Below is a conversation I had with someone on the Urban Church Marketing Facebook Page – I thought it would assist you as well. please Enjoy

Marlando Sparks Hello sir I’m planting a new church and I’m looking for a place to purchase business cards, banners,and signs , I also would like any info on the best ways to Market a new church in the city thanks

You like this.

Urban Church Marketing

Marlando – welcome to urban church marketing – we can help you with all the above.what city are you located are you planting the church? I am working on an Urban Church Planting Manual. definitely would like to talk to you about your experience.

July 24 at 9:50pm · Delete

Marlando Sparks

I’m in Portland Oregon, Man any advice would help thanks

July 24 at 9:56pm · Delete · Report

Urban Church Marketing

Marlando – I am currently looking at portland demographics to get a feel for the city – My advice is always the same in the beginning.Describe exactly who God called you to minister to – be a detailed as possible. that will give you an idea of the culture of your church – culture will dictate the advertising medium.

July 25 at 9:26am · Delete

Marlando Sparks

Thank for the info you have shared already IE flock, twitter i feel i moving up thanks. God has always given me a heart to give esppically to those you has a way out but can’t see it because of all the issues surronding them. I belive God has called me to the man that needs just one more chance then he will come through.I went to Pastor RA … Read MoreVernon son of thunder Pastors conference this Past winter and I could see Me. everything He did and said with the approach of ministry was what God had been speaking to me. I don’t want to be a copy, but I am an original but his style is where i want to be. i Hope that helps if you need moe info i will send it to you.

July 26 at 3:26am · Delete · Report

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Starting January 10 and ending February 1, I will be going on my annual digital cleanse. Click here for the rules. I just wanted you to know in case you don’t see me as much on social networks. I also wanted to make you, my readers aware, my social networks are being handled by my assistants, so don’t say anything you are not supposed to be saying. The reason for the cleanse is simple. As a network marketer you can get caught up in the tools of the trade rather than the fruit of the field. The old people used to say,

“Sometimes You Just Can’t See the Forest for Trees”

And that is really what was happening. This business means you have to stay ahead of the issues, stay ahead of the curve, and frankly just be able to cast vision. That also means you have to turn off some of the “noise” albeit good noise, it can still be a distraction. If I don’t answer your tweet or your status as fast, just know I will be back in a month. I have spent that few days with my team putting together some great content that will populate my feeds for the next few weeks. I pray that you enjoy them, engage them, and share. As always, your comments and thought are appreciated.

So what will I be doing in these next few weeks.

Well the short answer is, creating more content. We have 3 books that are about to be published and made available on the Amazon Kindle. Several training seminars that we are working on for you. And more importantly, we are spending a lot of time researching and training so that we can bring you the best resources for growing your business and your ministry. So until February, I bid you adieu. If you need to reach me directly email me at rbyrd@realsourcemarketing.com, but be aware I will only be answering email twice a day.

J. Richard Byrd

IMPACT the World!

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Case Threatens Pastor Housing Allowances

How a California court may alter a long-standing ministry benefit.

by Matt Branaugh

Earlier this month, we covered eight federal issues that local churches should watch closely during the remainder of 2010 and into 2011, according to recent remarks from Dan Busby, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Busby, one of our editorial advisors, is based near Washington, D.C. His role at the ECFA includes advocating on behalf of ministry interests on Capitol Hill, so he’s uniquely positioned to see national tax and finance developments unfold that can influence church leaders.

We took notice when we heard the first item on Busby’s list: a California lawsuit, filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation Inc., challenging the constitutionality of housing allowances provided to pastors by churches.

The significance of housing allowances isn’t lost on church leaders. For decades, churches have used them to recruit and retain pastors. It’s an especially handy tool that churches with limited means, especially small congregations, can use to lure a gifted person. And at a time when the country slogs out of a multiyear recession, it’s perhaps as useful of a benefit as ever. The down economy has challenged weekly giving and strained budgets for many congregations, making pay raises remain small, even nonexistent in some places.

As Richard Hammar notes in his 2010 Church & Clergy Tax Guide:

“The three most common housing arrangements for ministers are (1) living in a church-provided parsonage; (2) renting a home or apartment; or (3) owning a home. The tax code provides a significant benefit to each housing arrangement … The rules … represent the most significant tax benefits enjoyed by ministers.”

Given the importance of housing allowances, we asked Hammar to give us a deeper sense for where the California case will land.

At the moment, the signs aren’t favorable. Church leaders should begin thinking now about a future in which housing allowances for pastors do not receive federal tax exemptions.

In May, the government requested the case be dismissed on the grounds the plantiffs’ primary arguments lacked legal standing. The federal district court denied the request. That means the case now moves forward to trial, keeping alive the possibility of a ruling against housing allowances.

“

Given the obvious hostility of the federal district court judge to the housing allowance, it is probable that the court will rule that the housing allowance is unconstitutional,” Hammar says.

If that happens, the case would be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Many, including Hammar, believe the Ninth Circuit will affirm a decision against housing allowances for pastors. As far back as March 2002, for instance, the Ninth Circuit announced it would review “the constitutionality of the allowance” in a different case, “even though neither side in the related case challenged the exemption,” according to an article in th

e Baptist Press. In other words, the Ninth Circuit has looked for opportunities to scrutinize the allowance before.

Should an appeal fail, any other intervention to attempt to reverse it is highly unlikely, Hammar says.

“An appeal from the Ninth Circuit to the U.S. Supreme Court is a long shot. The U.S. Supreme Court hears appeals in only a small percentage of cases, probably one percent or so, so one cannot assume that the Supreme Court will “fix” the problem,” he says. “A decision by the courts that the housing allowance violates the nonestablishment of religion clause would be difficult, if not impossible, to “fix” via congressional legislation … Congress cannot directlyoverturn a federal court’s interpretation of the Constitution, but it can deprive the federal courts of jurisdiction to hear a particular question, such as the constitutionality of the housing allowance. This power has rarely if ever been used, so it, too, is unlikely.”

That leaves the outcome of the upcoming trial as the best hope for preserving housing allowances.

“This case is of immense significance to the hundreds of thousands of ministers who acquired homes in reliance on this benefit,” Hammar says.

Despite the uncertainty of the case’s outcome, and the tendency for legal cases to continue for months, or even years, Busby suggested in his remarks that church leaders identify the consequences of losing the pastor’s housing allowance benefit and develop a contingency plan now.

I am posting this article in its entirety because the subject matter is all too important to the church. Please go and visit the website for more information on this and other church legal issues affecting the church.

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Just wanted to post a quick note – The Urban Church Marketing Challenge is live. Pre-season has just started so there is still time to join in. What is the Urban Church Marketing Challenge:

In a nutshell… The Urban Church Marketing Challenge is about jump-starting and increasing the effectiveness of your marketing strategies. For the next 15 weeks we are going to be showing you exactly how to mold your marketing – increase your growth – streamline your efforts – and automate your system.

That’s right, this is going to cost you absolutely nothing. The entire training program is free, and you won’t have to spend a thing to get your ministry started and begin revitalizing your congregation. Just take a quick look at the video below and join us. http://www.urbanchurchmarketingchallenge.com

ChurchBrand Architect
Your Urban Church Marketing Specialist

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courtesy of http://www.snoackstudios.com

By Richard L. Reising
Taken from Religious Product News magazine, May 2007

What if you could change the way people saw your church? What if you could give it the kind of extreme makeover that would make a new generation take notice and knock on your door? Could you, by communication build a bridge towards a new you? Most assuredly. Can you do it without internally embodying the relevance that your design emanates? Most assuredly not.

Branding is known as the consistent use of design and communication in order or to establish a clearly defined image. It works when that image is consistent with the essence of who you are. When it is not consistent with who and how you are, you come across as a poser—losing more credibility than you know. Church branding is real. It is here and it is at work in your church whether you realize it or not. You are either deliberately telling the world your story, or you are the byproduct of indiscriminant messages—the sum of it all creates your brand—your perceived sense of self through the eyes of your surrounding community.

Strategic church branding is becoming more and more of a necessity. As our previous brand names: Baptist, Methodist, Assemblies of God, and the like, fall off of our churches, a new generation of branding is coming to light. That is, reaching people with the stories our denominations do not tell. Who speaks the language of the community the best? Who speaks to which segments? Who defines cultural relevance and spiritual value? How can we learn what the spirit of your church is from a distance? It is a branding issue. A good starting point: the communication you create yourself. What if you developed a deliberate brand overhaul?

Every church needs a branding strategy. It simply makes sense. It is a commitment to communicate with consistency, established values, and a clear knowledge of the target. It takes less effort to maintain when you reuse the same design and communication threads throughout all you do. It is smart. It is done by every legitimate corporation of our day.

So why don’t more churches have a brand strategy? Why is it that 90% of the churches in the U.S. have logos and design styles that vary in everything they do—often representing the landscape of volunteer designers that have been burnt-out over time? I’ll raise my hand to answer this one. It is because we do not know who we are and we do not know whom we are called to reach or how to reach them. When we do, branding becomes the natural outflow of our successful communication with those people.

Branding cannot cure our inability to connect with a certain audience. If we do not reach them with our music and message, we will not reach them by the repackaging of it. We have to resonate with people. When we do, it becomes the defining point of our brand.

This leads to the big problem with branding. Drum roll please…

The problem with branding is this: to the extent you are consistent—if you are not strategic, then you are consistently un-strategic. In all you do, if you miss the mark, it is difficult and costly to recover. Branding, like anything else we do for God starts with prayer, vision, wise counsel, a passion for the lost, knowledge of who you are and whom you are called to reach. Without these things and proven success in reaching people, branding is often a stab in the dark that alienates more than engages.

Article by Richard Reising
Richard Reising is the author of ChurchMarketing 101: Preparing Your Church for Greater Growth (Baker Books). Reising is a recognized authority on church marketing and branding and the founder and president of the Dallas-based Artistry Marketing Concepts, an organization that helps churches and ministries make wise use of marketing, design, and technology. He has helped hundreds of ministries in the United States and worldwide through speaking engagements and training seminars.

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You gotta know your audience

Who are your trying to Reach

Your target market is one of the super important pieces of your plan.  There are several audiences in the life of the church.  At any given time you may be speaking to one or all of them.  Your most important audience is the one God has called you to minister.

1. Who are they?
2. Where can they be found?
3. What are their similarities?

All of this will determine your methods and the tools used to communicate to them.   You wouldn’t use the same marketing techniques to reach youth as you would older adults.   Different demographics have different “hot button”, colors, and more importantly they process information from different sources. A great money saver is knowing the area that your demographic frequent or obtain their information. In trying to explain this concept to my 10 year old neighbor, I used this scenario.
If I wanted to sell cookies to my neighbors within 5 houses of me, I wouldn’t spend $1,000.00 on an e-blast to people living in California, if I am located in NC. I would just pay someone $5.00 to go yell at the top of his lungs (not really, although tempting). Vice Versa, I wouldn’t have someone yell at the top of his lungs in NC for an event in California and expect a large crowd to show up.
Here is what I am trying to get across to you , if you know your audience and where they are located and even what they like, it will drastically reduce your budget and be more effective.  No longer will you spend money on promotions that don’t work or advertise in places where your prime demographic is not found.

How do you find out your demographics?

ASK - Ask the people in your ministry, how they found you. Also create surveys that give you information.

LOOK- Most of you can look into your audience and detect certain things. Does my crowd dress a certain way? Are they already a certain age group?

Action Plan

1. Determine to ask 5 to 10 people a week – How they found out about you or your service.
2. create a survey or poll – Find out what people like.

Church Brand Architect

Your Urban Church Marketing Specialist

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iTunes Image Size and Format – IMPORTANT!

Power press is reporting that iTunes image artwork recommendations have changed to 1400 x 1400 in jpg format. You can use a png in RGB format, but keep in mind that a png at that resolution will negatively impact the loading performance due to its file size. We believe the image size change is for the upcoming Apple TV’s that will be released this fall.

Your podcast artwork will need to be at least 1400 x 1400 in order to be featured in the iTunes podcast directory.

The artwork saved within your audio may continue to use 300 x 300 or 600 x 600 poster image, but 1400 x 1400 will not hurt if saved as a jpg. Video should use the same 1400 x 1400 or larger image size. Again, jpg is recommended as the file size will be much smaller than that of a comparable png. for more information check out the Apple developers blog - http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html .

ChurchBrand Architects will be contacting our clients to upgrade their cover pictures.

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Just wanted to take this time to invite you the Church Marketing Directory over at Church Marketing Sucks.  The Directory is a list of tools, resources and companies that help the church communicate better. It’s kind of a yellow pages of church marketing. You’ll find technology blogs, freelance designers, marketing communities, church management software and more. It’s a first step in our plan to replace the long-neglected Don’t Suck List.

I am sure this directory will grow to be a great benefit to the body of Christ. Please Enjoy.

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My mother always told me to put my money where my mouth is. The same can be true when we look at our priorities in the Urban Church. A good focal point for me has always been where do I spend my time but more important where do I spend my money? These questions will tell you my priorities.

Food for Thought
When I was younger, I would watch people in the local church give one or two dollars in the offering. When I was a little older and began ministering in music, I did the same. Now the real sin in this was that I would immediately, after church, spend $30.00 on Chinese food. You see my stomach was my god, and I would cheat God so that I could fulfill my desires. Why is this important, you may ask? Well I will tell you.

As Urban Church Ministers we have to look at how we staff our churches, if we are to be effective in this new era. I have seen churches hire ministers of music, secretaries, and even custodial staff at great expense. All is needed and important- but where is the communication staff? Where are the people that assist in getting your message across and out of the four walls of the church?

What is the Purpose of Church?
The purpose of the church is to present Jesus — Move people to relationship with Christ — and Make Disciples. All of which require good communications skills. That being the case, why do we in the Urban Church not realize the importance of communication? Most churches don’t have a communication department,  and if they do, it is one secretary whose main job is to send out notices to other churches.

This cannot continue if we are to really win souls for Christ. Like my story above — although I professed one thing — my actions, and where I spent my money said something entirely different. I write this post to open a channel of dialogue that forces us to examine our priorities and where we allocate our resources. Let’s face it, the church has expanded way past the walls of the physical plant. How is your church handling communications?

ChurchBrand Architect
Your Urban Church Marketing Specialist

If you are tired of lackluster church communications, join us for the Urban Marketing Challenge. www.urbanchurchmarketingchallenge.com

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