At the Ministry2 conference I shared some of my super secret sauce on blogging. I realized that I actually haven’t shared it with this community here, so here it is.
For the first year of this blog, ChurchCrunch.com, I’ve been able to manage a sustainable (and reasonable) bandwidth of about 3 blog posts a day. Actually, the number is more close to about 5 since I also actively maintain a few other blogs as well.
I’ve discovered 10 “types” of blog posts which help me have the most impact with the least amount of work possible. Here are the 10:
1. Date Specific
This type of post is easy to create and maintain. Essentially, you establish on your schedule a post that will happen systematically during a particular day. For example, I run a blog post series on Human3rror the first of every month called “Desktop Backgrounds” where I simply ask my readers what they are sporting as their desktop background.
Super easy.
2. Interviews
Interviews are fairly easy as well. For a while I used to do a Friday 5 series here on ChurchCrunch which helped establish a rhythm of blogging here. I stopped after a bit as I had a lot of other topics I personally wanted to cover, but I may bring this back soon.
Interviews can really work well and don’t require much work on your part. Make it part of your schedule and you’re set.
3. The Super Simple Post
The super simple post is essentially just that. The goal here is little work and high impact. The “Caption Please” series I run on Human3rror is a great example of that. I don’t have to do much work but I get the most traffic and comments.
4. The Series Posts
I’ve written a few times on how good this strategy is already. Splitting up a post into a series of posts can significantly help you create more content and coverage over a few days instead of just one. Consider splitting up your big post into a few next time you sit down to write.
5. Dissertation Posts
This kind may not help you much but for me it did. About once a month I’ll write what I call a “dissertation” post, or a post that is about 2,000 words long. For me this helped change it up a bit as well as provide a really deep discussion point that I’ve been thinking about for a while. Another instance is a post that ends up looking like a deep FAQ or Walkthru post of a particular service or application, like this Feedburner 101 post.
More types after the jump…
6. Guest Posts
This is pretty self-explanatory, but the guest post is a no-brainer. Get others to contribute their valuable thoughts and skills to your blog!
Enough said… or read this post about 4 Reasons You Should Have Guest Posters.
7. Stats / Updates / Goal-Sharing Posts
Every so often I’ll post about how the blog is doing, especially in terms of traffic, statistics, and metrics. This is a simple way to provide some authenticity and transparency to your blog, and it’s not hard to do. Oftentimes the audience appreciates this candid look into the “backend.”
8. Giveaways
Duh. Giveaways are easy and simple.
9. The “Change Up” Post
Sometimes I’ll blog something that falls outside my typical coverage, like a post about my family or something a little more personal. This helps keep a blog healthy I think and adds some flavor. It is also somewhat cathartic.
10. Humor (Mileage May Vary)
Humor and satire work and sometimes by adding a humorous post in the mix can add some spice. It’s also not too hard to do either.
Ok, so what have you seen work? What other types of posts do you use?
[Image from Ciber]
@benjmiller says
You forgot the "Post about what you post post".
Calum Henderson says
hehe
friar_don says
Funny thing is, except for guest posts, I have included all of these types, just not on a systematic or scheduled basis.
klreed189 says
Some of my most popular post are all controversial, but it seems to be that when you strike a cord with someone they have to respond.
Also, I think any time you give away a great resource or something you have found people love that.
Tim_Harvestsf says
This is a great reference list for pastors & churches wanting to keep their own blog filled with quality content – thanks for sharing!
Anthony says
Thanks for the great post!
Graham Brenna says
thanks man!
@PastorDuncan says
thanks for the insight man!
Guy Walker says
The New Hot Topic Post…
You grab the new hot thing and throw it into a post. I Wetoku interviews or you photo through twitter post. (cant remember what that was called) I bet someone else does though
Jim says
me likes lists of stuff
Matt Carlisle says
John — Thanks for being part of Ministry 2 this past weekend. You and Tony did a great job!
Calum Henderson says
Loving reading through this blog!
John Saddington says
thanks!