Archive for the ‘visitors’ Category
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One of the most popular things sought after here at Evangelism Coach is a letter to mail to first time visitors.
I have one, but would like to gather up a collection of them from my readers and then make a collection of them available for download here.
Help me get submissions.
- If you are not the person who writes the church’s first time visitor letter, would you be so kind as to forward this link onto your pastor or church secretary, requesting that they help me with this project.
- Post this link to your Facebook or Myspace profile with a personal note asking people to submit these.
Format for submission:
Word Document or PDF.
Block address or merge fields is fine.
cforms contact form by delicious:days
Those who submit this form will be automatically added to the Evangelism Coach Newsletter list to receive word of the finished product. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Comments (0) Posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2008
At the church we currently attend, there are plenty of people who use public transportation to attend: buses, taxi, and of course, their own feet.
We normally take a public bus to church, which drops us at the entrance to our congregation, and so we walk through the parking lot to make it to the entrance.
Running late — used a taxi
However, one morning, we took a taxi to church running late (it is about 3x more expensive than a bus - but much more efficient).
When the taxi driver allowed us to get out of his car by the front door to the church, a church greeter was there to open the door for us and say “Welcome to [name of church here.]“
This made us feel like we were stepping into a 5 star hotel with valet service.
This kind and thoughtful gesture took the edge off of our stress at running late.
Parallels to your church
Some church campuses may have a covered driveway where people can get out of the car if it is raining.
Perhaps your church has a van bringing seniors from a local resident home.
Maybe drivers dropping off family members before parking the car and coming back to the building.
Consider a church valet greeter who opens the taxi door, or door for any car unloading its passengers at the entry door before the driver goes and parks the car.
That greeter can
- Open the passenger doors as a sign of honor to members and guests.
- Give a great smile and warm hello and perhaps a hand shake.
- Mints or gum. Enough said.
- If it’s raining, offer provide a church umbrella so the driver get back from parking the car.
A valet - type greeter can be a wonderful blessing there at the door.
Just a thought.
Comments (1) Posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Today, we have a guest post from Joe Schlosser, friend of this ministry and founder of Excellent Marketing Group.
I have known Joe through my connections with PRMI.org and he has been a blessing to this ministry. He’s got some great fun ideas for church visitors gifts some of which can fit inside a church visitor packet, and others of which you can simply give alongside the church welcome packet.
To place an order for any of these welcome packet gift ideas or to order one of his free catalogs, simply contact Joe Schlosser at 404-784-1008.
__________________________________________
10 Freebie Giveaways For Church Visitors
by Joe Schlosser
EMGCoaching.com
OK, so you are experiencing an increase in visitors to your church.
You see a lot of new faces and your church greeters are telling you they are meeting a lot of people.
However, you’re not seeing an increase in actual visitor cards being filled out. If those visitors never give you their information, you have no way of contacting them to engage them further.
That’s where a free visitor gifts along with a Visitor’s Welcome Packet can play a vital role in connecting further with your visitors.
By including useful items along with information about your church that reinforces your vision and mission, you can keep your message and branding in front of potential new members.
Apart from the informational brochures, event flyers, and other items, here are some suggestions of things to include with a Visitor’s Welcome Folder.
1. Custom Church Visitor Welcome Folders
Something classic to hold all the information you provide (the brochures, the policies, the flyers on programs, etc.)
2. Digital Media Download Cards
This is really hot! It is the most advanced gift available with multiple uses and applications.
The visitor would receive the gift card at an event or service where they receive the visitor welcome folder.
To redeem the gift, the recipient goes online to your church branded website to redeem the phone minutes, music, ringtones, pizza, photo processing, movies, or other premium services. Pretty cool huh?
During the redemption process you can collect contact information from your visitor that can be used to re-engage them later through postal mail or email campaigns.
Once the visitor inputs their information they are taken to the download page and can immediately download their gift. It really is quite simple and allows you to capture a lot of information that may otherwise just walk out the door.
3. Video or DVD of your organization
These simple tools can show off the different programs and services you offer, and can be very interactive.
EMG Design can arrange for videographers, or you can hire local ones, to come in and record your programs at the church, video tours of the church facility, or kids playing and learning.
EMG Design can custom design your CD or DVD cover as well as provide unique case designs and delivery options.
These have been quite useful in promoting various organizations and highlighting various programs.
The video can be used as a promo piece on your website as well.
4. Calendars
Customized calendars always keep your information right in front of your church visitors.
Several styles and sizes to choose from.
5. Refrigerator magnets
Need an inexpensive marketing option with “staying power”?
According to a study at Purdue University, the average American visits their refrigerator 22 times a day. So, your magnetic promotional product offers you around 8,030 impressions each year. That’s one of the lowest costs per impression of any item in our industry!
Magnets are very affordable and can be custom designed to be any shape. Be creative and humorous! Think outside the box on what you could include.
6. Coffee tumbler/travel mug
With the popularity of Starbucks and more and more churches allowing their people to come in with coffee, this is a great gift that will get used over and over again.
7. Journal books with pen
A great gift that encourages journaling, sermon note taking and reflection.
Most books allow you to place a page of custom information in the front highlighting contact information, times of service, etc.
8. Seeded Bookmarks and Notecards
Everyone loves bookmarks and cards!
This inexpensive product is made from recycled paper with wildflower seeds pressed into the paper so when the recipient gets home and is through using the item, they simply plant it and flowers come up. Truly a memorable gift that keeps giving.
9. Tote bags
Something stylish to hold the various gifts and books that may be given away to church visitors. Can be screen printed or embroidered.
10. Books
Choose a good book that represents your purpose or a current sermon topic and give it away.
With EMG’s connections into the publishing industry, we can get great discounts on book titles that can be passed along to clients.
________________________________________________
What now?
We would be happy to assist you in determining what would be the proper Visitors Welcome Packet for your organization.
To order any of these items listed, or to explore the other 750,000 possible options of imprinted items, simply contact us directly by phone at 404-784-1008.
Every situation and order is different.
We strive hard to provide you with the very best solution, at the very best price, with the very best service!
__________________________________________________
About Joe Schlosser
Founder, Excellent Marketing Group and Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach
Joe has a passion to see other leaders be successful. As a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach, he has over 28 years of experience in the area of coaching, graphic design and promotional marketing. He has worked as the Director of Marketing for a national, faith-based nonprofit organization and is gifted in strategic thinking and analysis, being highly creative. He can be reached at 404-784-1008.
Free Download
Sign up for the EvangelismCoach monthly evangelism newsletter with exclusive personal evangelism and church hospitality tips and receive a free download PDF of “Avoiding First Time Visitor Nightmares.
Comments (2) Posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
The Art of Church Hospitality
Welcoming Visitors
in Your Midst
Date:
Tuesday, September 9, 9pm EST
Can’t make this seminar?
Get our Newsletter to get future announcements!
For full and complete registration details go to:
http://www.evangelismcoach.org/free-online-seminar
Comments (0) Posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008
Bob Lotich, guest blogger for ChurchMarketingSucks.com gives a list of reasons to run from a church. In it, he discusses visible clues that as a visiting guest he’s able to pick up on in a few repeat visits.
- Everything was Mediocre
- The Place was full of strife
- Unwillingness to Adapt
- Tickled the Ears
- Not Led with Passion.
From Chuck Lawless, Billy Graham School of Evangelism
· Evangelism in many churches is about believers responding to a guest who first visited the church rather than their proactively sharing Christ. If the non-believer (whom we may not know personally) makes the first move, we are then ready to respond with the gospel.
· Evangelism is sometimes reduced to “invite others to church, where someone else (the preacher) will tell them about Jesus” — and even then more corporately than individually. In that case, nobody does personal evangelism.
· In some congregations, evangelizing takes place more on the international mission field — as essential as that task is — than in a church member’s neighborhood. The same believer who travels overseas to speak of Christ through a translator often leapfrogs his own unbelieving neighbors who speak the same language.
· Despite the New Testament emphasis on laity, many churches still relegate evangelism to hired clergy. As one church member told me, “We pay them to do that because they’re the ones trained for it.” Personal involvement in evangelism is thus equated with putting a check in the offering plate on Sunday.
If you are one who likes to talk to strangers and you want some conversational items for travel rest stops, check out this list of evangelistic conversation bridges.
Ajith Fernando reminds us to get back to the priority of evangelism.
Leadership Magazine on Five Kinds of Christians.
Michael Spencer, in a post from May, writes:
“Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and sin no more.”
When the quality of God’s mercy in the Gospel no longer amazes you, you will begin to justify the dilution of amazing grace into religious grace, or moral grace, or grace in response to something.
Real grace is simply inexplicable, inappropriate, out of the box, out of bounds, offensive, excessive, too much, given to the wrong people and all those things.
Comments (0) Posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008
(Note: Whole series is listed at the end of this article).
The month of August smashed all traffic records for this website with the series on How to Welcome Church Visitors.
Website statistics
Back when EvangelismCoach.org first got started it took nearly a 365 days to reach the first 10,000 page views.
Because of the How to Welcome Church Visitors series, we blew past 10,000 page views in under 45 days.
Last month alone had 2x the normal traffic volume.
I’ve got nothing to bench mark against, as I’m not yet aware of another ministry like Evangelismcoach, giving away as much information as possible so that
the Church may be ignited in the power of the Holy Spirit to passionately fulfill God’s call to reach the nations.
RSS Feed
The number of feed subscriptions (where people get new contact delivered to them automatically) has shot up another 20%.
If you are not sure what a feed is, read What is RSS?. Otherwise grab my feed and you can get content delivered straight to you in your reader or by email.
Newsletter
Another surprising growth spurt has been seen in number of subscribers to our newsletter.
I tweaked the signup page a little to make the registration process much easier and have found that in just one month, I’ve had a growth of 25% in the subscriber base.
A word of thanks
The reach of this ministry continues to grow.
Faithful readers who visit, grab the feed, get the newsletter, use the tell a friend button, and emailing articles are the human side of the advance of this ministry.
Your loyalty is a blessing to me.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that this ministry would be so global. I see God’s hand of blessing upon it, and my I continue to be a tool in His hand to help the church.
I’ve had the privilege of communicating with many of you on the phone or by email. I appreciate the words of support you share with me in this ministry and how you have become a champion of this ministry, regularly sending articles to friends and pointing your colleagues to this website. To you all, I say thanks.
Upcoming Free Online Evangelism Training
As a result spike in traffic patterns, we have scheduled our next free online evangelism training for September 9 on How to Welcome Visitors.
It’ll take these concepts and then some and provide some practical training, free. More details at the free online evangelism training page.
How to Welcome Church Visitors Series
Here is the entire series in a single link page
Comments (0) Posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
Are you looking for ideas of what to put in a welcome folder for church visitors? (Also see: 10 Church Visitor Gift Ideas)
Choose the Church Visitor Folder
The easiest form is to use a pocket folder such as the one pictured.
Many churches will choose to have them professionally printed with the church logo and contact information on it.
Pick a color that goes well with your marketing design.
The pockets makes it easy to put your contents in it. Assembly is easy.
Personally, I like the ones with the business card cut out.
Instead of the pastor’s business card (which can be in a folder or attached to the visitor letter), stick in Business Cards that Church members can give away. You could also put a regfrigerator magnet with the church’s contact information on it, or maybe a phone number hot-line for prayer.
Prepare the Church Visitor Packet
Here are a few ideas of what to put in the welcome packet for visitors. These are things that I have seen and appreciated.
You know your local ministry context so use what is appropriate. All of these may not be useful.
- Letter of Greeting from the Pastor with an invitation to return the following week.
- A summary of the church’s vision and dream.
- Audio recording from the Pastor — a popular sermon, or a more in depth greeting.
- General information brochure on the church’s ministries.
- A brief history of the church, or the denomination if that is deemed important.
- Announcement flyers of public events such as fall festivals, Christmas Programming. Not notes from your Evangelism Committee meetings.
- Information on the membership process of your church.
- A coupon to turn in at the welcome center on next visit for a free token of appreciation like a book or mug or gas card.
- Marketing piece for current sermon series.
- Information on how to get sermon series via podcast or website.
- Invitation to an on-line follow up Survey for First Time Visitors about their experience of your church’s hospitality.
- A brochure that explains the gospel simply and clearly and points visitors to a page on your website that shares more information.
- For more ideas see: 10 Church Visitor Gift Ideas
The quality of whatever goes in this packet is part of the first impressions that you will make on a church visitor. Make sure your photocopies are clean, crisp, on decent weight paper (such as 24lb). A fourth generation photocopy of a dot matrix letter in courier font is just not acceptable. 
A word about audio recordings in Visitor Packets
We recently received a cassette tape copy of the sermon preached that day. We then discovered that we don’t have a cassette player any more.
Not in the car.
Not in our house.
We haven’t used a cassette is several years and forgot that we didn’t own a player. All our stereo systems have gone to CD or MP3.
Consider a offering a choice: cassette, CD, DVD, or a link to a free MP3 download on the church’s website.
Distribute the Welcome Folders to Visitors
During our visits in different churches, these visitor packets have come to us in a variety of ways:
- We have found them ourselves.
- The members that have invited us will bring us one.
- Greeters that recognize us as visitors give them to us.
- Told to get one from the Welcome Center on the way out.
- When prompted, we raised our hands and ushers gave one to us.
Let me ask you this?
If you use visitor packets, would you share with us in the comments put in your welcome folder? How do you distribute the church welcome packet?
More Info:
Want more information to welcome church visitors? See our 2nd church hopitality series: Welcome Church Visitors. See also 10 Church Visitor Gift Ideas
Update: This post has gotten a lot of attention thanks to people posting it to
- Their Facebook profile,
- bookmarking it in Delicious,
- and using the tell a friend button,
- And linking to this from their own blog
to cast this out to a lot of their social networks. I want to say thank you for doing this.
For those of you coming here for the first time, thank you.
Free Download
Sign up for our FREE monthly evangelism tips newsletter with exclusive personal evangelism and church hospitality tips and receive a free download PDF of “Avoiding First Time Visitor Nightmares.
Comments (4) Posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
