Before continuing our church marketing miniseries, let's take a moment to review. In 1.0, "Where's the Easy Button?," we've realized that there is no such button (sorry). In 2.0, "The Bling Bling," we've forked over the dough and have developed those oh-so-essential tools: logo and website. In this third installment, we're going to look at the bargain bin of marketing tools—those relatively cheap resources that further enhance your presence on the web and the street.

Signs: Leading Horses to Water …
Let's start with some word association … ready? Golden Arches.

Regardless of one's opinion of McDonald's food (I'll refrain from sharing mine), you have to appreciate their use of signage. The principles of Mickey D's signs can be applied to (and redeemed in) the ministry setting. Even if your ministry can't afford that precious piece of high traffic, corner lot property, you can still use signs to help direct the people to you.

Signs are crucial for our VOX ministry. We gather in a cinderblock and steel renovated warehouse … perfect for the crowd we try to reach with the gospel. Our warehouse is located just a block from the main thoroughfare through town. Being so close to so much traffic is great. There's just one problem: The line of site to our building from said main drag is completely blocked.

As soon as we launched, we knew we needed some good signage. I did some checking and found out who owned the corner property on the main drag that would be perfect for a directional sign. I called him up and explained who we were, what we were trying to do, and then I asked him if we could place a sign on the corner directing young adults to our warehouse on the days that we gather. He said yes (thank you, Mr. Businessman), so we had a local sign company come up with a reflective, freestanding sign, complete with our logo, motto and a big arrow instructing people which way to turn. (You can see our sign design here.) Then, to distinguish our warehouse from the others on the block, we had a banner mounted on the front of our building.

These two signs were simple and relatively inexpensive. But to the growth of our ministry, they have proved invaluable.

Posters: Getting Horses to Drink …
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." It's so true. We could have a skylight, a fireworks show, an angelic hallelujah chorus and those flight directors with the orange sticks all helping direct traffic to our gatherings, but what would compel them to come?

Just as your outreach must be about going to the people, rather than waiting for them to come to you, so your marketing must be where young adults are. We have our VOX graphic guru put out four posters a year, and we plaster them wherever young adults go: the local community college, restaurants, bowling alleys, etc. Each poster design is unique from the last and lays out our gatherings for the next few months along with some essential info: our contact info, our location, our theme, our motto, etc.

Décor: Trade(mark)ing Spaces
Back to our actual location, the warehouse. It's a great place for a skeptical, young, postmodern crowd. It looks nothing like an institutional church, and it reflects the hard-working, industrial values of our community. But when our VOX leadership first walked into the place, there was nothing to establish it as the place where VOX gathers. We came up with the idea to have a sign company print up some long, vertical banners that drape from the ceiling along the wall. The two on the stage wall have our VOX logo prominently displayed, and the three along an adjacent wall each have a word from our motto: find, your, voice. Beyond breaking up a dull interior, these simple vinyl banners foster community ownership over the space, and they communicate our mission.

Flickr: Sharing the Photo Love
Most people have heard of Flickr, but too few are Flickr fanatics. Though you can sign up for free, I've placed Flickr in the "bargain" portion of this series, because I strongly advise you to spring for the $25/year upgrade. If you're skeptical, go ahead and sign up for a free account and see how long you can stand it. The freebie option allows for about 10 high quality pics. That's it.

But the pro account gives you unlimited uploading for storing image files and photos. When you consider what all you can do with Flick, it's a steal for $25:

· It provides a web-based backup for all of your image files, in case your computer crashes.
· It allows users to easily sort and navigate through thousands of files, using sets and tags. (similar to gmail or technorati)
· It increases your web presence and allows you to create a profile highlighting your ministry, your vision, etc.
· It can easily network your ministry with thousands of other Flickr users through their 'contacts' feature.
· It allows for easy access for your community to download their favorite picks, or use your logo for just about any promotion tool, freeing you up from the inevitable email with the attachment file that you always forget to attach (or is it just me?).

You can check out our Flickr site here.

My hope is that these "bargains" will enhance your ministry's presence in your community. There's nothing wrong with letting people know you exist. I'd highly encourage you to design and purchase signs, posters, banners, stickers and web accounts like Flickr to help you get the word out, so young adults can enter into your community that much easier and be transformed through your ministry.

Next time, we'll wrap up this miniseries with everyone's favorite stuff: freebies. Stay tuned …

Drew Moser is Bekah's man, Ben's dad and the adoptive father to be of a Guatemalan baby girl whom he's beyond excited to bring home. He's the founding pastor of VOX Ohio, a freelance writer, an aspiring theologian and a World Cup junkie. Check him out on the web at www.drewmoser.com.