XPIRITMENTAL is a resource that is designed to inspire creativity and conversation among Christ-followers. It's a place to share thoughts on marketing, design, service, technology and culture.

For anyone that's ever said to someone, “Your camera takes really nice pictures”, this is a MUST read this article by Erin Farrell. I'll quote the first few paragraphs and then you can read the rest of it on her website (along with a fantastic case study). Great job, Erin!

“Imagine that you’re baking dessert for a party. It’s your special recipe: the one everyone asks for. You make it from scratch, of course, never looking at the recipe that you committed to memory so long ago. Sugar, beaten eggs, sift in the flour… you’re crafting something delicious from basic elements. Now you’re at the party and everyone is gushing about your dessert. The flavor! The texture! But most of all you’re being asked, 'What kind of oven do you have? It makes great cakes!'

That’s pretty much how a photographer feels when people look at their photos and say, 'Your camera takes great pictures.'

Of course it’s not the camera that takes great photos, any more than it’s the oven that makes a great dessert. Ovens and cameras are just tools that make our jobs easier. Yes, better equipment does make a difference. I wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses if it didn’t. However, you must understand the camera to take advantage of all it can offer. Just because you’re using a professional camera does not mean you are producing professional images.”

Read the rest of the article and case study on Erin's website >>
(Be sure to scroll down the page on Erin's site)

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Welcome to Show & Tell, a weekly feature that focuses on the work of ministries within the Electricurrent and AdvancedMinistry clientele.

This week's feature is Frontiers, a ministry focused on sharing the love of Jesus within the Muslim community.  We were very blessed to have the opportunity to work with Frontiers on all aspects of their brand including communications strategy, logo, website, etc.

You can read more about Frontiers by visiting their website at www.frontiersusa.org.

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This week, we're going to give Derek a little bit of a breather. The man has been a writing machine over the last number of months documenting Monday Morning Misdemeanors and more recently, a column on “How To's”. So today, as an honorary guest to the How To columns, I am going to speak on ways to simplify your home page.

One of the great things about AdvancedMinistry is that you can feature any component you want on your home page. You can change the number of columns on the fly, reposition a module, and so on.

But just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you always should... for example when your home page becomes convoluted with too many items, it may be time to simplify.

So without further ado, let me show you two ways that you can bring simplification to your home page.

OPTION #1 - “3.0 Simplified home page”

Believe it or not, we've actually built a feature right into AdvancedMinistry that allows you to remove all of the columns from your home page and simplify it with a banner and navigation. To simplify your home page using this method:

1. Login to AdvancedMinistry and click on “Choose My Template” (right hand side).

2. If you already have an AM 3.0 template, click on EDIT beside the template that you want to simplify. Then proceed to Step 3. If you don't have an AM 3.0 template yet, select an AM 3.0 template and click on “Make This My Template”. Then, click on EDIT beside your new template.

3. Click on the “Layout” tab.

4. Under HOME PAGE VIEW, choose “Hide All Columns (Simple Home Page)” from the “Show/Hide Columns” menu.

5. Click on “Save” and then the “Home” button (in the top right).

6. Click on “View My Website” (right hand side) to preview it!

OPTION #2 - “Simplified Image Features”

Many organizations that we've featured on AdvancedMinistry spend the time executing simple image features. Here are some examples:

Calvary Christian Church

Tunbridge Wells Christian Fellowship

Church of the Harvest

Believe it or not this process is not complicated, providing that you have a moderate level of graphic design experience. To use this process, follow the steps, below. Note that there are many ways to accomplish what I'm about to show you... this is merely one of them.

1. Login to AdvancedMinistry and click on “Choose My Template” (right hand side).

2. If you already have an AM 3.0 template, click on EDIT beside the template that you want to simplify. Then proceed to Step 3. If you don't have an AM 3.0 template yet, select an AM 3.0 template (on the left) and click on “Make This My Template”. Then, click on EDIT beside your new template.

3. Click on the “Navigation” tab.

4. Change “Enable Footer Menu” to “No” and click on “Save”.

5. Click on the “Layout” tab.

6. Scroll down and write down (on a piece of paper, or wherever) the Individual Component Padding for “Left” and “Right”. (This is the padding contained inside of each column.)

7. Scroll back up and click on the link that says, “Click Here To Edit the Width of Each Column”.

8. Write down the width of each column. In the case of the screen capture demo (below), it's 289, 289 and 290. You will not want your images to be wider than the width of each column.

9. In Adobe Photoshop (or another graphic editing program), create your 3 feature images. (You could also do 4 images if you had 4 columns, or 5 images if you had 5 columns, etc.). In my case, I'm going to create 3 images, all 240 pixels wide by 100 pixels high. The reason that I am only making it 240 is because I want to keep each image under 245 pixels wide. (289 – 22 – 22) (Further explanation: 289: column width MINUS 22: padding left MINUS 22: padding right EQUALS 245.)

10. Back in the Admin, click on File Manager (right hand side) and upload the 3 files you've created.

11. Click on the Home button (in the top right) to go back to your main Content Management Screen.

12. You are now going to create 3 feature areas. To do so, repeat Steps 13 through 18 three times (since we have 3 columns)

13. Click on “Add Main Category”.

14. Do NOT give it a name.

15. Under the Page Options menu, select “Disable Page in Navigation Only”.

16. Click on the “Insert/Edit Image” icon and browse for the your feature image.

17. If you want to link the feature to somewhere else on your site, you can click on the LINK tab (under Image Properties).

18. Click “OK” and then “Add Content”. (Go back to Step 11 for any remaining feature images.)

19. You should now have something that looks like this.

Click on “Manage My Home Page Features” (located near the top of the page).

20. Drag anything in Column 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 into the “Not Featured” column.

21. Take the 3 “Untitled” items that you've just created and drag them into Column 1, 2 and 3 (so that you have one in each area).

22. Click on “Save Changes” and then the “Home” button (in the top right).

23. Click on “View My Website” (right hand side) to preview it!

Enjoy!

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We are pleased to announce Xpiritmental wallpaper #67 entitled, I Shall Look, inspired by Psalm 27:13.

Download the new wallpaper by selecting your preferred screen resolution (below) or visit the Xpiritmental Archives for more wallpapers. Have a great weekend!

Xpiritmental No. 67
Miraculous
Psalm 27:13



Download Wallpaper:
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
1680x1050
1920x1200

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A few weekends ago, our family got together for a family reunion (actually, my wife's family). Her mother, who has passed away, is from a family of 12 brothers and 1 sister. As we sat down and watched an actual slide show with a projector, we laughed and many stories were told including how they managed to not only survive, but flourish and set up a legacy which will last for a long, long time.

They talked about the division of tasks. Half of them were responsible for inside tasks while the other half were responsible for outside tasks. Although the boys who were assigned inside tasks where not necessarily overjoyed with the assignment of work normally performed by women in those days, their contribution not only helped the family be successful, but taught them great lessons and skills they used in their work careers and family raising careers. (all very successful)

So what am I trying to say and what would I like to discuss with you?

Lets discuss our God given abilities (roles) and how they can help not only our communities, churches and families, but also the personal joy we will experience when doing what we were created to do.

So often we want what other people have (talent and things) but don't realize that without our specific talents, the communities we are involved in are less than they could be.

Experience family, work, church, community to their fullest. Leave a legacy of living life like God intended. Be the best you that you can possibly be.

P.S. I'm hoping you can see how this applies to communicating the amazing message of Jesus Christ.

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We are pleased to announce a new AdvancedMinistry template entitled "School Is In". The template was designed in response to a great deal of feedback that we've received asking for more school-based designs. You can view a preview of the new template here.

As usual, all AM 3.0 templates are fully customizable including the ability to change the number of columns, colors, fonts, etc. If you would like to use a simplified version of your home page, edit your template, click the Layout Tab and choose "Hide All Columns (Simplified Home Page)". Resource files for the new template can be found in the "Download Materials" menu under "Template Resource Files".

To change your template at any time, login to your AdvancedMinistry account and select "Choose My Template".

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Welcome to Show & Tell, a weekly feature that focuses on the work of ministries within the Electricurrent and AdvancedMinistry clientele.

This week we're doing something a little different. Instead of showing you sites from AdvancedMinistry and Electricurrent, we'd like to show you what some of our BarkBuilder clients are doing. (BarkBuilder is the business version of AdvancedMinistry.)

This week's features are SuperFin Aquatics and Zeto Coffee House. Enjoy!

SuperFin Aquatics Inc.

Zeto Coffee House
 

Did you know: We offer custom design packages for ministries and businesses looking for a custom template. Contact us for more info.

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I had a great and unexpected conversation last week with Andrew from which the topic of this post was birthed. We both felt like it could make a great Monday morning post. For some of you this is going to be a great “ah-ha” moment. For others it might drum up painful memories. It is my hope that this will help all of you greatly going forward. Consider the following...

The Mechanic
Your car is making a funny noise or running rough. Maybe it won't start at all or smoke was pouring out while you were on the highway. In any event you find yourself realizing you need to go to an auto shop to get the help of a professional mechanic. You speak with the mechanic and describe what you were experiencing with your vehicle. Maybe you give him a little history of the last few months or year of your driving habits and observations of your car. After all no one knows your car better than you. The mechanic then takes all those things into consideration and takes a thorough look at your vehicle. The next day you go back and find out everything that is wrong with your car and you are given a quote. You agree to the quote and he commences working on your car.

However you don't go home, you decide to hang around and watch him work. You mill about the garage and observe him as he works. Every once in a while you ask him if he should be using the tool that he chose or you ask if he should be using the parts he is and suggest other parts instead. He explains why you shouldn't go down that road but you push back and suggest he use a different part. He is uncomfortable with your suggestions and would prefer that you trust his knowledge and years of experience so that you can leave with a car in good working order. After you call a few friends and remember what you saw on a “do it yourself” show one Saturday morning 8 months ago you have him go ahead with what you want. He obliges because you are his client and paying for the service despite his advice and warning you otherwise.

You pay and leave. You drive home and your ride is smooth. You car feels new again and you feel great because you had a hand in fixing your car. Then a month later something happens. It starts to run rough again. You're confused, it was just fixed. Each day it gets worse and your left with a problem that is worse than the one your started with. Then you remember the mechanic you hired and the money you spent. You're angry because he didn't fix it properly. Well we both know your not going back there, he didn't do his job right!

The Designer
Your brand isn't performing the way you would like it to. Maybe your not getting responses to direct mail campaigns, your site isn't getting hits or maybe people just plain don't understand what you are all about. In any event you find yourself realizing you need the help of a professional designer. You speak with a designer and describe what you have been experiencing with your brand. Maybe you give a little history of the last few months or year of what you have been trying to do and the observations you have made of your audience. After all no one knows your ministry better than you. The designer then takes all those things into consideration and takes a thorough look at your brand. The next day you meet again and find out everything that is wrong with your brand and are given a quote for the work that will be required to fix the situation.

So the designer goes to work and sends you a mock up of the new initiative that is going to change everything for you. You receive the email and give it a look. You like it but want to see something else because it wasn't quite on the mark. Fair enough, the designer obliges your request. You see the second design and make a list of requests and changes to the color, photography, layout or messaging. He explains why you shouldn't go down that road but you push back and press him to use your suggestions. He is uncomfortable with your suggestions and would prefer that you trust his expertise and years of experience so that you can end up with a brand in good working order. After you show the design to a few friends and remember that one article you read about good design one some website a few months ago you have him go ahead with what you want. He obliges because you are his client and paying for the service despite his advice and warning you otherwise.

You pay and your design is complete. You unleash your new campaign, site or brochure and love it. You feel great because you had a hand in fixing your brand. Then a month later something happens. You're not seeing the numbers you wanted coming in. The hits on the site are still low and people still don't get what you're about. You're confused, it was just fixed. Each day it gets worse and you're left with a problem that is worse than the one you started with. Then you remember the designer you hired and the money you spent. You're angry because he didn't do his job right. Well we both know you're not hiring him again, he didn't do his job right!

The Point
I trust that it's clear in the first story above that the fault wasn't really that of the mechanic. In fact, I'd venture to guess that most people reading this would read that and think: “how ridiculous”. The question is then, why does that attitude make sense in a design context?

We love serving our clients. Everyone that comes on board is special to us and we want nothing but the best for them. However there are times when we run into a situation like the ones described above. There have been times when projects have been dragged out and ultimately been less successful or even failed because of someone being unwilling to take our advice. The very advice they hired us and are paying us for.

There are probably a few of you out there that are reading this and can identify with the above parable. Some of you have been through many designers or worked with an agency or two and had this (bad) experience.

We felt it was important to lay this out for you so that you can get the most out of the designer/agency you are working with and the dollars you are spending. After all we have all heard that time is money. If you are crippling an initiative you are undertaking right now, not only are you wasting your current time and money, but also the time and money that will be required to recover from it and that's if it is even possible to do so.

So remember this going forward. Your input is valuable and paramount to the success of your ministry. When it comes to the actual execution or work, let the designer/mechanic do their job.

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Another in the series of 'Fun Theory' projects by Volkswagen

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As of today, any video files displayed in your media player will show an automatically generated preview image before the video is clicked on. This replaces the old method of displaying a generic AdvancedMinistry graphic.

Note: When a video is uploaded and cataloged in the system, please allow 5-10 minutes for the image to be generated.

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