2012 Culture Calendar Q1

Josh Bayne & I have been working on a quarterly 1 page magazine that is designed to be a best guess of what people will be talking about in Q1 of 2012. Download it here.

Christmas Cribs @ The Fitz Loft 2009

(custom youtube video embedded, rss readers click here)

*thanks to josh for being the camera man
*thanks to courtney for playing nice

make sure to join Us for NYE @ the Fitz Loft 2009

IMPORTING SONGS INTO PROPRESENTER

recently i had several people ask me about importing songs in propresenter, so i decided to document the info i shared here also.

The developers at renewed vision have made it very easy to import new songs. They have a video here about how to import from the clipboard or text file. Even better, you can access your songselect account (hopefully you purchased it when you renewed your CCLI license) from right inside Pro (application drop down menu "propresenter 3"/open resource center or shift-command-S). Above is a screenshot of the "resource center.".

In addition to that, below are 2 short cuts I have found helpful! it will help you if you paste a selection of text and want to move some to the next slide or a new slide. In addition to these here is a link to learn all the propresenter keyboard shortcuts!

Create New Slide with Remaining Text: Option - Return
Send Remaining Text to Next Slide: Option - Shift - Return

MAKING INVITING EASY

in my opinion, making it easy for people to invite their friends* (invest & invite) should always be a priority for churches, but even more when it coincides with an "external marketing" initiative (i.e. mailers, billboards, road signs, etc...) or a big sunday (i.e. easter)

here are some ways to make it easy for attenders to invite their friends (i think these work whether you are marketing or not).

• leading up to a big sunday, give out series-specific print pieces on the way out, with the bulletin, or in place of the bulletin.
  
• have basic church info print pieces (business card size?) available.
• create a web invite (series specific? or not) they can send their friends from your website.
• create a facebook event (this one may be lame, not sure)
• give them letterhead to send a hand written invitation to a friend (just got this idea in from nick at north bridge, so if it sucks it's his fault)

if you have any ideas to add leave a comment!
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*a pre-requisite: your environments must be worth your attenders inviting their friends to.

MARKETING AS A PARTNERSHIP

i am not an advertising expert, but i think i've figured out a few things so far...

FACT: i have never drank a coke because i saw a coke ad. BUT it did make it easier to try one the first time it was offered.

i think marketing for churches is most effective when approached as a partnership with your regular attenders. you are creating brand awareness in the community, which in turn makes inviting their friends much easier.

marketing alone will show some fruit of new attenders, but even the most irresistible environment is missing the stickiness a personal invitation carries. in my opinion, a church that equips its attenders to "invest & invite" in addition to marketing will see the highest return.

"RYAN NEEDS"

i don't do stuff like this often but this was funny...

i googled my name followed by the word 'needs 'in quotations (i.e. "ryan needs")

here was my 1st ten, directly quoted, and i added a few more for kicks...

Ryan Needs...

• a bra
• his "@$$"kicked (hard)
• a Botox Intervention.
• to put on some weight or buy new jeans
• a shave
• awnsers [sic]
• support
• to be fired
• to recognize
• a kidney

and other notables

• a cell mate
• to change his site once in a whil cuz he looks gay
• $2 million for legal defense
• to go

FRIENDLY FITZBLOG REMINDER: SPRING FORWARD

as the title reads i just wanted to quickly remind you to turn your clocks forward tonight.. here are a couple action steps

1) if you forgot to tell your volunteers fire up the phone tree, constant contact, email, text messages, planning center, courier pigeon, or your preferred method of communication and make sure to remind them...

2) thank your volunteers for getting up even earlier to make sunday happen! my wife has ordered 2 cookie cakes (that look like clocks set to 9 & 11) for her waumba volunteers at buckhead church tomorrow.

WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?

there are 2 kinds of people who come to your church: those who ask for directions and those who won't.

• the way you think of those who ask for directions is a visible, active, effective host team.

• the way you address those who won't is clear, abundant, regular signage and written communication.

go make it easy to find the bathroom in your environment.

SUNDAY THOUGHTS

• i had the opportunity to help courtney with babyD at buckhead today. it really is an amazing environment that begins the partnership with parents.


• babyD really is a fresh take on the traditional baby dedication. i believe it challenges parents and sets the stage for a radical change in the way a lot of them perceive the role of the church with their children. what happens at home is more important then what happens at church!   


• i am very intrigued with tony morgan's post about room capacities. still working through it all...


• love the transparency and clarity shaun king gave here about their upcoming move from center stage... a venue that's too big & too expensive...


• if you are not reading (and loving) david mcdaniel's blog, you are an idiot.

TAXES

if you are like me and did a ton of contract work this past year, you probably feel like you are getting a different w2 everyday right now. let me encourage you to not put off dealing with them until april... it's not fun.  

josh bayne had a great post here talking about taxes and linking to a website that is designed for musicians, but can be beneficial in theory for others also!

i would love to hear any advice or resources you have that help you handle tax season better.