Environmental Design for Church (planes and tanks edition)

Environmental design for churches has changed drastically over the last two decades (at least on the fringes). It has become much more than church interior design. It has evolved into creating entire worlds and environments.

For example, when Cornerstone Harvest Church (Lima, OH) recently revamped their Heir Force youth ministry, they hired Little Mountain Productions to develop the environmental design. The result was a youth ministry design that featured a lifesize M-1 Abrams tank and 40 foot wing span plane coming out of the walls.

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

To complement these installations, Little Mountain Productions also added acoustic panel military graphics to the room.

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

In case you are wondering how they did it, here are some production shots.

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

Environmental Design by Little Mountain Productions

OooRah!

Posted: May 29, 2009 at 9:45 am · by Kent Shaffer

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SEO Church Marketing

Recently, I had the opportunity to discuss the future of church websites over a video conference with Cleve Persinger and the team at The Chapel (Libertyville, IL). I spent some time sharing my thoughts on effective SEO church marketing, and Cleve was kind enough to archive the talk for your enjoyment.
[pardon the rocky audio]


To sum it up, optimize your church website content by using the keywords that are most often searched by the people your are called to reach. You can research these keywords with Google AdWords Keyword Tool.

For Discussion:
- What is your church marketing SEO strategy?

Posted: April 21, 2009 at 8:16 am · by Kent Shaffer

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How to Blog 101 - The Ultimate Beginner’s Blogging Tutorial

I regularly get asked questions about how to start and maintain a successful blog. Here is my beginner’s blogging tutorial - How to Blog 101.

#1 :: CHOOSE A BLOGGING PLATFORM
I recommend self-hosting your blog and using WordPress. It the most popular platform among Technorati’s top 100 blogs and among Church Relevance’s top church blogs.

Self-Hosted Blogging Software:

Blogging Services (hosting provided):

#2 :: CHOOSE A DOMAIN (if allowed)
As long as it is relevant, the shorter the domain is the better. A short domain is quick and easy to type, which will save you time in the long run and reduce the probability of you and your visitors mistyping it.

  • Domize - immediately checks a domain’s availability as you type it into the query box
  • DomainsBot - suggests domains based on your search keywords
  • Domain Pigeon - lists available domain names which you can use for your websites
  • MakeWords - generates domain ideas based on your suggestions, linguistics, and semantic databases

#3 :: DESIGN YOUR BLOG
Being a web designer or hiring one is not necessary for having a good looking blog, but it definitely helps. WordPress has thousands of template designs for sale and for free that are not too complicated to implement.

For Inspiration:

For Templates:

#4 :: USE TOOLS
WordPress is a great platform, but there are tools and plugins that can make it even better. I recommend at least using the following tools:

Other Tools:

Tool Lists:

#5 :: HAVE QUALITY CONTENT
An aesthetically well-designed blog may entice visitors to linger for the first visit, but quality content is what will get those visitors to keep coming back. If you need topics, visit these resources:

  • Alltop - an “online magazine rack” of popular topics
  • Delicious - the tastiest bookmarks on the web
  • Digg - discover and share content from anywhere on the web
  • Reddit - users decide the top stories
  • StumbleUpon - discovers web sites based on your interests

#6 :: STUDY BLOGGING
If you want people to read your quality content, study the science of successful blogging and copywriting. Writing for a blog is different than writing for a book or magazine. My advice:

Unless you are blogging for personal reasons, focus on optimizing the reader experience. Offer only quality content. And make it scannable by using short paragraphs, bold text, and bullet points. Use as few words as possible without compromising quality (needless words wasted readers’ time). And if possible, post consistently often.

Blogging Tips:

#7 :: MARKET YOURSELF
With blogging, two of your most powerful marketing opportunities are Search Engine Optimization and leveraging social media. Last year, 48% of ChurchRelevance.com’s traffic came from search engines. You should be using these resources:

WHAT ELSE?
Remember this is just the beginner’s blogging tutorial. But if you read all of these links, you will be on your way to becoming a blogging expert.

If you are already blogging, what would you add to this list?
What are your favorite tools?
What is your best advice?

Posted: February 26, 2009 at 3:11 am · by Kent Shaffer

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The Review :: Viral Twitter, Law-Breaking Names, and Antisocial Gamers

Here is the review of the most interesting links of 2009’s 5th week (my picks).

DESIGN

MARKETING

RESEARCH

THE REVIEW OF 2008
Jan. 28th - How to be a Better Listener in 3 Easy Steps
Jan. 29th - 7 Church Leadership Mistakes to Avoid

THE REVIEW OF 2007
Jan. 26th - Women Prefer Direct Mail More Than Email
Jan. 30th - 4 Things Young Adults Want in a Church
Jan. 31st - 4 Qualities of Successful, Growing Churches

Posted: February 1, 2009 at 1:53 am · by Kent Shaffer

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LifeChurch.tv Tulsa Christmas

For Christmas 2008, LifeChurch.tv’s Tulsa campus wanted to do something special at a low cost. The solution was temporary lights, scaffolding, and trash cans. And it looked like this:

Trash can drumming begins at 3:20.

CREDITS:
Worship Pastor: Derrick Henslee
Lights: Steve Nance & Integrity Lighting (Tulsa, OK)
Video: Bill Aycock

Posted: January 14, 2009 at 12:20 pm · by Kent Shaffer

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Q+A :: Church Copyright Law for Logos

QUESTION:
Q+AAre the logos on your website copyrighted? We are looking for a logo for the church I attend and found one on the site we really like. Is it something we can use?
- Jaime :: Wisconsin

ANSWER
You may absolutely not use the logos highlighted on Church Relevance’s top church logos list. Here is why:

  1. Copyright Law (indicates authorship/creation)
    The logos are copyrighted and using them is illegal. Copyright gives the creator of an original work certain exclusive rights on the usage of the work. Logo designers have federal copyright as soon as the logo is created. The logo does not need a copyright notice or to be registered.
  2. Trademark Law (indicates origin)
    The logos are trademarked at varying degrees and using them is illegal. A trademark gives its owner exclusive rights to a specific name, symbol, logo, or combination of these items.
  3. It misrepresents you.
    Your logo should communicate one or a few unique qualities about your church. Copying another church’s logo is almost certainly like pursuing another church’s unique calling. There is a good chance you would misrepresent yourself or at least not reach your full branding potential.
  4. It misrepresents the other church.
    If you copy another church’s logo, you dilute their brand by associating your church brand with their logo. It also risks confusion, which may, particularly on the Internet, blend the two churches’ true identities or messages.

Ideally, a church should have its own custom logo. Good custom branding can be a powerful thing.

Of course, legally using a high quality premade logo does not mean your church will fail. In fact, I have seen many successful church sub-ministries share a logo. Oneighty (Tulsa, OK) used to franchise their youth ministry brand (e.g., FL, KS, TN, WI).

The key is to have a high quality logo that reflects your brand and is used with consistency throughout your church communications.

As a disclaimer, I am not an expert so please do not take my opinion or any opinions in the comments as legal advice.

For Discussion:
- Did I miss anything?
- What do you think about using another church’s logo?

If you have a question you want Church Relevance to answer, submit it via our Q+A form.

Posted: January 10, 2009 at 12:41 pm · by Kent Shaffer

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Free Church Website Design

This Christmas, faithHighway is giving away a free church website design valued at $3,500. Actually, any nonprofit organization can apply. All you need to do is:

  1. Nominate
    Visit MediaOutreach.com to enter the description and contact information for your favorite nonprofit organization by December 11th.
  2. Wait
    faithHighway will narrow down the nominations to 5 finalists.
  3. Vote
    Vote at MediaOutreach.com for your favorite finalist between December 18th and December 24th.
  4. Listen
    A winner will be announced by the New Year.

It is not every day that you can win a free church website design. Happy nominating! And happy voting!

Posted: December 10, 2008 at 11:45 am · by Kent Shaffer

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20 Creative Wall Resources

If you want to have a creative church environment, consider doing something fun with the walls. Companies like Design Public (USA) and Wallpaper from the 70s (Germany) offer a wide variety of creative wall products. But the scope of resources extends far past these two companies.

To help guide you through it all, here is a toolbox of links to some of the best wallpapers, wall murals, paints, primers, stickers, and wall applications available.

DESIGN YOUR OWN MURAL OR WALLPAPER

RUST-OLEUM PAINT AND PRIMERS

Rust-Oleum’s Creative Products

UNIQUE WALL DECOR

  • Versa TILE by Element Labs (USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong)
    LED panels that create walls of changing color, pattern, and movement.

Of course, there are plenty more resources than these. Are there any that you think should be on the list?

Posted: December 1, 2008 at 2:41 pm · by Kent Shaffer

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