- A. Smith Blog - Leadership in Life
Creative Commons Photo Credit by eldh
You and me probably follow each other on twitter.
I’ve written quite a few posts on twitter and other social media sites, but I know I haven’t covered everything.
I definitely don’t know everything about twitter, so I want you to write this quick post for me…
What are your top twitter tips for other twitter users?
Don’t do something halfway.
Most people seem to get that. But, when looking at the online world, some folks obviously disregard that great advice. Even though there are different organizations that fall in the “bad website” category, I want look at what the church looks like online.
Before I get started I just want to say I’m not wanting to pick on anyone here. Look at this as more of a favor… 😉
Ok. I will say that some churches get it. There are definitely some great church websites out there. But, there are also some terrible looking ones. I really can’t say it any other way. I mean, you can obviously see what I’m talking about here. Click on that link and view those sites. It ain’t pretty.
I have some notions on why this happens.
Churches first decide that they want a hip website to stay relevant so they can let all those hipsters know what’s up. After this decision is made, they lack one or some of these necessary components…
Someone who actually knows how to put together a site.
Time.
Focus.
Resources.
Maybe you can add something else to the list
Your website shows who you are a lot more than you think. If your website looks like junk, then people automatically assume that your church looks like… well, junk. Last week we talked about how a church building can sometimes change a person’s perspective on the church, even before setting foot in the church building itself. And I don’t think that a website is any different.
If you think that you, your church or your business may need to go in a different online direction, I would challenge you to take a close look at your site. It is sometimes hard to look at things through a reader’s eyes when we become so accustomed to the way things look. You may even find that you need to change the theme, take some unnecessary items off of your site, find a professional that may know more about building sites or maybe even take the site down while you and your team reevaluate where you stand. It can only help, right?
Where do you think a website fits in on the representation of a church/company/organization? How much does it matter?
Also, what are some church websites that are doing it right? Why do you like those websites so much?
I will now add an Apple iPad review to the other million or so. This review comes after having my iPad for only one week, but I feel I have had enough time to give an honest opinion on it. My opinion is probably not what you are thinking, though.
I feel like I should say that I won my iPad from Dealsplus and the iPad is not a “need” item. If I were to spend $600 on something, it would not be an Apple iPad. If I had $600 to spend, I would keep using my Macbook Pro as my mobile device and I would buy a Mac Mini because I could really use a desktop computer. That’s just my need right now, but yours might be different.
First, I would like to focus on the positive things about this device in my iPad review. It has an amazing picture quality, has great battery life, is lightweight, and the sound is great as well. The iBooks is amazing given the screen size of the iPad. I would definitely rather use it than a smaller kindle or nook. For what you get, the Apple iPad has a great price tag, too. That alone might sell this product to you. When I think about other items in the market at this price, I would rather have an Apple product any day. Those are the best things I have found with the iPad.
The iPad will not replace your laptop, however. It is a new device that is great for surfing the internet and composing and checking mail. After having the iPad for a few days, I was back to using my laptop 95% of the time. This is the reason I cannot recommend the Apple iPad. I can’t find a reason to pull it out of my bad instead of my laptop. I think this is because the functionality I wanted and expected from the iPad was missing.
After hearing my thoughts from this iPad review, what do you think?