Social Media – An Email to Our Saviour’s Staff

The below is an email that I sent to my co-workers at Our Saviour’s. I’m sharing it here so that you all can see how I’ve decided to approach this topic.

Hey Friends!

This email [blog] is a little lengthy, I apologize. I would really appreciate it if you would spend 5 minutes to read through it in its entirety. Even if you’re not a techie like me… I hope you’ll be able to understand the benefits to social media and using it to our advantage as an organization.

Since the majority of you aren’t on Twitter (yet) and aren’t really connected to the blogging world (yet), I want to properly promote my blog to all of you.

I know that I’ve talked about it to most of you and you are likely aware of my addiction to Twitter. I feel that I need to explain why social media is so important to what we’re doing here as an organization but instead of describing it to you myself, I’m going to quote Darrell Etherington from WebWorkerDaily.com. (He puts it a bit more eloquently than I could).

The problem is a familiar one. Those of us who champion the use of social media tend to be fairly zealous about its use, but trying to transmit that passion to others, especially to key decision makers, can be a trying affair. For instance, I’ve had recent experience with a Managing Director who actually didn’t use a computer, so you can just imagine how easy it was to convince him of the value of having a corporate Twitter account.

Of course, it’s to be expected that senior executives exhibit a degree of technological inertia. Luckily, they all still speak the same basic languages: Return on Investment (ROI), Brand Recognition and Corporate Image. Even if they don’t speak all three (take a small consulting firm, for example, which depends on word of mouth rather than aggressive branding), they will understand one of the above: ROI, which is what I’ll be covering in this post. Social media is a hard area in which to gather solid ROI figures, but it’s not impossible. Plus, it can be very easy to sell on the expenditure side, since most of the time the only cost involved is the labor of the resource tasked with setting up and maintaining your social network accounts. That alone is a convincing argument in a business climate which is shy with its advertising dollars but eager to maintain a public presence.

The example he spoke of… the small consulting firm that depends on word of mouth rather than aggressive branding… hmm… that sounds very similar to a church! We don’t put billboards up on I-88, we don’t run television ads throughout the Chicagoland area… instead we depend primarily on word of mouth. After all… that’s community, that’s how we grow participation.

If they’re not sold on the fact that online presence makes good money sense, you might want to sell them on the business card metaphor, which goes as follows: You would never leave a business meeting, lunch, coffee, etc. without exchanging business cards with the other party, would you? Even if it’s a sales call that wasn’t particularly promising, you leave the card, and hope your name comes to mind when they need something down the road.

Imagine the cumulative time your company spends doing work online as a business meeting, and then imagine that, to date, despite all that time spent with prospective clients, you’ve been leaving them with nothing but a hastily scrawled phone number on a bar napkin (your email signature, for the purposes of the metaphor). That wouldn’t fly in the real world, and it shouldn’t be allowed to suffice on the Web, either.

Of course, your boss or client could counter with the fact that you have a web site. Explain that just having a web site is like leaving a business card tacked to a public bulletin board and hoping people will take interest. Social media is the handshake, the lunch meeting, the phone call during which you ask about the family. In other words, social media brings that priceless “people” factor online.

It may seem silly at this point to still have to sell clients on the value of social media, but it only seems that way because we live inside that world every day. Impossible as it may be to believe, there are still some, like that Managing Director I mentioned before, who dictate their emails to their assistants. Talk about someone who needs the perspective of a helpful evangelist!

I know that it seems silly to me when I have to explain computer skills and technology to people. It is seriously one of the most frustrating things about my job. But that’s something that I’m working on. So consider me, Graham, as your helpful evangelist! We have already started a Twitter account for Our Saviour’s. You can check it out here! Pastor Mark uses twitter (@mborgetti) as well. Jean Jepson is going to be the name behind the Our Saviour’s twitter account. She and I have talked a lot about this and she totally sees the benefits of getting the congregation on Twitter! Let me briefly explain the possibilities.

If a congregation member signs up for their own Twitter account, they have the ability to link it to their cell phone. Once they “follow” Our Saviour’s Twitter account, they will have the option to get “device updates” from @oslc on their phone via text message. This will keep them up-to-date with happenings here at church no matter where they are! In the same way I get a morning snow/powder report for the ski slopes in Winter Park, CO on my phone… they can get their Connections News right on their phones! How awesome is that?!?!

In my online adventures following other church leaders’ blogs, I’ve come across some seriously inspiring posts. My blog is where I’ll randomly share them with you. I would encourage you all to subscribe to my blog via the orange RSS logo in the top right of the page. When you click on it, the following page will allow you to subscribe via email so that you’ll receive an email each time I create a new post. Since I’m guessing that many of you don’t use a RSS reader such as Google Reader, subscribing via email is probably your best bet. (I’ve already done this for Lynn) It’s pretty simple. You all should be able to figure it out! (If you really can’t figure it out… email me and I’ll set it up for you). Make sure that you click the verification link in the email that you will receive from “Feedburner”.

So why am I telling you this? Well two reasons… so that I can have more people reading what I’m writing, but really so that I can easily share what I’m thinking and reading with all of you. If you ever visit my actual blog online, you’ll notice that there are different categories.

• Check These Out – is really just a listing of other blog posts that I’ve come across that have had an impact on me. Most of them are posts from other church leaders that you will likely find interesting as well. There are some seriously talented leaders out there that we can all learn from. I’d like you all to keep an open mind when you read these posts.
• Food For Thought – is the category where I’ll write about things that have a little bit of a deeper meaning. This is where I’ll write what’s on my mind. The posts are usually inspired by a topic covered here at church or by something that is going on in my life right now that I’m able to sink a little deeper into.
• Now That’s Worth Repeating – is where I’ll usually post quotes that I’ve found that I think are quite profound. (I just rhymed found with profound, I didn’t want you to miss that…) It’s a pretty straightforward category.
• OSLC – is filled with just about every post I create that involves Our Saviour’s… and since you all work here to some capacity… this one will likely interest you for obvious reasons.
• Personal Life – … the title speaks for itself. This is where I’ll talk about things that are happening in my life. Really this is the point of the blog in general but here I’ll separate happenings from church and all that is “not work” in my life. For example… I’ll talk about my vacations or moving or whatever.
• Reviews – is where I’ll write my own version of a review or reviews for a book I’m reading, movie I saw, song I heard… you get the idea.
• Technology – is here because… well… I’m the Tech Director. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t highlight technology!

This has quickly become my passion. I see how social media can benefit the Our Saviour’s community greatly and I want to jump on board. Oh and guess what?!?! Our own Jeanne Grevlos is in the process of starting her own blog! She hasn’t written her first post yet but make sure you stay tuned! There will be updates to it soon. You can subscribe to her blog in the same way that you subscribed to mine. You’re all smart people… visit her blog… you’ll figure it out!

Thank you all for reading through this lengthy email [blog]. I know that this might not be everyone’s passion. But it is clearly something that we all need to be mindful of. If you are interested in talking with me further on this subject, don’t hesitate to stop by my office. I’ve got a comfy couch!