Dear Readers---

For better or worse, today is my last day using Blogger ... I have transitioned over to a WordPress blog and I'm having a blast so far.

This has BIG implications for my feedreaders. You'll need to resubscribe to the feed, as I just can't figure out how to redirect the old feed to WP.

SO ... push this button (yes again) and resubscribe using FeedBurner's easy service. Please. :-)

For everyone else, it shouldn't affect you too much ... I'm going to put a redirect to the new blog address, which is:

http://www.churchcommunicationspro.com/blog/

Here are some of the advantages of the new WP blog:

• Categories -- Enough said. But I'll chime in ... I had to do all that by hand. It was REALLY hard to keep updated.
  
• I have more control over downtime issues -- I'll just email my host instead of pulling my hair out
• I got the template I want -- without totally destroying the code as I've done on this blog
• Old Blogger posts are now in WP -- The WP Import feature is incredible. All my old posts are in the new system. YAHOO! All 214-ish of them!
  
• Easy editing -- If I'm logged into WP, each post has an "edit" link
  
• Plugins -- All kinds of add-ons that give you power
  
• Themes -- The WordPress community has tons of themes to choose from, tweak and apply in the blink of an eye (did that rhyme?)
  

Here's the sad part ... Blogger just opened their Beta version to FTP publishing, which includes categories. I'm a little sad, but couldn't wait forever. I've actually and honestly enjoyed Blogger and still recommend it for fledgling blogging pastors.

Another sad story -- I spent way too much time transitioning, but it's worth it.

OK, so here's to Blogger ... I'll miss ya! Thanks for the memories!

NOW ... GO CHECK OUT THE SHINY NEW VERSION 2.0 of CHURCH COMMUNICATION PROS!

[ Read the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series. ]

Here's a quick tip I was thinking about, which I learned from reading Darren's ProBlogger excellent blog:

One great way of keeping your readers on your blog is to mention previous posts in new posts.

Obviously, this needs to be smooth. Work in links to other posts naturally. Don't just be writing about your ministry's new Web site redesign and then say, "Did you read my post on spacewalking?" or some other unrelated subject.

Make them applicable to other posts.

The idea is to expose your readers to your other great content you've written.

For instance, in this series, as I have given various tips, I'll try to find related posts and link to them.

Here's what I do: First, I write the post, thinking as I go if I have similar articles buried in my articles I can link to. Then, after I'm done, I'll go back and scan to see if there's anything I might have missed.

Doing this series, as you'll notice, I always put a bracket with the tag: [Read all the previous posts in this series here.] This is one way to increase my reader's pageviews and the chances they'll come back or continue reading.

As you post regularly, you'll notice when you track your site statistics that you'll get a percentage of people coming to you via the search engines, or from links at other blogs. (You are tracking your site stats, right?)

For those readers, you have one shot to get them to peruse your other content, or they'll just keep driving past your blog to the next one.

The goal is: You want them to stay awhile, enjoy themselves, subscribe to your blog via a feedreader or through an email newsletter ... because face it, you've taken a lot of time to write that content and actually want living, breathing human beings to read it, not just the search engine spiders.

I know I do.

Another quick way to give readers access to other buried content is through a popular or "best of" posts section in your sidebar. Look at mine in the left-hand column.

These are posts that generally show up in my site stats on a regular basis as a more popular post, or content that I took great pains in writing and don't want buried beneath other posts.

The last way I'll mention is that sometimes people will come to your site via links to previous posts. The main index page for the Blogging 101 series is my top page so far for obvious reasons. But if someone just sees that, they may not realize that I have other fresh, recent content.

If you'll look at the top left column, I list the latest 8-10 post headlines on my blog (a feature of Feedburner). So when someone comes to a buried archives page, like my map of the 25 fastest growing churches in America, the freshest content is always there ready for a quick mouse click.

Hey, thanks for reading! And staying around!

[ Read the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series. ]

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Hey you.

Yeah, you ... Mr. or Mrs. (or Miss) Reader. I'm talking to you.

What topics, subjects, posts, etc. do you want to hear from me?

Although I'm thinking specifically of the Building Rockin' Church Web Sites series coming up (which I should mention I'm terribly excited about), I'm also thinking of anything in general -- of course, related to church communications work, like blogs, Web sites, public relations, advertising, marketing, writing ... or why Dunder Mifflin is my paper company of choice.

I've noticed something though doing the Blogging 101 series: I really like talking and writing and researching Web 2.0 stuff. (Does that have to do with blogging your passion?)

I'm fascinated by 2.0 talk and its potential for leveraging technology like blogs for the Gospel and Christ, who is the Gospel.

Help me out though with direction, especially if you intend to keep reading and aren't one-shots wonders for the Blogging series.

Comment on this post. Click that comment link down below at the end of this post and weigh in on this. Or send me an email.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HEAR? (Dangerous question, huh?)

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[ Read all the posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

Reader John Smulo, who blogs at Smulo Space, and I exchanged emails. He asked me about domain names from a previous post and I mentioned Technorati problems I've been having.

He gave this excellent background information about the popular search engine, which is currently tracking a TON of blogs.

I don't get much traffic, if any, from Technorati, but evidentally that's because I haven't refined it. John does though. And while you're at it, you REALLY need to check out his graphical header. It's one of the coolest ones I've seen. Here's the designer's site (plus, more rockin' cool graphical headers).

But part of blogging is refining. It's an ever-evolving process of tweaking and fine-tuning. So judging from John's advice I need to re-evaluate my topic, see what subjects people are searching for at Technorati and tweak my post tags.

Here's his comments via email, which he gave me permission to post:

"With Technorati I think the best thing is thinking broadly in terms of the best tags to use. Sometimes I do a tag search on Technorati—there's a drop down list if you haven't seen it for ways to search—and I'll type in different words that I want to use and see how the majority of people tag the subject. Sometimes I'll put two similar tags, like 'single' and 'singles' in a recent post because both have been used a lot. And then I'm able to see in my Typepad stats list that the referring address has been such and such technorati tag.

Bloggers should make sure and use the Technorati ping function after they post new content. You can find out more about pinging for your specific blogging platform here. [Note: Blogger does this automatically through the settings tab.] This ensures that your latest content will circulate immediately. If your post has to do with a current event, there will be many people searching Technorati tags to see what others have written. If you haven’t pinged them, chances are your post will be overlooked.

Two other functions that I appreciate about Technorati is Favorites and Watchlists. Putting other bloggers in your favorite lists ensures that you see their latest posts when you visit your Technorati homepage. It’s also a way to give credit where credit is due.

I use Watchlists to keep track of blog posts on my favorite subjects. It’s the best way I know of to ensure you know what is occurring in your fields of interest. It is also a great way to meet other bloggers who are interested in the same subjects as you are."

Thanks, John, excellent stuff! And I'm still just enamored by those graphical headers. :-)

[ Read all the posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]


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[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

Jason Powell is the technology director at Granger Community Church. He blogs at Church IT and Other Musings.

[see his colleagues answers here: Kem's, Tony's, Tim's, Mark's]

Here's his answers:

1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?

I started blogging to share my experiences in church IT as there were very few resources available dealing with IT in the church.

2. What subject do you post most about?

As you would expect the bulk of my posts revolve around the tools we're using, thoughts, and lessons learned in the realm of church IT. Yes, most non-IT people tell me they don't understand a lot of what I post ... yet they read it anyways :-)

3. What are your favorite blog tools?

For posting I've been a Typepad user (Pro account) from the beginning. Bloglines had been my reader of choice until recently ... I'm now experimenting with Google Reader and really like it. Feedburner, Feedblitz, and Google Analytics for tracking subscribers. CoComment is a great tool for keeping track of comments being left on your favorite blog posts.

4. How often do you post?

Couple times a week. My posts tend to be detailed so they take a while to compose.

5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?

Determine your target audience and write for them. For instance, IT folks tend to like geeky details so my posts are typically long and detailed even though most people suggest keeping your posts short.

[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

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[ Read all the posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

The time will come when you're rocking and rolling in writing great content, and naturally, feel the inclination to want more readers. Or just readers in general.

Before you even start thinking promotional thoughts though ... you need to be writing good content on a regular basis. That means setting a posting schedule and concentrating on blogging your passion first and foremost and developing your authentic and distinct blogging voice.

But, assuming you're doing this ... here are some thoughts on promoting your blog and getting readers:

• Ask for reciprocal links -- give and receive.
• C laim your blog -- at Technorati
• Tag your posts -- with the free tag generator
• Be linkable -- Brian Clark already compiled the Ultimate Guide to "link baiting" here.
  
• Commenting on other's blogs
• Read about Search Engine Optimization -- here and in particular this one
  
• Include an Email signature -- with your blog link address ... and also use FeedBlitz's Headline Animiator that can be included in your email signature
• Put Your URL on business cards -- with link on it. I think you might be amazed at how many people log on to check out your site. Online Print House has full color cards, front and back, for super CHEAP.
  
• Slap a bumper sticker -- on your car with Lulu.com .

Oh, and read these great posts by Darren and Brian about building a readership:

• Building Traffic to Build Your Fan Club
• 34 Tips to Find Readers
• 19 More Strategies to Find Readers
• Finding Readers A, B, C, D

And this one to from SEOMoz: 10 Remarkable Strategies to Get Traffic. I did No. 8 to kick off this blog. Stay away from No. 9 unless it's for the Gospel and Christ.

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Tags: Church Marketing | Church Communications | Church Marketing | Church

[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

Greg Nilsen helps "churches improve their digital homes" at If Jesus Had a Website .

Here's his answers:

1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?

I started blogging in October of 2005 when I didn’t see many places on the web committed to helping church websites improve. I decided to use my experience in web design and development to try and help feel that void.

2. What subject do you post most about?

I typically blog about site design, hosting and software options, content creation and targeting, and other similar recommendations that can be applied to church websites.

3. What are your favorite blog tools?

My favorite blog tool is Bloglines, which helps me keep pace with what is going on in the Christian blogging community. The blogging platform that I use I built myself as practice with ColdFusion. The first version of it isn’t quite done yet, so I haven’t given it a name yet.

4. How often do you post?

I typically try to post twice a week. There’s always more content I can think to post on, but I usually don’t have time to put together more than two well thought-out posts in a week.

5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?

I would tell them to not get discouraged if they don’t see many comments in response to their posts. Some topics are just naturally conversation starters, while others need to be talked about, but won’t lead to much discussion. If you feel called, persevere with your blogging nonetheless.

[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

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[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

Scott Aughtmon, senior pastor of Pathway Church in Palo Alto, Calif., blogs at Random Ramblings of a Church Gatherer .

Here's his answers:

1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?

I started blogging for a couple reasons:

One reason was to record and share what I was learning while planting this church.

The second reason was because I knew search engines love blogs and that the more links you have pointing to your site (link popularity) that the better your search engine ranking will be.

When I first typed "pathway church" in Google when we first started we didn't even appear! Now we're listed in the third spot (as of Oct. 2006)!

2. What subject do you post most about?

Mostly about church gathering (what I call church planting), but also about marketing (my side expertise), and personal development.

3. What are your favorite blog tools?

I use Blogger.com, Pingomatic.com, Technorati.com, and FeedBlitz.com.

4. How often do you post?

I have been posting a couple times a week, but got caught up with church gathering. I'm going to be posting more regularly again.

5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?

How about more than one piece?

Find something you like to blog about. That will help you WANT to blog.

Find people to link to you. This will increase your search engine ranking and help people find you.

Comment on other people's blogs. (Make sure you really have something to add.) This will help people find your blog.

Put your blog URL address in your sig file [email signature], so that all your outgoing emails advertise it.

[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

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As I mentioned earlier in the Blogging 101 series, one of my goals is to promote the work and efforts of others, here are some shootouts to people, Web sites, ideas, dreams, visions I admire:



Tim Challies (5 answers here) has resurrected the Discerning Reader site. Read: New Management. The site's loaded with book reviews. (Evidentally, Tim eats books for breakfast, lunch, and then a sensible dinner of actual food products.) Support the site by buying from his links, especially if you discover good books from him. :-)



Kent Shaffer of Bombay Creative (5 answers here) was instrumental in this new Web 2.0 Christian community site called Oak Tree Idea. Sign up for a free account and look around. I enjoy supporting ministries that want to redeem this Internet technology thingy. Check out Kent's profile on Oak Tree here.




Terry Whalin (5 Questions here) was kind of enough to send me his ebook titled Book Proposals That Sell for review. If you're dreaming of writing a book, you need to check out Terry's site called Right Writing. I remember a while back reading that terrific, practical site. Thanks, Terry, for your contribution to Christian writers!




I got a question from a pastor/reader about podcasting. Here's the quick answer: Sermon Cloud. This is a Drew Goodmanson (5 answers here) vision and creation. They offer podcasting and MP3 uploading services ... for free. Thanks, Drew. Admittedly, I still haven't gotten to browse the site, but I admire the work Drew does.

Can I tell you a story?

One about frustration?

Here goes my venting:

Once upon a time a church communictions blogger decided to use Blogger.com, because it was simple and easy to use and he could use it with his domain name/Web site hosting (FTP publishing).

And this guy, he really liked it. In fact, he spent a lot of time fiddling with it, making mistakes with it, hacking the code with a butterknife, learning its features and potential through trial-and-error, and even ... gasp ... writing an entire blog series about how pastors could use it in ministry.

THEN ... this blogging platform started giving him the cold shoulder. Blogger stopped returning his phone calls altogether almost (or letting him post when we wanted to ... giving him ridiculous errors like "javanet girder belt no-can-do, not even if you try to post at 2 a.m.").

The rift in the relationship was growing larger and larger. Frustration loomed over this interesting relationship. The commitment just wasn't there.

"Push-button publishing" became "Push my hot button."

But this gentle yet impatient blogger kept limping along, despite the increasing problems and frustration. He knew to change platforms would be a TREMENDOUS hassle and burden, not only on him but his faithful readers.

But then the dam finally burst ...

TODAY!

Officially, here's the late Monday night announcement: I'm switching to WordPress!

Want a sneak peak on version 2.0 of Church Communications Pro?

Peak behind the curtain here.

Keep in mind, this is in beta. It's got lots of rough edges. Many kinks have to be ironed out. But hopefully soon, I'm making the big switcharoo.

It has lots of implications for you feedreader readers. I'm researching a way to easily transform my feed so you don't have to do anything.

That's the biggest one ... I think. So far.

The break could be messy though. Aren't they always? :-)

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT SERIES AT CCP

I also wanted to take this time (post) to announce the next series at CCP. Tentatively, I'm calling it the "Building Rockin' Cool Church Web Sites" series.

The name's obviously inspired from my Rockin' Cool Church Web Sites series where I've profiled excellent church sites.

I'm hoping this series will be as enjoyable, encouraging and [e-word, think of an e-word to finish this alliteration out] EXCITING for you, dear reader, like many of you have told me about the Blogging 101 series through your emails or comments on posts.

(By the way, if you haven't introduced yourself yet, why don't you step up to the mic. It's your chance to shine and self-promote.)

The Rockin' series will start sometime after Nov. 1, once I've exhausted the little I know about Blogging 101 (email me if I missed something) ... and probably continue through the month.

Here's the "beta" graphic:



THE 50-PLUS COLLECTED WISDOM REPORT

What a fancy name for a subhead. Mom, are you proud? :-)

[Yes, my mom does in fact subscribe to this blog! Hi, mom!]

One more thing about the email newsletter that is directly related to that fancy-smanchy subhead ...

I hope this will serve as an incentive for those who haven't signed up to my email newsletter ...

On Wednesday-ish, I'm going to send out the first CCP email newsletter in a while with a special report of the collected wisdom of my 5 Blogging Questions responders.

Yes, you can cut and paste them into a Word document, but I've already done that work for you ... subscribe today, make me a little more happy because you've helped me accomplish one of my strategies (yeah, OK, I beg and plead, I know) ... and in the process, get some good content.

Just rereading their "one piece of advice" was a great reminder for me of what to do and what not to do in using blogging as a ministry tool.

OK, the end. Bedtime.

[ Read all the posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

OK, here's a big, hairy question for prospective blogging pastors:

What is your goal for your blog site?

What do you hope to accomplish through it?

• Do you want to use it as an internal communication tool with your congregation?
• Do you hope to reach those in your community with the Gospel?
• Do you want to share the ideas and experiences from your ministry with others in ministry?
• Do you want to just use it as a spiritual journal?

[All these are pretty good reasons to blog in my opinion.]

But again, I ask ... what is your goal or goals in blogging?

This is a really important question. You know this already. It is important to have goals and objectives for the things you do. It's a part of stewardship or management of God's resources, which includes your life and blog, right?

And the answer to that question will greatly affect your blog site. [Duh!]

The reason I'm pointing you back to this question is because it affects your blogging strategy. It affects how you write, what bells and whistles you include on your site, the amount of time you put into it ... it affects a lot of things.

For instance, if you want to equip your people and facilitate better communication, you'll want to use your blog like National Community Church does with their Gathering Zone blog site. An EXCELLENT, rockin' use of blog technology!

I think some people do it because they're awesome writers and if they don't write, they'll explode and waste their God-given talent. That push-button publishing thing (aka blogs) is a like a writer's heaven on earth!

Or if you want to have a forum for your ideas, make a little money to pay off your student loans, and in the process try to help pastors and churches, you might be a crazy lunatic and start a church communications site!

Other guys want to show History being made.

Whatever you do ... have an objective for your blog. It keeps you on the right track.

Now ... on to strategies.


For example, here are some of my strategies that support my goals for this site:

• The email newsletter -- Almost every post contains this tagline: "If you enjoyed this post, Subscribe to Cory Miller's Church Communications Pro email newsletter." [Thanks, Darren, for that great insight!] Why do I include this tagline? Because I want this blog to be sticky and I want you to return. And the way I want to help you do that is through advanced posts and other special offers with my email newsletter. I even try to entice you to subscribe by offering a free stuff for downloading. Plus, unlike my site feed where you check it, I'm not relying on you to come back, but I'm making the effort to invite you back.
  

• The feed -- I've been blogging quite a bit lately. And because I've blogged so much, there's a danger that all my blog posts could easily get buried in my site's archives (master story list here) and you would miss them probably. The way to combat that is by getting you to subscribe to my blog via this fancy button . Then you can surf the headlines easily. Your feedreader will tell you how many new posts have been uploaded. I've said this over and over, but it's the best way to keep track of a lot of blogs (right now, I'm tracking about 30 through Bloglines.)
  

• I teach -- I try to do a lot of teaching here. I try to offer simple ways to do things ... for instance, if you'll remember, I tried real hard and even mentioned kitties to get you to do that. Teaching is at the heart of who I am anyway. I am a learner. And if I don't share what I'm learning it'll just benefit me and not the Kingdom. Thus, I teach.
  

• I want to earn a little money for my time -- So I offer the CCP bookstore through Amazon and Web site hosting and domain name registration.
  

• I promote other bloggers and their Web sites (see sidebar links) -- Why? Because I believe in using this technology for ministry, for the church, for the Gospel, for Christ. And I'm ALL about promoting the work and efforts of others who love Jesus.

• I try to write good, quality content that helps others -- Ask the Search Engine Optimization experts and they'll tell you even if you get people coming to your site, if you don't have good content, they'll just keep driving past and won't return. Write super-duper, sticky content. The kind of content that people link to, talk about, email about, are searching for, and adore. I try to write content like that here.
  

• I tweak and tinker and fiddle with my site -- a lot! Probably about three times a week I mess with my template and side links. This site has gone through probably a thousand changes and refinements since it was born in July 2006. And it'll always be an evolving thing. [Ain't blogging awesome?!] I find out what works and do more of it. I find out what doesn't and kill it off.
  

Knowing all this, it's relatively easy to design this site because my goals, objectives and strategies are clear to me. It's about designing persuasive Web sites that accomplish your goals.

Get it?

Good. :-)

Get a goal. Have a strategy. Refine it constantly. And make a difference.

[ Read all the posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

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[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

Kevin Hendricks is blogger extraordinaire at Church Marketing Sucks as well as many others (see below). He sets the blogging example for us!

Here's his answers:

1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?

I started blogging in 1998 during my sophomore year of college. I saw a friend doing it and realized how it could help me practice writing. I started what was basically an online journal (the word 'blog' wasn't in common usage then), which I updated with bare HTML using Notepad of all things. Over the years my blog has morphed from cryptic, incoherent ramblings to more cynical, impassioned rants. My personal blog has been going strong since, though I've also worked on a slew of other blogs, including Church Marketing Sucks, Think Personality and an entire network of infrequently updated blogs. I like blogging so much because of the ability to cover a specific topic well, whether it's church marketing or NASCAR.

2. What subject do you post most about?

Since I write for so many different blogs that's a tough one. I'm probably most consistent about blogging on church communications issues on Church Marketing Sucks or the CFCC blog. On my personal blog I do a fair amount of writing about writing (yes, we writers are rather self-involved). Other frequent topics include pop culture, marketing, technology and my daughter.

3. What are your favorite blog tools?

It's not as popular as it used to be, but I still stand by Movable Type. It's got a very powerful system and can run an entire web site plus it's very customizable. And, quite frankly, it's better than coding your HTML by hand. I'm also a Bloglines addict, which is how I find most of my blog fodder.

4. How often do you post?

I can't seem to get through a day without blogging at least once somewhere. Once or twice a day per blog would be ideal, but I just don't have that much time. I usually shoot for a minimum of 2-3 posts per week. You need that consistency to build up an audience. My personal blog usually averages less than that (like this month--last post: October 1) because I'm not as concerned about the audience.

5) What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?

Only one? Yeah, right. How about five?

1) Keep it real. Pastors have a bad reputation for being hypocrites. Be a real person on your blog, not some stereotype.

2) Engage with others. The most boring blogs never link to others or take part in wider conversations.

3) You're not always right. Some pastors always seem to need that air of authority--which can make you sound like the most pompous of political bloggers.

4) If you write about them, they will read it--so be careful little fingers what you type. Your blog is public knowledge.

5) Just do it. Get out there and give it a shot.

[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

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[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

Dr. Mark DeVine is a professor of theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He blogs at Theology Prof.

Before you read his answers, I need to set the stage for the one-and-only Dr. Mark DeVine. While I was at Midwestern (as comm. director) I helped the good Doc get a Web site and then I set it up as a blog so he could tweak the site without having to have software or much knowledge of HTML.

Also, as I have wrote this series, I have wrote it with Dr. DeVine in mind, giving you the advice I would or have given him.

He's perhaps one of the funniest people I've ever met. In order to properly appreciate it, you need to hear him. Here's one of his sermons, titled Magnificient Hot Air Balloon (MP3).

Here's his answers:

1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?

Cory Miller said I should.

2. What subject do you post most about?

Theological matters

3. What are your favorite blog tools?

Links to books? Is that a tool?

4. How often do you post?

Once a week for several weeks and then I stop for several weeks for no known reason.

5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?

Learn from Cory Miller.

[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

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[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, including 5 Questions responders. ]

Frank Johnson is an Internet strategist blogging at Strategic Digital Outreach.

Here's his answers:

1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?

I started blogging in 2003 with my first (now dormant, but about to be re-launched) blog, ProdigalGod. I had been developing websites for churches and ministries for a couple of years. In the course of that activity, I came across a blog run by Dean Peters called Heal Your Church Website. I was fascinated by the technology behind the site. I had been a pastor several years before but had left pastoring because of a variety of circumstances. I still felt I had something to say, and blogging seemed like a perfect fit. I launched that first blog on the Movable Type platform.

Later, I launched a community site for believers called ChristianCruz, also originally utilizing the Movable Type platform. ChristianCruz is designed to be an online portal for believers living in Santa Cruz County, Calif. My desire with ChristianCruz was to serve the church in our local area in whatever way I could. I am convinced that all effective outreach has as its foundation a public display of authentic Christian community in a local area (John 17:21-23). ChristianCruz is my small contribution to building unity among believers in our local area across denominational and individual church lines. While not outwardly a blog, ChristianCruz definitely uses blog technology. It, along with many of my other sites, currently runs on Expression Engine from pMachine.

Finally, I started a blog called Strategic Digital Outreach in late 2004. SDO is meant to be an ongoing discussion of ways the Christian community can use the internet to spread the gospel.

My next projects include the relaunch of ProdigalGod.com on the Expression Engine platform and the launch of a new blog, DigitalKids.info.

2. What subject do you post most about?

It’s a toss-up between internet evangelism (on Strategic Digital Outreach) and news of interest to believers in Santa Cruz County (on ChristianCruz).

3. What are your favorite blog tools?

Expression Engine, DreamHost, Sage, Technorati, BlogPulse. I’ve experimented off and on with Performancing for Firefox and Qumana, but haven’t settled on either (and may ultimately settle on neither). I have plans to expand my blogging well beyond what I’m currently doing, so I’m looking for a tool to help me write articles for various blogs.

4. How often do you post?

Currently, my posting frequency can vary quite a bit. In my day job (as an internet strategist for a catalog company), the last two-and-a-half months of the year can be extremely busy and sometimes I don’t feel like looking at the computer when I get home from work! On average, I would say I post somewhere between every 2-3 days to once a week, although sometimes I can go longer without posting. Sometimes when I feel especially inspired, I will prepare several articles and set them to appear over several days.

5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?

Not really a piece of advice, but a suggestion. Think about blogging in order to attract local people in your geographic area to experience the life of your Christian community (join you for your regular gatherings). I am convinced that the best use a church can make of the internet is to persuade unbelievers in the church’s local area to check out the life of the local congregation. It’s in the midst of Christian community that an unbeliever will be convinced of the love of God, so I am particularly intrigued by people who reach out to their local geographic area via blogging.

[ Read the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]

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One of the most incredible resources I've found for royalty-free images for my church's Web site and other graphical material is iStockPhoto.

They're offering free images for new accounts, follow this link to see the details of the offer. Photos start at $1. Yes, I typed one buck there. :-)

[Link via Jennifer Anthony]

One of the many ways to drive traffic to your blog is through the popular blog search engine Technorati, which is currently tracking more than 55 million-plus blogs.

Through Technorati, you can track who's linking to you, who talking about the same subjects as you, and let others name you as one of their "favorite" blogs and favorite them too (see who's favorited me).

Start by signing up for a Technorati account here. Then be sure and "claim your blog," which looks like this:

I talked in a previous post about "tagging" and gave you a link to an outstanding tag generator that generators tags for Technorati too.

ONE MORE THING: As I already said, when you sign up in Technorati, you can "favorite" the blogs you read often.

I'm a big fan of promoting other good bloggers ... to thank the respondents of my 5 Blogging Questions, I've put in all the code necessary for you to "favorite" them. So, go sign up at Technorati, come back and click on the green icon next to their name and add them to your favorites.

FAVORITE THESE BLOGS:

1. Mark Batterson of Evotional
2. Andrew Jones of Tall Skinny Kiwi
3. Ben Gray of OpenSwitch
4. Michael Spencer of InternetMonk
5. Tim Stevens of Leading Smart
6. Tony Morgan of TonyMorganLive
7. DJ Chuang of DJChuang.com
8. Gary Lamb of Mad Babble from a Church Planter
9. Darren Rowse of Problogger.net
10. Marty Duren of SBC Outpost
11. Anthony Coppedge of AnthonyCoppedge.com
12. Joe McKeever of JoeMcKeever.com <