As churches (and teachers), our intuition tells us we need new content in order to keep people engaged and help them take their next steps. I’m becoming more and more convinced, however, that we are just confusing people with every message we add. Rather than generating new content, we need to be focused on delivering the critical messages across multiple platforms.

That’s why, as an example, you may have heard me address the same topic on Twitter, on my blog, in eBooks, in traditional books and from the platform at a conference. My friend, Ben Stroup, says it this way:

“The temptation for organizations is to just keep creating more and more messages while sending them across the most efficient and established models for the organization. The lie that organizations buy into is that they constantly need to have something new in order to break through the clutter and reach their target audience.” (See the full article.)

The problem, of course, is that we think we’re repeating ourselves. We get bored with the same message. We assume everyone has already heard it.

The important messages need to be repeated often. They need to be shared in multiple formats. In order to do that, we need fewer messages. And we need systems to support the messages we are sharing so that people know how to take their next steps.

Remember, your message has the potential to shift thinking. Your systems have the potential to shift behaviors.

(I’m guessing you’ve probably heard me say that before.)

I’m going to be speaking at the Christian Web Conference at Biola University later this evening. Though much of this may not make sense without the talk that goes with it, here are my session notes:

Using the Web to Engage Your Audience – Session Notes

Hope to see you tonight for the big gathering. I will be the guy without the iPad.

Later this week, I’m going to be talking about using the web to engage your audience. Improving your content will help you engage your audience. I’ve decided to give away my secrets. Here are 10 ways to generate better content:

1. Tell stories. The stories about YOU are the best.
2. Create compelling headlines. I scan headlines and only read the articles with headlines that grab my attention.
3. Make it scannable. Think bullets, lists, bold type, subheadings, pull quotes, etc.
4. Use pictures and video. Keep videos under 4 minutes whenever possible.
5. Become a thought leader. That means you need to start reading something that doesn’t come from another pastor’s blog. And, you need to create time to think.
6. Meet reader’s needs. You have to develop relationships with your readers to figure this out.
7. Generate a reaction or prompt an action. Move people or frustrate people.
8. Be vulnerable. Share what you’re learning including the successes and the mistakes.
9. Use humor. Like this.
10. Keep it brief. I don’t read long articles on the web no matter who writes them.

Oh, and #11, start a conversation. What would you add to the list?

Earlier this week, I shared a new conference talk for the very first time at Velocity. The whole talk was on systems. If you didn’t hear it this week, you’ll have an opportunity to catch it either at Exponential or Whiteboard later this spring.

I thought it might be helpful if I walked through the process I use to write a new talk. This is what works for me. Obviously, it may not be the best solution for you.

1. Research Phase – I take several weeks to accumulate potential content. That means, of course, I need to plan ahead and clarify my topic so that I know how to study and pray about what I’m going to share. During this phase, I’m capturing Bible passages, thoughts, articles, data and illustrations on the topic. Additionally, I go back through my blog archives to find anything I’ve read or written on the topic in the past.
2. Identify the “Big Idea” Phase – I pull up my document (Google Docs) where I’ve captured thoughts and ideas and I begin to pray and think through the big idea. How do I need to help people shift thinking? What’s the next action step I want people to take? During this phase, I also try to reword key thoughts to best capture what I’m trying to communicate. And, if I have time, I like to test those thoughts with other people (both online and offline) to see what thoughts and phrases stick. That also gives me the opportunity to capture their ideas. (more…)

I had a couple of requests last week for a sample all church survey. Here’s the one we used at West Ridge several months ago to get a sense of who we attract to our services, where they came from and how they’re connecting to our church:

Free All-Church Survey Download

It might help you to know that we distributed these surveys in the Sunday services. We gave folks about five minutes to complete the surveys during the service. That gave us a higher participation rate that we believe is more reflective of who is actually attending. I know there are many great online survey resources, but my guess is only the people who are most connected to your church will take the extra step of completing those types of surveys on their own time.

Of course, the greatest value of these surveys is to watch trends over time. If you do the survey at the same time every year, you’ll begin to develop a picture of how your ministry strategy is helping people take their next steps toward Christ.

Have you used an all-church survey at your church? Has it helped you make better decisions? Join the conversation by sharing your comment.

Many of you make things.

Many of you feel misunderstood.

Perhaps you wear that fact as a badge of honor.

You prefer to be on the fringe.

You prefer to be the crazy prophet being thrown out of the court for the radical idea.

You prefer to be that lonely voice in the wilderness speaking out against the establishment.

Might I suggest to you (and to myself, if I’m honest) that you’re being a little short-sighted.

(more…)

In case you missed it on Friday, I shared “9 Twitter Strategies to Engage Your Audience“. That may have been helpful to the Twitter aficionados. Let me hit a few basics for those of you who haven’t given Twitter a try yet.

Here’s a great overview of the Twitter basics. This will help you get a sense of what it’s all about. After you’ve read the overview you should…

1. Sign up for an account. Go ahead. Test it out. It’s free so you aren’t obligated to continue using it.
2. Find and follow some friends…like me. That’s the real value of Twitter. It’s about connecting with other people.
3. Don’t tell us what your eating for lunch all the time. Give us the highlights of what your learning and experiencing. Share what your friends are saying. Use the “reply” and “retweet” features.
4. Try subscribing to a list…like this one. Use it as a way to keep up with what’s happening around us. It’s better than a newspaper because it’s instant news, you can easily scan the headlines, it’s being filtered through trusted resources and it’s free.

Any other words of advice for Twitter newbies? Join the conversation by leaving your comment.

It’s been about two years since I really got intentional about using Twitter as part of my ministry strategy. I did it because my primary audience (other church leaders) is very engaged on that platform. Your audience (people in your church) may not be. In fact, my guess is they aren’t. For you, Facebook is probably the place you need to be more intentional. However, for those of you who find the folks you connect with hanging out on Twitter, here are…

9 Twitter Strategies to Engage Your Audience

1. Tell your story rather than hiding behind your organization. Not that your business or church shouldn’t have its own Twitter profile, but most folks would rather follow a person than an entity. For example, @WestRidgeChurch has just over 800 followers while @BrianBloye has 3,500. People want to hear Brian’s story more than the organization he serves.
2. Follow everyone. The goal here isn’t to prove you can build a bigger Twitter following than someone else. The goal is to improve communications with your network. The way Twitter works is that when you follow someone, they are able to “direct message” you. You want that. I can’t tell you how many coaching and consulting connections I’ve made through direct messages. (Just had another one today.) And, to be honest, I’d rather communicate using Twitter over email. With only 140 characters, conversations are to the point and more efficient. I use Tweet Adder to automate this.
3. Use “lists” to follow your true friends. Right now I’m following over 48,000 people, but I’m only really tracking 100 folks. I can filter through all that potential noise by using a Twitter list. Here’s the list of folks I’m truly following right now. (more…)

Had a church planter friend of mine direct message me on Twitter today asking about video resources for smaller churches. He’s looking for ways to incorporate media into his message. Here are the links I shared with him:

Open LifeChurch.tv

WorshipHouse Media

bluefish.tv

Creation Swap

Movie Clips

Open LifeChurch.tv is the only site I’m aware of that provides 100% of its videos for free. Both WorshipHouse Media and bluefish.tv will charge a minimal fee for their resources. Creation Swap doesn’t have videos, but you can use that site for free graphics. Finally, Movie Clips is a great free option for search movie scenes by topic.

What other sites would you recommend? Join the conversation by adding your comment.

A lot is happening at SoChurch, a project I have been involved with as an advisor for the past several months. Last month they began a staged release to people who pre-registered for the product and have continued rolling it out to other groups of churches.

Their philosophy is “Release Early, Release Often.” This philosophy applies to their product launch, but it also holds value for almost any project in life. There is nothing worse than working like crazy (and for too long) to roll out your newest initiative and have it fall on deaf ears.

Here are five key reasons why releasing early and often are important for just about every organization:

To help SoChurch in their commitment to “keep it coming” and reward my own readers, I have a limited number of special discounts and opportunities to sign up for SoChurch early, before it’s released to the general public. The first 25 people to follow these two easy steps will receive a promo code good for 25% off your first year of SoChurch.

1. Follow @sochurch on Twitter.
2. Tweet: “@tonymorganlive #ineed @sochurch”

The first 25 people to do this will be DM’d by SoChurch with next steps.

To get more ideas and tips relating to the Church, technology, and communication, be sure to also follow the SoChurch Blog.