One of my dreams has been to use my talents and gifts serve the church in the United Kingdom. If you didn’t know I was grew up in the UK. I’m so excited to share with you some upcoming social media seminars I’ll be speaking at in late May and June 2013. If you or your church are just starting out in using social media then these seminars will help make you more effective!

If you are a leader or are passionate about the potential of social media for your church or non-profit then don’t miss these seminars near you. I’m super excited at having the opportunity and can’t wait to share with you.

Speaking itinerary

1.  Shoeburyness & Thorpe Bay Baptist Church, Essex
Tuesday 21 May, 1:30-4pm

Find out more and book here.

2. Northwest England Location TBC
Thursday 23 May

3. St John’s College, Durham
Friday, June 7, 2013 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Find out more and book here.

4. Enon Baptist Church, St. Peter’s View, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland
Saturday June 8, 9:30-2:30pm

Find out more and book here.

Drop any questions you want answered in the seminars below.

Is WordPress or Hosted CMS solution right for your church? (Photo credit)

Earlier this week I wrote a post on Church Marketing Sucks - What’s best for your church website? WordPress or Hosted CMS? I was explaining the journey and decisions we have been making over the last 6 months in choosing our web platform for our own church website. There are important tactical reasons why we have made the decision to switch. However, there are many good hosted CMS solutions that offer church web hosting, have the right features and functionality which have design templates ready to go when you want them.

In our scoping stage we did look at the various church web solutions (highlighted in no order of preference below) that are available and I thought I would share them with you. As well as providing the ‘burger with the lot’ functionality they provide pre-designed templates which can be really useful for a church just starting out.

Here are six reasons why a hosted CMS might be right for you:

1. Low budget - if you are a new church plant there are some excellent low cost solutions with everything included.

2. No web staff – If you have no specialists on your team you might want to consider the ease of use of these solutions offer. I’ve found WordPress quite easy to use, but I have a tech side to my brain , you may not.

3. Baked in functionality – Most of what you need from a functionality perspective is already there. No updating or searching for the right plug-in.

4. Design is already done – While templates aren’t for everyone, for a church just starting out it will get you going. There are literally hundreds ready to choose from. There are some Church WordPress themes that have design templates ready to go as well, but there aren’t as many as the hosted solutions have.

5. Hosting  - You don’t have to think about yearly hosting fees ever again.

6. Back-ups - Working in design and advertising studios all my life I have had this saying burned in my mind ‘back-up, back-up, back-up! Hosted solutions do all of the heavy lifting in backing up and restoring for you. It’s part of the deal so you don’t have to sweat it.

The reason why I wrote this post was because I believe that with any web project you should have all the facts at hand. Seeing some one-eyed comments from WordPress developers made me pause. Even though WordPress was the right solution for us, it isn’t the right solution for many churches. One of these ‘hamburger with the lot’ hosted CMS solutions might be perfect fit for your church.

Here they are five hosted CMS solutions we considered before making our decision, which you may want to consider:

1. E-zekiel

Up till now E-zekiel has been the church web solution we have been with. As at time of posting they just let me know about a new product they have launched called Thrive. Looks very interesting!

2. Cloversites

3. ekklesia360

ekklesia360 is a product of Monk Development. My interactions with Monk team have been really useful and the team there have a great product with ekklesia360. They have demonstrated over and over again to me their heart to serve. Great crew!

4. Bridge Element

5. OurChurch

In case you are wondering, I have no ‘deals’ with any hosted solutions. I just like to share with you what I’m learning along the way.

Do you have questions or comments about WordPress or ‘hamburger with the lot’ church web solutions? You may also know of other solutions or WordPress themes. Comment below!

Do you get your message out? Photo Credit

Churches can be typically shy in dealing with the media. Many church leaders have been burnt. But it’s my experience that public relations (PR) can be a great way for a church to tell the world about the great work that they are doing. PR is a much more authentic communications channel for churches than advertising. I would highly recommend that Pastors, church leaders and Church Communications Directors use it as a communications tactic. I’ve written a few ideas below based on my own experience that I hope will help you the next time you want to tell your community about what your church is doing.

Here are the 7 practical public relations tips for churches:

1. Do Your Research

Read and scan the newspapers, radio and television to see what stories are making news ahead of when you actually want your story out there. I came across a story of a university promoting an app they launched around 2 years ago. I cut it out of the paper and kept it on file. I used the same ideas they had used to get our church app’s story in the newspaper. Because the newspaper was syndicated the same story appeared across the country. The result was a very good spike in downloads of the app and a perception changer for our church. (You can read the story here) One of the reasons why I think this story got up was because it was surprising coming from a church. Surprising and breaking perceptions can increase your chances of getting your story out.

2. Be Newsworthy

Being newsworthy means that you have a story that people want to hear. For example your jam sale probably isn’t newsworthy. But your community and raising funds to help others as a result of a natural disaster that has just happened is. Why? Because it is timely.

3. Be You

Some Australian media are quite negatively disposed towards church and it’s leaders. Just being yourself and not stiff and formal can be quite surprising for many journalists. It can be interesting to see journalist walk into an interview with a very negative posture, but leave very positively, just because the interviewee was their-self.

4. Be Quotable

It’s important to think through what you want to say. It is a good idea to write it down. If a your church community are involved in the story it is a very good idea to interview them ahead of time and write down their thoughts. Journalists love to hear what everyday people are thinking. Where possible write down 2-3 paragraphs of quotable quotes.

Journalists are sometimes time poor. The more you give them. The easier it is for them to file their story on time. Sometimes journalist will have the time to interview the person at the centre of the story too.

5. Be Available For A Photo Opportunity

Papers love photo opportunities. The more members of your community you have available the better. It’s especially helpful to have the people who were quoted available for a photo-op. The challenge here is that you need to be available when they want you. Many news stories happen fast so the more you are available the increased likelihood you will have a photo-op. Stories with photos always stand out more in the paper and often a good picture will actually increase the size of the story, or placement of the story in the paper more towards the front page.

6. Choose your media outlets carefully

You don’t have to blast every media outlet every time you think you have a newsworthy story. Sometimes your story will only be relevant for local news. News outlets don’t like to be spammed, if you spam them too often they may actually ignore your newsworthy story.

7. Get Advice From A PR professional

If you know someone who works in public relations or is a journalist, get them to help you. They will know what will help, and what will hinder you getting your story out. PR advice can be expensive, but if you do most of the leg work before you talk to them it will cut their hours down and make them much more affordable.

This post is very much at public relations 101 level. Have you had media experience and want to share your wisdom? I know there are some of you that read this blog! Or got any questions? Comment below.

I really enjoyed speaking at the 2012 Christian Media Australia Conference. So much so, that I’m going again this year. And I’m paying the full swag for it. Here are some of the reasons I can’t wait to be there in a few weeks time!

1. Meet people outside my box

I live in the church bubble and it is always good once in a while to get out of the bubble and into the big wide world. I especially like meeting new people and hearing their stories. If you are going to this years conference come and say hi and tell me your story.

2. Wide variety of world-class speakers

Conferences live and die on the quality of their speakers and this year the CMA conference has something for everyone – Phil and Kathleen Cooke, Darren Rowse, Mark Sayers, Mark Scott, Brian Houston to name a few. I have no idea what to expect, but what I know is that I love Phil’s books, read Darren’s blog almost every other day, and have the greatest respect for Hillsong Church and Brian Houston. Can’t. Wait.

3. Duh, it’s on the Gold Coast

I’m going to enjoy the feel of the sun on my back as I run.  The sound of the ocean. Hipster hotel. Wi-Fi.

(Here are my top 8 take aways from last year’s conference (and no, it wasn’t chinese) and what I spoke about last year).

Oh and if you are going you may hear from me in one of the breakout sessions. Watch this space! If you haven’t booked yet. You can find out more here.

Comment below if you are coming and want to connect.

One of my personal passions is telling others about the potential of social media for the church, if you haven’t got that yet . Many of the friends I make online are social media experts in their own non-profit fields and it is always great to get their input into my life and what I do. I asked this question on a Facebook group I belong to What ’rookie mistakes should churches and non-profits avoid on social media? Here are some of the answers:

1. Posting content before it’s approved. Jim Gray

2. Not following back people on Twitter. Haley Veturis Social Media Manager at Saddleback Church (Check out my video interview with Haley – she is the real deal!)

3. A Facebook ad campaign with no content strategy. Jim Gray

4. Using tragedy to explain why personal engagement on social is important. Carrie Kintz

5. Not searching a hash tag before using it for a weekend series/conference. Haley Veturis

6. Using hash tags on Facebook. Haley Veturis

7. Don’t be spontaneous. There are some things that you just can’t plan for but work really well. Steve Fogg

8. Directing people to “Click here” while attaching the wrong URL. Haley Veturis

9. Lack of conversation when you ask people of question on social. If you ask a question – be prepared to engage. Carrie Kintz

10. Focusing on only going after influencers, rather than also developing brand advocates. Jim Gray

11. Post really infrequently and don’t engage or manage your community. Steve Fogg

12. Auto-posting the exact same content in all your channels at the same time. It ignores the unique purpose of using social media to reach your audience. While you can get away with tweeting heaps..it can come across spammy on FB. Users of one platform don’t want to be treated like users of another. Jose Manuel Huergo - Web content and Social Media Co-ordinator at Hillsong Church.

13. Everything tweeted about you with no comment. Jim Gray

14. Don’t broadcast. Adam Jeske - Director of New Media at Intervarsity USA

15. Tweeting something out of the wrong account (account belongs to a client, etc.) Jim Gray

16. Don’t tailor the content for the different platforms. Jose Manuel Huergo 

17. Create a whole bunch of new profiles and update them for a month, then let them all die. Then, when someone tries to connect with you, you aren’t there! Jim Gray (Check out this real life example, the company later contacted me in the comments section of the post)

18. Don’t plan your content out ahead of time to align with your church’s/non-profit’s focus. Steve Fogg

Got questions? Agree/Disagree? Do you have any tips on what mistakes to avoid in social media? Comment below now!

One of the reasons I’ve written this post is the amount of misinformation out there regarding how to be successful on social media. I have seen too often churches, para-churches, non-profits and business fall into this trap. I hope this post helps you and demythologises (wow big word!) some of the most common social media myths around!

Myth #1: Just having a social media presence is a win

People seem to think that just by being on a social media channel their brand will become stronger or their message will spread further. What you have to realise is that every piece of social media content you create has the ability to lose someone as well as gain more followers. You can actually hurt your brand if you do social media badly. Here is one example of a brand that has a fantastic product, great packaging yet has done social media really, really badly.

Myth #2: Broadcast

The best social media strategies I’ve seen engage with people and actually listen. Watch how people interact with your posts, interact and engage with people who make comments. Ask questions! I have seen the outdated broadcast model especially prevalent with some church leaders for some reason. If you are involved in a church read this and pass it on!

Myth #3: Don’t engage

As I said in the previous myth, ask questions – don’t just make declarative statements all the time. (This is a really useful post: How I got 100% more engagement on my Facebook page) I used this tactic again just last week and the engagement was huge.

Myth #4: If I do what everyone is doing we will be okay

You are not the larger church down the road. You cannot see under the analytic bonnet of their social media presence. While they might have a large following it doesn’t necessarily mean they are achieving the goals they are trying to reach. Big numbers can hide a multitude of failures.

Myth #5: I only need to do it when I have time

Social media is 24/7. Yesterday is so old in social media. It is so important that you have your content delivered on a regular basis. Your engagement will actually be higher the more people see you frequently posting, even if it is a scheduled post.

Myth #6: Social media is free

It won’t cost you any money. Wrong, it will always cost you something, staff time at a minimum and it will increase from there. I would recommend investing a small budget to see what it can do to increase your reach. I started budgeting and investing in social media last year and had really good results.

Myth #6: You don’t need a plan. Just be you

I’m all for spontaneity, some of my most viral social media moments have been spontaneous. But you do need to schedule your posts, you do need a plan on what is coming up and who will create the content and where you want the plan to take you!

Myth #7: Be everywhere

When a new Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram comes out I’ve seen the gold rush of churches run for the hills and adopt a new social channel. You actually don’t need to be everywhere. Yes, you can buy the land rights (your social name) but don’t extend yourself too far. Stick with your social media strategy and move from there.

What social media myths have you seen around? Comment below!

What first impression do you want to leave with visitors to your website? Photo credit

Did you know that your church website is the digital front porch to your church?

To put it another way, your church website is one of the first impressions that your church leaves with your first-time visitors who are checking you out.

What first impression are you leaving?

Don’t think you aren’t because your website is leaving some kind of impression right now with a first time visitor. Every church website leaves an impression. Good, bad, bland, fun or welcoming.

One anomaly I’ve found since entering into church world is that churches will invest budget into facilities, AV, staffing, but next to zero budget into creating the best first impression possible for their primary audience (I’m fortunate to serve in a church that is prepared to invest in the digital space).

In pure marketing terms (don’t shoot me) many churches think they have a great ‘product’ but expect people to wade through the quick-sand of a poorly designed church website and still expect visitors to come along to the church on the Sunday.

Why would they do that?

Ask yourself this question Pastor – What kind of impression do I want to make with new visitor on my church website? (If you serve in communications ask your Pastor the same question, or email them this blog link and they can answer it directly)

How do you want people to feel?

What kind of information do you think a first time visitor needs to know? (Hint: It’s not your statement of belief or a photo of you)

What perceptions do you want to break?

Can they easily see or read what you have to say on their smart phone? (because that’s how they will most likely check you out) You can find out more on this post on why your Church needs to update it’s website in 2013. There are seven great examples that I found here.

Does your website do this? If not, what will you do today to change it?

Easter is a very special time of year for Christians like myself. I’m also filled with awe as I look online and see what other churches around the world are creating on their websites to promote their Easter services. Some churches have special productions, others have the services you would expect at Easter. I’m always blown away by the strategy, creativity and work that communication peeps, designers, videographers put into crafting a great web experience and his year is no different.

Contrasted against Christmas services, in terms of programming, many churches don’t actually hold special services outside of Good Friday and Easter Sunday so there weren’t as many examples that I could find of themed pages. A newcomer to this list I particularly like is Mission Community Church’s splash page. In terms of graphic design, my personal favourite is James River Assembly. Wild, free and unexpected.

I’d love to hear from you, so as you review and enjoy the design of these church websites. Please drop a comment below and share this post with your tribe.

Crossway Church

(My teams first attempt at a splash page)

Fellowship Church

Hillsong London

James River Assembly

Liquid Church

Mars Hill Church Seattle

Mission Community Church

NewSpring Church

Saddleback Church

Seacoast Church

Willow Creek Community Church

Woodlands Church

These are just a few out of the many examples of web design work that churches have done for Easter. Have you seen an website you like? Or you may have been part of the team that created one. Drop a comment or a link below and share the love!

I recently created a post for my church’s Facebook page for Saint Patrick’s Day that went off the charts virally (in our own modest way). To be honest it wasn’t a post that I thought would travel that far, but it was clearly a message that has resonated with ten’s of thousands of people throughout the social media space. It’s certainly no Gangnam Style, but it is punching above its weight virally (The statistics are at the bottom of this post).

There are no rules or strategies that automatically get you into a viral sharing of your content. But are some tactics you can follow to ensure that you have done everything you can do so that your content will be shared more widely. Here are some of the principles I try to live by when it comes to social media content strategy:

1. Be brief

Our attention span on social media is very short. We have about 2-3 seconds to capture someone’s attention. If we are asking people to do too much they won’t interact with our content. In this case all I was asking for was a like. But because it resonated so much people shared the post.

2. Optimal viewing experience

Your image size should suit tablets and more specifically mobile phones. If it appears at the right size and is fully legible then it will have more of a chance of being RT’d, shared or liked.

3. Post at the right time

You will need to test your optimum traffic posting time. Some questions you need to ask yourself are: When are your audience online? What kind of posts do they interact with the most at that time of the day. I’ve figured out what ours is for our own social media presence and we seem to be getting a consistent set of data back.

Another point I would add here is be consistent and post your content regularly. Many people are creatures of habit and check their social media at certain times in the day. If you are there when they are consistently with good quality sharable content, they are more likely to engage with you.

4. Aim to hit solid runs every post and the occasional post will be a home run

Wayne Cordeiro uses this metaphor when it comes to preaching but it is the a good metaphor for social media. Keep posting good quality content and eventually one post will be a home run. You can’t always predict which one, but sooner or later a post will travel further than you thought it would.

5. Global time sensitive seasonal content

This is a big factor in why this post travelled so far. Saint Patrick’s day is celebrated throughout the western world and the content was applicable in all these countries.

In Australia we are ahead of most people in timezones so our content is likely to appear in timelines before many others will.

6. Tell ‘truth’ but stay positive

Saint Patrick’s Day has morphed into this global day of celebration that is about green beer, shamrocks and leprechauns. What I tried to do was to restate what the day was really about in a positive way that would resonate with our online audience.

Measurement

The viral juice is clearly in the number of times it was shared. Much more powerful than ‘likes’.

Got to love analytics! While the Crossway page says that 149 people like it, the true reach is that 2,060 “likes” it so far and 147 comments. The message is spreading rapidly beyond the Crossway Facebook page.

How about you. What have you found that helps the talkability of your social media content? Do you have any questions in general about social media? Drop a comment below.

It was my absolute pleasure to spend some time interviewing Haley Veturis. Haley is the Social Media Manager at Saddleback church. I really love what Haley and the Saddleback team do in the social media space. You should check them out.

The connection in the interview with Haley was a bit scratchy at first, but got better, I think it was the koala’s or kangaroos nibbling on the line.

Interview with Haley Veturis from SteveFogg on Vimeo.

You can find Haley Veturis on Twitter | Instagram