Church Marketing Sucks

For those counting–you know who you are–it’s been 31 months since our last update about the infamous Don’t Suck list. Lots of people have made suggestions publicly on this site, through e-mail and countless conversations offline. I think we’ve finally blurred the lines enough so that people can’t tell the difference between the despicableness of the list itself or of our inaction to actually do something about it. There is no excuse.

I have decided to pull a Ty Pennington (no, I don’t plan a drunken arrest) and make this my special project. The bulk of the work will begin in June with a goal to have something launched later this year. Although I will personally take the lead on this project, it will definitely be in the same collaborative spirit we’ve all been a part of here in the CFCC community.

Here’s the plan:

1. There are two layers to this project. The first is a directory of sorts that is more comprehensive. It will be a pre-screened list of go-to people and companies for helping churches communicate. The second layer will be a regularly published “Don’t Suck” list that is chosen entirely based on the opinion of the panel behind it. It will be more editorialized which means many will like it and many will hate it. Consider this your warning.

2. There is a post on the CFCC Freelance Lab looking for a web designer/programmer to help build this stuff. If you fit the description, please respond el pronto.

3. If you want to volunteer and be a part of planning/steering this, you can email me: brad [at] cfcclabs dot org. Please put “Don’t Suck Volunteer” in the subject line including a brief description for why you want to be a part. If you email me to volunteer it means you will make time to respond to a survey or two and possibly make yourself available for some conference calls, among other related tasks.

4. If you have specific comments that you want to put out there and make sure we’re considering, you can also email me: brad [at] cfcclabs dot org. Please put “Don’t Suck Comments” in the subject line.

Thanks for your patience and for helping us build this thing right. The Don’t Suck list is nearly always in our top ten most most frequented links, and it’s one of the most practical things we as the CFCC community can do to help churches beyond what we’re already doing through this blog and the labs.