By Jonathan Howe
I’ve been a sporadic blogger for the past few years. However, my weekly post here at ThomRainer.com has created a routine for blogging for which I am grateful. As we look ahead to 2017, I want to encourage you, the readers of ThomRainer.com, to consider starting (or continuing) a blog next year.
There are several reasons many people begin blogging—many of which can be quite selfish. Fame, prestige, money, or job freedom is not necessarily a bad reason to begin blogging. But if one of those reasons is your driving motivation for blogging, your journey into blogging will be likely short-lived and frustrating. Most bloggers never become famous, most never make money from their site, and most can’t stick with the schedule blogging demands.
All that being said, I do have five positive reasons you really should consider blogging in 2017. If done correctly—and with the proper motivation—maybe a modest amount of prestige and a little side income might come your way as a bonus.
- Discipline carries over into other aspects of life. Most new bloggers don’t realize the demands a blog can place on time and creativity. However, once the discipline of blogging is developed, it can benefit you in other aspects of life. Maintaining a blog practically forces you to develop routines and content plans. These routines can be mimicked in your dietary planning, workout regimens, personal discipleship, and relationships. A successful blog may not always mean more page views. Personal growth through the discipline of blogging can be success in and of itself.
- Blogging forces you to think more about a subject. We live in a hot take society. There are far too many commentators online and on television who speak before they think. Blogging can help you avoid a hot take mindset if you let it. Yes, some bloggers write before they really think about the words. But many of the most well-known bloggers online put a great amount of thought into their words. To them, every word matters. And the more you think about what you write, the more you grow and develop as a blogger and as a person.
- A personal website adds credibility in your professional life. Regardless of your profession, having a professional-looking website helps add credibility. When it comes to dining, we eat with our eyes first. A meal that looks appetizing will psychologically taste better than one that doesn’t—even if it’s the same dish. The same goes with a personal website or blog. If you have an eye-catching site, you will be taken more seriously than if you don’t. This is one of the many reasons I’m a fan of the websites Mere Agency builds. If you’re intimidated about the technical or design work it takes to get a blog running or upgraded, they can help you out.
- You network with people you might never have met otherwise. Along with your credibility, your network of friends and acquaintances is likely to grow as you blog. In any given month at ThomRainer.com, we have readers from every country in the world and commenters from many of them as well. There is no way we will ever meet all of our readers or visit every country our readers live in. But the number of people we have met through this site is incalculably greater than it would be if ThomRainer.com did not exist. The same will be the case when you start consistently blogging.
- Blogging can accentuate discipleship of the readers. This might be the most important aspect of blogging if you are a pastor. Pastors, you have the opportunity to speak into the lives of your congregation on a more regular basis when you blog. I encourage you to capitalize on the opportunity you have through blogging and use it to further the discipleship of your congregation.
Have any of you who blog realized these benefits? What other benefits might you add? If you don’t blog, what are some benefits you would hope to realize if you did?
I watched the Webinar on Revitalizing your church in 2017. I understand the importance of the new member class, but my husband and I had the same question – ” What about the rest of the membership who are already members and communicating the meaning of membership to them after so many years.?”
I would also like to get the answer of this question
We ran into the same thing. What we did was have the other people who were already members fill out a membership questionnaire. The questionnaire asked for their personal testimony of salvation. If there were any doubts, those were brought to the leadership. Hope that helps.
I started a blog a few months ago, and to be honest, I started for all the wrong reasons.
Even though I got off on the wrong foot, I’m really glad I’ve stuck with it.
The greatest benefits are self-awareness and clarity.
Writing a blog has helped me define who God has called me to serve. So I’m constantly asking myself: What are the ways that God has uniquely gifted me that might be a service to others? And who are those “others” that I have been called to serve?
I’m still trying to find my voice. Each week it gets a little clearer.
That’s a great story, Ben. Glad you and your church are benefiting.
I have had a blog for awhile but I just seem to flounder, I lose focus or sometimes I get so mad about about something it is just better to stay silent. How do I make this a tool for the kingdom, instead of a soap box for myself?
will possibly try out your proposals fo the life of a very young church i am planting.
Blogging is definitely time consuming if one actually cares about the content and the structure of the post(s). However, I agree that if one persists in writing on a regular basis they will only benefit from their work. Writing on a regular basis keeps spiritual matters in the forefront of our minds and can be very helpful in getting down deep into the Word and our personal walk. Not only that, the people who read your blog (even if it’s just a few) will come to appreciate your time and effort in helping them as well. Thinking of it as a ministry may help you push through the hard times, because people are looking to you for inspiration, hope, etc. Thanks Johnathan!
You’re welcome! And great points there.
Consistently blogging (and podcasting) has changed my ministry . . . for the good. Point 4 is particularly poignant. It allows you to meet and interact with people you’d otherwise never know existed or with whom you’d never get an opportunity to communicate.
Also, on point 3, it really does add credibility. Spot on.
Thanks for this article.
Keep up the good work, J
I only started my blog a few weeks ago and I have to agree that the most surprising thing is how long it takes. I spend 2 – 3 hours a day between writing and posting each article. And that doesn’t include the time I spend thinking about it before I start writing. I’m just now starting to put some structure to my day and writing, though, and am going to develop a content calendar this week so I know where I’m headed. I’m confident that will help me to feel like I’m not always falling behind. Thanks for the encouragement!
Content calendars are your friend
Thank you Dr Rainer. Thankful for your ideas.
I mean, Jonathan.
I started a blog to help small town pastors grow their church a little over a year ago. I agree with all of the points in this post. It is very rewarding.
On the flip side it also feels like a part-time job that doesn’t pay anything.
Thanks for this post. I have been a blogger since 2006 and I see it as an important part of my ministry. While I do see it as a benefit to my congregation, I also try to make it clear that everything I say is not necessarily the official position of my church.
OK – so for someone who has never blogged because the whole setting up of a website seems a tad overwhelming, could you recommend or point me in the right direction to find an easy to use blog/website template? Many thanks for your informative and challenging article.
http://www.blogger.com is really easy to use.
Blogs aren’t without their downsides too, though:
It’s not necessarily a worthwhile use of time if you have no guaranteed readership. Pastors perhaps ought not to consume valuable time on such a venture unless they have an intended and guaranteed readership (their church members) and intend to use their blog as a part of their ministry to their congregation.
It can be distracting to everyday life and other important tasks if you feel the need to log in to your account several times a day to see if anyone has viewed it or left a comment. If people do latch on to it and leave comments then it is again very distracting in having to think out how to respond to people.
For some, blogs are also a way of venting their feelings and getting things off their chest which are constantly on their minds. For pastors this could be detrimental. They ought to be preaching passionately about a topic. If they have already vented all their pent up emotions they could lose the incentive to preach about it, or find themselves preaching on the subject in a dry and monotonous manner instead of from the overflow of the heart.
For those not in a pastoral ministry then it is often useful to have your thoughts on various subjects written down so that you can look back at them from time to time and remind yourself of thoughts and experiences you had forgotten, and to see how your thinking has changed over time.