The Pro Church Marketing Podcast

AI, Side Hustles, Creative Ministry, and $10K Google Grants: What Every Pastor Needs to Know

In this episode of The Pro Church Marketing Podcast, Luke Clayton and Jono Long dive deep into the realities of ministry, entrepreneurship, and digital strategy for churches. Both Luke and Jono started in full-time ministry, felt the financial strain, and eventually built businesses that now help ministries thrive online. Together, they explore how pastors can pursue side hustles without guilt, why bivocational ministry is becoming the norm, and how ministry skills translate directly into entrepreneurship. Listeners will hear practical strategies for leveraging the Google Ad Grant ($10K per month in free ads), the importance of SEO and content creation, and why churches need to prioritize their digital presence in the age of AI. They also share candid lessons from their own journeys, including mistakes in hiring, website development, and balancing ministry with business. If you’re a pastor, creative, or church leader looking for real-world encouragement and actionable tools to expand your reach, this conversation will inspire and equip you.

Why Your Church Growth Strategy Isn’t Working (And What to Do Instead) – With Tyler Harden

Are your church’s outreach efforts falling flat—even though you’re running ads, building your website, and following best practices? In this episode, Jono Long sits down with Tyler Harden from Firm Foundations Marketing to reveal the #1 mistake most churches make in their growth strategy: not truly knowing their community. Tyler shares practical wisdom on identifying your church’s ideal audience, debunking surface-level targeting terms like “young families” and “unchurched,” and how post-COVID ministry must shift to meet people where they are. Discover the Five P’s of Church Targeting, why authenticity always wins, and why “being for everyone” usually means reaching no one. Whether you’re a rural church with 30 members or a large congregation with resources, this episode delivers fresh, hopeful clarity for engaging your mission field more effectively. Perfect for pastors, church communicators, and outreach leaders.

How to Build a Leadership Pipeline That Actually Works – With Mac Lake

In this episode of The Pro Church Marketing Podcast, host Jono Long interviews leadership development expert and Multiply Group founder Mac Lake. Together, they explore why leadership development continues to be the #1 struggle for churches, despite the abundance of leadership resources. Mac explains the difference between leadership placement and true leadership development, shares insights from his book The Multiplication Effect, and walks through how churches can build a sustainable leadership pipeline based on biblical principles—not cultural norms. Discover practical tools to empower volunteers, train leaders with integrity and passion, and build a church growth strategy rooted in discipleship. Whether you're a solo pastor or part of a large church team, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you multiply healthy leaders and avoid ministry burnout. 🔗 Get Mac’s free eBook at multiplygroup.org/ebook 📲 Follow Mac on Instagram: @maclake24 [https://instagram.com/maclake24]

Raising Leaders and Reaching Your City with Pastor Ryan Vernon of 902 Church

In this power-packed episode of The Pro Church Marketing Podcast, Jono Long chats with Pastor Ryan Vernon of 902 Church about what it really takes to grow a church in a small town. From leveraging his marketing degree and business background to creating leadership pipelines that work, Pastor Ryan breaks down how 902 Church has thrived in Kinston, NC. You’ll learn: * How to identify and develop leaders in your church * Why churches struggle with volunteer burnout—and how to fix it * The importance of community involvement for long-term growth * A biblical case for using marketing to spread the Gospel Pastor Ryan also shares real-world wins from working with Faithworks and gives encouragement to pastors who are on the fence about modern outreach strategies. Whether you're leading in a small town or a growing city, this episode is full of wisdom to help your ministry move forward.

Google Ad Grant 2025 Updates (Part 3): Conversion Tracking

In this episode of The Pro Church Marketing Podcast, we’re diving deep into conversion tracking—why it matters and how to do it right. Jono Long is joined by Google Ads expert John Hosko and Faithworks’s Melissa Keane to simplify the ins and outs of tracking actions like form submissions, phone calls, and donations using Google Tag Manager and GA4 Analytics. Whether you're a church using the Google Ad Grant or a nonprofit running paid ads, this episode shows how conversion tracking can be the key to unlocking performance. Learn how to stay compliant with Google’s ad grant rules, get practical steps to set up tracking without coding, and discover how to use that data to improve your website’s effectiveness and campaign results. You’ll also hear real-world examples of how small changes on your website can lead to major gains—and how not tracking your conversions could be costing you clicks, opportunities, and even your grant. ✅ Great for churches, nonprofits, and anyone managing Google Ads! #GoogleAdGrant #ConversionTracking #ChurchMarketing #FaithworksMarketing #NonprofitMarketing #GoogleTagManager #GA4 #DigitalMissions