Are we too scared?

For the past 5 years I have been wrestling with church marketing and trusting in the Spirit. Biblicly I know that we are called to spread the gospel and the Spirit uses that to bring faith. And I understand that faith comes from hearing the Word of God. Here is the problem I have, in marketing do we trust that the Spirit will do as we are told?

Church marketing has become very man centered. We play off of the needs of what the community wants. Great kids programs, loud rock music, in service coffee and short messages are the church buzz words. Now those are not bad things, but where is God in that? Are we scared that any mention of God or biblical references will offend people? If God and His word are the only things that can truly bring people into His family, why do we not use that?

So how do we do this? How can we live inline with biblical evangelism and still market? How do we get past the fear of offending people, and start trusting in what God has told us? What are your thoughts?

Not Art. Submission 8.

Here is a new design from our midwest designer Claire Allen. She is holding the fort in Appleton, WI.

I chose this passage because it was one of the hardest for me to follow and I wanted a reminder of how important it is to “turn the other cheek”. Slowly over the years since I found my way back to god this has been one of the areas in my life where I’ve seen the most significant amount of change. To have someone that has been an outright jerk to me and then to let it go and still be kind to that person is one of the many amazing tools that we as Christians have. It is not easy and we all fail, but I strive to perfect this and many other things in my life.

Dirty, Dirty Feet

Catalyst had this interesting post this morning regarding a study that was recently presented at the Baptist World Alliance gathering in Prague.

David Laubach presented some startling statistics last week at the Baptist World Alliance gathering in Prague. He stated that church attendance is stagnant or declining in 75% of America’s churches. Furthermore, he said that 24% of churches are only growing by getting members from the declining churches - and only 1% of churches are growing from the unchurched, he said.

After reading these stats I couldn’t help but ask this question: As those involved in church marketing and communications, what are we doing (or not doing) to spread the gospel to those who are unchurched?

As my boy Paul says it: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15)

Not sure our feet are looking too good today… How does this all make you feel?

Art Talks

A friend of mine sent me this video yesterday. It’s a trailer for a documentary film about Roadsworth, a Canadian street artist. His art is amazingly genius, but what I found even more interesting was how his art has catalyzed a larger conversation in the city of Montréal. Call it graffit, or call it art, Roadsworth has caused dialogue, and we’re all about that here at The Plow. Enjoy!

TAKE MORE STICKERS!

I have too many of these sticker packs, please take some more. Tell your friends, neighbors, even your mother-in-law will want some. Help start conversations that we as Christians need to have.

They are 100% free as well, we have covered all the printing and shipping costs.

Not Art. Submission 7.

Murder is one of the most vile acts a man can do. Our sociality will lock a man up, or even take his life if committed. But what does Jesus say about murder? If we are even angry with our brother, then we are held to the same judgment as if we killed him. Jesus goes straight for the heart in this passage, it is not the act, but the intent that God sees.

FREE Poop & Trash!

Everyone likes something free, and boy do we like giving stuff away. So here you go Poop and Trash. At the Plow we want to help start conversations that will lead to a better understanding of God and His grace. That is why we created these stickers, to get people talking about faith and works. The stickers are meant to be placed on toilets and trash cans, to be used as an example of how our works look to God. Works will never save us, only the blood of Christ. Place these at your office, youth room, church, or any other legal place you see fit. Hopefully these can start some great conversations.

If you would like a free sticker pack email me with your contact info. corey@jaghq.com
I have roughly 50 packs, so first come first serve.

How To Sell Your Design

Smashing Magazine posted this article yesterday, and I thought it was worth sharing. A big part of my job has become customer relations, learning how to sell a client on a design concept or brand. Designers tend to think of the art of the design, but forget about the business aspect of it. Here are 5 tips to remember.

1. Pretty doesn’t mean effective: statistics are your friend!
Designers like to show off portfolios. It can look stunning, but business people like to see numbers. What was the conversion rate on that opt in? What was the bounce rate and average time on site? What was the most clicked on link from the home page?

2. Every design should have a measurable goal
Saying that the goal is to “build the brand of XYZ” or “create an online presence” is basically meaningless to a business-minded person. A goal is only a goal if it is measurable.

3. Your site should have one clear path
As a customer comes to your site, you want to be in complete control of the 1st thing they see, the 2nd, the 3rd, and all the way down until they accomplish your goal that you’ve set. In other words, they have entered your sites “funnel” or “chute”.

4. Remember the swiss army knife
One of the best analogies I’ve ever heard about design came from Marissa Mayer at Google. She said that Google tries to think of its design like a Swiss army knife. It has tons of features neatly tucked away inside, but you don’t see them all at once. A first time user might come to the site and just the main knife is flipped open. It’s immediately clear what the main benefit and purpose of this thing is: it’s a knife. But for the advanced users, a little thumbnail catch is still visible so they can slowly start to pull out lesser used features when they’re needed.

5. Provide performance metrics
Finally, if you really want to impress business people, put together a little report of how a design performs. It doesn’t have to be fancy — maybe a little spreadsheet (those business types do love Excel) with some basic metrics you can pull off of Google Analytics like visitors, time on site, most popular funnel path, and even a goal conversion rate.

Conclusion
This article may offend some designers. You may think it’s off topic, not your concern, or counterproductive to good design. That’s fine — take what works for you and leave the rest.

Speaking in a language the customer understands is key to good communication in any business. Whenever you get deep into a field and become an expert, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the rest of the world doesn’t think like you.

Read the full article here.

The Plow Creative

Like Corey posted two weeks ago, members of our parent company met in San Diego this last weekend to discuss and shape our “Ministry Division.” After some great meeting time, here’s where we stand:

1. We are storytellers. It is our passionate desire to team up with ministries and churches that wish to communicate their distinct story to their target/community. Most every ministry/church needs a logo, website, etc., that’s always the same. But, on top of that, every ministry/church has a reason for existence that is God-given and completely unique to them—that’s where we want to be.
2. We want to share. Jesus commanded us to share the Gospel with all the nations. On the same note, we don’t want to hold on to everything we do. As we move forward, there are several ways in which we are going to be sharing our work. Think open-source and strategic partnerships.
3. We wish to be good stewards. As God has blessed us with his mercy and grace, we too would like to bless others. We have some exciting plans in the mix that will allow us to give back to a handful of organizations and operations. Stay tuned!

All that to say that we are on the verge of some pretty exciting times. And, we’d like to take this opportunity to unofficially announce the birth of The Plow Creative.

Not Art. Submission 6.

“They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” This passage is another example of how beautifully Jesus paints a picture of false profits using words. They, or even we, may look gentle and kind, but inside are wolves looking for the kill. I wanted the art to reflect this, let me know how you see it.