“Anyone not ‘@’ replying on Twitter doesn’t get it. It’s about listening and communicating, not press releasing”–Gary Vaynerchk

If you are new on Twitter and barely update it then using the ‘@’ reply can be difficult. However I would suggest deciding on a ratio between “push” and “pull” tweets.

I do not have an exact one, but functionally I ‘@’ reply once for every two “push” tweets I send. I often do this in spurts rather than intermittently–I may send three or four ‘@’ replies at once and then push tweets for a few days.

The ratio is not the point. The PRINCIPLE of listening and communicating is.

In ministry we often have many projects that we’re working on that we want more people to know about. It’s tempting to jump on twitter to “spread the word” which is a great goal.

However I would define “spread the word” on twitter in this manner:

• Searching out users who are ALREADY talking about things related to your project and getting to know them first by reading their recent tweets

• Then ‘@’ replying those users when they tweet something that you find useful, insightful, or encouraging

• Then engaging them with an ask to promote or share your project with their network.

The biggest miss I see is not understanding these tactics but getting on Twitter WELL BEFORE the actual project or event deadline. If you can be on twitter months before the event, steadily engaging people and posting sporadic push messages, you can set yourself up really well when the project or event draws near.

Have you been on the front-end of this? What are some tactics for using the ‘@’ reply that you have found helpful for listening and communicating with people on twitter?

photo courtesy of robparkin

I’m all about keeping my inbox at zero these days. Here’s the post I read that inspired me.

Since creating content can be the biggest challenge for entry level and mid-range bloggers, I wanted to encourage you to use emails that you either send or are sent to you as fodder for blog posts.

Here are some practical ways to turn an email into a blog post:

If it was an insightful email:

• Quote part of the email and explain what made it so insightful.

• If the email caused you to take a significant action step or think about something differently, blog about that.

• Extract the principle or spirit of the email and blog about that.

• Sometimes I receive emails from leaders who write with a powerful tone. I like to step back and evaluate my writing in light of theirs, looking for ways I can improve my tone.

If it was an annoying/unnecessary/common email:

• Don’t quote it!

• What was it about the email that made it annoying? Did it tap into any of your core values or strengths? Don’t write about the annoying part. DO write about the core value/strength stuff.

• Is it a metaphor for something wrong on a greater scale? What could you write that in some small way might lead people in a more redemptive pattern?

• Google the problem that the email caused/suggested. Write a post offering tactical solutions based on the links that Google provided. Now you’re actually contributing to the solution in a meaningful and practical way.

What are your tips for turning emails into blog posts?

Ok, I admit it: I’ve been in blog world for only six months, which undoubtedly puts me in the minority within the Campus Ministry. But even though I’m a newbie, I think I’ve learned a few lessons along the way that may help the remaining four of us tip-toe into the unfamiliar.

I am committed to growing in all areas of my life. I have never wanted the fear of the unknown to rule my world and eventually close it down. Learning helps my character, as well as my trust in the Lord, to grow. I sensed God wanted to expand my footprint to encompass ministry to believers and non-believers alike. So last spring I took that scary first step and started the process of actually getting my own blog site.

I had a new book coming out in June ’09, Grace and Guts: What It Takes to Forgive, and the marketing strategy included a blog piece. I contacted two friends who were far ahead of me and asked for their help: Mike Foster of PlainJoe Studios and Brian Barela, MTL at Chico State. Both of these guys were invaluable to me, lending insight and very practical suggestions on how to proceed.

Now, I’m going to be honest here: At first I felt way over my head. I was afraid of failure, I entertained thoughts that it was all too hard for me, and I even slammed my computer shut one morning when I couldn’t import an image into my post! But I am growing and learning—and expanding my ministry. I’m glad I’m hanging in there, and I celebrate even the smallest of victories.

Maybe a few of you have been hesitant about claiming new ground in blog world, too. My advice? Grab a few friends who are further down the road than you and just jump in. You might fall and skin a knee or two, but you won’t crash and burn, I promise. Before long, you’ll be smoothly marching into blog world. Practice makes perfect. I’d love to hear about your successes, too. Just post them as comments on my blog site at http://graceandguts.net/

This is a guest post by Barbara Francis. Subscribe to her blog here | Add her on Facebook

I had the opportunity to interact with many CCC staff doing some serious work online for Jesus this past week at MinistryNet in Antalya, Turkey.

One of my most encouraging appointments came when I sat down with Karen & Doris (follow them on Twitter), who head up CCC Canada’s (Power to Change) online efforts.

The reasons?

• They have been dedicated to building a super-site which involves painstakingly migrating websites from outside to under their main domain.–Read this blog post on migrating your site from one domain to another if your curious.
  

• They are committed to CONTENT first, and building a digital library of posts and pages that are OPTIMIZED FOR SEARCH ENGINES!!!!!!!

In 2009 there are 293,000,000 searches PER DAY on Google ALONE!!!!!! It encouraged me so much to hear that Karen & Doris are taking this seriously and building their site to be EASILY FOUND by online seekers.

Click here to take a look at their site. You can see that the design is not outlandish or overdone. It can be easy when evaluating the quality of a website to look solely at design. However what they have going on behind the scenes is AMAZING! By migrating more and more pages underneath their domain, they are increasing the rank of that site in relation to search engines, and significantly increasing all the sites underneath the domain’s chances of being found.

Here are 3 takeaways for you as you pursue blogging:

• Grow in your understanding of what keywords drive traffic to your site, and write more posts that include those specific keywords and phrases–Read this short blog post from Hubspot on Keyword Tips.

• Improve your content BEFORE your design–yes some of you graphic design peeps may be grinding your teeth, but search engines for the most part are blind to design.

• Before you start ANOTHER website, consider starting that site underneath a current domain you have. You can always use Domain Masking if you really have a special domain name in mind.

photo courtesy of toddwickersty

Regardless of length every blog post is an individual web page within your domain.

If you examine ministry websites from the 1.0 era, they average 1-3 TOTAL pages, and those pages took a tremendous amount of time to create.

Although you may lose some of the design aesthetics in switching from your current site to a blog format, you will GAIN a tremendous opportunity to be found online via search engines.

The more you post, the more pages you create, the more chances people have to discover your content.

The more you post, the more words you associate with your site, which gives the search engines and those searching for you a better idea of who you are.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if every person you met knew the best things about you? You have the opportunity to do that for your ministry by publishing lots of content on your site through blog posts.

Some easy blog posts that you have already written but have yet to publish:

• Parts of your prayer letters

• Talks you have given (provided you saved a digital copy of your outline)

• Emails you have received from supporters, students, etc.

• Facebook notes that have been published by you or people associated with your ministry.

Copy and paste and be found!

photo courtesy of stephenjohnbryde

There are literally millions of blogs. How does you connect your content with interested, searching readers?

A great intermediate step in formatting content for a blog is engaging parts of the SEO (search engine optimization) process.

Try this on your next post:

• Think of a topic that you’re passionate about.
• Go to Google and type in the phrase or words that you would use to search that topic
• Read the “meta” description of the posts on the first page

Meta description of CRU Blogging

• Compose the post using a similar structure of keywords from the meta descriptions
• Be sure to “ping” the various search engines. Click here to read more about what this means.
• Publish!

Why?

• Like it or not, keywords are a big part of being found online, especially since Google cannot read the mind of a searcher and link their search with your content (yet).

• Just like public speaking has rules, blogging has rules that if followed make you (your posts) more effective.

• By integrating keywords into the publishing process, you think more like your readers, which usually results in content that is more encouraging/inspiring/challenging.

Want to learn more about blogging? CLICK HERE to sign up for our 20 minute webinar

photo courtesy of fallsroad

CRU Blogging is hosting a 30 minute webinar to help ministries understand the value in switching over to a blog for the main ministry website. We hope to share some vision, explain some tactics, and answer your specific questions.

I’ve noticed that a lot of ministries have outdated websites, and would like to try something new, but don’t know where to start.

I’ve also noticed that the focus is on DESIGN (better logo, graphics, text formatting) and have yet to see the value of upgrading the website to facilitate more ENGAGING CONTENT.

Sign up here in this post, or in the widget box on the right hand side of your screen.

I enjoyed seeing on my personal blog what I wish for every post of mine. In fact I would call it “the perfect post.” (imho of course).

These elements made the post succesful:

• The post STARTED in the middle of my thought process: I was not shouting (okay a little bit) nor getting the last word in on the topic (innovation in Campus Crusade for Christ).
• The post GENERATED authentic comments (19) and disturbed a few people (engaging, interesting, valuable to the reader–NOT JUST VALUABLE TO ME)
• The post CONNECTED me with other like-minded campus ministers by means of readers commenting and sharing the post on Facebook and Twitter. It also helped me get to know some of my readers better, thus increasing my ability to contextualize my thoughts to those who invest the time to read my blog.

Some thoughts to consider as you post:

• Do you posts lean towards the beginning, middle, or end of a particular conversation. Often times I do not comment on posts because the post has left no room for my thoughts.
  
• Is your content specific and authentic enough to disturb other people? You may be able to increase engagement on your blog by taking more of a stand.
• Do you take the time to respond to comments and do the diligence of following up commenters by adding them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Myspace (just checking to see if you’re reading

You can read the post and the corresponding comments by clicking here.

photo courtesy of envision

Brian shared about the key to starting out in blogging being a steady drip. That’s so true.

The problem is that most of my creative juices flow less like a leaky faucet and more like Old Faithful. When any of it comes, all of it comes. Then it’s dry again for a time. Unlike Old Faithful, my moments of inspiration are hardly regular enough to anticipate.

Enter the queue.

Instead of my readers being alternately overwhelmed and underwhelmed on a regular basis, I can queue up posts to appear on my blog when I need and want them to. I currently have three posts waiting in my queue.

While this doesn’t work for a ministry-update post (news is most effective closest to when it happens), it is very useful for a post sharing something you’ve been learning or a funny video you found on YouTube.

Tumblr (my platform of choice) makes this very easy with a drop-down menu on every new post, in addition to a “queue” section of the dashboard where you can even set up queued posts to be delivered every day, two days, week, month, etc.

WordPress also makes it easy with a drop-down menu allowing you to select exactly when you’d like a specific post to see the light of day. (So does TypePad. – Jayson)

So, even if you’ve got a geyser for a brain, your readers can enjoy a nice, steady drip.

This post was, appropriately enough, posted using WordPress’ scheduling feature.