Learning from the floundering magazine industry
Based on numbers through the end of the third quarter of 2009, the Magazine Publishers of America announced that 227 of the 249 magazines they track lost ad revenue this year compared to last year. Of the only 22 magazines that were doing better than last year, 5 of them are published by Meredith Corporation. What does Meredith know that the rest of the publishing world doesn’t? Patrick Taylor of Meredith says their secret is the Internet. They are strategically using the internet to build and strengthen their brands. He said that by creating and maintaining easy-to-use websites, they were creating more exposure to their titles.
The Internet has changed the way we spend our leisure time and gather information about things of interest. It is certainly a contributing factor to the fact that so many magazines have ended publication, and so many others are struggling. And yet that same Internet is given credit for being the reason other magazines are thriving! What’s the difference? Some see the Internet as a place where you are obligated to have a presence, and others see it as a great way to get your message out and engage people.
Which camp is your church in?
Chances are, you know that you have to have an Internet presence. But if all you’re doing is showing a static page with a picture of the front of the church, service times, directions, and a Christianese mission statement, you’ve fallen into the same trap as the struggling magazines. You can say you’ve got a website, but you haven’t taken advantage of the web’s possibilities for strengthening your church’s message and truly engaging people.
Smaller churches frequently lament that they don’t have the resources to do some of the big things that megachurches can do. But the web is a great equalizer. You can look like a million bucks without spending them!
I encourage you to ask an unchurched friend to do you a favor; ask him or her to go to your church’s website and give an honest opinion of the site. Listen to their comments with an open mind and do something about what you hear. Hint: if they don’t know anything else about you and don’t see anything to the contrary, here’s what that typical site I described above may communicate.
- Picture of the front of the church: It’s about the building, not people. Be prepared to be asked for money to pay the mortgage.
- Service times and directions: You can come if you really want. We’re not going to you.
- Typical church mission statement: They speak their own language. They want to change me…so they’ve already decided something must be wrong with me.
A select few magazines looked at something that could have been a threat and turned it into an opportunity. Will you?
