Unity Church Marketing

It was a small shop, started out of my bedroom and eventually got to an office. I would sell the site and then go ahead and make them.  Of course, just like any selling cycle, you would build momentum up and really get on a roll selling.  The only problem with being a 1 person operation is after you sold them, you then had to stop and create their website.

So, I took on two women who worked part-time selling the sites for me, since they neither had the expertise or the inclination to do the HTML work.

I had a strategy to get clients that was pretty effective at the time and believe it or not even had a demographic that I went after!  

I only approached people that advertised. After all, the internet was very new at the time and most people didn’t see the promise (although even I didn’t see it as huge as it has become in our lives) that the internet could provide for them to make a level playing field.

The reason I went after only businesses that were already advertising is that they already understood about marketing.  The only thing that I had to do was see if they could see the potential that the internet could provide.

What I told the women who worked for me was a simple philosophy that I still employ to this day…

You either get it or you don’t!

I was reminded of that philosophy when I recently read the Carra Riley book “Cosmic Cow Pie…Connecting The Dots. Riley lays out some simple, yet powerful tools that you can use to avoid the “cow pies” that we all find ourselves stepping into from time to time.

Carra has worded her’s a little differently than I did as she actually has buttons that indicate either “I Get It” or if you turn it upside down, it will say “I Don’t Get It!”

You have to be honest with your situation!

I once had a company that a partner and I had started at his kitchen table. We would meet nights and weekends to work on it. Eventually, we had folks working for us and distributors around the country in addition to an in-house sales team. We thought we were great at what we did. We had developed programs to help our distributors in their efforts.

But still, sales weren’t where we needed them to be, so we brought in a consultant. We sat down with him and talked. The consultant listened through several sessions.  He then told us some things we didn’t want to hear. And the one that rang in my ears was the point that “you aren’t good at sales”.  My partner took great offense to this since he had successfully run several sales organizations.

But the truth was we weren’t good at sales.  The results were speaking for themselves. If we were good at sales, we probably didn’t need to bring in a consultant to turn it around.

It was a painful lesson that needed to be learned however.  Eventually, we did turn it around and even took that company public.  But that is a lesson that I never forget in whatever I do.  I may not want to hear it, but that old saying of “it is what it is” rings true to this very day.

What does that have to do with church marketing you ask? 

I talk to alot of churches about their marketing. Many times I can see why their efforts (or lack of) is why they are in their current state of chaos.

In effect, when I point out thoughts and areas that they could improve their situation, they make excuses! In essence, They Don’t Get It!

Here is the deal.  When you are reviewing your current situation, take an unbiased view of what your actions to date have been as well as the results. Be accurate.  Be honest.  Don’t spin it into a positive when in fact it isn’t.

What do I mean by that?  A church leader recently told me that their program that they had implemented to increase church membership was a success.  During that time, they had 58 new visitors come through their doors. They told their congregation what a success the program was.

“How many of those visitors became members?” I asked. To date…none.  That is what I am talking about being honest in your appraisal of where you are. The objective was to get members, not visitors.

Like me, you may not want to hear the unvarnished truth. But guess what?  If that consultant didn’t come in and give it to us straight, we would have just kept going thinking we were a great sales organization. And we wouldn’t have turned it around either.

Take a moment to look at all aspects of your organization. Honestly assess whether the efforts that you are putting forth are making a difference in reaching the desired objective.  If not, make changes to get reach the goals you originally laid out.

Do you understand the demograpic that your church is going after? Are you clear what it is you want your church to accomplish?  Truly, how effective is your church in showing up in the community?

Make sure that your church is one that can say “I Get It”!