Here are 5 ways to emphasize your Catholic business values. Even though your brand name might not be openly Catholic.

1. Include Catholic Business Values in your mission statement.

I know someone who owns a private investigative company. He is a devout Catholic, but the company is not overtly Catholic. The word Catholic is not in their company name, and they work primarily with secular clients.

But if you go to his “About Us” page, the very first line is “Our primary mission in life and work is to bring pleasure to God, through service.” He goes on to describe how his work as a private investigator honors God and ends with a quote from John 8:32.

It’s not in your face. If it weren’t for the About Page, you would never know that this man’s primary mission for the company is to honor God.

And yet, he runs what I would call a “Catholic business”.

Not everything that you do has to be branded Catholic in order to be a Catholic business. But a great way to express this motivation for your company and life is in your mission statement. Reference your liturgical ministries in a blog post. Perhaps include a Bible verse in your email signature, and state your intentions right in your mission statement with words like “Truth,” “Beauty,” and “Evangelization.”

A great example of this subtle business statement is Forever 21. They print John 3:16 on the bottom of each of their bags. While they don’t say anything about it in their about us page, this small gesture reflects their motivation.

2. Highlight your Catholic Business Clients

If you want to be a Catholic business, a great way to emphasize that is by highlighting your past Catholic clients on your website. As a Catholic business owner myself, I will know that a business orients itself to a Catholic mission when I see that other fellow Catholic business owners trust them.

Even better, include Catholic lingo in your description of these projects to show you’re “in the know” and not just a secular organization that happened to have a Catholic client.

Don’t have any Catholic clients? Volunteer your businesses’ expertise to your parish and ask for a reference for your website in return.

3. Run your Catholic Business Ethically

Run your business ethically, help others, and people will notice. To begin with, make sure that your interaction with clients is surrounded by justice:

• Responsibility for what you promise
• Honesty and fairness in what you deliver

However, if you want to practice your faith in your Catholic business, your actions should be smothered as well in charity:

• Kindness in your communication
• True desire to help your clients succeed
• Patience, humility and sometimes even forgiveness

Business actions speak louder than advertising. If you want to be a Catholic business, hold your business to the same standards that you hold yourself.

4. Tithe Your Profits

People respond to businesses that reflect their own values. A great example of this is Chick-Fil-A. The company’s dedication to not being open on Sundays has generated a large fan base.

For my own company, I decided that I would tithe 10% of my profits each year and donate them to charity. It’s something that I do in my personal life, so why not carry it over to my business? On a personal note, I find tithing very rewarding because it reminds me regularly of what I value most.

It was only later that I realized that people would probably appreciate working with a company that they knew tithed. So, I included that fact about our company in my email signature and on our website.

The faith is so important to me and my company that I follow all of it, even the parts that make me give up profit I’ve worked so hard to earn. Don’t be afraid to highlight what makes your company Catholic in your advertising or on your website. It simply shows your clients that you are really committed to what you value most. 

5. Pray with Your Employees

Another highlight of your Catholic business values is a staff who prays together. How can we possibly begin to serve God’s people without first praying for each other and for our clients? Consider inviting your staff to join you for the Liturgy of the Hours each morning. Maybe set aside one lunch hour each week to go to a nearby Daily Mass or Holy Hour.

Obviously, while you shouldn’t force your employees to pray with you, having it as an option for those who would like to definitely helps you value your faith as a business.

In brief:

Most of all, run your business with heart. People will be sure to notice your Catholic business values. After all, at the end of the day, it’s really your audience who determines who you are. So if you intend to be a Catholic business and your audience sees you as such, then … you’re a Catholic business.

About the Author:

Emily Ricci is the president of Gloriam Marketing, and works as a marketing content and social media specialist at a Catholic college and previously worked at a church for over 7 years. Her past church titles and responsibilities have included working as a Parish Office secretary, sacristan, Weekend Coordinator (ministry supervisor and event coordinator), youth minister, bulletin writer, coordinator of the baptism program, and Faith Formation teacher and assistant. After years in church work, Emily recognized the need for solid Catholic marketing and promotion, but realized that there were no marketing firms in the area that specialized in faith-based marketing.

Search here for Catholic job postings, or Catholic Professionals you can hire.

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Your ministry has been growing steadily now for some time, and you’ve reached a tipping point. There’s work to be done that requires specific skills that you just don’t have. You could learn these skills yourself, of course, but that would eat up valuable time that should be focused towards growing your ministry. You could have one of your staff learn the skills, but that could get expensive, not to mention it would take them away from the vital work they’re already doing for your mission. What other options do you have?

The Risks of an Employee

Like a lot of ministry-leaders-turned-businessmen, you may think your only option is to hire more full-time staff with the specific skills needed to grow your ministry to the next level. But this option comes with a few risks that you may not be ready to face:

The expense of hiring full-time staff

Hiring full-time staff members is not cheap. Not only do they deserve a just wage, but you end up shouldering the responsibility for their health benefits, office supplies and equipment, taxes, social security, and additional overhead. You’ll also end up investing a lot of additional time – and therefore money – getting your new staff member trained and up-to-speed on their role in your ministry.

The limited scope of the project

Not all the projects you have in the pipeline will be ongoing or everyday tasks. You may simply need a new website built. If you hire a full-time web designer, how will you occupy their time once your new website has been launched? You may not be able to afford keeping a web designer on a full-time payroll to do a job that amounts to part-time work.

Finding the right fit

Let’s say you decide to create this new full-time role within your ministry. Now you have to spend additional time and resources hunting down the right candidates to interview. This is time and money taken away from the crucial mission of your ministry! And there’s no guarantee that the candidate you settle on will be the right fit. Many candidates are great in the interview process, but fail to deliver on the promises they made. You could be stuck with a lemon employee, facing the challenge of firing him and finding someone to take his place.

An Alternative – Hire a Catholic Freelancer

At this stage in your ministry’s growth, you need an option that’s going to give you plenty of wiggle room. Something that isn’t going to eat away at your bottom line, and will give you maximum results with a minimum investment of your time, effort, and resources. Something that you can pull the plug on as soon as you’ve passed this tipping point, but possibly make use of once again when you reach the next tipping point.

So what do you do? Where do you turn? You’re passionate about ministry and spreading the Gospel. The logistics of running a startup that’s on the verge of becoming a full-fledged business isn’t your specialty.

Have you ever considered hiring a Catholic freelancer? If not, you should.

Hiring a Catholic freelancer could be just the solution to the growth and hiring problems you face. They can help you save money that would be put to better use furthering the mission of your ministry. They can help you save time that you should be using to grow your ministry. And they bring a highly specialized skill set to the table that you can take advantage of to make sure your ministry function as a truly world-class business.

Hire A Catholic Freelancer To Save Money

1. Not on payroll – pay-as-needed

Most freelancers work on an as-needed basis. You hire them to take care of a specific project – building the new website you’ve been talking about for months, writing that grant proposal that’s been sitting on your desk, setting up that automated email marketing campaign you need – then once the project is complete you send them their check and that’s it! There’s no more out-of-pocket expense on your part.

2. No overhead costs

Let’s face it, office supplies can get expensive. If your ministry is a startup to medium-sized ministry, you’re spending nearly $2000 each year per employee for office supplies! Here’s another area where working with a Catholic freelancer can save you some money. Freelancers typically work remotely from their home office, in their local library, or in their favorite coffee shop. They use their own computers, printers, phones, and other office supplies. By hiring a Catholic freelancer, you free up the money that would’ve gone to purchasing office supplies for an additional full-time employee, and you can redirect it back into promoting the mission of your ministry.

3. No benefits pay

If you choose to hire a full-time employee, you don’t just take on the responsibility of paying them a just wage. You’ve also saddled yourself with the responsibility of paying their taxes, social security, and health benefits. But, because freelancers are seen as contractors and not employees, they are responsible for paying their own taxes, social security, and health insurance. The savings on benefits alone can amount to nearly $5000 per year!

Hire A Catholic Freelancer To Save Time

4. Flexibility

Freelancers can be a strange breed. Many of them prefer to work odd hours – early mornings, late nights, even weekends. They know how to take advantage of their peak hours when they will produce their best work. By taking advantage of a freelancer’s flexibility, you’re no longer locked into the 9am – 5pm business hours to get your urgent projects finished. So, if you have an important project on Friday night that needs to be completed by Monday morning, a freelancer will likely be happy to tackle that project for you over the weekend.

5. Works Independently

Freelancers are often among leading experts in their area of expertise. They’ve spent years fine-tuning their specific skill set so that they can produce the highest quality. When you hire a freelancer for a specific project, you don’t have to waste time training them, supervising them, and constantly reviewing their work. Just give them the big picture of what you want done, point them in the right direction, and turn them loose to do what they do best.

6. Efficient

Believe it or not, it’s in the best interest of a freelancer to be as efficient as possible. They’re running their own businesses after all. They know that the success of their business is dependent on repeat customers. A good Catholic freelancer will keep you happy not just by producing top-notch work, but by doing so as efficiently as possible. You can bet your urgent projects will be done by your deadline, if not long before.

Hire A Catholic Freelancer For Specialized Skills

7. Expertise

You may be a gifted public speaker, but can you build a website? Or maybe you know Church teaching like the back of your hand, but can you set up an automated email marketing campaign? Or you could be a gifted CEO, but can you write a persuasive fundraising letter that gets results? Most of us have a sweet-spot, some area of specialty where we function at our peak. The same goes for Catholic freelancers. Some specialize in writing effective copy. Others specialize in building attractive websites. Others can be some of the best accountants you’ve ever seen. And all of them are happy to put their expertise to work, furthering the Gospel by serving your ministry’s mission.

8. Breadth of Experience

In addition to being experts in their fields, most freelancers have also worked with a broad range of clients from various fields. This breadth of experience can help you bring new perspectives and fresh insights to the projects you’re working on. A freelance copywriter, for example, will help you write more persuasive marketing materials, but they may also help breathe new life into your blog, newsletters, and online content by applying the principles of persuasion to your Catholic content.

9. Top-Tier Talent

Many freelancers are among the top performers in their areas of expertise. Dave Ramsey was a freelance financial consultant who worked out of his living room before building his company up to what it is today. Ray Edwards, one of the biggest-name copywriters of our day, also got his start working from home as a freelance copywriter. Even many of the prominent Catholic speakers and authors today – Matthew Kelly, Christopher West, Matt Fradd, etc. – got started as “freelance” parish mission and retreat leaders.

Add to these advantages the fact that Catholic freelancers who serve specifically Catholic ministries are obviously passionate about one thing – spreading the Gospel by making use of the skills and best-practices they’ve acquired in their professional careers. Catholic freelancers care about your ministry. They want to see it succeed as much as you do, and they’re willing to put in the time and effort to make that happen.

So the only question left isn’t whether or not you should hire a Catholic freelancers. Your question should be why you haven’t hired one yet! Search Catholic Freelance Profiles!

Sources

• Big Businesses Like to Hire Freelancers
• Average Annual Single Premium per Enrolled Employee For Employer-Based Health Insurance
• JPScience Marketing: Hire a Freelancer
• All Things Advertising: 5 Reasons to Hire a Freelancer
• Leaders in Heels: 6 Reasons you Should Hire a Freelancer
• Social Media Today: Hire Freelancers
• Grant Burke: Reasons to Hire Freelancers
• 10x Management: 5 Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer
• LinkedIn: Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer
• Twago: Advantages of Hiring Freelancers
• Recruiterbox: Pros and Cons of an Independent Contractor
• Paperless Proposal: Value of hiring freelance contractors
• WritingAssist.com: Top Advantages of Hiring a Freelancer

Philip Rolfes is a freelance direct response copywriter, connecting people with the missions they’re passionate about.

Search here for Catholic job postings, or Catholic Professionals you can hire.

The post Hire a Catholic Freelancer? Here’s 9 Reasons You Should appeared first on Catholic Professionals.