The Seminary of Hard Knocks Podcast | Church Communications, Marketing, and Social Media

Leveraging YouTube to Reach Your Community w/ Alejandro Reyes, ep. 44

The Seminary of Hard Knocks with Seth Muse
A fine place to expand your knowledge of church communications and social media!
Get the show notes with all the links discussed in this episode at www.sethmuse.com/44 

Becoming a Better Storyteller w/ Robert Carnes, Ep. 43

The Seminary of Hard Knocks podcast with Seth Muse
Show notes available at www.sethmuse.com/43 
In this episode, I talk with Robert Carnes of Orange Leaders about telling better stories in the church as well as his new book The Original Storyteller. This is a fun conversation full of wise insight on how you can communicate the Gospel more clearly than ever before!
I'm Speaking at Some Free Conferences Soon
Catch me at www.thatchurchsummit.com  or at https://churchmarketingsummit.com/free along with over 30 other church communication and marketing experts!

6 Things No Guest Should See at Your Church, ep. 42

The Seminary of Hard Knocks Podcast with Seth Muse
Show Notes available at www.sethmuse.com/42 

Clarify Your Message or Lose Your Audience w/ Wes Gay, Ep. 41

Show notes available at www.sethmuse.com/41 

Branding Isn't a Swear Word w/ Travis Walser, Ep. 40

Show notes can be found at www.sethmuse.com/40 
Travis Walser talks with me about branding in the church, a branded house vs. house of brands, and more on this episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks podcast with Seth Muse!

Encouraging Entrepreneurs in the Church, w/Terrace Crawford, Ep. 39

Church Communications from a Loveable Troll.
Show Notes available at www.sethmuse.com/39
Follow me on Instagram at @theseminaryofhardknocks now!

Live-ish! from That Church Conference! ep. 38

Get the show notes at www.sethmuse.com/38 
 
This week, I went to the best church communications conference. Yep, it's That Church Conference in Atlanta and I thought I'd capture audio clips of people's biggest takeaways from the sessions in this episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks podcast with Seth Muse (and friends)!

The Signs of Burnout and How to Avoid It w/ Meghan Howard, Ep. 37

Welcome to The Seminary of Hard Knocks Podcast! It's church communications from a loveable troll.
The show notes for this episode are found at www.sethmuse.com/37 so check those out.
Meghan Howard is the associate pastor at Fairborn United Methodist in Fairborn, OH. She takes "wears multiple hats" to a new level and you'll hear her story in this episode about how she has battled burnout.
Learn to recognize burnout and combat it from a veteran who has been there! Thanks for listening!

Church Announcements Done Right w/ Adam McLaughlin, Ep. 36

Church Announcements Done Right w/ Adam McLaughlin
Get 88 Ideas for Church Social Media Posts now!
Adam is the Communications Director at Life Church in Ft. Meyers, FL. He has had a lot of success at his church with both live announcements and video announcements, and he shares what has worked for them both on this episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks Podcast and in the eBook, SnorkleFork. You'll have to listen to the show to find out what the title means.
Show Notes at SethMuse.com/36

Creating Personas for Your Church's Digital Strategy w/ Barbara Carniero, Ep. 35

Creating Personas for Your Church's Digital Strategy w/ Barbara Carniero
Show Notes can be found at www.sethmuse.com/35. 
Barbara started an agency that helps businesses, non-profits, and churches connect their message with their communities and customers. In this episode, we discuss the often forgotten or overlooked first stage of crafting great websites, social media posts, and ads: Personas.
Personas are a fictional character based on what you think the center of your target audience is. Find out how to create personas that help you make better digital decisions in this episode!
Get 88 Ideas for Church Social Media Posts now!

The Art of Digital Listening w/ Kevin Fontenot, Ep. 34

The Art of Digital Listening with Kevin Fontenot
Show Notes for this episode can be found at www.sethmuse.com/34.
If you want to deliver compelling messages to your followers, you will need to do a little research at first. You'll have to practice the art of listening online to see what your people care about and struggle with most. Only then will you be able to learn how to minister to them properly via your church's social media channels.
Kevin is a marketing professional for Trained Up and helps churches all over to focus their message and reach new people. 

Harnessing the Power of Instagram for your Church, Ep. 33

Harnessing the Power of Instagram for your Church, Episode 33
Show notes are at SethMuse.com/33.
The most powerful tool in a church communicator's tool belt these days is the little app that could, Instagram. Sure, they stole the best features from Snapchat and assimilated them, but we got a really powerful app out of it with an audience that already existed! (if you already had an Instagram account for your church, that is).
This episode is all about why Insta is so great, how it works, and I give you several content ideas for posts at the end that you can use at your church easily.
 

Leading Church Communications when You're not in Charge w/ Katie Allred, Ep. 32

Leading Church Communications when You're not in Charge w/ Katie Allred, Ep. 32
Show Notes for this episode are found at www.sethmuse.com/32
On this episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks podcast...
Katie Allred stops by to talk about how church communicators can lead when they aren't in charge. It's one more way we're helping you win back your day and enjoy what you do!
Katie Allred is Digital Communications Associate at Brentwood Baptist Church in Tennessee and the co-founder of the Church Communications Facebook Group. 
 

Understanding Google and Facebook Analytics w/ Lauren McAllister, Ep. 31

Understanding Google and Facebook Analytics w/ Lauren McAllister
Show Notes available at SethMuse.com/31
 
Many of us in church communications are tempted to make online decisions based on something other than data. We heard a few people talking about an event, so we full on advertise that event because it must be important. We feel like attendance was up, so the Facebook ad worked well.
But great online decisions are not made this way. Data-driven decisions are the best decisions a church communicator can make and Lauren McAllister has a ton of insight in this area. 
You may want to get a pen and paper out for this one folks, because there's a LOT to digest!

How to Get Hired in Church Communications w/ Holly Tate, Ep. 30

How to Get Hired in Church Communications with Holly Tate of Vanderbloemen Search Group
Holly is the Director of Business Development at Vanderbloemen, a pastor search firm that knows what churches are looking for when it comes to hiring staff. She shares a lot of great insights for those looking for a job as well as those who already have a job and just need some direction. 
She's a ton of fun, so don't miss this episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks podcast with Seth Muse!
 
Show Notes are available at www.sethmuse.com/30
 
Sign up for Seth's super crazy awesome cool fun email list!

The Power of Networking w/ Jeanette Yates, Ep. 29

The Power of Networking with Jeanette Yates
Jeanette is the Communications Director at Southside United Methodist in Florida and has become a pro in a very short time. How? Because she networks like a boss!
Find out her secrets in another exciting episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks!
Show Notes at sethmuse.com/29

Slaying Online Trolls and Other Magical Beasts w/ Justin Dean, ep. 28

Show notes and links (plus a special bonus "behind the scenes" track for this episode) can be found at www.sethmuse.com/28
In this episode:
You approach a large door. Do you go in? Y or N
You open the door and find a huge troll? Do you (A)ttack, (R)un or use (M)agic?
If you've been in charge of social media of a company or church, you've likely encountered internet trolls before. What do you do? 
Out of nowhere, they bash your pastor, call your church a cult, and pray God sends plagues! 
Justin Dean has been through it all and stops by the podcast to talk about how we should handle trolls and other magical beasts as we manage our church's social media.

Writing Church Emails that Get Opened, ep. 27

Every church has an all-church email.
How can you live without it? However, most emails are deleted before they are even opened and you have to listen to the same old tired response when they don't show up for things:
"I didn't know about it!"
What if I told you that you could increase the chance your people would open and read your emails?
In this podcast, I talk in depth about the theory behind church email marketing and the three phases to writing a great church email that gets opened. Check it out!
The show notes for this episode can be found at www.sethmuse.com/27
 

Communicating Vision During a Capital Campaign w/ Adam McLaughlin and Ryan Deaton, ep. 26

Communicating Vision During a Capital Campaign
Adam McLaughlin of ChurchMarketingIdeas.com and his pastor at Life Church in Ft. Meyers, FL, Ryan Deaton stop by to discuss how they communicated their vision to their church during a capital campaign.
Capital campaigns are the WORST! But these guys managed to bring their church through it smiling and giving as much as or more than they were beforehand! Hear their success story in this episode and connect with them using the links below.
Show Notes at www.sethmuse.com/26
Links
Adam on Twitter // Ryan on Twitter
Life Church
Advancing the Kingdom Magazine
Isn't the Name of Jesus by Covenant Worship
Armed and Ready by Sweet Comfort Band (full disclosure, I chose this song because of the epic album cover alone.)
 

Capturing Great Video Testimonies w/ Ben Stapley, Ep. 25

Ben Stapley from Liquid Church stops by to give us a LOT of practical insight on how to capture those really great video testimonies and baptism stories. He even talks about how to collect stories in your church for videos!
From the pre-interview stage to places to find music tracks for post editing, this podcast has information well worth the hundreds of dollars you would have to spend to learn it elsewhere!
Show notes for this episode can be found at www.sethmuse.com/25
Links in this Episode:
Ben on Twitter & Instagram
BenStapley.info
Amusing Yourself to Death by Neil Postman
Where to find music bed tracks:
Premiumbeats.com
Melodyloops.com
Audiojungle.net
musicvine.net
art-list.io
Seth's addition: Soundstripe.com

Be Known for Something w/Mark MacDonald, Ep. 24

Be Known for Something with Mark MacDonald
If you feel like your church is being ignored by your community despite your best efforts to wave your arms and make loud noises to get their attention, this podcast is for you.
It's possible that they actually see you, but just don't resonate with what you're saying. Mark is the visionary behind the company Be Known For Something and helps churches figure out what their message thread to the community should be. 
The show notes for this show can be found at www.sethmuse.com/24
Links:
Be Known for Something Book
Mark on Twitter
The Seminary of Hard Knocks on Instagram
Easter Social Graphics pack from Ministry Downloads
 

A Clear Guest Connections Strategy, Ep. 23

You have about 10 minutes to convince visitors to come back once they set foot on your church property.
So make the most of it! A solid Guest Connections strategy helps, so here's how to start...
A Clear Guest Connections Strategy will have a: 
 
Clear assimilation funnel that takes visitors from casual observers to champions of the vision.
 
Clear coordinator of volunteers/teams
Clear vision for every stage 
Clear best practices for every stage
Clear Call to Action for every stage to the next stage
Clear number of volunteers necessary
Clear follow-up plan
 
Links from this episode:
 
The Seminary of Hard Knocks Instagram
 
Easter graphics package download ($49 til March 31)
 
ChurchMarketingIdeas.com
 
Show Notes

Digital Discipleship w/ Van Baird, Ep. 22

The Seminary of Hard Knocks helps pastors lead and communicate with confidence and clarity.
Van Baird is a co-founder of That Church Conference for church communicators and creative directors. He and I talk about how discipleship could or should work on social media and other online platforms. 
Check out That Church Conference and join the community here!
 
Other Links in this Episode:
Van on Twitter
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
Ministry Downloads Easter Pack ($49 until March 31st)

The Social Media Mission Field, Ep. 21

The Seminary of Hard Knocks can help you make better ministry leadership decisions with confidence and clarity!
This week, Lucas Kitchen, of QuestionsFromAtheists.com, stops by to talk with me about how the church can reach non-believers with the Gospel online. That may sound like an impossibility, but Lucas has had some success and shares his ideas with us.
Find Questions from Atheists online:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube

Why You Need a Ministry Coach Yesterday, Ep. 20

The Seminary of Hard Knocks helps pastors and ministry leaders make better decisions with confidence and clarity!
In This Show:
- How coaches can help leaders lead well.
- What makes a good coach?
Links:
Seth Muse Coaching
That Church Conference Coaching
Seth's eBook at Download Youth Ministry

Church Growth Strategies that Involve Everyone, ep. 19

Kenny Jahng is an entrepreneur, former church staffer, and church social media guru. He now spearheads a "done for you" church social media company called Church Butler and helps churches understand and utilize online giving at GenerosityLabs.org.
My conversation with Kenny today is about nine ways you can involve your people in church growth. Show notes are available at www.sethmuse.com/19.
Visit SethMuse.com for more on church leadership and communications. Make better decisions with confidence and clarity!

Becoming a Life-Long Learner w/ Josh Blankenship, Ep. 18

In this episode, I talk with Josh Blankenship about how to continue learning without school. Many leaders are thrown into situations where they must quickly learn something new or it's a bust! 
Josh has worked in high-demand churches and some slower-paced ones and he has learned the number one thing they have in common: Leaders must always be bettering themselves.
We talk bout a few hacks that can help you continue learning new tricks, even if you're an old dog! 
Get the show notes for today's episode HERE.

The 8-Fold Path to Great Spiritual Conversations, Ep. 17

If something like the whistling theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly plays in your head when you go into “spiritual discussion mode,” then you probably are doing more damage than good.
Unfortunately, many spiritual conversations end up in arguments over dinosaurs on the ark or whether or not Jonah was really swallowed by a fish instead of the real issue of sin and our need for Jesus.
But it’s not just because Christians are bad at civil conversation. It’s because everyone is bad at civil conversation.
The next time you’re headed into a creation vs. evolution argument, give my (non-Buddhist) 8-fold path to a great spiritual conversation a shot.
The blog this episode is based on can be found here.
The show notes for this episode can be found here.
Click here for your free ebook!

Church Tech and Media on a Budget w/ Brandon Rowe, Ep. 16

Churches with limited budget often find themselves in a difficult spot. They want to upgrade technology to reach an ever-changing and upwardly mobile community, but the money just isn't there.
Brandon is the tech director at FBC Porter and assists other churches with tech and media budget issues. He gives us a few hacks to keep money in your pocket while still reaching the tech-savvy people in our churches!
Show Notes: www.sethmuse.com/episode16 

Mobilize Your Church to Action w/ Dave Shrein, Ep. 15

Dave Shrein hosts the Church Marketing Podcast and runs Shrein Media, an online company that helps businesses and churches reach their people with clear messaging. Dave has been in the marketing game for a while, so his insights on this episode are very valuable to church leaders! The Seminary of Hard Knocks Podcast wants to see you make more confident decisions with clear purpose!

Answering Objections to Christianity w/ Dr. Justin Bass, Ep. 14

Justin Bass  helps us to answer those who have objections to a few aspects of Christianity. In this episode, we talk about how to answer those who say the Bible is written too late and was changed over time, those who say Jesus never rose from the dead, and those who say Jesus never claimed to be God. Dr. Bass has debated publically on these topics and carries a doctorate in New Testament Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary, where he is an adjunct professor. Go to www.sethmuse.com/episode14 for show notes and links discussed in the podcast.

Writing Great Copy w/Marguerite Andrews, Ep. 13

Marguerite Andrews is a content strategist at Word Revolution, a global creative group dedicated to helping churches and businesses connect their message to their target audience.  Marguerite talks with me about good writing practices, how to know what type of content goes where on a website, and bulletins. Get the show notes at www.sethmuse.com/episode13

Leveraging Digital Relationships for the Gospel w/ Katie Allred, ep. 12

Katie Allred is the digital communications director at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN. Katie talks to us about the different ways to use digital platforms to enhance relationships so that the Gospel can be preached online as well as offline! We also talk about style guides, a day in the life of a communications director, and tips on how to work with a team of social media volunteers.

Transitions in Ministry w/ Tom Pounder, ep. 11

Tom Pounder has been in youth ministry for almost 20 years. Just recently he began a transition out of youth ministry and into church communications.  Transitions are a part of ministry life and how you handle them can make or break you. My conversation with Tom gives great insight to how pastors should look at transitions and some good and bad ways to handle it. Tom is the host of the YM Sidekick podcast and blogs at www.ymsidekick.com.

Creating a System for Great Feedback with Wes Gay, ep. 10

Today on the podcast Wes Gay stops by to talk about Millennials, great feedback systems for organizations, and how to cook a perfect steak! Wes is passionate about equipping his generation to become the greatest generation of leaders. Through a process called the Millennial Pipeline, he helps organizations build cultures that create leaders worth following. He's an executive coach, consultant, and Forbes.com contributor, or he finds out what companies do to find and keep great millennial talent. Show Notes can be found at www.sethmuse.com/episode10

Leading Volunteers with Michael Wallace, Episdode 09

One of the most common questions I hear from ministry leaders is how to recruit, train, lead, and even dismiss volunteers. In this episode, I hang out with an old friend to talk about how to go about leading a team of volunteers well. Michael Wallace has been in student ministry for almost 17 years and has led large volunteer teams with excellence during that time. Catch his Creative Student Ministry podcast on iTunes!

Building Trust Through First Impressions with Adam McLaughlin, Ep. 08

This week my guest is Adam McLaughlin, Communications and Marketing Director at Life Church in Ft. Meyers, FL. Adam specializes in building trust with first time guests at churches through the initial experiences, and has written an incredible eBook called "Trust Glue" on the subject. We talk about why churches are afraid of the word "marketing," and I introduce a new segment called "5 on the spot," where I asked Adam 5 random questions for a good laugh! Find out how he REALLY feels about puppies in this episode! Follow Adam on Twitter here and follow his company Church Marketing Ideas here. Get the eBook, Trust Glue, here at ChurchMarketingIdeas.com. Connect with me at SethMuse.com if you want to read more about how to lead your ministry with confidence and clarity.

Really Mean: When Worship is Too Loud, Ep. 07

I share the worst prayer request I've ever heard on this episode of The Seminary of Hard Knocks Podcast! What could your people really mean when they say that the worship band is "too loud?" Put on your squishy earplugs and let's find out while we headbang to some God of Wonders, dude. If you like what you hear, find more practical ministry insights at www.sethmuse.com.

Collaboration Between Churches with guest: Jeff Harding, Ep. 06

Seth sits down with friend and youth pastor, Jeff Harding, of Trinity Fellowship Church in Richardson, TX. Seth and Jeff have collaborated on several events with their youth ministries during Seth's time as a youth pastor. Jeff and Seth have a great time in the studio talking about previous events: what went wrong, what went right, and how collaborating enhanced their ministries at their respective churches!

A Policeman, a Poet, and a Pastor: Race Relations, Part 2, Ep. 05

Part 2 of a very insightful conversation between friends about race relations in America today.