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Let's Get Practical

Let's Get Practical

By Darrel Girardier

Hello... I'm Darrel Girardier and I'm the Digital Strategy Director for Brentwood Baptist Church. This podcast is about church communications from a practical standpoint. It’s about what works and what doesn’t. It’s about helping you cut through all of the clutter and noise, and getting straight to the point. No interviews, no hour-long murder mysteries or sports talk. Just me getting straight to the point.
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Currently playing episode

#130 How to Talk About Giving

Let's Get PracticalFeb 24, 2020

00:00
09:20
#144 The Church Just Became Flat

#144 The Church Just Became Flat

#144 The Church Just Became Flat

Mar 13, 202007:03
#143 Someone Hit the Cultural Fast Forward Button

#143 Someone Hit the Cultural Fast Forward Button

#143 Someone Hit the Cultural Fast Forward Button

Mar 12, 202009:06
#142 Communicating about the Coronavirus

#142 Communicating about the Coronavirus

#142 Communicating about the Coronavirus

Mar 11, 202008:49
#141 The Myth of Creating a Balanced Life

#141 The Myth of Creating a Balanced Life

#141 The Myth of Creating a Balanced Life

Mar 10, 202006:51
#140 Three Quick Tips for Working Remote

#140 Three Quick Tips for Working Remote

#140 Three Quick Tips for Working Remote

Mar 09, 202005:38
 #139 How to Find the Right Project Management Tool

#139 How to Find the Right Project Management Tool

 #139 How to Find the Right Project Management Tool

Mar 06, 202011:27
#138 When to Hire a Full Time Communications Person

#138 When to Hire a Full Time Communications Person

#138 When to Hire a Full Time Communications Person

Mar 05, 202007:46
#137 Why It’s Time to Look for a New Job

#137 Why It’s Time to Look for a New Job

#137 Why It’s Time to Look for a New Job

Mar 04, 202009:25
#136 What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

#136 What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

#136 What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

Mar 03, 202007:39
#135 The Formula for Creating Great Content

#135 The Formula for Creating Great Content

#135 The Formula for Creating Great Content

Mar 02, 202007:56
#134 Let's Get Uncomfortable

#134 Let's Get Uncomfortable

#134 Let's Get Uncomfortable
Mar 01, 202007:12
#133 Why We Build Landing Pages for Facebook Ads

#133 Why We Build Landing Pages for Facebook Ads

#133 Why We Build Landing Pages for Facebook Ads

Feb 27, 202010:32
#132 Effective Sermon Bumpers

#132 Effective Sermon Bumpers

#132 Effective Sermon Bumpers

Feb 26, 202008:52
#130 How to Talk About Giving

#130 How to Talk About Giving

#130 How to Talk About Giving

Feb 24, 202009:20
#129 It's Not What You Say, It's What You Do

#129 It's Not What You Say, It's What You Do

#129 It's Not What You Say, It's What You Do

Feb 21, 202006:56
#128 Why the Medium is the Message

#128 Why the Medium is the Message

#128 Why the Medium is the Message

Feb 20, 202008:03
#127 Some Surprising Insights from Text Messaging

#127 Some Surprising Insights from Text Messaging

#127 Some Surprising Insights from Text Messaging

Feb 19, 202009:54
#126 Three Key Reasons Your Social Media is Not Working

#126 Three Key Reasons Your Social Media is Not Working

#126 Three Key Reasons Your Social Media is Not Working
Feb 18, 202009:11
#125 You Should be Fired

#125 You Should be Fired

#125 You Should be Fired

Feb 14, 202010:15
#124 How to Deal with Technophobic Staff

#124 How to Deal with Technophobic Staff

#124 How to Deal with Technophobic Staff

Feb 13, 202008:23
#123 I've Got a Bad Idea

#123 I've Got a Bad Idea

#123 I've Got a Bad Idea

Feb 12, 202007:33
#122 How to Double Your Email Open Rates

#122 How to Double Your Email Open Rates

#122 How to Double Your Email Open Rates

Feb 11, 202010:44
#121 February Resource Recommendations

#121 February Resource Recommendations

#121 February Resource Recommendations

Feb 10, 202008:15
#120 Dealing with Digital Exhaust

#120 Dealing with Digital Exhaust

#120 Dealing with Digital Exhaust

Feb 07, 202013:11
#119 Should Your Church Use TikTok

#119 Should Your Church Use TikTok

#119 Should Your Church Use TikTok

Feb 06, 202011:19
#118 Two Simple Ways to Avoid Creative Burnout

#118 Two Simple Ways to Avoid Creative Burnout

#118 Two Simple Ways to Avoid Creative Burnout

Feb 05, 202009:27
#117 Four Easter Marketing Ideas for Your Church

#117 Four Easter Marketing Ideas for Your Church

Four Easter Marketing Ideas for Your Church

Feb 04, 202009:46
#116 Three Quick Steps to Managing Yourself

#116 Three Quick Steps to Managing Yourself

Let's talk about managing ourselves...



Feb 03, 202009:24
#115 Personal vs Church Social Media Accounts

#115 Personal vs Church Social Media Accounts

Nov 25, 201909:52
#114 Dealing with Rogue Ministries

#114 Dealing with Rogue Ministries

Nov 18, 201907:39
#113 Defining Your Visual Brand

#113 Defining Your Visual Brand

Nov 11, 201913:05
#112 Why Your Church is Running Out of Content

#112 Why Your Church is Running Out of Content

Nov 04, 201910:54
#111: The Four Skills You Need to Succeed as a Church Communicator

#111: The Four Skills You Need to Succeed as a Church Communicator

What does it take to be a church communicator? Do you need to know to code or design websites? Or should you be a master at giving presentations? What are the essential skills that you need? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • Why technical skills don't matter
  • The four skills you need
  • How these skill compliment each other
Sep 30, 201908:56
#110: Why You should Create a Brand Guide

#110: Why You should Create a Brand Guide

One of the my favorite things about church communications is that you get see everything that's going on inside your church. You're like an air traffic controller. You see when everything is taking off and landing. However, with that view you often see when things aren't the way they're supposed to be. Whether it's the wrong font or color or a misuse of your church's logo, you'll see it all. 

So who do you keep up with it all? How do you make sure that everything flows smoothly?That's what I'll cover in today's episode.

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • The problem of seeing everything happening in your church
  • Why you need a brand guid
  • What to put inside your brand guide
Sep 23, 201907:46
#109: How to Deal with Sub-brands

#109: How to Deal with Sub-brands

Every ministry wants their own logo. So how do you with all of these ministries wanting to create their own brand? If you're not careful of all these logos can your brand seem like the ads on the outside of a nascar. I believe there's a way around this thorny issue. That's what I'll cover in today's episode.

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • What a sub-brand is
  • Two schools of thought on branding
  • What path I suggest for you 
Sep 16, 201910:58
#108: How to Convince Your Boss to Give You Money

#108: How to Convince Your Boss to Give You Money

One of the ugly truths of church communications is that money is required to do the job. However, most of us don't have massive budgets and we're barely scraping by with what we've got. So how do you get more money and freedom to do what you need to do? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • Why you need to learn how to do this
  • The two types of leaders you're working with
  • How to communicate to those leaders
Sep 09, 201909:33
#107: Three Easy Steps to Assess Your Church's Communication Strategy

#107: Three Easy Steps to Assess Your Church's Communication Strategy

Every once in a while you need to take step from all the craziness that is church communications. You need to time to think through what you're doing and if it's actually working. So how do you do this? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • The key three hints you need to assess a communications strategy
  • When to pivot
  • How your strategy can create burnout
Sep 02, 201907:16
#106: Three Rules before Spending Your Church's Money

#106: Three Rules before Spending Your Church's Money

We all we want to be good stewards of our church's money. Want to make sure that we spend it in such away that we invest in things that will last, but we don't want to be left behind by not investing in the latest gear and software. 

Here's a peak inside this episode:

  • Where an increasing amount of your budget is going
  • The three rules of spending your budget
  • What you can do protect yourself and the church
Aug 26, 201909:11
#105: The Next Big Area of Growth for Your Church's Digital Strategy

#105: The Next Big Area of Growth for Your Church's Digital Strategy

I've been thinking about what's next for our church's digital strategy. What's comes after social media and a website? Where's the next big area of growth for a church's digital strategy? That's what I'll cover in today's episode.

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • The issues with our current digital platforms
  • The two areas we're focusing on
  • Tools you can use to grow in those two areas
Aug 19, 201909:56
#104: Four Things You Need to Know about Text Message Marketing

#104: Four Things You Need to Know about Text Message Marketing

Recently, I've started to focus on text messaging as a way to communicate with our church's congregation. Why? Well for starters, text messages have a 98% open rate. When you compare it to email, which has a 16% open rate, then text messaging seems like a no-brainer. 

So how do you get started with text message marketing? In today's episode, I'll walk you through four things you need to know about text message marketing. 

Here’s peek inside this episode:

  • Short-codes vs long-codes
  • What texting actually costs
  • How to see if your texts are effective.
  • Why you should be clear about opt-in and opt-out
Aug 12, 201910:49
#103: Choosing a Church Website Host

#103: Choosing a Church Website Host

Looking to create a website for your church? Or maybe move your church's website to a new host? Well, as you probably know, there are a ton of options out there. So in this episode, I'll walk you through how to navigate all of the options and find one that's right for you and your church. 

Here's a peek inside this episode:

  • A look at Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress
  • The pro's and con's of each platform
  • What it looks like to have  a marketing agency build your website for you.
Aug 05, 201912:30
#102: Dealing with High-Pressure Salespeople

#102: Dealing with High-Pressure Salespeople

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • What communication channels to use when communicating with salespeople.
  • Best practices when communicating with salespeople
  • What to look for in contracts before you sign them.
  • When to ask for a discount.
Jul 29, 201910:48
#101: Should Churches Use Mobile Giving?

#101: Should Churches Use Mobile Giving?

One of the features that you'll find universal amongst online giving providers is mobile giving. The problem is that everyone defines it differently. So in this episode I'll walk you three different features of mobile giving and which one you should focus one. 

Here’s peak inside this episode:

  • Text to Give vs App vs Mobile Website
  • What you need to know about short codes
  • How mobile app giving really works. 
  • Does Text to Give actually work?
Jul 22, 201910:23
#100: What to Look for in a Church Online Giving Platform

#100: What to Look for in a Church Online Giving Platform

Today, I’m going to show you a framework that you can use to evaluate these companies and determine which online giving company is right for you. 

Here’s peek inside this episode:

  • There are a plethora of online giving options in the market.
  • How they all will argue that they have the best features.
  • How this can turn into a high-pressure situation.
  • A framework to cut through the noise.
  • Where my church landed when choosing an online giving provider.
Jul 15, 201916:26
#99: Why I Left Social Media

#99: Why I Left Social Media

In this episode, I'm going to give some personal thoughts on social media and my decision to pull back and re-evaluate its value in my life. 

May 13, 201914:59
#98: Has Worship Become a Commodity?

#98: Has Worship Become a Commodity?

Today we’re going to talk through the increasing commoditization of worship. Specifically, the creative aspects of worship and how we, as church communicators contribute to worship through our creative efforts.

May 06, 201911:13
#97: The Truth about Hiring Someone to Build Your Church's Website

#97: The Truth about Hiring Someone to Build Your Church's Website

In this episode, I'm going to walk you through what you need to think through before you hire someone to build your church's website.
Mar 11, 201912:31
#96: Things Church Social Media Volunteers Must Do

#96: Things Church Social Media Volunteers Must Do

In this episode I'm going to walk through the four things that I tell social media volunteers when they come to work with our church.
Mar 04, 201909:40
#95: Using Uber to do Market Research

#95: Using Uber to do Market Research

In this episode, we're going to talk through how you can use Uber to do market research for you church.
Feb 25, 201907:47
#94: A Quick Guide on How to Write for the Web

#94: A Quick Guide on How to Write for the Web

In this episode, we talk through how to write for the web. I'll give you a quick formula that will guide through the entire process.
Feb 21, 201912:37