Church Marketing Sucks

We’re ready to quit this month. We’re too busy doing what’s good to do what’s great. So it’s time to quit some of those things that are less than great. It’s all inspired by Bob Goff, who quits something every Thursday.

We already shared 30 things your church can quit. Here are 30 more, generated by the incredible #cmschat community (thanks for sharing!). Check out the full transcript for more.

Get Better by Quitting

The whole point of all of this quitting is to get better. We’re not just a bunch of slackers. Where do you need to improve? What does your church need to get better at?

The #cmschat community had some suggestions:

• Time management. Setting goals and prioritizing what needs to be done each day.
• Learning specific tools and skills, including graphic design, social media, email marketing, photography and more.
• We’re great at starting things, not so great at follow-up.
• Collaboration and team building. Especially when volunteers are involved.
• Learning how to say “no” (Melissa Smith shared 10 ways to say no graciously).

We all have our own areas where we need to improve, whether it’s a strength we want to sharpen or a weakness we want to minimize. Keep those areas in mind as motivation—quit something that’s holding you back so you can focus on something you can improve.

A2: One success I've had. I have quit trying to do everything. Best thing I ever did. #cmschat

— Steven Fogg (@Stevefogg) August 21, 2015

30 More Things We Need to Quit:

1. Quit trying to do everything yourself. Start trusting others to get the work done. You’re not in this alone. That might mean you need to redefine excellence.
2. Quit giving events cool but useless names that don’t describe the event. Elevate? Vertical? Collide? No more dictionary for you.
3. Quit saying “yes” to every request. You can’t do everything. You need a vision and a strategy that can filter all those demands on your time (and sanity).
4. Quit waiting for someone else to do it. Sometimes you just need to step up.
5. Quit trying to be all things to all people. Be yourself. Be the church God designed you to be. You can’t reach everyone. That’s why there’s a universal church.
6. Quit sermon CDs. Or worse, tapes. The digital download is enough.
7. Quit being so busy. Sometimes we just do too much. It’s OK to have a blank space on the calendar. God rested on the seventh day, remember? Take care of yourself.
8. Quit being the bottleneck. If work is stacking up in your inbox, waiting for your stamp of approval, you need to get out of the way.
9. Quit seeing differences first. Strive to see the common. Err on the side of ecumenical inclusiveness.
10. Quit assuming you’ll remember everything. Create a weekly to-do list. Get organized. Try some apps such as Things or Trello or just a notebook.
11. Quit wasting time. Look at what you’re doing and focus on where progress is being made. Don’t keep wasting effort if you’re not getting any traction.
12. Quit waiting for opportunities to just show up. You can’t wait for them to knock on the door. You have to go get them.
13. Quit saying yes to the “can we have it today, sorry we’re late” request. That’s how people walk all over you. You need a process. Create a system and stick to it.
14. Quit being so inflexible. Yes, your system is important, but sometimes it’s OK to make exceptions. Don’t be so rigid that the Holy Spirit can’t move.
15. Quit looking for shortcuts. A full process needs to be created and implemented. Yes, it’s more work in the short run, but it will be a huge lifesaver in the long run.
16. Quit using numbers to replace letters. It’s not a password.
17. Quit half-hearted start-ups on social media channels. It’s good to reserve your name on up-and-coming social media channels, but your once a month post on Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter just doesn’t matter. Give it up.
18. Quit being afraid to lead up. Yes, your church leadership is brilliant. But sometimes they need help. Sometimes they don’t understand communication or strategy. Sometimes they’re too spiritual and need a dose of reality. You can help them by gently pointing in the right direction.
19. Quit being the person who is supposed to know it all. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.
20. Quit using acronyms for ministry names. Do we need to remind you of the WTF college ministry? (though that was intentional)
21. Quit the multiple channels for individual ministries. Your church is spreading itself too thin. One Facebook page is enough (let the debate begin).
22. Quit pushing too much information at guests when they walk in the door. Give visitors some space. “Date your guests… don’t ask them to go all the way on the first visit.”
23. Quit reacting. Start planning.
24. Quit meetings that are way too long.
25. Quit letting everyone promote their own agenda. Focus. Your church needs a unified message. Less is more.
26. Quit Facebook. It may be strategic, but sometimes it’s not fun anymore. For some people it’s too much in-fighting. For others it’s become “Bragbook.” It taps into a dark place of failure by comparison.
27. Quit assuming the whole church needs to know about smaller ministry events. Specialized or targeted ministries shouldn’t be splashed everywhere to reach a general audience.
28. Quit reinforcing negative stereotypes of Christianity. More often than not, we are the reason people either come or don’t come to church.
29. Quit the bad coffee. Instant coffee is something the capital ‘c’ church needs to quit.
30. Quit plowing ahead without praying. Amen.

Thanks again to the #cmschat community for sharing these great ideas.

More:

• Check out our introduction to this topic and some initial suggestions for things your church might need to quit.
• The original 30 ways to be a quitter list.
• Where did this quitting idea come from? More on Bob Goff, who quits every week.
• Check out the book inspired by all this quitting, That’s How We’ve Always Done It: Is Your Church Ready to Quit? 166 Ways to Be a Quitter.
• Learn more about how to fight church communicator burnout. We do important work—sharing the gospel—but that doesn’t mean we can work ourselves to death.