I think facebook has hurt blogs as I think people have gotten Internet-lazy. They just stay on facebook and don’t move around the web as much, however, I think a blog can still get traffic if done well. I read blogs, but focus on ones that are consistent (like yours, Glen) and solid content (also like yours).
If you want to get FB readers, you MUST install a Facebook “like” button and ‘like’ your own posts so they will appear on your wall so people who follow you on Facebook will see you blogged and hop over and read your blog.
RSS Readers (Like Bloglines/Google Reader) are less used today (I think) by the general public, as they were once how blogs were read.
Tablet readers are now stronger, like Flipboard, and I read a lot of blogs that way, and through Twitter feeds, so be sure to Tweet your blog posts through hashtags like #kidmin #leadership etc. as that will drive traffic.
Bottom line: Do people visit blogs directly today? No. Do they read them? Yes, but mostly because they are driven there by other means, so you need to drive people to your blog, and then try to get them to like it enough to create a way to get your content more regularly.
If you want to be read, you need to work at it. You can no longer just post and assume it will be read.
What do you think?
(Hey, prove to me you read MY blog by commenting!) LOL
The highlight of my CPC this year was getting to see Barbara Baker again. I always keep an eye out for her. She is one of my favorite CPC “Regulars”. During the conference, INCM asked some of the speakers and bloggers to make some time to be interviewed for the INCM website throughout the year. However, I told INCM’s Executive Director Michael Chanley they should interview Barb!
She is living proof that you are never too old to be creatively reaching and teaching kids! We crossed paths for years until I finally stopped to meet her. (It seemed like I only saw her going the other way on escalators!)
When I first talked to her, she surprised me by asking for advice on how to incorporate a remote Internet audience of children she would be broadcasting her VBS to in the summer. I taught her how to use Ustream.tv to share her VBS over the Internet and she went home and did it! Now that’s one cutting edge lady!
Now she tells me, at age 67, that she has just gotten an Amazon Kindle and is learning how to use it! She’s been struggling with Parkinson’s disease now for three years, but still serves as a bus captain and simply jokes, “The bus shakes and so do I.”
Barb doesn’t let anything stop her from being equipped to better reach children with the Good News of Jesus. She attends conferences to learn about the latest resources and ideas, she dives into the latest technology no matter how intimidating it is, and just shows up paying no attention to age or health that would slow others down. There is no “retiring” from children’s ministry for Barbara Baker.
Are YOU furthering your kidmin education?
Are you mastering the latest tools?
Are you trying something new?
If not, what’s your excuse? If Barb can do it, you can too!
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
You don’t feel thankful for the things you feel you are entitled to. Where have you lost your thankfulness?
While my initial reaction was a little defensive, “I don’t feel ‘entitled’ to anything,” I decided it was a question worthy of reflection.Especially the final question:
Where have I lost my thankfulness?
Or asked differently, “What do we take for granted?” I’m not sure I take it for granted, but one thing I AM thankful for, and MARVEL at every time I get the opportunity to take advantage of it – is FLIGHT. I think it is something our society takes for granted, since it’s existed now for almost one hundred years as a mode of transportation.
Click to Enlarge (How exactly was this taken?)
I have never outgrown my boyish fascination with flight. I have flown many times and still request the window seat, until recently, now that I have a boy who wants it, but unless Luke is with me and has claimed it, my forehead is pressed to the glass during take-off and landing and during much of the flight. I could publish a photo book of America of pictures out airplane windows! (iPhone videos too)
My Most Recent iPhone Window Pic
I think that air travel is one of those things that people take for granted. I, for one, have never gotten over it. I sit there amazed in my chair completely in awe each and every flight. As we drive home, after every flight I say to my wife, “Can you believe I we were in California this morning?”
I think this YouTube Video sums it up pretty well:
Everything is Amazing and Nobody’s Happy:
This video explains why I never complain about airplane delays. To complain is to miss the miracle of flight. We are so spoiled as Americans.
It is time to be thankful for the things we take for granted.
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
DAY #21: My Customers
Back in 1994 when very few people knew what the “Internet” was, I got an idea for a website: The KidologyWeb:
I was already calling myself “The Kidologist” in my workshops as I sought to equip and encourage children’s workers to approach children’s ministry from the perspective of a child:
By 1996 the first “Kidology Handbook” was published:
VERY FEW people remember when Kidology.org (before I had that domain!) looked like this:
OR when you clicked into it and saw crude pages like this:
Only hundreds were lucky enough to BE on the Internet surfin’ kidmin back then! (And only a few bought the “Life Time Memberships” I offered back then when I needed to raise some money to buy some much needed Microsoft FrontPage software, and yes, they are still members!)
More remember the next version of the site: Kidology 2.0 (which I called it long for “2.0″ was hip)
It had the infamous “frames” that if you navigated just right, would give you frames within frames within frames, which could be kinda fun…
If you were a member then, prove it by putting int he comments the “Secret” entrance you clicked on to enter the Member Area before I had usernames and passwords… it was kinda funny!
Then, due to a huge answer to prayer and grant (told about in my Thankful for Steves post) I was able to hire a real web developer, Ken Kinard, who built me my first real website, with a database driven backstage and got use set up with credit card processing and memberships with usernames and passwords.
Kidology.org finally had a webite platform we could really build on. Our rapid growth soon meant transitioning to a more robust platform and even another complete redesign and before we knew it it was time for yet another complete redesign and platform change… as we went from hundreds to thousands of members and became the leading destination for children’s ministry content on the Internet.
We incorporated as a non-profit ministry in 2000 and by 2006 I had gone full time. That paints a much smoother picture in one sentence that the story is – but anyone who has lived life or founded a ministry knows, no road is smooth, but God is faithful when we continually seek him through the ups and downs on the journey.
Our websites have changed… our logos have changed… staff have come and gone…
A Rejected Kidology Logo!
One thing has remained the same… OUR CUSTOMERS! They come by the hundreds, indeed by the thousands, every day… looking for ideas, for resources, for encouragement, for training, for jobs, for connections, for friendship, for a wide variety of things… things that can’t all be found anywhere else all in one place… and even when they can be found somewhere else, they know they can find it there, but starting here! Because like Miracle on 34th Street… we will direct you to where you need to go.
So far this month, as of this blog post, we’ve have 1,157 newFREEBasic Members sign up on Kidology.org, and that’s just THIS MONTH so far… I’m blown away by how many children’s ministry workers come to Kidology.org. I remember when 1,000 members was the entire ministry of Kidology! (And when we thought we’d never hit that number.)
It is humbling and amazing and such a blessing that this is my employment now. That I have the privilege to get up each day and serve you.
I am thankful for getting to work at home near my family, to get to travel to minister to children, and to get to meet some of my customers when I am out and about serving.
MY LIFE MISSION hasn’t changed since I was nineteen when God gave it to me: To reach and teach as many children as possible with the Good News of God’s Love, and in the process to Enlist, Equip and Encourage others to do the same.
THANK YOU for allowing me to use my God-given talents to bless you and serve you. I stink at a lot of things, but that I get to do what I love, is because of my customers.
There is a saying:
LOVE WHAT YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
My customers make that possible. I am thankful for them today.
As many of you know, I’m extremely patriotic – and Scottevest.com is one of those great American examples of why I love America. Scott Jordan saw the need for something, took the risk to create it, people bought it, and he’s been hugely successful. And I’m more than happy to give him free advertising on my blog and twitter account (which I constantly do) because I wish him all the success he can have! (My tweets have been featured on Scottevest.com four times: 1, 2, 3, 4 Follow Scott @Scottevest)
What is Scottevest? It comes from the combination of his name “Scott” + “E” (electroncis) + “Vest” his original product:
CLick to View Large Image
But his company has grown to include a WIDE variety of products ranging from winter coats, trench coats (the ‘carry-on coat’) to dress shirts and sport coats to boxers and women’s apparel.
As a geek tech lover, and one who now takes an iPad with me everywhere I go – Scottevest clothes are THE SOLUTION for men who don’t want to carry a “purse” or so-called “man bag” and don’t want to haul a backpack or briefcase everywhere.
PLUS, for professionals like me who travel a lot and are frustrated with the hassle at airport security, a Scottevest vest or jacket gives you an extra carry-on. Simply put everything in your Scottevest and you breeze right through, hassle free!
I routinely pack my iPad, iPhone, Apple headset (which I have a set wired into every Scottevest), glasses, GPS for the rental car, digital camera, spare memory cards, tripod, flipcam, magic tricks, balloons to calm crying kids on the plane, keys, mini iPad shuffle (the awesome one Apple discontinued), pens, and various car adapters, chargers, spare battery for laptop, etc. and I don’t look bulky at all.
Plus, I have several Scottevest pants and shirts and even a hat which allows me to have my Verizon Broadband card handy when I have no pockets!
Karl in SeV 2012 Catalog Fan Page in Yosemite
I just found out that my fan pic was picked to appear in the 2012 SeV Catalog that I submitted from hiking in Yosemite National Park last May. (That is Vernal Falls in the background.)
I am thankful for Scottevest because Scott Jordan took the risk to create products no one else would… they are high quality, excellent, creative, practical and downright awesome. And available nowhere else.
And if you want to get a deal, I made this page for you to check out everyday:
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
DAY #16: Da Cloud
I might lose some people on this one, but I am incredibly thankful for cloud technology, and while I’m enjoying watching a lot of my friends starting to use it, I’ve been using it, and dependent on it, for years.
Michael Chanley and I did a workshop together on Cloud Technology: What is It? at CPC last year and you can listen, watch and get the handout at the link above.
In a nutshell, what this means is that all my files are no longer stored on my computer. Because the days of having only one computer (or device) have been long gone for me for several years, I needed to be able to access any file at any time from any device, update it and have that updated file be on the other devices, AND (this is key) NOT be online when I needed it.
While MobileMe got a lot of flake (even from Steve Jobs) I used MobileMe to the max even puzzling Apple Genuies at the Apple Store with what I got it to do, and have been very frustrated that the iDisc is being discontinues as of June 1, 2011. Nevertheless, I have swithched to DropBox.com – and turns out I like it better, as it has an add on feature that backs up EVERY file you EVER delete, unlimited and forever
This is different that web-based file sharing, because with those, like Box.net, you have to be online, and they are slow. (Which is what iDisc is if you don’t turn on the Local Copy feature which a lot of people never discovered.) Dropbox keeps a local copy of the files and syncs them with the others local copies on the other devices, updating each copy as changes are made.
Because I use a MacBook Pro as my main machine, but an iMac for all my media and video production, an old Mac Mini for all my photo storage, a MacBook Air for travel and working remotely and an iPad for carrying with me everywhere in my Scottevest and of course an iPhone – it is essential to have up to date files at all times available on any machine, that are also available on ANY OTHER MACHINE simply by logging on to dropbox.com. Plus, you can share files or folders with others colaboratively.
In addition to files, “the cloud” enables you to have all your contacts, calendars, and a host of other information also synced between all your events.
It used to be that if my laptop was stolen my company and data would be at great risk, and I would lost incredible amounts of work. Now, while I certainly would NOT want that to happen, I would lose nothing. I would immediately pull out my iPhone or iPad, go to dropbox.com and unsync that laptop and all that data would be unsynced and unavailable to the thief and all my data secure and backed up and available on all my other devices.
I haven’t even gotten into what Apple’s new iCloud service will be doing, I haven’t even made that transition yet! (Looking forward to photo stream!)
It is truly an amazing era we live in, and since I run an electronic company/ministry with employees and contractors and volunteers all over the country (and actually all over the world) this cloud technology has really made my life simpler and work flow smarter.
Lastly, if you haven’t made the transition from POP e-mail to IMAP – you need to find out what that means and make the switch. IMAP is like “cloud” it means all your email is stored in the “cloud” (on the server) and synced between all devices/computers, and again safe from anything happening to one computer/devices. Instead of “POP”ing into your computer, your computer just reads what is on the server. If you “read” on one, it is marked read on all devices. But it isn’t “webbased” it is still pulled down so you can work offline. Web-based limits you to when you have Internet, I still like the flexibility of being able to work when I have no Internet, like on an airplane.
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
DAY #5: Pandora!
I was going to say “Music” but wanted to be more modern, and Pandora is the #1 way I listen to music now, whether it is at the computer, on my iPhone, driving or in the morning getting ready for my day. If you don’t know what Pandora is – you are truly missing out!
Whether you use the iPhone/iPad app or the website, Pandora allows you to create your own custom “radio stations” based on the music you like and the mood you are in. You can enter any song, artist or genre of music and it will create a “station” or channel of music based on that entry and play music you will like that is “like” that original entry.
We believe that each individual has a unique relationship with music – no one else has tastes exactly like yours… the Music… spans everything from this past Tuesday’s new releases all the way back to the Renaissance and Classical music… Each song… is analyzed using up to 400 distinct musical characteristics… [and] …is updated on a continual basis with the latest releases, emerging artists, and an ever-deepening collection of catalogue titles.
By utilizing the wealth of musicological information stored… Pandora recognizes and responds to each individual’s tastes. The result is a much more personalized radio experience – stations that play music you’ll love – and nothing else. (abrrevieated)
This is by far my most used iPhone and iPad app, besides my communication apps, like Mail, Twitter and Facebook.
My favorite channels that I have created:
(I won’t tell you all of them, too embarrassing!)
Alison Krauss & Union Station
Bebo Norman
Clint Black
George Strait
George Winston
Jeremy Riddle
John Williams
Kenny Chesney
Kenny G
Lady Antebellum
Madness Radio
Mannheim Steamroller
Newsboys Radio
Phil Driscoll
Spooky Symphony
(see comments below)
Star Wars (Film Score) (MY FAVORITE, not because it plays Star Wars,
but because it plays movie soundtracks.)
The Stars and Stripes
(Great during fireworks shows!)
Walt Disney (Children’s)
Yanni
TELL ME YOUR PANDORA CHANNELS in comments, please!
Today I launched a little Thanksgiving Project over on Kidology.org called “24 Days of Thanks-Giving” – basically I am providing a simpleWord doc you can download and every day from Nov. 1 until Thanksgiving add ONE thing you are thankful for.
It’s really just something I need to DO MYSELF – but I thought maybe others might want to join me, and I’d enjoy reading/seeing what others are thankful for. So you are welcome to use the Word doc, or just post in the forum what YOU are thankful for! So let me begin today, with my first post. These are NOT going to be in priority order, otherwise I’d have to go God, Family, etc. and then later on, people might judge me for putting one thing “above” or “before” another – so right out of the gate let me say, these posts will be in RANDOM ORDER of things I am THANKFUL FOR!
I’ve long said, there are three types of people in the world:
Those who make things happen
Those who watch things happen
Those who say, “What just happened?”
Steve Jobs was one of those who MADE things happen, and equipped others to make things happen too – which was why he was my hero. He enabled me to create. A lot of people spend their time talking about what others are doing, I prefer to DO. A lot of people spend their time talking about what others are writing, I prefer to WRITE. A lot of people spend their time talking about where others are going, I prefer to GO. A lot of people spend their time talking about what other people are creating, I prefer to CREATE.
Steve Jobs was the man who taught me this. When IBM said “Think” – he said “Think Different.” He didn’t listen to conventional wisdom, he listened to his inner voice and went against the grain and did what his instincts told him. Often it led to mistakes. But he never let his mistakes stop him from pushing forward toward his dreams. He had a vision of what people needed and he was relentless in giving people what he knew they needed. (and wanted, whether they realized it yet or not!)
That is why I created Kidology.org in 1994 – I had a vision of what children’s workers needed long before most were even using the Internet. I hope that someday when I am gone, I too can be remembered like Steve Jobs, as someone who never gave up, pressed on after mistakes, and pushed against the grain to give my customers what they need to succeed in their ministries.
While I have nowhere near his genius, I hope I have his tenacity to keep at it to the end.
This past Saturday my family went to an airshow in Colorado Springs. I’ll post pics about that later. About halfway through the show I noticed my iPhone was no longer in my belt holster! Of course, my iPhone being practically a part of my body and brain, I panicked. The last time I remembered using it was in the car to call my dad in the other car during a stop for directions when I made a wrong turn. So I had to wonder – was it back in my car, or had I dropped it climbing in and out of the airplanes and military vehicles with my son? Of course, I could not enjoy the rest of the show and day not knowing the fate of my iPhone. It was most likely out in my car, but if it was lost, I needed to know that, so I could check with lost and found, or replace my steps and try to ask around if anyone had found it.
I left the family watching the show, exited the entrance, rode the shuttle back to the parking lot and searched the car.
No iPhone.
It was lost.
What was I to do now?
Then I remember… “Find My iPhone” is a feature of Apple iPhones and my iPad was in the car. I fired up my Verizon Broadband card on my belt and turned on my iPad and got online. I went to www.me.com and was informed there was now a “Find My iPhone” iPad App so I downloaded it. (Me.com will no longer allow you to use the website to find your iPhone with an iPad, it forced the App use.)
It took only a minute to download the app and log into the app and within seconds my iPhone was located and YES!, it was on the military base somewhere!
Just like Google Maps, I could zoom in to right where it was:
But… then it happened…
Every time I refreshed, it MOVED!
Someone had my iPhone, and they were on the move!
Was it stolen?
Were they trying to find the owner?
Were they leaving the base?
Was it on someone’s person, or in a car?
I immediately used “Find My iPhone” to lock my phone so they could not access it without a password:
And then, I sent them a message:
So they would have a way to reach me if they looked at the phone. I realized my mistake in not borrowing a phone so that IF they DID call my wife, she would have a way to reach me and tell me! (oops!) So I wouldn’t know until I got back to the family, so now I just needed to give up my search, and head back.
Their message would look like this: (recreated later, as was the message above)
I road the shuttle back to the show entrance, expecting to wait for “the call.” I kept refreshing the map and noticed that my iPhone was moving in a pattern. That was when it hit me… perhaps it wasn’t a person who had my phone, but a vehicle… AH HA! A shuttle! Maybe I had dropped it on the shuttle on my way in while carrying chairs and all our stuff and managing a five year old!
I stopped a soldier and asked him to help me interpret the map, since I didn’t know the names to the roads and I showed him the different places the iPhone had been. (He was very impressed with my GPS technology and tracking my phone!) We switched to Satellite View and Hybrid View and he helped me figure out where the shuttle stop was. I enjoyed him pointing out all the buildings around the base! Then, I simply kept refreshing “Find My iPhone” watching my iPhone go around the circuit one more time and then stop at the point where it was dropping off people for the show. When I went in to search the shuttle – I asked the driver, (ironically the same shuttle I had just ridden back on!) if anyone had found an iPhone, and she picks it up off the dashboard and says, “I hoped someone would come back for it.” I had been that close but hadn’t yet figured out that the moving iPhone meant it was on a shuttle joyride.
While it wasn’t very fun losing my phone and walking around the parking lot and missing almost an hour of the show, it was kinda cool tracking my moving iPhone on my iPad via GPS with my broadband card and solving the mystery with modern technology.
I’d like to thank both Steve Jobs andSergeant Nelson for their help in assisting me recover my iPhone on Saturday. I was able to get back to my family and enjoy the rest of the day without the stress of having lost a valuable tool that I use in many aspects of life and work and ministry.
The highlight of my CPC this year was getting to see Barbara Baker again. I always keep an eye out for her. She is one of my favorite CPC “Regulars”. During the conference, INCM asked some of the speakers and bloggers to make some time to be interviewed for the INCM website throughout the year. However, I told INCM’s Executive Director Michael Chanley they should interview Barb!
When I first talked to her, she surprised me by asking for advice on how to incorporate a remote Internet audience of children she would be broadcasting her VBS to in the summer. I taught her how to use Ustream.tv to share her VBS over the Internet and she went home and did it! Now that’s one cutting edge lady!
Are YOU furthering your kidmin education?
