If you did not get enough free Photoshop brushes from last week’s post about PS Brushes, then check out Brusheezy. Although they currently have fewer sets than PS Brushes, they make up for it with quite a few quality sets.

[via Lifehacker]

Informitv reports that Ofcom, regulator for the UK communications industries, anticipates that “linear television viewing may fall by up to 30% over the next five years as a result of video-on-demand and similar services.”

If the marketplace does evolve to accommodate consumers’ love for on-demand services, the big question for the church will be how to create a “demand” for church programming among the people who would typically not want it but need it the most. Perhaps this can be best achieved by churches by creating more engaging experiences such as the Internet campuses of LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) and Seacoast Church (Mount Pleasant, SC).

[via PSFK]

Ellison Research recently discovered that four out of ten pastors lack strong interest in increasing community outreach. At the same time, Ellison Research also learned what the 811 ministers who were surveyed are using to reach their communities.

In the last year,

• 70% use Vacation Bible School
• 59% use tracts or magazines
• 56% use events such as block parties or a Fall Festival
• 51% use musical events or concerts
• 50% use mailings or fliers
• 49% use nursing home or retirement center visits
• 42% use “invite a friend to church” days
• 40% use revivals or crusades
• 38% use evangelism training classes or groups
• 37% use door-to-door visitation within the community
• 31% use community service such as cleanup days
• 27% use online efforts such as blogs or web sites
• 26% use audio or visual products such as tapes or DVDs
• 20% use booths at community events such as the county fair

While some ministers may not be interested in increasing community outreach because they lack the resources to do so, it is still surprising that 40% of the ministers surveyed lack a strong interest.

A recent telephone survey by Vertis Communications learned that women prefer direct mail to email ads.

Among Women Ages 25-44

• 85% read printed direct mail marketing pieces.
• 53% of those who have access to email read email advertisements.

Other Findings

• 56% of women ages 25-34 and 52% of men the same age said e-mail is an acceptable form of follow-up communication.
• 54% of Hispanics responded to direct mail last year.
• 50%+ of the women surveyed indicated they are responsive to companies that send follow-up communication that is personalized to their needs.
• 45% of adults surveyed like receiving personalized follow-up emails.
• 38% of men ages 34-49 prefer generic direct mail when contacted by a company in which they have expressed interest.
• 23% of men ages 18-24 preferred text messaging for follow-up communication, compared with only 5% of women the same age.

Ultimately, a person’s communication preferences depend on his age and culture, but as the study shows, direct mail is still an effective means for your church to reach most women.

[via Chief Marketer]

Journalist Leah McLaren defines “alternaparenting” as:

Alternaparenting, it seems, is all about putting your kid in the right T-shirt. And not cutting you kid’s hair (because Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson didn’t). And furnishing the baby’s room with a rocking Eames chair (even though it’s uncomfortable). Other than that, though, it sounds pretty much the same as regular parenting. But don’t tell that to an alternaparent.

Alternaparents think that they’re the first generation who decided to maintain their identities after giving birth. They think getting their kids to rock out to the Hives is revolutionary. Except they’re forgetting something. The generation before them did the same thing. Except it wasn’t the Hives, it was the Beatles.

As blogger Dino Demopoulos points out, “alternaparents” are pretty much the same thing as Grups. Yes, alternaparents do exist, and they are just another subculture that needs reached by the church.

United Van Lines conducted a migration study in 2006 and discovered that Americans are leaving the central northeast and heading west and southeast.

Top Growing States (percentage of moves coming inbound)

1. 64.0% – North Carolina
2. 62.5% – Oregon
3. 60.6% – South Carolina
4. 59.9% – Nevada
5. 59.3% – Idaho
6. 57.9% – New Mexico
7. 57.9% – Washington, D.C.

Top Shrinking States (percentage of moves going outbound)

1. 66.0% – Michigan
2. 66.0% – North Dakota
3. 60.9% – New Jersey
4. 59.5% – New York
5. 58.2% – Indiana
6. 57.0% – Pennsylvania
7. 56.4% – Louisiana

If your church reaches a community that is undergoing a major migration, inbound or outbound, be sure to consider how it will affect your church and the community. Will community demographics drastically change? What about culture? How will a migration affect the economy of your community?

Migrations are change agents. And change requires your church to reevaluate its relevance.

[via Yahoo!]

99% of the time, in my experience, the hard part about creativity isn’t coming up with something no one has ever thought of before. The hard part is actually executing the thing you’ve thought of.
- Seth Godin

Before your church can be considered creative, innovative, or even successful, you must first learn to be a doer. A great idea is worthless without the means to fulfill it.

Early this month, Outreach magazine released its list of The 25 Most Innovative Churches in America. However, because judging innovation is subjective, quite a few ministers have disagreed with the list.

But now you have a chance to let your opinion be heard. Church Marketing Sucks has recreated the list on a Squidoo page and empowered you to add to the list and even vote on which churches you think are innovative.