Big Is The New Small

In the bloghsphere, you have two types of bloggers; those who are open to receiving comments and those who are Scaredy Cats.  “Scaredy Cats” are bloggers who write some amazing, controversial, helpful, educational, funny, insightful, random… posts and don’t allow their readers to comment.  One of the aspects of blogging, that is different from being a writer for a magazine or newspaper is the relational connection with readers.  The bottom line in my opinion, is that all bloggers should allow their readers to comment; even book authors are open to comments/reviews on Amazon. 

The “Scaredy Cats” will use several excuses as to why they don’t allow comments, some of which include:

•  I don’t like criticism
•  I don’t have time to respond
• I’m not writing for comments, I’m simply journaling

If you don’t like criticism; don’t blog stay behind the scenes.  If you don’t have time to respond, simply don’t respond; even though it only takes a couple of minutes.  If you are simply journaling, just keep word documents and don’t put it out there for the world to see.  Stop being a “Scaredy Cat” and remember that www is short for the world wide web and that encompasses a lot of people.   

If you disagree, feel free to criticize, comment… and I will be happy to respond.  Don’t get me wrong, some of my favorite bloggers are “Scaredy Cats.”

Do you think that bloggers should allow comments?  Share your thoughts on the “Scaredy Cats!”

I think that I will turn off comments for this post! LOL

First of all, I want to say that I don’t think you can get a better blog title for search engines to pick up than Google Google Google!  I like to use sitemeter to evaluate keywords and search phrases that bring people to BigIsTheNewSmall.  With my crazy post titles and my blog title being BigIsTheNewSmall, I get some funny, challenged, serious and ridiculous keyword searches to say the least.  I thought I would share some of my personal 15 favorite, recent and not so recent searches.  BTW- These are the only ones that I could share that were appropriate: 

1. the biggest butts ever
2. new small boobies
3. does billy graham eat pork
4. First Black President
5. size does matter
6. “Safe Toilet Syndrome”
7. a sonic restaurant inside of a church building
8. are sex offenders allowed around children
9. big christians make me sick
10. abortion is murder big deal not small
11. alcohol and nudity
12. big women new small man
13. Big Dallas small Anne J ackson
14. black people lifechurch.tv
15. Marriage stinks go to church
16. Bonus: Scott Williams is gay

Which one of these searches is your favorite?  Bloggers please share some of your crazy, ridiculous and funny keyword searches from your blog.

I was reading my man Carlos Whittaker’s blog this morning at Ragamuffin Soul and he got me thinking.  This whole blogging frenzy is crazy; in a good way.  Everyone is launching a blog and most everyone is jockeying for readers. There are some people who will say that they don’t care whether or not people read; if that’s the case just simply type a word document and save it to your computer.  If we are being intellectually honest, we will all admit that we want more readers, we like page views, we like comments….   

There are some authors and who may initially write a book; simply because it was a goal they had outlined for themselves.  Once the book is complete those same authors would love for others to read it, have others review it and sell it to the masses.  This same concept applies to bloggers.  Bloggers are self-promoters and that’s not a bad thing.  Every post, every comment, every link, every blogroll add… are all aspects self-promotion whether it was initiated by you or not. 

In Carlos’s blog today, he is talking about the add space that he is selling on his blog and some people are calling him a sell-out.  I say, “If your blog has the juice and people will buy the add space, then sell it!”  For those who think that’s selling out, you simply have Blog-Envy! 

Tell people about your blog, promote it, comment on others, link to others…..  it’s okay to Pimp Your Blog!  Seth Godin has two recent posts on this subject entitled: Self Promotion and Who You Know. The bottom line is that you need to have good content or people won’t come back.  I would like to “Pimp My Blog” right now, if you don’t have BigIsTheNewSmall in your blogroll, add it; if you like this post or any others, link them; join through rss, technorati it, tell others…..  Okay I feel better now!

• Should bloggers Pimp Their Blog?  Are bloggers self-promoters?  Do all bloggers want more readers?

I have some clear blogging goals for 08’ and they simply revolve around the fact that, “I Want More!”  That’s right, I want more:

1. More readers

2. More great links

3. More guest bloggers

4. More adds to blogrolls

5. More readers commenting

6. More blogging friendships

7. More challenging questions

8. More of an overall community feel

9. More random, leadership and thought provoking posts

10. More impressive overall look and feel for BigIsTheNewSmall

What are your blogging goals for 08′, as a reader or blogger?  Share your thoughts! 

Wow, has blogging became the newest, hottest, freshest thing or what?  Having a blog is like having a myspace, maybe I should start a community called myblogspace, oops someone beat me to it.  The funny thing is that blogging isn’t new at all; as a matter of fact it has been around since the 80′s.  There have obvious advances throughout the history of blogging.  You can check out the boring history of blogging here.

My question today is for everyone, yes even those of you reading through your rss reader.  If you enjoy reading blogs, then you can definitely answer this question:

What blogs are you currently reading? 

You can share your entire blogroll, just a few links, what you like about specific blogs…..   I enjoy finding new blogs to read and I would like to see if you guys/gals are reading some of the same blogs that I am.  Everyone jump in and at-least share a couple!  Holler!

Contrary to what you may think, may have heard or often times might see; I am here to let you know that “Size Does Matter!”  That’s right I’m talking about the length of your….. Blog!  Okay, now that we have got all of the details out of the way; I am going to share some brutal facts:

• If your blog is to long, few people will read it; especially me.

• I will scan a blog and if it is to long, I will find something else to read.

• There are some great bloggers, whom I have removed from my reader because their posts are always so long, “Bless their heart!”

• If your posts are consistently brief, concise and to the point; you may earn the right for your readers to “Every once and a while,” read a longer post.

• If my post is ever to long; feel free to read someone on my blogroll.

There are a lot of great blogs to read and a lot of work to be done; so please don’t write a dissertation.  In the spirit of Bill O’Reilly; keep it pithy.  BigIsTheNewSmall: the Bigger your blog becomes; the Smaller your posts should be. 

Are you turned off by long blog posts?  Do you struggle with keeping your posts pithy?  Any examples… share your thoughts!

RANDOM BULLETS:

LifeChurch.tv NW Oklahoma City Campus:

• The campus overall is beginning to get off the sidelines and get in the game
• Launching new series this week entitled “HE Will Be Called”
• My team is freakin’ awesome!  It’s something about using the word freakin’ that’s funny!

Life:

• My wife works for OK DHS, as a Child Welfare Specialist, ”That’s a rough job”
• My youngest son Jayden (4) had to dress like his dad today and tell about his dad’s career.   We went over what he was going to say it was something like “My dad is a pastor at LifeChurch next to Incredible Pizza, he preaches God’s word so that people can learn more about God and have Jesus in their heart.”   Ahhhhhhh

Blogs that have recently linked to BigIsTheNewSmall or Scott Williams:  Let me know if I am missing your blog!

Anna Meadows    Finally Unfettered    Lovel Pearls    Becoming Authentic    D-Plum   

Let The Inside Out    Cindy Beall    Steve    Jabberfrog    Jimmy Paravane    John Otjen   

20somethingpastor    A Tentmakers Journey    Destined to Repeat It     Princessjess

My Tobin

Sports:

• New England is Awesome, The Cowboys are really good, College football needs a playoff, Hawaii is getting the shaft, My Sooners will beat Missouri, I love the parity in sports overall especially college football.

Quote:

• You can’t go where you need to be until you recognize where you are.  Scott Williams

Question:

• Who or what are you learning from and what are they teaching you?
• Those readers who don’t comment at least introduce yourself and tell us where you are from!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!  BigIsTheNewSmall!

Thankful 3 (of 4) 

There are so many things that are readily accessible that I am extremely thankful for.  I am going to share three of them: Books, Blogs and Bibles: 

Books:  We are taught from an early age the importance of reading and the impact it has on a child’s performance in other areas.  The same is true for adults; as our world becomes more complex reading helps us to figure out our place in it.  I don’t care what you read, just read something and be thankful for all of the books that you have access to.    

Blogs:  Blogs have become a great tool for me to learn, develop relationships, be entertained and be stretched on a daily basis.  Blogs are impacting and changing the world in a major way.  Think of blogs from a historical perspective; how powerful would it have been to read Martin Luther King Jr.’s blog daily.  What if we could have read The First Letter of Peter through his blog or got a quote from Moses on his blog or if the Disciples were able to read each others blog?  I am thankful that I have the opportunity to blog and I have access to countless blogs.

Bibles: My Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel was asked a question in an interview by a ministry magazine; the question was “If you could have your people do one thing that would be most valuable for your church to change the world, what would it be?” Craig’s response “I would have our people daily read God’s word, and not just read it but do what it says.”  That is the bottom line truth; period, exclamation point.!  It is God’s Living Word!  You can watch Craig’s message here.  

Are we thankful enough for God’s word that we read it daily and do what it says?  Share your thoughts on Books, Blogs and Bibles!   

There is this website that will rate your blog and according to the site my blog is “Rated R.” This was apparently because the word abortion appears 5 times, murder 3 times and shoot 1 time. Wow it looks like I got my rating from one post, “Abortion is Murder.”

This got me thinking about the whole “Rated R” thing and whether or not it is appropriate to watch “Rated R” movies. I know plenty of people who will not touch “Rated R” movies with a ten foot pole and that is definitely their prerogative. Let me share my thoughts; I worked in the Corrections System for over 13 years and according to the rating standards, my job would have definitely been “Rated R.” If you don’t believe me send me an e-mail and I will share some things that I witnessed, experienced and heard that would surpass any “Rated R” rating. Since I have been in ministry I have to counsel couples and individuals on a regular basis that share some “Rated R” stories and “Rated R” experiences.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where “Rated R” is all around us and we have to guard ourselves from that; however we can’t act like it doesn’t exist. Personally I saw a “Rated R” movie this week “American Gangster” with Denzel Washington which was based on a true story of Harlem in the 1960′s. Many people will say “Pastor you did what?!” I enjoy conversations followed by those questions or comments.

Do you think that it is appropriate for Pastors, Christians or anyone to watch “Rated R” movies? What are your personal beliefs about “Rated R” movies? Share your thoughts and I appreciate your candor! Those of you RSS Readers, please chime in as well!

I thought I would share some ways to increase your blog traffic, these are a combination of things that I have read and things that I have done.  Here you go:

1. Be Original- Share information that is unique, be an expert on a subject, be funny, be real and make your posts stand out.  Be consistent with your posts, if you don’t post readers will not come back.
2. Blogroll- Add other good blogs to your blogroll, rotate your blogroll, and encourage your friends to add you to theirs. Write challenging/interesting content that encourages your readers to provide links to your blog.
3. Guest Blog- Be a guest blogger for friends and other blogs in the blogsphere.  Make sure that your posts are challenging and hard-hitting.  Allow other bloggers to be featured guest bloggers on your site.  Sahre and link interesting blog posts to yours.
4. Take a Stand- Make sure that some of your posts clearly take a stand on a topic or issue.  Readers will return to a site that has strong, unique and relative opinions.
5. Submit to Search Engines- Submit your site to search engines, submit it to as many as you can, understanding that Google is the “Grand Daddy.”  There are a number of manual ways to submit your site, as well as paid services.  A couple of sites to consider are AdMe    SubmitExpress    TrafficZap   Google AdWords   BuildTraffic   There are many other sites and services to consider.
6. Use Media- Use images, links to images, YouTube videos and graphics.
7. Allow Comments- Allow readers to comment and respond to all comments.  Be prepared to articulately respond to adversarial comments.  Comment on blogs that you read.
8. Add Link Tools- Consider using some or all of the following, one of the new and more popular is Blogrush, you can sign up for Blogrush by clicking the icon to the right of my blog.  Here are some free services, links, communities and tools to consider: Technorati    StubleUpon    DiggThis    Delicious   BlogExplosion   Blogs4God    BlogRush
9. Evaluate- Ask an educated Digerati and fellow bloggers to evaluate your site and recommend necessary changes.
10. Blog About Interesting Topics-  Technology, I-Phone, Religion, Current Issues, “Don’t Taze Me Bro,” Breaking News, Sports, Stupid Stuff, Church Trends and How To Increase Blog Traffic.
11. Bonus: Don’t give up!  You keep writing and people will start reading!

What are some things that you have done to increase your blog traffic?  Share your thoughts! 

For those of you who don’t have a blog, how do you come across the blogs that you read?

Craig posted that they would add those that link their blog to Swerve, to the Swerve blogroll.  That will increase your traffic; read about here.