This is a comment I posted in response to Ryan Handley’s post on being remarkable and thought I’d share it as a personal point of frustration with my own view of the youth ministry world.
I think I used to think remarkable was being flashy or over the top in some way. Although doing extra-ordinary, huge, expensive things, and shiny things will get you noticed, it is not a sustainable ministry business model. The great thing is that the bar for remarkable, in any industry, has been lowered so much that anyone can be remarkable if they choose to be. Here are a list of things that I consider remarkable
Examples
- Bloggers who respond to comments on their posts ( I can’t believe how many comments I have made on YM blogs and I never see a comment back. Truly unremarkable. Anyone else experience this?)
- Bloggers who give away “secrets”, e-books, or tidbits of info for free instead of charging for it. ( I do this every week in my newsletter)
- Bloggers who connect with readers for no good reasons other than to say hello or even ask for advice.
- Bloggers who mention someone else in a post, +1 someone on Google+
- Bloggers who share someone else’s stuff even if they are “no bodies” in their industry
- Bloggers who give credit where credit is due instead of having to be the know it all it
- Bloggers who are generous with customers/readers
I consider these all remarkable acts and yet very few bloggers (Youth Ministry included) practice them, at least from my experience. But this is the kind of blogger I want to be. There has never been a better time and an easier time to be remarkable.
I have chosen to be and desire to be a remarkable, generous, and connected blogger about youth ministry to the youth ministry community. What will you choose to be remarkable at?
I recommend Seth Godin’s book The Purple Cow as a primer on being remarkable in life, business, or ministry.
If you a Youth Ministry blogger, what are you waiting for? How will you be remarkable in 2014?