Blogging Tip: Backup Your Blog

Micah’s recent near disaster with almost losing his blog database reminds me of a great blogging tip: Backup your blog!

Here’s how with WordPress: Get the WordPress Database Backup plugin. This neat, handy plugin will email you a file of your database. I do this about once a month, but probably need to do it more often, especially considering I’m up to over 350 posts.
Here’s how with Blogger: The easiest way I know to do this is to have your posts emailed to you. This is how I backed up CCP before I switched to WordPress. To do this, in your Blogger Dashboard, click on “Settings,” then “Email,” and fill out the “BlogSend Address.” This won’t bundle everything like the WordPress plugin … but it does give you a record of each post.

December 31, 2006 · Filed Under Blogging Tips

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Create Your Church Newsletter Online with LetterPop

From the creators of ChristianAudio.com, check out this new free resource called LetterPop, where you can create your newsletter online. Just cruising around the site and messing with some of the newsletter options, it looks to be an incredible resource.

Here’s what the site says about this resource:

“LetterPop is the best way to create and send newsletters online and in print for families, businesses, friends, churches, schools, or any other organization. No matter who you are, or who you want to communicate with, LetterPop can help you do it quickly, easily, and with style.”

If you use this resource, let me know … I’d like to hear some user experiences with it.

December 31, 2006 · Filed Under Church Marketing, Newsletters

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Blogging Tip: How NOT To Email a Fellow Blogger

This is probably personal preference (and I don’t care) … but one of the things I loathe is getting publicity emails from other bloggers those that are merely CC’s or worse BCC’s to a whole swath of bloggers.

Don’t misunderstand me … I like getting emails from other bloggers and promoting the work of others. But for me … the kind of emails I mentioned earlier get dangerously close to being SPAM.

If you want to announce something to me, do it personally — email by email, blogger by blogger.

Read more

December 30, 2006 · Filed Under Blogging Tips

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Decker’s Top 10 Best Communicators of 2006

Bert Decker, author of the excellent book Preaching with Bold Assurance and who blogs at Create Your Communications Experience (I’m a feedreader), has a pretty neat list of the 10 best and worst communicators of 2006.

I thought I’d mention two people on the list with short commentary …

2. Rick Warren - On Christmas day, we watched him on Fox presenting the Gospel. What I love about Rick (I don’t know him personally if you couldn’t guess) is that he knows how to wield marketing practices for use in the mission of the church. His PEACE Plan is revolutionary and I’ll be watching closely (and praying) as he takes the Gospel to the globe.

7. Guy Kawasaki — Guy’s blog How to Change the World is one of the best blogs on the Internet. It’s extremely sharp. And although it’s geared more for entrepreneurs, etc., there’s a lot of useful, applicable information for pastors and churches. His book Art of the Start is worth putting on your bookshelf. Also, his post on the 10/20/30 Rule for PowerPoint is a classic.

December 30, 2006 · Filed Under Church Marketing, Preaching

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Business Blogging 101 … on The Napkin

I’m doing it again … a blogging 101 series … only this time it’s for entrepreneurs and small business on a new blog I’ve started called The Napkin.

Go check it out: Business Blogging 101.

Although it’s targeted for businesses this time, and I’m rehashing some of the stuff I’ve already talked about here, there’s still plenty of applicable stuff for any blogger who wants to garner a readership.

December 30, 2006 · Filed Under Blogging, Blogging Tips

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A WordPress Theme for Churches

Just thinking off the top of my head, I know of two churches (that I’ve talked with personally) who are using WordPress for their church websites: Rich’s Living Hope and Micah’s Missouri Valley Baptist Church.

Tonight, surfing around, I just discovered a WordPress theme called Delta that looks to be designed for churches (or at least used by a bunch). Here’s a lot of other themes that Tim, the site’s owner, has posted. (Tim, would love to talk with ya, bro!)
As you might suspect, I use WordPress for this blog (and all my others one too) … so I’m quite fond of it. And I think WordPress has tons of potential for bootstrapped churches. (It’s free.)

December 29, 2006 · Filed Under Blogging, Rockin' Web Sites, Web Site Design, WordPress

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