Do you run a church, ministry, or business? Do you consider yourself a thought leader in your area of influence? If so, you should be blogging. Having a simple blog can have great benefit and is something most leaders miss out on. It’s the best way to take your ministry to the next level.
When I began blogging in 2009, I didn’t know I was venturing into something few did, now it seems as if everyone has a blog. Yet I know countless leaders and writers who say they don’t blog because they either don’t understand the need or say they don’t have the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say about one of my posts, “Thank you for that, it’s just what I needed.”
A well-thought blog has the ability to:
- Change lives.
- Encourage and uplift.
- Give new insight or perspective on a topic.
- And allows your followers to see a more transparent version of yourself.
Blogging is more than writing for the sake of writing. Blogging is a place where you get to share your ideas, new book/sermon series, and it also gives you credibility on a deeper level with the people who trust you. The struggle is very real to commit to making time to blog, but if you put together a weekly newsletter for your congregation/business, you can make time to blog. It really isn’t any different…in-fact, you can just switch to blogging instead of sending out a printed newsletter.
You know that monthly letter you write to your congregation? Use that, instead of/in-conjunction for/with a blog. This way, you’ll create multiple avenues for your message and vision for your church members to learn.
The funny thing, when I didn’t blog, my number of readers went down and I wasn’t impacting anyone with my message. I get questions, “When are you going to write next?” The reverse is also true, the more consistent we become with our message, the more we can impact people with the message God has given you.
We find in the Bible, “Write the vision and make it plain, so the reader who runs may read it on the fly!
I want to give you 3 reasons–if you’re in ministry or business–why leaders should blog weekly. Even though this particular blog post is written to church leaders, the principles apply to any profession.
When we blog, our words have the ability to generate user engagement.
1. IT CREATES ENGAGEMENT.
As leaders in our communities, both online and offline, our heart’s desire should be to see people find their voice, succeed in life, and discover something new to help them in their life. But when we utilize a blogging platform, we can take that impact to another level. Our words have the ability to generate user engagement.
Think of it this way. When you stand on-stage presenting, you’re giving a very two-dimensional way of engagement. People come, sit and afterward they go home until the next weekend service. Imagine if you had a blog that incorporated aspects of your current series. Now, you can engage people on a one-on-one basis. Your words, directly in their inbox.
They can ask questions, comment, share, and interact with you in real time. I liken it to a mentoring relationship. Through a blog, we get to invest our knowledge into someone else’s time. They read your words, find a nugget of wisdom to help them, and they in-turn ask questions to take their mentoring to the next level.
One of my favorite online mentors is, Michael Hyatt. Though I don’t know him personally, his products, services, and blog have challenged me to be a better leader. Here’s what Daniel Darling said on Michael’s blog in a guest post, “Mentoring relationships are valuable . . . and they aren’t complicated. They are simply friendships which have the potential to help shape your future.”
So how do we create engagement?
- Ask questions.
- Give Tweet quotes.
- Be authentic and real. Allow your readers to see the real you.
2. IT ALLOWS YOU TO COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION.
One of the hardest things for leaders to do is cultivate vision. We get stuck in the mundane of life and before we know it, it’s been several weeks since we’ve placed the vision of our organization before the people. However, this is what successful people do, they keep telling the vision. It’s like a never-ending story. The more we communicate the more people comprehend and take action.
First, what is vision? I like how my Dad puts it: “Vision is seeing where you want to go, and mission is how you’re going to get there.” If we don’t know where we’re going, our churches, ministries, and businesses won’t know where we’re going either.
With a blog, you can keep the vision before your followers on a weekly basis. King Solomon once wrote; “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” If you want greater buy-in, use your blog to sell the vision of your ministry.
Vision is like a giant goal, it needs nourishing, constant attention, and follow-up. Most people in your church or business probably have no idea what your vision statement says. It takes engagement, celebrating your big wins, and encouraging your clients or team members with inspiration and tools to implement your vision.
3. IT GIVES YOU TANGIBLE IMPACT INTO PEOPLE’S LIVES.
One thing I’ve learned in running this blog for the past ten years, people are looking for answers to the questions the plague them. I can honestly say that because of writing here, I’ve seen lives changed. Because people are looking for answers, I need to be real, tangible and available. That is exactly what I try and accomplish every blog post or podcast I publish.
We have the answers to their questions. We just have to take the time to listen and learn. The more we learn, the more we know, and the more we know, the more we can impart knowledge to see lives changed.
Writing and blogging are ways great ways to bring what God has placed on our heart and take it to the next level. It gives us the power to invest–on a deeper level–into people’s lives. We get the chance to take the vision we’re passionate about by creating an atmosphere of engagement with our congregation and ministry teams. So what are you waiting for, create a blog and begin writing what God has placed on your heart, share your vision and see lives changed?
Jason (J.B.) Sisam. Best-selling Amazon author of the Christian Early Reader book, 
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