1.  Check the templates:  WAM has a good supply templates in several categories from Church to Restaurants.  If you can use Microsoft Word, you will feel at home editing the templates.

2.  Ease of Use.  WAM has a familiar Microsoft feel to the software.  Like any program, it takes a little getting used to.  After working with WAM a few times the user interface has become familiar and comfortable to navigate.

3.  Does it have tools to help you avoid the spam filter?  Yes.  WAM employs a double opt-in process for all contacts ensuring that you will miss the spam filter.  They also highly recommend not using a public email address like Gmail or Yahoo as those are abused by spammers.

4.  Can you get help?  WAM includes built in video tutorials.  While not comprehensive, they do seem to be working to add new and updated tutorial videos.  You can also submit help questions through the program and typically will receive a timely answer.

5.  Can you customize the html?  Yes.  For the brave and tech savvy, WAM allows you to switch to view the the source code of the template so that you can customize the template.  I’ve done very little website editing and was able to play around with the source enough to achieve the look I wanted.  WAM also employs graphic designers who will develop a customized template with your branding.

WAM does much more than html email.  It also has built in tools to allow you to track the response, publish web content, create landing pages, build in feedback forms, surveys, and opinion polls to your site, as well as generate Personalized URLs (Purls).

If you are still deciding about what E-mail Marketing service to use, here is the kicker: ITS FREE! The creators of WAM know that church planters don’t have any money and so they have decided to give away for free for the first year of the church.  This really makes WAM a no-brainer.  Try it out, kick the tires and if you don’t like it you aren’t out any money.  To sign up click here.

featured on newchurches.com

Most people never get an intimate look at the prayer life of a pastor.  By receiving updates and prayers, your supporters can see how your faith handles difficult obstacles, takes on the impossible, perseveres, and trusts God.  That open window into your life will help stretch their faith and serve as a model for how they approach God.  Essentially your prayer letters will serve as discipleship tools to your supporters.  As you share stories about lost people coming to know Jesus, your supporters will be inspired to reignite their passion to reach out the lost in their midst.

So the next time you realize its been over a month since your last prayer update, don’t dread it.  Take it as an opportunity to teach and inspire the people who are making a sacrifice of time and money so that this new work of God can exist.  

featured on newchurches.com

• Sort your contacts by birthdays and send out cards once a week to everyone with an upcoming birthday.
• Simply block out (plan ahead, put it on your calendar just like a meeting) 1-2 hours per week to send thank you notes and personal cards of encouragement.
• Sub-contract out the job… okay, not really, but you can have your spouse, older kids, or someone on your launch team send written notes.  Maybe the forge your name or just sign it from the “project”.  Either way a hand written note from someone else is still better than none at all.

You should also make some phone calls.  A few calls a week go a long way.  Maybe block off 1 hour a week in the evening (with your spouse’s permission) to make some personal calls when you can reach people at home.

Either way, you need to remember that all the communicating is about relationships.  It’s not about “getting something”.  It’s an investment in people.  Your supporters deserve to be loved by your church plant just as much as the people you are reaching.

The free blogs will provide you with your own web address within their own domain (i.e. ‘thisismynewblog.wordpress.com’), but you can also purchase your own domain name and use their interface to create and post all of your content. Now your address can be www.thisismynewblog.com (as long as your desired domain name is available for purchase). A word to the wise: it is a good idea to separate your new church website, intended to be viewed by indigenous people in your area, from your blog, which is intended for people you are asking for money or to pray for personal issues about you and your family. I hope the reason is obvious.

A great personal spin on this medium is the video blog. Now you can record a short message from yourself to your supporters and they will get to see and hear you. They won’t have to guess about the tone of voice you’re trying to use in a typed blog (especially useful to you snarky wise-crackers out there), and they get the benefit of your non-verbal communication: body language.

Just like the email newsletter, you need to be disciplined about doing this on a routine basis; once a week should be about right. If you don’t post a new blog for more than a month, you will have lost your audience and an opportunity to easily communicate with them.

One last thought: I know you’re thinking, “You want me to send a weekly email and write a weekly post? How am I going to fit that into my already jam-packed schedule?” One way to maximize your time is to write the blog first with content that you would have sent in the email newsletter. Then compose the email using the first 2 or 3 sentences of the blog as a hook, adding a ‘read more’ link back to your blog. Voila, a 2-fer! And you thought it couldn’t be done…

featured on newchurches.com

Here are a few things to look for when choosing an email marketing service:

• Check the templates.  If the templates don’t look good, don’t waste your time.  The best thing email marketing services have to offer is their professionally designed templates.
• Ease of use.  If you can’t figure out how to use it quickly, move on.  If its not easy, chances are you won’t use it.
• Does it have tools to help you avoid the spam filter?
• Can you get help?  If you run into a problem, how hard is it to get help?
• Can you customize the html?  You may want to have the ability to customize the html to get just the right color or look.

featured on newchurches.com

The first step is to put it on your calendar.  Pick a day for your first communications blast.  We’ll focus on email during this series but you can also apply this to “snail mail” and phone calls.

You also need to determine what frequency to communicate with people.  Daily is too much… they’ll quit reading.  Monthly is not often enough… they’ll forget you exist.  We recommend weekly.  So pick a day you know you typically have some time and just block out an hour just like you would for a meeting.

Once it’s on your calendar you’ll find it much easier to actually do it.

Here’s some simple things you can do to plan ahead:

1. determine which media or marketing techniques you could use to get the word out
2. narrow that list down to the ones that will work well in your community
3. assign costs & lead times to each item
4. give a copy of your plan to members of your launch team (ah yes, accountability)

Here are some typical lead times for standard communication channels:

• web site design - if you’re going fully custom design, you’d better count on this taking 8 weeks (more in some cases)
• direct mail postcards - if you’re smart, start this 6 weeks before your first drop date
• signage - this depends on your provider, but count on the design alone to take a good 2 weeks, then add some more time for production and as appropriate, shipping
• keyword advertising - here’s where you catch a break. You can get a Google or Yahoo! keyword campaign up and running by yourself in a matter of hours. Aren’t familiar with this one? Look for a future how-to blog post.

Hey, you probably know this, but you’ve got to have a website up and running before you start any of these other items. Every bit of communication you send out must have your web address on it, because that’s where everyone will go to check you out first. This has become a non-negotiable.

featured on newchurches.com

Mobile Outreach System

Consider buying powered speakers to use for monitors.  We like the JBL Eon 10 G2 or 15 G2.  Expect to pay around $500 for the Eon 10 and $700 for the Eon 15.  These portable powered speakers pack a punch.  Use them as monitors for worship services and use them as a PA system, mobile movie night, let the band use them to play in a coffee house.  You can plug a mic and instrument directly into the speaker or you can purchase a small board and for bigger needs.

A great mobile option for a screen is to use a DJ screen.  At $249 they are an affordable option for a screen, can be used for many different venues and also look pretty cool.  Use these for anythinig from worship services, to movie nights or even a night of video games with your small group.

Another great purchase for your mobile outreach system is a bounce house.  You can purchase used ones typically at the end of summer from your local inflatable rentals store for $500 - $1000.  Take the bounce house to the park and watch the kids come running.  Use the bounce house for community events, fall festivals or just to get the energy going with the kids on Sunday.  Just make sure you buy the professional grade ones.  They ones you buy from Sam’s or Costco are not intended for heavy use.

A snow cone machine is another great buy.  For about $500 you can purchase a new machine.  Check eBay there are some great ones there.  Just make sure to buy one with heavy duty aluminumized metal.  Ice and syrup are cheap.  Many churches use the sno cone machines on Sunday’s as fun giveaways for kids.  It also encourages fellowship as no parent wants to let their kids into the car with a sno cone.  Take them on the road and give away free cones as a great way to get the word out.

What Great Mobile and Multi-functional Equipment Purchases Have You Made?

Once the equipment list is customized, you must decide whether to buy the equipment, seek donations, or more likely both.  You have three primary choices when it comes to buying equipment:

1. Do It Yourself - Often the cheapest option.  Doing it yourself means you do lots of shopping in lots of places looking for the best prices and figuring out which equipment will work best with what other equipment (e.g. which soundboard, which speakers, which recorder, etc).  This is very labor intensive and is only recommended when you have someone on your team that really understands equipment.
2. Consultant - Makes sure you get the right stuff.  There are organizations who will help you put together a custom list of equipment.  Whether it’s a local sound consultant (for sound equipment anyway) or a national equipment vendor with consultants (e.g. NCPG) enlisting the help of a qualified professional can make sure you don’t spend money on stuff you don’t need.  You will still have to put everything together (figure out which wires go where etc) but this saves much of the leg work.
3. System Integrator - These organizations (e.g. Portable Church Industries or a local A/V Company) will not only make sure you get just the right equipment for your facility, they also put everything together and train your staff with the equipment.  While you pay more for the labor to do this, you save a great deal of time and end up with the best equipment to do the job without days/weeks of research and procurement.

Whichever you choose you need to be aware of the trade-offs.  The more service someone else provides, typically, the more money it will cost… but the more time you have to spend with lost people, develop leaders, network in the community, etc.  Only you can answer which is the best path for you.

Vision statements, when lived out rather than left on a shelf, have a way of almost taking on a life of their own. When other people hear it and become convinced that it really is God’s vision for your congregation, they will multiply the vision by convincing others of it themselves. Outsiders who don’t necessarily buy in will still understand what you’re about and may even support you. Or, they might take you further down the path of your vision’s implication than you have already gone yourself.

Imagine a church that meets in an urban setting and has as part of their vision statement something like ‘everyone is welcome’. The owner of a nightclub offers to let the church meet in his facility, but it is the night club with the worst reputation for loose living and homosexuality in the city.

Would you hesitate to meet there? Would you be willing to have your own reputation connected with theirs? Is everyone really welcome like your vision statement says?

A quick reminder of Jesus’ reputation: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ‘sinners‘.” Matthew 11:19

featured on newchurches.com