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Early Birds Catch All the Breaks

Justin Wise — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:08:58 PDT

My wife is always wanting to go to the matinée show of the movie we want to see. “It’s cheaper and you get to see the same movie!” she says. My wife is also a keen coupon user. There are times when the store pays her to take a product of its shelves. All because of a coupon.

For whatever reason, my mind does not operate this way. I usually don’t think along the lines of cost-effectiveness. Coupons are a hassle. Early sales and deadlines are a pain. Because of this tendency, I usually miss out on opportunities to enjoy an item or experience I would be purchasing anyway while saving money in the process. Mostly because I wait until the last minute.

If you’ve considered coming to the BeDeviant Social Media Summit, might I suggest you register before September 15th? If you do, you can join in for all the fun at a bargain price of $39. Starting on the 16th, the price for the Summit will go up to $49. Here’s your chance to save $10 and enjoy all the same festivities of the Summit as everyone else. Sounds like a deal, yeah?

I am thrilled to announce that the following people will be at the Summit:

Paul Stewart from The Gateway Church
Sam Duregger from Samwell Creative (and formerly of LifeChurch.tv)
Sam Mahlstadt of Creative Theology
More to come!

Would you consider joining us? I think you’ll have a lot of fun, meet some new people and learn some things while you’re at it. The Social Media Summit – social media for the rest of us!

How to Brand Your Church Using Social Media

Justin Wise — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:08:45 PDT

I hold weekly online office hours on Wednesday afternoons. A set-aside time where I open up the virtual doors of my office and say, “Come, child. Let us discuss the matters of life.”

Anything is fair game, but mostly we end up talking about blogging, social media and velociraptors. Yes, velociraptors.

At any rate, a question came through from a reader who asked,

Do you have any PRO TIPS for branding a church plant?

I liked the question because I don’t think enough church planters think this through before they start. Frankly, I don’t blame them for not putting design and branding at the top of the list. With Bibles, budgets and buildings to be worried about, design slowly sifts to the bottom of the list.

Although it may not be on the top of mind, it should be. In the words of my high school football coach, “You look good, you play good!”

Branding is easier now than ever before. And for the most part, it’s free or low-cost. We’ll be talking more about this topic at the BeDeviant Social Media Summit, but here’s how I answered the question:

First, get specific. If I were to start a church tomorrow (I’m not), I’d find out as much as possible about the city that I’m planting in. I’d build off of something unique about that city. For instance, here in Des Moines we have the Gateway Park downtown. One of my friends, Paul, planted a church downtown and named it, you guessed it, The Gateway Church (http://TheGatewayChurch.com). This tells people, “Hey, we care about this city. We’re here to stay.”

Second, I’d invest in killer design. One of my undergrad communication professors said, “Presentation is half the battle.” I’ve never forgotten it. If your church brand is aesthetically pleasing, the better the chances are that people will come and visit. This works on a subconscious level mostly. Good design cannot be overstated. It’s a must.

Finally, use that awesome branding and invest in a good website. There are simple solutions for church plants (http://CloverSites.com) that take the hassle out of having a good web presence. Get your location, times, staff, and about page rocking and then send everyone you meet to the site. Get cards printed up with your site on it. Put it in your email signature. Grab a Twitter page with your URL (e.g. XYZChurch.com = @XYZChurch). Do the same for a Facebook page. Get a web presence started immediately and push your community there. Chances are you won’t have a building right away, so let the online sphere serve as your collective “gathering space.”

Hope that helps!

What would you add? What churches have you seen with a great brand that extends across multiple platforms (i.e. website, Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc.)?

Lessons From a Car Mechanic

Justin Wise — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:34:16 PDT

I dropped off our not-so-trusty Vue today at our local mechanic.

“I know something’s wrong,” I said. ”We’ll take a look at it,” was the reply.

Look, they did.

They did so much looking, they needed to look at it overnight. “FREE LOANER!” I celebrated silently to myself. (It’s the little things.)

This particular body shop has a deal with a car rental place down the street. I dropped off my keys with the front desk and waited as one of the staff came around the front with a shuttle van to take me to the rental place.

I hopped in the shuttle and we began to make small talk for the short, five-minute drive down the street. The drive was short, but the conversation with my driver, Wade, was long enough to give me pause.

“You guys are only open on weekdays, yeah?” I knew this already because of the sign that I had just seen hanging on the garage door, but decided to ask anyway.

“Yep,” Wade replied courteously. “We really value our time with our families.”

“Is that why you guys close at 5:30?” I asked.

“Yeah. At the end of the day, we want to get home and spend time with our kids.”

“Wow. That’s … awesome.” It was literally the only thing that I could think to say.

See, what I expected from Wade the garage tech was a ride from Point A to Point B with polite, slightly uncomfortable, car-and-driver-themed conversation. What I got was a reminder in what matters most.

We really value time with our families.

Those words still ring fresh in my ears. What makes this even better is that this particular body shop is absolutely booming in business. I had to make an appointment a week out. They take two whole days off a week and close at 5:30, everyday.

No extended hours.
No oil changes on Saturday and Sunday.
No one’s even there to take your calls on the weekend.

Why?

Because they’re at home. With their families. Being husbands and wives; moms and dads; brothers and sisters. If you really want your car to be worked on by this shop (a lot of people do), you’ll find a way to get your car there when they’re open. It’s as simple as that.

It makes me wonder if this body shop has figured something out that the rest of us miss.

What Your Stereo Can Teach You About Social Media

Justin Wise — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:47:37 PDT

When stereo sound was first introduced to radio, people had no idea what to do with it. Previously, everything had been broadcast in mono which provided only one channel to push music through. Stereo now provided to separate channels.

“How does this work?”

When stereo sound was new, producers filled one channel with the instrumental track and the other channel with the vocal track. That’s what made the most sense to them at the time. To this day, if you catch certain tracks while listening to an oldies station, if you isolate the left channel you’ll hear the instrumental track; if you isolate the right, you’ll hear the vocal track.

It took awhile for producers to experiment and figure out that stereo music sounded best blended and subtly nuanced rather than isolated to individual channels. In short, it took time, trial and error.

I think the social web follows the same parallel. We’re producers of this content who are trying to figure out how to best use this new medium. We’ve been given a new “channel” to experiment with and are still trying to find the right way to use it.

You see this when the Today Show cites a tweet from a celebrity as a legit news source.
You see this when radio stations send people to their websites and their Facebook fan page. A social media schizophrenia of sorts.
You see this when people link their Twitter accounts to their Facebook pages and have them update each other. Constantly.

“How does this work?”

Like listening to music that’s separated into two channels, we’re almost there. Just not quite yet. Some people are really close, but we’re still isolating the channels–left and right.

We’ve gone from mono to stereo in terms of human communication. We’re not quite sure what to do with this brand new canvas, but we’re trying.

Before too long, someone’s going to blend the left and right channels of the social web and this thing will really start humming.

Who is My Pastor?

Justin Wise — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:53:52 PDT

Seth Godin is my pastor because no one cares for their congregation (tribe) more than he does.

Anne Lamott is my pastor because she receives grace better than anyone I’ve ever seen. (I’m sure she’s just as adept at giving out grace as well.)

Jason Upton is my pastor because he allows me to see God in a way that is not inherent to my spiritual make-up.

Cynthia Ware is my pastor because she is constantly striving to seek better ways to communicate God’s word to a waiting and weary world.

Mike Housholder is my pastor because I hear him skillfully unpack God’s word each and every week.

Kristin Anderson is my pastor because she truly cares about the lives of the people under her care. A pastor to pastors, is what she would say (and I would agree).

Jeff Hanson is my pastor because, well, he’s had more impact on my spiritual life than anyone else.

Who is your pastor and why?

3 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Stale Twitter Account

Justin Wise — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:33:25 PDT

We’ve all seen them. Maybe you even have one. Or maybe you’re like me and someone else has one that you want.

I’m talking about a stale Twitter account.

Twitter pages with the last update coming some time between “Don’t taze me bro!” and George W. Bush’s last day in office.

What usually happens is that people sign up for Twitter at the suggestion of a friend or colleague (or Ashton Kutcher), update a few times “I’m going to eat a sandwich – LOL!”, fail to get the point of Twitter, and then never touch it again. Nothing’s worse, in my opinion. People who started out with good intentions but got bored before the fun could start.

This leads to Twitter accounts with cobwebs all over them. Twitter pages with the generic avatar still staring back at you. Twitter pages that, most likely, will never be touched again.

If you’ve been wanting to dust off your Twitter presence and breath some life back into it, here are three steps you can take to rejuvenate your account.

Change your avatar. Nothing says “spambot” or “inactive user” faster than the default avatar on Twitter. The little birdie is nice, but your face is better. Get a picture of yourself (not your cat, or dog, or Mr. T–you), crop it square, and rock that avatar all across Twitterland.
Find people you know and follow them. This is my favorite part. When someone first jumps on Twitter, it’s like Christmas morning when they start finding people they know. “Hey! I know that guy!” I felt that way the other day when I started following Howie Mandel (I love America’s Got Talent. So sue me!). Now that Twitter is hooked up with Facebook, you can scan through your friends to see who’s also on Twitter. (Plus, if you’re having trouble finding an avatar, the Facebook Twitter app can sync your profile pic across both platforms.)
Set a reasonable posting schedule. Whenever I set up someone on Twitter for the first time, I’ll give them an assignment: Post something twice a day. Doesn’t matter when, just post something on Twitter twice a day. Right when you get to work, on your lunch break, before you go to bed–doesn’t matter. Start out reasonable and as you get the hang of it, you’ll find a Twitter rhythm that you can stick to.

You can do this. You really can. These steps will work whether you’re rejuvenating your account or just want to get started on Twitter. Why not (re)start today?

Give it a shot, and when you do, make sure you follow all of the Deviant Twitter accounts: @JustinWise, @JustinWiseNet, @BeDeviant, @BeDeviantSummit.

Expendable People

Justin Wise — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:45:40 PDT

If you treat people like they are expendable (easily replaceable; dime-a-dozen; nothing special), don’t be surprised when they act expendable. Even at a subconscious level, people know when they’re not valued. This applies at work, at home, in all areas of life.

Conversely, if you act expendable, don’t be surprised when you’re treated as such. If you don’t believe you have something unique to bring to the table called Life, why should anyone else? (Seth Godin calls this a “linchpin”.)

If you’re in a place where you feel valued and integral to the success of the people around you, do everything you can to stay there.

If you’re in a place where you feel expendable, chances are that you, in fact, are. Do what you must to remedy that.

Announcing the Social Media Summit

Justin Wise — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:08:47 PDT

I’m so excited to announce to you: The BeDeviant Social Media Summit.

This has been a long-time coming and it feels good to finally announce it to all of you. Here are the basics:

A collection of ministry-minded individuals who want to leverage the social web for good.
It’ll be here in Des Moines on October 23, 2010. My hometown. We’ll be downtown and are working on nailing down a location. Either way, I think you’ll be pleased.
We’re focusing on education, innovation and networking. There will be something for the early adopter and the newbie. Whether you’re a social media pro or not sure when to get started, there will be something for you.
Did I mention it’ll be in Des Moines? I’m so excited for you to see this city. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

You can read a more detailed description of the “why?” behind the Social Media Summit here. I’d love it if you would take a moment and visit the site: BeDeviantSummit.com. We’re also on Twitter and Facebook.

I want to say “thank you” to my wife and Ben Arment for making this dream a reality. Without the encouragement and discernment these two have provided me, the Summit would still be sitting in the pages of my Moleskine notebook. Everyone should have champions like them.

Again, the Social Media Summit exists to create a network of social web-savvy ministry professionals and inspire them to use social media in their specific contexts. Are you a part o this tribe? Would you like to be? If so, would you consider joining us in October?

The Social Media Summit. Social media for the rest of us!

How to Spot a Blogging Snake Oil Salesman

Justin Wise — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:38:12 PDT

Some people give blogging a bad name.

Yesterday I spent the better part of the afternoon listening to a podcast by a “blogging expert”. I was working on other stuff, so the show was playing in the background. The podcast promised to deliver:

How to land guest posts on the “big blogs.”
How to make a lot of dough blogging.
E-book compilation and release strategy.
Et cetera, et cetera.

I felt like when I was done listening to this podcast, I would be able to blog my way to the moon and back. YEEHAW!

However, one consistent theme popped up over and over again: This particular blogger could not stop talking about himself. His successes. How much money he made. All of the people who asked him to guest post on their site. “That’s awesome!” I thought, “but when do we get to learn?” Blech.

On one hand, I opted-in to listening to the podcast. No one forced me to do it. It was of my own free will. Further, if one is successful in a field that you have interest in, it makes sense to see what worked for them and try to distill that success into replicable principles.

Jon Acuff works humor better than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s what carries Stuff Christians Like and keeps people coming back.
Darren Rowse has a quiet authority on blogging. When you read his posts, he’s teaching you things without you even knowing it.
Chris Brogan gets the humanness of the social web. I feel like I’m having a face-to-face conversation with him every time I read a post.

That being said, I felt like I’d been rooked. Here’s why: At no point was I empowered to apply what he was teaching. It was all about him. He called it a “free blogging workshop”. I called it an ego-boosting soapbox. To top that off, the whole thing was a giant sales pitch for his “blogging academy,” or whatever the crap he called it.

Yeah, like I’m going to pay you to tell me about yourself.

The guys I mentioned above share their successes, certainly. But the reason I go back to them time and time again is because they give me the tools to implement what they’re teaching in my own life. They set me up for success. They give blogging and bloggers a good name.

The gentleman on the podcast yesterday, and people like him, give blogging a bad name. They’re the ones we think of when hear the word “professional blogger”: Broke. Sitting in tighty-whities. In parents basement. Never building value, just figuring out ways to cheat people out of their money.

If you blog and you teach others how to blog, please don’t be a snake oil salesman (or woman). Bloggers have enough hurdles to jump over. If you’re going to teach people how to blog, don’t just say you’re going to give them value. Actually give them something of value. Not just a list of your achievements.

What’s Another Name for Donkey?

Justin Wise — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:53:59 PDT

My father-in-law sent this to me. I happen to think it’s hilarious.

A little sacrilege, but who’s counting? Enjoy.

The Pastor’s Ass

A Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race
again, and it won again.

The local paper read:

PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor
not to enter the donkey in another race…

The next day, the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS.

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the Pastor to get rid
of the donkey..

The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby Convent..

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The Bishop fainted!

He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she
sold it to a farmer for $10.

The next day the papers read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the
donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is ….
Being concerned about public opinion can
bring you much grief and misery. It can even shorten your life..

..So be yourself and enjoy life to the fullest.

Stop worrying about everyone else’s ass and you’ll be a lot happier and live longer!

BeDeviant.com

Early Birds Catch All the Breaks

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How to Brand Your Church Using Social Media

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Lessons From a Car Mechanic

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What Your Stereo Can Teach You About Social Media

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Who is My Pastor?

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3 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Stale Twitter Account

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Expendable People

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Announcing the Social Media Summit

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How to Spot a Blogging Snake Oil Salesman

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What’s Another Name for Donkey?

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