The ‘Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), 2011, by Bryan Foster is now available as a paperback as well as in the popular e-book format.

CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company converted the e-book into the paperback format. There are a number of improvements to the present e-book format. The cover, along with the internal layout and presentation are improved, the page size has become an industry standard for non-fiction sized paperbacks of 8” x 10” version, and hence the length has increased.

The paperback and e-book versions of the church marketing manual are available primarily through the Amazon.com bookstore on the internet. Last year's e-book edition is still available on the School Church Marketing website.

Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed) e-book

The 2011 edition of the church marketing manual paperback and e-book is a 304 page 8"x10" book specializing in strategies and examples for marketing churches. The easy to read summarized point format allows for considerable detail without the 'waffle'.

Religious and community organizations would be able to adapt these marketing strategy points to their particular circumstances.

The author has been marketing for 20 years within the Catholic Church at both the Church and educational spheres. The education experience is in elementary / primary and secondary levels, in city and country, in both large and small schools.

Church and Catholic School Leadership Experience:

* South Coast Deanery Pastoral Council, Chair
* St Mary's Parish Pastoral Council, Coomera, Chair
* Surfers Paradise Parish Pastoral Council, Surfers Paradise, Secretary
* St Kevin's School, Parents and Friends Association, Benowa, Chair x2
* St Mary's Goondiwindi, Principal
* St Joseph's, Tara, Principal
* Aquinas College, Assistant Principal RE and Marketing Manager, Southport

This is an easy to read and use, professionally compiled, detailed book for church marketing personnel - written in summarized point format. No more wading through unnecessary long winded text.

Through detailed Contents pages for the church marketing manual and Index pages for church marketing manual, you are able to arrive at the specific marketing method you need in your particular marketing niche – church or school.

Once there, you will find the necessary points for that method, quickly seen – in all the detail you should need. These points will include:  
•   an explanation of what the method is
•   various implementation strategies
•   step-by-step development processes.

Create Space Background

CreateSpace was originally founded as CustomFlix Labs, Inc. and BookSurge Inc. CustomFlix launched in 2002 when four colleagues decided to make widespread distribution easier for independent filmmakers—they started CustomFlix, a DVD on-Demand company.

BookSurge was launched in 2000 by a small group of writers who wanted to create opportunities for authors to not only publish their work, but to also retain their content rights and sales profits. BookSurge grew to support leading publishers and independent authors, offering complete self-publishing, on-demand printing, and online distribution services.

In 2005, BookSurge and CustomFlix were both acquired by Amazon.com. CustomFlix’s name was changed to CreateSpace in 2007. In October of 2009, due to the harmonies that would be created in the businesses, the CreateSpace and BookSurge brands merged under the CreateSpace name to become the publishing and manufacturing on-demand leader for independent content creators, publishers, film studios, and music labels. (CreateSpace)

The 'Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed) - Now in Paperback and e-Book Editions' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author - the paperback and e-book manual for Church communications and marketing personnel - 304 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points, which allow for a considerably large number of quality stategies and examples to be detailed and available for church marketing personnel - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

How often have you thought of writing your own book - that is right - being an AUTHOR of your OWN work!? I would imagine that most people have at some time in their lives have had this wonderful thought. The only problem is that most of these people did not go the next step - BEGIN WRITING.

I found the most difficult step was actually BEGINNING!

In my case I got to the point where I knew I had something beneficial to offer others and that the time was now right. I locked away a four week block of time, moved to a quiet island near my residence and reflected and reflected and reflected... Put pen to paper for basic introductions and outlines, did drawings and sketches which would hopefully help the process, exercised, paddled my surf ski through mangroves and observed turtles and sea hawks, day after day - until I realized the theme I had planned on was not to be. My book of reflections and retreats would have to wait another day!

But! When I sat down to my computer that night of realizing that it was probably all over, and that this whole experience was going to be either a waste of time or just a fantastic quiet holiday, another theme surfaced. And before I really grasped the significance of this new direction, I had actually written almost a chapter on this new theme, over the first couple of days of this new session. From then on, as they say, the rest is history.

The first book was a hardcopy titled: 'School Marketing Handbook: Easy to Use Guide to Market Your School'. It was written in two major sessions - the first three week block on the island, followed by over a year's break and then a four week Christmas holiday break. All up the final addition took eight weeks of intense work over a fifteen month period. This was followed by another couple of weeks of proof-reading, final editing and deciding how best to market and sell the book.

I eventually decided to change my hardcopy book into an e-book. I believed that this was the easiest and cheapest way to enter the world of the author! Since placing my first e-book online, I now realize that there are a variety of ways to sell e-books, each with varying costs, benefits and disadvantages.

The latest books and e-books I now have available are:

• Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), 2011
• School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), 2011

The marketing manuals are 304 A4 pages and 340 A4 pages respectively. Each is written in an easy to read and implement summarized point format. This allows for an exceptional number of key points thoughout the e-books.

The commercial online e-book store on the internet is still developing and is the new and probably best approach. It will in some cases allow for both the sale of the e-book and of the creation and then sale of this as a hardcopy through their online store - a double whammy! This is my main avenue now, which is combined with my own professional website.

I now primarily sell my books as both paperbacks and e-books through Amazon.com and Createspace.com even though last year's editions of the e-books are available from my School Church Marketing website.

Writing your own book or e-book needs dedication and commitment - no need to be put off by the challenge though. My marketing e-books are proof that it is possible! I am no different to anyone else. I took the challenge, locked in the time and energy needed and went for it. Twenty-five weeks over three years and 6 books later, I am a very contented author, e-publisher and e-book seller.

The 'How to Write a Book Yourself' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), - the paperback and ebook manual for Church communications and marketing personnel - 304 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points, which allow for a considerably large number of quality stategies and examples to be detailed and available for church marketing personnel - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Love and Forgiveness are both essential for True Love!!! Most people find forgiveness the most difficult aspect of love. To forgive others and to be forgiven ourselves is quite a challenging experience! Yet, this is essential for the repairing of any loving relationship.

Once we have the ability to forgive others, or forgive ourselves, we are on the way to once again exist in that reality of love - the meaning of life.

Not being able to forgive, or be forgiven, tears away at our very self. We feel less of a full human person. We feel damaged and sometimes even irreparably so. We feel that love is less in our lives or even missing.

Some people will claim that forgiveness is not always necessary. That time will heal all wounds. That all we need to do is to get on with our lives. I believe that on most occasions this is just a cop out, a search for an easy way out - yet not a real solution. (Unfortunately, some circumstances may lead to this through unexpected circumstances e.g. loss, departure or death of one party involved.) Even if most of the hurt can be forgotten with time, there is always some remnant of hurt, of inescapable pain, somewhere in the conscious or subconscious. This pain will invariably rise to the surface in the future, most likely when a similar circumstance prevails as was originally the hurtful situation.

We need to offer forgiveness if we are the perpetrator of the harm. We need to take that most challenging step to begin the process of recovery, the process of reconciliation. When we offer forgiveness the person who has been hurt has the opportunity to begin the process of returning to love.

If we are the ones harmed, and an offer of forgiveness is not forthcoming from the other person or group of people, we may need to expedite the situation through diplomatically giving them the chance to begin the reconciliation process. Diplomacy is often the best method, however for some people a more direct approach is necessary, but still needs to be done out of love, in a caring and respectful way.

When we are offered forgiveness we have the opportunity to begin to be reconciled. We need to accept the offer as soon as possible and work towards repairing the relationship.

The process may be quick and clean. However, it also may take time depending on our personal history with the person involved, as well as own personality.

We often need to forgive ourselves. This can be quite difficult. We need to learn to accept our own forgiveness and move on, just as we do when accepting forgiveness from others or when we offer others forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a crucial aspect in any loving relationship. To forgive allows the relationship to return to its proper loving place.

The 'Love and Forgiveness - True Love' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), - the paperback and ebook manual for Church communications and marketing personnel - 304 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points, which allow for a considerably large number of quality stategies and examples to be detailed and available for church marketing personnel - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Love can be experienced through a natural experience of love - God is in nature. Love is the meaning of life. God is love. God is the meaning of life and can be especially experienced in the natural environment.

Love is there for all to experience and engage with...

We must be open to it, yet need to be in a real loving state to engage fully with it. There are so many ways to experience love.

The four most common ways to experience love are through:

• relationships,
• nature and
• our own personal spirituality
• God.

A recent experience of surfing with dolphins in the wild of the ocean was one of the most incredible experiences of love in nature that I have experienced.

This was to the point of experiencing something beyond. Tears poured out along the crest of a wave. This creation of nature and I met that day in a truly special way. The cosmos seemed so small. We were ONE in that moment in time!

I experienced this twice. Once I was with my daughter - we were circled by dolphins while swimming in the sea at waist depth. This was to the point of experiencing something beyond. Tears flowed, along with the 'oh my God' feeling in its truest spiritual sense, as three dolphins circled us one sunny, summer morning.

My first experience of dolphins, up close and personal, and away from the local dolphin tourist attraction, was while I was surfing on my short surf ski at Broken Head, near Byron Bay, Australia. (Coincidentally, Byron Bay is an eclectic beachside township, primarily a holiday destination, which has a strong diverse spiritual undercurrent and welcomes an array of people from the extremely rich to the old style hippy. It is also a world renowned backpackers' haven. Quite a fitting place to experience what turned out to be a most spiritual occurrence.)

On that day I was surfing amongst some extremely beautifully formed, turquoise waves, with schools of dolphins porpoising through, over and under the waves. On one particularly large wave I was speeding across its front and had water spraying into my face at such a speed that I had to keep blinking my eyes to avoid the spray obscuring my vision. I had just come out of the tube / barrel of a wave when a black shadowy figure slid through the face of this wave to my right and went downwards underwater in front of me. At this stage my greatest fear was that it was a shark and all the horror thoughts of such a situation flew through my imagination! Panic set in to such an extent that I feared falling off the ski - but knew I had to fight to stay on, no matter what!

At that moment the shadowy figure quickly rose to the surface immediately in front of me, at about two metres, and porpoised up and down - virtually leading the way! I followed, mesmerized by what was literally unfolding in front of me - I now feared falling off out of absolute awe!

Tears filled my eyes - and blurred my vision! I was truly in a most loving zone! I was really one with nature - with a most remarkable, intelligent mammal. I subconsciously fought to maintain my balance as I was totally distracted and in quite an euphoric state. This dolphin, a most remarkable creation of nature, and I met that day in a truly special way. The cosmos seemed so small. We were ONE in that moment in time!

The literal, physical sign of love, i.e. tears, permeated this most wonderful, awe-inspiring experience. Love is real. It is the meaning of life. Love is experienced within and outside the natural world in so many all encompassing and enfolding ways.

Love is there for all. We must be open to it, yet need to be in a real loving state to properly experience it. We close ourselves off from it when we desire to, or do, harm to others and ourselves. We also have love closed off from us when others harm us. Harm may be in so many ways, including the physical, emotional, sociological, etc. Go beyond the harmful into the loving! Forgiveness of self and others is often needed.

Live a loving life and love will truly be there.


The 'Love Experienced Through Nature' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), - the paperback and ebook manual for Church communications and marketing personnel - 304 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points, which allow for a considerably large number of quality stategies and examples to be detailed and available for church marketing personnel - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com