Choosing social media platforms can be overwhelming. Social media can provide tremendous opportunity for marketing your business or ministry but it can also be a tremendous waste of valuable time if not chosen and utilized wisely.
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Last night I posted a video on how to add Google Fonts to your blog and this morning I found an article listing the 10 most popular Google Web Fonts!
Pete Prestipino hits the nail on the head when he says,
"There's no shortage of "trends' that Web designers must pay attention to, but few are more practical - and impactful - than the use of Web fonts."
Check out the list of the 10 most popular Google Web Fonts and let Website Magazine know which one is your favorite.
Every blog post you publish should include an image that fits your chosen topic. It helps to keep the reader interested and to break up the text. The problem is that purchasing images can you can use gets expensive quickly. Plus you have to keep copyright issues in mind. You can"t just go do a Google image search and just any image you find. That"s why I found, Top 10 Places to Find Free Stock Images For Your WordPress Site by Sarah Gooding at WPMU.org, to be a great resource.
Sarah lists online casino some great sites to find free image you can use and says
"Given that WordPress powers roughly 19% of the web, many of these image services have accompanying WordPress plugins to make it easy for publishers to find and post images. We’ll make note of those wherever available."
Of course being a WordPress enthusiast, this caught my attention! So go check it out and find a great image to use with your next post!
Do you ever suffer from blogger burnout? You ever just get the point where you can't find a topic or the words needed to write a blog post? Or maybe you just don't care anymore. You don't care if you write that next blog post or you don't care if you don't spend anytime marketing your blog. For me, when this happens it's because I'm not feeling inspired
Darren Rouse at ProBlogger recently wrote a post about this very thing. He says,
"When I’m not inspired, I find it very difficult to be creative or generate ideas."
I agree 100% - I am the same way. In his post, 9 Ways to Keep You Fresh, Inspired, and Creative, Darren lists the ways he keeps inspired and avoids blogger burnout. These are some great tips that I know all of can use.
We all know Social Media is an important aspect of blogging. We use it to market and connect with our readers.
Tracy from Moms in a Blog said that
"Social media is hot and its important to build a social media presence. But, it can be a time suck and a huge distraction..."
Ain't that the truth! Between Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and so many more social media takes up so much time! Tracy offers 8 tips to help balance your social media time and I know a few that I need to start implementing immediately!
I coach my daughter's Upward cheerleading squad (Upward is a Christian-based sports program). At each practice we have a devotion, recite Scripture memory verses, and pray.
This season's theme has been light. I'm sure you can guess what we've discussed: God is light, live in the light, walk in the light, moving from darkness to light, and so on.
This week's devotion was centered around Christian fellowship. Our memory verse this week was
If we live in the light, we share fellowship with each other (1 John 1:7b).
The verse in its entirety and from the ESV is this:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
I thought our week's memory verse was a perfect tie-in to this week's Faithful Bloggers' discussion on the use of social media to grow our blogs.
Obviously, Facebook and Twitter are social media—meaning they are designed to function best when people are engaging others and giving of themselves.
But I got to wondering: How do these interactions contribute to authentic Christian fellowship? Or should it even matter?
I'll answer the second one first: Yes. I think it does matter.
We know that God created us for community. According to the verse above, walking in the light with others who are walking in the light brings fellowship. We need each other for encouragement, especially in the Blogosphere.
I have actually seen my activity on Facebook and Twitter contribute to authentic Christian fellowship. I wrote about the opportunities for prayer and worship as I engaged in a few communities on Facebook.
And who would have thought that only 140 characters (typed in the form of a meaningful Bible verse or quotation) would be just the word I needed for encouragement on a difficult day?
Finding Courtney and Kelly here at Faithful Bloggers has been the beginning of wonderful Christian fellowship that only God could have orchestrated.
So I would say, YES! Authentic Christian fellowship is not only possible through social media; it's inevitable when you approach your participation with that as your goal.
Use these and other social media platforms to invite your followers to walk with you in the light. When you do, you'll find authentic Christian fellowship.
Most Twitter users I know fall into one of two camps: completely overwhelmed or hopelessly addicted. I've been in both spots myself. But I think I've finally found a happy medium. I enjoy tweeting, and I've had some blog visits, solely from my links posted to Twitter.
Once you're up and running on Twitter:
What are your favorite aspects of Twitter? How has Twitter helped your blog?
And don't forget to follow @faithfulbloggrs ;-)
Are you looking for Christian twitters to follow? I always am. Over the weekend I saw someone tweet about Twellowship and thought I would give it a try. Basically by signing up you agree to follow all the "VIP" members and 20 other members that have signed up. Supposedly all the members are Christians.
Signing up was easy to do, just enter your Twitter username and password. You are then presented with a page that allows you to automatically follow the required members. After you have follow the required number of members your Twitter profile now appears as an option for new members to follow.
The "VIP" membership is a paid option that guarantees you new followers. You are basically paying for followers and that is not something I will do. But as a regular member there is not a payment required but you are allowing Twellowship to send tweets out of your account every Friday about Twellowship. I didn't care for this either. To not have the automatic tweets sent you have to upgrade to the "VIP" membership or close your account.
I like the idea of the Twellowship but don't really care for the way it has been executed. Have you used it and if so, what's your opinion?
Connecting and Equipping Christian Bloggers and Business Owners to reach the World with their message. We also provide resources, courses and writing opportunities for Christian bloggers.
