I want to see more reformed and evangelical South African Christian blogs – I want to see more people talking about what it means to be the church in South Africa in the contemporary world in which we live. So I’m laying down a challenge to anyone out there who is a South African Christian to start a blog.
Now most people think its a stack load of work to keep up a blog – and I guess if you want to post everyday then it is a bit of work and time. But I think its also very rewarding (read my post on the 10 benefits of blogging I’ve experienced in the last 2 years) and you don’t have to post everyday to write a good blog. So go over to Blogger or WordPress (blogging platforms) and get going.
Here are some tips to start off with:
- Start reading other good Christian blogs (browse through the links on my sidebar)
- Learn how to use a feed reader and syndication (I use Google Reader and Feed Burner)
- Don’t write long complicated posts
- Sign up with Amatomu
- Link, link and link to other similar blogs
- Make sure the template or layout you choose is simple and easy to read
- Categorize or tag all your posts
- Don’t use corny pseudonyms – use your real name!
- If you can, make your name the url
- Always give credit to material you find on other blogs by linking back to the source
- Don’t promo your blog by dropping spam comments on other people’s blogs telling them to check out your site
- Don’t rant and preach too much on your blog – people will get tired of you – write posts that encourage dialogue rather
- Have fun…
If you decide to take up this challenge then leave a comment below with a link to your new blog. Come on your bloggers…
UPDATE: If you already write a reformed, evangelical South African blog then introduce yourself and leave us a link in the comment section to your blog.
I will donate WordPress blogs to the first 3 people to request one here in the comments. Need to be committed too “talking about what it means to be the church in South Africa in the contemporary world in which we live.”
This will include hosting, helping you find a solid theme and installing the best plug-ins. (does not include registration of a domain name)
Right well you’ve heard Aaron – what more incentive do you want – get on it…
Yay! My husband was just talking about starting a blog the other day. We do a ton of reading and attempts at writing together. This would be awesome. I’m not quite clued up on the technical side but you make it sound so simple. Just the ’spur’ we needed. Maybe I’ll set it up as a gift for him.
Liked your post.
I’ll celebrate my 6th year of blogging in a month!
As a convert from Stephen’s last start a blog campaign, I would like to testify… It has been a really challenging, fun and stimulating exercise for me. I blog at http://www.legerity.wordpress.com, come visit sometime.
Aaron, I already have a blog but I have some questions and have had to kind of figure out things out on my own, and we all know what those do it yourself jobs are like. So if no-one else wants a free blog – how about you donate the help to an already converted blogger? Well you said to ask – so there it is.
So why did you choose WordPress? Are there are significant differences or advantages? I’m checking things out and they seem the same.
I started with Blogger about 3 years ago and wrote a blog there (which is no more) for just under a year. When I decided to start blogging again I simply chose WordPress because the WordPress blogs just looked cooler than the Blogger ones. Today though you can pretty much make your blog look like whatever you want it to be and so to me it doesn’t really matter so much – they’re both good platforms for free, limited-tech-know-how blogging.
Hey Stephen,
I’ve been meaning to give you my blog link.
Its chris242.wordpress.com