Archive for October, 2006
Using Amazon To Make a Couple of Dollars: Affiliate Marketing for Blogging Pastors
Posted by: | Comments
[ Read all the posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]
I’ve mentioned before that often the best blog posts are lists, but one of the easiest lists to do is a reading list post.
A reading list is obviously just the books on your desk currently. Or better yet, a top 5 of the books you’re reading this month or week. My seminary prof Dr. Mark DeVine is, of course, a veracious reader … so a booklist is always an easy post for him.
[By the way, here's his book on Bonhoeffer too.]
I think lists of books you’re reading have three key benefits:
1. They are remarkably, incredibly, (interject another adverb here) EASY to do. They take all of 5 minutes. Survey what’s on your desk, put in some links, and push that neat “Publish” button.
2. It shows your people what you’re reading and thus, hopefully and prayerfully, good books that will strengthen your people’s spiritual lives. My pastor recently mentioned reading The Grapes of Wrath
Do I even have to mention that later on, you can do a short review or talk about it in posts as good content for a pastor’s blog?
3. Through Amazon’s Associates Program, you can potentially make a couple of dollars from those who buy those books … enough to, say, buy a free book every once in a while that you can read or give away to a member of your congregation.
Since about March, I’ve sold 40 books, and this blog really only got started in late July. Admittedly, if you do the math, that’s not a lot. But hey, I’ve got a free book out of it.
So in this post for the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, I thought I’d talk briefly about using Amazon’s Associates Program.
First, you need to go join Amazon’s Associates Program.
By the way, in case you’re wondering, getting the commission doesn’t change the book sales price. So if people wonder, you can just tell them, “It doesn’t change the price. It just rewards me for telling you about this great book.”
Here are three ways you can list books and earn referral commissions:
- Text links in blog posts — like this book I’m reading from Ed Young titled The Creative Leader: Unleashing the Power of Your Creative Potential
- Reading lists on your sidebar (see my left lower sidebar) — This is the “Product Links” that displays the book’s cover and price. I suggest using “no border” and the “New” price of the book, like I’ve done here with Mark Batterson’s new release (subliminal message, buy the book, support other blogging pastors)
- Using an aStore —
By far, one of the easiest ways I think. See my aStore here and but also see Chris’s new aStore here.
SHAMELESS PLUG TIME: For readers of blogs (and this blog), you should know that buying books that you discover from their sites is one way to say thank you.
Speaking of which, if someone really wanted to bless me or say thank you, you could buy me this awesome Greek lexicon: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
Or still better yet … use what you’re learning here and buy a domain name and Web site hosting from Church Communications Pro.com here. I mean, wouldn’t you rather buy hosting from someone you know exists and could email periodically with questions?
***
If you enjoyed this post, Subscribe to Cory Miller’s Church Communications Pro email newsletter.
5 Blogging Questions with Kevin Hendricks of Church Marketing Sucks
Posted by: | Comments
Kevin Hendricks is blogger extraordinaire at Church Marketing Sucks as well as many others (see below). He sets the blogging example for us!
Here’s his answers:
1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?
I started blogging in 1998 during my sophomore year of college. I saw a friend doing it and realized how it could help me practice writing. I started what was basically an online journal (the word ‘blog’ wasn’t in common usage then), which I updated with bare HTML using Notepad of all things. Over the years my blog has morphed from cryptic, incoherent ramblings to more cynical, impassioned rants. My personal blog has been going strong since, though I’ve also worked on a slew of other blogs, including Church Marketing Sucks, Think Personality and an entire network of infrequently updated blogs. I like blogging so much because of the ability to cover a specific topic well, whether it’s church marketing or NASCAR.
2. What subject do you post most about?
Since I write for so many different blogs that’s a tough one. I’m probably most consistent about blogging on church communications issues on Church Marketing Sucks or the CFCC blog. On my personal blog I do a fair amount of writing about writing (yes, we writers are rather self-involved). Other frequent topics include pop culture, marketing, technology and my daughter.
3. What are your favorite blog tools?
It’s not as popular as it used to be, but I still stand by Movable Type. It’s got a very powerful system and can run an entire web site plus it’s very customizable. And, quite frankly, it’s better than coding your HTML by hand. I’m also a Bloglines addict, which is how I find most of my blog fodder.
4. How often do you post?
I can’t seem to get through a day without blogging at least once somewhere. Once or twice a day per blog would be ideal, but I just don’t have that much time. I usually shoot for a minimum of 2-3 posts per week. You need that consistency to build up an audience. My personal blog usually averages less than that (like this month–last post: October 1) because I’m not as concerned about the audience.
5) What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?
Only one? Yeah, right. How about five?
1) Keep it real. Pastors have a bad reputation for being hypocrites. Be a real person on your blog, not some stereotype.
2) Engage with others. The most boring blogs never link to others or take part in wider conversations.
3) You’re not always right. Some pastors always seem to need that air of authority–which can make you sound like the most pompous of political bloggers.
4) If you write about them, they will read it–so be careful little fingers what you type. Your blog is public knowledge.
5) Just do it. Get out there and give it a shot.
[ Read all the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]
***
If you enjoyed this post, Subscribe to Cory Miller’s Church Communications Pro email newsletter.
5 Blogging Questions with Dr. Mark DeVine of Theology Prof
Posted by: | CommentsDr. Mark DeVine is a professor of theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He blogs at Theology Prof.
Before you read his answers, I need to set the stage for the one-and-only Dr. Mark DeVine. While I was at Midwestern (as comm. director) I helped the good Doc get a Web site and then I set it up as a blog so he could tweak the site without having to have software or much knowledge of HTML.
Also, as I have wrote this series, I have wrote it with Dr. DeVine in mind, giving you the advice I would or have given him.
He’s perhaps one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. In order to properly appreciate it, you need to hear him. Here’s one of his sermons, titled Magnificient Hot Air Balloon (MP3).
Here’s his answers:
1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?
Cory Miller said I should.
2. What subject do you post most about?
Theological matters
3. What are your favorite blog tools?
Links to books? Is that a tool?
4. How often do you post?
Once a week for several weeks and then I stop for several weeks for no known reason.
5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?
Learn from Cory Miller.
***
If you enjoyed this post, Subscribe to Cory Miller’s Church Communications Pro email newsletter.
5 Blogging Questions with Frank Johnson of Strategic Digital Outreach
Posted by: | CommentsFrank Johnson is an Internet strategist blogging at Strategic Digital Outreach.
Here’s his answers:
1. Why (or how) did you start blogging?
I started blogging in 2003 with my first (now dormant, but about to be re-launched) blog, ProdigalGod. I had been developing websites for churches and ministries for a couple of years. In the course of that activity, I came across a blog run by Dean Peters called Heal Your Church Website. I was fascinated by the technology behind the site. I had been a pastor several years before but had left pastoring because of a variety of circumstances. I still felt I had something to say, and blogging seemed like a perfect fit. I launched that first blog on the Movable Type platform.
Later, I launched a community site for believers called ChristianCruz, also originally utilizing the Movable Type platform. ChristianCruz is designed to be an online portal for believers living in Santa Cruz County, Calif. My desire with ChristianCruz was to serve the church in our local area in whatever way I could. I am convinced that all effective outreach has as its foundation a public display of authentic Christian community in a local area (John 17:21-23). ChristianCruz is my small contribution to building unity among believers in our local area across denominational and individual church lines. While not outwardly a blog, ChristianCruz definitely uses blog technology. It, along with many of my other sites, currently runs on Expression Engine from pMachine.
Finally, I started a blog called Strategic Digital Outreach in late 2004. SDO is meant to be an ongoing discussion of ways the Christian community can use the internet to spread the gospel.
My next projects include the relaunch of ProdigalGod.com on the Expression Engine platform and the launch of a new blog, DigitalKids.info.
2. What subject do you post most about?
It’s a toss-up between internet evangelism (on Strategic Digital Outreach) and news of interest to believers in Santa Cruz County (on ChristianCruz).
3. What are your favorite blog tools?
Expression Engine, DreamHost, Sage, Technorati, BlogPulse. I’ve experimented off and on with Performancing for Firefox and Qumana, but haven’t settled on either (and may ultimately settle on neither). I have plans to expand my blogging well beyond what I’m currently doing, so I’m looking for a tool to help me write articles for various blogs.
4. How often do you post?
Currently, my posting frequency can vary quite a bit. In my day job (as an internet strategist for a catalog company), the last two-and-a-half months of the year can be extremely busy and sometimes I don’t feel like looking at the computer when I get home from work! On average, I would say I post somewhere between every 2-3 days to once a week, although sometimes I can go longer without posting. Sometimes when I feel especially inspired, I will prepare several articles and set them to appear over several days.
5. What one piece of advice would you give for prospective blogging pastors?
Not really a piece of advice, but a suggestion. Think about blogging in order to attract local people in your geographic area to experience the life of your Christian community (join you for your regular gatherings). I am convinced that the best use a church can make of the internet is to persuade unbelievers in the church’s local area to check out the life of the local congregation. It’s in the midst of Christian community that an unbeliever will be convinced of the love of God, so I am particularly intrigued by people who reach out to their local geographic area via blogging.
[ Read the previous posts in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series here. ]
***
If you enjoyed this post, Subscribe to Cory Miller’s Church Communications Pro email newsletter.
Pure Delight: iStock Photo Offers Free Images for New Accounts
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the most incredible resources I’ve found for royalty-free images for my church’s Web site and other graphical material is iStockPhoto.
They’re offering free images for new accounts, follow this link to see the details of the offer. Photos start at $1. Yes, I typed one buck there.
[Link via Jennifer Anthony]
