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The Foster Letter —

Religious Market Update

The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail religious market intelligence report targeted to Christian market channel and ministry leaders.  Each issue reports on news, trends, events and research that will directly or indirectly impact your audiences and businesses in a convenient summary format  Better informed leaders make better choices!

Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster

Excerpts from the

November 10, 2009 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update

E-Book Apps Surge New research finds that book-related apps saw quite an upsurge in September launches. Book-related applications actually overtook games in the App Store as a percentage of all released apps, according to a study by Flurry, a mobile application analytics company. In October, 1 out of every 5 new applications launched on the iPhone was a book. The iPhone is already acknowledged as a handheld gaming platform due to more apps being released in the “games” category than any other from 8/08 to 8/09. Now, it looks like a similar burst in book-related apps could secure the iPhone’s e-reader status. There will remain a market for dedicated e-reader devices, because it is impossible to read a large amount of text on the smaller iPhone screen. (Online Media Daily 11/2/09) 

Community “Americans are increasingly yearning for community. The Millennial solution will be to set high standards, get organized, team up, and do civic deeds.  Millennials will also correct for what today’s teens perceive as the excesses of middle-aged Boomers (the narcissism, impatience, iconoclasm, and constant focus on talk—usually argument) over action. Millennials can do this over time by turning toward community, patience, trust, and a new focus on action over talk.”  (Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by Tom Brokaw, Vintage 2000) 

Outside Point-of-View Does it seem like something is wrong, but you’re not quite sure what? Let me help you pinpoint problems and needed changes through a custom-tailored management or operations audit. Contact 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. 

10,000 Hours A study by K. Anders Ericsson, which looked at musical prodigies, found the common denominator for mastery and success: 10,000 hours of practice. “The emerging picture from such studies,” says neurologist Daniel Levitin, “is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything.” 10,000 hours is the equivalent of 20 hours a week for 10 years. (Michael Hyatt’s blog 10/16/09) 

One Minute Web-user guru Jakob Nielsen says users should be able to complete simple tasks on a website in about one minute. “Awkward sites that require much more time than a minute for basic tasks will be abandoned, “ he warns. (Globe and Mail 10/14/09) 

Marketing Leads Research has shown that about 80% of leads marketers generate end up getting lost, ignored or discarded. Rather than continually struggling to find new leads for the sales team, marketers must develop a lead re-engagement process that requires the sales team to return dead or unwanted leads to the marketing team. (MarketingSherpa 9/30/09) 

Advertising isn’t working as it did a few years ago. TV, radio and newspapers all bemoan the decline in ad results. “Wizard of Ads” Roy Williams claims he’s discovered and proved that (a) Internet surfing has trained us to disregard empty words, and (b) Relevance has become more important than repetition. The audience is still there. What’s gone is their willingness to pay attention to drivel. He says, to make your advertising work like it should, you’re going to have to: (1) Talk about things your customer actually cares about. (2) Write your ads in a style that rings true. (3) Avoid heroic chest-thumping. “We are the number one…” is now considered gauche and passé. (4) Close the loopholes in your ads. Offer evidence to support what you say. (5) Be specific. Details are more believable than generalities. (6) Deliver a real message. Substance is more important than style. Creativity and repetition can no longer cover for an ad that actually says nothing. You’ve got to have a message that matters. For an analysis of your ads, contact 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. (Monday Morning Memo, Wizard of Ads 3/5/07) 

Spend More if it Saves Time 28% of 6/09 shoppers describe themselves as “preferring to spend more if it saves them time.” This is up from 23% in May. At the same time, the number of customers (28%) who said “saving money by shopping around” was their top preference fell from 33%. (M/A/R/C Research and Integer, 8/09) 

Creativity A study of 3000 creative executives by BYU professor Jeff Dyer found 5 skills distinguish them: making connections across seemingly unrelated ideas; questioning;  closely observing details, particularly of people’s behavior; the ability to experiment, continually trying out new experiences; and networking with smart people who have little in common with them, but from whom they can learn. The most important was connecting problems or ideas in unusual ways. (Harvard Business Review Editor’s Blog)  

Social Media is Not a Replacement for Advertising “Three-quarters of small businesses say they have not found sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn helpful for generating business leads or expanding business in the past year, according to a Citibank Small Business survey of U.S. businesses with fewer than 100 employees.” (Reuters 10/8/09) 

More Conservatives A recent Gallup poll found conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in ’09, according to several Gallup surveys. Americans who describe themselves as “very conservative” or “conservative” make up 39% to 41%. Between 35% and 37% call themselves “moderate,” while those calling themselves “very liberal” or “liberal” has remained steady between 20% and 21%. Changes among political independents appear to be the main reason the percentage of conservatives has increased over the past year. The 35% of independents describing their views as conservative in ’09 is up from 29% in ’08. (Gallup.com 10/09) 

Want It Now More than 30% of the people who visit a business for service expect instant attention, sometimes even if they do not have an appointment. (Beagle Research Group 8/09.) 

Despite the Recession, more than two-thirds of  U.S. congregations report their fundraising receipts increased or remained the same in the first half of ’09 compared to ’08, finds an Alban Institute’s 2009 Congregational Economic Impact Study. During ’08, 36% of congregations initiated new activities such as music festivals, church fairs and capital campaigns to increase their fundraising success. 10% strengthened relationships with their community through more outreach programs, such as increasing space used by outside groups and increasing programs for non-attending community members. Only one-third of congregations decreased their ’09 budget from ’08, while 42% increased it. 40% of pastors preached or talked more about giving this year than last. Congregations where the average age of congregants was younger were more likely to report an increase in giving, and nearly 22% have seen a decrease in their weekly attendance, while over 24% have seen an increase since the onset of the recession. (Christian Post 10/29/09). 

Read to Kids We’ve all heard about how children who are read to often become stronger students. But reading also benefits kids in ways that aren’t directly measured by grades and test scores. “It really does help develop key pieces of brain architecture,” says Kim Davenport, Sr. VP of Jumpstart, a national early-education organization. “When children are engaged with a story, they’re learning to understand the world around them. They’re developing vocabulary, critical thinking, and other crucial literacy and language skills.” A Univ. of Kansas study found the more 10-18-month-old children were read to, the larger their vocabularies. They also learned to pay attention and focus. Even in the Internet age, books provide benefits no screen can give: They contain a richer, more complex vocabulary than any other medium. Beyond the developmental and academic benefits, parents and experts alike say reading together, whether your child is 13 months or 13 years old, is a wonderful way to bond. (Redbook 11/4/09) 

Facebook vs. Google Facebook ads allow you to target with laser-like precision the customer profiles you want to reach. But you’ll get better results with keyword-targeted Google adwords, because Google ads appear when the imperfect customer is in looking-for-answers mode. Facebook ads appear when the perfect customer is in connecting-with-friends, wasting-time mode. It’s counterintuitive, but “When” is often more important than “Who.” (Roy Williams, Monday Morning Wizard of Ads 11/2/09) 

DaySpring Cards has started a new direct-sales business called Blessings Unlimited that offers gifts, home décor products, greeting cards, items for quiet times with the Lord and many other products for sale direct to consumers through independent consultants. To learn more, visit http://www.blessingsdirect.com/ourproducts.html. This is a Christian product company willing to risk entering a new market channel. All new endeavors involve risk. Let me help you assess the risks in any new direction you will pursue. Contact me at 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. (Foster Network 3/28/07) 

Virtual Church The Internet has become the hottest place to build a church. A growing number of congregations are creating Internet offshoots that go far beyond streaming weekly services. The sites are fully interactive with a dedicated Internet pastor, live chat in an online “lobby,” Bible study, 1-on-1 prayer through IM and communion. (Viewers use their own bread and wine or juice.) On one site, viewers can click on a tab during worship to accept Christ as their Savior. Flamingo Road Church, based in Cooper City, Fla., twice conducted long-distance baptisms through the Internet. The move online is forcing Christians to re-examine their idea of church. It’s a complex discussion involving theology, tradition and cultural expectations of how Christians should worship and relate. Even developers of Internet church sites disagree over how far they should go. The sites share the same basic approach: rock-style worship music and a sermon recorded at the in-person weekend service that is quickly mixed with live or recorded greetings expressly for online viewers. The phenomenon is so new that no one has an exact count of interactive online campuses. The Leadership Network has found at least 40.  (USA Today 11/2/09) 

Psychological Environment. Everyone knows that more people listen to the radio during morning drive than at any other time during the day. But people during morning drives are thinking about what awaits them at work.  It’s during the drive home that they’re thinking about what awaits them at home. Consequently, radio ads tend to work better during afternoons and evenings. (Roy Williams, Monday Morning Wizard of Ads 11/2/09) 

Mom’s Christmas List Overall, moms will spend $672 this year, consistent with ’08 spending levels, with the top hot gifts for young children being toys (51%), clothing (29%), books (26%), movies (23%) and video games (8%). Top gift choices for children aged 7-12 are video games (30%), toys (29%), books/clothing (tied at 28%), movies (25%) and music (20%). Popular gifts for teens are music/music electronics (28%), clothing (27%), gift cards (23%), beauty products/video games (21%), and movies (19%). Moms of teens plan to spend the most on holiday gifts. (Media Post 11/4/09) 

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