for rasters and vectors. For identity design, a vector is worth ten rasters. When it comes to logos and official church stationary you should never use anything but a vector.

Wait. Rewind. What is a vector anyway? A vector is an image that is based upon mathematical equations. It constantly calculates to give you the finest line no matter how far you zoom in. And a raster?

A raster image is one based upon pixels. A pixel is a tiny square of color information. Each pixel contains only one color. Thousands and thousands of pixels combined make a raster image.

The easiest way to tell the difference is by viewing the pictures below. The vector is on the right and the raster is on the left.

Logo at 100%

Logo at 300%

Logo at 6400%

So you see, a vector allows you to scale an image to any size you desire, and it still can be seen clearly. But vectors cannot be used for everything. If you design contains a picture, it will have to be raster because a picture is raster, or made of pixels. To learn more about working with rasters to receive the highest quality prints, check out my article: The Woes of Printing

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Identities: Go Big or Go Basic?

This article is by Coreen Smith. Coreen is a freelance graphic designer. She specializes in church identities. That includes logos, letterheads, business cards, and envelopes. She is a good friend of mine from my graphic design classes in college and she is great designer. She does do more than just identities, though, so if you are interested head on over to her website at www.coreensdesign.com

Coreen also wrote an article earlier in the week that you should read first if you have not done so already. Check it out here.


When thinking about the options of going big, which is using a graphic designer, or going basic, which is doing the work in house or for your self, there are still key factors to keep in mind.

Going big does offer positives and negatives. Graphic Designers can be expensive, though not all are. When dealing with a designer, it is best to have some sort of concept in mind as to what you want the end result to be and what you plan to use your identity for before your meeting. This helps minimize your meeting time, gives the designer an inside view of your ministry’s vision, and how detailed and time consuming this project could be. Remember when using a graphic designer you are paying for their expertise and services. It also frees up your time to accomplish other things.

It is important for me to state that having a whole identity package (logo, business cards, letterhead, and envelopes) designed will give you more value for your money by bundling the work, rather than having each designed piecemeal. If you opt to use a graphic designer keep him or her informed of your plans and that you have a budget. Ask if there is any way you can get the most for your money or ask if they do ministry discounts. Just remember that if you never ask, you may never know.

The alternative to go basic by doing it your self does cut costs, but requires more time and involvement on the ministry’s side. The options vary from getting a free logo/identity  or buying one from an identity/logo site. The pit falls or down side to going to these sites is that you loose out on the custom individual look and run a greater risk in coming across other organizations that share your same identity.

Another option would be to place your organization’s name in a nice font with a clean appealing placement. (See my tutorial on Identity design made basic posted Friday.) This would take some time, but would eliminate having the same identity as another business and yet give you an individual look.

After weighing your options, walking through the questions, and deciding what route you might like to take; remember that an identity is an investment. No matter what option you choose, big or basic, your ministry will get good use out of it. You will have a good marketing foundation to build upon today and in the future.

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Identity Crisis

The following article is our first guest post here at Media Missions. A guest post is when someone else, not me, post an article for your viewing pleasure. I've got a couple of these lined up over the next weeks with two different posters. The reason being, I am on a ministry trip serving Christ in Australia and don't really have time to post.

This article is by Coreen Smith. Coreen is a freelance graphic designer. She specializes in church identities. That includes logos, letterheads, business cards, and envelopes. She is a good friend of mine from my graphic design classes in college and she is great designer. She does do more than just identities, though, so if you are interested head on over to her website at www.coreensdesign.com


Identities and logos are becoming a trend these days. Everyone seems to have one. Do you? Does your ministry? Is it relevant for all ministries these days? The answer to that is no, but your exposure will increase. Definitely having one is better than not having one at all. You can attain a nice identity with a small or even no budget.

The Microsoft Encarta dictionary defines identity this way, “who somebody is or what something is, especially the name by which somebody or something is known.” This applies to people, companies, and even ministries, which includes churches. Link to church logo here. Having an identity draws visual attention and recognition to you and your organization. An identity goes beyond just having a name; it also can and often does include a logo.

A logo is an emblem or graphic that represents and becomes synonymous with your organization. Having a logo identity is not necessary, but can aid in the instant visual recognition of your organization. For example when you think of McDonalds, don’t you instantly think of the iconic golden arches? Or what about Apple computers? They have a basic yet clearly identifiable logo, the apple. Your organization can have an identity too, and it does not have to be an elaborate one, simple is actually the best.

So you want an identity for your organization. Is a logo necessary? How do you get one? What are the proper steps to attaining one? So glad you asked. Here is a list of some basic questions you will need to answer to determine if a full blown identity package is necessary for you or if something basic will fit your needs.

1. “Is an identity necessary?” The answer is always YES!! The amount of money you want to spend can determine the level you want to take this to. Some key factors to aid in determining how far or big to go with the identity process is the size of your organization, your location, and lastly (but most important) how large is your target market? For example, a clothing store that has a physical store and fills online orders would have a large target market. Therefore this store would have greater need for an extensive identity package than a rural mom & pop shop. Though both can benefit from a simple identity or logo.

2. “What is our purpose in attaining an identity?” The answer to this question and the next may vary from group to group. Evaluate your purpose to determine how big you need to go at this time. A few reasons for attaining an identity might be; to stand out in your area, expanding your ministry outreach, or increasing the ministries within your church, starting other branches of your ministry, or purely for publicity.

3. “What and how will we use this identity?” Again this question will have variable answers, but the primary reason should be for marketing. It may be for business cards, letterhead, and envelopes. Link to identity pkg. Other uses might be for use on a website, creating a church sign, billboards, brochures, t-shirts, and/or other promotional material.

4. “What can we afford and how do we attain the best for our budget?” Determining what you can afford may involve sitting down with your financial board or treasurer to determine your budget. If you are starting a nonprofit, it may be wise to incorporate an identity into your start up fees. If your budget is low, a basic in house design may be your best option. However, sitting down with a graphic designer and talking about the cost would be beneficial as well. Most designers do consultations for free. This will aid in determining if you are able to get what you want/need within your budget and have it done professionally.


I've got a few more Identity-themed articles from Coreen later on in the week. I hope you'll look forward to it.

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Ten Dangers of Advertising

Advertising can be one of the most powerful media tools at a church's disposal. There are plenty of reasons why your church should be using advertising. However, there are also some dangers about advertising. If done the wrong way, advertising can actually harm your identity. Treat advertising like you would treat a visitor. Follow these simple instructions to avoid doing anything that would give people a wrong impression of your ministry.

1. Don't fake your success.
The following information is a summary of the article Blogging Can Be Disastrous. It proves that advertising that presents fake or falsified information will only lead to disaster. Don't advertise that you've got 400 people in wall-to-wall crowds on Sunday when your church only has 40 people in a room big enough to fill 200. It might attract visitors, but as soon as they arrive they'll realize you faked it and they'll tell everyone they know you were deceptive. You'll not likely get any more visitors. Ever.

Dr. Pepper failed in 2003 when it tried to advertise it's new product, Raging Cow. It was a new type of flavored milk. To promote it, they pulled in a bunch of teenagers and told them to go blog about it as if they had just discovered the milk and thought it was amazing. They were to act like consumers, not paid employees promoting their product. The scam was revealed and the product flopped.

In 2006, Wal-Mart also failed miserably doing the same thing. You probably know some people who are McDonald's or Wal-Mart fanatics. You know, the type that just have to visit every single store in every city they go to because it's some sort of game to see how many stores they can go to? Wal-Mart hoped to capitalize from this mentality. They hired two guys to travel around the country in an RV visiting every Wal-Mart. They were to then blog about their experiences, thus making Wal-Mart look as popular as places like Hollywood or Disneyland. It, too, was exposed, the blog disappeared off the web and Wal-Mart dealt with a lot of bad publicity.


2. Don't fix what isn't broken
If you've got an ad source that works. Keep it up. Don't try to change it because you think people are getting bored with it. When you stop receiving feedback from that source, then think about changing it.


3. Don't reinvent the wheel. Creativity isn't always the best.
Be careful how you advertise. Going way out on a limb will just have people confused and possibly put off by what you're doing. Stick with what works, but don't be afraid to put your own twist on it. Just keep it within reason.


4. Don't advertise based upon culture.
This is a strong temptation for a church. Many churches compromise their standards because they think they can attract the world by being like the world. Truth is, people are sick of the world and want something different. McDonald's advertised for culture with it's "I'd hit that" campaign and it failed miserably. Coca-Cola tried it with OK Cola. Ever heard of it? Not me either. The reason is that Coca-Cola attempted to release a new soda in 1993 based upon the OK Manifesto. Except there was no reason for it. They just attempted to be culturally cool.


5. Don't steal images, brands, or copyrighted information.
This should be a no brainer, but don't steal. Everyone knows you've done it. It doesn't look cool, and you'll lose your credibility. It's so tempting to do because that ad campaign was so largely successful.

Case in point: Church juice posted an article about stealing logos a few months ago. The author happened upon a church who tried to advertise ministry opportunities to it's members. It took Nike's slogan "Just Do It" and their logo and made it "Just Try It." It was a sad disgrace of an attempt. It's fun to do parodies every now and again, but make sure your obvious about the spoof. Don't try to look professional with someone else's work.


6. Don't sell more than you can offer.
Words like "Best Prices" are okay to say...if you can back it up. If you don't truly mean it, don't say it. We're churches. We represent God. Let's not lie to people in our advertising. You've all heard the grandiose promises of the candidates running for President, yet they fail to back up those claims. How does that make you feel? It doesn't give you greater confidence in the guy, that's for sure. Your church cannot afford to lose credibility and the confidence of the people around you.


7. Don't sacrifice your message for design.
Simple designs communicate better than flashy "attractive" ones. Graphic masterpieces and techno-gadgets are a thing of the 90s. In today's age, people relate good quality advertising to clean advertising. Some of the best websites are a simple white, yet they have an aura of power about them.


8. Don't advertise everywhere.
More ads in less places is better than less ads in more places. Simply put. If you have a chance to advertise on TV for one day, even if it's an ad during every commercial, and that's it, you're wasting your time. People will have forgotten you by tomorrow. But a newspaper ad that is seen every single day for years will attract more attention. Why? It's better to reach 10% of your audience 100% of the time than to reach 100% of them only 10% of the time (TheRadioStations.com).

9. Use testimonials instead of promotions.
If you can help it, the pastor should not be the one making the sales pitch in the ad. This doesn't mean the pastor can't be in it, but testimonials from every day people will go heaps further in the eyes of your viewers. Why? Because your biased, that's why. It's the truth. You've got so much time invested in it, you'd say your church was soaring if all it had were penguins (If you don't get that, don't think about it too hard...Penguins don't fly). Glad Tidings Omaha does this amazingly well. Check out their website and you'll be bombarded with testimonials from the home page.

10. Don't insult your audience.
You may think that your church has what everyone needs, but telling someone they're dumb if they don't go to church isn't the best way to get them to come. Instead, tell them what they do need. For instance, if you're trying to get smokers to stop smoking, you don't tell them "Only idiots smoke cigarettes." Instead, you show them what cigarettes do to your heart and lungs. Now obviously not everyone will respond to that, and not everyone is going to respond to your church ad.

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Nine Reasons Every Church Should Advertise

Ever wonder why companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola spend millions on advertising when they're already so well established that it's impossible that no one has ever heard of them? It is just as important for the church to maintain an presence in advertising as it is for them. As a matter of fact, it may be more important for a church because of the importance of your mission, the saving of souls.

Chances are your church isn't advertising like it should be. You probably have several excuses, and some of them might actually be valid. "We don't have the funds for stuff like that," or "We don't have a good designer to make our ads." Certainly those are reasonable problems, but that doesn't mean you should just give up on advertising. Here are nine solid reasons why your church needs advertising.


1. It attracts new visitors.
The number one reason to advertise and the number one goal of your advertising should be to attract new people, specifically, the unsaved. Advertising actually has two main purposes. 1) Bring in the lost and 2) Draw in like minded believers. Now it shouldn't ever be our goal to steal folks from another good, Bible believing church, but if they come, they come. Your goal is to attract the lost, grab the attention of new people who have just moved to the area, and give folks a shining light to come to if they are currently in the wrong crowd.

2. Lack of advertising lowers your awareness.
Why do the companies that are popular stay popular? Because they're constantly putting their product in front of your face. TV commercials, bill boards, posters, signs at bus stops, etc. They pull out all the stops to make sure that you can't get them out of your mind. You could have the best product on the market, but if it is not advertised properly, it'll flop.

It amazes me how little churches put into advertising. Sure, they'll put an ad in the paper during Vacation Bible School because they want to attract as many kids as possible. Did your desire to attract people end when Vacation Bible School finished? Probably not. Then why should your advertising?

Advertising increases public awareness. Even if they never come to your church. Even if they never want to, advertising gets your name where it can be seen and heard. Word of mouth can be a powerful tool and keeping your name in the back of their mind is a great way to promote your church.


3. You have the greatest "product" to offer, Jesus Christ.
Some companies fail because they don't have great products. There is no greater thing in life than accepting Christ as Savior. You know it, and I know it, but the people don't. Our ads need to communicate that message. A recent article I read said that we need to focus less on telling people why we're better than the church downtown and start focusing on telling people why they need Jesus.  The article discusses the purpose of the Got Milk? ad campaigns. The purpose was not to prove their milk was better than their competitor's milk. The goal was to convince people to drink milk.


4. It gets your congregation excited.
Who doesn't want their church to get excited? Every time you put out a new advertisement, a new flyer, or church tract, tell your church. Bring the advertisement and show it to the congregation. People tend to be more excited about church when they see it making progress.

Suppose you attend the same church for 10 years and never see it do anything different. Every week is the same, they never make any progress, never have an building programs, never put on any events. Wouldn't you get bored after awhile? But when your church launches a new ad, it's something new, something interesting and piques people's interest.

Murray River Baptist Church launches a new newspaper ad every two weeks. I'm 10,000 miles away, and I look forward to seeing it posted to Facebook. When I see it, my eyes brighten and I click on the picture to take a closer look. It's exciting to see new advertisements and gets people involved.


5. It builds Authority, Reputation, and Confidence.

When people see or hear a name constantly, they slowly begin to trust it. At first, the thought of randomly showing up at your church is something that scares them. Whether they think your service will be boring, are uncomfortable with the unknown, or just plain don't think they need Jesus. But as they are constantly made more aware of your name, they will become familiar with it.

They'll feel as if they've known you all along. Finally, the thought of visiting won't seem so scary anymore. If your advertising has accomplished its purpose, you'll even have them curious. So curious they can't not visit any longer.


6. It establishes your name and identity.
Identity is important for a church. It's who you are, what you are about, and how you show yourself to the community. In a couple of weeks, I've got a special guest lined up to share an article with you about building your church brand. It sounds weird to call it that, but your logo, letterheads, and business cards are critical for promotion, attraction, and recognition.


7. It gives you the opportunity to share your heart.
Nothing attracts new visitors more than seeing the heart and care of a church. They want to be wanted. They want to feel welcome and loved. Advertising gives you the opportunity to share testimonials of current members. Glad Tidings Omaha communicates this amazingly well on their website. Murray River Baptist Church featured different church members in their newspaper ad a few months back. It gives you the opportunity to tell the community: "Lives are being changed, yours can change too."


8. It shows community involvement.
Advertising lets the community know that you aren't a secret society. Many people have a misconception that a church is like a club. It's for its members and to become a member you have to be introduced by a current member. This thought creates a feeling of seclusion and separation between you and them. Advertising tells them, "Anyone can come, we welcome and appreciate you. Stop on by." It also tells them that you care about the city you live in, you care about the people around you. You aren't there to serve just a few "privileged" people.


9. It increases your ministry effectiveness.
This is more of a benefit of advertising than it is a reason, but benefits are reasons. More visitors means more people joining the church. More people joining the church means more people to volunteer for work and to participate financially with the church. More people participating means greater opportunity for expansion of your ministry.

Just a word of caution. This should not be the driving force of your advertising campaign. Notice how far down the list it is? Humble yourselves before God, praise Him, and He will lift you up. Never seek to lift yourself up, even if you do, it will be out of wrong motivation and God is not pleased with that.


If you are interested in Advertising ideas or saying "I'd love to do this, but I don't know how," then let me know in the comments below. I'd be more than happy to help you in any way I can.

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Media Tip: Pumping Life Into the Church

There is a man, let's call him Bob, who is 55 years old. Bob has lived a full life, he's seen some great times in his life and some bad times. One day, Bob was in a car accident, a pretty bad one at that. He careened off the side of the road as he fell asleep at the wheel. His car bounced off the guard rails and back into the center of the road where he was hit by an oncoming car at 60 mph. The rescue workers spent an hour prying him out his car with the "jaws of life."

They immediately put Bob on an ambulance and sent him racing toward the hospital; he was barely hanging on. As Bob was rushed into the operating room, he flat-lined. Immediately, the doctors reach for the defibrillators. He charged them up and said, "Clear!" They made a high-pitched sound and as the paddles came down, Bob's body jolted. Nothing. The doctor did it again. "Clear!" Bob's vitals reappeared. They were faint, but there.

Many churches are in Bob's position. They're lying on the operating table and they've flat-lined. They need help. They need something to bring the life back. The world we are living in is moving on and the church has stayed behind, lost in years gone by. What your church may need is a digital revolution.

This is not a guaranteed, sure-fire solution. This is no get-rich quick scheme or "become a mega church by Sunday" blog post, though I'm assure such a title would attract hundreds of readers. Your problem may be a heart problem. It may be a lack of evangelism. It may be a lost passion. Churches across the country are dead or dying and there are a multitude of issues that could be causing the problem.

Do you feel like you're doing everything right, but it's just not working? Is your church a perfectly healthy, living, breathing church as far as God is concerned, yet your struggling to get folks through the doors? Your problem may be that you've missed the digital revolution. The technology age is upon us, and churches need to embrace it.


I've discovered three reasons why every church needs to go digital.

1. Attract More People
If your church would go digital you'd attract more people. Just to make myself perfectly clear, we're not talking about compromising with the world. We're not talking about bringing in rocks bands ("affectionately" termed a worship band) or taking off the coat and tie, and preaching in jeans and a polo.

We're talking about using Powerpoint, utilizing social media, and embracing advertising (we'll talk about this more next week). I think that the two main reasons visitors don't come to church is they either don't know about your church or they think your church is boring. Is the latter attitude the right one? No, but it's the day we are living in.

You can't get more people if you aren't telling them that you exist. Hands down, advertising is the best way to do that. But let's not spoil the fun for next week.

2. Keep More People
The people that come won't stay if they think you're boring. Recently, a friend of mine approached me about his church which was struggling. I asked him if they had a media ministry or incorporated any digital aspects, and he said no. I encouraged him to help his pastor go digital and run a 4 week trial. If there wasn't a buzz of excitement among the church members (or if they actually complained), if a visitor hadn't returned, or if a single comment about the new improvements hadn't been made, then they could go back to "normal."

I encourage you to do the same thing that I suggested to him. Most churches have a projector around somewhere (and if you don't they're cheap enough). If you start using Powerpoint I believe you'll create interest. Let me remind you, this could only be considered a viable solution if you are a perfectly healthy church, but are just struggling with attendance. This isn't an overnight fix, but I believe it to be a solution.


3. Reach More People
Without doubt this is the most important aspect of going digital. Attracting and keeping more people means more people hear and live the Word of God. Your reach is increased on the home front and in your church building.

However, it doesn't stop there. If you will fully embrace the digital age, the sky is the limit. Through social media, websites, and sermon audio downloads, you can double or triple your reach (and could potentially go much, much further).

If you click the link above about sermon audio, you'll read a short testimonial I gave about Murray River Baptist Church. They are a church of about 60 people and, because of audio sermon downloads, they receive just as many downloads each week. Not only did 60 people hear the sermon in person, but 60 more heard it by mp3 download all over the world.

Your website can also be a valuable tool in giving prayer requests, posting missionary prayer letters, providing live stream of your services, and sharing the gospel.


If your church is hanging by a thread and you need something to bring the life back, going digital might be your solution. Your church needs this and Media Missions is here to help. Check out the Media Tips tab for ideas about what to do next, and the Tutorials and Setup Guide tabs will actually walk you through how to do it.

Don't wait. Get started today. Do you have questions about what to do? If we don't have the answers on this site, we'd be happy to answer them right now and provide you with an in-depth tutorial in the near future. We're here for you. We want to help your church. Let us know what we can do.

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Media Tip: The Ins and Outs of Church Music

Have you ever gotten into a hot debate with someone about how the church should run their music program? Well that's...NOT what this media tip is about. Instead, this is about how you can improve your current music program. Church music is a big deal because it sets the tone for the entire service. Bad church music makes for a bad service. Media is about communication and music is a communication tool. So here are 10 tips for your church music ministry.


1. Biblical Principles about Music.
Music should be God-centered, not man centered. Music that focuses on you and me and our life is misdirected. Music ought glorify and uplift God. Music is spiritual in nature and affects our emotions and inner being. Songs must be Biblical and based on Scripture. Any song that directly violates a teaching in Scripture is wrong, even if it is performed by a Christian artist or sung in church. Music ought be focused on the melody, not the rhythm, which is worldly.
(Exodus 32:17-18, I Samuel 16:23,
Psalm 95:1, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16-17)

2. Get Involved. Music is a great way to get involved in the service. Every week your pastor makes some sort of announcement begging people to get involved. He wants nothing more than to see you serve Christ in your local church. His whole goal is to see you develop as a Christian in your walk with God. You would knock his socks off if you came up to him and said, "Pastor, what can I do to get involved?"

Church music is one of those ways that you can get involved. Join the choir, sing a solo, sing a duet, sing in a quartet! Do you play piano? Ask if you can play a congregational song. Not up to that level yet? Ask to play an offertory. Do something! My church has a mini-orchestra. Do you play another instrument besides piano? Ask your pastor if you can sit next to the choir and play that instrument, even if you don't have an orchestra already.

3. Have a Song of the Month. Does your church sing the same songs over and over again? You probably have a hymnal with over 500 songs in it (800 if you have Living Hymns) and only sing about 100 of the songs. I know a rather larger church that only sings about 40 of the songs and it drives people bonkers! Why not pick one song a month to learn and sing it every service so that you get to know it. My friend's church does this and he says it's great.

4. Sing Songs Not in the Hymnal.
Your hymnal isn't a Bible. It's okay to sing songs that aren't in the hymnal. How can you sing them if they aren't in the hymnal, you ask? Well if everyone knows it, it shouldn't be a problem. However, this is one of the many uses of Powerpoint that your church can employ. Sing songs like Sanctuary, In Christ Alone, and As the Deer. In some cases, you could invite the congregation to open their Bible to Matthew 6:33 and sing Seek ye First. I'll bet you'll have some folks that didn't even know those songs were in the Bible!

5. Vary the Order of Service. People get tired of the same old, same old. This doesn't mean you should preach first and sing later (though, you could do that if you were having a singspiration and the sermon was merely a devotional). If you only sing the first and the last, sing all the verses. If you normally sing all the verses, only sing a couple (you're people might thank you. Sometimes song services can get overwhelming with so many verses). Sing 2 songs instead of 3 or 3 instead of 2. Changing it up a little bit will add variety (and keep some of the critics at bay!).

6. Have Special Music. I would say more than half of the churches out there already do this, so this might be a moot point. But I know a few churches that never have special music. Now it may be because they don't have anyone to do the special music. But my guess is they just haven't asked. As much as is possible, have special music at every service. My church is so packed with special music that we have to issue a monthly song schedule just to keep all our ducks in a row. This goes back to the getting involved point.

7. Powerpoint for Special Music. I already mentioned using Powerpoint with your songs, but here is another use, also mentioned in the same article. Say Joe is playing a song for the offertory and you have heard that song before, but you can't think of the song title. Instead of it eating you up the whole service, the title is wonderfully displayed on the screen and you can sit there and enjoy rather than be tormented. At least, I hope I'm not the only one who is bothered something like that.

8. Invite Special Singing/Peforming Groups. Groups like Proclaim Ministry Teams and the Academy of Arts (Excuse their website design. It's pretty bad, but they really do have great drama teams, I've seen one personally and vouch for their talent) make for great special services. I don't know how many of these types of things there are, but call around and see what you can find. Most Christian colleges like Pensacola Christian College, Bob Jones University, and West Coast Baptist College send out these special singing groups every summer. Call them up to book a team for your church next year.

9. Pay Attention to Song Order. Specifically, I mean in regards to meaning and thought flow. You may want to coordinate with the pastor on what his sermon is about. If he is preaching on Jesus you may want to sing "Near the Cross" or "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Place your more upbeat songs at the beginning of the service to get focus energized. Then put the slower, more contemplative songs right before the sermon so that it gets everyone's mind focused on God and ready to hear from God's Word.

Another potential thought in this area, if you can, is not having two slow songs in a row, or two fast songs. If you use a variety of hymnal and non-hymnal songs, you may actually want to put them back-to-back so that people don't have to keep turning in their book and then putting them away again.

10. Focus on the Words. This is more or less just a general principle that everyone should apply to every service. Does your brain shut off during singing? Have you ever caught yourself just singing the song not even thinking? I do it all the time and I trust you do too (Don't pretend you don't!). It defeats the purpose of the song service if all you do is regurgitate the words. The purpose of music is to focus our heart and mind on God and His goodness.

The next time you find yourself falling into that pattern (and you will very soon), stop and listen. Listen to the words, pay attention to them, and focus on them. Meditate on what it means for Heaven to come down and glory filling your soul. Is it just a song or does it mean something to you? Heaven, that is Christ, came to earth in human form and died on the cross for our sins, that through faith in Christ we might have eternal life and glory fills our soul.

Is that not a wonderful thought!? How can you contain your burst of excitement when you think about the goodness and love of God?! Yet our faces are flat, our voice boring and monotone, and our spirit not the least bit uplifted.

UPDATE

11. Song Suggestions. Based upon the conversation in the comments below I thought it good to add this tip to the list. Do you have a favorite song to sing at church? Maybe you love Victory in Jesus, but the problem is the church only sings the first and the last verses, but the verse that means the most to you is number 3. You could suggest to your music pastor what songs you would like to hear that way you, as a part of the body of Christ, are more engaged in praising God through song.

For the music pastor, my suggestion would be to have a song-leading hymnal if you do not already have one. Have one hymnal that is reserved for your song-leading. In it, you can write down all the notes you see fit to record. Maybe you'll circle all the songs the church knows. That way you can pick one they don't know every now and again. Maybe you'll star the song that the dear old lady in your church loves to hear. Anything other important song information can be written there for your recall.


Do you have anything to add to this? I'd love to hear your tips and different ideas that your church does to spruce up the music ministry. Leave a comment in the box below.

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