flocknote Blog

I didn't have time to write you a short letter

matt — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:39:05 +0000

In my experience, the #1 problem with how organizations communicate (especially churches) has nothing to do with their use (or lack) of new technologies. It's that they don't take the time to write short things...so they write long ones instead.

Long things that nobody reads.

"I'm sorry I wrote you such a long letter. I didn't have time to write you a short one." - Blaise Pascal

It's a lot harder to say what you want to say in a short letter, rather than a long one. You have to be more thoughtful. You have to decide what's important and what isn't. It takes more of your time and energy. But whether it's the words on your website, in your bulletin, in a speech or in an email, its length communicates a lot. And it could be the key factor as to whether or not somebody reads it or not.

A short letter says to the recipient: "I care about and respect your time. I've bothered to be thoughtful by taking my own time to be decisive and, rather than saying everything, have chosen the most important things I want you to know - and I've left the rest out."

People are distracted and bombarded with information all day long. They have little time for long letters and even less patience for those who are careless with their time.

Right now a lot of organizations say quite a lot. But they communicate very little (nobody reads it). Say less and you'll communicate much more.

Take the extra time to write somebody a short letter, rather than a long one. It's worth your time and effort. Such brevity is not only the soul of wit, but should be the goal of all your writ.

New Feature: Inserting Images and Video

matt — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:13:31 +0000

First - we still have more free stuff to give away if you answer these 10 questions.

Second, we've recently added the ability to more easily insert images and even videos right into your Notes on Flocknote.

Inserting Images

Now you can upload any images straight from your computer and insert it into any Note you're creating. Simply click the "Insert Image" link right above your editing toolbar when creating a new Note.

Then just follow the instructions and Flocknote will insert it nicely into your Newsletter for you. It will even give you the option to float the image to the left or right and let your body text flow around it. Flocknote also automatically handles all of the resizing of images and formatting so that it fits optimally within the width of your Note. (If you don't like the default formatting, you can always select the image and then click the little "tree/portrait" icon in the toolbar to edit it further.)

Inserting Videos

This feature we are particularly excited about. It's so simple, too, and lets you easily insert any Youtube or Vimeo video into any Note you send on Flocknote. All you need is the link to the video - that's it!

Simply click the "Insert Video" option found above the toolbar...

And then copy and paste your youtube/vimeo link into the field.

Click the "Place Video in Note" button.

Boom. Done.

You'll see what's called a "video merge tag" (...video=http:// youtube...) in the editable form of your Note. That's how we know where to insert the video.

Flocknote does the rest of the magic for you once you click the "Send Note" button. After that, Flocknote auotmatically creates a nicely formatted clickable picture of the video for you that gets sent out in the email form of your Note. But when anyone views your note on the web, it's the embedded, watchable video - like this:

Pretty sweet. Hope you like it. Go ahead and give it a try. Find one of your favorite youtube videos and share it with your flock!

March Updates

matt — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:57:06 +0000

Just a couple of updates for you!

Simplified Home Page & Menu

You've probably noticed that we made some improvements to your user home page when you login. It's now very focused on showing you only the Lists that you are subscribed to.

The main reason we did this was to make sure your parishioners don't get confused when they first login and join your Network. So we redesigned it to remove as many secondary kinds of things as possible and to make it easy for them to get straight to what they need.

Additionally, if you are an admin for a particular list, you'll now see a little gear next to that List:

If you hover over that gear, you'll get an "admin" menu that will let you jump straight to send a note, manage subscribers for that List, etc. Saves you a few steps from before.

Regarding the old orange and green notifications you used to see next to each List on your home page...we're handling that a different way now that we hope will be more intuitive and easier to manage.

Now, for any of your "required actions" (like subscriber approvals, incomplete profile info, etc.), you'll see a bright red counter at the top of every page in the main menu alerting you of this. Clicking on it will take a user through addressing any such required actions.

We're also working on putting back in a kind of "activity monitor" that will show up as a green counter at the top, informing you of any activity that has occurred (new notes, replies, votes, etc.) on any of your Lists. We know this is a helpful feature for many of you Admins who are monitoring activity on a large number of Lists, and we plan to have this improved approach up in early April.

Coming up

A few features we'll be releasing in the next couple weeks:

Easy way to insert images directly from your computer into your Notes you send out.
Easy way to update your newsletter header image and make it unique for each Note you send out.
Video insertion (will take a youtube or vimeo link and automatically create and insert the clickable image of it for your email version of your Note, while embedding the playable version of it nicely and automatically for you into the web-version of your Note.
Event auto-reminders
Some key improvements to the registration/subscription flow for your parishioners

One last thing - we also updated our logo a bit and created a new front page to flocknote.com. Please check it out and let us know what you think!

God bless you and know that we continue to pray for the work you are doing for our Church. We are blessed to be a part of it.

Peace,

Matthew Warner
flocknote founder

February 2012 flocknote Updates

matt — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:06:13 +0000

Howdy flocknote family! We've got some updates for you below that have rolled out over the past month or so. And we have some even bigger changes and improvements rolling out very soon. These are all a part of the continued effort to focus flocknote on meeting your most pressing communication needs in the Church — and doing it better and better.

Of course, your feedback has been essential to this effort and you've been so gracious in your support and suggestions. Please keep it up!

New and improved Note creation view

You'll notice that when creating new notes now, they appear on the website just like they appear in somebody's email inbox. This makes it easier to create a really beautiful, simple (but very effective) newsletter for your subscribers. You'll also notice that when you change the "style" of the Note to "Newsletter" it changes immediately right there in front of you to the new format.

We're also releasing updates in the next couple of weeks that will make inserting images and changing your newsletter header images a WHOLE lot easier and more intuitive. We're really excited about that.

Simplified Network page

Network pages have been simplified a bit. This is part of our overall change toward a much better user experience of flocknote. More of which you'll be seeing in the coming weeks.

Urgent subscription option removed

We wrestled with this one for a good while. But while we saw the benefits of being able to set subscription settings based upon whether a Note was marked "urgent," the additional complexity it added to subscription settings for each individual user caused more trouble for admins than it was worth. This small change is also going to allow some of the additional improvements rolling out soon which will greatly enhance the subscriber experience and make it much easier for admins to manage.

If your Network is interested in having a kind of "urgent" alerts List, we've seen it done more effectively on some of our Networks by simply creating a separate, designated "Urgent Alerts" List. From there your subscribers can set their subscription settings directly for such alerts (text or email) and admins can turn on phone calling for any subscribers they wish, also.

Importing and exporting large lists

If you have a large Network, you may have noticed that importing and exporting members can take some time. No more! The interface has been improved, too, with more advanced features already in the works.

Redirects for RSS Lists

If you drive any of your Lists with an RSS feed, you can now have the emails and texts that go out to your subscribers link directly back to your blog or website, rather than to the Note on flocknote. You can turn that on or off and learn more in the More Details section when you Edit your List.

Those're the major ones for now. flocknote has grown to serve over 150 parishes and dioceses now - in a fairly short time. And it continues to grow faster and faster. Thanks for being a part of this. We are very, very excited about the next release of updates. I think you will be, too. And, as always, we are praying for the important work you're doing in our Church. Please pray for us, too.

God bless,

Matt

10 Challenges When Using Email To Reach Parishioners (And Overcoming Them)

matt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

If you want an easy, affordable, efficient and familiar way to directly send out information and keep your parishioners up to date — your #1 best option is email. Hands down. Social media and texting are great, too. But far more people in your parish have access to email (and are comfortable using it) than anything else. That's where parishioners are at right now. And that's where we'll be at for years to come (with Text Messaging catching up, then social media - depending on your particular demographic).

Even with smartphones as popular as they are, most people still use the connection for checking email more than any other form of communication.

Now, most parish workers are at least comfortable using email personally. But, as a whole, we're not very good at using it organizationally yet. Here are 10 of the most common challenges parishes are facing when trying to use email as an organization:

Gathering addresses - They don't know the best ways to start gathering email addresses in the first place and how/where to store them efficiently.
Getting people subscribed to the right lists - Once a parish has gathered email addresses for people, they don't have a good way to get them onto the distribution lists that the susbcriber wants/needs to be on.
Managing lists (bad emails, unsubscribes, legal, etc.) - Once they do manage to get people onto the many distribution lists a parish may need (i.e. one or more for each ministry, dept. etc.), they don't have a way to easily and effectively manage those lists. If emails go invalid or "bounce," they aren't tracking those properly. They aren't giving parishioners a way to easily opt in and out of those lists - which is (among other things) a legal requirement for organizations sending out a lot of email.
Bulk email on your email server? - If a parish hasn't run in to this challenge yet, they probably will soon...they'll get their web server blacklisted. If you are regularly sending out bulk email to 20, 50, 100 or more people at a time (and many parishes are sending out much more than that) then you really should be using a proper bulk emailing service (FYI - I don't mean for your personal/work/internal email you use now - just for when you're sending out email to large groups of people). If you don't, many ISP's can easily start to view your web server as a spammer or other undesirable and will downgrade or blacklist your server. That means that all of a sudden a lot of the email you send out is much more likely to go straight into parishioner spam folders or not even reach them at all. It can cause a lot of other problems for your web presence, too. Most parish web servers were simply not set up to send out that much email.
Sharing lists, building upon them and "turnover" - When you have employee turnover at the parish, what happens to the distribution lists that the out-going person built? It's very common that whatever they were using to communicate or send out info goes with them and the new person starts all over again from scratch. Additionally, are you able to easily share and build upon your various email lists among your parish leadership? Or do you have to send information to one person and then trust that they'll forward it along their own channels? What if the pastor wants to send something out to everyone in the parish? Does he have direct access to easily reach everyone? Most parishes don't have a way to piggy back and easily build new, wider distribution lists from the few smaller ones that each ministry may have.
Team use - Parishes seldom have a communication tool that can be easily used by a team of minstry/department leaders. There is usually a bottle-neck of only one person who has access or knows how to send out information. Instead, parishes need a system that gives each ministry leader appropriate access to the distribution lists that they need to run their minsitry — whether it's for long formal newsletters or just quick reminders/announcements. And each ministry leader needs an easy way to let other co-leaders utilize those distribution lists when necessary along side them.
Accessing them when you need them - Parishes commonly can only send out information from their own computer at the office. But what about when they are on a trip? Or traveling? Or at home? They usually don't have a way to easily send out information to people from any where at any time.
Sending professional looking email - Parish email is often very unprofessional looking and not reflective of the vibrant, important, joyful mission of our Church.
Tracking success and results - Once parishes send email out, that's usually it. They have no way to practically check how many people it reached, who read it, when they opened it, whose email bounced, etc. They have no way to track the results of their email communication.
Oversight and documentation - Finally, most parishes have no way for administrators or pastors to oversee all of the information being emailed out. There is no formal archive of it all if it ever needs to be referenced. And there is no easy way for them to monitor and keep tabs of what each ministry is individually sending out to their parishioners.

flockNote solves every one of these problems. And it's the main reason why so many parishes have now found it to be so helpful and powerful for their community.

If you are a current user (or interested in becoming a user) of flockNote and would like some help overcoming any or all of these challenges, please contact support and let us know. We'd love to help.

8 Simple Ways to Improve Your Parish Communication

matt — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:01:47 +0000

It's been a lot of fun creating flockNote, and we've learned a lot in the process of working with so many great parishes. Here are eight of things that any parish could implement almost immediately. Hope you find them helpful!

1) Be careful not to communicate too much - If you are trying to say everything, you'll end up saying nothing. Consider the typical parish bulletin. Over time they've accumulated so much information in them each week that people don't bother to even try to sort through it all. So you end up communicating nothing. The same goes for emails or letters you send out. If they contain so much information nobody bothers to read them, they aren't doing any good. Say less and you'll communicate more.

2) Respect parishioner time - Whether they are listening to announcements at Mass, reading your bulletin or surfing your website, don't waste their time. Make sure that what you are bothering to say is important to your parishioners (not just to you). And try not to broadcast to everyone the things that only a small group of people need or want to hear. Eventually, they will just tune you out completely.

3) Have an up-to-date web presence - This means everywhere you're on the web. Your website, Facebook, Twitter, whatever. When people visit your website or Facebook page, they are wanting to communicate with you. They are wanting to build a relationship with you. If they get to your website and can't find up-to-date info, it's a missed opportunity. And if they find out-dated info, it communicates to them that there must not be anything going on here. And they move on.

4) Don't waste opportunities to connect - When somebody visits your website (or your parish for that matter), what are you doing to continue the relationship? Don't let them leave without connecting. Get some information from them. Give them an action item. Something to do. An event to attend. A way to take a next step in their faith walk. Get them on your emailing list and immediately plugged in to your active ministries (something flockNote is made to do). Don't waste an opportunity to connect.

5) Use a proper emailing service - The #1 (and easiest) way to keep parishioners up to date this day and age is through email. Almost everyone uses it. It's cheap, fast and easy. But it's a good idea to use a proper emailing service if you're sending large amounts of email. It will improve deliverability (i.e. avoid spam filters), keep your own parish web server off of blacklists, make sure you're legally compliant (like giving people easy, immediate ways to subscribe and unsubscribe), make your newsletters beautiful and - if you use flockNote - empower all of your ministry leaders to manage their distribution lists as a parish and communicate professionally and effectively. How are you continuing your relationship in between Sundays? This is one of the easiest and essential ways you can expand and bolster your parish social network. It's more than worth the costs, too.

6) Consider your audience - Too many parishes get caught only listening and catering to the vocal minority or the already engaged. So they shouldn't be surprised when they don't seem to reach anyone else. If you want to engage the unengaged, you need to consider that particular audience. Don't just say things that are interesting to you. Say things that are interesting to them and in a way that they will understand and be intrigued.

7) Remember that communication goes both ways - Communication is as much (or more) about listening as it is about talking. What are you doing to listen first to your parishioners? Find out where they are and what they're thinking. Then you'll know where to meet them with the message you'd like to ultimately communicate.

8) Don't be scared - Many parishes are scared to communicate. They're either intimidated by the latest technologies or frozen in fear of breaking burdensome guidelines. So they do little or nothing. There is really no such thing as not communicating. Not communicating is still communicating something. It communicates fear. It communicates apathy. It communicates maybe we don't have something worth communicating. And since we work for the Church, none of these could be further from the truth.

We are not afraid. And we have the most important message to communicate in the entire world. Let's help each other do it better!

Please share your own tips and best practices in the comments below!

Do you or someone you know want to learn more about flockNote? Click here.

One Big Mistake Parishes Make Using Facebook and How to Fix it

matt — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:44:34 +0000

Does your parish presence on Facebook have "friends"? ...or "fans"? If you answered "friends," then somebody probably made the mistake of setting up your parish presence as a "personal profile" on Facebook, rather than a "Fan Page" or "Page."

It's an understandable and common mistake. But basically, Facebook has personal profiles for people (you're actually not supposed to set them up for organizations like a parish). Organizations are supposed to create "Pages" that people can "LIKE" or become "fans" of.

The trouble is that a lot of parishes and organizations made this mistake some time ago and have since gathered up hundreds or thousands of "friends" for their organization to keep in touch with. And switching to using a "Page" instead, would have meant losing all of their "friends." Well Facebook just fixed this problem.

You can now easily convert your personal profile (mistakenly made for your parish) into a proper "Page" and not lose any of your connections! Just follow these instructions here and it will transfer all of your "friends" to a new Facebook Page for your parish.

A Facebook Page is a better setup (than a Facebook personal profile) with a lot more to offer for an organization like a parish. So you should definitely make the switch!

Also, flockNote allows you to connect your Facebook Page to any of your Lists on flockNote (Just check your Edit List section). Doing so will automatically promote your Facebook page at the bottom of all of your Notes you send out. It will also give you the option - when sending a new Note in flockNote - to have flockNote automatically update your Facebook page for you. Nice and convenient like.

Already have a Facebook page set up for your parish? Bonus reading: Check out this helpful pdf on how to get the most out of your Facebook Page -> Building Your Presence with Facebook Pages.

Facebook is a great complement to flockNote for your parish. flockNote establishes an easy platform for your entire leadership team to manage communication lists and ministries within your parish while providing an easy way to oversee and track all communications sent out to parishioners. flockNote focuses on the most direct and immediate forms of communication that engaged members prefer: email, txt and phone. But Facebook is a powerful tool to continue building that community, share the life of your parish in a unique way and reach other people who may not yet be fully engaged with your parish. That's why we make it easy for the two to work together.

A Christmas Note

matt — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:17:02 +0000

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas from flockNote!

As many of you know, we started this journey just over two years ago. My wife came home from work and I told her, "Honey, I have an idea called flockNote!" I remember grabbing a small dry erase board and mapping out how it works — a formula that has evolved and improved over the years as we've worked closely with all of you. And for that, I want to thank you.

Your feedback, your partnership and your support over these past two years have been invaluable to flockNote — and to our families. We're blessed to be able to combine an entrepreneurial spirit with a great passion for helping the Church. Thank you for being a big part of this journey.

We wish you and your loved ones a wonderful Christmas season and the peace of Christ this New Year. We have great things planned for 2012!

Many blessings,

Matthew Warner
flockNote CEO and Founder

P.S. Another blessing this year is that flockNote went from being just little ol' me to a growing team of amazing people. Merry Christmas from all of us:

Matthew, Lauren, Cole and Kate Warner (and Dog, Lady)

Jeff and Natalie Geerling

Barrett and Suzy Field (Just married!)

Everyone who works for the Church should read this book

matt — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:04:03 +0000

At least that's pretty much what Cardinal Sean O'Malley is saying:

"Everyone involved in communications and evangelization should read this book." - Cardinal O'Malley

The book he's referring to is called The Church and New Media. And I was honored to be asked to write the chapter in it on technology in the parish. And flockNote is featured in a number of places - not just my chapter :-). The book covers a whole lot of topics and technologies, including a lot of helpful info for parishes and dioceses. You can check out the great website for the book, as well as some great new media resources at ChurchandNewMedia.com.

Additionally, the author of the book and all-around-good-guy, Brandon Vogt, was recently interviewed on Fox News and did an outstanding job. You can view the short interview in the video below:

[You can view the video over at this link if it's not showing up for you here.]

flockNote Spotlighted by Tropo

matt — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:28:48 +0000

flockNote was recently spotlighted by Tropo.com (the tech much of our SMS and phone calling features is built upon) for flockNote's innovative application of communication technologies. Jeff and I had a fun Skype interview with Chris Matthieu of Tropo last week. You can see our funny faces in the video embedded below.

And you can view the full Tropo blog post here.

It's nice to see Catholic apps (like flockNote) getting recognition by non-religious organizations for how we're applying technology to the Church. Thanks to all of you for your support of flockNote and for being a part of this! We couldn't do it without you!

Peace be with you,

Matt