Yes, we can make a difference.

Kurt Steinbrueck published an excellent article titled Google+ Invades Google’s Search Results explaining this on ChristianSEOGuys.com

Google is now using people’s connections via Google+ to influence the results people see in the search results.  You have to be logged into Google and have a Google+  account to see the change.  Any content that has been shared by you, the people in your circles, and the people Google suggests you might want to connect with (depending on how publicly the content was shared) will now show up more prominently in your search results if that content is relevant to your search. 

While you do have to be logged into Google and have a Google+ account to SEE the change, neither is necessary for you to FEEL the change.  That’s because even if you don’t have a Google+ account, where your website is displayed in the search results for those people who do have a G+ account are being affected.

For example, let’s say you run the Apple restaurant and because you’ve optimized your site for search engines it was showing up in the search results ahead of one of your competitors, the Banana restaurant. But the folks at the Banana have a G+ account, they’re sharing articles about it in G+ and their friends are sharing those articles as well.  There’s a good chance Banana’s website is going to be displayed ahead of Apple’s in the search results for the people who are friends with the Banana restaurant on G+.  And to make matters worse, the Banana restaurant will also probably show up ahead of yours when friends of the friends of the Banana restaurant search.  Follow that?

Of course, the opposite is also true.  G+ is still relatively new.  (Individual accounts launched in June, business pages in November.)  So, you can be the one taking advantage of this opportunity and getting a jump on the competition.  Here are the steps to get started…

1. Create a G+ account for yourself
2. Create a G+ page for your organization
3. Invite your friends & contacts on other social networks to connect with you and your organization on G+
4. Listen, ask questions and learn how to engage with others using your personal G+ account.
5. Begin sharing your organization’s content – announcements, blog posts, pictures, videos – on it’s G+ page.

I have not been a big user of Google+ to this point, but I see the writing on the wall and it says that Google finally figured out how to leverage it’s near monopoly in search to make it’s social network impossible to ignore.

Do you feel the need to use G+ because of its impact on search results?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are intended to strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft, but they would be a machete for an issue that needs a scalpel. If SOPA/PIPA were to be passed by Congress any site where a user posted copyrighted material could be sued and shut down. If enacted, this legislation could bring down all social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress. It would stifle startups, creativity and online collaboration.

Even OurChurch.Com would be at risk as we could be sued or shut down if one of our 14,000 users posted a copyrighted article or song on their site.

Online piracy is a major problem. Media companies lose out on billions of dollars because (mostly) foreign companies are selling or giving away their property online without paying royalties. But SOPA and PIPA are not the answer.

What can you do?

• Help inform your friends by sharing articles like this and talking with them about SOPA/PIPA.
• Add the Stop SOPA banner to your Facebook and Twitter profile pics at blackoutsopa.org
• Call your U.S. Representative and Senator.

What are your thoughts on SOPA? What are you doing about it?

Personally, I’ve had a G+ account since it launched invitation-only back in the summer.  I have not done much with it, though, because I’m already connected with everyone I really want to be connected with on Facebook and Twitter.  Google hadn’t really given me any reason to believe G+ was anything more than “one more thing.”

But now Google is using G+ activity to impact search results (more details about that tomorrow), and so I personally can no longer ignore it and neither can OurChurch.Com.  I’d love for you to connect with me, Paul Steinbrueck, and with OurChurch.Com on Google+.

Are you using Google+?  If so, what do you think of it so far?

Have you created a Google+ page for your organization?  If so, how’s that working out for you so far?

7 Resolutions for Your Website in 2012

1) Give your site a new look. If it’s been 2-3 years since you’ve changed the look of your site, it’s time. You don’t have to have the coolest, cutting edge website on the planet, but you do want to make sure your site doesn’t look behind the times.

2) Keep your website up to date all the time. Resolve to update your website at least once a week and any time there is news or announcements. You’ll probably be most successful keeping this resolution if you schedule a specific day and time to do it.

3) Optimize for search engines. Getting your site to the first page of the search results for keywords relevant to your site is a great goal for any organization. If you are just hoping for the best when it comes to search engines, you are missing out on so much potential. If your site is for a church, school, or local business, search engine optimization (SEO) services will almost more than pay for themselves with the new customers, members, and students they produce.

4) Email a newsletter. If you don’t send out a regular email newsletter, you are just hoping that people remember to come back to your site. An email newsletter is one of the few opportunities you have to proactively bring people back to your website. Your current members, visitors, or customers are the best target demographic ever, so reconnecting with them on a regular basis is one of the smartest things you could do this year.

5) Engage with social media. Resolve to take the next step with social media. Maybe that’s the first step – setting up accounts and adding links to them on your website. Maybe it’s developing for specific content and posts each day of the week. Maybe it’s time to stop broadcasting on social media and start asking questions and interacting.

6) Add to your communications team. If you are the only one managing your website and social media, you are probably holding back the potential of your website. We’re all limited in the amount of time we have to put into our websites, so one of the best things you can do is train and delegate some of the work to others. Perhaps there’s someone in your organization who would like to just update the photo galleries, do the sermon podcast, or manage the calendar. Plus to engage in social media well, you need additional contributors and people commited to sharing and engaging with you.

7) Upgrade to a Custom Site with Content Management System (CMS). If you built your website with a web builder like NE1 or if you designed it yourself with HTML or software like Dreamweaver, there is a whole ‘nother level to what you could accomplish with a custom, CMS-based website. In fact getting a CMS-based website will actually help you accomplish all 6 of the other suggested resolutions above.

Well, those are my suggestions. I’d love to hear the goals you’ve set for your website for 2012. Post ‘em in the comments.

Rev. Canon Dan Webster (@RevWeb), a Episcopal priest in Baltimore, MD is a big advocate of ministers connecting with parishioners in social media and tweeted:

Friend as many parishioners as possible. Use it to inform/enlighten/build community.

The conversation progress to discussing what a minister should do when leaving a congregation. In that case Rev. Webster tweeted:

If a pastor/employee leaves parish, unfriend former parishioners. When you leave; u leave. I did 2 yrs ago when I left my parish.

I responded:

Why unfriend them? Are some of them not true friends?

To which Rev. Webster replied:

Only reason I met my parishioners was as their pastor; not their friend. Heard their confessions on fb. I WAS their priest.

I believe our difference of opinion about what to do when a minister leaves a church stems from different understandings concerning the relationship between ministers and laypersons.

Rev. Webster seems to view his role as priest as being purely professional. He’s not there to be anyone’s friend, but rather to perform services for them. In that context, when the professional relationship is over, the relationship is over.

My view of minister/layperson relationships comes from observing the way Jesus related to his disciples. Jesus did not separate himself from disciples. Not only did he teach them, but he also lived with them, ate with them and did everything else with them. This was not merely a professional relationship. He loved them and they loved him.

Shortly before his death, Jesus said to his disciples:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. –John 15:15

If Jesus was a friend to his disciples, shouldn’t today’s ministers be a friend to their disciples as well?

I do think that when a minister leaves a congregation, the relationship with people in the congregation will change. He or she also needs to be careful not to undermine the leadership of the new minister. But a mass unfriending on Facebook?

What do you think?

If you’re a minister and have been through a transition in the Facebook era, what did you do and what did you learn from the experience?

One way you can help others reclaim Advent and spread the word about Occupy Advent is through the use of this new QR code.  When scanned by a QR scanning mobile app, it takes you to the Occupy Advent Facebook page.

(If you’re unfamiliar with QR codes see What is a QR Code? (and 4 other things you should know about them) and QR Codes: 10 Ways Churches Can Use Them)

How can you use the OccupyAdvent QR code?

1. Put it in your church’s weekly bulletin
2. Put it in your church’s monthly newsletter
3. Put it on a yard sign outside your church
4. Put it in the window of your church or office
5. Print out dozens of copies and post them to public bulletin boards around town

It’s no secret that denominations are on the decline. Most mainline denominations are losing members. Meanwhile non-denominational churches and non-denomination para-church ministries are continuing to grow. I believe much of it stems from the rising value in Christianity to work together where we agree.

Offline, I can work with you to bring food and the gospel to people who are hungry without agreeing with your view of baptism. I can join with you for a city-wide evangelism event without first needing to agree with you on end-times theology.

The same is true online.

We can have conversations here about how to communicate more effectively online without our theological differences every coming up. It’s not that those differences don’t matter or we’re avoiding them. They just aren’t our focus and we don’t want unrelated differences to get in the way of learning from each other.

In fact, our staff here at OurChurch.Com are Lutheran, Southern Baptist, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Christian/Disciples of Christ, and Methodist.

Some of the social media communities I appreciate most include:

• StickyJesus
• Internet Evangelism Day
• The Center for Church Communications (best known for Church Marketing Sucks)
• #ChSocM
• OccupyAdvent

I don’t know what denomination the leaders of those ministries are a part of, but I know I have learned a lot and been greatly encouraged by all of them.

Communication is changing so rapidly we can’t afford to only listen and learn from those people in our own denominations.

What denomination are you a part of? Where has social media enabled you to connect with people from other denominations and learn and grow?

A place for Christians and church leaders to discuss ideas and share content for using social media to prepare hearts, minds, and homes for the birth of Jesus.

As the Occupy Advent movement gains momentum, many pastors, church communicators, and Christian laypersons have a growing desire to using social media to help people overcome the busyness and consumerism that so often plagues the season and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Rather than each church, ministry and individual come up with their own social media plan and create all their own content, we can develop better plans, better content and save time by working together.

While the Occupy Advent Facebook page and Twitter account are for public consumption, distribution and discussion, the Occupy Advent – Social Media Strategery Facebook Group (yes, despite the seriousness of the issue, we also have a sense of humor) is a “behind the scenes” place for you to discuss and share your own Advent social media ideas and check out the ideas and resources other ministry leaders are working on.

The group is intended primarily for pastors and church communicators who are preparing now to lead their congregations through a more peaceful, reflective Advent season through social media. However, the group is open to anyone who wants to use social media to Occupy Advent.

Check it out!

Related posts:

• 10 Ideas for Using Social Media in the Epic Battle for Advent
• What is Occupy Advent?

I’m a participate in the weekly church social media #ChSocM twitter chat with Rev. David Hansen, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Prairie Hill, TX and founder of Occupy Advent. I interviewed David about Occupy Advent via email.

Paul: What is the purpose of @OccupyAdvent and the #OccupyAdvent hashtag?

David: The best statement of the purpose that I’ve come up with yet is “to help churches and Christians use social media tools to talk about the meaning & mystery of Advent.” To expand on that a little, what I would like to see is Christians using the power of social media to change the conversation of the “holiday season” – away from the shallow commercialism and toward the power of waiting and watching.

Paul: What motivated you to start this initiative?

David: It all started with a question from @MeredithGould, while getting a topic and questions ready for the Tuesday night chat. We were talking about using social media to help congregations observe Advent. I got to thinking about the tension in the holiday season – that the meaning of the season has largely been defined by expensive, well funded branding and messaging. It occurred to me a) Messaging is sort of what churches do, and b) social media makes funding irrelevant. With social media, we had the ability to change the message in November/December.

Paul: What specifically are you going to be doing during Advent on Facebook, Twitter, etc in an effort to accomplish OccupyAdvent’s purpose?

David: I will be using facebook & twitter in a number of ways during December. (a) Sharing / Proclaiming the season of waiting and watching, and encouraging people to slow down and simplify. (b) Providing resources, ideas, and hints to help congregations and individuals observe Advent.

Paul: What can others do to help and join you in this movement?

David: Join the conversation! Use social media to talk about your holy waiting, and invite others to join you. Share your ideas for individuals and congregations on twitter or on our Facebook page.

Another, further way to help change the message this year: I am not going to participate in the commercialized conversation on social media – I am not going to talk about purchases, sales, etc on social media. And I certainly invite others to join me in that, as well. At the end of the day, I think it is pretty clear what happens to the conversation about the commercialized “holiday season” if we all refuse to participate in it.

Paul: Thanks David!

I encourage you all to “like” Occupy Advent on Facebook and follow it on Twitter.  During the Advent season, reflect on the thoughts posted there. Share and retweet the posts with your friends and followers as way of spreading the movement of peace and reflection this Advent.

For more ways to Occupy Advent, see yesterday’s post 10 Ideas for Using Social Media in the Epic Battle for Advent

What are your thoughts on Occupy Advent?  Are you going to join the movement?