Lisa Wirthman is a freelance journalist who posted on Weebly some time back an article about branding that I found of value. While she was writing about a person establishing their “personal brand”, I found the principles she set forward quite applicable, and have adapted them in today’s post. Her actual article, if you are interested, may currently be viewed at: Self Promotion: How to Brand Without Bragging.
So, how do we, as humble Lutheran school educators just “doing our thing” in service to the Lord, effectively communicate our brand, making us more and more well known throughout the community and thereby attracting more families to our ministry? We don’t want to be seen as bragging; in fact, Lutherans in general have a great aversion to that (although Paul had no problem bragging about the Lord, which is really what we do when we emphasize our school ministries through which God does powerful things). Here are some principles that serve well to brand without the brag.
1. Be Authentic: We simply need to tell people who we are and what we do. We offer a powerfully effective Christian educational ministry in a warm, nurturing environment filled with God’s love. We don’t have to try to be all to everyone. Just share what we do, and share it boldly. The people who want and need what we offer will be drawn to that.
2. Stick to the Facts: Focus on who we are and what we do, the tangible things people can see, rather than trying to interpret what goes on here. Leave the interpretation to those who check us out further; they will draw their own conclusions, and therefore won’t be disappointed if they don’t see the same image we tried to paint for them.
3. Share the Credit: This one actually comes pretty easy to Lutheran School educators. We give God the thanks and praise for what we are able to do in our schools; to God be the glory. At the same time, we should also be eager to point to our greater LCMS school system as part of the reason we have the quality program and staff we put forward; we draw from a formula of success established through over 160 years of practice doing Lutheran Schools, with a large network of educators to share ideas, and over 2,300 schools across the Synod to collaborate with regarding best practices. We also benefit from the Concordia University System, consistently training new high quality Christian professionals to enter our schools and continue our mission. Don’t miss the opportunity to share these reasons for the strong programs people find in our schools.
4. Stay Humble: Never lose touch with the fact that we speak about and promote our schools out of a desire to benefit the students and families through our Christian witness and service. It’s not about us; it’s about Jesus. As we actively serve the families we currently have, giving constant credit to God for the aspects of our school ministry which families value and appreciate, those families will do much of our promoting for us. As we focus on humbly giving credit to God, school families will be trumpeting to the community about the strengths of our school, and new people will come a’lookin’!
As we brand without bragging, we will continue to grow our impact on the community while staying focused on the Lord and the service to the children and families. Just as the focus should be.
So, how do we, as humble Lutheran school educators just “doing our thing” in service to the Lord, effectively communicate our brand, making us more and more well known throughout the community and thereby attracting more families to our ministry? We don’t want to be seen as bragging; in fact, Lutherans in general have a great aversion to that (although Paul had no problem bragging about the Lord, which is really what we do when we emphasize our school ministries through which God does powerful things). Here are some principles that serve well to brand without the brag.
1. Be Authentic: We simply need to tell people who we are and what we do. We offer a powerfully effective Christian educational ministry in a warm, nurturing environment filled with God’s love. We don’t have to try to be all to everyone. Just share what we do, and share it boldly. The people who want and need what we offer will be drawn to that.
2. Stick to the Facts: Focus on who we are and what we do, the tangible things people can see, rather than trying to interpret what goes on here. Leave the interpretation to those who check us out further; they will draw their own conclusions, and therefore won’t be disappointed if they don’t see the same image we tried to paint for them.
3. Share the Credit: This one actually comes pretty easy to Lutheran School educators. We give God the thanks and praise for what we are able to do in our schools; to God be the glory. At the same time, we should also be eager to point to our greater LCMS school system as part of the reason we have the quality program and staff we put forward; we draw from a formula of success established through over 160 years of practice doing Lutheran Schools, with a large network of educators to share ideas, and over 2,300 schools across the Synod to collaborate with regarding best practices. We also benefit from the Concordia University System, consistently training new high quality Christian professionals to enter our schools and continue our mission. Don’t miss the opportunity to share these reasons for the strong programs people find in our schools.
4. Stay Humble: Never lose touch with the fact that we speak about and promote our schools out of a desire to benefit the students and families through our Christian witness and service. It’s not about us; it’s about Jesus. As we actively serve the families we currently have, giving constant credit to God for the aspects of our school ministry which families value and appreciate, those families will do much of our promoting for us. As we focus on humbly giving credit to God, school families will be trumpeting to the community about the strengths of our school, and new people will come a’lookin’!
As we brand without bragging, we will continue to grow our impact on the community while staying focused on the Lord and the service to the children and families. Just as the focus should be.