You can catch up here:

Part 1- Why I Blog

Part 2- How to Read 100 Blogs per Week

Part 3- How I Run 5 1/2 Blogs

I love blogging. It’s a huge outlet for me. It’s a good platform builder. It’s a great way to learn from others. It let’s you meet tons of new people. It lets you share about your specific passion.

Maybe for you it’s Photography.  Sports. Money.  Travel.  Animals.  People.  Humor. Underwater Ping Pong. Business. Leadership. Youth Culture. Michael Jackson dance moves. Church planting.  Whatever.  In the next few months, Michelle will be starting one on sex trafficking.  Whatever topic(s) you choose, just make sure it points to Jesus somehow.  That’s why we’re alive.

Sooo…here are some seriously helpful links to get your started on your own blog.

Thomas Nelson Publishers CEO talks about 9 steps to starting a blog.

You gotta pick a platform…the big ones are:
Wordpress (what I use)
Blogger
Movable Type
Typepad
Xanga
Live Journal

Start a Wordpress blog here.

791 Free Wordpress Themes for your site

Bootstrapper’s List of 100 Blogger Tools

A few of my favourite web designers: John Saddington (Human3rror and Church Crunch) and Brad Ruggles- Learning How to Live

The designer who created Sexrev.org…John at Dr. Martian located in Malta. If you use them, let them know I sent you!

Whenever I create a site, I post an ad on Web Designer Wall Job Board. Right now I’m working on re-launching www.jaredbrock.com. I put up a wanted ad LAST WEEK…so far it’s had 5692 views, and I have received 92 emails from solid designers. Well worth the cash if you’re going to pro route. Much thanks to Nick La (fellow Canadian!) for setting me up. If you use him, let him know I sent you.

My personal advice:

Post regularly.
There is nothing worse than people who start a blog and then post 6 times a year. If you expect people to visit your blog, you need to be honest. I know some bloggers who only do it twice per week, Monday and Thursday. That’s cool.  Tony Morgan and Ben Arment post about 1000 times per day. Also cool. You just gotta make sure it’s regular. Here at the Sex Rev, we post on the main page five days per week. We’re still working on our levels for the other four, but the main page is very consistent. If it’s a normal weekday, there’s something here for you.

Post the best you’ve got.
This doesn’t mean LONG. This means QUALITY. Tell a story, make a point, shed some light…but do it to the best of your abilities.

Add pictures or video.
Keep me interested.

Stop making my eyes bleed.
I will not read a post that is incredibly long and looks boring. Add italics, capitals, bold face, colours, create PARAGRAPHS, use correct punctuation, correct spacing, etc. Break it into pieces to give my eyes a rest.

Get creative.
Make your site pretty.

Create outposts.
I use Facebook and Twitter. You might use Myspace, Flickr, etc. Just have some outposts where you’re expanding your audience.

To grow your blog, comment on other people’s blogs.
This is a great way to get some traffic- assuming you add value to their blog and have something good to say.  Also, another great way is to link to posts by other bloggers.  You’ll see that on Sex Rev all the time- my hope is to increase traffic to others who I think are doing great things for the Kingdom.

Determine your water level.
I planned ahead for six months and build a crazy jacked-up site. Maybe you’re looking to start a free site in 5 minutes. Both options are available. You just gotta know where you want to start.

So that’s how you can start and grow your own blog. I wish you the best of luck hard work, networking, creativity, and God-inspired passion.  Was this post helpful?  Let me know once you’re up and running and I’ll share the link here.

Jay

Can you do something for me this week?
May 30th will be the Sex Rev’s 4 month anniversary. I need you to share this site with your friends this week…if 159 completely new people visit, we’ll reach our 5000th unique visitor!!!

Things you could do:
-send out an email
-message the link to a friend
-post a note or share on Facebook
-share your favourite post link on Twitter
-put a link to the Sex Rev on your blog, Facebook, or Myspace page

THANKS SO MUCH for your help…think we can do it? GO!