Church Juice

The Good and Bad of Stock Photography

2012-05-17T18:03:42+00:00

There’s plenty of discussion about stock photography. Love it or hate it, searching for the right pictures and spending money for them is a part of most designers’ lives. Whether we’re amateurs or pros in putting together pieces for our communication materials, we need to think about why we’re using stock images.

This post isn’t about saying “yes” or “no” to using stock photography. Instead we want to help you think through why you’re using stock stuff and when you might want to avoid it.

Reasons not to use stock photography:

It doesn’t give a real picture of who you are. When visitors come to your website, or see something from your church for the first time, they want to get a sense for who you are. This is your chance to show how you are unique. It’s your time to show who you are and what you stand for. Do you really want to send the message that you’re a cookie-cutter church?

Plus we have to remember that using stock photography that doesn’t reflect who we really are; it can create a disconnect for a visitor. It they see one thing on the website or in a brochure but something completely different on a visit, they’ll feel duped.

A prime example of this is using a picture that is an ethic rainbow blend of happy men, women and children when that’s not who you really are as a congregation. You may only have one chance to engage with a visitor to your church. Don’t let choosing a bad photo ruin that opportunity.

People know when they see stock photography. In a world where we’re constantly marketed to, people are savvy to what looks too good to be real. You don’t want your church’s image to be grouped with the postcards people get from the local dentist or bank.

It can be used as a lazy way out. It takes work to get good pictures of people in your church in action. You have to create a system for letting parents opt-out of having pictures of their kids taken. A few people will probably be unnecessarily upset that you’re taking pictures around the church. So often times it’s easier to get buy a stock picture instead. Keep the end goal in mind. If we’re trying to reach people in our community and give a true picture of who we are as a church, isn’t it worth it to do the work?

Popular images show up all over the place. I remember a pre-service slide at my church that showed a young, hip woman holding a cell phone. It was part of a piece reminding people to silence their phone. Apparently the church wasn’t the only one who thought it was a great picture. I ended up seeing this woman, who I wished actually came to our church, on the sides of busses and in other ads all over town.

Or take the picture in the header of this blog post. I would say it’s become the most overused stock image in the ministry world right now. I can understand why. It’s a great idea for a photo. But now the headless bible man is everywhere. It has lost its uniqueness. These are the risks that come with using stock photography.

Reasons to use stock photography:

There are some pictures you can’t get on your own. Whether it’s time, skill or access, there are some pictures you can’t take. Especially when it comes to pictures without people in them, stock photography can give you some great options. Artists take unique pictures and have a great eye for composition. They can give you access to things, places and points of view you couldn’t get on your own.

Sometimes stock images help you tell a better story. We use quite a bit of stock images here on Church Juice when we aren’t showing a place or people. Instead, we look for images that match the content we’re writing. Whether it’s something simple, complex or abstract -- sometimes the right stock picture can accent and bring life to what you’re creating.

It’s better than stealing from the rest of the internet. Google Images makes it easy to type in a key word and see a lot of pictures. It’s even more tempting to take something you see that looks perfect and use it on a project you’re doing. That’s illegal. You’ll probably never get caught, but it’s the wrong thing to do especially as a Christian organization. When you buy a stock image, you own it to use. There are some free stock photography options, too. Either way, use pictures you have the legal rights to use.

Here’s the big point of this post: Stock photography isn’t inherently bad as long as you’re making intentional decisions about why and how you’re using it. It becomes a problem when you’re just using it out of habit. Show your church in action. Highlight the people and programs you have. Use what’s in front of you first. And then, supplement the story with stock photography.

What Cola Wars Tell Us About Creativity

2012-05-11T15:48:19+00:00

When was the last time you went to a major venue or mainstream restaurant and Coke or Pepsi wasn’t on the menu? Better yet, do you recall a time where the drink of choice was RC, Dr. Pepper or 7-UP?

Welcome to the new reality for Chicago Bears fans the next time they venture into Soldier Field. The Bears just signed a seven-year deal that makes products from the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group the official soda and juices of the Bears.

What makes this news interesting—besides the fact that I think RC is a deliciously superior soda—is why the Bears ditched Coca-Cola. Money? Sure. But a big factor was the creativity the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group bought to their sales pitch.

Chris Hibbs, the Bears VP, said, “It was an overall vibe from them that was very collaborative,” Hibbs said. “They were hyper-creative.”

Hibbs says the Bears had no plan to leave Coke, but they were wooed by the marketing savvy of Dr. Pepper. The exact details of the “creative ideas” haven’t been publically shared (other than the plans for a Dr. Pepper pavilion with live music at the stadium). But it’s interesting to see the third-place U.S. soda company topple one of the big boys in a major arena such as the NFL.

The point in sharing this with you has nothing to do with soda, pop or cola. In fact I don’t really drink much of it. Here’s what I hope you can take from this story:

Creativity can help you achieve more than you thought you could. It helps knock down obstacles. It lets you do things others don’t think are possible.

In the church world, being creative can erase the perceived gap between the big churches and small ones. Obstacles, real or perceived, can be overcome when you use the creativity God has given you to do new things.

So use this soda underdog story to motivate you to try something new or to take a creative risk. The outcomes could be better than you imagined.

3 Quick Social Media Tips

2012-05-07T18:40:39+00:00

Churches are increasingly investing more time into social media. It can be a great way to connect with members, regular attenders and new folks in a place where people are already hanging out. Whether you’re just getting started in social media or have been at it for awhile, here are three tips for avoiding a few common mistakes.

Don’t set it and forget it. Launching a Facebook page or setting up a Twitter account is the easy part. The challenge comes in keeping it up to date. If you’re going to commit to social media also commit to sticking with it. In the beginning, you may not have all the interaction and traction you were hoping for, but most of the time if you stick with it, the people will come. If you leave it deserted, people will notice. There’s no motivation for someone to follow you if your page is a ghost town. If you’re having problems keeping up to date, create a posting calendar to keep you on track and to help you find a posting rhythm.

Not everyone will see what you’re posting. Just posting something on Facebook or Twitter doesn’t mean all of your followers will see it. Twitter can be a cluttered stream of information and it’s easy for a single tweet to get lost. Look for ways to post the same information multiple times throughout the day without directly copying a tweet word for word.

For Facebook, the more people interacting with your post, the better chance more people will see it. Any time you post something, Facebook computers give it a score and that determines how much priority it will be given in your fans News Feeds. The more people like, share or comment on your post, the better your score. The better the score, the more people will see it.

Understand how your social media outlets work with everything else. It’s a common mistake to just dive into using social media without thinking about how it fits in with your other communication streams. How does your Facebook page coexist with your website, weekly bulletins, emails, in service announcements, slides on the screens in your sanctuary, etc.? Not everything you do will be shared on all these platforms. Like using any communication tool, take time to establish who the audience is and what goals you hope to achieve with it.

3 Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Church Website

2012-04-24T15:58:13+00:00

For many, spring is a time of motivation. The changing of the seasons get people excited to do new things or clean up old stuff. So why not give a little seasonal makeover to your church’s website? Here are three things you could do to spruce up your website to make it more effective.

Tell more stories. Personal connections always tell a more powerful story than just words that make up a description. For example, if you’re talking about what your women’s ministry offers, don’t just make a list. Find someone involved in the ministry and tell her story. Get to the root of what made a difference for that person. Tell her story as a way to compel others to join in. Add pictures. Use video. Whatever technology level your church is comfortable using, do it to tell a story. Someone new who’s looking to become more involved in a ministry will be far more likely to take action when you tell a good story. Just a list of what you do is more likely to get skipped over.
Add more real life pictures. Get rid of the exterior pictures of your church. Ditch the pictures of an empty sanctuary. Reduce your reliance on stock photography, too. Instead add pictures that show people in your church. Show them in action. Give site visitors a real-life look at who you are. Yes, the issue of privacy comes up, but don’t let it be a barrier. The main concern is regarding talking pictures of kids. It’s common practice to give parents a chance to opt-out when they first bring their child to the children’s area. Figure out your policy and move forward from there.
Simplify your website navigation. Can visitors easily find the information they’re looking for? How about your regular attenders? Are your menu bar items easy to understand and well organized? No one likes to dig for information. Looks for ways to simplify your menus by grouping information. There is no magic number for the number of menu headings you should have; some will recommend a max of five to seven. That’s a fine guideline, but the bottom line should be to do what works for you in keep things simple.

Have you been doing some website spring cleaning this year? If so, what changes are you making?

Falling Short of Best Practice Goals

2012-04-18T18:17:07+00:00

It’s not always easy to put best practices into action. Whether it’s something you’ve read or a conference you’ve attended, finding best practice tips are easy. Yet putting them into action is trickier mainly because most change doesn’t happen overnight. And for many churches, the communications person is seemingly on their own with an overflowing list of tasks for which they are responsible.

As someone who’s always working towards improving, and doling out advice that I can’t always follow right away, here are some things I’ve learned about the process of getting to where you hope to be.

Don’t let it overwhelm you. If you try to make a lot of changes all at once, you will get burnt out. Try to prioritize what new things you want to do. What’s most important to your overall communications goals? Are there a handful of small things you can do now while you spend more time on the bigger tasks? The frustration of making changes gradually is actually better than the burnout that could come from trying to do too much at once.
Keep working towards your goals. It will make you better along the way. Even if you can’t get where you want to go right away, the work you’re doing isn’t for nothing. You may not be at your final goal, but you are making progress that’s making you better than you were. It’s always good to look back to see the progress you’ve made.
Beware of good enough. You may have made a lot of progress, so it’s tempting to stop short of your actual best practice goal. Keep on improving. Use the progress you’ve made as motivation. It’s fine to re-evaluate where you want to end up. Best practices, by their nature, can be changed or tweaked. It’s easy to become complacent, but more rewarding to keep improving.

Honestly, this topic of knowing best practices—but not being able to fully execute them right away—is a struggle for us here at Church Juice. Like many of you in your church setting, we’re pulled in a lot of directions and do things that aren’t necessarily part of our job description. It weighs on me quite a bit. But I realized recently, it does little good to dwell on the fact we’re not where we wish we could be. Sure the website doesn’t get updated as frequently as we hope and there are days where we’re not social enough on social media. But when I look back at where we’ve been and look forward to where we want to go, I realize there’s progress being made along the way.

I believe this can be true for the work you’re doing, too. Don’t get discouraged. Keep working toward your dream goals and you will get better along the way.

Remembering the Why

2012-04-10T17:29:10+00:00

As churches I think we often forget to explain the why. We’re better at covering who, what, when and how, but for some reason why gets left out.

Yet why can be one of the best friends you have in storytelling. It helps us get to those issues of the heart. It exposes the reason behind the work we’re doing. Why helps stir emotion and when someone is moved, they’re more likely to take action or feel better connected to whatever it is you’re doing.

A visitor friendly church talks about the why. Someone who’s coming to a church for the first time is looking for something that’s missing from their life and they’re looking for something that doesn’t feel superficial. Yet there are things we do on Sunday mornings that may appear that way when they’re really not. Think of a worship team that’s bringing it during a Sunday service. The music is powerful. The musicians are into it. It has all the gusto of a great concert. But to someone new, is that what it really looks like? Just a concert?

What if there was an explanation mixed in of why we worship this way? How we’re called to do it. That the talent on stage is just a showcase for God’s work and not for their own gain? How would the experience feel different when we add the why?

Weekly announcements are another great example. Whether it’s an upcoming service project, mission trip or some other event, we’re good at giving some of the basics. But again, in the rush of getting though announcements, how often do we skip the why?

A church that tells the why has a better chance of being the congregation they want to be. While it’s helpful for visitors when we explore the why, it’s actually good for our regular attenders, too. Too often we fall into a church routine. We get to a place where we’re not as motivated to do anything but show up on Sunday because it’s what we’re supposed to do.

But how would that be different if we start including more why in our story telling? Why is a certain event important to be a part of? Why are the things your church is doing relevant? Why do you do what you do?

Great story telling includes the why. From simple announcements to more important traditions and events, exploring the why completes the story you’re telling.

Facebook Timeline is for Visitors

2012-04-05T14:37:12+00:00

In the church world, there are lots of things we do for the sake of communicating with first-time visitors. We add snazzy “I’m New Here” buttons to our website. We create slick brochures as part of a welcome packet. Now there’s one more thing to add to the list: Facebook Timeline.

If your church has a Facebook page, you probably know about Timeline. It lets your page act more like a website home page. You can add a big cover image to the top. You can create milestones that talk about the history of your church. You can pin important information to the top of the page. All are debatably nice features. But I believe all of the work you put into your Timeline isn’t for the fans you already have, but ones you hope to get.

A new study closely looked at 3,500 Facebook profile pages using Timeline and discovered, on average, that only 2 percent of people ever go back to a fan page after their first visit. And if you think about it, that makes sense. Most of the interaction you have with your fans after that initial visit is through their news feed. You post something and they see it—along with all the stuff their friends are doing. And then, your post is not pulling them back to your Timeline; your content probably links elsewhere or is a photo or video they can consume without leaving the newsfeed.

This insight about how people use your page isn’t bad news. It just helps clarify what sort of tool Timeline is. It’s your first impression. It a first chance to say something about who you are. It’s your opportunity to show your church in action. That’s why it’s important to put the time into making the most of your Timeline. (Here are a few tips from a post we previously wrote.)

Sure, people may come back to your church's page when you post a new cover picture, but the novelty of that will probably wear off. The key to reaching people once they’ve like your page is to get them to interact with you. Facebook itself recently admitted that the content of organizational pages on average only appears on 17% of your fans’ news feeds. The best way to improve that percentage is to have people interact with your content. The more they comment, like or share your stuff, the better. As more people interact, Facebook looks at the content as more important or interesting and give it more priority in peoples' news feeds.

So here’s the quick summary. Timeline is for the first-time visitor to your page. It has to compel them enough to hit the like button. Once they do, your chance to reach them again depends on the quality of your content and how people are interacting with it.

Planning Easter Follow-Up

2012-04-03T15:24:08+00:00

Churches can be great at putting together an amazing worship experience for Easter, but not so good at doing follow-up the next week. We all know the importance of Easter—along with the opportunity and openness to reach new people in our community.

It’s not uncommon to ramp it up for Easter and then take the next week off. However, it’s that following week where we have just as much opportunity to make an impression on someone new. It’s also our chance to show how the church helps provide meaningful answers to the weird world we live in every day of the year—not just on one Sunday in April.

While the topic of holiday follow-up isn’t new—in fact I think we’ve done a post on it every year—it’s something we still need to work on as churches if we really care about using the opportunities God brings though our doors on Easter. Here are a few things to think about as you look at follow-up. Some of it may be helpful for this year and other parts may be something to think about as you plan for big weekends in the future.

Don’t let your personal calendar trump the church calendar. Like any job, there’s the tendency to have some sort of let down after you reach a major goal. For church staffers, Easter is the culmination of lots of planning and extra effort. It’s natural to want to take a well deserved break. But we have to remember for someone new to our church, Easter isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning. While we’ve done months of work, a visitor may just be starting their journey. So as tempting as it is to schedule time off the week after Easter, it may not be the best way to serve new people in your congregation.
Intentionally plan worship experiences beyond Easter as opportunities for meaningful follow-up. So many churches ramp things up for Easter only to have a huge let down the following week. There's extra music, special videos, a strong sermon, more smiling volunteers, etc. That experience is what was appealing to a first time visitor and probably the reason they'll choose to come back. So it's important not to go into relaxation mode in the weeks following Easter.
Encourage members to invite their friends back. If you’re intentionally thinking about Easter follow-up, then you can also engage members of how they can be a part of that. Let them know what the church is doing the following weeks, whether it’s a particular sermon series or welcome classes, and equip members to share that information with their friends. If a member invited someone to an Easter service, it’s natural for them to follow up. So equip them with the tools to do that.
Right-size your big weekend experience. If you can’t keep your Easter momentum going in the following weeks, maybe it’s time to rethink how you’re doing holiday weekends in the future. If there’s no way you can avoid a letdown then it’s time down-size your Easter service. Yes, there are weekends where you go big. And you should. But don’t go so big that the other weekends in the year can never come close to matching. Again, visitors are setting their expectations on your their first impression which could be your Easter service. Consistency is always the best.
Provide a chance to catch-up with new people in person. This can be as simple as saying something from the stage like, “We know some of you visited for the first time last weekend. We’re glad you’re back. We’d like to get to know you a little better and show you what we’re all about.” Maybe you host a lunch or have some sort of welcome class as a way to meet these folks. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you’re acknowledging the new people who came back. If you’ve gathered any other information from them, like an email address, send them a follow-up that way, too. Always provide an opportunity for them to meet someone face-to-face.
Make follow-up part of your annual tradition. Everything we’ve talked in this post is about effective follow-up. So think if there are things you can do that help motivate you on why it should a priority. For example, I went to a church where there was always some sort of dramatic alter call every Easter. People were asked to walk over a bridge on the stage or walk through a big set of doors. They tried to create a memorable and meaningful experience for those who were making their first commitment to Jesus. And every year, one of the people on stage to greet those coming forward, was the first person who made the commitment the year before. It was always moving for me to watch and a reminder of why follow-up matters. When we help people grow in Christ, it’s contagious. We can see the life change and how it can affect others.

Thoughts on Graphic Design

2012-03-27T18:04:09+00:00

Talking about graphic design is a tough topic; different people have different opinions in what they like. We each see things online or in print that give us a ‘wow’ moment. We’re amazed by what we see. We wish we could design something like that. Yet, the things I admire might be far less appealing to you.

Despite this difficulty in discussing what good design looks like, design in the church world is important. And here are a few things to consider then thinking about design at your church.

You’re not designing for yourself. You may have to put aside some of your personal design preferences to do what’s right for your church brand. Your work may need a different look or feel than what you personally like, but you should always design with the church’s image and the end user in mind. What is the visual style of your church? How does that work with the people you’re trying to reach? You may personally love a grungy look. You can still design something good and fitting with the traditional feel of your church.
Design is your first impression. Whether it’s the weekly bulletin or your website, the way you present information gives an impression. Dated design or something sloppily thrown together without thought says something just as loudly as a well-designed piece. When you meet someone, and have a bad first impression, you may not interact with them again because of that. Even if you do, that first impression taints future interactions. The same is true with design. A good first impression makes people more receptive to your product now and in the future.
Design complements the story you’re telling. If you want people to consume the information you’re sharing, it has to be presented in a way that’s compelling. Good design lets you better weave a story that just writing a long paragraph. You can show pictures, add other visual elements and break up the content so it’s easier to consume.
Picking a final design isn’t a time to worry about hurt feelings. Too often we let things slide that we know aren’t good because we’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. Someone may have spent a lot of time working on something that you know doesn’t look right. It’s okay to say no or to ask for changes. Your first concern needs to be whether or not a particular design best serves the end user and fits the look and feel of your church. If there needs to be changes, let who ever designed it know. You can do this in a nice way and novice designers will probably appreciate the honest feedback.
Design by committee doesn’t work. When you have lots of people around the table, there are definitely going to be a lot of different opinions about what makes something a good design. It’s good to gather opinions and input, but final decisions need to be made by someone who understands the DNA of your church. They get the style. They understand what your church looks like graphically.
Simple will always stay in style. I’m guessing there are churches who designed super grungy websites several years ago that are now wishing they wouldn’t have. It’s not to say that it was or is a bad design but it was a big trend that now feels a little dated. If you’re ever in doubt what to do, think simple. A clean, well organized brochure or website will always be in style. You don’t have to have a lot of elements in your design. You don’t have to use lots of different fonts. It’s okay if there’s white space.
Churches aren’t exempt from good design. For whatever reason, we often think churches do not need some elements that other businesses or institutions need, like design. The honest truth is that local churches are competing for people attention just like other things outside the church walls. If you need to know the current trends, just look around you. There are a lot of organizations competing for people’s attention and churches are right in the middle of that mix.

Design matters. It can be overwhelming at times to think about, but that doesn’t mean we can just ignore it. Local churches have great stories to tell and if we’re not telling them the best way possible, we’re missing out on an opportunity to have a bigger impact.

How have you tackled the issues around design at your church?

Equipping Members to Share Your Church This Easter

2012-03-21T18:59:32+00:00

When you combine people seeking for a church at Easter with the power of your members sharing your church, this time of year can have a great impact for your congregation and God’s Kingdom. We all know the stats. Easter is a time of year when people are more receptive to going to church. And we also know the number one way people find a church is through a personal invite. So as Easter is quickly approaching, it’s time to make sure you’re equipping your members with ways to share your church. Here are some quick ideas.

Make resources available online. Maybe it’s an invite card, a poster or something else that members in your church can print or send to their friends as a way to let them know about your Easter events. The Chapel in Grayslake, Illinois, is always great about doing this. For Easter this year, there’s a poster people can print out to hang at their office, local coffee shop or the like.
Make Easter easy to share on social media. Are you posting things to Facebook about Easter weekend? Encourage members to use the share feature to put that information into their own News Feed. If there’s a promotional video or testimonial you’re showing during a service, put it on YouTube so members can share the link or post it to their social media accounts. Whatever it is, make it easy to share. It’s simple for members to post this stuff to their feeds. It’s less confrontational and awkward than some other invite tools. It lets them talk about your church in their normal streams of communicating with friends.
Give good insight to what the Easter weekend services will really be like. Some church members can be a little nervous to invite someone to church because of fear that the service will be something out of the normal. After all, Easter can be a time where your services are a little different than normal. Let your members know what will be happening. Communicate what the experience will be like. Be specific. That way they know what to expect and aren’t surprised or embarrassed when their friend is sitting right next to them in the service.
Equip members with language they can use with friends. For some people in your church, they’re just not sure how to engage in a conversation with a friend about church. It can be weird. Give them some conversation starters. Equip them with language about Easter and your vision as a church so they can be more comfortable in sharing your church with a friend.
Use your website as a hub for information. Try centralizing all of your Easter weekend information in one place. That way it’s easy for members to share a link or point people to one place to learn about all that’s going on. Include the basics, like service times, but go further to explain what the experience would be like. If there are annual traditions, like a kids event, show pictures from the year before. Like anything for visitors, give a realistic impression of who you are and what they can expect.

Those are just a few ideas. Do you have others? How are you equipping members to share your church this Easter?