We know, we know, we know. It’s too early to start celebrating Christmas. But it’s not too early to start planning for it. In fact, most churches miss a massive opportunity every single Christmastime…is yours going to miss it again this year? Honestly, it may be the most important year yet to make sure your church doesn’t miss out.

Tips to keep in mind:

• Anytime people are in front of you, you need to take advantage of that opportunity to connect with them further, and that includes getting their most-important information, which is their email address and cell phone number.
• Plan ahead! Don’t wait till December to start thinking about this.
  • At a minimum, you can provide your email/text list info in your bulletin but it’s even better if you hand out a separate flyer to each person.
  • Make an announcement to provide your email/text list info, and explain “why” they should provide you with their contact info. It’s important to make it compelling!
  • Consider offering a small gift for all those that sign up so people are more willing.
• Consider the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 – this Christmas is a HUGE opportunity to reach that one lost sheep.

Links from this show:

• Matt Warner references a custom flyer and launch cards. If you’re a Flocknote user, you can access these resources (+ lots more). Here’s how!
  
• Flocknote provides training on hosting a Signup Sunday, including this Sample Announcement Script.
• In the “People Got Church Problems” segment, messaging “subgroups” is mentioned. See how to create these in Flocknote HERE! Interested in creating Boards instead? Here’s a few resources to help with that.
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

How should it feel when you walk into a church? And what does the space — the architecture, art, materials, faces, smells, sounds — communicate to us as we encounter it? Where does our mind go? Does it matter? Why is it important that it feel strange and weird? Tune in today for a fun discussion on things that make us feel…different.

Links from this show:

• Matt Sewell references the use of math in cathedral architecture. Learn more about that HERE!
• Matt Warner poses a question for the audience and would love to hear from you! To share your thoughts on the question “What attracts you to church?”, send a message in the text box at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question.
• Matt Sewell mentions an older webinar highlighting the power of text messaging, which you can watch on-demand HERE! Please note that since this is an older webinar, it does reference dates in the past and includes some outdated screenshots, but the functionality is the same. See even more up-to-date webinars at Flocknote.com/webinar.
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

A lot of churches struggle to get folks involved in their various ministries. And a lot of church members are slowly drifting out because they haven’t managed to get more deeply plugged into your community. What if in just two minutes, you could solve that? And at the same time, grow every single ministry at your church to bigger than they’ve ever been? Here’s a simple way to do it.

How to eliminate “objections” to joining other ministries:

• Reduce members’ anxiety about what they’re signing up for.
  • Sometimes they’re afraid of attending a meeting or group in fear they’re “stuck”. 
  • Let them know they aren’t committed to something right off the bat and can ease into more responsibility (if interested).
• Personally invite people.
  • Other companies/groups/organizations are doing the work and personally inviting people to things and making them seem enticing. Along with group invites, are you directing questions to particular people and making them feel personally invited?
• Make sure to follow up!
  • If they show interest, don’t leave them hanging!

Links from this show:

• Matt Warner references a few helpful ways Flocknote can help your ministry grow!
  • Host a Signup Sunday
  • Text-to-Join Keywords
  • Utilize Smart Buttons
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

We’ve all had those days. Sometimes it seems like every day is like this. You start with a nice, organized to-do list. Then five minutes into the day you’re putting out fires, responding to emails, reacting to interruptions…and then? The day is over. And none of the important stuff on your list got done. 

Sound familiar? In this episode, we give you a simple framework to help take back your day, tame the urgent, and get back to doing the most important parts of your work.

Church leaders know that some software can make life so much easier, saving time, money, and headaches. But they also know that sometimes church software does the total opposite, ending up as frustrating and counterproductive. What’s the difference? And how should your church navigate choosing various types of software to make sure you get it right?

Pitfalls church leaders get into when choosing software:

• Someone else is choosing software to solve another person’s problem.
  • Sometimes a decision-maker or IT person selects the software that may help their own personal workflow, but it doesn’t end up being useful or enjoyable to use by the people that actually need to use it on a daily basis.
• Getting too distracted by long lists of features vs focusing on which problems the tool solves.
• Choosing a tool that does everything but, in the end, is not great at any one particular thing.
  • You want to combine the right features, but not all of them.
• Not considering the company’s customer service. It should really be a major factor in your decision, not just an added bonus.
• Not thinking long-term. The tool may be great for now, but will it work for you in 5 years? 10 years? Beyond that?
• Not stepping back and looking at the big vision/purpose.

Links from this show:

• In the “People Got Church Problems” segment, Matt explains that Flocknote admins can craft one message and it can be sent as either a text message or an email (based on each member’s preferences). Learn more about this essential feature in this handy how-to guide.
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

Today’s topic is close to our hearts here at Flocknote and The Finding Uno Show, as it is based on our favorite parable of the one lost sheep. If you have 100 people in your group and one stops showing up, would you notice that person was missing? And if so, what do you do about it? Come learn this powerful insight into building relationships and growing your ministry.

Tips to miss your people well:

• Follow up with people when they miss events, services, etc. to let them know they were missed.
• Be proactive to let them know ahead of time that they’ll be missed if they don’t attend various events.
• Take attendance
  • You can do this privately – no need to do a public roll-call!
  • Consider asking a volunteer to help track attendance privately.
• Create a culture of missing your people.

Links from this show:

• Towards the end of the episode, Matt Warner references the “7%” and “82%” which is a reference to a previous episode that you can watch HERE!
• Read the full parable of the Lost Sheep and Uno’s story HERE!
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

Do you know the purpose of a church logo? And what makes a good one? How do you think yours stacks up? A strong church logo scores well in all 4 of these key categories…tune in to find out what they are, and learn how to make sure your logo is in tip-top shape.

Questions to ask yourself while creating or updating your logo:

• Is it distinctive?
• Is it meaningful?
• Is it versatile?
• Is it timeless?

Links from this show:

• In this episode, Matt Warner recommends your logo be in a vector file format. Professional graphic designers will know exactly what this means and easily be able to supply this for you. But in case you are designing the logo yourself, you can start with this short article from Adobe.
• Matt Warner references his own church’s logo as an example – you can check it out on their official website HERE!
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

One of the main reasons churches end up communicating so little, is because they are saying way too much. That sounds backward, but it’s not. In this episode, we discuss the importance of saying less and how to apply that to all the ways you communicate as a church.

Tips to say less and communicate more:

• Put in the time!
• Get better at writing with practice.
  • Reduce the use of filler/fluffy words.
  • Break up longer sentences into two shorter sentences.
  • Use the active voice instead of the passive voice.
  • Get rid of words ending in “-ing”.
  • Remove any redundant words.
• Don’t get too attached to words/phrases.
• Try a writing exercise where you have to communicate your whole message in 2-3 sentences – how would it look? Which parts are essential and which can be removed?

Links from this show:

• Because today’s episode title is ultimately a paradox, Matt Sewell references G.K. Chesterton, a theologian famously known for his thoughts on faith and paradox. See the full quote and its meaning in this article from Chesterton.org!
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

For the first time in US history, less than half of Americans belong to a church. Less than half! Tune in as we dig into all the data in this latest Gallup study, including understanding why the last 20 years, in particular, have been so significant. We’ll discuss what this means for the future of the Church and what we should do about it.

Links from this show:

• Matt mentions the “nones” which refers to those who have no religious affiliation.
• Today’s episode also references a recent study by Gallup published on their website. Click HERE to see the full study.
• Learn how Flocknote makes it easy to collect your members’ contact info. Check out this Flocknote how-to guide!
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question. 

Our Happiness Engineers have helped thousands of churches with their weekly emails over the years. Many churches, who otherwise do a great job communicating, still make a lot of common mistakes in their weekly email newsletter. Come learn about 12 of the most common mistakes…and how to easily fix them!

The 12 Mistakes:

1. Not sending emails at all
2. Not using a proper email service
3. Not sending consistently
4. Not using consistent branding
5. Not using the subject line well
6. Too long / too much info
7. Not optimizing for mobile
8. Not knowing your audience
9. Treating email as one-way communication
10. Not asking “What’s the purpose?”
11. Not spending enough time

Links from this show:

• Matt mentions references 2 previous Finding Uno episodes in the show – check out the full episodes to learn more: “When & How Often Should You Send Email?” (S1Ep4) & “Why Segmenting Lists is So Important” (S1Ep5)
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question.