Be the Best at What Matters Most

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Thelma Bowlen

I saw a post on the Social Media Group I’m part of on Facebook inviting people to check out an event at E|SPACES in Cool Springs. Since it was at 7:30am, which is before work, I figured I’d check it out.

What I thought would be a social networking event turned out to be an author talk from Joe Calloway on his book, “Be the Best at What Matters Most: The Only Strategy You will Ever Need.” He was joined by Nashville company bites of knowledge’s, Julie May and Gary Hornbuckle. Bites of Knowledge is the case study featured in the book.

View from the back of the packed E|SPACES author talk with Joe Calloway featuring Julie May and Gary Hornbuckle of bites of knowledge

Here are the takeaways I took home, I mean, to work:

Check-in with clients and team, contact clients proactively, communicate for accountability, repeat
Good connecting includes frequent: asset managing, issue managing, project managing
Understand what the business or need is first before trying to resolve issues
Reward performance and incentivize behavior of employees
Clarity and accountability go hand in hand
Value reliability first before “singing on the plane like Southwest”

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Project Management Convo #1023

Quote

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Thelma Bowlen

Boss: “We’re to go to the hurting, empty streets.” — How can streets hurt, and, if they’re empty, why would we go there? Needs a little rewrite…

Me: Yes, streets can hurt… because they’re empty and want to be walked on! Did you not take a poetry class in college?!

Revamping an Old Blog Hubspot Style

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Thelma Bowlen

On my recent call with our HubSpot consultant, I got pointers on how to make an old post better. We took something my assistant wrote in November from our old staff blog, “The God Test in Seattle,” and gave it a makeover.

Here’s what it was before:

The old version of this post on our old Staff Blog on WordPress.

Our consultant reminded me of a crucial point. “Who is the post about?”

Us.

Her recommendation was to revamp it into something that would be an answer to someone’s potential question. She suggested changing the title and the content to, “Five Ways to Get Involved in Campus Ministry.”

I spent half of my afternoon rewriting the entire post and making it less about us, and more about helping someone find information on getting involved in campus ministry.

Hello, Google Search. Come find it.

Here’s what it is now:

Here’s the new version of the same post.

Not only is it a more engaging post, but it actually offers five tips for anyone looking for information on campus ministry. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that it was easy putting this together. Without our consultant’s advice, I wouldn’t have been able to turn this post into something people will hopefully find useful.

Now, to come up with seventy-five more posts like this that potentially help people find answers to their questions.

What I’m Learning from HubSpot

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Thelma Bowlen

Our organization joined HubSpot this year to help us whip our inbound marketing strategy into a well-oiled machine. While other, more experienced internet marketers organically understand SEO (search engine optimization), Google Analytics, and keywords, I haven’t had the luxury of giving inbound marketing my full concentration. We’re doing a decent job with our social networking presence but I know we’re only scratching the surface of our full potential.

It’s symptomatic of small nonprofits, particularly small nonprofit Christian ministries. Limited staff are outnumbered by responsibilities. So you make the best use of your time, work more than the recommended forty hours per week, and focus on putting out fires or almost erupting blazes. (When my department assistant came on board, she would ask me, “How did you do all these things by yourself?!”)

I digress.

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Why We Should Avoid Hyperbole in Church Communications

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Thelma Bowlen

I see it a lot on Twitter and Facebook: Churches using hyperbole in posts to drum excitement. Sometimes it’s in the form of multiple exclamation points!!!! Other times, it’s the excessive use of adjectives like “awesome, amazing, and powerful.”

“Come visit us this Sunday for a powerful time of worship!!!!”

What’s worse is when a worship leader is billed almost like an attraction.

“Come visit us this Sunday for a powerful time of worship with (insert name of worship leader)!!!”

Or a pastor is the spotlight of the communication.

“Pastor (insert name of pastor) is delivering a powerful message on deliverance!!! Come and be blessed!!!”

I thought Jesus Christ is the star of the service, and that we’re all just invited to be a part of what He’s doing?

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Postscript Thoughts from My Time with Kem Meyer

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Thelma Bowlen

Team Diggity with Kem Meyer on our last day together, May 23, 2012

I look constipated in this picture. I was in mid-laugh as Brittany Riblet, coaching network project manager for Wired Churches, pressed the shutter. I’m not sure if the coaching groups before us from previous falls and springs posed for a photo, but I knew that I wasn’t going to leave without one.

Earlier that day, I pulled a Filipino proclivity (we’re known for taking looooots of pictures) and asked Kem if I could take a picture with her. What can I say? I’m a fan of her book, “Less Clutter, Less Noise.”

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Your Creative Thinktank

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Thelma Bowlen

On my way out of a big meeting (“big” meaning I was with our president and executive director) with a small group of colleagues recently, one of my colleagues approached me with some brilliant advice. I was somewhat on the spot in the meeting in the sense that many of the questions being asked about the promotions of two major projects were meant to be answered by Communications, aka me. And Communications didn’t have much to offer outside of “I have a strategy but I need more information to implement what’s in my head.”

(The old radio person in me always manages to rise to the occasion and offer opinions and comments, sometimes unsolicited, to a discussion. I almost babble but I quickly remind myself that in the presence of executive leadership, it’s better not to.)

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