1 out of 7 people on earth are on Facebook. Social media (mainly Facebook, Twitter & YouTube) could be one of the most underused evangelism, outreach & ministry tools a church has. Most people are likely to connect and look at your church's Facebook page than the church's website.

Social media is here to stay and churches must utilize it for ministry. Here are 5 tips to create and maintain a good church Facebook page:

1). Pictures sell. Nothing will draw more people to your church Facebook page than pictures. People love to see close-up funny pictures. Don't post 50 pictures and half of them being the parking lot, the pulpit or stained glass windows. People want to see other people.

I have a camera I bring to special events - VBS, musicals, and dinners to take pictures. Don't take pictures of people on a regular Sunday sitting in a pew or a classroom during Sunday School. Cameras do need to be ready for the women's conference, youth lock-in, and Upward basketball. Do not use the camera on your phone, you need a real camera you use for church events.

Post your pictures the same day. Last week's pictures are so last week - we've moved on and so has everyone's interest.

2). Update your page regularly. There are two extremes in social media - the spammer who makes 5 posts a day and the dinosaur, who's last update was the Fall Festival in October.  A church should post 3-4 times per week. Remind everyone of upcoming events (use logos) and brag about past events (post pictures), and share resources (use links to helpful sites and YouTube videos).

When I created First Baptist Moreland's church Facebook page (view it here) - there were 4 other unofficial pages. After I created the official page, I merged the duplicate pages. When people type in the name of your church, one main page should come up. Eliminate unnecessary lists, groups and pages. First Baptist Moreland has 4 official pages, and each page has "liked" the others for convenience to find.

3). Check-ins are your best friend. I love check-ins. We should make it a rule, everyone with a smartphone must check-in when coming to church. Here's why: a check-in is an indirect way of letting all your friends know you're at church. After pictures, this is your best tool for promoting your page.

4). Use a professional profile and cover picture. I bought our church Facebook cover picture for $5 on www.fiverr.com. You don't want to look amateurish, and a professional photoshop logo, profile picture, and cover picture, all for $5, will prevent this.

5). Respond to comments and questions. Social media is a conversation. It's embarrassing when I see a church Facebook page and someone asks when VBS begins and no one answers! You need to respond within 12 hours max to questions and comments.

If you don't respond to comments, people will quit listening and talking to you.

Summary - Promote upcoming events (use logos), brag about past events (use pictures) and encourage everyone to check-in when they come to church.

Resources

Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
Platform by Michael Hyatt

Are you looking for a job? Hundreds of resumes are received for every job posted. Even if you're qualified and have a superb resume, your Facebook and Twitter accounts could be killing you - and you're totally unaware.

Here are 4 points you must be aware of when looking for a job:

1.) The companies you apply to are going to investigate your online presence before they call and set-up an interview. A while back First Baptist Moreland was looking to hire a new staff position and someone emailed their resume. I looked them up on Facebook, and easily found party and provocative pictures - within 5 minutes this person had lost their chance for the job. I wasn't even friends with this person - everything you put online is public, even when you think its private, it's not.

2.) Do not make negative posts and tweets. If you complain and gripe about your day - why would an employer want to hire you? What company wants to hire a negative Nell or complainer Carl? Go back over the past year and delete any negative comment or tweet you've ever made. Using foul language is also distasteful and should be removed.

3.) Do not talk about politics or President Obama. The HR manager hiring you might love the political party you're bashing. Tweeting your opinion about everything in the world doesn't help you. No one cares.

4.) Do not criticize your current or former company, your boss, or co-workers. A wise pastor once warned me, "Daniel, if someone ever comes visiting your church and they're criticizing their former church or pastor, you don't want them. Soon you'll be their target."

Here are 3 tips to use Facebook and Twitter to your advantage:

• Include your Facebook page and Twitter page on your resume. For example at the top of my resume I would include: www.facebook.com/DanielAusbun and www.twitter.com/DanielAusbun This shows I have nothing to hide, and actually invite Human Resources to check me out.
• Talk with a positive spirit. Encourage others, provide links to helpful articles, talk about your church involvement and community service - all of these will look favorable to a potential employer. Don't make it appear that you sit around all day playing Farmville.
• "Like" or "Follow" the companies you're applying to. If you want to work for Georgia Power, go "Like" them on Facebook and write on their wall. This shows to the person investigating you that you're interested in their company.