Design Blog

First Step to a Church Website

5/7/2014

Domain

What is a domain?

It’s a public address for your website. For example, my “web address”, or domain, is www.FaithfulMinistryDesigns.com

Does a church need a domain?

Yes, if you want to build a website you must have a domain; like if you want to build a house you must first have a street address. Note that you may have a web/street address without having a website/house built on it.

0 Comments

Benefits of Email-based Newsletters

1/9/2014

2 Comments

As more and more churches and non-profits embrace email-based, HTML newsletters, I’m often asked about the benefits. Here are what I believe to be the top 3 benefits:

1. Cost effective. Stamp prices are rising while online email-campaign services are free or at little charge. The features offered by online venues are also increasing in functionality, ease and beauty.

2 Comments

Offer Professional-Quality Reservations

12/10/2013

0 Comments

Want to put your best foot forward for your next church event or conference? Offer professional-quality reservations through online ticket sellers like Eventbrite.com. At Eventbrite you can professionally offer online reservations and easily organize, correspond and check-in attendees.

And the best part is…if your event is free then so is your Eventbrite event account (reasonable prices including 501(c)3 discounts available for paid events). Try Eventbrite.com for your next church event to present a professional-quality reservation experience and to streamline the behind-the-scenes chaos.

Like this? Tweet about it!

0 Comments

Photos, Videos & Audios for You

11/11/2013

0 Comments

Think you don’t have the financial resources or expertise to acquire great quality, modern photos, videos and audios online? Don’t sweat it. There are plenty of sites and files available at your fingertips. Begin by creating a free account on Fotolia and iStock. Not only do these offer thousands of “royalty-free stock” files, they also rotate a collection of FREE files for download. With their affordable prices, extensive selection, and quality products, you might fool some into thinking you’re a professional graphic artist.

DIRECT LINKS:

www.fotolia.com

www.istockphoto.com

0 Comments

Best Ways to Upgrade - Part 2: Images

10/7/2013

0 Comments

It's TRUE, a picture is worth a thousand words! Why tell your readers when you can actually show them the ministry to orphans your youth did last month in Mexico? Show them the big smiles of the rugged children hugging your church youth as they look into the camera with watery-eyes and changed hearts. Only a picture can convey the true depth of emotion and ministry your church is practicing. All without saying a word.

On your next brochure, bulletin or flyer, cut down on your paragraph description and insert a descriptive picture in its place.

0 Comments

Best Ways to Upgrade - Part 1: Font

9/9/2013

0 Comments

One of the very best ways to upgrade any print or web piece is to use interesting fonts. Everyone uses Times New Roman, so gain your reader's attention with a unique, attention-grabbing font for your headers and titles. A bold header will go a long way in converting your potential readers to actual readers.

Add dimension and depth to your piece by using 2 or more fonts. It might be scary at first, but you'll quickly realize what a jewel you've uncovered once you begin. Using multiple, interesting fonts can turn a black and white, imageless bulletin into something wonderful that the whole church will start talking about!

Begin by using a weightier font for your titles, such as Impact or Arial Black, and a reader-friendly font for your paragraph text, such as Cambria or Times New Roman. Once you feel comfortable, experiment with different header fonts for different articles. For example, use a "fun, wide" font for your children's event and a "elegant, thin" font for your Valentine's banquet.

Once you get started you'll catch the bug and want more and more fonts! Start with a place like www.1001FreeFonts.com (no affiliation) to browse and download free fonts. Then try Google-ing a description of your desired font to get a boat-load of other free and priced options.

Found this helpful? Share it with other people:

0 Comments

3 Tips to Gain Space in Bulletins/Newsletters

7/11/2013

0 Comments

Any church secretary will agree, finding space for all the graphics and content you want to include in a bulletin or newsletter is hard work. But here are a few tried and true tips to help in your quest...

Space once between sentences (unlike typewriters, modern font texts are formatted to leave adequate space between sentences, so there's no need to double space anymore! :)

Use small margins on all four sides (up to 1/4 inch margins if your printer will allow it).

Crop photos (we don't want to see people's shoes - keep the important stuff the important stuff). Publisher, modern versions of Word, and any photo-editing software will help you do this.

0 Comments

First Step to a Church Website

Domain

Benefits of Email-based Newsletters

Offer Professional-Quality Reservations

Photos, Videos & Audios for You

Best Ways to Upgrade - Part 2: Images

Best Ways to Upgrade - Part 1: Font

3 Tips to Gain Space in Bulletins/Newsletters

Authors

Categories