I Ate the Worst Breakfast this Morning.

Sunday morning’s are hard. The routine is different, and my regular schedule is messed up. My wife is getting ready at our sink, the kids sleep in a bit and I end up laying in bed watching the news.

So, quite often I eat the worst breakfast possible.

It’s not what you’d think though. In fact, I wouldn’t have described it this way until I read this afternoon a magazine headline that described my breakfast this morning.

I ate nothing. Yep. I skipped my meal.

Seems that people who regularly skip breakfast, have a 450% increase chance of obesity. Who would have thought!? You’d think that not eating a meal would make you thinner.

So how about you? Have you done the worst thing possible when it comes to your Church?

In these economic times, I know so many churches and organizations who have decided not to advertise, not do any marketing or even neglect their existing programs. It’s sad. They’re dooming themselves to a disaster.

So, you don’t have much money? Here’s 3 things you should do now. Don’t put it off!

1. Start thinking about the fall. Yes. The fall! It’ll be here before long (since the summer is so hard to get anything done) — and now is the time to consider what you want to do. So many churches aren’t doing any promotion; so consider approaching someone in your church for some extra cash; or perhaps use some other budgets to create an amazing fall kickoff. A little will go a long way since you’ll stand out while other churches remain quiet. Now’s the time to freshen your communications: your logo, your positioning, your website, your social media. Make sure things are top notch and ready! Which leads me to…
2. Rework your Social Media Strategy. You do have a strategy, no? Find out who’s handling your social media (facebook, twitter, youtube, etc) and have a meeting with them. Decide how to coordinate your church’s message throughout the social media sites. Bring a consultant in (like us at PinPoint!) to help direct the path if you’re unsure. In the long run, social media will save your promotions budget and communications budgets. If you’re doing it right.
3. Conduct a Focus Group. You can do this yourself or it’s actually better to bring an outsider in (you can get better, more honest opinions). Choose 6-10 people who define your target audience at your church (you could do one for people in your church, and one for people from your community not in your church). In the group meeting, ask them how you’ve been doing (again, it’s best if it’s not the Pastor doing this). Ask for recommendations. Reassure them their names will not be attributed to their comments. Learn from them. Listen to them. Know that they only want their church to be better. Implement the ideas!

That should get you started! There’s lots of people in need of your church today. People are hurting and seeking God. Don’t skip this preparation; or you’ll be at risk of becoming obsolete in the future. And I think I’m going to try and eat breakfast more on Sundays. It just take a little preparation on Saturday nights.