When Marketing Leads to Ministry

by Lori Roeleveld @LoriSRoeleveld

When I began this writing adventure, I had an attitude about marketing and sales. You see, I wasn’t going to concern myself with such worldly ideas, because, like The Blues Brothers, I was on a mission for God. I may or may not have harbored some unkind and judgmental thoughts about people who invested significant energy discussing branding, platform building, and target audiences. I was simply going to write and trust God to be my marketer. Boom. Mic drop. Thank you, very much.

Ah, the journey from “holier than thou” to “wow, I have so much to learn” 
is a bumpy and brutal ride for some of us with harder heads than others. It took several rounds of rejections from publishing boards that were based NOT on my writing (which was praised), nor on my projects (described as worthy and relevant), but by the marketing department (“we have no idea who her target audience is or how to sell her idea”).

Now, before you do exactly what I originally did and blame the marketing department for their lack of skill, let me help you understand something vital. I didn’t know who my target audience was, and I was clearly incapable of adequately articulating my own message to the small group of people who sat on those publishing boards! How could I expect them to do it with the material I provided?

Writing for God wasn’t going to do anyone any good if it remained locked inside my laptop forever. I had to do something. I am, after all, a fisher of men. I criticize congregations who sit back waiting for fish to “jump into their church boats,” so why did I imagine I wouldn’t need to shove off from the shore myself?

So, several years into my writing journey (I’m ashamed to admit), it finally occurred to me to learn something about the people God wanted me to find—namely, my readers. This was pivotal—not to my writing success, but to my spiritual maturity as a Christian communicator. This transformation was facilitated at one BRMCWC conference through two eye-opening encounters.

First, I spent fifteen minutes with Susan King, editor of The Upper Room, as she showed me how to edit three short pieces. Those fifteen minutes revolutionized my writing for many reasons but, primarily, because Susan repeatedly referenced the reader. She urged me to write for a specific reader. To write with clarity over cleverness. To keep the needs and culture of my reader foremost in my thoughts.

Second, I got to know a kindred soul, best-selling author James L. Rubart, and appreciate the depth and breadth of his relationship with Jesus. Then, to my annoyance, I realized he was a marketing genius. What originally seemed incongruous to me – a Jesus-loving marketer – was now laughing beside me and praying with me in the lobby of Mountain Laurel. That year, I decided to invest a portion of the money I normally spend on an annual writing conference in coaching sessions with Jim around learning to articulate my message.

Through that process, myriad rounds of prayer, lots of scriptural and soul-searching, I now understand that part of my mission as a Christian writer is to locate the people God wants to receive the message I’m called to write. And, not just to locate them, but to pray for, listen to, develop God’s heart for, and serve them with humility and zeal.

I’ll tell you a secret I haven’t shared with anyone. Marketing research is the reason I haven’t given up on writing when it’s gotten really tempting to quit.

That’s the truth. It’s kept me writing, because it’s in marketing research that I’ve come to know and love my readers. God has used the cries of their hearts to spur me on to become a better writer, a better reacher, a better follow of Jesus. Not so I can sell more books, or enlist more subscribers, or increase my platform (although, that’s a by-product of this process), but so that I can be with them in this Jesus adventure.

They're More Than Just Numbers

You see, behind every number in the platform section of my book proposals, is a name, a face, a heart, a soul – someone seeking courage to endure, someone waiting to be challenged to deeper faith, someone wanting confidence to speak up for Christ. God wants to reach them in many ways, but one way is through what I write. Part of my job as a writer is to locate and love them in Jesus’ name.

We are called together, this band of readers and I, and I won’t rest until I find them, every one. They may be small in number. They may be spread far and wide. But, I need them as much as they need me. I’m no longer as interested in selling to them as I am in serving them. That heart transformation occurred through the process of discovering my brand and marketing research.

Go figure.

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Behind every reader a name, a face, a heart, a soul - @LoriSRoeleveld on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

When marketing leads to ministry - thoughts from author @LoriSRoeleveld (Click to Tweet)

Lori Stanley Roeleveld is an author, speaker, and disturber of hobbits who enjoys making comfortable Christians late for dinner. Biblical, funny, and real, she inspires courage and Christ-centered confidence. Blogger. Wife. Mother of adults. Part-time giant-slayer. Not available for children’s parties. To join the adventure, knock on her door at www.loriroeleveld.com and through Facebook and Twitter.