Beta
It’s no secret that I’m a Google fanboy. I follow them around like a puppy. I even listen to a show called This Week In Google on the TWiT network–yeah, I’m that geeky. And while listening to TWiG and using Google products, I have discovered a concept called “Beta”.
For those out there a little less geeky, Beta is a stage of project development (usually software) where the design team is comfortable enough with what they have so far that they open it up for testing to regular people–the key words there being so far. The development team understands that the product is not yet finished, and it still has bugs to work out. And the people testing the product understand this as well. This Beta testing is what helps the developers perfect the product for mainstream release.
Microsoft has released the greatest OS they have ever made in Windows 7, and much of that has to do with the Beta testing they did for more than a year before releasing the final product (especially after such a miserable excuse for an OS that Vista was…). Google understands this as well, and many of their products take years to lose the Beta tag. That’s because they are continuously improving their products. It’s a work-in-progress.
All that said, I read a fantastic blog post from Tony Morgan this morning challenging churches to understand this concept and to put it into practice. Hit the link, because it’s a fantastic read for church leaders. And I have to say, I am challenged, excited, and scared stupid at the thought of functioning like this.
Everyone that knows me knows that I despise most traditions–especially those in the church. I say bring on the change and innovation! The part in this that scares me though is launching a new project that isn’t fully fleshed out yet, because one thing I despise more than stupid traditions is lack of excellence. I strongly believe if you’re going to do something, do it well. And that’s a good habit to be in.
But I’ll be the first to admit that it’s holding me back. Trying to do new things in my Youth Ministry or in my church without feeling that it’s perfect goes against everything I believe, so I am slow to act on new things. But I am beginning to understand the truth of the Beta concept: it doesn’t have to be perfect to get it started. And of course the second part of the Beta concept is that you continuously change, tweak, and move things around until it’s just right (of course by the time you have it right, it’s time to change it up again… but that’s another blog post entirely…).
So I consider myself challenged today to not let the pursuit of perfection hold me back from testing new ideas and projects in my ministry, which is also an exercise in listening to the Holy Spirit. Oh boy, here we go…
“What Would Google Do,” Part 3
So we’ve been discussing the 5 demands of the Link Economy, according to Jeff Jarvis’s book, What Would Google Do. The first demand was “First, you must produce unique content with clear value; commodity content will get you no links or Googlejuice.”
The second demand of the Link Economy is “you must open up so Google and the world can find your content. (If you’re not searchable, you won’t be found.)”
In my last post, I already discussed the importance of Googlejuice and the importance of creating content that isn’t simply a commodity. But now that quality content is created, what do we do now?
First, I realize that Jarvis is mostly blasting journalist and media companies such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for putting their content behind a pay wall. If you prevent Google from indexing your content, they won’t send traffic your way (should Google be paid a commission for that service?).
But, this principle applies to churches and non-profits the same way. Consider this: the church’s entire paradigm hinges on constant content production. Every Sunday, the Pastor gives us a sermon, the Praise Team gives us music to worship by, Sunday School teachers… well you get the idea. We are constantly producing something. It’s stupid (and further, I believe it’s pure ignorant) not to share this content, especially when that’s the whole mission of the church!
But unless you digitize the content in a form that can be easily consumed (i.e. put it on the internet), all of that quality content is going to waste. Open it up! Put it on the internet! It’s not that difficult! In fact, the technology that we have today is making it easier and cheaper than ever to share our content all over the world. But unless we open up–put it on the net–Google will never index it and send us traffic.
The church’s entire mission is to share the Gospel. People are searching the internet everyday for that Gospel (even if they don’t know it). Churches complain when our attendance is off. But people are actively trying to get into our church–just through a different door. Open those doors up! Put it out there. People will find it! It may not be by the buss-load, but it will be found.
The third demand of the Link Economy is “when you get links and audience, it is up to you to exploit them, usually through advertising.” That one is going to be fun!
“What Would Google Do,” Part 2
It’s taken me forever to get back to this! There’s never enough time in the day…
So, in my last article, I quoted from What Would Google Do by Jeff Jarvis the Five Demands of the Link Economy. And I would like to go through each of those and how the church can possibly learn from them.
The first demand is “First, you must produce unique content with clear value; commodity content will get you no links or Googlejuice.”
Before we discuss how the church can learn from this demand, it’s important to understand what Googlejuice is, and what Jarvis means by commodity content. When someone says they’re going to “google” something, that means they’re going to go to Google.com and search for it. Googlejuice is basically where you, your company, or your brand, shows up in those results. If you have good Googlejuice, you’ll show up on the first page of search results, or maybe even the top 5.
The importance of Googlejuice is sometimes overlooked by non-profit organizations–especially those like the church who spend so much time, energy, and sometimes money (We pay more than $300/month for our AT&T Yellow Page ad) on marketing. The craziest part is that in monetary terms, Googlejuice doesn’t cost a thing! My generation and younger (30 and below) doesn’t look in the phonebook for a church. They google it. And if you can’t be found by Google, you might as well not exist. But to get Googlejuice, an organization or website must produce quality content. Quality content is linked to and shared. And that’s what gets you a decent search return at Google (or Bing, or Yahoo!). That’s Googlejuice.
Commodity Content is a little more icky. I say that because this concept can really hit the church right between the eyes. A commodity is basically a product (not a service) used by consumers. But as Jarvis uses the word, a commodity basically equates to mass production–a redundancy of the same thing, if you will. Content creation and consumption on the internet these days is pretty cheap. And that means there is so much, that it takes quality to really stand out. But, the reason this is icky for the church is because so much of what we do is the same thing: cookie cutter Christmas pageants, the same worship songs (or the fact that there’s no original worship songs in most churches), the same ole presentation. We bring a message of life that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But the lackluster way we go about it has become dull and crusty–a commodity.
If the church (or, perhaps more specifically, a church) wants better Googlejuice, we must focus on quality. Gone are the days for overlooking the church’s online presence. Gone are the days of “cattle-call choirs” (if you don’t know what that is, consider yourself lucky). Gone are the days where hand-written signs on the church door is acceptable (yeah, that may be a little specific, but I hate those…).
We serve a God who will be returning for His bride very soon–and we are getting lost in all the rest of the noise. It’s time to step-up our game. It’s time to focus on quality instead of quantity. It’s time to allow the talents God has given us to truly shine so that He may get the glory for it. It’s time to create something of value.
Man, I’ve really got to step-up my own stuff if I plan to meet the standard I just called for…
The Second Demand of the Link Economy is “you must open up so Google and the world can find your content.”
Stay tuned…
“What Would Google Do?”
I’ve been reading on the Kindle recently a book entitled What Would Google Do, by Jeff Jarvis (http://www.buzzmachine.com-warning, he is not a Christian, so don’t expect his blog to be Godly). In it, Jeff explains how Google has changed the world. More accurately, he explains how thinking like Google is the key to the future for any business or organization. And I have to say, his reasoning is blowing my mind! And it’s got me wondering, what if the church could wrap our brains around these concepts?
About half-way through the book, Jeff explains to us how “the content economy made money by controlling and selling content. In the link economy, it no longer pays to sell copies of content when the original is just a link and a click away.” He further explains that this “link economy” makes five demands. In the next few posts, I would like to consider these demands, how they can be applied to the church and its mission, and get some conversation going around them (mostly because I know that I’m not smart enough to figure all this out on my own).
In the next post, the first demand: ”First, you must produce unique content with clear value; commodity content will get you no links or Googlejuice.”
Stay tuned…
Why Sunday Nights, Part 3
This is the 3rd part in a series. If you missed the first two, here is the first, and here is the second.
Well, this has been fun! I have to say I’ve learned much in the past few days while composing this article and arguing my point.
I must apologize to those who I promised to have this out sooner. I’ve had to take a step back and get some council–mostly because I intended this post to actually use my church as an example. But it occurred to me that I may want to discuss this with my Pastor, my boss, and my wise council, before I do that. After discussing it with him, we decided that I should tread very softly, because these posts do not necessarily represent the opinions of those of The Rock Church.
So this is me treading softly. If my Pastor takes any issues with my statements, they may be removed. Just so you know.
Our church does not have Sunday Night Services. As I mentioned in the previous post, the morning/evening service model simply does not work for us. That’s not to say that there aren’t some in our church that would love to have it. But after much deliberation, polling, and prayer, the leadership decided that Sunday Nights weren’t going to be part of our regular service line-up.
Now, there are many who may ask, “Why doesn’t it work? Aren’t your people hungry for God?”
And that’s not easy to answer. Again, as formerly stated, our members’ devotion to Christ can’t be measured by their attendance and participation. Our membership consists of Chief Financial Officers, small business owners, firm-partners, single-mothers, and the homeless (I had intended to be more specific, but it was decided that was a little invasive). For most of our families, there is no stay-at-home-mom/dad in the mix. The kids are extremely involved in school and other civic activities, such as band, gymnastics, and football (you can’t forget football in Valdosta…). With both parents getting home at 5, 6, or even 7 p.m., and many of the kids not getting home till then or later, getting homework done, baths taken, room cleaned, and other household responsibilities, cramming church in there is difficult at best. So not just Sunday nights, but Wednesday nights (or any other night of the week for that matter) are suffering. And there is no one to blame for it. It’s simply a fact.
Furthermore, they found (this was before I arrived) that many (certainly not all) of the folks that attended Sunday nights were those that were committed enough to come, and even be able to worship and receive the Word. But when they were asked to be honest, they expressed that they would prefer to be at home, trying to squeeze in a few moments with their families, since they really don’t have any relaxing time to spend with family during the week. Again, I find that understandable. And it is a symptom of the society that we have created.
So, it should be underscored that the decision not to have Sunday Nights, though one that I would have supported, were made before I got here.
Ultimately, here is my gripe: churches that hang on to things that don’t work. Can we please get rid of dumb traditions, mindsets, and goals, that in no way are prescribed in the Bible. There should be–and this is important–an effort made by the church to find new ways to minister to its people, and to bring them together for the glory of God (let’s not forget that the other mission of the church, besides ministering to people, is to glorify God). I suggest home groups. If we can’t get the people to the church, let’s bring the church to them!
Lastly, while discussing this with my Pastor, he said something that struck me between the eyes (which he often does–the guy has incredible wisdom). If people (not necessarily our church, but in general) are truly on fire for God, burning with a passion for His presence and and outpouring of His Spirit, then Sunday Mornings simply won’t be enough for them.
I’ll leave you with that.