Michael Staires

Tighten your tribe with tradition

One sure-fire way to build your brand and tighten your tribe is to design traditions into your program, then build on them every time you get together. Just like the fish mongers at the Pike Street Market in Seattle throw fish around, traditions are the strong threads that make your tribe feel special and feel close to one another and close to you.

Most of the best traditions just happen...they were never planned. You did something once and it worked out great so you repeated it. Then you repeated again. Before you knew it your tribe began to look forward to it. Then your tribe began to own the tradition and they would participate and spread it to others without even asking you!

Chances are, your camp has some great traditions, or at least some great activities that could be "traditioned" with very little effort. I'd encourage you to nurture that. Go with it. 

But what about those traditions that don't seem to pull the tribe together or seem long outdated? Get rid of them! But do it carefully. You never know when the sacred cows might rear their ugly heads.

Why is this whole subject so important? Because in these times it's going to be much more difficult to grow your tribe than it is to tighten your tribe. When you sing those songs or have that bonfire like the one at Deerfoot Lodge or have pancakes every Saturday morning during camp, you are doing those things that draw your tribe together. They rally around and say "This is what we do." "This is part of what makes 'us' us. And that's important. 

Believe me, I'm all for change. But sometimes too much change alienates the tribe. When your remove too many traditions you take away the "handles" that the tribe uses to hang on to and more importantly, you remove those things that your tribe likes to talk to outsiders about. When you change too much or change too often you keep your tribe off-balance and that's not good.

What's that song or skit or handshake or activity that everyone who's been to your camp can repeat with affection? Highlight it, feature it, refer to it in your copy. Draw your tribe close by giving them those traditions that make them feel good about being together.

Hire for attitude...train for skill

In a branding seminar this morning at the Allegheny Sectional the subject of staff hiring and training came up in relation to the whole branding discussion. Believe me...your staff is a massive part of your brand. The thing is...they are either building your brand or they are eroding it every single day. Getting the right staff in place is far more important than just the right logo or your website color palette.

You should always look for attitude first. You need to find those people to whom love of the customer and love of service will always come first. I've noticed as I've travelled around that service is either something you get or something you don't. I'm sure people can be trained to serve but if they don't "get it" it'll always come out wrong and the customer can tell when it's not sincere.

You want people who will bend over backwards for others. Not because they've been told to do it but because they know it's the right thing to do...and because it's in their nature to do it.

When I hit the recruiting trail during my years at Shepherd's Fold, I usually knew I had a winner when I found someone who either came from a large family or someone who came from a family where there was a special needs person. In most cases, those people knew what it was to lay down their own wants and needs for the wants and needs of someone else. It's hard to do in a week of staff training what years of training at home can do. I didn't always get the right ones but in more cases than not, that rule proved to be true.

Once you get the staff with the right attitude in-house, then you can train them to do the things you need them to do or get them the appropriate certifications. There are many camp directors out there who can tell horror stories of hiring the skilled person instead of the person with the right attitude only to regret it later.

How do you determine the right attitude? Will they approach a situation with a camper or guest the same way you would if you were in their place? Will they build your brand? Can you trust them to guard the legacy? Getting the right person in the right place is critical and one of the signs of a successful leader. Do this one well. Your success depends on it.

Bob Dylan was a great marketer!

To me, marketing is all about connecting. Too often we think of marketing at advertising or sales. But (speaking as a marketer) it's so much more than that. Like a thread, it runs through so many aspects of our business and/or ministy. 

Keeping a fresh coat of paint on all the buildings is good marketing. Baking fresh bread for dinner is good marketing. Answering the phone with a smile is good marketing. You get the idea. Marketing--connecting with people is everywhere.

Today, I included this clip of Dylan singing Like a Rolling Stone in my presentation this morning to the Allegheny Section of our association (CCCA). It occurred to me while I was listening to the words of this song that he must have been completely connecting witht the generation of his day. I mean, wow. How many kids sitting at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 heard the words to that song and just said, "this guy KNOWS ME!" Here are the words to the chorus, just in case you don't know...

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone? 

With lyrics like that it's no wonder he identified with a whole generation of young people. If good marketing is all about connecting, then is it any wonder that you're not connecting with your tribe when the only things you talk about in the brochure or on your website are things that matter to you?

One of the main traps that marketers fall into is marketing themselves. You must remember, you are not marketing to you. You have got to (as the Wizard would say) talk to the dog, in the language of the dog, about the things the dog cares about.

Here's how Dylan did it...

Take your eyes off growth

If you want to really connect with pastors you've got to get your eyes of growth. You've got a tribe...use them to grow the tribe! You should just focus on tightening the tribe and giving them tools to help grow. 

There are three basic kinds of tribal communications:

1. Leader to tribe
2. Tribe to leader 
3. Tribe to each other   

When you focus on your tribe (and not on outsiders) you deepen the relationships and bring more value to belonging to your tribe. 

To get started, the first thing you need to do is identify your tribe. Really begin to dive in and understand the folks who are part of your inner circle. Understand their needs. Understand their WANTS. Remember the biggest mistake a marketer can make is to market to him/herself. You have to remember that your tribe might have different desires than you do. 

Find out what they need and go to work filling those needs with excellence. Do what's best for them. Own them! Lead them! Once you get to this place, then you can leverage the tribe for growth. You can provide tools for them to help you spread the message and tell the story. 

Lastly, expect some "push-back" when you go to the director or to the board and say that you no longer want to focus on "new business." Of course you don't have to eliminate completely going after new families or groups. But, especially in this economy, consider taking some of that new business money and applying it toward tightening the tribe instead of growing the tribe.

Resist the urge to do it all

If you want to increase the chances that pastors will listen to your message you have to resist the temptation to try to do it all. It's interesting...when times get tough and the things you've always done in the past are no longer working, the first tempation is to try to do more. 

Christian school? Yeah, we can do that. Outdoor education? Sure, we can do that. Corporate groups? Bring 'em on! Start a church? Oh yeah baby! 

The problem is, you aren't called to do those things. And when you are trapped doing those things your are not called to do...they will eat you alive. And once you start adding programs to try to earn more revenue you begin to water down your core competencies. Instead of increasing your value to the church (or the public) you actually decrease your value. People lose track of who you are. And instead of doing one thing great, you end up doing a lot of things average.

Take a look at this bell curve. When times are good, it makes sense to shoot for the big middle of the curve. Go after the big numbers. Get the right staff and the right facilities and aim for the middle. The problem, of course, is that means you are making average products (programs) for average people. And people don't talk, or blog, about average, boring stuff. They don't tell their friends. Plus, you must know, these are not good times. And being "good enough" stopped being good enough a long time ago.

Now you need to be smarter. You need to be leaner. You need to get out on the edges. You need to find that micro market you can dominate. How about Go4th Camps in Arkansa, which only does programming for 4th graders? Or how about the Nazarene camp that has found a niche in hosting scrapbookers? These camps haven't gotten a broader focus...they've gotten a sharper focus. 

It's a cliche, but you really can't be all things to all people--not these days. The successful camps and conference centers are going to be those who are able to go the edges, find a tribe and serve them with excellence. Do one thing well.

Tomorrow: Take your eyes off growth.

How do we get pastors to tell our story?

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the National Pastors Convention in San Diego and as a result I got to spend some face time with pastors from all over the country and talk to them (or remind) them about the value of a Christian camp or conference experience.

I shared with them my belief that most people in full time ministry probably made the decision for Christ or the decision for full time ministry at a camp or conference center. Everyone I spoke with told me that was true of them.

I twittered that reply and got a quick question from Chad who is in charge of marketing for Grace Adventures in Michigan. He asked, "So how do we get the pastors motivated to share with their congregations the importance of Christian Camping?" Great question. I think I'll take the next two or three posts to answer that question. 

First of all...I think we have to stop talking about our facilities and our beautiful settings and our wonderful programs and even stop talking about our committed staffs. Certainly, that is an important discussion but I don't believe it belongs right up front in your marketing plan to churches and pastors. 

Stop talking about yourself! Remember, Marketing 101 teaches that the customer comes to you with one question in mind, "What's in it for ME." In that sense, they don't care about you. They don't care that you just completed that brand new gym or just planted new sod around the Oak Tree cabin. That's your world...not theirs. 

Tell them a story. They want you to tell them about the things that are important to them--the things they care about. Talk about their values. Talk about their needs. Talk about the things that matter to them. 

Which message do you think sounds better to a pastor?

"Our chapel, built in 1965, seats 200 and is filled with beautiful stained glass windows and a lovely 80 year old pipe organ." (okay...I overstated to make the point)    

Or...

"Building strong families is tough today. We're here to help you."

To write effective copy (or to write an effective presentation) you are going to have to get your eyes off yourself and begin to see things the way your customer sees them. 

Look at the example Jesus gave. Matthew 5 starts out "Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:" 

I'm no Bible scholar but I've heard that the word "saw" in that verse has a much deeper meaning than merely "seeing with his eyes." It means that Jesus saw and perceived their needs, their desires, the things that hurt them, the things that concerned them...in short...he could see what they cared about. 

Now read the Beatitudes...with that in mind. He wasn't just blessing those who were poor in Spirit or those who mourned because he thought it made a good list. He was blessing them...because He knew exactly what they were feeling.

So...you're really not telling your story at all. You are telling their story, in a language they can understand and resonate with. When you change your message, they'll identify with you and get the fact that you understand them. That you know what they need. Once you get to that place...then you can start to talk about your new gym or the refurbished cabins and how many you can accomodate.

There may be lots of places that can facilitate that pastor's group. But he'll choose the one who understands him and his needs and desires.

Tomorrow: Resist the urge to do it all.

Let me tell you a story

In my mind...those are the six most powerful words in the English language. Recite a speech and folks will lean back and cross their arms. Give a sermon and folks will allow their minds to wander and their chin to rest on their chests. But say those six words (in that order) and folks will sit up and pay attention. They WANT you to tell them a story. They are just waiting for you to lead them! 

Not sure?

Thanks to the Wizard and his Monday Morning Memo, I've got this incredible bit of information...

Our bodies contain approximately 100 million sensory receptors that allow us to see, hear, taste and smell the physical reality around us. But...the brain contains 10 thousand billion synapses. This means we're roughly 100,000 times better equipped to experience a world that does not exist that a world that does.

Now...read that paragraph one more time and really let it sink in.

Now...take a look at your marketing copy in your brochure and on your website. How much space are you taking up just describing the physical reality that is your camp or conference center? Describing your beautiful grounds or your functional cabins or your long history in ministry. 

That stuff is certainly necessary at some point in the sales process but I don't think it's necessary right up front. People want to hear a story. They want to hear about what those grounds or those cabins means for them. Don't tell them you have a long history, tell them a story that demonstrates that history!

Is it any wonder that we're wired to experience a world that doesn't exist? Remember...as Christ followers, our citizenship isn't of this world. Our reality is a bit different (to say the least). The more you can tell stories describing the unseen, the more people will run to sit at your feet.

Hope

Okay, quick. Who said, "A leader is a dealer in hope?" Stumped? Not Obama. Not Reagan. Hint: He wrote a code that is accepted as a major step in establishing the rule of law. In fact, historians believe it may be one of the few documents that has influenced the whole world.

Still stumped?

This leader was at once famous and infamous. Napoleon Bonaparte. 

A leader is a dealer in hope. Hope. A feeling that what is wanted can be had. People are looking for someone who will recognize the difficulties but show them that there is a way out. They are looking for someone who will always reveal truth but care enough to soften truth's severe edges by wrapping that truth in hope.

There is no time like the present.

The media channels are filled with news of the things that are wrong and going wrong. Reporters and commentators are gushing facts and stats that proclaim "the worst it's ever been" and "relief not in sight."

But remember, Obama didn't win the White House by talking stats and facts. He won because he promised hope to population who had precious little to be hopeful about. History will show whether he will be successful or not. But He has certainly captured this country's attention and whether you agree with him or not, you cannot argue his ability to rally a nation for change.

Now is a time for leaders to lead their tribes in a hopeful message. It may be tough. It may get tougher. But there is hope. There is a way. When you are able to be that woman or man of hope to those who look up to you, you will find yourself in a position to truly affect change and influence lives.

Certainly these are difficult times. But do you think this is a surprise to God? Do you think this economic downfall snuck up on God? Believe me, He has a plan. Although I don't know the specifics, I do know that part of His plan calls for you to rise up and grab the mantle He has ordained for you to shoulder. Stop whining and start leading. Stop mucking around in despair and get your head up. You have a tribe to lead and they are looking to you to provide hope. You can do this. It is your obligation to do this. Now (as my dad used to say) "get after it."

"Live" from National Pastors Convention in San Diego

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National Pastors Convention

I'm at Zondervan's National Pastors Convention this week in San Diego. This is a gathering of about 2000 pastors and church leaders from all over the country. Speakers, seminars, exhibits...the whole nine yards. 

I'm here in the exhibit hall with FindAChristianCamp.com. I'm not alone...I've been able to recruit camp leaders from the CA area to help out. We've got folks from Mt. Hermon, Mile High Pines, Pine Valley, Rock-N-Water, Camp Metoche, United Christian Youth Camp, Glorieta, and Palomar. 

We're talking with these folks encouraging them to take their people to camp. No matter what else you do, don't forget to work in a camp or conference event with the kids, the parents, couples, men or women. 

It's interesting...when I talk to folks here I tell them that it's my suspicion that at least half the folks here probably gave their lives to Jesus or made the commitment for full time ministry at a Christian camp or on a retreat.

Every single person I've said that to has said, "I did!" 

How powerful is that? These are church leaders and they are telling me that their lives changed because of what happened to them while at camp. 

I spoke with a guy named Mario who grew up in the US Virgin Islands. He said that every summer the Awana's sponsored a camp and he said that experience has impacted his life to this day. He said, "that stuff keeps."

I like that. An experience at camp "keeps," it stays with you. You can't shake it. Don't ever forget the powerful impact you have on the world around you. God has put you in a place of influence. It's time to shine.