The Christian Messenger Interview‘Nothing wrong with marketing if done God’s way’
December 01, 2009 | 07:26:26
‘Jesus would have used YouTube, Paul SocialMedia to connect with churches’
THOSE involved in ministry and the church who frown at terms such as ‘marketing, ‘strategies’ and ‘innovation’ should meet up with Michael Holmes, the 28-year-old writer who published his first book ‘I shall raise thee up’ recently in the US. He feels there’s nothing wrong with marketing if it is done in a Godly way. In fact, everyone’s marketing for something, he says in an exclusive interview with THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER. He believes if Jesus were alive today, He would have put the social media to good use. Ditto with Paul. The apostle would have used Twitter and Facebook to connect with churches in
Congratulations on your first book. Tell us about how it all began?
Thank you. I was on a bus headed to job I that I hated. The trip was two hours long—so I had plenty of time to ponder and read. And for a while I’d been pondering how to get out of that job. Then one day the idea of being raised up sprang into my mind (particularly in the workplace). I jotted the idea down—I didn’t want to lose it. At the time a friend of mine had an online gospel magazine, so when I got to work I emailed her with my idea, she said write up an article and get it to her, and within a week I did. She emailed me back the next week and rejected my idea—said it wasn’t current enough with the magazine. So her rejection of my article became the starting point for my book.
How difficult or easy was the process of creating the book?
Writing a book is like any new activity—hard in the beginning, frustrating in the middle, and easier in the end.
Were there moments of doubts and despair in the writing of the book? I mean, were there times when you wondered if you have it in you to help people understand the principles of greatness through the book?
Absolutely! I mean the research involved in this was well over a hundred books and dozens of articles—not to mention the Scripture research. It was a lot of work. I wanted it to be of the highest quality…so I had to make sure what I was writing was true. And to do that I had to check and recheck, search and research, look and not overlook…I had to do my homework! And sometimes doing your homework is a depressing thing.
How long did the writing take? How many drafts did you make before you arrived at the final version?
Overall, I’d say the writing took two years. Because in the beginning it was on again off again. But when I really got serious about writing the book—it became an obsession to me and it took maybe 7 months. I can’t even count the amount of drafts but I know it was a lot. I had a lot of people read it and the more honest ones would say, ‘Mike, that’s horrible! Take that out please!’ Or ‘I like the idea but not the writing style.’ And yes hearing those comments did hurt but I am more than grateful.
How did you decide on the structure and pattern of the book?
Like I said, I looked at a lot of books—some for research, others just to see how they structured theirs. And I used things I liked and left things I didn’t. Even now I wish I had added things and taken out things…but hey you live, you learn.
What was the most defining moment in the creation of the book?
It was somewhere between conception and completion. It was when all the research, Scripture study, and prayer started coming to life on paper. I was like, ‘Holy crap! This is really happening!’ It’s one thing to dream about a baby, it’s another thing to have him grow in your womb, and it’s something totally different to have him in your arms.
Tell us about the moment when you first discovered that you had to ‘cultivate the seeds of greatness’ that were in you.
To be honest, I had to cultivate my seeds out of necessity. Due to the economic downturn I was unemployed and couldn’t find a job. I didn’t want another ‘job that I hated’ but I needed money and had a family to feed. After a while of constant rejection, I looked at the book I had started. So in addition to looking for another job I was working on the book full time. I’ve learned that God often closes doors so that we can ‘cultivate seeds of greatness.’ And if He didn’t shut those doors in my face we probably wouldn’t be talking right now.
In the chapter ‘Isolation’, you draw a lot of insights from
To be honest, I’ve never really had any problems racially. And I say that proudly because my ancestors sacrificed themselves so I wouldn’t have to. But I have had problems fitting into certain groups, particularly when I was younger. No matter how hard I tried, I just could seem to mesh with the crowd. It wasn’t till later that I knew God was preparing me through isolation. The poem ‘When Nature Wants a Man’ by Angela Morgan really helped put that into perspective.
You have also written about the importance of a good customer service culture in your book. If a company’s bottom line depended on innovation, quality of its products or services and efficacious customer service, why aren’t most companies simply going after them?
Well, it really depends on the company purpose and core values. If the concept of service is integrated into the company’s values it’s integrated into the company. Most companies (or ministries for that fact) flounder when they have no purpose, lose sight of their purpose, and/or have a wrong purpose to begin with it. The Bible says, “The noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.” {Isaiah 32: 8—The Bible in Basic English}. It’s so essential because we’re all guided by purpose. So when an organization (ministry or enterprise) has a well integrated purpose—it shows.
Most Christian organizations these days make secular corporates blush with their aggressive marketing and customer fixation. Do you think this is a good trend? Isn’t there a danger of ministries losing their Christian identity?
Well, I think when people pursue ‘aggressive marketing’ techniques they’re just doing what they’ve been taught. ‘Buy a lot of ads and keep telling people how great what you’re offering is…and watch the orders roll in!’ And that might’ve worked when we had only a few mediums to listen to and communicate through. But now with thousands of media to watch…that style doesn’t work anymore. I personally don’t think anything is wrong with marketing—if done properly. Or done God’s way. Paul said, “For everything, absolutely everything…got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” {Colossians 1:16—The Message} ‘Everything’ also includes marketing.
Truth be told, service is the best form of marketing. By service I mean ‘finding ways to meet the needs of people and make them better.’ Because that’s what Jesus did. He went around healing and helping people and word about Him spread like wildfire! So when an organization’s marketing strategy moves from: ‘Finding ways to best get people’ to ‘Finding ways to best serve people’—they won’t have to say how awesome they are…the people they served will do it for them.
And when we serve people we don’t lose our Christian identity, rather we enhance it.
If Jesus were living today, how do you think He would have used the available forms of media to get His message across?
I think He would’ve used any and all means to get the Word out. Personally I can see Him using You Tube to get His Message out, but I can see Paul using Social Media to strengthen relationships with the churches He planted. | Read the author's blog |
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