I just came across this graphic illustrating the many and varied ways we can communicate with each other in 2010 (click to enlarge):
All this, at the same time as Britons (and I’m sure others) are feeling more lonely than ever before.
Tag Archive - communication
Pastors – what’s your beef with marketers?
Recently I published a guest post on Communicate Jesus – ‘No excuses for ugly duckling church marketing‘. In it, the author (a pastor from a church in the United States) argued the importance of good marketing for churches.
I received this response via email the next day, from a reader of Communicate Jesus:
Hi Steve,
When I read your email of the post ‘No Excuses for Ugly Duckling Marketing‘ I cried and cried. With both joy, and regret. Joy to finally hear a support for marketing in churches and regret that I expect it to be criticised.
I’ve been in marketing professionally for 25 years and attending and serving my church for 36 of the 38 years since I came to know Jesus.
Most of those years I have been trying to serve the Lord in my church with my marketing expertise and sometimes I’ve been allowed some scope to do that, but for a lot of those years my skills have been treated with a component of suspicion – there has been the suspicion that marketing is “of the devil” (I’ve actually sat in a meeting where one of the ministers said that) and as soon as something looks aesthetically good or a communication strategy is too “deliberate” the accusation comes – never overtly, always subtly – that’s manipulation.
In many minds marketing seems linked so strongly with worldliness and a grab for money some can’t see it could possibly be used for the gospel – they only see it as being against what the Bible teaches.
In recent years I’ve felt less and less confident that I have anything to offer, and more worried that my efforts to use my know-how in a church context has perhaps not been pleasing to God. There is never any money for marketing as a priority and while that means we need to be creative, it also makes one feel largely unvalued. The approval for parting with church funds for a plumber when the toilets get blocked comes far more quickly (and more comfortably for decision-makers) than paying for marketing expertise, but marketing is my trade, but that trade is not well respected – in my church anyway.
I’m really thankful that these comments are out there to stimulate comment, but don’t be surprised if you get shot down. God bless.”
I felt sad reading this email. However, the experience of this person is not a one-off – I’ve have heard it before, and I’ve have heard similar negative sentiments expressed by pastors and other church leaders about marketing. This attitude seems to be limited to marketing. For example:
- If you have gifts in financial management, your church wants you to be a treasurer.
- If you have gifts in plumbing, your church wants you to help when the toilet is blocked.
- If you have gifts in computing, your church wants to you help when the network goes down.
- If you have gifts in singing, your church wants you to serve on the music team.
So why are people with skills in marketing so frequently maligned? I’m keen to hear from pastors (and anyone else who’d like to share their considered thoughts) – what role do you think marketing and marketers have in the life of the local church? Is marketing ‘of the devil’, or can it be done in a way that is pleasing to God? How would you respond to this email I received?
Think before you name. A lesson from Roses Only.
A friend was buying flowers for a grieving friend.
She was searching online.
I suggested she check out Roses Only.
Her response: “I thought they only sold roses”.
They don’t, but with a name like Roses Only, you’d be forgiven for thinking this.
A good reminder to think before you name, to ensure that your name doesn’t confuse or alienate future customers – or, in the case of Christian ministries, the people we are promoting our ministries to.
Why attention to detail matters
A friend responded to my recent post with the video ‘What is your God?‘. He said:
“What drove me nuts more was not the crackly music – but the spelling error (‘whats your God’ instead of ‘what’s your God’). It made me not want to use it. I suppose it brings home how even small glitches can ruin a whole good work – or that I’m a huge pedant!”
It’s a good insight.
That video would have taken hours to put together. Yet, the lack of attention to detail in a couple of areas impacts how many people would be willing to use it. It’s a shame, but you don’t want people only remembering the video for the poor punctuation. Its a shame, because it’s so easily avoided.
I, like my friend, am a pedant when it comes to detail like this (and I’ve written about poor spelling and punctuation several times before – see links below). Are you also a pedant, or do you think it doesn’t really matter?
Obnoxious Twitterer gets the sack
My first introduction to Catherine Deveny was watching her as a panelist on ABC1′s Q&A. Her comments about Christianity were obnoxious, but at the time I just thought she didn’t like Christians. Turns out it’s not just Christians she aims to offend.
Her tweets during the Logies have resulted in her being sacked by The Age (where she was a columnist). news.com.au sums up the worst of her tweets:
“Deveny drew the most criticism for writing that she hoped 11-year-old TV star Bindi Irwin “gets laid” and that former TV host Rove McManus’ wife Tasma “didn’t die too” – referring to the loss of his first wife Belinda Emmett to cancer in 2006.”
According to The Age, Deveny justifies her comments:
“It was just passing notes in class, but suddenly these notes are being projected into the sky and taken out of context,” she said.
It’s hard for 140 character tweets to be taken out of context. She also seems blissfully unaware of the power of the medium – did she think that no one was listening? If she thought no one was listening, why was she speaking?
Is she sorry?
“I meant every single word,” she said.
It’s a shame she can’t see the hurt she caused.
You can do a lot of damage in 140 characters. The tongue truly is a fire – and Christians can be just as guilty of using harmful words, and need to be just as careful with how we use our tongue – literally, and virtually.
Let’s not be ignorant of the power and influence of social media – what you say can be read, re-tweeted and will remain online forever.
Technology helps us avoid each other
Technology is a useful tool for enabling avoidance.
Don’t want to go to Bible study? Just send a text message – “Can’t come tonight. Sorry.”
Got something hard to say? Send an email. “Sermon on Sunday was terrible. I’ll be praying for you.”
Can’t be bothered to call someone to wish them a happy birthday? Post on their Facebook wall instead! (Too harsh?!)
Upset with someone at church? Listen to a podcast and avoid the need to come to church and resolve your issues with them.
Slydial is another tool to facilitate avoidance. It allows you to speak directly to a person’s voicemail – i.e. you don’t need to worry about whether or not they will pick up and you’d have to speak to them. Jump straight to leaving a message instead.
Here’s the example promoted on its website:
“You go to a week long convention for work in Las Vegas and blow $5,000 the first night at the roulette table. You need to call your wife and tell her why she should hold off on making the monthly mortgage payment. Her voicemail will be much more understanding than she will.”
I’ll be honest. There are times when I’ve been very relieved that a call has gone through to voicemail and I’ve been able to simply leave a message. But that’s because I was cowardly (and still am).
But it’s difficult to see how Slydial is a tool that will help faciliate authentic, honest, loving relationships. Yet these are precisely the relationships that we all long for.
(Thanks to @nttd for the heads up on Slydial)
