CRFs: The Secret to our Blogging Success

In order to connect with your audience, you need inspirational and educational content. It can be difficult for the communications team to come up with that content when they aren't on the ground floor.

We had this same problem with our Communications Strategists. We wanted and needed the wisdom they gained from years of working with clients one on one, but they rarely had time to sit down and write a whole blog post.

We needed a way for them to share their expertise with our marketing team without having to sit down and write-up an actual blog post. So ... we came up with the Content Request Form. This is one of the secrets to how we keep fresh content coming here at Fishhook! And the best part? A CRF is just a Google Form (yay!). 

When we have an idea for a blog post that we think will connect with our target audience, we put together a simple CRF that includes 3-5 questions. We send it over to our Communications Strategists or team members, and within 10 minutes, we can have almost an entire blog post ready to go. Usually, we just take a few minutes to add an intro paragraph and a call-to-action at the bottom. 

A great goal for your church is for each ministry to contribute one blog post a week, which might sound daunting. Think about what your audience needs to hear from each ministry. By following the outline below, they’ll be able to pull together enough content to get their blog post off the ground. 

A Basic Content Request Form
Sample Topic: Taking steps towards a happier marriage

• What are some of the biggest problems that you see couples dealing with? (3-5 sentences)
• Why are you passionate about helping people have better marriages? (4-5 sentences)
• If your ministry could give someone five tips or pieces of advice on how to take steps toward a happier marriage, what would you say? (5 bullet points) 
  • __________________________
  • __________________________
  • __________________________
  • __________________________
  • __________________________
• Do you have a short story that illustrates these tips being lived out? (4-5 sentences)
  

The more you use your CRFs, the faster creating a blog post gets! Our Communications Strategists love them. It gives them an opportunity to contribute without overwhelming them with a request for an entire blog post. And we have a hunch your ministry leaders will feel the same! 

As you get more comfortable, feel free to adapt this outline - or start from scratch and make a unique one for your ministries!