We’ve found that there are a few critical ingredients that we need to ensure that our video announcements are working for us . . . and that we’re not over investing in this one time use creative project.

Excellent On Screen Talent // Lauren hosts our “411″ spots and is pretty amazing at it.  She can basically take the script and crank it out in one or two on screen reads.  She’s easy going and engaging on screen.  You need to find the right person to have on screen . . . this will make or break your project!

Gear That Supports Quick Production // If you are going to be doing this every week . . . you need to invest in gear that is going to make it as quick as possible to do. At the core of the video announcement system is a Canon 7d.  Not only does this camera take amazing, high quality video . . . it was a step up in the ease of capturing the video and getting into the editing system.  We also added some new mics to the mix to improve the quality on that front.

Solid Writing // Ten days before the video announcement is going to air . . . we pass the point form notes of what we need to cover in that week’s video to Dave Adamson to pull together a script and shooting direction for our video team.  He then mulls it over and provides a script on the Monday before it’s going to be aired.  [Dave blogs! Check out Aussie Vibe.]  We shoot it typically on the Tuesday before it’s seen by our people.

Snappy Animated Opener // I love the opener that was a part of our 2011 videos . . . it’s quick and energetic . . .gives a sense that we are up to something as a church.  Making a snappy animated opener does the same thing as a standard opening does on a television show . . .it makes sure that people are ready for the show!  I’d resist updating this too much . . . TV shows keep their openers the same over an extended people to time for a reason.  We’re updating ours after a year . . . that feels about right.

Limit What You Say // Like all announcements . . . you need to narrow the focus so people remember what you are saying.  We keep our announcements on any given weekend to just two items . . . we work that out through a master calendar to make sure that people aren’t overwhelmed and they have a chance of remembering.  Video announcements is not a chance to cram more data into your people . . .it’s a chance to better highlight the one or two things you need your people to know!

Stick to it. // If you are going to venture into video announcements . . . commit to it as a form to learn.  It will take you 4-6 months of regularly producing them to see the benefits and to figure out the flow.

If you are producing video announcements at your church – what have you learned that makes it easy and effective for you? [Share your wisdom!]

This week I’m giving away a free weekend of video announcements from Pro-nounce. To qualify to win you need to be signed up for my weekly email updates.  [Click here for more information on this month's give aways!]

In 2011 we made a solid commitment to video announcements being a regular part of our game at Liquid Church.  Two out of three Sundays this form of communication was a critical part of our services.  [Click here to see some of ours.]

I gotta be honest . . . I’m a bit of a convert to video announcements . . . I originally didn’t like these at all.  I thought the return on investment on this sort of thing was really low.  If you’ve had anything to do with video production you know that turning out a 2 minute video that looks great and is compelling takes a bunch of time . . . the thought of making a video that we would show just once didn’t make any sense to me.  But we kicked off last year saying that we would move it out of the “every once and while” to our default every week . . . we would only opt out of it for a good reason.

After having lived with video announcements for the last year . . . here are the benefits I can see for churches.

1. Incredible Focus for MultiSite Churches – When I put on my communications hat . . . I know that one of the challenges that a multisite church like ours faces is consistency of messaging in all of our locations.  The video announcements allow us to centrally communicate a message to all of our services and locations.  If you are multisite church . . . you need to decide against doing video announcements in my mind . . . it’s been that effective in getting the data out.
2. Allows Our Service Hosts to Focus on Relationship – I really don’t want our Campus Pastors’ communicating dates, times and locations of events.  Often announcements can degenerate to just the facts and figures.  Paring a video announcement that does the “detail work” of communicating allows our Campus Pastors to communicate the passion and purpose behind what we do.  The video host announces a new series . . . when it starts and such . . . the Campus Pastor gets to talk about their next door neighbor they are inviting.
3. Showing is Better Than Telling – We live in an increasingly visual culture.  [Read this blog post on the church in a post-literate culture.] By adding videos announcements as a platform for communication we are able to regularly “show not just tell” what is happening at the church.  We use lots of “b-roll” and “cut aways” to make sure that people can see what we’re talking about.
4. Extends Communication into the Week – We repost the video announcements through facebook, twitter and our weekly email blast.  This allows us to help catch up people who weren’t with us on the weekend to what is happening at the church.  Interesting factoid . . . when we post our video announcements and snippets of the messages on facebook . . . people click on the announcements more.  People want to know what is going on.

Does your church do some form of video announcements?  I’d love to see samples of what you do.  [Post a link to them in the comment section!]

This week I’m giving away a free weekend of video announcements from Pro-nounce. To qualify to win you need to be signed up for my weekly email updates.  [Click here for more information on this month's give aways!]

Come back on Wednesday when I’ll talk you through what our weekly production schedule looks like to pull off our video announcements.

You’re convinced you want to make the leap and try your hand at some remote administrative help. You may have even identified a handful of tasks that you can try out.

You are about to cross over into a whole new way of looking at the work you do.  There are going to be some positives about working with remote help . . . but like working with anyone there is bound to be disappointment and pain.

As an example . . . here are things I’ve experienced with VAs that have kept me cautious about this approach to administration:

• I was working with lone provider VA on the other side of the world . . . she was new to the business . . . and hadn’t seem to figure out some basic customer service expectations.  There wasn’t a language barrier . . .but I think I missed a cultural barrier.  When tasks goals went missing she just disappeared.  I didn’t hear from her for weeks.  I ended up having to take the tasks back onto my list.  Eventually we reconnected and picked up again . . . but I’ve been cautious of this provider.
• I was working with a VA within the States . . . she was working part time doing VA work for people.  Things in there home life kinda fell apart . . . again the VA went AWOL.  She left tasks uncompleted and I still haven’t heard from her over a year later.
• I got a leader friend of mine sold on using a VA for a bunch of his admin work.  It seemed to be going well.  But then the provider had increasing internet issues on their end of the equation.  They missed a few Skype check in calls.  Tasks started to dropped.  I felt stupid for advocating Virtual Assistants . . . felt like I lost some chips with a trusted colleague . . . not to mention the fact that it created more hassle for him.

I can understand how some people feel about the risk of trying something new like this.  In fact . . . I felt the same weirdness at the beginning but in spite of the problems I’ve run into I have found the benefits outweigh the risks.

Here are some simple principles to follow when working with a Virtual Assistant to help avoid some of the potential risk . . .

Systems > Talent

Think about how you can over define your tasks as a series of clearly laid out steps.  Break it down into a system . . . think templates and flow charts and “if this . . than that” sort of statements.  If things don’t work out with a particular VA . . .you can take those instructions and systems and move them to another provider.

Go face to face.

Don’t let all the communication ride on email or text messages.  Book regular check in Skype calls.  Pay them for that time . . . and talk through the projects.  Let them in on what your organization goals are.  Relate to them as people . . . not as a cog.

Be clear on deadlines.

How much time do you want someone to spend on the task?  When is it due?  Make sure it’s über clear what you are thinking on timelines.  Set “progress check-ins” so you can track how things are moving along.

Leverage Technology.

Use all the collaboration software and systems available to you.  Your VA can make recommendations on this front.  But you need a common virtual work space that you can check on the work at any given moment.  Don’t fear the technology . . . leverage it.

Walk before you run 

Try small tasks first.  Then as you get comfortable try more complex and important tasks.  Test the VA out with tasks that aren’t mission critical to start.  Then move closer to what you want them to do long term.

. . . have fun!

Do you enjoy your interactions with your VA?  Don’t shy away from worrying about a positive relational connection.  Notice your emotional response to interacting with them . . .if you are bored or not enjoying the interaction . . . that might be a sign to find another provider.

This month I’m giving away 15 hours of free Remote Assistant work from The Office Escape.  To qualify to win you need to be signed up for my weekly email updates.  [Click here for more information on this month's give aways!]  Also the email subscribers are getting a special bonus this weekend that shows them where to find a great VA to start working with today!

The time has come you want to try your hand at this whole Virtual Assistant thing . . . you want to try to see if you can export some of your administrative tasks to someone close or far but using technology to super charge your process.

Here are three tasks that I think every pastor should at least try to pass to a VA before deciding whether or not this whole new approach to work is worth exploring.

Starting Out . . . Overnight Illustration Research

We’ve all been there . . . the crunch is on for this weekend.  You’re half way through your prep for Sunday.  You have the scriptures pulled together for the message.  You know some personal stories that will add some flavor.  But you’d love just a little more content to round out the message.  Why not send the data to a research assistant who can work overnight and comb the internet for some spice to the message.  Here are the types of tasks you could send to your VA and have them ready for you when you return to the office the next morning.

• “I’m looking for 3 examples of YouTube videos that show funny moments around the home with families at Christmas dinner.”
• “Can you find 5 news stories from this week that talk about adoption?”
• “I need 10 stats about infidelity.  I need a link to the studies where you find the information. I’m trying to illustrate the level of infidelity in our culture today.”

Stepping Up . . . Managing Your Social Media Channels

Our people are increasingly receiving their communication about the world around them through social channels.  Facebook, Twitter, Linked In . . . the list goes on and on!  As a church leader your job is to be relationally connected . . . but being connected on social networks is time consuming and can be a distraction for many leaders.  What if you had a Virtual Assistant spend 30 minutes every day monitoring and managing your various channels to help keep you connected to these vitally important channels?  Their daily routine could look something like:

• Log into my social networks and check there are no messages waiting for me there.  If there are forward them on to me.  Respond to all “friend requests”.
• Take a quote or scripture verse from my message on the weekend . . . and post them on the various channels.  A different one every day.
• Scan each network and find two or three high leverage action steps for me to take every day. (Have these waiting for me in my email first thing the morning.)
  • Who’s birthday is coming up that I need to email or call? (Get their email address or phone number in my email ready to respond.)
  • A person “sharing” data that I should loop back on check with. (Broken relationships, job stress, etc.)
  • Something that seems to be getting traction from my messages that I need to take note of.

Going Big . . . Booking Appointments

You have time to meet with almost anyone.  Really you do.  I’ve seen Senior Pastors of church 6k-10k people who are more accessible than Pastors of churches a tenth that size.  There is no need to “hide” behind a wall.  I think one of the reasons that many church leaders get overwhelmed with meeting with people . . .isn’t the actual meeting with people . . .it’s booking the appointments and the follow up afterwards.  What if you used a Virtual Assistant to help with this process?  Here are some ways they could jump in and help make the experience better for your people . . .

• At the beginning of the month you give your VA a list of 15 people . . . their email addresses and phone numbers.  You give them 20 open timeslots in your calendar and two coffee shops that you like to meet at.  With a bit of “template writing” you empower the VA . . . have them contact the people and slot them into the spots.
• When someone emails you looking for a meeting . . . you simply reply to them and your VA explaining that they are helping find a time that works best for you.  The VA takes over with the “back and forth” to slot them into your calendar.
• How many times have you come out of a meeting with a “follow up step” but you are driving to the next meeting?  Set up a voicemail box that your VA will check every day and leave the follow up items with them.  ”Order a copy of Andy Stanley’s latest book and send it to Bill from me with a note that says . . . “

The world is moving at a fast pace.  As church leaders we trade on relationships . . . our goal is to help people get connected.  Get fierce with your time.  Any time that you aren’t connecting people with each other or Jesus needs to be squeezed out.  That’s not your job.

I bet there is 6-8 hours a week of admin work that you are doing that you could give to a VA and they could do it in 2-3 hours.   Imagine having a whole other day next week to spend doing your job.  It’s ready for you.

On Friday I’m going to be talking about my own ups and downs of working with VAs from aboard and within North America.  In the “bonus content” for email subscribers this week . . . I’m showing you how to quickly find and test a VA . . . today.

You only have 24 hours in a day.  Your job is not to check email, update your facebook status, send out newsletters or proofread the program.  We want you to connect with people . . . not spend all your time booking appointments to connect with people.  The church needs to help people get into small groups . . . not invest hours updating lists of peoples names.  There are people in your church that want to volunteer and are waiting for your to ask them . . . they don’t care how much time you spent on ordering books off of Amazon for next sermon.

Did you know that there is a whole world of people waiting to serve you and your church virtually?  For a fraction of the cost to hire administrative help to work in your office you can outsource any task that repetetive, easy to delegate and still sitting on your to-do list.  (Maybe still from last year ?)

Welcome to the World of Virtual Assistants.

Think about how many tasks you do over the phone or online.  All of that can be given to a trusted Virtual Assistant.  Want to visit all of your small groups in 2012? . . . you could have a VA work with all those group leaders to schedule times for you to pop in for a quick visit.  Heck . . . they could order the snacks and flowers to arrive at the office the day you are going to visit so you just pick carry them out when you leave.

What if this sort of service was available for $10 an hour . . . and all you needed was a few hours a week?  What if it cost half that much?  Would that focus time be worth it to you and your ministry?

Virtual Assistants are a new breed of global entrepreneur.  Often from English speaking countries like Philippines or India . . . who are connected, passionate and ready to serve you.  If your church hasn’t at least explored adding VAs to your staffing mix than you are missing out on a curve jump in effectiveness.  (There are services based in North America that provide these services as well . . . not all VAs are from abroad.)

Why should your church be using Virtual Assistants?  Because it frees up your staff to focus on their job . . . seeing people get connected to the mission of the church . . . rather than the administrative tasks.

Come back on Wednesday when I talk about 3 tasks you should out source this week . . . and give you some tools to get started.  (On Friday I’m going to be talking about my own ups and downs of working with VAs from aboard and within North America.)

I love this pitch for Jeff Jarvis‘ book “Public Parts”: More than 750 million people (and half of all Americans) use Facebook, where we share a billion times a day. The collective voice of Twitter echoes instantly 100 million times daily, from Tahrir Square to the Mall of America, on subjects that range from democratic reform to unfolding natural disasters to celebrity gossip. New tools let us share our photos, videos, purchases, knowledge, friendships, locations, and lives. Yet change brings fear, and many people—nostalgic for a more homogeneous mass culture and provoked by well-meaning advocates for privacy—despair that the internet and how we share there is making us dumber, crasser, distracted, and vulnerable to threats of all kinds.”

I think Jeff describes the tension well . . . we live in an increasingly transparent world.  We are living in an every more public way all the time.  But there are forces around us that are scared by this new reality and want to push back at all this sharing and return to a more private era.

[See Jeff talk a bit more about his book and this tension.]

This new publicness is having an impact on businesses and organizations all around us . . .

• Bad products used to be able to hide behind marketing glitz but now online reviews make or break products all the time.  [Even some of the reviewers build their own following!]
• Online reviews are limited to products anymore . . . you can find transparent reviews for virtually every service and product under the sun!  Here are some fun examples: [Doctors] [Dentists] [Lawyers] [Teachers] [Public Sleeping Areas in Airports!]
• Every minute 48 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube . . . that’s a lot of kids plays and cats playing piano! [Source]

What does all this mean for us in the local church?  Are we living in the public sphere enough?  How can we encourage our people to connect with us in public more?

• At Liquid we’ve taken to allowing open comments on every single message on our website . . . this gives anyone the ability to tell us what they think about what we’re talking about.  It’s been fascinating to watch some discussion ensue online because of this.  [Check out our library.]
• What if that smart phone app you’ve been developing for your church had a “thumbs up or thumbs down” button that would appear at the end of the service?  And what if we publicly posted those results to show people what they are thinking about what’s happen at our church?
• What if encouraged our people to review the classes (or small groups?) at our church on our website?  People could get a sense of whether that class is worth their time by seeing what other people think about it . . . rather than just what our sales machine says.

What about you?  How do you think we could be more transparent as a church?  How can we encourage our systems to be more open?

I’m seeing an increasing trend towards merging the best of online commerce with offline retail in a number of new and creative ways.  Check out these stats that I bumped into that speak to these realities in the retail world . . .

• 8 out of 10 consumers research purchases online. While 42% research online and then buy online, 51% research online and then buy in-store (Source: Google & IPSOS OTX, September 2010).
• E-commerce conversion rates have been hovering around 2-3.5% while brick-and-mortar conversion rates for  retailers have been around 20-25% (Source: Verdict Research, May 2010).
• Of the 40% of US consumers who own smart phones, 70% use their smartphones while shopping in-store (Source: Google & IPSOS OTX, April 2011).

Everywhere we look you can see traditional “bricks and mortal” organizations trying to leverage technology in a new way to help them do what they do . . .

• JCPenney (not exactly the Apple Store of technology innovation) is adding “findmore” kiosks to stores across the country . . . allowing shoppers to quickly find what she wants from the online catalogue in the store . . . or find similar items from in the offline store on their website.  (Like sizes and styles not normally carried in the bricks-and-mortal locations.) [Click here to findmore on this innovation.]
• Homeplus in South Korea launched a series of “stores” on subway platforms.  Smart phone users simply scan QR codes under items they would like on graphics made to look like store shelves . . .and then those items are delivered to their homes later. [Check out this video.]
• Kraft and Intel partnered up together (what a crazy partnership!) to develop an in store kiosk that generates custom recipes through a touch interface (or smart phone app) and then vends the items needed to make those meals. [Click here to read the PDF.]
• We’re all familiar with the “buy online and pick up in store” solutions from companies like Apple, Walmart and Barnes & Noble but have you seen the offering targeted to college students from Bed Bath and Beyond?  Shop online or instore (with your mom?) for what you need . . . and then they will get the items to a location near your school. 

One of the formative leadership development experiences in my life was that I served with a ministry where I had to raise my own salary.  I wasn’t very good at it.  But it taught me the crazy important lesson that thanking people is far more than asking them for things.  The director of that ministry, Wayne Johnson, was a strong advocate of writing thank you notes to every donor before depositing the check in the bank . . . every month.   Doing this task bugged me.  It seemed repetitive, tedious and frankly a waste of time.  But as I look back on that . . . not only was Wayne right – it’s über important to express thanks to your network regularly . . .  but it forms something in you as a leader when you often reflect on the amazing things other people are doing to make the organization work.

Leaders ask people to do things all the time.  One definition of leadership is moving people to a place that they wouldn’t go by themselves . . . asking stuff of people is core to the leadership function.  But what if you spent twice as much time thanking people as you did asking them for things?

If you thanking isn’t a part of your regular flow yet  . . . do these few small things for a month . . . and that will turn around . . .

• Get a stack of thank you cards, stamps and envelopes and put them on your desk in an awkward spot.  Make them stand out . . . and easy to grab.
• Make a list of 50 people that you need to be thanking regularly . . . print out the labels for those 50 people . . . and write 5 cards a week . . . then start at the top of the list again.
• Use your drive home from work every other day to call some folks and say “I just was just driving home from the office and wanted to call to say thank you for what you do around here!”
• At your next team meeting . . . take in enough notes for each team member . . . and tell them that you aren’t going to start the meeting until we all write one thank you note for someone else in the organization.
• Have a party . . . people like parties.  Then get up and say thank you . . . don’t ask them for anything . . . just say thanks.

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” ~G.B. Stern

What has your thanking pattern been in your world?  What has worked to help spread the love within your network? [Share the wealth!  We want to know how you thank people!]

Leaders with an external locus of control scare me.  You know the type . . . they are the leaders who things always happen to . . . rather than leaders who make things happen.  As a young leader you are responsible for stuff in your area.  Period.

If something goes wrong . . . don’t blame the people who report to you.  Go to your supervisor (don’t wait for them to come to you) and own up to the issues.  Explain how you and your team missed the mark and how you are fixing it.  This builds trust in you and your team.  Nothing erodes trust in you faster than the blame game.

If you don’t have enough resources to complete a task . . . don’t wait for resources to magically appear.  You are going to need to become a hustler to find those resources.  Trade something you have for something another department needs. Stop a project to fund the new thing.  Pay for it by yourself – as in with your own money.

If you see something that’s not right in another area of the company . . . don’t claim that it’s not your job to help other areas.  If you have been given any measure of leadership in an organization you are responsible for the entire organization.  Leaders who say “it’s not my job” will have their leadership influence limited.

There is no “Plan B” in your organization.  As a young leader you are responsible for helping us move the ball down the field.  You’re role is to help us consistently move towards the win.  There isn’t anyone else who is going to do it. You are responsible.

On Friday we’re going to look at a critical factor that will either lid your leadership or give you increasing scope and influence.

It’s early in your leadership career.  You’ve been trusted with a project or department or if you’re super luck an entire big-hairy-audacious-goal.  Your supervisor has brought you in and outlined what needs to be done.  They hopefully have given you a sense of the resources you can commit to get it there.  The timeline is clear.

You have been given permission to push forward on the project … the question is whether you will have the persistence to see it through.

Once your supervisor hands you the ball . . . your job is to run with it.  To take the task through to completion.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen young leaders loop around continuing to look for more permission.

You’re leader has given you a level of responsibility . . . and is waiting to see what you do with it.  If you push through with persistence and get the job done . . . more responsibility will be passed your way.  If you don’t . . . it won’t.

After permission comes persistence. You want goals that are going to take daily (hourly?) pushing on to get done.  That means they are significant to the organization.

Bonus: Finish with flare.  Push it beyond what your supervisor was looking for.  Do an extra round of evaluation.  Pull together a report to celebrate the great work your team did.  Bring your boss in to see the good work in action. Look for that extra 10% that pushes it over the top.

Are there goals that were given to you in 2011 that require more persistence in 2012?  How can you push through to completion even in these final days of this year?

On Wednesday we’re going to talk about how to overcome missed goals and expectations in a way that builds trust . . . rather than erodes it.