I’ve had many friends and acquaintances who have been disappointed with the results of their blogging. They generally stop posting after they see the number of readers who don’t come to their blog.
This post from Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, outlines 10 mistakes that are real easy to make 
when you have a blog and they are particularly easy to make when you are starting. And they are not hard to correct.
Just a sidenote, Hyatt uses social media effectively to network with others around the world. I read his blog. I’m part of his Twitter group. He’s a real person who’s not afraid to be transparent. He’s also very accessible. He’s worth getting to know and it’s pretty easy to do.
I will write more about the 10 mistakes that he lists.
In the meantime, his post is worth a click and his content about the 10 mistakes is worth a read. My experience affirms everything he lists.
Pastors can blog in a way to get their message across and to get people to read it.
Two pastor posts in my Google reader are billboards for pastors blogging about their ministry and about their church. First, Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. and Pastor Perry Noble of New Spring in South Carolina.
Before he visited Germany and Martin Luther’s church in Wittenberg, Batterson studied and read about Luther who was a key player in the protestant reformation. In his post, he describes what he read about how Luther regarded personal confession and the amount of time he devoted to it. The German priest would take hours going before God to confess each and every sin.
Batterson describes his reaction and how he’s adapted that practice in his personal life. Read more…
I’m helping a bunch of folks with their blogging. One thing that’s been missing has been a unified, easy-to-
understand source of help. There’s plenty of helpful blog posts, but they are scattered throughout the blogosphere.
So my son, Justin who has the blog Drinking Oatmeal Stout, gave me for Christmas “The Huffington Post-Complete Guide To Blogging.”
I haven’t read it yet, but at first blush, it looks like a clear and easy-to-understand guide about the who, what, when, where, how, why and so-what of blogging. There’s seven chapters with a resource section.
Chapter headings: 1) Getting Started, 2) Getting Noticed, 3) Finding Your Voice, 4) Community: Creating and Building It, 5) How The Blogosphere Is Remaking The Media.
After I’ve read it, I will share a detailed review.
I really like the blog written by Eden Prairie (MN) City Manager Scott Neal. He has been consistent in keeping his residents informed. Because I live a few states away, I wonder if the locals find his blog useful.
In our city, we don’t have a city manager, but we have a full-time mayor. I wish he would write a blog with the same level of transparency and news.
What about the city council members of Eden Prairie? Do any of them blog?
Are there other examples of city managers or city council members around the country blogging?
UPDATED: Because I feel Scott Neal’s blog is worth follow as an example of good blogging, I’ve linked to it in the right margin under the category Blog Examples.
In the blog and social media world, building a community has become a buzzword.
What does this mean for the average person who just wants to start a blog for any of a number of reasons? It could be a classroom teacher, a pastor, a state legislator, a auto repair shop owner, a local real estate agent,
a mortgage broker or a lobbyist at the state capitol.
Move away from the computer for a few minutes and think about the people involved in your world. For instance, you are a state legislator. Who would those people be? Homeowners. Senior citizens. Teachers. Young parents. Grandparents. Auto workers. Bankers. Local officials. You get the drift.
Another way of thinking about it: I have a friend on the east side of our state who is a community leader. He’s a former city council member and a former state legislator. When he walked into one of the local coffeeshops, he would need an hour to get to the front door to pay for his hamburg and chili. Read more…
It was almost five years ago that I read a blog for the first time. The blog mentioned in a story by Detroit Free Press religion reporter David Crumm grabbed my attention and stoked my interest in this new media and the growing role that it plays.
Since then my interest in blogs and the social media has only grown. I’ve seen firsthand how mainstream media has changed and how more and more people are getting information from the new media, rather than newspapers or television. Read more…
