Tag: blog (page 3 of 4)

Why bloggers love blogging

January 11, 2011 / / 9 Comments

I love blogging.

In fact, to date, I’ve written 347 blog posts.

Given that there are over 133 million blogs, and that 1 in 5 update their blog daily, it’s apparent that many, many people throughout the world like blogging as well.  I’m guessing you’re one of them.

And I think I just might have an idea why.

10 Reasons Why Bloggers love Blogging

1. The immediacy of the feedback. Within 30 minutes, you can get Retweeted.  Mentioned.  Get a Facebook “like.”  Facebook comments.  Comments on your blog.  Replies to comments on your blog…all of which immediately tell you whether your post was a success or a flop.

2. The quickness of publishing. Have an idea?  Watch a video?  A quote move you?  Throw it up on the blog…right now.  No need to wait on a publisher to review and edit.  No need to wait on a webmaster to get back in front of their desk to push your post live.  You can publish right now.

3. The freedom. Since it’s your blog, you can publish what you want, when you want, how often you want, with the consistency and length you want.  You can include pictures, videos, and links…or not.  Your choice.

4. The design. What you write can look cool on a page.  That’s motivating.

5. The platform. Many of us don’t have the chance to communicate with mass numbers of people every week.  Yet God has gifted us to do so.  Blogs give us that chance.

6. Work out our thoughts publicly. Instead of sitting in your office and stewing over thoughts and ideas on your own, blogging gives you a chance to work those thoughts out loud.  And I, for one, find great value in extroverting my ideas.

7. The interaction. Iron sharpens iron.  I think somebody said that.

8. Global reach. Instead of just sharpening your iron in a conversation with one or two friends, blogs give you the chance to sharpen it with hundreds, or even thousands, of people around the world.

9. Sharing. So much of the value of social media is found in sharing ideas, insights, and wisdom with others.  Successful bloggers give away more than they ever get.

10. The challenge. Blogging isn’t easy.  Condensing the content.  Focusing it.  Consistently posting high quality content.  It’s a challenge, but one that bloggers love.

Why do you love blogging?  What did I miss?

 

Why? Why? Why?

January 4, 2011 / / 5 Comments

I’m going to start posting more consistently on the topic of social media.  Because I use it.  And so do you.

How do I know?

You’re reading this blog right now.

You also likely use other forms of social media (platforms thriving on interaction around user-generated content), like

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
  • Ping.fm
  • MySpace
  • Wikipedia
  • Yahoo!Answers
  • FourSquare
  • Gowalla
  • LinkedIn
  • Spoke
  • Google Reader
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Flickr
  • StumbleUpon
  • Posterous
  • PostRank

I wish I had all of the answers, but I often find myself with more and more questions when it comes to success in social media:

  • Why do some blog posts take off, and get thousands of hits?
  • Why do others, some of my favorites, fall flat on their face?
  • Why do the seemingly meaningless status updates get the most comments?
  • Why do the posts I take the most time crafting sometimes get no traction, and the ones I put together on a whim go viral?
  • Why do I sometimes get loads of comments and no retweets?
  • Why do I sometimes get loads of retweets and no comments?
  • Why do I think it’s cool to check-in using FourSquare…but nobody else seems to think so?
  • Why do some people I know and connect with off-line quit following me on-line?
  • What’s the next social media trend?
  • What’s next for my blog?

It’s questions like these that I wrestle with.  They keep me moving forward, pursuing continued effectiveness online, and with my local ministry here in Clarksville.  If I’m not moving towards an increasing effectiveness, it’s time for me to quit.

What social media questions are you wrestling with?

How do you measure effectiveness on your social media platforms?

 

Customizing your Posterous blog

December 7, 2010 / / 2 Comments

Although content may be king, design is incredibly important.  It’s what attracts people to your product.  It’s what shows people that you care about your product.  It shows your eye for creativity.  And it’s what separates you from everybody else.

Which explains why there is so much out there on blog and website design.  And why it’s so expensive to have a professional customize your site.

And though you can spend lots of money designing your blog, much of the new blogging platforms are easily customizable…as long as you have a little know-how.

I have two blogs, one on WordPress (HERE) and one on Posterous (HERE). I’m often asked how I’ve designed my site, and I make it quickly known that I’m not a designer.  I am, though, a learner.  I’ve figured out how to manipulate my blogs to make them look how I want them to look.  And I’d like to help you out.

If you don’t use Posterous, this isn’t going to help you…go ahead and move on.  Or start a Posterous account and keep reading.

Here’s what my Posterous site looks like:

Here’s how I customized it to make it look like what you see.

Customizing your Posterous site

1. Login to your posterous account, and make sure you’re on the “Manage” page (you should see the “manage” tab at the top).

2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on “Theme my site.”

3. On the top row, you’ll see a list (via screenshots) of the various themes you can use with Posterous.  I have “MyList by Obox” applied.

4. You can click on “Customize” and find the options to change the colors, header image, and number of posts per page.

5. If you want to go crazy, you can customize the CSS and get a fully custom site.  I found enough functionality in the out-of-the-box themes posterous provided.


 6. Go back to your “Manage” page (see #1 above).  Immediately under the main header that says “Manage”, you should see 4 different folder options: Posts, Pages, People, and Autopost.  Click on “Pages.” (see screenshot below)

7. On the line that says, “Navigation,” Click “Link.”

8. Add the link where you want to point to, and make sure you indicate “Label,” because this is what the tab on your site will look like.

Do you have a Posterous site?  Or maybe a Tumblr blog?

Have you customized your blog?

 

Leveraging Blogging

October 21, 2010 / / 6 Comments

I don’t write my blog posts so that I would hit the Top 100 Christian blogs (though I do love the stuff that Kent, at ChurchRelevance.com puts out).  I write them because I process things externally.  The best way I work out my thoughts is to put them out publicly for people to see and critique.

It’s just how I’m wired.

Which means that this blog benefits me more than it will ever benefit someone else.

But, since I’m writing it on a consistent basis, I thought it prudent to leverage the platform to the best of my abilities.  So here’s some suggestions I’ve got for you if you care to leverage the power of blogging.

Leveraging your blogging platform

1. Consistently write posts. Don’t let weeks or months go by without a post.  You gain influence through consistent posting.  Even if it’s once/week, consistency is important.

2. Write substantive posts. Deal with real issues that people face.  Answer questions people are asking.  Dig into issues that are important.  Pictures are great…but if you want to leverage influence, put some substance in there.

3. End your posts with a question. I always try to invite dialog, because I am not simply trying to broadcast information.  My aim isn’t to put together a good monologue.  I want criticisms, questions, comments…and I’ve found that others want the ability to chime in.  Ending my posts with a question help people know how to best jump in the discussion.

4. Make your posts shorter. My rule of thumb is to keep my posts less than 500 words.  I know that if I get over 500 words, I lose people’s attention.  So I try to get rid of the fluff, and get right to the meat of what I’m trying to say.

5. Read other blogs and comment on them. Engaging others on their turf, on their platform, is a great way to interact.  And if your goal is to leverage influence through blogging, this is a great way to do it.

6. Connect your ideas through other social networking platforms. Broadcast updates through Twitter and Facebook.  Add your info to Networked Blogs.  To PostRank (see my thoughts HERE on measuring success by social engagement).

7. Move beyond the screen. Don’t let interaction stop at the comments section of your blog.  Schedule up a face-to-face conversation.  Get a TokBox going.  A great value of social media is that it can get you further relationally with those you’re developing a network with online.

What am I missing?  Would you add anything to this list?

Have you worked on any of these things?  Any success?

 

Only you can be you

October 12, 2010 / / 1 Comment

I have hair on my knuckles.

I tore my ACL my senior year of high school.

I have a bachelor’s degree in animal science.

I once said, “I’ll never be on staff at a church.”

I have a 2 year old son.

My wife is hot.

I live less than 2 miles from where I grew up.

I had no plans of living less than 2 miles from where I grew up.

I have a Master’s Degree in counseling.

I was once stuck in London because of a volcano.

I’m decent at golf.

God has gifted me with a passion to learn new things.

I like creating systems that work.

I enjoy running.

I enjoy helping others understand how much God loves them.

______________________________________________

And it is out of these (still not sure, though, where the hair on my knuckles fits in…) that I lead at home, at church, and in my community.  It is out of these experiences, and the ones God continues to give, that I write this blog.

You can’t be me.  And I can’t be you.

If you try to be me, you’ll fail.  You’re not gifted like me.

If I try to be you, I’ll fail.  I’m not gifted like you.

You don’t have to blog like me.  Walk like me.  Talk like me.  Preach like me.  Write like me.

God’s created you unique.  Which means that there’s nobody else like you.

We need you to be you.

 

Measuring success

October 4, 2010 / / 4 Comments

How do you measure the success of what you do in social media?

Is it by the number of people who follow you?

RSS counts?

Number of clicks on your blog?

Number of Retweets?

Offline conversations spurred?

For me, I measure success by interaction.  Which explains why I end so many blog posts with a question.  And why I pose so many (seemingly random) Twitter and Facebook questions, also.  Because I want to spark discussion.  Encourage you to think and interact.  Cause you to laugh.  Help you look at life differently.

I measuring success by looking at social engagement, not simply the number of followers that I amass.  Because I could have thousands and thousands of people reading my blog, but if nobody interacts, I would consider my work unsuccessful.

Would you rather have 10,000 followers, with very little interaction…or 100 followers that think, dream, discuss, disagree, and take the conversation further?

 

The “cheap” generation

September 29, 2010 / / 4 Comments

If you’re a part of my generation, you probably expect that everything that’s digital should be free.

From music, to articles, to old sermons, podcasts, TV shows, and movies.  If you can find it online, it should be free, right?  And it should give you exactly the information that you want.  And you should be able to easily find it.  And it should be presented well, with a good eye for design.  And it shouldn’t be too long.  Or too short.  Or have too many internal links, because that’s just self-serving.  Or have too many external links, because I’m probably not going to click on them anyway.

You want it your way.  And you don’t want to have to pay a penny for it.

And for much of that, we can be thankful.  So many great leaders offer high-quality content online for no charge.  What a great blessing that our generation can enjoy.

What kind of content should be offered for free?

Is there a blog, a site, or a podcast you’d consider paying to get updated content from?  What makes it worth the cost for you?
 

Favorite blogs

September 22, 2010 / / 14 Comments

Do you read blogs?  If so, you’ve got to have a favorite or two.

Some you find incredibly helpful.

Some you make sure to never miss.

Some that help you think more clearly about life.

Some that help you strategize.

Some that help you love God and others more.

Some that are unique to your niche in leadership.

Some that make you laugh.

Here’s the time to brag on them!

I’ll start it off.

1. Graced Again – this is the blog of my pastor, Ron Edmondson.  He paid me to put his blog on here.

2. Stuff Christians Like – I know that some of my good friends (I won’t name NAMES) think this blogs is too long…but I think it’s great.

What are your favorite blogs/sites?

 

A New RSS reader

September 18, 2010 / / 2 Comments

Our culture is operating faster than the printed page.  And though I think there is still a great place for books and magazines, if you don’t read blogs, you’re missing out on the cutting edge of information and idea transfer.

I like to keep up with blogs.  In fact, there are over 100 I (try to) check regularly.  And the more and more I find that are good, the more and more I subscribe to.  And the more and more I subscribe to, the more and more content I have coming through.  And the more and more content I have coming through, the further and further I get behind in trying to keep up with it.

New posts go up at random times on random days, and, since I’ve got a family, a job, hobbies, and lots of other things to fill my time, I don’t always catch when new content is posted.  And though Google Reader helps (I wrote on it HERE), I just don’t check it enough, leaving me with hundreds of unread posts.  And I feel really bad, but I often end up “Marking all Read.”  It’s not that I don’t want to read them…I just get so far behind that I don’t have time to catch up.

But I think I’ve found the solution.

NetNewsWire. **

It is an app that you can run in your back ground on your Mac or PC.  It syncs with Google Reader, and automatically uploads all of your new feeds into its browser.

Here are the features I like:

1. Easy to comment. I can click through and make a comment on a blog, without leaving the application.  This is a huge win for me.  It’s quick and easy to leave a comment on somebody’s post, because I don’t have to open up a separate window.

2. Latest News. I’m able to sort all of the updates by the latest post, and even condense it down to just the ones that were posted in the last 24 hours.

3. Updates throughout the day. I have mine set to update my feeds every 4 hours, so a couple of times a day, I’m alerted (via a pop-up window on my screen) that there are new feeds.  At that point, it takes  10 minutes (or less) to read them all.

4. It syncs with my phone. This is a huge plus for me, and part of the reason I didn’t find myself keeping up to date with my Google Reader feeds.  If I have an extra few minutes, I can just open up the app on my phone, read my updated feeds, and it will be synced up with my computer next time I log on.

5. Organized feeds. Like Google Reader, I can organize my feeds by folders (and it automatically picks up your existing folders form Google Reader).

6. Quick sharing. I can quickly and easily email the link to a particular post to others I think may benefit from it.  Though I wish I could also update to social media sites…

7. I can subscribe to other feeds within the app. I can quickly and easily add feeds that I want to read…very similar to Google Reader.

8. It’s free. I probably wouldn’t have tried it if it weren’t.

So, you see, it’s similar to Google Reader.  The main difference for me, because of the frequency of the automatic updates and the usage on my phone, is that I actually find myself using it consistently.

Do you read many blogs?  Which do you read?  What are your favorites?

**This post has not been solicited by NetNewsWire.

 

Blog-iversary

June 24, 2010 / / 1 Comment

Today marks 2 years for my blog!

If you’ve just gotten on board, welcome!  Here’s a snapshot of what goes on here at Life and Theology:

If you’d like to get updated every time a new post goes live, click HERE to receive it by email, and HERE if you use an RSS reader.

 
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