Written January 16, 2019
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. – Proverbs 21:5
Blog post 48 Christian Blogger Recipe published January 16, 2019 has one purpose, and that is to:
Teach Christian bloggers tried and tested techniques about crafting blog posts.
Relax. Put down the parades. I won’t try to sell you anything in this blog post. I don’t believe in the “selling in blog posts approach”. What I do believe in is delivering specific high-quality blog post content about a topic Christians search for in Google.
I’m here to share which mindset is needed to enter the successful Christian business women’s club. Blogging becomes much more fun and focused once we have some readers, or:
Once we see success.
Successful Christian business women think very differently from the majority of the Christian bloggers. In the Christian marketplace as in any other market, 80% or more belong to the majority. 20% lead and hang the ladder for others to climb. Influential Christian women do not climb ladders. They:
Own the ladders.
As Christian women of influence, we are not satisfied with one ladder. We go for plural ladders. Why? Because we seek to influence. Why? Because influence, especially where money is involved gives us the best possibility to spread the gospel and making the world a better place.I can hear some of the Christian devotional bloggers say: “But I’m not among the Christian women of influence. Furthermore, I’m definitely not striving for anything where money is involved.” A blogger friend of mine once told me that she’d like to monetise her blog, but her husband didn’t like the idea. He said it’s unbiblical to mix business and blogging.I’m am sure that this blogging friend of mine is not alone in this situation. We don’t need a husband to say it. Many messages in our churches are heavily biased against seeing money as a positive mean to changing the world. I’m going to give you a Christian blogger recipe in this blog post but first I’d like to say a bit more about some problems related to being a Christian blogger. The problems applies for both Christian devotional bloggers and Christian business bloggers. First, I’ve already mentioned that we’re not naturally biased to think we’re great women of faith. If we say: “okay, I’m going to be a Christian blogger, but it’s ok for me to be average,” we will not make it. We must have that desire to be the best in the world. Nothing less will keep us going. It may sound enormous selfish to think like this, but that’s not the perspective here. By saying: “I will not settle for average, I’m going to strive to be the best,” we enter that mode of being willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. Being humble is beautiful. It does not take a lot of observation in the Christian marketplace to conclude that “humble” will not lead to a leading position in the market. Don’t go for humble and average. Let’s set all sails and sail towards becoming:
Great women of faith.
If we’re positive about the future, optimistic and happy we’ll attract people. If we keep talking about what we felt while standing in line in the supermarket, or while reading in the Bible this morning, blogging about “walking in the Word,” or “how much sin there is in the world,” and that “abortion is a no go” we’ll get some followers, sure, but in the long run, it’ll not lead to anything substantial.The question is:
Which type of blogger do we wish to be?
If we look at Christian women speakers, or great Christian speakers, in general, we’ll see that they have big positive goals. Small goals do not lead to big changes. If we’re Christian bloggers and define ourselves as such, we should set big – specific – goals for our blogs. It’s perfectly ok to set out to be one of those famous women of faith. And say it out loud. Do you think you can reach any goal if you haven’t defined it? We must learn to think positively about exposure. There’s nothing wrong with seeking the scene. Being famous means exposure to our websites. Isn’t that our ultimate goal seen from a Christian blogging perspective? I can hear some of the Christian devotional bloggers roll their eyes and mumble something about “walking in the Word!” or “pleasing God!” as the ultimate goal of a Christian blogger. The problem with those kinds of sentences is that we all agree on that.Ask any Christian with a website, and they’ll say that we want to stay true to the Word, and we want to live the life God has planned for us. There’s nothing wrong with those goals, but:
Influential Christian women have big specific goals.
For the Christian blogger recipe below to work we must have the courage to set big goals. Big specific goals. The Christian woman who has the courage to do that will have significantly higher chances to succeed in today’s Christian marketplace, regardless of here blogging style. When I ask myself how to live as a Christian woman so that I can get most impact with this website? I begin to be specific. Being a Christian woman has a different meaning for each of us because how we live out the faith we were given depends on where we’re operating. A Christian pastor operates on one scene while sharing the gospel, a Christian blogger on another.
Different scenes, different tools.
One of my main topics on Edna’s blog is that Christian women online are under the influence of Search Engines to an extent few realize. Many don’t like this fact, but when we’re in business, it can be extremely costly to ignore facts. I’d say Christian women online have a much higher upside in terms of how many we can reach with the gospel. Quite frankly I don’t see the problem. I don’t see why so many otherwise clever Christians continue to bash big tech companies such as Google and Facebook. However, the potential upside of being a Christian blogger can only be realised if today’s Christian women online invest time in educating themselves about which frame they operate in.
Most don’t – and we have good reason to believe that it’ll stay that way.
They are the 80%, and we don’t want our websites to be part of the 80%. Here’s what I believe we should do if we see ourselves as Christian bloggers, again this applies to both Christian devotional bloggers and Christian business bloggers:
Let’s aim to be among the best Christian blogs.
Why go for anything less? The higher goals we set, the better our chances of delivering high quality blog post content. When we look at the most popular Christian blogs we will see that none of them are below 2-3 years old. The majority is much older than that. New Christian bloggers should study popular Christian blogs. Really study, that’s something very different from just reading blog post content on a website. We must understand what goes on behind the curtains. Let me give you an example:The many Christian women blogs you’ll see on lists rest on a secret many don’t know. In order to get on these lists, you’ll have to pay the list-owners. They have very sophisticated sales-funnels. These are not the popular Christian blogs I’m talking about. The Christian blogs on these TOP X Christian bloggers lists have crossed a border that I think we should stay away from:
Never pay for links.
If you have one of those Christian women blogs where you have paid for getting listed on some TOP X Christian blogger list, I would try to get off that list – but I’m not you. It’s crucial for us not to lose faith in the fact that the real top Christian blogs are top Christian blog sites because they continue to deliver value, not because they bought backlinks. I believe Google is our friend. I do also believe that Google’s Search Engine is much better than we are to evaluate what’s considered as value in any marketplace, also the Christian marketplace. The best Christian women blogs are best for a reason; and that reason is not some exclusive spiritual truth, or that these blogs and websites are more biblical than other sites.
It’s much simpler than that.
Their content is produced by using a Christian blogger recipe quite similar to the one below. I know those who follow this recipe have a fair chance of getting among the top Christian blogs 2019. Imagine how the world would look like if all website owners of the Godly blogs took the time to study how the professionals craft blog post content? Ideas for Christian blog posts do not come from reading in the Bible, or from praying alone. I do also read in the Bible and pray over my blog post content. That’s vital. For many, it stops there. I’m here to share the missing links from what’s happen once the Bible reading is done, and you’ve said: “Amen!”I’ll let you in on my specific process of crafting blog post content for the Christian marketplace 2019. With that being said; let’s dive into the details of:
How we proceed after reading in the Bible and praying.
I’m assuming some things here: I assume you’re buying the premises of wishing to develop one of the best Christian blog sites. You don’t have to say it out loud as I do if you are worried about whether people perceive you as arrogant. However, you have to believe in your own professional skills, or that you can develop them into the level needed.Next, you’ll not see results tomorrow, or within one month. A basic blogging principle is this:
Publish today – evaluate in three years from now.
The Best Christian blogs are all developed over several years by applying specific techniques similar to the ones I share below.Great Christian blogs may be owned by Christians. But if the blog is successful, you can be sure that the strategy behind that blogging success is reading in the Bible and praying plus very specific processes for blog post production.I believe you can turn your blog into one of the Christian blogs to follow. It’s possible for your website to become a member of the top Christian blog sites. Often all it takes to move momentum in this direction is seeing the frame we operate in with fresh eyes. Perhaps you’re a humble person, perhaps not. It doesn’t really matter. What matters if you’re a Christian blogger is that you realize that:
The purpose of all Christian blogs is to get seen by an audience.
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about Christian blogs for young women or women’s ministry blogs. It’s all the same. Female Christian bloggers tend to get lost in blog post content about feelings. I acknowledge that it’s important that someone writes about Christian women issues. I read many of these Christian blogs for young ladies myself every week with pleasure. The owners of the Christian women websites and Christian women blogs can use the Christian blogging recipe below to ensure that there websites or blogs have a real chance of being picked up by Google’s Search Engine.Last week I wrote about the differences between the participants in the Christian marketplace. Today, the differences don’t matter because the method below can be applied by all Christian bloggers. Let’s use it while sharing what Jesus Christ did for us, or while sharing about some other hot topic in the Christian marketplace.
Tip 1: Avoid the White Screen!
It didn’t take me long to figure out the basics in terms of what the top dogs in the blogging industry recommend. Literally, all of them say;
Do your creative work in the morning.
This is an advice I wish to pass on to you. I know some of you do not have the time to use the mornings for creating blog post content because you have a 9-5 job. Nevertheless, I believe it’s good for you to know the common industry routines for successful Christian bloggers.So first we block out time for blogging in the morning. Psychological studies have shown that it takes 20 minutes to enter a workflow. This is a well-proven fact. Therefore it’s essential to avoid any interruption while producing blog post content. When seated in front of the computer, the goal is to write. This is not the time or place for reading in the Bible or praying. That’s something I recommend doing before sitting in front of the computer if that’s part of your morning routine. The moment you step towards the computer you should know what you’re going to blog about. Don’t sit in your office staring at that blank cursor thinking:
What am I gonna write about? What am I going to write about?
That’s a situation we should try to avoid by all means. Do you know that feeling? Here’s the thing. As Christian bloggers God is on our side; Most of us have the habits of praying and reading in the Bible as natural parts of our lives. I think the problem arises between our praying and Bible reading activities and the time we sit in front of the computer. I hope that this blog post points towards the missing link.Praying, or reading in the Bible are essential activities of the Christian life, here I’m adding the “more” part that’ll lift a blogger from the majority into the minority. Trust me when I say, it’s much more fun to belong to the minority in the Christian marketplace. Write in the morning if possible, avoid being disturbed, don’t go to the computer without a specific blog post topic. When we navigate towards an upcoming blog post topic we ensure that it’s related to our content calendar in general. For example if you’re a Christian devotional blogger you have an idea where you want to take your blog long-term. By considering this, you’ll slowly, but steadily build your brand. Keep a spreadsheet in your Google Docs with a list of topics that you’re planning to cover. This is a list of topics that aren’t covered in depth yet in the Christian marketplace. How to write a blog post for the Christian marketplace step-by-step was one of the topics on my list. This is why I write this blog post now. I saw a need for this blog post. I’ve done a lot of research, but I have not found anything in the Christian marketplace I would recommend to my best friend about this topic. That’s my most used method of finding topics to put in my general content calendar. If you read something in the Christian marketplace, and you get a feeling of “I could do this much better” you could Google that topic. If nothing comes up, and it’s a topic related to what you do, put it in your topic calendar. When you’ve found a blogging topic, ask yourself:
What change do I want the readers to experience?
In what way do you want the readers to think differently after reading your blog post? If you understand in depth what it is you want to change in the Christian marketplace, you’ll know that you’ll deliver high-quality content. One of the advantages of this approach is that you aren’t delivering what everyone else is delivering. Why? Because you’ve done the research in Google and found that there wasn’t any valuable content about what your blog post content.I believe this is a significant reason why many Christians have difficulties with getting a breakthrough as Christian bloggers. They do not ask themselves how their blog post content should change their readers. This group of Christian bloggers write what I call “Walk in the Word” blog posts, or “living in prayer” blog posts. If you write about something everybody agrees on you are doomed to fail. There’s no edge. To succeed in the Christian marketplace today you’ll need a sharp edge. It’s a very very competitive environment although all of us like to think it’s not. Before we move on to tip 2 I want to emphasize the importance of stepping away from blogging about general topic that don’t have the specificness needed to help somebody. Another problem with general blog post content is that it cannot be related to a niche. If it’s not related to a niche, Google’s Search Engine will not allow it to rank. It’s time that Christians realize this vicious circle. Don’t be offended; believe me when I say; I am writing this because I truly wish to help you do better as a Christian blogger.When you ask yourself how you want your readers to change after reading your blog post you are taking an approach where you move focus from you to the reader. How many blog posts written by Christians have you read where you had this feeling:
Interesting (or boring) story, but how does this relate to me?
Every time you feel like that it’s because the Christian blogger hasn’t thought of the intended change in the mind of their readers after reading the blog posts – unless you’re outside the targeted audience of that website.
Tip 2: Working Forward!
Don’t begin with the headline and the introduction. When you learn to ask what change you want to see for your targeted audience you’ll stop working forward. The empty screen will no longer be a problem because you know which change you want the readers to experience after reading your blog post. When you know the destination your job is to create an outline for how to get there. There are several ways to do that. You can use the mind map technique. Once you reach a certain level of success you can used some paid solutions. I’m using paid solutions myself, but I’m not including them here because I want to stick with things you don’t have to pay for in this blog post. Why? Because most Christian bloggers without success don’t have the money to buy high-end solutions for their blogging. Many do also have a mindset of not spending money of high-end solutions. I don’t want that to be an excuse here. But don’t worry; as I said I’m not going to try to sell you anything in this blog post although I am a Christian Affiliate Marketer. When you work backwards from the change you want to happen you can create an outline by using post-it notes. The idea is to get the ideas out of your head down to paper. Once you’ve got the ideas down to paper you can organize them in a way that supports the change you’re are planning for your audience.If you take this approach you’ll never have to sit in front of your computer again asking:
What do I write next?
Why? Because you have a clear goal. You have also created a distinct path for how to get from A to B. Begin with the end of your blog post. Use post-it notes to create an outline that supports the change you want your readers to experience.Your planned change is like the address you plot into the GPS. It’ll guide you in the decisions related to that particular blog post. If you manage to do this consistently, you don’t have to think of cliches as “start strong” or “the purpose of the first sentence is to get people to read the next”, or start with a story.I have nothing against personal stories. Sometimes I use them myself. My point is this: 90% of the stories used in Christian blog post content do not support a potential change after reading a blog post. They are directed in some subjective, feeling-based direction. And it doesn’t work. The reason why so many stories in Christian blog posts do not have the intended effect when Christian bloggers use them is because there’s no potential well-defined change after reading the blog post. Yes, we can relate to stories. Yes, we get engaged in stories. Yes, stories can create curiosity. I do not deny any of that. My point is:
A story without a great outlined blog post will backfire.
If you have a distinct idea where to take your readers, how you begin the blog post will play a minor role. It’s much simpler than that. If you have a great outline as laid out above, you’ll attract the right readers. Perhaps they’ll not leave a comment on your blog post, but they’ll begin sending you emails. That’s something I experience every week, and I know you will, too. They’ll begin to look what it is you’re selling, and buy from you because what you write makes sense to them. Your readers can feel if you’re genuinely writing to help, or if you’re doing it to make a commission from some affiliate product.
Tip 3: Write in Google Docs!
I wrote my first 20 blog posts in WordPress. It’s better to create the blog post content in Google Docs than in WordPress for many reasons: First, there is less distraction. If you write in WordPress, you’ll get distracted by new blog post comments or plugins that need to be updated. Secondly, something could happen to your WordPress, which could cause you to lose all your effort. Google Docs will autosave your work.Thirdly, storing your content in Google Docs will make it much easier later if you decide to use some of your content in future eBooks.
Tip 4: Be Creative, don’t Edit!
From tip 1 “Avoid the white screen!” we learned that we can use post-it notes to structure our ideas. We all know the tip about being creative and don’t edit while writing our draft. I have some things to say to that: First, Use a big table in your office while writing. Secondly, place the post-it notes on the table, next to where you write your blog post. Make sure, they’re structured so that it makes sense for you. I agree that you should be creative, but you’ll boost your productivity if you limit your creativity to only writing about what’s on your post-it notes.Thirdly, when you have your first draft, you can copy your blog post content from your Google docs into a email in your Gmail account. If you go to the Chrome Webshop and search for the TTSReaderX In-Page Text to Speech, you can get this Chrome extension to read your text out loud. I recommend this because you’ll get a much better feeling of your blog post content via this method.
Tip 5: The Title and the Description!
One of the easiest way to see if a Christian website owner knows the basic principles of SEO is to look at the blog post titles and the blog post descriptions. Professional Christian bloggers know that their main traffic source is the Google Search engine. It’s not Twitter, Pinterest, or a blogging group. The traffic that really matters comes from organic search results. Therefore you should aim for a title and a description of something specific people are searching for. You can use plugins for controlling how the title and the description shows up in Search Engines. The most popular plugins for this are the YOAST SEO plugin and the ALL IN ONE SEO. I use a paid solution to find out which keywords to include in the title and the description. You don’t have to do that. You can learn how to use the Google keyword planner which is a free tool offered by Google. Tip 5 is a complicated topic; so instead of stepping down because you feel insecure about the SEO part, I suggest you focus on the tip 1, 2, 3 and 4 until you’re familiar with the process of creating helpful content. From what I see in the Christian marketplace, 97% of the Christian bloggers will improve their blog significantly by only implementing those 4 tips. For now, just make sure that your blog post title is relevant to what you’re talking about in that particular blog post. It’s good if the blog post title and description can create curiosity and capture potential readers. Your title is good if it makes people want to click through to your post. If you have a subjective feeling-based title and description people will not click through to your content.
Tip 6: Stop using the “click here to tweet!” plugin!
I don’t know if you have noticed that the majority of Christian bloggers include the option that says “click here to tweet.” One Christian blogger began to use that plugin, and then suddenly everyone is doing that. Those who use it will say: “But I’m happy with that plugin because my readers share my blog post.”Yes, maybe. We do a lot to please our friends. The downside of using the plugin is the same as with all the other flashy commercials and Amazon affiliate widgets:
It destroys the reading experience.
Many Christians say I cannot read long blog posts because my mind begins to wander after a while. I know why your mind is beginning to wander. It’s because most Christian websites are plastered with distractions. The “click here to tweet!” is just one of them. If you want people to really respect you, you should do anything in your power to present a clean blog. No annoying pop-ups, no widgets, or linkup parties. Nothing but your blog post content.
Tip 7: Let the Text Breathe!
We should not aim for one giant paragraph. That’s hard for the eyes and difficult to read. Even if we have great content. People aren’t going to read it. Instead of inserting widgets or “click here to tweet!” we can use a quote related to the blog post content. That is better because it does not take the attention away from the blog post content. Another option is to use the H3 as I do in this blog post.Some people put a lot of emphasis on creating scannable content. They assume people don’t have the time to read the full blog post so they’ll only scan it. I know I write great blog post content. I could not write what I write, if I assumed “people are only going to scan what I write!” To me, that’s an odd and idiotic approach to blogging. We must maintain the very basic assumption that:
People will read what we write.
We can also use bold and italic to keep the blog post content focused – but we should not assume that no one is going to read our blog posts. If you feel “people are not going to want to read this,” I recommend you to take a day of and think deeply about why you have that feeling. There are basically two options: Either you haven’t done your best, and in that case that feeling is unavoidable and well-deserved. Or, you have done your best, and if that’s the case you’ll need to work on how to believe in your own skills.
Tip 8: Most of the Time one Picture is Enough!
Every time you insert an image in a blog post you slow down your site. Website speed is among the top three ranking factors. This means if you’ve included tons of images in your blog posts you are basically cutting yourself of from getting found in Google. Just make this really simple. Say to yourself:
Every time I include an image or a video I slow down my website. Is it worth it?
I know many Christian bloggers think Pinterest is THE PLACE TO BE – and perhaps it is. But have you thought about how big the images are for the Pinterest format? If you include a picture for Pinterest in each and every blog post you’re lowering your site speed significantly – even if you use Cloudflare or another CDN solution. If you insist on making a lot of pins, you can do so without storing the image in your blog post or on your website. It’s much better to have no image than adding some random image from Canva in your blog posts.
Tip 9: Include a Call to Action!
At the end of each of your blog post, you want to put some kind of call to action. If you look at my website structure, I have three calls to action. First, I wish that readers leave a comment, expressing what’s on their minds. Next, I want them to know that I’m the go-to person if they want to grow their Twitter or correct mistakes on their website so they can reach a bigger audience.I’m not slapping anyone in the face with those links. They are there because I know I deliver massive value in the Christian marketplace with my products. After I began to use this structure systematically my sales exploded. Just by implementing those clear call to action at the end of my blog posts I’ll soon be able to go to the next level, which will be to publish e-Books combined with what I do on Edna’s blog.Others use a lead magnet, which is also fine. The essential thing here is that we deliver massive value with the products we offer, but more importantly in the blog post content that comes before the call to action. If you use the recipe outlined in this blog post, you’ll be transforming Christian blogger’s ways of thinking and transforming lives with your website.
Tip 10: Blog Post Comments!
Never, ever close comments on a blog post. Respect your readers by giving them a voice on your blog. That’s what the comment section is for. Yes, I know that there are a lot of spammers, and it’s time-consuming to manage blog post comments.
It doesn’t matter.
If you feel called to be a Christian blogger you can be sure God wants you to keep those comments open. When you respond to comments show people that you take this seriously. Many of those who comment on your blog see you as an expert. The easy path is to choose the “thank you for commenting” – the difficult is to step up as the authority and give people what you believe is the truth. I see so many Christians who don’t really engage when they comment on blog posts, and I believe one reason is because we as Christian bloggers find it too time-consuming to really engage in the process of managing the comments.
If you really want to stand out in the Christian online community one way is to give straightforward comments as replies to those who comment on your content. And when you leave comments on other people’s blog posts, find a way to prove that you’ve read the whole blog post.
Don’t be a scanner. I appreciate you!Edna DavidsenLeave a comment below or let me know any questions you have. I’d love to hear what you think!
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