Blog Archives - Page 12 of 23

Increasingly, your website is becoming a home base for your broadcast ministry. You didn’t get into this ministry to become a techie, and the idea of getting your site up to snuff may seem like a daunting task from both a time and financial perspective. The good news is, you don’t have to spend like a media mogul or dedicate an entire multimedia team to ensure a welcoming presence that connects your visitors to the what they need to go deeper with your ministry and your Maker.

Here are 5 “must haves” for your ministry’s website – none of which will break the bank (or your spirit).

“Listen Live” buttons, links and banners

For most of you, your live audio content is the most important part of your ministry. If that’s the case, then listening to the livestream of your broadcast should be your primary call to action. We recommend having a live stream button in the header as well as multiple links and graphics highlighting your livestream placed throughout your website. For our teaching ministry friends, the lesson is similar – get them linked into a podcast of your audio and keep them coming back for more.

Donate Button

For those of you that are charitable stations / ministries, another primary call to action on your website is to donate. It also is a primary reason people will come to your site, so make it easy for them! Again, in the header, as a main menu item and as appropriate on other pages of your website are all good practices. Ensure your donation experience takes as few clicks as possible.

Install a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate on your site

While this sounds technical (and it is!) it is easy, inexpensive and important! You know a site has an SSL Certificate when you see the little “Lock” up in the address bar of a website. In the past, it was only important to have this function on pages where collecting personal information, processing donations/sales, etc. However, now many web browsers and popular search engines will make your site hard to reach if you are found without SSL in place. The good news is, a call to your hosting company and a small fee will put you on good footing.

Optimized for Mobile

Optimizing your site for mobile earlier may have seemed like a luxury, but the story has quickly changed. Today over half of all website traffic is consumed via mobile devices. If your site is not mobile responsive, then it’s time for an upgrade. The good news is, these days most website templates have mobile responsiveness built in. Review your site on several types of mobile devices to ensure you are giving your audience a quality experience.

Clear presentation of the Gospel

We are blessed by Grace with a saving Faith. We are further humbled to participate in His story of transcendent Love by pointing others toward Him. People come to your website for a variety of reasons and through a variety of methods. If someone comes to your site seeking answers, make it clear and easy for them to learn about the Ultimate Answer.

If you would like help implementing any of these ideas, or an App or and Alexa Skill – or to receive a free 10-point Website Inspection, please contact us today.

If you want creative air talent, master this one-word coaching style.

The coaching style is “Encouragement.”

Your air talent is not a technician or engineer whose job is to analyze problems, write code, or tighten screws.

Air talents are artists. They create—with words. They make people feel something.

Consider this: Artists do not create better art because they were criticized or scolded. In fact, criticism shuts down the artist’s creativity.

Artists must have courage and release parts of themselves into a nasty world just waiting to criticize and reject.

You, as talent coach must help them be brave, shield them from inappropriate criticism, and be a friendly, but truth-telling, filter that they can trust. You are the one who will protect them from doing something that just doesn’t connect.

This means the coach must be an artist, too, one who honors the truth of these words from Paul Tournier, Swiss psychologist:

In all fields, even those of culture and art, other people’s judgment exercises a paralyzing effect.  Fear of criticism kills spontaneity; it prevents men from showing themselves and expressing themselves freely, as they are . . . Much courage is needed to paint a picture, to write a book, to erect a building designed along new architectural lines, or to formulate an independent opinion or original idea.

And finally, Francis Ford Coppola on the biggest barrier to being such an artist:

Self-confidence always. The artist always battles his own/her own feeling of inadequacy.

Be the artist for the artist.

And see creativity blossom.

NOTE: Our Talent Coaches believe in this one-word style. Learn more about them on Our Team page.

See Part 1 HERE

FIRST THINGS FIRST

First … the bad news. Being on top can beat you up mentally, physically, and spiritually. You may see a straight path before you, but it’s fraught with pitfalls and landmines. Christian Broadcast Ministry leadership is tough. In part one LINK HERE of this series, we prepped for leadership spiritually by checking sin at the door. Now it’s time for the “Gird Your Loins” portion of our discussion. The Bible uses that odd phrase here:

“Therefore prepare yourself [gird your loins] and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.”
Jeremiah 1:17-19 New King James Version (NKJV)

Jeremiah had a very tough message to deliver. He was charged with telling sinful people to surrender and live among their enemies. It was about speaking the truth in love. As we put on the Armor of God every day, the thing that we gird our very loins with is the Belt of Truth.

Why? So that we may withstand.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth …”
Ephesians 6:13-14 English Standard Version (ESV)

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: ROD AND STAFF – LEARN TO USE THEM

As a leader, people look to you for guidance. Your tools for guidance are the rod and staff. The rod and the staff are meant to “comfort” the sheep, not beat them. Yes, the staff of a strong leader is a comfort. Sheep are able to relax when they know what their boundaries are.

Rods are a bit different. Shepherds use rods as weapons of defense or as a walking stick, but they also use it to whack disobedient sheep on the head. The Hebrew word shebet, or rod, is actually more like a club. When Solomon wrote Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him”, he was not sharing an easy message. So as a leader, you must be a guardian of the truth, stickler for submission to authority (as was God), and prayerfully seeking the way for your broadcast ministry, so that you don’t let flock go astray.

The rod, staff and prayer are your mandatory tools. As you course-correct and discipline, prayerfully be sure that your agenda is not your own but something that the Lord would have your ministry pursue. Not easy, by the way.

STEPPING INTO THE HARD STUFF

As a leader, people will try to undermine you.

With that said, if your authority is well-established, the staff will perceive and understand your role. If your authoritative role is undefined, he might not think that he has to heed your correction. And what’s the best way to establish your role if you’re a new leader? Same way Jesus did … in love. He declared his authority over and over, but he did it in love.

When correction time came, he always gave a warning. He also offered to reason through the problem. Isaiah said, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

This is challenging talk. But being a leader is challenging! Let us know if we can come along side at any time. Contact us HERE.

Guest Blog by Dr. Paul Virts, Advocace

There is little doubt about Christian radio listeners’ passion for their favorite radio stations and programs. In Finney Media’s recent nationwide study of all major Christian radio station formats as well as individual talk and teaching programs (Why Listen 2018, Finney Media), listeners gave their stations and programs a Net Promoter Score of +73 (on a scale of -100 to +100). That’s well ahead of other well-known “brands” such as Samsung (+67), Apple (+47) and Amazon (+25).

The major challenge for noncommercial radio programs and talk/teaching programs is how to translate listening passion into donor passion. One way to measure donor passion is determine by how frequently they give to their favorite station or program.

In the Why Listen 2018 study, donors were asked how frequently in the last two years they had donated to the station or program that sent them the survey. The data for all listeners is summarized in the chart below.

One can make the case that the more frequently one gives to a broadcast ministry the deeper is her or his passion for the ministry. It’s clear from this data that donor passion isn’t as strong as listening passion.

For a fuller discussion of this finding as well as recommendations on how to increase donation frequency, read “How can you get your donors more excited about your ministry?”

Read Part 1 of this series.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

First … the bad news. Being on top can beat you up mentally, physically, and spiritually. You may see a straight path before you, but it’s fraught with pitfalls and landmines. Christian Broadcast Ministry leadership is tough. In part one of this series, we prepped for leadership spiritually by checking sin at the door. Now it’s time for the “Gird Your Loins” portion of our discussion. The Bible uses that odd phrase here:

Why? So that we may withstand.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: ROD AND STAFF – LEARN TO USE THEM

STEPPING INTO THE HARD STUFF

As a leader, people will try to undermine you.

This is challenging talk. But being a leader is challenging! Let us know if we can come along side at any time. Contact us.

The Finney Media Why Listen?® national survey of Christian radio listeners took place in the spring of 2018, with 26,800 respondents filling in a survey. Once the results were compiled and tabulated, with results sent to participating stations and programs, we led numerous conversations and group presentations. Within these conversations and after presentations, we’ve received questions asking for clarification or additional reflection.

In this blog, we’ll cover several of those questions. The full presentation that today’s questions came from can be found HERE/Momentum PowerPoint. The chart that captures the key point in this presentation is this (scatter) chart.

The upper right shows media groups that received high Findex™ scores, showing high listener heart connection, and observationally a large audience.

Question: How important is imaging for stations with a high Findex? Or put another way, what part does imaging play in developing a heart connective relationship?

Answer: Within Why Listen, we see that providing spiritual encouragement is the key summation of how to best engage with your listener. This is true around the clock, and with every type of content. Imaging all by itself can’t do a complete job, but it should, indeed, reflect the spiritual encouragement that is found within the total station sound. It is part of the station, part of what draws a listener in.

Question: Is having fun part of creating a relational connection on a station? Do games qualify?

Answer:Yes, to both. Humor is part of life, and is certainly part of engagement. But a caution sign needs to be hung here. Humor can be a very personal thing, so assess what you are doing and run it by different types of folks. It’s crucial that humor for Christian radio stations not be funny at someone’s expense. The second part of the caution sign is this: Don’t overdo it. This is part of life, but listeners who want a lot of comedy will tune in to a comedy program.

Question: How do highly successful stations make the spiritual accessible?

Answer:This is one of the programming areas that Finney Media specializes in. For starters, how about using accessible language? Everyday language? Talk like you talk to your friends about spiritual matters. Stay away from cliché words. Say what you mean so that if I’m not in the inner circle, I’ll get it. Tone is important here, of course. And vulnerability is the glue.

If you need more help with any of these areas, contact us today!

Superheroes are all the rage right now. Marvel Studios keeps cranking out blockbuster movies like they’re on a factory assembly line, and Warner Bros. appears to be running to follow suit. All of this provides excitement for moviegoing fans, many of whom dress up as their favorite superhero for the premiers.

It’s fun to think about a world where we have superpowers. It would be amazing to be born with or acquire the ability to fly, run extremely fast, super-punch, or manipulate objects from across the room. And the truth is that God could have given those things to us. After all, He is God.

In reality—if you think about it—God has given us superpowers, though in a different way. Each and every person on the planet is born with a special set of gifts or strengths—things that he or she is better at than the majority of other people in any given group. It could be a knack for leading people, understanding others’ feelings, coming up with good ideas, organizing details, or a myriad of other things.

Consider this. To be an effective leader, it’s important to recognize your team’s strengths and utilize them accordingly. After all, you wouldn’t send Black Widow to break down a wall, would you? The Hulk would be much more efficient. And you wouldn’t ask Captain America or Thor to develop a software program, right? Iron Man or Bruce Banner would be the obvious choice.

While your job may not involve saving the world from alien invasions, the stakes are high. You’re on a mission to bring individuals to Jesus. People’s eternities are on the line. And God has given you a team with special abilities with which to touch lives.

At Finney Media we are fans of the measurement of these special abilities with CliftonStrengths (formerly Strengthsfinder). It measures the top five strengths of an individual to give you a pinpoint focus on what he or she is best at. You can get a detailed explanation of each strength as well as categories of strengths that are best used for different situations in the workplace.

Whether or not you use this kind of instrument, it’s important for you to know your team members’ strengths. Take time to get to know them. Watch to see where they excel.

A team is only effective if it works together, and it needs good leadership to make that happen. Use the superheroes that God has given you to make the biggest possible impact in the spiritual war we’re in.

NOTE: If you are interested in further discussion on your team strengths, please contact us!

Finney Media hosts Why Listen? Survey webinar September 25th at Noon Central zeroing in on changes since the 2016 Why Listen? survey. Register HERE.

Between 2016 and 2018, listeners to your station grew older, had family situations change and were impacted by the culture and the world around them. That’s what we found when we tabulated the 26,800 responses from the most recent Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey.

As an example, across the three formats surveyed, the percentages of respondents with children under 18 living in their home declined dramatically.

Does this factor into the dropfound in respondents who indicated as a Main Reason to listen “it’s safe for me and my family to listen to”?

And, what remained the same—reasons that you can count on? Across formats, high on this list was “I want to grow spiritually.”

There’s much much more to review. To do that you’ll need to sign up for Tuesday’s webinar. Even if you can’t be there live, you’ll need to register to get the materials we’ll present.

For our challenging times, you’ll want to better understand the moving parts.

Join Finney Media President Chuck Finney as he outlines the changes we see in Christian radio listeners since the 2016 Why Listen survey. With the 2018 survey now history, we can trace our listener’s feedback changes—dramatic changes in the past two years.

Register HERE. It’s $59 for the first 75 webinar registrants, so register today and join us Tuesday, September 25th at Noon central.

Whether you are just now entering leadership or are a veteran, boot camp helps. Boot camp, basic training, is designed to toughen those who will eventually be assigned a station in the military. Whether you’re going to crunch numbers or lead with your on-air presence, basic training is recommended.

Military.com suggests that all those entering boot camp prepare themselves mentally and physically. This translates well into our world of ministry. If you step into leadership, you are going to be followed. Your every move is scrutinized, analyzed, measured up and likely criticized. The same people who pay you lip service may give you lip on the way out. People you trust will falter. Theymight even abandon you. So how to prepare?

STEP ONE: FOCUS

Be strong in the Lord. Prayed up. In the Word. That’s step one. You can’t make a move without God. The Bible says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps”[Proverbs 16:9] and “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes”[Proverbs 16:9]. You can be a strong person, but when it comes to the Lord, you must be pliable, attentive, and in constant contact. “Take heed if you stand lest you fall”[1^stCorinthians 10:12].

STEP TWO: CHECK YOUR SIN AT THE DOOR

When you enter basic training, the military requires that you leave the following at home: family, pets, expensive personal items, non-prescription drugs or drug paraphernalia, weapons, obscene or pornographic material, alcoholic beverages, gambling materials and tobacco products. That’s great advice! As Christians, we need to take it one step further. Check your sin at the door! As a leader, if you’re harboring sin that hasn’t been dealt with, the entire organization will have to deal with it. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”[Galatians 5:9]. A clear description might be two drops of tobasco sauce in a glass of milk. It ruins the entire drink. Unchecked sin affects you, your family and your organization.

STEP THREE: LEARN PERSON-TO-PERSON COMMUNICATION

The majority of our communication is done in the digital realm. But as a leader, you’re going to have to communicate in the physical, face-to-face. That means learning to say the hard things. Learning to read people. Learning what it means to give an in-person presentation.

CONCLUSION

The apostle Paul lacked some personal communication skills, and yet he became an amazing, God-inspired writer, teacher and leader. Moses had difficulty communicating, and yet he was able to stand up to Pharaoh. David’s sin with Bathsheba cost not one, but two lives. Yet God called David, His chosen king “…a man after His own heart”[Acts 13:22]. David was the least of his brothers and yet he was chosen for the throne.

God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things, but He doesn’t do it without putting us through boot camp. If you want to be used, if you want to lead, prepare yourself thoroughly. Rest assured, it’ll be a journey you’ll never forget.

It’s happened to all of us: you’re in the car, at the grocery store, or just about to fall asleep at night when a flash of inspiration hits you. It’s the best idea you’ve ever had, and you’re giddy with your own brilliance.

But then, by the time you get out of the car, bring the groceries home, or wake up in the morning, the idea is gone and you can’t bring it back! It’s almost as if it never occurred at all.

While some people generate ideas like popcorn, the muse hits others only once in a blue moon. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, if you’re producing content for a living, you need a way to record these ideas and organize them in a way that will allow you to easily find them later—before they disappear!

Bottom line: If you’re struggling with a sticky note infestation and need a new idea tracking method, here are some ideas for you to consider.

When it comes to recording your ideas, you have two basic options: paper or electronic. If you prefer paper, a good option is to carry a small notepad and pen around with you—small enough to fit in your pocket or purse. Also keep a pen and paper close to your bed, since ideas tend to strike when we’re relaxed and trying to fall asleep.

Electronic note-taking can let you streamline the organizational process. Evernote and OneNote both provide desktop and phone apps so your notes show up across your devices. In the age when most of us have our phones essentially glued to our hands, this can eliminate the extra weight or bulk of pen and paper. Phone apps like Speechnotes or iSpeech will even save you the time it takes to type your idea out. Just speak into the app, and it will convert it to text for you. Be careful with this in public places though—if it’s a really innovative idea, you may not want someone to overhear it!

Once you’ve established your preferred method of recording your ideas, it’s important to find a way to organize them. After all, the whole point of recording the idea in the first place is so you can find it again later. Without organizing, it will be more difficult—and in some cases impossible—to find that one idea when you want it.

For paper notes, designate a place for them to go. A box or file of some kind will cost you the least amount of extra organizational time. You’ll be able to simply tear the note out of your notepad and put it directly into the file. For a little more structure, try a 3-ring binder. Transfer your idea to a larger sheet of paper and then add it to the binder. This will let you organize your ideas by type, date, feasibility, or any other way you want. You can even add section tabs to let you easily search through them later.

Another option is to scan or type your written notes into the computer. Using a scanner or phone to capture an image of your note will give you an electronic file that takes up no physical space. You can also title the idea in a way that will let you easily find it later through the computer’s search function.

Typing your note into the computer using something like Word or Google docs will let you type additional “tags” in the document that will help you search for it later. For example, if you own an ice cream shop and have an idea for bubble-gum-flavored ice cream cones, you might add a line of words like “upgrade,” “add-on,” “invention,” and “expansion.” That way, when you’re ready to tackle an upgrade in your ice cream shop but can’t remember what your idea was, you’ll be able to search for “upgrade” on your computer and it will pull up that document in the results.

Another way to organize electronically is with a spreadsheet. You can have all of your ideas in one workbook, separated into different worksheets according to type. Or you can have them all on one worksheet, but with a column describing the type of idea—“business,” “personal,” “travel,” etc. Then you can sort them however you want. Add a column with tag words to let you easily search when the list gets long.

Evernote, OneNote, and other similar applications will let you organize in the same instant you record your idea. From your phone or computer, you can group ideas together, add tag words, and put text, audio, and pictures in the same file to remember what inspired you in the first place.

Whatever your preference is, paper or electronic, simple or structured, find a way to record and organize your ideas that works for you. Most of us have had a brilliant idea—but couldn’t try it because we just couldn’t find it again! Choose your method and start it today. And if it’s simply a box or file that you toss your ideas into, then that’s the right choice for you. At least they’ll all be in one place when you need them!

Your Website, Your Home Base: 5 Must Haves

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