Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission
From our Great Ideas & Samples Swap this brief video shows some of the Image and Training Resources sent in. The video gives you a preview of the sites and some tips on how to make the most of them. The video links, plus additional tips and resources can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.
Ed. note: It seems at times that people assume if their life is chaotic and stressed that it shows they are doing something important. Reality is far from that—it usually means the person who is chaotic and stressed is simply undisciplined and disorganized. When I am honest with myself I know that is often my situation. Or maybe they haven't had anyone to teach them a better way. As always, Gayle's wise advice provides some wise steps to a more organized office and life—read and relax.
Through the years office professionals have shared multitudes of handy ideas. Often a tip is prefaced with, “I wish someone had told me a long time ago that ...” Here are a few concepts other office pros say work for them. Some, maybe all, will work for you too.
“I used to keep so much stuff on my desk. Then I tried uncluttering and discovered a neat workspace actually helps me work in an organized way. Today, take everything off your desk. Put back only what you use every day. Stash everything else where it will be handy when needed: in drawers, file cabinets, closets. Organizing my desk made a big difference for me.”
“There is always so much to do in the office. You will never be able to say, ‘All done. There is nothing else to do.’ An assistant I admired advised me never to let myself feel overwhelmed. I took her advice. I do the best I can each day and don’t get hung up or discouraged by thinking about what lies ahead.”
“I work in a church office. At one time virtually everything I did was with church people. Then a guest speaker pointed out that we can’t spread the gospel unless we get out among those not connected to the church. And that we are more interesting, better informed people when we interact with others. I have found that to be quite true.”
“Our office had become a smorgasbord. Steady streams of baked goods tempted and distracted the staff while groups of ‘visitors’ congregated and interrupted work in progress. Beyond the waste of time, our waists were taking a hit too. No wonder we felt sluggish and lazy! The suggestion to become a food-free office was not popular, but after only a short time we knew this was a great decision.”
“Every time I use a file folder, I quickly scan the papers inside to see how many I can get rid of now. I do the same thing with computer files by dumping files into a Trash In 30 Days folder. It is amazing how this simple practice keeps our files slim and orderly.”
“Though I always knew better, I still found myself spending too much time with phone sales people. Now I have a typed card with a quick and standard response. I use a pleasant but professional voice, close with asking our number be removed from their list, and wish them a good day. I’ve also learned to trash random emails and stick to our approved suppliers. ”
“I had heard about tickler files half a dozen times before I finally set one up. Now I wonder how I ever got along without it. My work is more organized, it’s easier to handle, and I never miss target dates.”
“I used to look at my crammed closet and still feel I had ‘nothing to wear.’ I decided to get ruthless; my goal was to have my closet only half full. I was selective about what I kept; the rest went to a thrift shop. I love being able to find things easily; it seems to get my day off to a good start. I feel good about turning things loose and sharing them with others.”
“I found an easy way to keep often-used catalogs and small directories handy. Open the bound material to the center and hang it over the edge of a hanging file folder. My supervisor likes his magazines ‘filed’ this way too. You can think of many applications. Handy!”
“Your job can still feel new after 17 years. Mine does. I explore, experiment, and never allow myself or my work to get in a rut.”
Please note: Videos are at the end of this article. This article is a few years old and the system has changed a little, and they may not have the free offer, but the material following should be useful.
Most of the printed publications we do in the church are done with either the copier or a digital duplicator. Sometimes we use color if we have a good color copier. These machines work for most of the products we create, but sometimes we long for full-color or glossy printing on our church business and invitation cards or church outreach postcards.
Many churches justify the cost of special projects for major holidays, but most wouldn't think of doing a full-color business or invitation card for a Sunday School class, children's or women's ministry event in the church because of the short run and the cost. But you might think about doing it--if the price was FREE. FREE or almost (there are a few little charges I explain later) is what is honestly available through Vista Print. Remember what follows is my experience and opinion, only, not anything from the company, but I trust will be useful to you. What prompted me to do this article and the associated videos is that I wanted to get some full-color, glossy business/invitation cards done for the Sunday School class my husband and I teach. There is no way I could go to my local printer and afford to get that done, but then I got one of the special discount emails from Vista Print. As I was putting together my order, I realized I could share it with all of you.
Vista Print (www.vistaprint.com) is an online printing company. There are a number of them out there today and many churches use them successfully to create high quality print items at a low-cost. They are in NO WAY a substitute for your copier or digital duplicator, but when you want 100 business cards or a vinyl banner or a couple of full-color yard signs they are great.
Vista Print has been around a long time and they do a reliable job. I've used them for church and business jobs and have been happy with all the results.
Many of the online print companies (Vista Print does this also) recommend that you use Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator to create your products. At first look, it seems like if you don't use these products you won't get quality results. But that is not true! As the video below will show you can easily create a publication using MS Publisher that is extremely simple to load up and have created with Vista Print--and the results are great! [Read more...]
Ed. note: As always, lots of great tips here and one of my favorite is at the very end—how easy it is with technology to forget that real people are at the end of our tech traumas. Gayle helps us remember and respond with grace.
Sooner or later, it will happen!
Your computer is humming along when suddenly a strange message appears. You copy it down and note exactly what you were doing when the crash occurred. You thumb through the manual, find and try some options, noting each as you work.
Nothing helps. It’s time to call in the big guys. Being a professional, you calmly turn to your updated list of support line numbers, websites, and email addresses and select the most likely source of help.
Before you pick up the phone, type the email, or visit the website, give yourself the best chance of getting fast, accurate answers by getting all your ducks in a row.
• Have at hand the notes of the exact wording of any error message on the screen, the actions you were taking when the problem occurred and the actions you tried. Have the software in question running.
• Be prepared to describe specifically what happened. Be direct and to the point in stating your difficulty. Use proper terminology, never whadayacallit, etc.
• Have pertinent information at hand: the make and model of your computer and of any relevant peripherals, the program name and version, serial numbers.
• To give yourself uninterrupted time, arrange to have someone else take care of office business while you are with the support technician.
• On your preliminary notes, make a place for the name of the support person you contact. Ask for a phone number and extension or the best procedure for contacting that person if you need more help on this problem later.
One last suggestion from a technical support person: “Please have patience. Support lines are always busy. One of the most helpful things callers can do once they connect is to get right to the problem—even though they are upset, have backed up work to do, are having a bad day, whatever. We know people are not calling us under happy conditions, but the sooner we can solve a problem, the sooner we can help someone else—maybe you.”
We have so many ways we can share the messages of our church today, often our biggest challenge is knowing which one to use. The video here is an overview of the communication channels available to church communicators today along with a discussion of the positives and challenges about each one. It also encourages you to create a communication team because no one person can possibly do all the communication in any church today.
This is not a how-to for every channel shown, but an essential OVERVIEW of the church communication channels.
Below the video is a PDF of the handouts for the Video.
This video is FREE for everyone, but the PDF of the notes are for ECC MEMBERS only. We are in the process of adding HD videos for ECC Members, this one was created before we had that ability, but it is still very useful. Membership is one of the best investments you can make in the communication success of your church and is only $9.99 a month or $99 a year for any size church. CLICK HERE for membership information and signup.
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