Church Marketing 101: Preparing Your Church for Greater Growth

Purpose:To provide powerful insights and case studies from real churches today for strategically evaluating and strengthening our connections to the communities around us. It is his intent to provide us with the “fundamentals” of marketing so we can apply them, thus the title “Church Marketing 101”.Content:• What is church marketing?• How marketing effects every area of your church?• How to perceive the community’s perception of your church?• How to understand your target audience?• What are the fundamentals of growth?• How to create an atmosphere that fosters growth?• What are the marketing secrets of the “Big Boys”?• What is meant by a “branding iron”?• How to determine God’s vision for your ministry?• How to put all of this together?Analysis:Church marketing has been viewed by many as “selling God”. This is clearly not the author’s intent. He suggests we use communicating or connecting instead of marketing if this term causes us stumble. He explains the biblical basis and charge for marketing along with helping us understand the science of “perception”.Application:Who will benefit from this book?The pastor as ministry architect and those that assist him with engineering the ministry design.How will they benefit from this book?It will instruct you and your team to design your ministry with a perception management approach.Where does this book fit in the process of ministry design?This is one of a number of approaches to ministry design. The approach is focused on management of perception. It requires the ministry to be sensitive to how others, inside and outside the church, see us. It has been argued that “perception is reality”. What road blocks of perception have you erected that are hindering others from clearly seeing Christ and hearing the gospel?

I liked this book and would recommend it as a good primer for churches and individuals wanting to understand the basics of communications planning. One thing I really liked about this book is that there is logical development throughout--it isn't random or rambling and I don't have to understand the author's thinking to follow. It is written so I can understand.I like the Biblical references throughout the book. The author has a corporate background, so there is credibility there. I think churches wanting to understand how proper marketing can help them impact their communities would really benefit from this read.In the chapter on connecting with the community, Reising offers a section on obstacles to church members asking their friends to come to church. I felt very connected to this section as there have been churches I have attended in the past where I would never invite a friend to for many of his reasons. It's a great wake-up call for churches to look at this and see how they might be coming across to visitors.There is a little bit of everything in this book and it is well organized and at a level where a beginner can understand. The book lives up to its title.

Everyday in the United States people are bombarded with a communication avalanche. It has been estimated by communication experts that the average American experiences 1,500-3,500 attempts to get his/her attention per day. With all that competition, what hope do we who want to communicate to church members and unchurched people about our church events and ministry opportunities have of getting people to hear us? How do we keep the message we know is so important from getting drowned by the information tsunami? The only solution is to learn to become more strategic in the ways your church communicates with your community. Marketing is a discipline that can help you communicate better.Church Marketing 101 is a good resource to help you learn how to apply marketing know-how in your context. Richard Reising does a great job in making marketing concepts accessible to ministry leaders. He makes as clear an explanation of the concept of branding as I have seen anywhere. And he does it without too much technical jargon. Reising's heart for ministry also shows through in this book. This is a very readable, practical church marketing book.

Very quick read. I was not more than a couple of pages in and I could see our church. Richard wrote a book just for us! I have since passed the word and others are enjoying this book also. A must read if your church is in a time of change, seeking the Lord's direction and in planting a vision for growth. So, in short this book is written for every leader, minister and active church member in the United States.

If you want some excellent advice based on real-life experience, this book will show you how to increase visits to your church, retain the visitors and keep them happy with your church, this is a great book filled with a lot of valuable information.

I've been in Marketing for almost 17 years; 13 of it as an executive leading a team of extremely talented people. Bottom line, read this book! Richard has a talent for writing marketing strategies at an introductory level that anyone can immediately understand, making this book a very valuable resource to church leadership. I also found his biblical insight to marketing very insightful.Buy this book; it is a great investment!

Great book! Excellent resource covering both general marketing application as well as genuine biblical perspective throughout. Easy to read. Thoughtful and honest. I felt the author was credible and very knowledgeable about the subject. This is an excellent resource for any church leader. It will open your eyes to things you most likely have not thought of yet. Of if you have, probably need to be reminded of or refreshed about... Well worth purchasing!!

This is a great guide for a leadership group to begin to challenge themselves and others in the area of church vision and growth.

Excellent book which made me think about how marketing applies to growth in my own and other churches. As he points out marketing is something we all do all the time whether we know t or not and secondly that formal and intentional marketing is something not to be embarked on until the church "product" is right. Otherwise you risk inviting people into the church to find out why it isn't growing.Lots of useful pointer here to enable allnof us to think through what we can do to make our church attractive to the unchurched and to help nurture people when they do join us. Highly recommended.Incidentally, the previous criticism that the book isn't specific enough and aimed at encouraging people to buy consultancy from the author, is pretty unfair. Each church is different and t would be misleading to suggest that there is a single formula for success which could apply in any circumstance. There is no substitute for doing the work and thinking through individually what needs to change.

Easy to read but depicts the truth of what goes on in the mind of most prisoners especially those that have been wrongly imprisoned by a corrupt and an ineffective judicial service. It also brings to the furore the extreme difficulty if not impossible the chance to get their sentences overturned.

Works fine, quality product. would recommend it .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . . .