Worship Teams: Some thoughts on Advent & Christmas worship for congregations http://t.co/8Myh2Doc4R

Hello Worshipers . I am glad to share with you today . I hope these tips on branding will make you an effective musician and minister. A ‘Brand’ is not just a corporate marketing term; and it is not just about logos and song artworks. It entails much more, the artist and their artistry, the worshiper and their act of worship, the container and the content. It is also how your audiences sees you, your consistency and interconnection of the following elements across board.

 All these elements work together as an interconnected branding unit: Name, • Visual Representation/Identity , • Message/Mission Statement , • Narrative , • Values.

• Name – The name is the central brand component, should be clear, unique and Google-able and surely not similar to another persons’ own. Be creative and ask God for wisdom for a befitting brand name that matches your message and values. 

• Visual Representation/Identity – This is a very important brand component and the one most people are familiar with. The visual representation will be identified through a number of elements: your style and presentation/appearance, your logo (if any); website look, cd covers; song artwork, official posters; official music videos; official photographs circulated for marketing purposes; costuming and makeup. On Personal styling /Image – Make your look match your sound. Clothing brands have a style, a favored cut, a personality. Consider the cuts you wear, colors and color scheme connotations , accessories, makeup, hairstyle and make sure they match your message.
Get a professionally done ALBUM COVER ART: This cannot be stressed enough. Album cover art is the container of your content. It adds panache to your work. A very well designed album art breeds prestige and class and draws people to want to hear your music. Get professional designers, be creative, not all worship music song artwork need to have a dove flying across the clouds. Make it stand out, above all, make it relevant to your brand’s message, which is the next factor.

• Message/Mission Statement – What do you strongly believe? What are you trying to tell the world? Can you incorporate your other interests? I want to believe as Gospel musicians, whatever is being sung about, should have a kingdom focus.

• Narrative – Now it’s time to apply your storytelling skills to developing a broader narrative and establishing a unique persona for your brand. Your genre is also your narrative, the way you tell your story. Are you passing across your gospel message basked in hip hop, soul or RnB sound?. Stick to one and be known for one. Every Gospel Musician’s story should be about God, the word or have a Kingdom end. Whether you are singing about love between a man and a woman, or everyday life happenings, it should still reflect Godliness. Your narrative is one of the most effective forms of social currency. They build powerful connections between ideas, people and action. They give context and robust understanding to your message. They generate urgency and motivation. What is the call to action of your message? Your narrative? When people hear your music, do they dance, fall in worship, enter the holiest of holies or linger in the courtyard? This is part of the narrative element of your brand.

Last but not the least of the elements of a brand • Values – What do you stand for? Values are a statement of what a brand stands for. The success of the values component will also be measured by how well the artist’s expressed values align with what the public seems to believe those values are, based on feedback and audience response. Do you sing about honesty but have a questionable integrity? Have you let pride set in because your album sold millions yet you sing about a God that lifts the humble. Your value is part of your brand. Your character, personality and attitude matters. How you carry yourself among everyday people is part of your brand.

Visual Graphics (Cover photos and display photos) – be consistent with your graphics across all social media platforms so your audience will easily recognize it is yours. Make sure they are well done and consistent across board with the right pixelation and dimensions. (You can search google for this) This is called Brand Recognition.

Research Research Research. Researching others (not entirely copying others) gives you a tremendous advantage as it identifies stories or perspectives that people aren’t exploring, and allows you to create a new voice that appears distinctive and refreshing. Remember that there’s a lot of artists out there, but always room for someone confident enough to think a little differently and stand out uniquely.

Understand that It takes time – it will take time to build an audience and cultivate long-term relationships. Making a big splash with your album release and tour will establish a good foundation, but what happens after the buzz fades out? It is going to take prayer, faith dedication, focus and consistency to truly build an audience online worthy of sustaining a career. My best advice: engage, engage, engage and keep engaging. Be relatable. Reply tweets, say thank you, support others, if you don’t have the time, hire someone who does, simple manners like this go a long way. Remember as Gospel Musicians, you are ambassadors of Christ. Represent accordingly.

Be aware of new technologies or get someone who is tech savvy on your team. For example – Mobile compatible website: You might not have a website just for mobile users, but you should definitely have something that loads quickly and is to scale for mobile users. The amount of traffic coming from smartphones and tablets will only continue to grow and if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, people will look elsewhere.

In conclusion; Above all Consistency is Key.
Building a brand takes a lot of time and effort but once you put in the work to build a good, consistent reputation, it will continue to pay dividends into the future. When you brand yourself successfully, you empower yourself. You are fortifying your self-awareness, confidence, and taking control of people’s perception of you (to a point).

Those who are afraid to label themselves are afraid to commit. Let your inner self match your outer self. It has to be reconcilable. Your Personal brand has to be consistent with your music brand. To establish your brand, you need to be able to answer the questions: What is my message? Who is my audience? How can I help them and what makes me different? When it comes to artists, even gospel musicians, good branding appears to have far more to do with knowing one’s self as an artist, and goes on make sure that the audience experiences the core items of your uniqueness. This is your music career so you should be investing the time, energy, and money into making the most of it. Marketing yourself in a way that your target audience appreciates and understand will go a long way in getting your music message across effectively which glorifies God at the end of the day.
  Connect with TOSINGER www.facebook.com/tosingersings or www.tosinger.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @tosinger .

Many gospel singers are known now and many are upcoming and more are yet to start! We should constantly remind ourselves of why we are doing the Music Ministry in the first place so we don’t lose focus.

Constant evaluation of myself as a music minister, my ministry and the music I produce or the songs I write is very important. Am I doing it the right way God called me to do it? Am I following the blue print God gave me when He called me into this Ministry. I think this is very important so that we as music ministers can fulfill the real purpose of God’s calling upon our lives. Have you been called to write songs to encourage, teach, reproof ,win souls, don’t loose your focus.

Whatever it is you are doing for Him, don’t lose your focus and do it well. Our works will be tried by fire!! God have mercy on us …Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is  I Cor 3:13 (KJV)……
their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work (NIV).

The One who gave you the gifts and the calling is watching….. what are you doing with those gifts and callings?

The Relevant Music Minister: Busy but Worshiping.

In my years of music ministry and worship arts, and my more recent experience as an artist in the music industry, there are a few simple; yet profound lessons that God has allowed me to learn. Some of these lessons have been learned by hardship, and others through more positive experiences, and the privilege of being exposed to other people who are not only EXCELLENT at what they do, but they have HEARTS THAT SEARCH AFTER GOD!!

As I share these basic “points to ponder” please feel free to comment with your experiences and how you’ve learned/ or are learning these lessons as well. The Holy Spirit is the expert, so we ALL benefit when we share what God is teaching us by His spirit!

“Point to Ponder” #1
How can a musician/artist/church/worship leader remain relevant in an ever changing world and culture?

Let’s remember 2 Corinthians 4:7
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

This is my life scripture as as a woman, a minister, an artist, and most importantly A PERSON!

Often, once God reveals some of His plans for our lives, we begin to add the work to our faith by doing various things to sharpen our skills and learn how to reach not only our individual cultures, but also other cultures. THAT’S A LOT for a human being to figure out how to do!!!

Many times, we begin with good intentions, but end up lost and confused, not knowing where to go next. STICK WITH the CREATOR. Our FIRST priority should be cultivating our relationship with the ONE who gave us the gifts and the desire to use them in the first place.

Let’s ask ourselves this:

1. Before stepping out into ministry; how much time do I REALLY spend communing with God and getting his specific instruction?

2. Do I really believe that God can give me an effective plan to win souls for HIM that is relevant to those He has sent me to reach? Or do I think I have all the answers?

In short, my first point is, GOD has the answers to what we need to do to reach HIS people with our gifts, How much time are we REALLY spending seeking His face so that we remain close to his heart and do His work with integrity and POWER?…….

“Point to Ponder” #2

Has my ministry/music career/project/church become and IDOL in my life?…………..

I was recently challenged when reading “God’s at War” by Kyle Idleman. This book speaks about how we often have idols in our lives that we don’t even realize have taken the place of God. Your career/ministry/church can become on Idol in your life!!!

Yes I said it!!

It is SO EASY to lose focus and begin to worship the Work we are doing for God and totally loose track of the GOD we are doing the work for!!!

HOW does this happen!!!??? EASILY! If we all examine our lives we could surely find many examples of how we have neglected our most important relationship because we are SO BUSY. I will be the first to cry out GUILTY!!

The solution:

We must ask God to help us to DISCIPLINE our minds first, and then our behaviors and time management will come into alignment. So today I pray for myself and each one that reads this that we will learn to PAUSE, PRAY, and PLAN properly so that we won’t be guilty of doing a whole lot of working that ends up fruitless compared to the harvest that could be reaped when we are properly connected to our SOURCE and aligned with HIS WILL!! We can do this!!!

Take a minute and ask God, what does this mean for me? How can I get my schedule right and spend more time with you?

the third and final “Point to Ponder” is this…….

“Dream with Heaven”

During a recent conversation with a fellow music minister, he reminded me of this simple statement. Dream with Heaven!

God loves His people WAY more than any of us EVER could. HE loved us and He chooses to use us for His glory! He is the one that can give us the strength, the resources, and the organization to carry out our lives in a way that will please HIM. Many of you; like me, are juggling multiple things. And some of you EVEN more because you have families to manage.

GOD KNOWS THIS! This is not to difficult for Him to show us how to navigate through. He DOES NOT intend for us to neglect ourselves, or our families!!

If will will really get step one down, and that’s seeking Him daily in an honest, simple, and transparent way; He will SURELY show us how to navigate through even the most difficult schedules, and situations,

See, God doesn’t just want our ministries and businesses to “look” goo and polished; He wants them to be pure, focused, and POWERFUL from the inside out!

I could try to give you 10 steps to a powerful ministry on here today, but the reality is; The HOLY SPIRIT IS THE EXPERT for YOUR life. He knows the details of your family dynamic, past experiences, present challenges, brokenness, strengths, weaknesses. You name it HE KNOWS it.

Let’s spend time with HIM. He will show us how to be Relevant: meaning effective and powerful for change in this world. And he will show us how to MANAGE our busy lives BY HIS SPIRIT.

My CHALLENGE to ALL OF US:

1. Sometime TODAY; spend a few moments talking with our God SPECIFICALLY about our ministries. Ask HIM the questions that are tugging your heart. Be on the lookout for a powerful answer!

2. Within the next 3 days, spend some time really examining your daily, weekly, monthly routine as it relates to how you schedule and spend your time. I believe God has some life changing and season shifting insight to share with you that will yield GLORIOUS harvest in the days to come, not just for you, but for your loved ones, and your circle of influence.

3. Last; examine your circle of influence. Who has God blessed you to have an impact on RIGHT NOW? These people are an absolute gift to you. And God loves them WAY MORE than you do! Isn’t that awesome!? How much more could you be a blessing to them if you were really tuned in…..to Heaven?

You can find my music page on www.facebook.com/officialdlynn or www.dannettalynn.com

We should be careful about the way we do things as believers. God is watching our hearts, He sees every thought before they become actions….When you stand before people leading praise and worship songs, when you  serve in that ministry what is going on in your mind? What are your thoughts? Do you do what you do to show off your voice or skill, dress, shoes , fashion trends, etc …God is watching. Our motives in doing whatever God has called us to do should remain right and flawless so we don’t end up offering strange sacrifices on our altars to God. May God help us all.
“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
 Jeremiah 17:10 (NIV)
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (King James).
What are your motives, what are your intentions…. Search within so you don’t loose your reward!

  

Enjoy video Clips from Sinach Live in Houston
http://www.sinach.org/index.php/liveinhouston

Are you a young music minister in Lagos, this may be one of the opportunities you have been waiting for . ZERA! 

 Zera Mass Choir is a non-denominational international mass choir based in Lagos, Nigeria. Powered and fully endorsed by Midnight Crew Music Ministries and E.M.I., this choir is set to take the world by surprise. With the goal of taking God’s redemption message to the ends of the earth through music, Zera’s target is to be the pride of Africa and an internationally recognized gospel mass choir within 5 years of its creation.   This is an audition in which the successful applicants will be trained and prepared to become seasoned music ministers to be released as seeds  into the world for God’s end time agenda. To recreate the atmosphere of praise and worship so God’s presence can continually dwell on earth until the day He chooses to take the saints away. Hence the name Zera, the Hebrew word for seed.

(Why Zera? : The word Zera (2233) is the Hebrew word for seed – used many times in the Old testament for offspring, descendants, posterity, children of moral quality or practitioner(s) of righteousness.(same as the Greek word for seed – Sperma (4690) in the new testament)
For more : http://emi.com.ng/index.php/zera-mass-choir