Start With Why

The “Start With Why” philosophy is that while most organizations start by telling you what they do an appeal to their audience’s self-interest, inspiring leaders and organizations start by telling you why they do what they do and invite you to join their cause.

OurChurch.Com believes in partnering with other Christian organizations to help them achieve their mission online. That’s our cause. So, the OCC site was redesigned in several ways to “Start With Why.”

• The motto below our logo was changed from “Because the church is the people” to “Achieve your mission online.
• On our homepage and the main page of each section of our site – web design, web hosting, search marketing and advertising services – we replaced content that promoted our services with graphics showing quotes from ministries who we have helped achieve their mission online.
• Further down on the homepage, we added a “Why Choose OurChurch.Com” box and included our mission statement next to it.

Simple and Beautiful

We believe that the simpler a website is the better. However, we also wanted to include color and creativity in the site so that people interested in having us develop a custom designed website for them would immediately know we are capable of creating a stunning website for them. To achieve both simple and beautiful, we designed the site itself to be very simple and include a lot of white space and put color and creativity into the content – the slides you see just below the header.

A few more things we did to simplify our site. We…

• Reduced the number of items in each menu
• Placed the consultation request form at the bottom of every page in our design, SEO and advertising sections (previously the bottom of each page had a link to a separate consultation request form)
• Drastically reduced the number of items in the consultation request form.

The results couldn’t be more dramatic! The number of people completing the consultation request forms has more than tripled!

Better Social Media Integration

One other significant improvement made to the new site is the addition of the social media sharing buttons on the left side of every page. Not only is social media an important source of new visitors, but search engines are factoring Tweets, likes and +1s into their ranking algorithms, so it’s important to encourage and facilitate as much Tweeting, liking, sharing and +1ing as we can.

In fact, would you please take a moment to Tweet, like and +1 our homepage right now?

We Covet Your Comments!

While we’re super excited about our new site, we also recognize that our opinions and our user experience on the site is secondary in importance to yours. Please tell us what you think of the new site – good and bad.

• How does it look to you? Do you feel like we achieved simple and beautiful?
• Can you immediately understand our “why” – our mission – when you first arrive on our site?
• Are you able to quickly and easily find our way around our site?
• Did you run across any problems? Any misspellings, broken links, confusing text?

Thanks for taking a look at our new site! And thanks for the feedback!

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck, CEO

In his book, Start With Why, Simon Sinek writes, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”  In this case the contrast couldn’t be more stark, so I’m interested to put Sinek’s theory to the test and see if he’s right.

Will people will join GoDaddy’s mission get people to rush to their website in search of sexy pics of their spokeswomen?  Or will people join OurChurch.Com’s mission to partner with Christian organizations to achieve their mission online?  Or does “why” not matter?

I’ve had many Christians sheepishly admit to me they’ve got services with GoDaddy.  Their embarrassment tells me why does matter.

We can do better than that!  Come join a cause you can be proud of – seeing more Christian organizations achieve their mission online!

The design of your website encompasses:

• The way your site looks
• How easy (or difficult) it is for visitors to find their way around
• Functionality such as login, forms, calendar, blog, multimedia
• The administrative interface for staff
• The “behind the scenes” tags necessary to optimize it for search engines

As you can see, web design is about much, much more than having a pretty site. There’s a lot riding on it!

So, we’re devoting an entire month to helping you evaluate and improve the design of your website.

1) Blogging About Design Issues

As I mentioned earlier, our mission is to help you achieve your mission online. That’s regardless of whether you use any of our services or not. We’ll be blogging about design issues that may be giving people a bad impression of your organization, issues that could be frustrating your visitors and help you think through and prioritize steps that will bring your website more in alignment with your mission.

2) Website Reviews

If you’d like to take the general insight we offer here on Christian Web Trends and have it applied specifically to your website, we offer a comprehensive website review. The review includes evaluation of your site in 6 key areas:

1. Appearance and layout
2. Navigation and usability
3. Purpose and goals
4. Content
5. Availability in search engines
6. Interactivity and social media

We provide you with a written evaluation very similar to the website reviews we published here two years ago and include recommended action steps. Then we schedule a half hour phone call to go over the evaluation with you and answer any questions you might have. The cost of this comprehensive review is just $199. If you’re interested, please complete the consultation request form to discuss the service further.

3) Custom Web Design Services

If you’re at the point where you know you need a new website in order to accomplish your mission online, we would love to help you with that. Remember, our mission is not just to build websites but to help you achieve your God-given mission online. So we listen to understand who you are and what your mission is. Then we can custom design a site for you that has a look that conveys who you are as an organization and the specific functionality you need to accomplish your goals. See our web design portfolio for examples of the organizations we serve and then complete the consultation request form so we can set up a time to talk.

4) Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Lastly, one of the ways we help you achieve your mission online is by being available to help you with whatever you need – everything but the kitchen sink. If you need someone to fix up your current site, we can help with that. If you need custom programming or database integration, we can help with that. Domain registration, web hosting, SEO – you name it, we can do it all for you so that you have just one company to call anytime you want to do anything with your site.

Whew! That’s a lot going on this month. No matter how big your organization is and no matter what state your website is in now, we’ve got something that will help you take the next step towards achieving your mission online.

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck, CEO
OurChurch.Com

To review, Sinek says, “All the great and inspiring leaders and organizations in the world all think act and communicate in the exact same way and it’s the complete opposite of everyone else.” Almost every organization starts by telling you what they do – the feature of their product or service. Some then explain how they do it – their differentiating value proposition. Very few communicate (or even know) why they do what they do – their purpose or cause. But the inspired leaders and organizations do just the opposite. They start with why. They are looking for people who will join them in their cause.

Churches That Start With “What”

Now you might think that most churches start with why. After all, the local church has the most important cause in the universe – reconciling disconnected people to God through the love and grace of Jesus. But that’s not usually how people introduce you to their church.

More often than not an invitation to church (whether it’s a personal invitation, a radio commercial, a billboard, or the church’s website) sounds like this:

Our pastor’s teaching is biblical and practical, the music is inspiring, the children’s ministry is top-notch. We’re friendly and open to everyone. We invite you to check out a service on Sunday.

Good preaching, music, children’s ministry, and welcoming new people are all important, but they are what the church does.

Invitations like this do not inspire anyone to join your cause. This “starting with what” appeals to consumerism, to a “what’s in it for me” mindset.

People who join your church because if what it does will leave when they get tired of it or find what some other church is doing more appealing.

Churches That Start With Why

Churches that start with “why” invite people by saying things like this:

We believe God loves everyone and loves the whole person. So our purpose is help those disconnected from God to get connected, to bring healing to those who are hurting emotionally, and to help those with physical and financial needs. We do that by teaching from God’s word principles that apply to all aspects of life, by worshiping in ways that will help you connect with God, and by serving and caring for each other and for people in our community. We invite you to come on Sunday and see for yourself what God is doing through us and to see how you might join us.

Do you see the difference?

Churches that start with why invite people to join their cause.

Do you see how much more inspiring and God-honoring this is?

Which are you?

Pastors, church leaders and church communicators, I challenge you to do two things.

1) Examine at the way you are describing your church to people. Look at your invitation cards, your billboards, your website, your evangelism training curriculum and anything else which describes your church or invites others to your church. Don’t just think about them; actually look at them with your eyes. Do they start with what you do or why you do it?

2) Think back to the last time you invited someone to your church. (You do invite your friends to your church, don’t you?) Did you start with what or why?

Now, which church do you want to be – the church that sells people on services or invites people to join your mission? Do you need to change the way you describe your church?

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

While most organizations try to sell people on what they do, the truly inspiring leaders and organizations start with why and invite you to join their cause.   (It’s hard to boil an entire book and a concept this big, so read yesterday’s post if you haven’t already.)

If you’re not sold on the idea yet, you’re not alone.  It usually takes a bit of processing and discussion before a person buys into it.

Jay Guengerich, a friend of my from back in my Valpo days, is a good example. He posted an excellent comment challenging this idea:

I understand the main idea of the article, and it makes sense, but I disagree with one example. I don’t think most people who buy Apple products do so because they want to help Apple challenge the status quo. I think most people who buy Apple products do so because “it’s the cool thing to do” (status symbol) or because the products are the best fit for their requirements or because the products have a sleek design (artistic/engineering appreciation). Notice I said most, not all.

These are excellent points.

However, think about who considers Apple to be cool and why. It’s predominantly artists, musicians, innovators and younger people – people who “think different” and challenge the status quo. And they think Apple is cool because they share the same beliefs and mindset as Apple.

Chic-Fil-A fans think Chic-Fil-A is cool. Harley riders think Harley is cool. TOMS Shoes customers think TOMS is cool. People who walk 60 miles in 3 days to fight breast cancer think the Susan G. Komen Foundation is cool. The zealots at your church think your church is cool.

Cool = thinks like me.

I agree that sometimes people do buy Apple products because they are the best fit for the requirements (because of the “what.”) An organization’s “why” doesn’t resonate with everyone.

But in the book Sinek talks about how often we think we are buying “the what” – we may even give very rational reasons for why their “what” is best – but beneath the surface there are assumptions made and gut level biases. Part of the reason is because the part of our brain that makes decisions also the part that processes feelings and beliefs whereas rational thought takes place in another part of the brain. It’s quite fascinating!

Have you bought into the idea of starting with why yet?  If not, what objections do you have?

For example…

Earlier this week Apple reported record revenue and profit. How could Apple do this when so many other computer and electronics companies are struggling and in a recession no less?

How is it that Martin Luther King Jr successfully led the civil rights movement? There were lots of other people talking about civil rights for decades before he came along.

How did the Wright Brothers become the first people to achieve powered flight when there were other better educated, better funded groups pursuing the same goal?

In his book Start With Why, Simon Sinek asserts:

All the great and inspiring leaders and organizations in the world all think act and communicate in the exact same way and it’s the complete opposite of everyone else.

The Golden Circle

Almost every organization starts by telling you what they do – the feature of their product or service. Some then explain how they do it – their differentiating value proposition. Very few communicate (or even know) why they do what they do – their purpose or cause.

But the inspired leaders and organizations do just the opposite. They start with why, explain how and then communicate what.

This may seem like a trivial distinction or just a matter of process, but the difference is monumental. I’ll explain why in just a moment, but consider this example from Sinek:

If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: “We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. What to buy one?” That’s how most of us communicate. But it’s uninspiring.

Here’s how Apple actually communicates, “Everything we do we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. What to buy one?”

This reveals a critical insight:

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

Sometimes…

Actually, in most cases people do buy what an organization does. Shop for a car and you’ll probably buy the one that gives you the features you want at the best price. Same goes for a camera, a restaurant or a contractor to put a new roof on your house.

It’s also true for churches. What’s the preaching like? What style is their worship? When are the services? How strong is the children’s and youth ministries? (And schools too.)

People buy the what in the absence of a compelling why.

The problem is when people buy your “what,” it’s purely a transactional relationship. If someone buys your product, joins your church or sends their child to your school because of its features, as soon as something newer with more features or more convenience comes along, they’ll jump ship.

But when people join you because of your “why” – your cause – there’s a deeper connection that goes beyond price and features.

• People pay more for Apple products because they believe in Apple’s cause of challenging the status quo.
• People pay more to eat at Chic-Fil-A because their commitment to family values resonates with them.
• People pay more for TOMS Shoes because TOMS exists to put shoes on the feet of poor kids and gives away a pair of shoes for each pair it sells.
• People will walk 60 miles over 3 days because they believe in what the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s cause to fight breast cancer.
• People will do without sports programs and fancy smart boards because they believe in a school’s vision of partnering with parents to give children a Christian educational foundation.
• People will sacrifice, serve and give to a church that doesn’t have gifted orator of a pastor or a rockstar band when they believe in that church’s mission to bring the gospel to the lost and serve its community.

I’ve tried to explain here in a few hundred words a monumental concept that Simon Sinek wrote an entire book on, but do you see how significant this is?

Start with what and you will always be competing on price and features to hold on to your customers/students/members. Start with why and you will inspire loyalty and commitment to your cause.

If you’d like to go deeper on this topic, I’ll be blogging about it over the next several days.  You can also get Start with Why on Amazon or watch this excellent 18 minute TED Talk Simon Sinek.

Other posts in this series:

• Do People Really Buy Apple Products Because of Their Why?
• Does Your Church Start with Why?

Yes, we can make a difference.

Kurt Steinbrueck published an excellent article titled Google+ Invades Google’s Search Results explaining this on ChristianSEOGuys.com

Google is now using people’s connections via Google+ to influence the results people see in the search results.  You have to be logged into Google and have a Google+  account to see the change.  Any content that has been shared by you, the people in your circles, and the people Google suggests you might want to connect with (depending on how publicly the content was shared) will now show up more prominently in your search results if that content is relevant to your search. 

While you do have to be logged into Google and have a Google+ account to SEE the change, neither is necessary for you to FEEL the change.  That’s because even if you don’t have a Google+ account, where your website is displayed in the search results for those people who do have a G+ account are being affected.

For example, let’s say you run the Apple restaurant and because you’ve optimized your site for search engines it was showing up in the search results ahead of one of your competitors, the Banana restaurant. But the folks at the Banana have a G+ account, they’re sharing articles about it in G+ and their friends are sharing those articles as well.  There’s a good chance Banana’s website is going to be displayed ahead of Apple’s in the search results for the people who are friends with the Banana restaurant on G+.  And to make matters worse, the Banana restaurant will also probably show up ahead of yours when friends of the friends of the Banana restaurant search.  Follow that?

Of course, the opposite is also true.  G+ is still relatively new.  (Individual accounts launched in June, business pages in November.)  So, you can be the one taking advantage of this opportunity and getting a jump on the competition.  Here are the steps to get started…

1. Create a G+ account for yourself
2. Create a G+ page for your organization
3. Invite your friends & contacts on other social networks to connect with you and your organization on G+
4. Listen, ask questions and learn how to engage with others using your personal G+ account.
5. Begin sharing your organization’s content – announcements, blog posts, pictures, videos – on it’s G+ page.

I have not been a big user of Google+ to this point, but I see the writing on the wall and it says that Google finally figured out how to leverage it’s near monopoly in search to make it’s social network impossible to ignore.

Do you feel the need to use G+ because of its impact on search results?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are intended to strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft, but they would be a machete for an issue that needs a scalpel. If SOPA/PIPA were to be passed by Congress any site where a user posted copyrighted material could be sued and shut down. If enacted, this legislation could bring down all social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress. It would stifle startups, creativity and online collaboration.

Even OurChurch.Com would be at risk as we could be sued or shut down if one of our 14,000 users posted a copyrighted article or song on their site.

Online piracy is a major problem. Media companies lose out on billions of dollars because (mostly) foreign companies are selling or giving away their property online without paying royalties. But SOPA and PIPA are not the answer.

What can you do?

• Help inform your friends by sharing articles like this and talking with them about SOPA/PIPA.
• Add the Stop SOPA banner to your Facebook and Twitter profile pics at blackoutsopa.org
• Call your U.S. Representative and Senator.

What are your thoughts on SOPA? What are you doing about it?

Personally, I’ve had a G+ account since it launched invitation-only back in the summer.  I have not done much with it, though, because I’m already connected with everyone I really want to be connected with on Facebook and Twitter.  Google hadn’t really given me any reason to believe G+ was anything more than “one more thing.”

But now Google is using G+ activity to impact search results (more details about that tomorrow), and so I personally can no longer ignore it and neither can OurChurch.Com.  I’d love for you to connect with me, Paul Steinbrueck, and with OurChurch.Com on Google+.

Are you using Google+?  If so, what do you think of it so far?

Have you created a Google+ page for your organization?  If so, how’s that working out for you so far?