Every week I hold online office hours and answer questions from folks like you. This week we’ve got a question about personal branding and keeping everyone in the communications team on the same page! Take a look and be sure to join me every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. CST for online office hours!
What advice do you have for people who are developing their own personal brand when it comes to marketing themselves online?
My answer:
Three things, in this order:
- Do good work
- Be consistent
- Network
If you can execute that strategy over and over, you’ll find yourself with more work than you can handle.
I work on a church staff of about 20 people and oversee the bulletin, website, social media and print publications. Managing all of the incoming requests and organizing the deadlines can be mind-boggling. I’d love to streamline things. Advice/thoughts?
My answer:
If you’re looking to do something just for yourself, have you looked at something simple like Google Calendar?
I always try and recommend getting your org onto Google Apps for this specific purpose. You can set appointments for other people, invite to meetings, etc. Sign up here:
Of course, there’s the gold standard in Basecamp. We use it at Monk and it keeps all of us on the same page. Very helpful. Very useful.
Lastly, I’ve had mixed opinions about using Action Method Online. A fantastic analog utility, but I’m not crazy about their digital offerings. That said, I know many teams live and die by this web app.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
Thanks for the great questions everybody! Hopefully this information will help you get from where you are to where you want to go. See you next time in the office!
Bethany Russell
February 22, 2012
About getting organized and Google Apps … We used Google Docs to create forms for work requests, program notes and the master calendar. These docs keep us running smoother than ever and they were free. We solved huge problems: juggling too many things at once, project flow, keeping up with what needs to run in the program and when, and coordinating/organizing our in-service communication schedule with service programming. I’m happy to share samples by request. Lovin’ Google.
Holly
February 24, 2012
I am just diving into helping my church with their marketing but I am a Marketing Manager by profession. We use Basecamp everyday and it has been extremely valuable in helping my team of five stay in the loop on changing ideas, collecting input from those outside our work group and producing/following effective workback schedules. I would highly recommend it if you have need to manage projects and also be able to collaborate virtually.
Chris
February 27, 2012
Some interesting thoughts — I’d be interested to hear more on which PM programs you recommend and why, particularly for Churches looking to manage all their communication channels.
I think this is one area of church life where we’ve yet to see a ‘great’ solution.
Alinda
October 15, 2012
Have you found a solution to finding a PM program for yoUr church since your last post?
shari sutherland
February 27, 2012
i love the digital office hours idea