Let's Get Practical: Recent Episodes
Darrel Girardier
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Episode Description:
In this episode of "The Church Marketing Minute," we dive into the four key elements of a great brand voice: Character, Purpose, Tone, and Language. Discover how to create a consistent and recognizable presence across all your church’s communication channels. Learn the importance of defining your brand's persona, clearly communicating your mission, adapting your tone to different contexts, and maintaining consistent language. Tune in to develop a strong, cohesive brand voice that effectively communicates your church’s identity and values to your audience.
In this episode of "The Church Marketing Minute," we compare YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, two powerful short-form video platforms. Discover the key differences in video length, editing features, algorithms, content focus, and platform integration. Learn best practices for each platform and get insights to help you decide which one is best for your church's content strategy.
Welcome to "The Church Marketing Minute," where we share tips and insights to help your church connect and communicate effectively. In this episode, we dive into the art of storytelling and explore the seven essential elements that make a great story. Learn how to craft compelling narratives for your church videos that resonate deeply with your audience.
In this episode of "The Church Marketing Minute," we explore Instagram’s evolving content delivery system, focusing on the differences between the social graph and the interest graph. Discover how these changes impact your church’s social media strategy and learn actionable tips to enhance your content’s reach and engagement. Tune in to understand how to leverage Instagram’s algorithm to connect with your community and attract new followers
Discover the must-read books that will revolutionize your church's marketing strategy! In this episode of "The Church Marketing Minute," we dive into "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding" and "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Al Ries. Learn key principles like the Law of Contraction, the Law of Publicity, the Law of Leadership, and the Law of Focus to help your church connect more deeply with your community and stand out.
In this episode of "Church Marketing Made Easy," we dive into the powerful AIDA method to help you increase response rates in your email campaigns. Learn how to capture attention with compelling subject lines, generate interest through engaging content, build desire by highlighting benefits, and drive action with clear calls to action. Mastering these four stages can significantly enhance your email marketing effectiveness, whether you're sending newsletters, event invitations, or donation requests. Tune in to discover actionable tips and strategies to help your church connect with your audience and drive meaningful engagement.
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144 The Church Just Became Flat
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143 Someone Hit the Cultural Fast Forward Button
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142 Communicating about the Coronavirus
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141 The Myth of Creating a Balanced Life
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140 Three Quick Tips for Working Remote
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#139 How to Find the Right Project Management Tool
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138 When to Hire a Full Time Communications Person
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137 Why It’s Time to Look for a New Job
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136 What I Wish I Knew Before I Started
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135 The Formula for Creating Great Content
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134 Let's Get Uncomfortable
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133 Why We Build Landing Pages for Facebook Ads
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132 Effective Sermon Bumpers
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130 How to Talk About Giving
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129 It's Not What You Say, It's What You Do
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128 Why the Medium is the Message
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127 Some Surprising Insights from Text Messaging
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126 Three Key Reasons Your Social Media is Not Working
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124 How to Deal with Technophobic Staff
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122 How to Double Your Email Open Rates
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121 February Resource Recommendations
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120 Dealing with Digital Exhaust
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119 Should Your Church Use TikTok
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118 Two Simple Ways to Avoid Creative Burnout
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Four Easter Marketing Ideas for Your Church
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Let's talk about managing ourselves...
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What does it take to be a church communicator? Do you need to know to code or design websites? Or should you be a master at giving presentations? What are the essential skills that you need? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- Why technical skills don't matter
- The four skills you need
- How these skill compliment each other
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One of the my favorite things about church communications is that you get see everything that's going on inside your church. You're like an air traffic controller. You see when everything is taking off and landing. However, with that view you often see when things aren't the way they're supposed to be. Whether it's the wrong font or color or a misuse of your church's logo, you'll see it all.
So who do you keep up with it all? How do you make sure that everything flows smoothly?That's what I'll cover in today's episode.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- The problem of seeing everything happening in your church
- Why you need a brand guid
- What to put inside your brand guide
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Every ministry wants their own logo. So how do you with all of these ministries wanting to create their own brand? If you're not careful of all these logos can your brand seem like the ads on the outside of a nascar. I believe there's a way around this thorny issue. That's what I'll cover in today's episode.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- What a sub-brand is
- Two schools of thought on branding
- What path I suggest for you
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One of the ugly truths of church communications is that money is required to do the job. However, most of us don't have massive budgets and we're barely scraping by with what we've got. So how do you get more money and freedom to do what you need to do? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- Why you need to learn how to do this
- The two types of leaders you're working with
- How to communicate to those leaders
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Every once in a while you need to take step from all the craziness that is church communications. You need to time to think through what you're doing and if it's actually working. So how do you do this? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- The key three hints you need to assess a communications strategy
- When to pivot
- How your strategy can create burnout
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We all we want to be good stewards of our church's money. Want to make sure that we spend it in such away that we invest in things that will last, but we don't want to be left behind by not investing in the latest gear and software.
Here's a peak inside this episode:
- Where an increasing amount of your budget is going
- The three rules of spending your budget
- What you can do protect yourself and the church
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I've been thinking about what's next for our church's digital strategy. What's comes after social media and a website? Where's the next big area of growth for a church's digital strategy? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- The issues with our current digital platforms
- The two areas we're focusing on
- Tools you can use to grow in those two areas
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Recently, I've started to focus on text messaging as a way to communicate with our church's congregation. Why? Well for starters, text messages have a 98% open rate. When you compare it to email, which has a 16% open rate, then text messaging seems like a no-brainer.
So how do you get started with text message marketing? In today's episode, I'll walk you through four things you need to know about text message marketing.
Here’s peek inside this episode:
- Short-codes vs long-codes
- What texting actually costs
- How to see if your texts are effective.
- Why you should be clear about opt-in and opt-out
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Looking to create a website for your church? Or maybe move your church's website to a new host? Well, as you probably know, there are a ton of options out there. So in this episode, I'll walk you through how to navigate all of the options and find one that's right for you and your church.
Here's a peek inside this episode:
- A look at Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress
- The pro's and con's of each platform
- What it looks like to have a marketing agency build your website for you.
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Here’s peak inside this episode:
- What communication channels to use when communicating with salespeople.
- Best practices when communicating with salespeople
- What to look for in contracts before you sign them.
- When to ask for a discount.
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One of the features that you'll find universal amongst online giving providers is mobile giving. The problem is that everyone defines it differently. So in this episode I'll walk you three different features of mobile giving and which one you should focus one.
Here’s peak inside this episode:
- Text to Give vs App vs Mobile Website
- What you need to know about short codes
- How mobile app giving really works.
- Does Text to Give actually work?
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Today, I’m going to show you a framework that you can use to evaluate these companies and determine which online giving company is right for you.
Here’s peek inside this episode:
- There are a plethora of online giving options in the market.
- How they all will argue that they have the best features.
- How this can turn into a high-pressure situation.
- A framework to cut through the noise.
- Where my church landed when choosing an online giving provider.
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In this episode, I'm going to give some personal thoughts on social media and my decision to pull back and re-evaluate its value in my life.
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Today we’re going to talk through the increasing commoditization of worship. Specifically, the creative aspects of worship and how we, as church communicators contribute to worship through our creative efforts.
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In this episode, I'm going to walk you through what you need to think through before you hire someone to build your church's website.
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In this episode I'm going to walk through the four things that I tell social media volunteers when they come to work with our church.
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In this episode, we're going to talk through how you can use Uber to do market research for you church.
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In this episode, we talk through how to write for the web. I'll give you a quick formula that will guide through the entire process.
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In this episode, I'm going to walk through my team's current process of reimagining our church's website. Our last redesign was almost five years ago, so it's time for an overhaul.
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In this episode, we talk through a strategy that will help you create social media in a way that's sustainable. This is not a quick fix, but rather a different way of thinking about your content.
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I love to plan ahead and get a good idea of what the future looks like. However, when you work at a church there are so many moving parts, that it's difficult to plan anything of substance.
In this episode, I'm going to walk you through what a reasonable timeline is when you're planning your church's marketing. The goal here is to give you a good sense of what is achievable when you're working with a church.
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Today we’re talking about what you need to think about before you spend the church’s money on communications resources. If you’re like most people who work or volunteer at a church, you can get a large number of emails and ads promising you amazing results if you just a certain product.
In this episode, I’m going to give you a three-question framework that you can use before you make any purchases for your church. It’s a set of questions that I wish I had when I was starting out doing communications for my church.
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2019 is here, so it’s time to make some predictions about what we’re going to see in the coming year. In this episode, I walk through five communication trends that I believe will have an impact in 2019.
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We've spent the last few episodes talking about the value of Facebook Groups. However, today we're talking about one of the biggest issues with Facebook Groups and how you can avoid it.
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A lot of us know that we need to switch our ministries from Facebook Pages to Groups, but a lot of us aren't sure how to tell our ministries why they need to make that change. Today, I'm going to give you four reasons to make the switch from Facebook Pages to Groups.
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Facebook groups are all becoming a popular alternative to Facebook pages, and it's about time that church invested in Facebook Groups as well. In this episode, I walk through some of the key things we've learned as we've grown a massive Facebook Community.
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What is copywriting and why should you learn how to do it? On this episode, we're talking about the importance of copywriting and how it can help you excel at your job.
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Online evangelism? Is it for real? On this episode, we're going to take a look some research from Barna that sheds some light on the subject.
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Christmas is almost here! In this episode, we talk through 15 Christmas ideas for your church's social media.
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In this episode, we talk through the dangers of outsourcing your social media. Why it's easy to do, but we also must force ourselves to do better work for our audiences.
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Music Provided by Jahzzar (Used under a Attribution-ShareAlike License).
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
Music Provided by Jahzzar (Used under a Attribution-ShareAlike License).
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
Music Provided by Jahzzar (Used under a Attribution-ShareAlike License).
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
Music Provided by Jahzzar (Used under a Attribution-ShareAlike License).
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
Music Provided by Jahzzar (Used under a Attribution-ShareAlike License).
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
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SHOWNOTES: Social Pilot SM Hack Kuku Post Planner Buffer
CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churc
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
Music Provided by Jahzzar (Used under a Attribution-ShareAlike License).
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CHECK US OUT ONLINE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchcomm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thechurchcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchcomms/ Web: http://churchcommunications.com
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Welcome to Episode 69 of the _Ask Darrel_ podcast. On this episode we're going to talk about how to never run out of social media content.
At some point you might run out of social media content. Or at least you _think_ you've run out of social media content. So today, we're going to talk about four ways you can avoid running out of social media content.
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Welcome to Episode 68 of the _Ask Darrel_ podcast. On this episode we're going to talk about reaching Generation Z.
Now let's be clear Generation Z is different than Generation Y, and we need to know the difference in order to reach them. That's one of the many topics we're going to cover in today's episode.
Resources Mentioned:
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Welcome to Episode 67 of the _Ask Darrel_ podcast. On this episode we're going to talk about demise of the social network Vine.
While Vine was popular at it's peak, it couldn't keep it up with Snapchat and all the competitors who dealt with short video format. So what lessons can we learn from this? Listen to this episode to find out.
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Welcome to Episode 66 of the _Ask Darrel_ podcast. On this episode I'm giving you my fall reading list of books you should check out.
I know not everyone loves to read, but you can't grow as a communicator or leader if you're not willing to read. On this episode, I walk you through a list of books that have personally impacted me and how I communicate.
Also, don't forget that the That Church Conference is coming up. If you want to watch the whole thing via live stream, just head over here and enter the coupon code "DCT" to get a discount. You won't want to miss it.
Resources Mentioned
- The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way Your Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
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Welcome to Episode 65 of the _Ask Darrel_ podcast. On this episode we're going to talk about design tools for those of us on a budget.
Adobe Creative Suite is the standard when it comes to design tools for most of us in the communications world. However, it does come with a price tag and for a lot of us, that price tag is too much for our church budgets.
However, there are some solid alternatives that can come pretty close to some of Adobe Creative Suite's main features (i.e. photo editing, illustration). Today, I'm going to walk through some resources that can get the job done when it comes to photo editing, logo design and fonts.
Resources Mentioned
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Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
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Check out the Simply Communicate Conference. I'll be there with some of my internet friends (i.e. Katie Allred).
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Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/girardier/message
On this episode we're talking about how to spot bad advice on social media.
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On this episode we're talking about how to maintain consistency across all ministries when it comes to social media.
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On this episode we're talking about how to pitch a design to a ministry or a minister.
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This episode is a live recording from NRB. We're talking about the disruption of communications through social media channels. Note, if you want to skip past all the ads, head to about the 11 minute marker.
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On this episode, we're talking to the one and only Katie Allred!
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On this episode we're talking about how to build a digital content strategy for your church. Click here for the show notes.
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On this episode we're talking about Facebook's new emojis and what they mean for you and your church!
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On this episode I walk you through where I get inspiration for my daily work in design, video and copywriting.
Resources Mentioned:
Design: Dribbble Behance For Print Only Brand New Art of the Menu Typekit Blog Logo Design Love
Video: Vimeo Channels VideoHive Red Giant
Copywriting: Copyblogger Kopywriting Kourse Ok Dork
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On this episode I walk you through how to handle multiple Instagram accounts and how to automate your workflow so that you don't have to duplicate work.
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On this episode we talk about the process of branding a ministry. I'll walk you through the key questions you need ask and why branding is more than just a logo.
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On this episode I get a little bit philosophical about the future of social media the church. What is the future online campuses? How can we prepare for the future? We cover this and more on episode #44.
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Previously, I did an episode on my thoughts on Hootsuite vs Buffer.. Today, I've been asked about my thoughts between Hootsuite and Sprout Social. Both tools are great, however I think one of them is better geared towards churches. Check out the episode to find which one.
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Previously, I did an episode on my thoughts on Snapchat. At first, I was not impressed. However, after spending more time with Snapchat, I'm starting to see the value for churches. While, I still don't think Snapchat is for everyone, I do think it's worth a look.
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Today on the podcast, I'm going to walk you how to create a communications workflow for your church. This is a two part process that can help reduce stress and clarify expectations. Also it is great way to determine where your team is spending their time.
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Today on the podcast, we're going to talk what it takes to stay productive while running social media. It's easy to get overwhelmed with social media especially if you have other responsibilities in your job description. However, there are some things you can do be productive and still run social media at the same time.
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Today on the podcast, we're dealing with failure. Yes, there are moments when things don't go right, plans don't work out and everything doesn't go your way. Those moments can be tough and can wear you down if you don't have the right mindset. So let's talk about how you can overcome failure and recover from mistakes.
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What tools do you need to succeed at social media on daily basis? Today, on the podcast we talk about the five tools I use on a daily basis to get things done on social media.
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Setting up a church website can be a daunting task. There are a lot of options out there and if you don't have the technical chops you can easily get lost.
Today on the podcast, we're going to talk about some of the different options you have to host your church website. We'll cover the pros and cons of each, plus I'll give you my recommendation for a host that is COMPLETELY FREE!
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Should your church pay for advertising? Well, I think it depends on your goals and how well you can measure success. That's why I like Facebook Ads. It's easy to define your goals (Facebook's process helps you determine that) and you can also measure success.
Today on the podcast, we're going to talk about the types of Facebook Ads you can run and how to get the most out of them. I also share a little bit about our experience running ads and what's worked for us.
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Getting your social media accounts hacked can be a nightmare. However, there are few things you can do to prevent getting hacked. Today, we talk about how to protect yourself and what to do when you've been hacked.
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Saying "no" is not easy, but it's necessary in order to survive when you running communications for your church. If you don't say no, you end up committing to too many messages and you can flood your congregation with too much information.
Today we're going to walk through how to avoid this. We're going to learn about tactics and strategies that will help alleviate the pain of saying the word "no".
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Okay, so I know email is not the latest craze. However, email is an extremely effective tool for communicating to your congregation. If you can create the right strategy, an email campaign can be more effective than a social media campaign..
One of the things I like about the the email is the fact that with the right tools, I can see who opened the email and acted on the call to action. For me, this is a very effective way to measure how we communicate and whether or not our message is getting through.
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Christmas is on the way! So it's time we sat down and talked about how to make your social media the best it can be during the Christmas season.
I believe Christmas presents a unique opportunity on social media. Not only is it a season that revolves around the birth of our Savior, it also gives us the opportunity to show a different side of the church. One that is fun and goofy.
If you're struggling to figure out what to do for your Christmas social media, then this is the podcast for you. In this episode, I'll walk you through nine things you can do to supercharge your Christmas social media and get you set for this fun season.
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Today's topic is something that I had to address recently with my church:
_How do you choose a testing service for your church? Why would you need to use one?_
Texting. It's not exactly as exciting as Snapchat or Periscope, but it's an extremely effective tool for reaching your congregation. You don't have to deal with Facebook news feeds or email filters. Instead, you can reach your congregation in a quick and effective manner.
In this episode, we'll talk about why you should use a texting service and how you should go about choosing one. I'll talk about the service we chose and what factors we used in evaluating each service.
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Today's question comes from listener Tom Lelyo:
_Given instagram's new image formats, what are the best practices?_
Horizontal images! It's funny how something so simple can cause an uproar. However, I'm glad that we now have a few more options for video and images on Instagram.
In this episode, I'll walk you through what the best practices are for Instagram images and videos. We'll also talk about three additional apps that are a part of the Instagram family.
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If you're running social media or communications for your church, it's easy get caught up in emails, notifications, and the constant stream of social media updates. However for a lot of us, we never take the time to slow down and ask the hard question about whether or not we need to take a step back from all of this. Today on Ask Darrel, we're going to dive into how to take a digital sabbatical and what the best practices are for you to enjoy this time away from the digital world.
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Today's question is something that a number of us deal with:
_How do you run social media for your church when it’s not your full-time job?_
Majority of us who run social media for our church are either volunteers or it's just one of the many responsibilities that we oversee. You might be the student or children's minister,or a volunteer who just happens to understand how to use Instagram. Either way, you've been tapped as your church's social media expert.
Today, we're going to explore the tension between running social media and handling all of your other responsibilities. How do you run social media effectively and still do everything else on your plate?
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Today's question comes from listener Carrie Evans:
_You mentioned in a post about social media that you have monthly content meetings. What does a typical meeting look like?_
Meetings. I can't stand them but they're necessary because you can't do everything on Slack. So in order to keep our web content and social media on point, we have a monthly content meeting.
In this episode, I'll walk you through what we cover during the meeting and what tools we use to make that meeting run smoothly.
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Today's question is one of the top three questions I get when I'm coaching a church or a pastor starting out on social media:
_Should I Follow everyone back on social media?_
For some people, this is a hot topic. There are people who are adamant that you should follow everyone back. Then there are some who are much more cautious in term of they're following.
In this episode, I'll share my thoughts as well some experiments I ran on Twitter. With those experiments, I learned some valuable lessons that that you could apply your social media accounts as well.
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Today's question comes from Josh Pidgley:
_Should I ever delete peoples comments/posts on our pages?_
Today, we’re going to talk about how to build an online community. Why? Well, if you can build an online community then you can reap some pretty awesome benefits. One of which is a community that helps self-police negative comments on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
In this episode, I’ll walk you through the three E’s of creating an online community. If you can Equip, Empower and Encourage your audience, you can create something really special for your church..
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Today's question comes from Ben Borman:
_How do you handle negative comments on church social media? Not inflammatory, but voicing opinions in a negative way._
It's time we talked about internet trolls and negative comments. Since the internet allows practically anything to be published online, you sometimes have to deal with negative content. In this episode, we talk about how to deal with these issues.
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Today's question comes from listener Tobey:
_I pastor a great small rural church which is an older congregation (but getting younger as God brings new faces). I have done my best to take all that we do to our website, email, Facebook, etc. Well it is not met with glee as most of our members never touch a computer, resist email, and abhor Facebook. I know it is a cultural mindset but is there a way to bring them alongside. They love paper and phone calls and home visits... and oddly enough the multimedia work we do in our services. How do we turn the corner on this challenge?_
I think Tobey is speaking for a lot ministers that I know. Ministers constantly feel the tension between bringing their congregation into the digital world and yet meeting their needs where they’re at. However, this requires a bit of maneuvering since some of church members can resist the change and even fight it.
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Today's question comes from a conference I spoke at earlier this year:
_Should my church use Snapchat?_
Snapchat... I've made it pretty clear that I'm not a big fan of this social media network. However, I know that Snapchat continues to grow at pretty rapid pace, so at some point it's worth looking at. So while, I'm not crazy about Snapchat, it's still worth discussing whether or not your church should being using Snapchat.
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Today's question comes from listener Jordan White:
_YouTube... should videos be posted under a user and "user/churchname"? Or a channel linked to a business page?_
Of course this question spawned a whole different set of questions. This led me to answering the question about YouTube vs Vimeo. Which one should you choose? The answer might not be as clear as you think. (Don't worry, I do answer Jordan's question.)
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Today's question comes from my mid-year evaluation. When looking through my content for 2015, it seems that Instagram is by far the most popular topic. So, I think it's time we had a talk about how to get the most out of Instagram. So today's question is...
_How can my church get the most out of Instagram?_
Instagram continues to grow at a rapid pace. In my mind, it really has displaced Twitter as the #2 social media network that I think believe churches should be invested in.
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Today's episode is composed of two questions from multiple listeners :
_1. Can I take photos of our church's kids and post them on Facebook?_
_1. Can I download videos from sites like YouTube and upload them to our Facebook page?_
DISCLAIMER: The information in this episode does not constitute legal advice. The listener is advised to check for changes to current law and to consult with a qualified attorney on any legal issue.
This is an area that most churches ignore. Most of the time churches aren't aware of the law. In other cases churches ignore the law for fear of doing the additional work to get clearance. In this episode we talk about how your church can stay in the clear with the law.
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Today's question comes from listener Kristy Henry:
_How do you handle multiple Facebook pages for your church? Do you allow each ministry to have their own page?_
This is a tough question. It's tough because you want your ministries to engage on social media, but also represent your church well. In this episode we'll talk about the conversations that you need to have, and what you need to do to ensure your church is represented well on Facebook.
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Today we're talking about of the top questions that I get asked.
_How do I get my pastor involved on social media?_
This episode is part my story of how I got started as a digital strategist and part how we work with our pastor on social media. If you're interested in getting your pastor on social media, then this is the episode for you.
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Today's question comes from listener Andrew:
_Hey Darrel! I run social media at my church and was just wondering your thoughts on good event advertising for Facebook. We’ve been creating image posts to promote events, then boosting them for greater engagement, but lately we’ve been considering using Facebook’s “events” feature instead. What do you suggest?_
This episode is a rundown of some tips and tricks you can do to promote your events with Facebook events. We’ll cover seven key things you can do to increase your church’s exposure with Facebook events and seven things that Facebook has planned in the future for it’s events feature. If you’ve been thinking about using Facebook events, then this is the episode for you.
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Writing for the web isn't flashy, but it's a fundamental skill that everyone needs to develop. Writing for the web is different than writing a college paper or any other piece of academic work. However, many of have been trained on how to write for an education setting, but not for the web. In today's episode we talk about key two key things you need to think through when writing for the web.
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Today's question comes from listener Kevin Rutledge:
_How much should my church be paying for graphic design?_
This is a great question! While there's no standard fee chart for graphic design, there are some things to think through when paying for graphic design. We'll cover that in this episode and talk a little bit about 99 Designs.
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Today's question comes from a conference I recently spoke at:
_When is the best time to post on social media?_
While there's no perfect time to post on social media, there are some things that you need to consider when posting on social media. In this episode, I’ll cover what I've found the best times are to post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Today's question comes from multiple people:
_How can I run social media on a tight budget?_
If you’re like most churches, you’ve got a really small communications budget and your social media budget is probably even smaller. However, there are some things that you can do to either significantly reduce your budget or do things for free. In this episode, I’ll cover how to keep your budget small and get more out of your dollar.
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Today's question comes from Amy Smith:
_Are people more impressed and more likely to engage in a creative graphic or a more clean, branded look to the graphic? My goal is to create an attention grabber infused with our culture and still maintain the viewer's discernment of our brand. I'm just seeing other churches execute this, some with a more creative style and other very clean. Which is more effective on social media?
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Today's question comes from Blake Norris Battin: What is the best way to introduce and use Facebook in an Episcopal parish with demographics skewed older?
Getting senior adults to join Facebook or any other social network is not a simple task. In this episode I'm going to share some of my successes and failures trying to get our church's older audience to join Facebook. I'll also share what I would do differently if I was starting from scratch.
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Today's question comes from Andy Hammond: I'm currently using Buffer for my church, should I look at using Hootesuite? In this episode, we cover the difference between Hootesuite and Buffer and which one might be best for your church. We're now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
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Today's question comes from John Finkelde: How does a small church pastor use social media to disciple church? In this episode, we cover the Taught vs Caught framework for discipling people online. We're now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
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Today's question comes from Zaryland Ervin: How can churches stay relevant online during national events? In this episode, we cover six things churches must do to stay relevant during national events. We're now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
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Today's question comes from Nathan Holder: What to look for in volunteer when they don’t have experience. In this episode, we cover three essential elements to needed in a great communications volunteer. We're now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
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Today's question comes from Stephen Morrissey: What Problems Do You Most Frequently See Churches Trying to Solve? In this episode, we cover four key areas online that churches struggle with trying to solve? We're now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
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Today's question comes from John Amos: How Do You Develop Your Church's Social Media Strategy? In this episode, we cover four essential elements to creating your church's social media strategy. We're now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
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Today's question comes from Amanda Akey: How Do I Create a Social Media Package for a Sermon Series? In part two, we cover a content calendar and a content calendar meeting.
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Today's question comes from Amanda Akey: How Do I Create a Social Media Package for a Sermon Series? In part one, we'll cover how to set up the design process and how to make sure you get right dimensions for each social media network.
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Welcome to Episode 1 of the Ask Darrel podcast. In this first episode, we talk about to help your church leadership change strategy. Click here to get the show notes.
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