I don’t talk about it much because honestly as a youth minister it’s not something that’s required of our jobs. I don’t talk about my blogging because I never want to come off egotistical, but the other day I was asked about how I’m able to post 5 days a week, consistently. So, whether you blog about youth ministry or something else, I just want to share with you how I do it consistently:
- Start Small: I started writing once a week (5 years ago) and built up to 5 days a week. If you look at my old posts, you first notice this blog was something else and it evolved into Marathon Youth Ministry. You’ll also notice how crappy my writing was (and maybe still is).
- Set Aside Time: Dedicate time during your day to write and if possible set aside one day to help yourself get ahead. I do not always do this but on Fridays I find that I have time to write multiple posts. By picking a time dedicated to blogging your more likely to stick to it.
- Focus on 5 Things: I pick 5 things that I’m going to spend most of my energy writing about (building ministry teams, building systems and structures, office organization, investing in families and vision/mission development). From time to time I write on other things, but those 5 things are what I feel most comfortable sharing. It’s what you can expect from me.
- Recycle Old Material: Never be afraid to recycle material and refresh it. I look back at old posts and rewrite them, especially if an idea has been altered or needs to be fleshed out.
- Read: I read other blogs, books, and Twitter feeds. I try to throw out questions and look for people’s responses as inspiration. I’m constantly searching other minds and bloggers to give me direction and insight. Some might wonder about television; even though, I have a few favorite tv shows, I find that it’s a killer on creativity.
- Prayer: I constantly revisit why God wants me to blog. I love connecting and networking with others, but it should never be something that interferes with family or my relationship with God. I’m doing this because if I feel God wants me to pour what’s in my cup into others.
There are other rules I abide by (i.e. length) because they help me keep focus and challenge me to communicate in the clearest way possible. While I want to share with others what God has blessed me with there are many reasons as to why I blog, but that’s another post. I hope that these 5 tips help those of you looking to start, restart or save your blog. But, I’m not the expert, in fact there are hundreds of amazing blogs out there and I hope those authors will share with the rest of you what they do.
What helps you blog on a consistent basis and why do you blog?