I had a lot of big goals this summer.

Clean our home office.

Go to a daily Mass with the kids once a week.

Visit each of our area farmer's markets to see which one we like the best.

While I continue to write these newsletters to you in a very cluttered office having gone to maybe 4 daily Masses and exactly zero farmer's markets this summer, I decided to rectify the latter by taking all three kids with me to our town's new farmer's market last week.

It was...kind of a let down, after all of that.

And as we wandered among the makeshift aisles, I was specifically scanning each vendor for two in particular that I'd come to check out.

(Spoiler alert: Neither was there.)

Most people had big signs saying what farm or organization they were from.

Except for one woman.

She had no signs.

She had no tent.

All she had was a small card table with her products on it, all wrapped up so small I couldn't even see what they were.

I still don't know what she was selling. Maybe some kind of baked good? No idea.

With all the other vendors to see + toting three kids with me, I wasn't stopping to find out.

And that's exactly what your audience is doing too when you aren't clear about what it is you offer.

They're "walking" right by your marketing because they don't understand it - or you don't have any at all and so you don't catch their eye among the sea of other businesses and ministries vying for their attention with their marketing.

Just because you have an Instagram account (that you rarely use) doesn't mean that people are going to stop scrolling long enough to find out if you don't capture their attention.

Just because you have emails on a dormant email list doesn't mean they'll just buy from you simply for being on your list without sending them emails.

And without clear branding and language sharing what it is you do...people won't stop long enough to find out.

Jesus may have been a bit (understandably) cagey about Who exactly He was, but He was always super clear with what He offered: salvation, mercy, and peace.

It's not enough to simply have a marketing platform. You have to use it too.

Because you can only draw them closer to Jesus through the gifts and talents He's given you if they know to stop and see what you have to offer them - and marketing is how you get them to stop.

For His greater glory,

Emily