At the end of the year it can be fun to look back and see what the trends of the past year were like. It can help us to know where we ve been and where we might be going. If you are into fabric, you want a fabric supplier that understands the fabric trends of today and is looking ahead to the trends of tomorrow. My Fabric Connection is that fabric supplier! We know fabric and can help you find the fabric that is perfect for you, whether you re looking for the hot new trend in fabric, something vintage or a fabric that will be unique to your sense of style. My Fabric Connection has seen that 100% cotton and a rayon/linen blend fabric are the fabrics that have been selling well over the past year. These cotton and linen fabrics are most popular when they are printed with a design. Printed fabrics such as florals, stripes and chevrons are all very popular right now. Printed fabric allows for a lot of creativity and has been trending well this year for use in clothing, purse
http://blog.myfabricconnection.com/2014/01/popular-fabric-2013/Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Is Your Website Still Worthless?
Last week, we talked about the importance of setting goals for your website and what kind of goals should be set. Today, we are going to discuss measuring the goals for your website. One of the most common goals that an organization will set for their website is for some specific action to take place by a visitor. When a visitor completes a desired task or step on your website, it is called a conversion. So ask yourself, “Once visitors are on my website, what do I want them to do?” Do you want them to submit form, watch a video, place a phone call, make a purchase, or visit your organization in person? List specific things you want visitors to do. Tracking of goals and conversions: Many website builders will have built in traffic monitoring software that will give you the ability to track things like total visitors, unique visitors, and visitors to specific pages. However, to track conversions or more detailed goals, you will probably need 3rd party software like G
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/1QFLNgzl45g/Popular Fabric Trends
We know that fabric trends come and go and you want your fabric supplier to understand the current fabric trends. Fabrics like velvet and corduroy used to be very popular. Polyester was popular beginning in the 1970s. Neon colors were popular in the 1980s and in the 1990s tiny prints were popular. What are the popular fabric trends that fabric companies are seeing these days? My Fabric Connection knows fabric and understands fabric trends! The popular fabric trend that My Fabric Connection has seen over the last year is that people are getting cotton and rayon/linen blend fabrics. Of the cotton and linen fabrics, the trend is fabrics with a printed pattern on them. Pattern fabric, such as florals, chevron and stripes are very popular fabric trends right now. Prints can be a very versatile choice that allows you to make your project look unique. Pattern fabric is a popular choice to use for clothing, purses and even draperies. There is just so much you can do with pattern f
http://blog.myfabricconnection.com/2013/12/popular-fabric-trends/Sunday, December 29, 2013
How We Teach Christian Leadership Qualities
At Christian Leadership University, we want to cultivate strong Christian leaders. So, how do we teach Christian leadership qualities? A Different Concept Most Christian leadership courses solely focus on trying to teach techniques a person can use to become a more effective leader. They talk about communication skills, creating a team, inspiring people, etc. While this can create effective leaders, it’s missing the core of Christian leadership, God. This can lead to people who lead people towards ungodly pursuits or people leading towards good goals, but relying on their own reason and will to get them there instead of God’s reason and power. Our leadership concept focuses on each student s spiritual formation and ability to hear the voice of God. We want to help form leaders who know how to hear God s voice, to know how to respond to God s voice, and to know how to act upon God s voice. God tells us the goals to lead towards and the way to go. So, at CLU, the Chris
http://blog.cluonline.com/2013/12/teach-christian-leadership-qualities/Thursday, December 26, 2013
Should Christians Get Involved in Online Public Advocacy?
As Christians who use social networks, maintain websites or blogs, or other online activities to serve God and others, I think we all agree on some matters. We agree that we are to do all things, offline or online, to glorify our great and awesome God. We agree that we have been called to love and serve others as He has loved us first. We desire to share Christ s love and to let what whatever we do be the outflow of our relationship with Him. Yet, whether you mean between individuals or Christian denominations, we re divided about how to go about some of this. Take the matter of public advocacy. Why should we Christians get involved in that? Should we? What Is Public Advocacy? Public advocacy is using any means, offline or online, to speak up for those who can t speak up for themselves. There are numerous forms of advocacy, including disability rights, autism awareness, crime victim advocacy, missing persons advocacy, child advocacy, sanctity of life advocacy, just to name a few. Advo
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/mwrKFrSjvPw/Should I Upholster Myself or Hire Someone?
If you have furniture that you want to upholster, you might be wondering if you should upholster it yourself, or hire someone to do it. Doing it yourself could be a fun project, or it could turn into a stressful and expensive experience. To make the best decision on if you want to do your own upholstery or hire someone to do it for you, you should consider a few variables. 1. Your Skill Set How comfortable do you feeling tackling this project? Maybe you are excited about the opportunity to create something yourself. Or maybe you would rather let someone else take care of the mess. If you don t already know how to upholster furniture, do you have time to learn? 2. Upholstery Accessories To properly upholster furniture you will need the necessary upholstery accessories. Some of the accessories include the wooden frame of your chair or couch, the springs that will make your furniture comfortable to sit on, and the foam piece cut to the correct size for the cushion. You will als
http://blog.myfabricconnection.com/2013/12/upholster-hire-someone/Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Wise Men Still Seek Him – Online
You are no doubt familiar with the story of the magi, or wise men, who came from the east in search of Jesus, but their story is not entirely unique After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” -Matthew 2:1-2 The wise men were the first to search for Jesus, but certainly not the last. Throughout the centuries, millions of men and women have sought Jesus for forgiveness, for salvation, to give their lives meaning, to worship Him. While the wise men searched for Jesus on the backs of camels, today s wise men (and women) search for Jesus on the backs of mice, computer mice that is online. Will they find your website? We talk a lot about how a good website, web hosting and search engine optimization are essential to achieving your mission online. While we want you and your organization to suce
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/RnFGpprPOj4/Monday, December 23, 2013
You Think You Know, But Without This Your Website is Worthless
It’s nearing that time of year again; Time to set goals for the New Year. Some of the most popular areas people set goals are finances, health, and spiritual growth. But if you have a website, you should set goals for it as well. We here at OurChurch.Com have been working through our strategic planning process for the last couple of weeks. We have been reviewing our goals and performance from 2013, doing our SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, & threats), and setting our goals for 2014. But before we go any further, the question should be asked Is it really necessary to set goals for your website? We’ll that depends. Do you want to know if the investment that you or your organization is making in a website is worth it? Do you want to know if the marketing you are doing to drive traffic to your website is worth it? If the answer is “yes” to these questions, then it is necessary to set goals for your website. I receive many phone calls from people wh
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/9o_Rp4Yn_aI/What is the Difference Between Leather and Faux Leather Material?
If you are looking to complete a project using leather material, you may be considering using faux leather material, but wonder what the difference will be between leather and faux leather material. The manufacturers have perfected their creation of faux leather material to make it look and feel very close to the real thing, but there are some differences. To make an informed decision about which fabric to use, you are going to want to know the differences between leather and faux leather material. And while we re on the subject, what is faux leather material anyway? So, what are the differences? 1. The Price! One of the biggest differences between leather and faux leather material is the cost. Leather is much more expensive than faux leather. Leather is also sold by the square foot, while faux leather can be sold by the yard. An average hide is going to run 45-60 square feet, which would cost an average of $450 to $600. By comparison, you could get the same amount of mate
http://blog.myfabricconnection.com/2013/12/difference-leather-faux-leather-material/Christian Leadership Concepts: Which is Best?
Our world is in need of strong Christian leaders. Our churches need leaders who can help their members be in the world but not of it. What makes someone a strong Christian leader? There are several Christian leadership concepts that can be helpful, but there is one that is crucial to being a strong Christian leader. Some Christian leadership concepts include goal setting, ability to organize committees and the humanistic effort of grunting out results. The problem with those styles, for Christian leaders, is that God is not asking us to do our work on the Earth, but His work. In order to do His work, we need to be able to hear the voice of God, and then act on what He says. Biblical Examples: Moses We have biblical examples of great leaders who heard the voice of God. Moses was a great leader who heard God speaking to him from a bush and listened. Jesus said, “I do only what I hear my Father speaking and what I see my Father doing”. Paul Paul is another example of a
http://blog.cluonline.com/2013/12/christian-leadership-concepts-best/Friday, December 20, 2013
Video: Funny Christmas Church Signs
Ah the infamous church sign message some are cheesy, some make us cringe and a few here and there make us laugh. Here s a montage of Christmas-themed church signs. Which ones is your favorite? Which one is the worst?
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/iWs6e_Xc6sU/Thursday, December 19, 2013
Spiritual Formation – Christian CHARACTER Education
Spiritual formation is the core of what we teach at Christian Leadership University. Every Christian can and should know how to hear the voice of God and how to act on what you hear. We feel that this is the most effective way to teach, help Christians to grow in their faith, and train effective Christian leaders. One of the reasons spiritual formation is so effective is because is builds and strengthens Christian Character. Christian Character education begins by hearing the word of God and acting upon it. We have examples of great leaders in the Bible who did this. Jesus said, “I do only what I hear my Father speaking and what I see my Father doing.” Moses and Paul are other great leaders who heard from God and acted on it. So how does knowing this improve our Christian character? Allowing Christ to be Formed in You First, it s allowing Christ to be formed within you. We know that Paul prayed that Christ would be formed in us and that we would be found in Christ.
http://blog.cluonline.com/2013/12/spiritual-formation-christian-character-education/What is Faux Leather Fabric?
Leather is a popular fabric because it looks good, feels good and even smells good! It is a real material, made from the sacrifice of a cow. Because it s a real and somewhat limited product, it can be very expensive. If you re interested in purchasing leather fabric, you may want to consider faux leather fabric as an alternative. What is faux leather? Faux leather is a man made material designed to look like real leather. A big advantage of using faux leather fabric is the price. You will find that faux leather fabric is much less expensive that using real leather. It can also be easier to work with. When purchasing real leather, an average hide runs about 45-60 square feet. Should your project require a larger fabric piece, you would need to purchase multiple hides, and this will result in multiple pieces of your leather fabric that will need to be sown together. With faux leather fabric, you can purchase the number of yards that you need in one piece. Will I be abl
http://blog.myfabricconnection.com/2013/12/faux-leather-fabric/Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Christmas Gifts from Google and Bing
Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying this time of preparation for Christmas and life is allowing you to keep your mind focused on the celebration of the birth of Christ. Right now you are probably trying to finish up (or start) buying gifts for friends and family. Well, with all the gift-giving that goes on around Christmas, the search engines thought they would get in on action and give some gifts as well. This month in our SEO Update, I ll tell you all about some new features the search engines have recently released that can help you with your organization as well as have a little fun. Watch the video below to hear all about it this month s SEO update: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJrTnQ5UPKQ Merry Christmas! I’m Kurt Steinbrueck with OurChurch.Com, and this is your SEO update You can view a full transcript of this video here on the Christian SEO Guys blog. Video Summary: The search engines have released several new features to help you and for fun: Google releases
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/oXdeCq1xJOQ/Tuesday, December 17, 2013
A Donkey, Facebook & Church Social Media
Pastor Adam Weber shared a super awesome yet amazingly simple idea that created tremendous engagement on his church’s Facebook page! Chances are you’ve been to or at least heard of churches who have live nativities around Christmas or a live donkey for Palm Sunday. They are not new ideas. Adam and his church asked themselves What could make the experience really special? Was there a way to use it as an outreach opportunity? In a Leadership Network blog post he explains: The day came and as people walked up to church, we had Buddy the Donkey in front of a simple backdrop of straw bales, and a professional photographer (who’s one of the most outgoing people I know) ready with her camera. It was a clear win for everyone—kids got to pet the donkey, and parents got a cute picture. We explained that we d upload all of the pictures to our Facebook page immediately after the services and encouraged people to tag themselves. The feedback we got from kids, moms, dads and grandparents wa
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/6vH4Jg_r8fA/Monday, December 16, 2013
5 Ways to Tell If Your Website is Working
How’s your website doing things days? Good question. And one most organizations can’t answer. Most organizations evaluate their website based on a mysterious hodge-podge of subjective opinions and anecdotal evidence. Like… Aunt Wilma said she went to your website but she got an error when she tried to download your cover of What the Fox Say We’ve only gotten 1 new subscriber to our newsletter this week, something must be wrong Somebody told the senior pastor they think our site looks terrible Well, I think it looks fine We can do better than that! Here are 5 objective ways to tell if your website is working 1) Measure traffic – Integrate an analytics program like Google Analytics into your website. Then check your traffic stats regularly. Is the number of visitors growing? Are you getting a good percentage of returning visitors? 2) Track online goals – What are the main online goals for your website? Do you want to grow newsletter subscribers? Sell products or services? An
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/mnHN66c2Ypk/Friday, December 13, 2013
Get in the Christmas Spirit with This Awesome Christmas Light Display!
Happy Friday! As is our custom here on Christian Web Trends we try to lighten up and have some fun on Fridays and this week we re doing that literally. Check out this awesome Christmas light display set to the song Carol of the Bells. Have you seem some other great videos of Christmas lights? Got any pics of good Christmas light displays in your area? Post a link?
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/K1cufTwpjwE/Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The New Bing Maps App is Like a 3D Virtual World…But Real
Bing Maps has announced that they are launching a new app that is pretty cool. The new map app creates a virtual world of the real world. The maps are a combination of real world, high definition photography and 3d computer rendering. We have assembled world builders from the video game industry, expert photogrammetrists, high definition aerial cameras and a massive data pipeline crunching petabytes of imagery to deliver a more natural way to experience our planet. Interactive: In addition to the virtually real world, the map app is also interactive. With the swipe of a finger, the tilt of your tablet, or tap of a stylus, you can move through the 3D map to view locations from just about any perspective. The standard mapping features (street names, places of interest, etc.) are also present as well as traffic information. Dual View: Another cool feature is the dual view option, which allows the user to view the map in both streetview and the standard map view at the same time.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/71HgOC3sDEs/Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Is Un-Friending Un-Christian?
Friend. The word used to refer to be reserved only for select people in our lives. The word referred to people whom we trusted and shared our lives with, had many things in common with, including our values, did things for and with. Today, this narrow definition of friends and friendship have shifted with social networks. With the advent of individual profiles of us users connecting with one another on profiles. Now, friends references anyone we connect with online, whether we call them friends, followers, circlers or anything else. We don t have to live in the same state, in the same country or even on the same continent. We don t have to know or even know about these users whom we call friends. We ve come a long way, but to what? What is the result of this paradigm shift? Today, relationships have become commodities and disposable ones at that. The Unfriend and Block buttons have made it easy to minister to our tendency to dump relationships when sin complicates them, or communicat
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/6G5e1mjCo-o/Monday, December 9, 2013
Does your website scream “Members Only!”
Member’s Only. For those who remember the 80’s this may conjure up memories of a jacket fad that probably lasted a bit longer than parachute pants. Other times, “Members Only” may mean an exclusive club or privileges. Often, something that is members only is usually a good thing. However, for most websites, “Members Only” is the exact opposite. Why? If you are a church, school, ministry or business, a website has a dual purpose. One reason is to communicate more effectively with those who are a part of your organization. The second reason it to communicate with those outside your organization. So how do you create a website that is welcoming to those outside your organization and doesn’t scream, “Members Only!” 1. Don’t use a design or images that only those who are part of your organization can identify with. Symbols, pictures, or an overall design should be easily relatable to those who have been with your organization for many years and those who
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/JUSX_c_bGvc/Friday, December 6, 2013
Pic: Jesus Chillin with His Homies
It s Friday, so time for a little fun Thanks to Jason Chesnut aka @crazypastor for sharing this in this week s #ChSocM church social media chat. Reactions?
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/65MdpTJzwY0/Thursday, December 5, 2013
13 Top Church Social Media Tips for 2013 #ChSocM
In this week s Church Social Media chat #ChSocM, moderator Regina Heater (@reckshow) asked: What’s the best #chsocm tip you learned in 2013? Here are 13 of the top tips shared by chat participants. To steal from Nike Just Do It. Social media needs creative experimentation. @ohxjulie Don t just broadcast. Whatever you do. ENGAGE! @Stevefogg Make all posts pinnable (use an image in every post, even if it s just the title of the post.) @reckshow Tag people in Facebook photos. The number of views goes waaay up. @LeistCatalano Try to find a balance between content and relationships @WillPlatnick Make sure your message and image is consistent across *all* platforms plus your website. @MeredithGould Just post worthwhile & meaningful stuff. People respond. @eric_clapp Be willing to try something that doesn t work. Ditch it, then try something else. Be fearless and creative @MeredithGould Be relevant and understand your audience. @DiopaYouth Work with just a few platforms that make sens
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/17wORMk-SD8/Wednesday, December 4, 2013
5 SEO Action Steps You Can Take Today
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can seem like a long and daunting task, mostly because it is; but not everything about SEO has to be that difficult or take that long. There are quick and simple things you can do right now that can have a big impact on how much traffic your website is getting. So, here are 5 SEO action steps you can take today: 1. Setup unique title tags. The title tag is the most important on-page SEO signal. Unfortunately most sites just use the title their web builder software generates automatically, which is usually useless. Edit your pages and add title tags that can catch people s attention and uses an important keyword. Limit the title tag to about 65 characters or less. If you are using the NE1 Web Builder, you can edit the title tag of a page under the SEO Features tab. 2. Setup compelling description tags. Description tags can help rankings a little, but their real value is in getting people to click through to your site. Add description tags
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/rYOoKqdRgaA/Tuesday, December 3, 2013
7 Reasons to Use QR Codes in Church
Unless you live in in a barn in the backwoods of nowhere USA you probably have seen those hideous square bar codes, known lovingly as QR codes. QR is short for Quick Response code and the idea is that you can snap an image of the code with your phone and by web voodoo you will be transported to a webpage, article or some other amazing thing. Some people think QR codes are trendy and some people think that they are a pain in the upper thigh, but they do have their place. It would be silly of me to say that every church MUST use QR codes in order to effectively minister to their community, but perhaps they can help you to be more effective with certain things. Most of the QR codes out there look absolutely horrible, and that is too bad because they don t have to look bad. Before we begin let us first raise our right-hand and say the following aloud: I will only use QR codes for the good of mankind! And when I do use them they will look GOOD! So here are some ways that you can use QR cod
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/wtKiJM4i7RU/Monday, December 2, 2013
Why you should have an eNewsletter on your website
Happy Thanksgiving! It is the holiday season again and people are extremely busy with all kinds of activities and events. So how does an organization or individual stay in contact with all of its members or supporters when people are going at 1000mph? One of the best ways to keep in touch and keep people up to date is through an eNewsletter on your website. An eNewsletter is simply an electronic newsletter. Many people receive Christmas letters in the mail and now more organizations are sending out electronic versions of their letters or newsletter. There are a few advantages of offering an eNewsletter on your website: Keeps your audience well informed: It is important to keep those who are involved with your organization well informed. An eNewsletter is a great way to keep people up to date on what has been going on and what will be coming up in the future. Saves time: If you are creating a newsletter, you are most likely already creating it on your computer or tablet.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChristianWebTrends/~3/bNlYv9FBsZE/