Esteemed Readers (also, if you are reading this, comment below. Say “hi,” “yo,” or anything. I know there are a lot of readers here, but only a few of you like to speak up),
Due to a few personal items that came up this week and required my immediate and direct attention, there will not be an academic paper published tomorrow. The beauty of this is that you should have no doubt that I am human and real. There are times when I simply cannot do everything I would like. While I do not like to get off track, it has to happens sometimes.
So, no paper tomorrow, but I invite you to browse the papers published in the past and take a look at this week’s memory verse.
Here is what you can expect schedule-wise through the end of the year:
- November 25 – What are We Thankful For?
- December 2 – Satan: His Origin, Limited Power, and Eternal Position
- December 9 – Death: What Happens to Unbelievers?
- December 16 – The Christmas Story Part 1 – The Significance of the Manger in the City of Bethlehem
- December 23 – The Christmas Story Part 2 – The Significance of the Shepherds and the Angels
- December 30 – The Christmas Story Part 3 – The Significance of the Birth of Jesus
I hope that giving you a look ahead will make up for the lack of a paper tomorrow. Please accept my apologies on this matter.
I am excited about the rest of the year here and what we will learn together. Be sure to sign up via email at the bottom of this page so that you don’t miss the scheduled topics (and a few bonus posts I have up my sleeve). Also, use the links below to share this post and website with friends on Facebook, Twitter, or using old-fashioned-but-very-powerful email.
I hope that you have a great weekend.
In Christ,
Aaron
p.s. I have updated the ‘About‘ page. It not so much about me, but more about what you can expect here and some pointers on what you can do here. Read and enjoy!
Aaron Aiken 
Boo @ no paper, but completely understandable.
I hope people continue to come here and be enlightened, encouraged, and most importantly left with a more opened mind and heart after visiting here. I don’t know if traffic has increased at all here, but I can imagine it has/will.
I look forward to the upcoming posts!
Stay blessed!
Julie thanks for the comment and for understanding.
Numbers here are definitely up, but, as is usually the conundrum on websites/blogs, comments remain extremely low. Discussion is really a goal of mine. When people talk (make points, ask questions, etc) then I know that learning is bound to happen. I always appreciate your comments, and can tell that you put a lot of work into them, but I would love for someone other than me to respond to you! I always will respond to every comment (on my list to do so today for yours from last week) but would love to see others getting involved in the conversation.
Any thoughts on this? Tips?
Thanks!
lol, I noticed that too that I am the only one responding here. I almost don’t respond because I feel like I am not giving others the opportunity, but some of this stuff is SO good I can’t contain it! haha
One thing I did notice was in the first post you had 40+ comments, why do you think that happened? Was it the topic? I am not saying that none of these topics aren’t good, I am just saying maybe your focus should be on your audience.
Think of this site as a business. How do you generate income? You’re trying to sale a product. What are you trying to sale? Who do you want your audience to be? (Yay, I’m actually using my Business degree here, haha).
On a serious note, are you more concerned with quality or quantity? Both? If your focus is on quality, then your site does that. If you want quantity, then maybe you should refocus the discussion so it draws attention. Sometimes it takes tweaking the title of the entry. Also, I don’t know if you use Facebook, but maybe create a page? (I’d do some research on that before), but there has to be a way to get your site out there without bombarding the social masses. I would also strongly encourage you to reach out in your community. Maybe create “business” cards with your information and a link to the site and place them around your town.
I am not sure how big the area you live in is or how much contact you have with any one other than your immediate circle, but something to look into and consider is reaching out to a broader audience.
It’s just something to think about. You have to ask yourself what your purpose is here and where you see it going. Strategic planning! Mission, Goals, and forecasting!
Don’t let it fall off the map. You’re doing great things here, I promise!
Great thoughts and questions. I am much more concerned with quality than quantity. Although, the weekly memory verse has gotten traffic up considerably. I am also thinking about having a weekly (mid week) devotional post. Still thinking hard about the Bible, not fluffing things up, but allowing it to be “lighter” than the other posts. Thoughts on that? Maybe that is something you could do? (publish here, link to it on your site, etc).
The Women in Ministry post was crazy. 50 comments last time I checked. Around there at least. It was somehow picked up by an organization that believes strongly in women as pastors and elders in the church. It was a fluke that they found it, but it definitely made for a good discussion (or debate, depending on how you look at it).
As far as community goes: i haven’t really given that much thought. They are great ideas though. I have also thought about incorporating my site into the site of our church. And, have even thought of promoting it to the youth (volunteer teacher) as a location for them to learn more about what we talk about and continue the discussion. Have not done more than think about these ideas though.
I am also giving much more thought to scheduling posts a month in advance. Not necessarily having them written (but that would rock), but having the ideas thought through so that it allows things to flow better. Also piggy back on current issues in the church, etc.
My thoughts on the Bible and this is just an idea, but to tie a Chapter or verse into a current issue in our society. Make sense? One day a week have an article that focuses on current issue (Tuesday post, maybe). Monday, weekly verse. Wednesday, devotional & tie it into a personal experience. People like hearing our stories, that’s what draws community and connection (Think about that). Granted, you don’t want to air your dirty laundry out there, but I believe transparency is important. Thursday (Guest posting). A lot of the bloggers and people I follow on Twitter do guest posting. They allow another blogger to post on their site & vise versa. The topic is their choice. Friday, theological paper.
I would be happy to contribute any way I can, just let me know and I would be willing to work with you in growing your site. Whatever you want to do, I’m game :).
Also, I don’t know if you have given any thought to publishing to Christian Magazines, but that is another great way to get your “internet” face out there. You can connect with other like minded bloggers.
http://provoketive.com/ < — Do it!
I agree with your last paragraph. Connect, connect, connect! Let people in your area learn from you and what you're doing here. You can help them grow in their faith and you are able to grow in knowledge. It's all about perspective.
I will definitely be praying for you!
Awesome ideas. I really like the contributors and post every day idea. I have a few folks in mind that I might talk with about having a segment that they are responsible for on the site. All of this calls for branding as well. Will need to give that some thought. Also a new theme maybe. One that allows easier navigation and promotion of the different topics. Maybe not. Thoughts on branding and theme?
I actually signed up for a Provokative login but have not posted anything yet. Find it hard to think of something for that site while continuing to publish here. Ideally I would like to have a monthly post over there.
My wheels are spinning on this one. Need to be careful though. Not rush it. Maybe work through some of the logistics and plan for a launch of the “new site” at the beginning of 2012.
Also, FB is a no go for me. If done under a “brand” though I would like to have someone eventually manage a FB page for the site…that’s down the road though.
Definitely a new theme. Not saying your current theme isn’t good, but it definitely has the potential to grow.
I know you are using WP, which is what I use so it’s easy to download/install a Plugin with the core essentials for your site.
Here are my suggestions:
Make the site more user friendly and easily to navigate through. Key area to consider is your menu. Make the menu larger and more prominent.
The new theme should focus on your passion and purpose. Those two go hand in hand so your new layout/theme should convey that.
A section on the right that has the top posts of your site or for that month. A “Highlight of the week/month” section. Also, you can have a section for “Top Commenters” when you get to the point where traffic increases & people comment more.
Verse of the week section that it is in its own box on the right. I have a “Verse of the day” section, but that was installed by a plugin.
For me, I am a visual person and most of what I’ve learned in college and helping at the University is the more visual, the better.
Also, when you feel up to it, you can incorporate a forum section (This generates discussion). There is a nifty WP Plugin for that. Harder to manage, so you might need help with that. I tried doing it with my site, but it didn’t work well because of how my site is coded.
If you want a professional looking theme http://kylereed.info/ Go there.
He recently connected with me on Twitter and has done a lot of the blogging theme/layouts for most of the bloggers I follow. Granted, it’s paid, but he can work with you and so can any web designer/developer.
About Provokative, most of the posts there focus on a real issue with the person’s ideas tied into it. That goes back to what I said earlier about current issues & you can submit that post there. Use here as your practice.
These are suggestions and things to think about. Let me know if you need any other input.
Just be consistent in your posts. Consistency is important. Keep writing!
Thanks for all of your thoughts. Will keep you in the loop as I make plans and put things into place.