After sharing 3 ways not to advertise or promote a ministry I wanted to talk about some ways to share ministries with others. After all, who am I to just go out and say what not to do without giving any suggestions what to do. Leaving it there would do little good. Let's dig into a couple different practical things we can do to share. To start we dive into what, quite possibly, will make the biggest difference in the way we present ourselves to the world.
Passionate People Share The Best
A simple and time proven strategy in marketing is that word of mouth advertising works the best. This advertising can go one of two ways. Either someone loves you and tells everyone how great you are or they hate you and tell everyone how terrible you are.
Do people love your ministry? Are there passionate people in your church? I'm not talking about the people who are just passionate about God. There are always a some of those in a church. I'm talking about regular Joe's. Build up passionate people that pass on the passion.
This may seem like a huge task. In any case, how to do this is a much larger task than this blog post is capable of containing. But, it is possible for any God supported church or ministry and should be expected.
Make It Easy To Share
Is it easy for people to share their passion for your church or ministry with others? Is it easy for them to share it in their everyday life? I've attended a number of churches over the past few years and been involved with a number ministries. I have yet to be apart of a church that made it easy to share.
Sure, these churches did some things that promoted sharing. When Easter and Christmas comes around they have 3x5 cards to share with others letting them know about the church and Christmas. Some have classes and seasons to focus on sharing. But, these focus on ministries need and desire to share rather than making it easy for people to share in everyday life.
Technology has made this easier to do than ever. If you have a church blog or website consider using something like Share This to allow people who visit it to share it with others. An easy way for people to share what they care about is with what they wear and what they label. Consider using something like Cafepress and starting with t-shirts and stickers. A third thing that works is rave cards (small pocket sized cards). If you are looking to get some of those designed and printed check out Mustardseed Media.
Have you tried these? If so, how have they faired?
These are just a couple things to get the ball rolling here. Look for more to come.
FIM has certainly found that
FIM has certainly found that word of mouth is most effective for us in letting people know what it is we do. Our uniqueness is lost in the "mission agency" title. Maybe we can benefit from providing people with tools to share what FIM is. I'm envisioning sending a few of those rave cards along with our receipts for a few months and then offering more to anyone who wants them. Then also offer them to our fans on Facebook, at colleges where we setup our display, our missionaries on home assignment and elsewhere.
People seem to really connect with FIM when they get the chance to understand it's purpose. This would encourage that.
What does a typical rave card look like? Just a logo and a URL?
Thanks for feeding my creative mind. :-)