Church Growth Through Blogging

The Strategy of Digital Church Growth Resulting in More Members

I want to see more bloggers from more churches representing more and more ministries within each blogger's local church.

Action Steps

1. Choose Your Passion carefully.

You are going to be involved with it quite a while in order for the strategy to be at the maximum effectiveness for the Lord. Many of us have various interests within our church. I am no different--involved for many years on our Missions Committee, Mens Group activities, Seniors and so on. My wife and I, for several years, led a Life Group from our church made up of young couples that we really enjoyed. Although it has been two years since we turned over the leadership, we are still very much involved in their lives--kind of a duplicate grandfather/grandma role.

But my passion is starting and watching things grow. I spent 37 years helping to start and grow businesses, associations, federations, institutes and publishing companies. Hence, I see blogging as a way to grow the local church by increasing local traffic to its website and looking to see that materialize into traffic through the church door(s).

A friend of ours is very passionate about Franklin Graham's Christmas Shoebox ministry. Another Crisis Pregnancy. Never wanted to stop stretching and learning, I found I loved to drive after I helped a friend move from the Washington, DC area to Florida. A passion is something that not only you live with, but lives with you.

2. Analyze Your Subject Carefully.

You think you know EVERYTHING there is to know about your interest area? Why don't you Google your interest and read some of the other blogs on it and then get back to me.
NOTE: DO NOT become discouraged if you see many 'fancy' blogs on your passion subject. If the Lord put that desire within you to tell others, you should tell others. The real 'secret' of blogging is that you are unique. God really DID throw out the mold when He created you. Hence, no one else can bring your perspective to your subject.



Personal Story on Your Personality Being Equal with the 'Stars'


Back in the late 1970s I really enjoyed helping professional service marketers (consultants, attorneys, accountants, physicians, etc) market their services. I found out there were SEVERAL others who did what I did. I guess being a little wet behind the ears allowed me to oftentimes help my competition's business more than my own with some oftentimes boneheaded decisions. Eventrually there were four of us, all independent and all known as national personalities, that I put together under my business model. Not by careful strategic planning mind you. But by heeding a saying a friend had: "I have no competitors--only friends in the same business."

3. Decide To Focus On Only One or Two Aspects of Your Passion Subject.

Remember that you are writing both for the search engines as well as people. And they both like sharpened subjects. What I mean by that is that in Step #2 sharpen your interest area within your interest area. I am amused by all the people who list themselves as 'marketers' or 'marketing professionals' (type in 'marketing professional' in Google and see what you get!), but the ones who succeed the most are the ones with the most sharpened or defined special interest area...eg marketing goats-hair gloves, marketing auto clocks on E-Bay and so on.

For your area, say you like the Christmas Shoebox ministry of Franklin Granham. You head up or work with the leadership of that ministry in your church. You tell everyone about it. Now simply writing about your church's involvement with the Christmas Shoebox ministry may or may not bring new adherents to your cause with links back to your local church.

However, let's say you are really blessed by the stories of those children in other countries who received the shoebox gifts. What about focusing your blogging in that direction? If you need more refinement (aka sharpening), maybe you could focus on children who received the shoebox gifts who are now living in the USA or your state. Maybe even interview them. When people see the impact of a ministry on individual lives, their interest is piqued. Do you think that will have more people click on your church's link? You betcha!

Do you see how sharpening your subject is now playing out? If you own a retail business with a website, do you see how this strategy can help you?