Everyday many of us go to work and face a giant that has been causing us headaches for months or years. Worse yet many of us realize that the giant is supposed to be working for us making our jobs easier. The tragedy is that we have the ability to do something about the situation but don’t for a variety of reasons. What is this metaphorical giant I speak of? Computer programs/software.
You may be asking yourself why I am referring to computer programs as a giant. For many people trying to operate inside a program on their computer is an intimidating, stressful and frustrating experience. My intent with this post is to show you that you are in control and have the power to change those negative time-draining experiences into triumphant confidence building experiences.
Firstly, know that you can’t break your computer by working in any of your programs like Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. One of the first fears you need to conquer is the fear of pressing buttons. When you open a program and see all the buttons and tools realize they are there to serve you in your day to day tasks. If you do something and don’t like the results you can simply undo your error or start over. I will give you the advice that if you are going to experiment with tools you’re not familiar with to work in a test file, not an important document you’ve spent a lot of time in. At the very least, save a copy.
Also, over the years software has gotten a lot better at assisting the user through tutorials that come with the software and help files. Should you have the misfortune of a pop-up window appearing telling you something did not work, don’t get frustrated. Learn from that and try again.
Now I can hear a few of you out there murmuring that an old dog can’t be taught new tricks. Well to that I say nonsense because you’re not an old dog. However if an old dog could use Google and read tutorials or watch videos, he could learn new tricks. Like the Bible says, seek and you will find. So go to work every day knowing your computer can work for you, and that you don’t have to work for your computer.
As a suggestion, instead of taking three hours to do your typical routine of spinning your tires in the mud or taking the scenic route to do your daily tasks, spend one or two hours learning something new and then maybe what normally takes you three hours will only take you one hour. After that investment you’ll save yourself two hours every day. That is a huge return on your investment. A site that you might be interested in is Lynda.com – it’s a pretty elaborate tutorial site on virtually every piece of software that I’ve ever come across.
In closing my challenge to you is to spend one hour every week for a year learning something new about the program you spend the most time in and at the end of the year you will have completed 52 hours of training and have many new tools at your disposal to make your life easier. The giant is down for the count, you are victorious!
Please join us in praying for the church and family of Pastor Thomas Young (Lead Pastor at the Sanctuary Fellowship in Sugar Land, TX), who tragically died this weekend. As of this morning, here is the note that has been posted on their website:
As many of you reading this already know, last night Pastor Thomas was called to go home to be with his heavenly father. Erin and the children are physically ok and we ask that you fervently lift them up in prayer and surround them with love from our church family. We are grieved in this whole process. Many leaders from the Sanctuary Fellowship have been working hard since late Friday to minister to Erin and the children. Pastors and churches from across the country are calling, sending people to minister, and offering every kind of help possible. We are eternally grateful and count our Father faithful for all of it.
We're asking you to be patient with your desire for information as we respect the family's need for time to grieve. Please do not contact Erin or the children at this time, per their request.
Details will be shared on Sunday AM in the 10:15 service. Know that we feel it is best to do this in person with our church with as many people as possible. We will post those details on the website Sunday after worship, and as additional information is made public it will be posted there as well.
Our service on Sunday AM will be dedicated to prayer and healing through biblical grieving as we rest in the hope of Jesus.
Serving an amazing God with you-
Pastors Joe and Jimmy
-----
UPDATE (at 12:45 today):
Church Family-
What a precious time of worship we had this AM. We are so amazingly blessed to have each other as a church family.
As we shared with you this morning:
-A marital dispute arose between Thomas and Erin.
-Thomas made a bad choice in how he sought to settle it, and during the dispute, took his own life.
-He was life-flighted to the hospital but did not survive long.
-Erin and the three kids are with friends, family, and church leadership, loving and supporting each other.
-No funeral service has been set at this time; we will update the website as those details come available.
There will be a time for our church family to be together for prayer and support tonight from 6-8pm at River Pointe Church's main worship center. It will be a come and go time for loving on and supporting each other. As a church we appreciate the kind words of support we’ve received from friends and family around the country. We ask that those reading this would stand with us as we grieve and suffer by praying for us and giving the family the privacy they need during this time.
Our God is with us and we trust in His incredible sovereignty.
"For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth'..." Job 37:6
We are pleased to announce a new AdvancedMinistry template entitled "Winter Majesty" (view preview), insipred by the Xpiritmental desktop wallpaper that we posted yesterday.
As usual, all AM 3.0 templates are fully customizable including the ability to change the number of columns, colors, fonts, etc. If you would like to use a simplified version of your home page, edit your template, click the Layout Tab and choose "Show All Columns (Simplified Home Page)". You can do that with ANY AdvancedMinistry 3.0 template. Here is a preview of this week's template in a simplified format. To change your template at any time, login to your AdvancedMinistry account and select “Choose My Template”.
"I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
for great is the glory of the LORD.
For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands."
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.
We are pleased to announce Xpiritmental wallpaper #59 entitled, Fall on Earth, inspired by Job 37:6. Additionally, we will be incorporating this design into an AdvancedMinistry 3.0 template in the coming days -- stay tuned.
Download the new wallpaper below or visit the Xpiritmental Archives for more wallpapers.
Just when you thought you were catching up with Microsoft’s latest operating system blitz, PC World is reporting that Windows 8 is due to be released in 2012.
Now I recognize that the Windows 7 release has been A LOT smoother than the launch of Windows Vista, but news like this leaves me wondering how churches and ministries can keep up – both from a financial standpoint and a computer maintenance standpoint?
I know quite a few churches that still run Windows 98, let alone 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7. As a ministry professional, how does your church deal with the launch of operating systems and software (whether it be Mac or PC)? Do you even bother to keep up? We’re interested in hearing your feedback.
In response to email and blog feedback that we received last week regarding the latest Xpiritmental desktop, we have converted it to a new AdvancedMinistry web template (view preview)! The new template, "Be Encouraged" looks to tackle some of the hard realities faced by youth in today's world. Our hope is that teens who visit this website (template) would be drawn in by its visual elements and encouraged through its scripture references (as noted on the wall with graffiti).
As usual, all AM 3.0 templates are fully customizable including the ability to change the number of columns, colors, fonts, etc. If you would like an enhanced version of your home page, edit your template, click the Layout Tab and choose "Show All Columns (Enhanced Home Page)". You can do that with ANY AdvancedMinistry 3.0 template. Here is a preview of this week's template in an enhanced format. To change your template at any time, login to your AdvancedMinistry account and select “Choose My Template”.
We are pleased to announce a new AdvancedMinistry template entitled "Harvest" (view preview).
All AM 3.0 templates are fully customizable including the ability to change the number of columns, colors, fonts, etc. Additionally, if you would like a simplified version of your home page, edit your template, click the Layout Tab and choose "Hide All Columns (Simple Home Page)". You can do that with ANY AdvancedMinistry 3.0 template. For example, here is a preview of this week's template in a simplified format.
We also appreciate all of the feedback that came in last week regarding recommendations for future templates. This new template (Harvest) is based on feedback that we received -- keep it coming! If you have something in mind, submit a comment to this blog post or create a support ticket in your account.
(To change your template at any time, login to your AdvancedMinistry account and select “Choose My Template”.)
A few years back, we did a company retreat where the whole team met up in a little town north of here and enjoyed a weekend at a great little resort.
And although there was time for rest and relaxation, we also spent a portion of the Saturday in a session with a gentleman named John from an organization called Eagle's Flight. Having done some research on our organization and the challenges we faced at the time, John led our team through a game which, although a lot of fun, led us to a point of discovery about an area that we needed to grow in, that being planning.
I remember John telling us that in terms of the percentage of project time and effort, planning should take 25-50% of the project. Since then, I've even read some authors who advocate the range to be 35-55% WOW! That's a lot of time.
But you know what...John and the other authors I've read are right.
Since that retreat, we have worked to integrate better execution of planning in all of our projects and although we are by no means perfect at it, when it's done right, the improved planning has taught us that it leaves all parties in a better place at the end of the project.
Proper planning ensures that we know what the client requires. It also ensures that the client has detailed documentation that outlines exactly what the deliverable will look and act like. It makes everyone think twice when a new feature is requested mid-project and hopefully keeps those instances of scope change to a minimum in the first place because of the foresight that planning brings to the project.
And yet, in nearly every project we do, we run up against a general sense out there that speed is the metric by which a projects success is measured. Of course, timelines need to be reasonable, and often they surround important opportunities for the organization we're working with so getting the project done in order to meet those deadlines is important. However, project timelines aren't helped by short-changing the planning process. If the right planning isn't executed, the project will either end up late or won't meet up to your expectations, or both.
So today, I wanted to take the time to combat the belief that undermines the importance of planning. Planning should be a significant portion of your project time and needs to be respected and understood for the benefits that it brings. Don't start a big project like a website one month before it's due and expect results. Good results take time and as such, that time needs to be taken into consideration.
Uploading files to your AdvancedMinistry website has always been pretty straightforward, but as of today users now have the option to use FTP as well!
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the simplest and most secure way to exchange files over the Internet. For more information on FTP and FTP software, read our knowledgebase article.
To get your ministry’s FTP information, login to your AdvancedMinistry website and click on File Manager. From there, you will see everything you need.
I was at a Jr. High retreat a few weeks ago and got into an interesting discussion with a friend of mine – a youth pastor at a local church. The conversation went like this:
Friend: I love AdvancedMinistry… it’s enabled me to do more than I ever wanted on the web… but… (I always love it when someone says “but”)… if I could make one recommendation it would be to allow people to make updates from their mobile devices (in his case, a Blackberry).
Ray: Give me an example of what you’d like to accomplish?
Friend: While I’m up here on this retreat, I’d love to update all of the parents as to what’s going on. For example, ‘We arrived safely… We’re having a great time… Session tonight was fantastic, etc.’
Ray: No problem. Ever heard of Twitter?
Friend: Yeah, but isn’t Twitter about telling everyone your life story on a minute-by-minute basis? I don’t have time for that!
Ray: Didn’t you just tell me that you want to update your parents on pretty much a minute-by-minute basis?
Friend: Yeah, but I don’t want to do that through Twitter; then everyone has to have a Twitter account to follow me… I just want make announcements on our website.
Ray: Perfect. Here’s what we’re going to do. Step 1… Sign up for a Twitter account online. It takes about 30 seconds.
Friend: Didn’t I just say that I didn’t want everyone to need a Twitter account to receive updates?
Ray: No one is every going to know you use Twitter… just bear with me. :)
Friend: OK. <laughing>
<We proceeded to sign him up for a Twitter account>
Ray: Next we are going to login to your AdvancedMinistry website and enable Twitter updates.
Friend: OK, sounds good. I’ve seen that before and it looks pretty easy. But once again, I don’t want people to see “Twitter Updates”.
Ray: No problem. We’re going to rename it to “Youth Retreat Updates”. No one will ever know you are using Twitter.
Friend: Ahhhhh… I’m starting to see where you’re going with this!
<We quickly logged into his AdvancedMinistry website and enabled Twitter updates to show on his front page. We renamed “Twitter Updates” to “Retreat Updates”.>
Ray: Next, we’re going to download a mobile app for your Blackberry… there’s tons of free ones out there… just pick one.
<In our case, we went on to his Blackberry clicked on “Blackberry App World”. We then searched for “Twitter” and downloaded a program called UberTwitter. Whether you’re on iPhone, Blackberry or another mobile service, there’s bound to be an application that allows you to update your Twitter status.>
Ray: OK, so update your status.
Friend: You’re kidding me, right? It’s that easy?
Ray: Yep. :)
<Friend updates his status through UberTwitter to say “Arrived safely at retreat.” Immediately we refreshed his website, and there it was – “Retreat Updates: Arrived safely at retreat”.>
Friend: Oh my goodness.
<He then proceeded to add further updates for the weekend and kept all of his parents up to date. When he got home, he removed “Retreat Updates” from his home page and put everything back to normal. No one ever knew he had a Twitter account!>
Hopefully you can see some application here for your church or ministry. Whether you’re a missionary that wants to give updates on the road, or a youth leader looking to give updates on a retreat, this technology gives you that ability. Enjoy!
We are pleased to announce two new AM 3.0 templates entitled "Journey to Africa" (view preview) and "Savannah" (view preview). As usual, all AM 3.0 templates are fully customizable.
Our Creative Team would also be interested in hearing your comments in regard to what sort of templates you'd like to see into the future. If you have something in mind, submit a comment to this blog post.
(To change your template at any time, login to your AdvancedMinistry account and select “Choose My Template”.)
It being Remembrance Day today, my thoughts go to my Mom.
My Mom grew up in Holland during the war. She was around 6 years old when she was sent away from her family by train all by herself to live with a farming family in the rural north of the country where conditions were safer – away from the bombing and most intense battles of urban areas.
She can remember occupying soldiers raiding the farmhouse she was living in looking for hidden Jews and as a result joining the family she was staying with as they rushed out of the farmhouse and ran through fields of haystacks as bullets flew right past her head.
She can remember becoming so sick and malnourished that she almost died but for the work of brave Red Cross workers.
And so today, as I think about the sacrifice of so many and what it means to me in particular, I think of my Mom. I think of the fact that but for the sacrifice of so many, and by God's good graces, my Mom might not be here today, living in Canada, in freedom...I might not be here today, living in Canada, in freedom.
This truth is applicable in all forms of marketing and communications but the one particular communications medium that came to my mind today was websites and specifically home page.
It's common to see websites with a home page that has so much going on that you can't make out what the site and the company or organization behind it are all about. And for those people that do know what the organization is all about and come to the site with a clear purpose, home pages can be so cluttered that they don't actually serve anyone in getting to the content they want.
So be strategic about your home page. It's a portal...keep it as such. Don't just think about all the messages you want to send to your site's visitors, think about who is visiting and then orient the site and related messaging towards those audiences. Often this is going to require triage on the content of the home page - you'll need to decide what elements most require immediate attention and then focus on those messages.
Being all things to all people just isn't going to work.
In the context of athletics, everyone has heard the old adage: “the best defense is a good offense”. But there's also truth in this in terms of marketing communications. While there will always be times when a defense needs to be mounted and the brand needs to be protected, if you constantly find yourself in a reactionary situation, you never have the opportunity to set the direction of your brand.
Earlier this year, Domino's Pizza found themselves in a reactionary position when two employees video taped themselves doing some absolutely disgusting things to food that was about to go out on delivery (if you haven't seen the video, you should probably just take my word for it – it's pretty gross). The video got posted to YouTube and from there it soon became national and even international news as the video went viral.
In response, Domino's President, Patrick Doyle recorded and posted this video to YouTube.
What a great example of how to deal with a problem like this. Not only did they do the smart thing by responding on the same medium that the original video appeared, I love the way he ended the script: “...as we work to regain your trust”.
That video, and the final statement in particular, tell me that Domino's is dealing with the situation and moving on to repair and even improve their brand impression.
But the best part of it all is the subtle fact that Domino's was already on YouTube long before this video surfaced. In a proactive move, Domino's created an online account with YouTube and began publishing videos to their YouTube channel back in November of 2007. This is the kind of proactive move that allowed them to respond quickly and effectively to what was undoubtedly a major brand hit for them.
In other words, the proactive and forward-thinking move to create a presence and build relational equity on the web led to a situation where Domino's could leverage that equity to give a positive context to a really negative situation in the same medium that the brand hit came from.
So the question I'd pose to you today is, what will you do when your brand is challenged online or on some other medium? To just sit back and wait until you HAVE TO respond is defensive-mindedness at it's best.
Get on the offensive and invest in the future of your brand. You're defense will thank you for it.
As we approach November 11, the day that is observed as Veteran’s Day (US) and Remembrance Day (Canada), we wanted to share a couple of desktop wallpapers with you.
The first one entitled “Greater Love” is inspired by John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” The second one is titled “We Remember”, recalling the sacrifice that was made.
Download the new desktops below or visit the Xpiritmental Archives for more wallpapers.
We are pleased to announce a new AM 3.0 template called "Freedom" (view preview). As usual, all AM 3.0 templates are fully customizable, but with the addition of this template we also introduce a new feature that enables you to choose between a Simplified version of your home page and an Enchanced version of your home page. Essentially, the Simplified version removes all copy from your home page (as shown below), whereas the Enhanced version turns your copy back on. To toggle between the two modes in your AM 3.0 editor, look under the Layout tab (Home Page View > Show/Hide All Columns).
(To change your template, login to your AdvancedMinistry account and select “Choose My Template”.)
As an extension of our recent AMP (AdvancedMinistry Media Player) announcement from a couple of weeks ago, we are pleased to announce that you can now embed Flash Video and MP3 files directly into your website!
Up to this point, the only way to embed videos within content of your website was to use programs like YouTube or Vimeo. With the new AdvancedMinistry Media Player, you can now do the same thing without many of the limitations of YouTube.
Here are a few key features:
1. You don’t have to upload files twice. Simply upload it once to your media player and embed the file as many times as you like throughout your AdvancedMinistry website.
2. There are no video limitations like YouTube or Vimeo. You are not limited to the length of a video or the file size of a video. File size is completely determined by how much space you have in your Suite. In theory, you could upload a 2GB HD movie. It’s really up to you.
3. You can make the player as small as 100px wide or as large as 1200px wide.
4. You can choose between 4:3 (standard) and 16:9 (widescreen) formats, depending on how you shoot your video.
5. The new player is compatible with all AM 2.0 and 3.0 templates.
For a complete list of instructions on how to embed the player into your AdvancedMinistry website, click here.
To see a demo of the player in action, click here.
It’s been my experience that most organizations don’t consciously consider their brand as a major driver when making decisions in any area of the organization. Some organizations have leaders that encapsulate the brand (are the brand) and therefore naturally lead people down the road of brand-oriented decision making.
But what happens to those organizations that don’t have that type of leadership? What if the founder/strong leader has moved on and left others to figure things out? What then?
Those that are left must first discover for themselves what the brand represents. This is not found in the boardroom, but in the hearts and minds of those who interact with your organization. Once you have uncovered your brand identity, allow it to influence all decisions, not just communication decisions.
During the discovery process you are sure to uncover characteristics which were not on the radar. Understand that this is your brand and if it’s not what you had in mind or don’t want it to be, strong, strategic measures will have to be taken. Make those changes first (change from within) and then communicate second.
It's more than safe to say that people are leery of the worlds of marketing and advertising.
So for every campaign a company or organization runs, the one thing that has to be considered is that the audience has been trained to rip that pitch to shreds looking for truth and honestly in the advertising. In fact, it's gotten to the point that many audiences so distrust advertising in general, that no ad has a chance with them.
Enter the video above.
While this is a pretty basic foray into brand building in the online world and the video feels a bit contrived/staged, I think this act of generosity on the part of Hyundai still works. I say that because the actual event of the guy getting his car run over was a fairly well publicized event so we know that's true, and it's clear that regardless of the fact that the video feels very contrived and the act of giving the car away itself is set up to be a brand builder, at the end of the day, the guy that had his car run over ends up with a brand new car and that is (as one of my friends would say), pretty fantastic.
Fantastic enough to call this a win for Hyundai.
On a related note, this is a cool example of the kind of thing I was talking about in my post yesterday. The quality of this video isn't great and even the fonts used to outline what happened in the original parking job gone awry are really amateurish. But the quality of what's happening from a customer care perspective outshines all that and makes it, well...something beautiful. Could the video have been a bit more polished and well thought-out? Yes. But too much polish in this instance would have actually damaged the "real world" feel of it.
Last night I had the privilege of seeing a NeedToBreathe concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Being a tour based on the recent release of their album The Outsiders, this (Christian) rock-style band from South Carolina got on stage in a bar in a University town and sang a number of songs from their new record that contain both the challenges and the hope of the Gospel in them.
Musically speaking, their live performance remained true to their sound as they did an excellent job of maintaining consistency with the recording as all the songs were played as you’d hear them on the disc.
Being a vocalist myself, I was especially impressed with the lead singer’s voice. I had seen some YouTube videos of the bands live performances earlier in the week so I already had a sense of the fact that they could take the music they had recorded and perform it live as it is on the CD without having to rely on tracked vocals.
The most impactful moment of the night was at the very end of the night, after a long set of high quality musicianship with no breaks, the whole band unplugged every instrument, stepped away from the mics, asked the audience to be really quiet and then proceeded to perform a song called “Something Beautiful”, completely acoustic.
So what does this have to do with marketing and communications?
Well, as I sit at my desk this afternoon (admittedly somewhat groggy after a very late night), one of the few things that’s clear in my mind is that I’m struck by the truth that we don’t always have to be “plugged in” to do “Something Beautiful”.
In one of his posts on this blog last week, Brian outlined that quality is one of the four pillars of branding. But let’s be clear about the fact that quality doesn’t always translate directly to bells-and-whistles. Sometimes, the best choice is to strip all the gloss away - to show that the quality you seek to communicate - comes from a base that is in and of itself based on quality…based on something beautiful.
Loads of bands that hit the top 10 these days couldn’t afford to unplug like NeedToBreathe can…our experience tells us that on a similar level, lots of ministry and non-profit organizations can’t afford to “unplug” either.
So the question for you today is: When all the polish and glitz is removed, does your brand come through as something beautiful or does it reflect an organization that has tried to gloss over all its imperfections? If the latter is the case, you start to get into issues with one of the other pillars of branding…honesty.
Let’s all aim to create organizations that are at heart something beautiful and then strategically communicate them in ways that do that beauty justice.
Xpiritmental is a resource. It's a place to learn and to share thoughts on marketing, ministry, design, service, the Web, culture and more. We'll start the conversation, but we're looking forward to hearing what you've got to say.
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In the context of athletics, everyone has heard the old adage: “the best defense is a good offense”. But there's also truth in this in terms of marketing communications. While there will always be times when a defense needs to be mounted and the brand needs to be protected, if you constantly find yourself in a reactionary situation, you never have the opportunity to set the direction of your brand.
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