How to Create a Successful Blog

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Lynn

As Journey Thoughts’ reading audience continues to climb with thousands of followers and over 12 million hits, someone asked me recently how and why my blog has become so “successful”.  I put quotations around that word because success is measured differently by some people.  In this case, it’s all about the numbers I guess.  A huge readership may translate into a successful blog.  However, I have seen millions of people read blogs that have little to no content and are basically marketing ploys to buy products.  The bloggers are exceptional marketers I suppose but not very good writers.  Then there are phenomenal blogs, that have few readers.  A shame.  In this case, the writing is spectacular but the bloggers spend little time marketing their blog.  I like to think that I have found a happy (successful) middle ground, of marketing and writing, so that Journey Thoughts appeals to a large group of readers who want to keep coming back because they appreciate the content.  It goes without saying that I can’t take full credit for this success.  I give all Glory to God. 

In 2009, I published my first book, “Shoot the Wounded,” a young adult novel that led me to write two more books in my “Wounded Trilogy” series. This series has gone on to win several book awards, but as I have learned, book awards don’t necessarily translate into book SALES. I discovered that the only way I could showcase my books effectively was to promote them online. This led to my journey into the blogosphere.

To be honest, I didn’t even know what a “blog” was when I began writing it. I was a rookie author doing everything humanly possible to get my books into the hands of young readers. I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising, marketing, or touring. I did a few book signings and spoke at several venues and schools in my area. I was interviewed by local papers and tried to sell my books at flea markets and trade fairs. It cost me a lot in time and effort, but didn’t always translate into sales. In a market flooded with both well-known and Indie Authors, I needed to somehow stand out. That led me to writing my blog: “Journey Thoughts.” It has not only helped promote and sell my books, but God has grown and expanded the message and ministry of that blog in ways I never would have imagined.

Starting a blog is one of the simplest ways to share your writing online. There are numerous “free” weblog-hosting sites that allow even the most technologically challenged to create a blog in very little time.  “Free” blog platforms are great but consider acquiring your own domain name if you’re serious about driving traffic to your blog. Like everything in life, you get what you pay for. That said, WordPress allows me to have my own domain name, lynndove.com, for under $100 a year.

For a beginning blogger it’s important to determine why you want to blog in the first place. My original intent was two-fold: to promote my books to a larger reading audience and showcase my writing in general. Once you’ve decided on your goals and weblog hosting site, the next step is writing content that appeals to your target audience. If it looks like you’ve put very little thought or effort into your blog posting, readers will assume your books aren’t worthy of consideration either. Blog posts must capture a person’s attention instantaneously. You must capture the reader’s attention in the opening paragraph for them to read (not just scan through) to the end. Your writing must be polished; free of grammatical and spelling errors; have a beginning, middle, and end; and be…well…interesting! Content is king! There are close to 200 million blogs, but only a rare few have a large readership. The challenge is to get people to enjoy the content enough to keep reading it!

I quickly discovered that teens and young adults do not read blogs the way a more mature audience does. Young adults want instantaneous gratification, game-play, and viral videos to keep them coming back.  When I started writing about my journey with walking with God on a daily basis, I could reach both my target audience as well as attract more mature readers.  It meant learning how to include graphics and using “tags” (keywords) so search engines could find my content quickly.  Tags provide a useful way to group related posts together and to quickly tell readers what a post is about.  If you’ve never used tags before, think of words that a person might use in a search online that would bring up related content.  A tip here: don’t use too many tags but be precise.

Using graphics that are tagged will also drive traffic to your site. I use my own photos or royalty free images and I ensure my domain name is printed somewhere on the graphic.  There are several apps, programs, and meme generators you can use to do that.  The one I use predominantly is: FotoSketcher.  I use these graphics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the goal to get others to share or “like” the graphics that link back to my blog.

It is important to use social media to drive traffic to your blog site. Sharing your post in writing/author groups on Facebook for example, not only gains you followers, but you join a like-minded community who will encourage you in your writing.

Readers may note that I have a bit of advertising on my blog through WordAds.  I appreciate the bit of revenue that this brings in, but it has never been my goal to make money on my blog.  I could do much more to monetize it if that were the case.

My last piece of advice is to be true to yourself.  If God has gifted you with a talent for writing and you are sharing your gift with others…I call that being successful!

 

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25 Encouraging Scripture Verses to Welcome Spring

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Lynn

Springtime is a season of renewal, new growth, and enlightenment!  After a long winter, Spring is most certainly welcomed.  It is interesting that Scripture often talks of this season like a welcoming rain shower that nourishes the ground and soothes the parched land.  Are you feeling parched and dry?  Welcome Spring with these refreshing verses!

Genesis 1:14-15  “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.”

Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Hebrews 11:3  “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

Daniel 2:21  “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”

Isaiah 44:1-4  “But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.  This is what the Lord says—he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.  They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.”

Isaiah 55:1-13 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.  See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.  Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.  Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.  This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Isaiah 61:11  “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”

Deuteronomy 11:13-14  “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.”

Deuteronomy 32:2  “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

Hosea 6:3  “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Isaiah 35:1-10  “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.  The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.  The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.  In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.  And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way.  The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.  No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there.  But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

James 5:7  “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.”

Joel 2:22-23  “Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.  The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.”

Proverbs 16:15  “When a king’s face brightens, it means life; his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.”

Psalm 1:1-3  “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

Zechariah 10:1  “Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.”

Matthew 6:28-29  ““And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

Song of Songs 2:11-13  “See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.  Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

Job 29:23  “They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.”

Isaiah 43:19  “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Psalm 104:10-19  “He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.  The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.  He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.  He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.  The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers.  The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.  He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.”

Zechariah 14:6-8  “On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.  It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.”

Psalm 103:15-16  “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”

2 Timothy 4:2-9  “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.  For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Praying In the Face of Adversity

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Lynn

The news reports the last couple of weeks have been filled with the Ethiopian plane crash that killed 157 people including eighteen Canadians.  Many of the dead were people who worked for humanitarian organizations around the globe.  They were people who wanted to make the world a better place.  I cannot fathom the unimaginable grief felt by families who lost loved ones on that Ethiopian flight.   It is indeed one of the most tragic events in recent years.

I do not like flying.  Although my husband says it is a far safer mode of travel than day to day driving a car, I still don’t like it.  Especially when I hear of plane crashes such as the one this past week, where there appears to have been an aircraft problem.  Boeing aircraft are being grounded world-wide to determine what caused the crash and whether or not there was some kind of mechanical issue with that particular model of plane.  This is disconcerting for all travellers.  My husband and I are planning a holiday in June to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary and I was trepidatious about our flights before this plane crash, and now I’m wondering how this investigation will affect us with booking air travel in the near future.  The sad fact remains, regardless of the findings, 157 people are gone.

How do we process such a tragedy?  I’ve listened to the news over the past week and I’ve been a bit disgusted by the focus on travellers being “inconvenienced” because of grounded planes, Boeing investors upset at falling stock prices, and questions about who will ultimately be responsible for the cost of clean up.  All I can think about are the grieving families.  Should they not be the main focus of attention?

The terrible shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand followed only days after the Ethiopian plane crash.  Fifty people massacred while praying in their mosque.  When people feel threatened and unsafe in their chosen places of worship, we have a serious, world-wide problem.  There is no excuse for that kind of violence against any faith group.  As Christians we need to condemn this horrendous act.

I think because of the fact that we are so globally linked through the internet, we are inundated with news, fake and otherwise, that has us question whether or not God really is in control right now.  Locally, my prayer journal is filled with requests from friends and church family who are experiencing health and life-changing challenges.  I find myself overwhelmed at times by the misfortunes and hurts of others.  Surely, there must be some Good News?!  How can I give Him praise in the face of adversity?

The Holy Spirit spoke to me through Scripture today: “O God, listen to me! Hear my prayer! For wherever I am, though far away at the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help. When my heart is faint and overwhelmed, lead me to the mighty, towering Rock of safety. For you are my refuge, a high tower where my enemies can never reach me. I shall live forever in your tabernacle; oh, to be safe beneath the shelter of your wings! For you have heard my vows, O God, to praise you every day, and you have given me the blessings you reserve for those who reverence your name.  You will give me added years of life, as rich and full as those of many generations, all packed into one. And I shall live before the Lord forever. Oh, send your loving-kindness and truth to guard and watch over me, and I will praise your name continually, fulfilling my vow of praising you each day.” (Psalm 61 – The Living Bible – TLB)

I am called to praise Him, no matter the struggle, no matter the plight, no matter the fear.  He is Sovereign.  He is in control.  He hears my prayers.  He is the mighty, towering Rock of safety.  He is my refuge!

Today, I am praying that in the midst of adversity, in the midst of trouble, in the midst of heartache, I will continue to praise Him!

Will you join me in praying for the families who are grieving the loss of loved ones over these past few weeks?  Will you pray that they will be comforted by the Holy Spirit and He will be revealed to them even in their heartache?  Then, join me in praising God in the midst of adversity.  He is in control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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