Let's face it, creative communication is important. An engagingly communicated story or announcement is exponentially more effective than simply a talking head. However, it is easy to become overwhelmed when thinking about how to communicate a message in a creative way, especially if this means using video.

Fortunately there are some great resources for developing video editing skills and wonderful tools for creating engaging videos on a shoestring budget.

Dave Hartland in his article, How To Do Video On A Budget shares some great insights and links to valuable resources for helping churches make quality videos. Whether you have just begun to dabble in videography or your have felt too afraid or constrained by finances to even begin, this is a fantastic article to read.

Check it out!

Email in-boxes can be places of complete chaos. They get filled with both important information and junk and as a result sometimes important emails fail to get opened. While we'd like to think that our regular "Practical Tips For Busy Pastors" email always makes the cut and gets opened, we understand that you have a lot going on and so that probably doesn't always happen.

However, if you take the time to read it you will find links to some very important, timely and helpful content as you can see from the image below. So, if you happened to skip over this week's email, go back and take a look. There are some fantastic articles that will help you and your ministry.

If you don't already receive the email visit our homepage and subscribe via the box in the lower left corner.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if good ideas were easy to come by?

If good ideas grew on trees and we could just pick the one we wanted...

That sure would make life easier.

However, if you have ever been in search of a good idea you know just how difficult it can be at times to find the right one. Phil Cooke, author, speaker and media producer has a great short video that provides some simple brainstorming tips for generating and filtering ideas. Check it out! Perhaps the ideas shared will inspire and spark the next great idea in you

Although summer has not even arrived yet, now is the perfect time to begin thinking strategically about your website plans for the fall. What events will need to be promoted? What new pages might need to be added? What content will be outdated and need to be removed? Does this fall look like a great time to totally revamp the website?

It is important to begin asking these questions so that throughout the summer you can be working to make any necessary changes for the fall. All too often we wait until the last minute to make changes that could have been make well in advance. This can lead to poor planning, overlooked details and a shortsighted approach to your online presence. 

Remember, a great website requires a solid strategy and proactive management.

 What does your homepage look like?

There is no doubt about the fact that at times we can feel stuck and without direction when it comes to our websites. The following are a few questions to help spark inspiration and creativity.

1. How can I communicate what our church is all about, in a way that is different and more engaging than the way we have communicated in the past?

2. What do I like about other sites that would add value to our website?

3. What is it about other sites that keeps me going back to them? Can incorporate any of those elements into our church's site?

4. What areas of ministry are often over looked? How can I enhance their presence on the website?

5. What do we have on our website that is confusing and/or repetitive? How can I provide more clarity and simplicity?

6. How can I add more visually pleasing elements to help communicate what our church is all about? 

7. Who in our church is creative and might be able to spark inspiration for the website?

Here's to renewed creativity!

With V6 we're making editing your website even more enjoyable!

Put your events, activities and services on display. Showcase what you've got!

Keep your congregation in the know!

Ready or not, here comes Easter and with it a lot of guests to your church. So in addition to being ready for Easter itself, it's important to be ready to follow up with all of those visitors who walk through the doors of your church this Sunday. In this week's email of practical tips for busy pastors we shared an article by Maurillo Amorim that we encourage you to check out. Maurillo provides a great suggestion for how to get visitors to not only return the next week but hopefully stick around for a while.