4. This was a throwaway line, but it stuck out for me. Gary was commenting on the fact that the Facebook social ads platform is as important to grasp as Google Adwords was 10 years ago. Google Adwords literally changed the advertising world forever. If Gary is flagging that Facebook ads are that important, you need to pay attention.
You have the ability to place inexpensive ads in front of the exact types of people you want to reach as a church … today. (Think “guys between the ages of 35 and 40 with kids, who read Tom Clancy novels and live within a 10-minute drive of your location.”) Carey Nieuwhof and Casey Graham talked about this as well last week on Carey’s podcast. This is a massive opportunity for your church … take advantage of it.
Take Away: What are you doing to get up to speed on using Facebook ads to reach your community? (Hint: Reading this book would be a great place to start.)
5. Gary has been a massive success in a number of different arenas, including social media marketing, small business growth, coaching, writing and consulting, just to name a few. He believes having a bias for action and being OK with the fact that you are going to make mistakes is critical to making an impact. I sometimes wonder if church leaders are shut down by worry about what will happen if what we’re attempting isn’t “successful.” I believe taking faith-based risks is at the core of what it means to lead a thriving ministry. We need to seek those risks and take the leap!
Take Away: What are you risking right now in your ministry that has the potential to fail?
6. Gary has a team of over 400 people working for him. He talked about what it’s like to manage this fast-growing and expansive team. One of the insights he gave was the value of understanding what makes people tick and then rewarding them with it. If people really want flexibility to be home with the kids a few afternoons a week … structure their jobs to make it happen! If they love travel and want to work remotely … set them up so they can work anywhere. Rather than guessing what motivates people, ask them and then have the guts to structure different “deals” for different people.
Take Away: When is a good time to ask your team how you could structure roles and rewards in a way that would motivate them?