5 Tips to Help Your Blog Succeed in 2014

In this podcast Andy and I talk about ways you can help make your blog succeed in 2014! That's something we all want right? Success is different for everyone but these tips will help regardless of how you measure success.

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Listen Now:

5 Tips To Help Your Blog Succeed in 2014

  1. Pray - As Christians we know the importance prayer plays in our personal lives. It should play just as an important role in our blogging and business life.

  2. Set a clear mission statement for your blog (aka core values) - If you don't have one, create one. If you do, review it and make sure you are keeping to it.

  3. Keep your goals visible at all times - If a task doesn’t get you closer to your goal, don’t do it.

  4. Connect with your readers - Learn how your readers use your website and where they hang out. If they are on Facebook, be very active on Facebook. If they are somewhere else, be there. If you don't have an email list you need to start one! Our email

  5. Test out new ideas - Don’t be afraid to experiment

Links Mentioned in Podcast:

2014 is Coming. Is Your Blog Ready?
How to Plan A Christian Youth Camp: Organizing A Camp Team
What Worked in 2013

Podcast #20 - How to Enhance Your Blog Post with Photos

In today's podcast Andy and I discuss the importance of including a photo in every single blog post and the difference ways you can create those photos.

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Some of the topics we discuss include:

  • Why you must include photos in your blog posts
  • What photos sizes work best for blog posts and social media
  • How to create your photos

Links Mentioned:

  • Social Media Pinterest Board with graphics showing the photo sizes needed for major social media sites
  • Canva - link to get access to Canva with a $10 credit for Faithful Bloggers readers
  • Fotor - online photo editor
  • Pixelmator - affordable Photoshop alternative for Mac
  • Gimp - free Photoshop alternative for Windows
  • PicMonkey - online Photo editor
  • Flickr - place to find free photos
  • Find Free Images for Your Blog - Free report explaining the Creative Commons License and where you can images for your blog

Homework: Add a photo to your very next blog post and tweet us the link. @andymcclung and @courtneyspeaks

Have questions? Call and leave us a message with your question at our Ask a Question page.

Next week’s topic - Planning for 2014. Be sure to join us and start planning for next year!

 

Show #19: How to Bring Life to Old Blog Posts

Welcome to Show #19 of the Faithful Bloggers Podcast! I'm back this week with my new co-host Andy from ChristianCampPro.com.

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The topic of this week's podcast is bringing life to old blog posts! We talk about why you need to liven old posts, how to do so, and what to do with those posts! It's full of some great information.

Links mentioned in episode #18:

Twas The Night Before Christmas Gift Exchange Game

Faithful Bloggers

Posts About Devotions

Make sure to join us next week as Andy and I talk about creating graphics for your blog posts!

If you have any question about what we talked about leave us a message here!

After you have listened to the podcast leave us a link in the comments to a post you want to bring back to life so we can help!

Show #18: What Makes a Successful Blog Post?

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In show #18 of the Faithful Bloggers Podcast I make a very exciting announcement!

Not only is the podcast back with a new weekly schedule but I now have a co-host! Help me welcome Andy McClung from ChristianCampPro.com by leaving him some encouraging comments on his website.

In today's show Andy and I discuss our most successful blog posts and what made them successful. Some key points we talk about are:

  • How we discovered which post was our most successful
  • How we can improve the post
  • How to leverage leverage the traffic we receive from those posts

Links mentioned in episode #18:

Seven tips on how to write a devotion
The 5 best christian youth camp themes this year
Google Analytics

Make sure to join us next week as Andy and I talk about bringing life back to old posts!

If you have any question about what we talked about leave us a message here!

AFter you have listened to the podcast, go check your analytics program and find out what is your most successful blog post and leave us a link in the comments!

Podcast #16 - Nicole Jones at Blessings of a Homemaker

Nicole Jones from Blessings of a Homemaker is my guest this week on the podcast.  She is a new blogger, just started in April 2013 but has a lot stories and information to share.  According to her blog she is:

"I’m a homemaker that is busy doing what I can to enrich the lives of my family in a spiritual and financial way, while sharing all that comes with it so you can too!"

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Find Nicole on Social Media:

 

Links Mentioned in Podcast:

 

Podcast #14 - Anointed Heels

In today's show I interviewed Roodlyne from Anointed Heels. We discussed how she got started blogging, why she

blogs, and how God guides not only her life but her blog as well.

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Anointed Heels on Facebook.

Anointed Heels on Twitter.

Anointed Heels on Instagram.

 

Would You Like To Be on the Faithful Bloggers Podcast?

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Would you like to share your blogging journey on our podcast?  I am looking for Christian bloggers to interview for the Faithful Bloggers Podcast.  We can discuss how you got started blogging and how it has changed your life.  It doesn't matter if you are a new or established blogger.  All are welcome. If you are interested, please send us an email using our contact form.  Please make sure to include a link to your blog!

If you would like to listen to some of our past podcasts, you can do so here on the blog or at iTunes.

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Tonight's the Night

Tonight we host our very first live radio show!  And we have a special guest joining us as well, Dr. Mommy, aka Daisy, from Dr. Mommy Helps You.  Daisy is a great and faithful person that I am privileged to call a friend.

We are going to be talking about the fruits of the Spirit and how we can incorporate them in our blogs.  So come join us at tonight at 8:30pm CST.  You can join us one of two ways, online at TalkShoe, or by calling in.

If you would like to join us online you will have the option of also joining the live chat.  To join us online just go to our Faithful Bloggers Show page.  If you would like to call in, call (724) 444-7444 and use the call ID: 72153.

Hope to see you there!

But don't worry if you can't make it, we will be posting a recording on Thursday to the blog.

Join Us Live!

We are changing things up a little bit here at Faithful Bloggers.  Mary, our contributing editor, and I are going to start a live radio show!   This will replace our weekly podcast, though we will still post the shows on the site for you to listen to and download if you are unable to attend the live show.

We have a great line up of Christian bloggers to interview and are excited to add this new interactive feature to Faithful Bloggers.  Our show will broadcast on Blog Talk Radio on Monday evenings at 8:30pm CST.  If you attend the show live, you will have the opportunity to call in with questions and to chat with other listeners as well.

I hope you will join us Monday, March 1, 2010 for our first show on Blog Talk Radio!

Faithful Bloggers Show #4 - Sarah Mae from Like A Warm Cup of Coffee

We're back!  Yay!  As many of you have heard by now Kelly's and my hosting account got hacked and it affected all of our sites including Faithful Bloggers.  After a lot of hard work we got everything straightened out and we are ready to roll once again. To start things out this week we have a great podcast for you.  Kelly and I were able to chat with Sarah Mae from Like A Warm Cup of Coffee.  Sarah Mae was such a joy to speak to.  I know you will love this interview and the chance to get to know Sarah Mae a little better.

Faithful Bloggers Podcast #3 - Interview with Debbie Pendell

Today we have a great podcast for you.  Kelly and I got a chance to speak with Debbie Pendell from DebbiePendell.com who is a professional organizer and home economist.  Debbie gave us some great advice about balancing blogging and family life and evaluating our prioritizes.  You can also find Debbie on Twitter as @debbiependell.