I want to thank my Christian buddies who attended BlogHer for commenting on my Differences post. I would absolutely love some more feedback — so if you are a Christian and you attended BlogHer, please go leave a comment on your perspective.
Knowing your bloggy purpose is very important
One of the sessions I attended at She Speaks was given by the two absolutely adorable sisters, Emily @ Chatting at the Sky and The Nester at Nesting Place. They gave a great presentation with a lot of great advice. There were lots of great nuggets of advice, and I tweeted what I could. Here are some of my tweets during that session:
If you try to have a blog to please everyone, you won’t. You’ll be able to deal with criticism.
When someone comes to your blog, you want them to know what to expect. Ragu ads don’t go with furniture
Don’t get caught in trying to keep up with others – post when you want about the thing that makes you come alive
RT @dcrmom: “I’m not a person who loves to write. I’m a person who loves what I write about.” {brilliant} @thenester
Do you need some “space for your soul to breathe?” Check out @skychatter ‘s blog: http://chattingatthesky.com
For writers: http://encouragingwordsforwriters.com Awesome blog from Bonita (who’s here)
What we build, we have to maintain. {Bonita’s encouraging words for writers}
Are you getting tons of email? Maybe you can take them and use them as blog posts. Info on site might cut down on email.
Have a writing session and write multiple posts – schedule them to post in the future. Don’t feel forced to write every day.
Protecting your family on the Internet. Recommended from fellow attendee: http://bit.ly/e3md4
When Nester shared about the Ragu ads, I had to laugh. She knows interior design, furniture, and how to make stuff even if it’s not perfect. She’s not a cooking blog so Ragu ads really don’t go with furniture. But if she didn’t really understand the purpose of her blog, then she might have just ignored that.
Purpose?
{I first wrote the following on April 28, 2008. Amazingly, I made sense back then!}
To be completely honest, I don’t like the word ‘purpose’ very much. Purpose is defined as an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions. That scares me. Most of the time when I anticipate good things happening, I’ve been let down. So I lower my expectations which is not a good thing either. But the thing that scares me the most is the fear of failure. I am afraid to define a purpose, let it guide my actions and then fail to meet that purpose.
Most of us have probably heard the following scripture:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
– Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
The 2 verses that follow Jeremiah 29:11 are relevant also:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:12, 13 (NIV)
Whether you have a blog already or you want to start one, the best advice I can give you is to find your bloggy purpose.
Pray: Ask God what purpose and plan He has for your blog. Here are some questions to ask Him when you are developing your purpose:
- Is that purpose to keep in touch with family who are far away?
- Can you use the blog to subtly share your faith with others like unsaved family?
- Can you share some knowledge you have to help others (homeschooling? crafts? fashion?)?
- Are you going to use your blog to make money?
- Do you want your blog to be an online ministry?
That last one is a doozy to answer! When I started simply His, it was a way for me to keep in touch with family and friends. I honestly did not want to subject them to ads here and there so I could make a few dollars. It was not worth it. There’s nothing wrong with making a little money to help support your family, but there is a fine line you must be sure you want to cross. Blogging is about building a community. Be respectful of your readers. Treat them as your friends. If you would recommend a product to your friend, then do so on your blog. Don’t recommend stuff just to try and earn some money. Remember what your Bloggy Purpose is! When your Bloggy Purpose comes from God, answers to these questions will become quite clear.
