“The only job Lauren does is play on the organization’s Facebook page.”

That’s what they said. They were speaking in ignorance, clearly. But I have to admit. It still hurt. A lot. It was like a good swift kick to the gut that catches you off-guard. Your gasping for air, wondering if you’ll ever breathe again, and when you recover you’re surprised how quickly you crumbled.

For a moment, I internalized—I allowed my ministry and it’s worth to be defined by someone else, someone who didn’t understand it. Then the oxygen came rushing back, and I was appalled that I’d doubted my calling, my passion so easily.

My job is to identify, teach and implement new ways to communicate His story and work in a fast-changing world. And I love it. I get to step outside traditional modes, challenge established norms, and contribute to new paradigms.

Breaking molds isn’t easy because at the heart of it is change, and change makes some people uncomfortable. It makes some people scared. It makes some people mad. When you’re fighting for change, people will doubt you, criticize you, mock you, belittle you. You can crumble under the ill-begotten misconceptions, or you can fling them off your back like the dead weight they are. You can conform, fitting nicely in the tidy box remaining well inside the lines. Or you can transform, reaching beyond the self-imposed limits to something greater than yourself.

Me? I’m going with the “fling and transform” method. I sincerely hope you’ll join me, but if not, I won’t take it personally.

Just keep your feet to yourself.

Image Source

Earlier this year, we got this amazing automatic hand dryer in the bathrooms at work. I LOVE it. It dries hands in 16 seconds flat (I timed it). And by “dry,” I don’t mean “slightly damp.” We’re talking “unafraid-to-touch your iPhone” dry. Truly amazing technology my friends.

Imagine my surprise when I learned only three people in the building are using it. Everyone else opted for the paper towels (which are still available).

Huh? You mean they’re still using those thin scratchy paper towels when they could be using the 16 second, automatic, hand-drying wonder? You could scrub for 10 minutes with these paper towels and your hands still wouldn’t be completely dry, albeit very raw.

Turns out people aren’t using the automatic hand dryer because they’re “too noisy” and they “just prefer the paper towels.”

I never noticed the noise, and the paper towels are less absorbent than sand paper. So I’m at a loss. Why would so many people reject the automatic hand dryer (clearly a revolutionary advancement in hand drying technology), in favor of some flimsy, rougher-than-sand paper towels (which are clearly not getting the job done)? I guess I’m just an early-adopter.

As people we get comfortable using “these” tools (and only these) to accomplish “these” tasks. When a new tool comes along, it’s in our nature to fight it because, well, just because. It’s new, it’s different, it’s not what we’re USED to. Now let’s apply this to ministry. If our goal is to connect and build relationships and a tool comes along that might help, shouldn’t we give it a chance? Who knows, it might end up being like the automatic hand dryer and the scratchy paper towels.

Ever feel like you’re using the automatic hand dryer while everyone else is still using paper towels?

Sometimes that’s how I feel about using Social Media.

I hear it at every conference and from every pastor and from myself: What’s the point of FourSquare? Even Social Media guru Leah Jones made the comment “I don’t see the point yet, but I’m sticking with it [FourSquare] because I know it’s coming.” Well, it’s here.

FourSquare’s finally (finally!) given all organization’s a way to engage people checking in at their locations. Read about it on the FourSquare Business Page. The short of it: businesses can offer special promotions via FourSquare to the “mayor” (the person with the most check-ins at their location), persons who check-in a certain number of times at their location, or persons who meet some other requirement that the business specifies.

Great. So what’s the point? How can churches capitalize on this opportunity? Here are my thoughts…

Get Visitors to Raise a Hand

Some people don’t feel comfortable filling out a visitor card with their name, address and phone; raising a hand when you ask if there are any visitors this week; or wearing a badge that says “I’m new, please talk to me.” So consider adding FourSquare as another way, albeit more subtle, for visitors to say, “I’m checking out your church.” Just remember, it’s up to you and your church to do the rest.

Get People into your Chairs

One Saturday my husband and I went on a major shopping trip, solely because we wanted to check-in at lots of places for major points on FourSquare. Another time we visited a nearby Smoothie shop because a FourSquare pop-up told us about a buy-one-get-one-free deal when you check-in. It may sound insignificant, but FourSquare got us in the door which, most of the time, is the hardest part. Think about using FourSquare to get both members and guests into your chairs on Sunday mornings. Just remember, it’s up to you and your church to do the rest.

You Tell Me…

No really, you tell me. The opportunity for organizations to engage through FourSquare is only one week old. I’m dying to hear your thoughts and ideas on general ways to implement with a missional focus.

In what ways could FourSquare (or some variation thereof) become an effective part of your outreach and community building strategy?

Twilk takes the profile pictures of the tweeps you follow and turns them into your background. The result is a pretty sweet looking collage. There are a couple cool tweaks you can make to the default setting, like only displaying your followers pictures in your background or only photos of the people you follow and who follow you back.

I think it’s a great idea because…

Twilk adds a personal touch that includes your network.

I can’t say it enough, Social Media is about CONNECTING, not just broadcasting your own thoughts, ideas, and news. To really engage, you have to interact, build relationships, listen (the most important element of the bunch). While using a Twilk-like design as your background isn’t ground-breaking relationship building, it says a lot about what you value. You know the old cliche about a picture and a thousand words. Yeah there’s some truth to it.

That’s my two-cents. But what do you think? How important is your Twitter Background? What does it say about you?

The Goodness that is Meta Tags

Ever wonder where Facebook grabs the title, description, and image for the links you post? Want to make sure the right information appears when people share content from your blog or website? If you already know how to do this, then this article isn’t for you. The rest of you…check this out:

The answer to our question? Meta Tags!

What are Meta Tags?

All the content you see on a website is written using HTML code. You can use CSS to adjust how that content looks, or PHP to generate that content, but HTML is the meat (or Tofu if you’re Vegan). Every website must have a “head” and a “body.” The body holds the content you see on the page. The head holds the Meta tags (and a bunch of other stuff we’re not going to talk about). Using Meta tags we can define the Title, Description, and even the Image we want Facebook (or any other application) to use when someone shares your article or website as a link.

The meta tags that define the Title, Description, and Image look like this:

If that looks scary to you, don’t be afraid!

Defining Meta Tags with Wordpress (Custom Fields)

If you’re using Wordpress, they have a cool form that allows you to easily define the Title, Description, and Image meta tags without know a scrap of code. Let’s take a look at that:

When editing a post or page, scroll down to the “Custom Fields” section:

Select the Meta tag from the drop down menu you wish to define:

In the Value field:

• If you selected Title, enter the Title you want to appear when someone shares the link on Facebook
• If you selected Description, enter the Description you want to appear
• If you selected Image, enter the URL to the image (don’t forget http://) you want to appear when someone shares a link to your page or article on Facebook.

Click the “Add Custom Field” button after each tag.

Save your work.

That’s it! So simple! I love it!

Defining Meta Tags Manually (Straight-Up, Hard Code it)

Other blog software and Content Management Systems usually allow the user to define Meta tags too. The CMS for my organization gives users the option of adding Meta tags to the head, but you have to use straight-up HTML, which is when knowing how to add Meta tags manually comes in handy.

But that’s a post for another day…

Disney Channel got it Right

Disney gets a gold star for their ad. Check it:

I’m a Mom. I work. Family time, while important to me, can be hard to find. I’m a fan of Disney and their channel because my daughter loves to watch them. So a “Family Night Special” on the Disney channel is right up my alley. I can even RSVP ‘Yes’ and instantly be connected with 2700 other people who will be grabbing their family time the same day, same time, and in the same way. Genius. And all from the convenience of my facebook profile. I love it!
Now let’s look at someone who got it wrong. Horribly wrong

Zombieland Marketers Got it Wrong…Horribly Wrong

I hate horror and gore. I don’t care if it’s funny. I can’t handle blood, guts, or anything like it. Nothing against those of you who can. “To each his own” I say.

But why, oh why, then would Zombieland Marketers decide to market their movie to me? Using a picture of blood, guts, and gore no less! Check it:

Ew! Ew! Ew! I can’t say it enough! Know your audience. Zombieland marketers, I’m certainly not going to see your movie, so why are you wasting your money marketing to me?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGbLWQYJ6iM

Highly Recommended Because…

The playbook walks you through setting up a social media strategy from A to Z. Although it’s meant for businesses, I think Church’s can get just as much out of this playbook. It’s an important read for anyone considering building an effective and comprehensive social media presence for their ministry.

Below is a screenshot from the discussion on mapping a blueprint for your brand’s “online footprint” in Section 2:

Checklists

My absolute favorite part of this e-book (aside from the fact that it’s free) is the overviews, insight summaries and checklists they provide for setting up your brand on any of the major social media platforms. From YouTube to Twitter, they cover it all!

Below is a screenshot of the Facebook checklist:

It’s Free!

Best of all it’s free, so why wouldn’t you give it a try?

This was dual-posted on my BCM/D Media in Ministry blog

What is it?

It’s your life in pictures! Snap a photo with you computer’s camera. Add a short blurb (or not). Press submit, and voila! You’ve just added to your life in pictures memory log.

Your Dashboard

Your personalized homepage…

Follow your friends

Just like Twitter, you can follow your friends’ pictures. When they post a cool new picture…comment on it. Any comments your friends make on your pictures or someone else’s, will show up in your minifeed (your dailybooth homepage).

Find new friends

Click “Go Advanced” next to the search bar in the top right corner, and find new people you might want to follow, but not in a stalkerish way.

The Best Part!

Okay, so there’s no rss feed (at least that I could find) f0r your minifeed (a.k.a your updates). There’s also no way to post via email, text, or via another means (but you can push your updates to Twitter). Yeah yeah…but I’ll forgive them (mostly) because you can still do some really cool stuff with your feeds. Ahem, check this out!

This is my “3D Stack.” I created it by clicking the “Manage Widgets” link on my dashboard (a.k.a. my homepage). I can put it anywhere I want, because they give me the embed code. They also make videos of your pictures and post them to YouTube with one click! How simple is that?!?!

Follow me

Follow me! I’ve only got two followers. Let’s do this! Show me some love!

HT to ijustine

E-mail Newsletters vs. RSS Feeds

I was convinced the age of e-mail newsletters was slowly coming to an end, especially with the advent of RSS feeds. With an RSS feed you can pick and choose the content you want, read it when you want, display it however you want. It’s like grabbing the new relevant-to-you content from all your favorite sites without having to actually go to them. And with cool plugins like Feedly, you can create your own personalized magazine-like homepage with that custom content.

Why then, would anyone subscribe to an e-mail newsletter? The e-mail sits in my inbox waiting to be read, half of it’s not what I’m looking for anyway, and when enough email newsletters pile up I start clicking delete. My RSS feeds on the other hand sit patiently, out-of-veiw, waiting until I’m ready to come to them. Actually, in some circles rss feeds are already archaic, with people living on twitterscoop, twitter search and tweetdeck for their news.

These numbers make me feel kind of silly. I’ve been avoiding implementing an email newsletter solution because I thought it was on it’s way out. Shows what I know! I guess the important thing is what I do with this information. Constant Contact here I come.

Average Internet Usage

Also really surprising was the average number of hours per week users spend on the internet. Only 18 hours a week? At work, I’m on the internet all day. At home, my family watches all it’s movies and most T.V. shows online. Needless to say, my average weekly internet usage is way over 14 hours.

Why do you think they only included stats from people 18 and over? Does this number include mobile phone internet usage? Important questions to consider.

Conclusions

Just because I’m into social media, doesn’t mean everyone else is. Just because I spend hours on end on the internet, doesn’t mean the rest of the world is. Actually, according to these number, most of the world isn’t. Something to keep in mind when your making your pitch.

What do you think?