The New LifeChurch.tv

Some of you may have already noticed the new LifeChurch.tv website we recently rolled out. Thanks for the kind words and helpful feedback some of you have sent our way. I wanted to share some thoughts about our approach to overhauling the site.

• We’ve kept the launch fairly low-profile to give ourselves some margin as we iron out any issues that have popped up. We don’t wait to go live until things are perfect–that’s just asking for indefinite delays. Now that it’s out there, it’s easier to see what’s working and what’s not, and we have a stronger sense of urgency to get those things updated.
• We designed for mobile first. Knowing that mobile devices are going to dominate the usage of the web in the future, we didn’t want our mobile site to be an afterthought. It drove our development and forced us to include only essential content. We killed many pages, streamlined the design, tightened up copy, and were very intentional about the interface.
• We shifted our focus to people who are new to LifeChurch.tv. I’ve posted already about the way we offloaded some online functionality to Facebook, and that shift allowed us to change our focus for this site. Instead of trying to create a site where people would hang out (now our users are doing that on Facebook), we were able to narrow the audience and gear our content toward visitors and people who are trying to learn about us. Of course, plenty of areas (giving, resources, etc.) still offer helpful content for regular attenders, but our overall strategy is to reach out to new people.
• We added more storytelling. I’m a firm believer in looking back to recognize all the things God has done within the life of our church. Our new site incorporates some of the work we’re doing to document, share, and celebrate what we get to be a part of.

We’re excited to get this launched and have a site that better represents who we are. What are some of your favorite church websites?

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The Almost Ready Event

When launching a new anything, most people want it to be perfect. Opening before it is perfect is often better than waiting for perfection.

One of my friends opened a yogurt store before he had signs, pictures, or decorations. Instead of a cool clock on the wall, he put up a piece of paper with “clock” written on it.

My friend greeted everyone that came in and explained how they were his special guests. The store has taken off—and they still don’t have the clock up.

In church, people love to be in on the ground floor. The sound system doesn’t have to be perfect. All of the walls don’t have to be painted. The carpet might not even be laid.

When launching a new program, it might not need a logo, a room, or an agenda. Sometimes a vision an the right leader may be all you need to start.

If everything is done, people don’t get to contribute to or enjoy the process.

Even if everything is not perfect, God can still work through a mess.

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User Puts Passion in Action

Check out what one of our friends sent us this week:

Dave Sears, who pastors ConnectingPoints.tv in Saginaw, Michigan, contacted us and let us know he’d like to promote YouVersion.com on some upcoming billboard space he had reserved. Working with our team, they created this ad which will be seen by thousands of people as they drive the busiest road in Saginaw. Dave said, “We are praying that God will use this board to draw more people to Him in our community!”

A huge thanks goes out to Dave for his passion in spreading the word about YouVersion!

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Your Turn: Get The Word Out With $25K

This week, I’ll pose some questions and depend on your wisdom.

If you were starting a church (or other ministry) and had $25,000 to invest to get the word out, how would you spend it?

Examples could include:

• Promotional mail outs
• Radio/television
• Web presence
• Host a community event
• Design invitation cards

When you answer, be as specific as you can. Would you promote a kick-off event? Would you give all the money to the community? Would you use door hangers? Would you save it all for later? What would you do? (Please share any success or failures that might help others.)

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What Caught Your Attention? Marketing

I thought it would be interesting this week to ask you in the swerve community a series of questions to see what things have caught your attention recently. It could be something from a church (or not). I look forward to seeing your responses!

What recent marketing campaign has caught your attention? (and why?)

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Malcolm Gladwell discusses Web 2.0

I’m personally a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell. In his last book, The Tipping Point, he brilliantly analyzes the ingredients necessary for ideas and behaviors to spread like an epidemic. Though focused toward a business/marketing audience, the concept is one that certainly can apply to the spread of the Gospel.

I found this recent post over at Paul Dunay’s blog today where he interviews Malcolm about Web 2.0. I believe that the concepts behind what has become labeled “Web 2.0″ are as revolutionary to the Church today as Gutenberg’s printing press was in 1450 (more to come on that soon). If you have not read The Tipping Point, not all of the interview will make complete sense. To help, I posted the veotag of the podcast below so you can jump around to different parts easily.

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Church for the well behaved

Jeff pointed out to me today’s post by Seth Godin titled “More perfect”.

His post is about what types of customers companies are having success targeting. At the very end of the post he says:

You’ll also sell a lot more management consulting to well run companies, high end stereos to people with good stereos and yes, church services to the already well behaved.

Is that true? I suppose the definition of success is at issue. Will services targeted at the “well behaved” be more financially “successful”? Will they be more effective at getting people to make life changing decisions?

It certainly isn’t consistent with the results we are seeing….how about you?

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See…Satan doesn’t just hate LifeChurch.tv

After receiving criticism that our billboard campaign implies that Satan only hates LifeChurch.tv, I’ve found evidence to support my claim that it’s just not true.

He apparently hates our friends at CedarCreek Church in Ohio:

See SatanHatesCedarCreek.com

And rumor has it that he has his targets set on a church in Pennsylvania as well.

For the record, both churches contacted us to ask permission to use the campaign…and like any of the other attempts we make at creativity, you are welcome to use any of it for your church.  I can’t guarantee it will work, but the guys at CedarCreek say it has been creating quite a stir up there.

The great thing about using this campaign is that if you get criticism…you can blame it on us.  If you get praise…just smile and say thank you.

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