3 Years of Blogging – I Finished My Goal!

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I finished, but I am not done!  

When I started this blog 3 years ago, I made a personal commitment to it for 3 years.  I knew that most blogs die pretty quickly, but I wanted mine to persevere for at least three years.  My goal was to write three posts a week on average.  I missed that goal, only averaging 2.4 posts per week.

The first post was on November 27, 2012.  I have added 379 more posts since that one.  Besides for a handful of guest posts, I have written most all of them.  I have uploaded 230 sermons to the website.

Here are some thoughts on blogging at the three year mark.

• Having something worthwhile and significant to say three times a week is tough.  Finding the time to write a quality post can be difficult too.
• It is amazing how far the internet reaches.
• Besides for one post that saw thousands of hits and swelled a couple of months of my user numbers, I have maintained slow and consistent growth in numbers.
• I enjoy blogging as an outlet of sharing my life, God’s truth, and encouraging stories.
• Social media has driven my blog traffic.  Thus, the titles are what drive the traffic.  Most folks read a post based on the title.  They tend to like or share the post if they agree with it and want others to know about it.  Thus, often in the blogging world the most controversial or opinionated posts are what get the most hits.  While, I have tried to craft catchy titles and sometimes write opinionated pieces, I have tired to remain true to my purpose and desires.  I don’t write for traffic numbers.  I make nothing off of the blog, in fact it costs me money.  I also learned not to expect anyone to read it.  Some you think won’t will, and others you expect certainly would, do not, and that is just fine!
• I am grateful for all of the encouragement I have received.  I do not think I could have made it the three years if I did not receive much positive feedback and encouragement.
• I think blogging is good for me.  It challenges me to write, think, and engages me with a larger audience outside of just Mayfield.  I believe it helps me fulfill my ministry and work for the Lord.

Regarding future goals and plans with the blog.  I am not sure.  I did renew the site for another three years and plan on continuing at the same general pace of posts.  I hope the site will continue to grow and do not plan to change the general themes of the posts.

So I finished, but I am not done!  Thanks for staying on the journey with me.