Copyright 2011 @ Theresa Harvard Johnson
If you are serious about writing as ministry then you need a web presence. A web presence, as we discuss it within Voices of Christ, simply speaks to you directing people to expanded information about your literary ministry or service online – particularly through the development of a website or a blog. Having a web presence isn’t an option anymore, but a necessity for the progressive writer seeking to expand their reach.
As a prophetic writer matures in their scribal calling, they generally move from a place of simply sharing their prophetic writings with very specific people to a place of urgency within their spirit to publishing compilations of writings or publishing books by divine inspiration to a wider audience. When this time comes, that writer can’t delay as the Spirit of the Lord moves in them, and push them to act. But for whatever reason, many get stuck here, never moving past that place of urgency to fulfillment.
Long gone are the days of depending solely on business cards and flyers to raise awareness about your literary assignments. Long gone are the days of building a website or blog, and then letting that stale content stay un-updated year after year. Long gone are the days of promoting products solely by email or depending on free help to get you started. And LONG GONE are the days of choosing between whether to have a website OR to have a blog.
In truth, blogs are quickly becoming the NEW website – especially for authors and writers! Websites are quickly becoming tools for organizations and businesses pushing catalogs, complicated services or rich content. With Blog Services, you can quickly customize the look and feel for your site and your content with some planning and a few clicks of the mouse. The greatest difference between websites and blogs in this day and age is how the information on the blog is organized verses how you would organize it on a website. For today’s authors and writers – especially prophetic writers, developing a blog might very well be the better alternative.
You see, people are in a hurry due to the age in which we live, and rarely want to spend time calling you and holding long, drawn out conversations or relying on a rarely checked email address to stay in touch. Instead, those business cards and flyers are now expected to lead those assigned to you to “living, lively and relevant” content with a reasonable expectation of immediate follow-up whenever requested. Trends show that people are more likely to follow your writings or your literary ministry online – sometimes anonymously – until the time comes when they are ready to reach out and connect in a greater way.
Scribes of the King, it’s time to break the old patterns of slothfulness and procrastination; and devote the time needed to strategically build your web presence beyond what you “feel like doing” verses what “needs to be done.” To move forward in this area, here are some things you need to know and some actions you may need to take:
1. Finances and time are no longer excuses for not getting started. There are many quality, well developed services available to help you build a starter website or enter the world of blogging completely free. Set aside some time for those in your life who have functioning websites or active blogs and ask them how to get started. Visit some existing blogs, websites online to see what you can do and begin researching available services online. A couple of online examples for free services include wix.com for websites; and blogger.com for blogs. Your primary place of investment in this journey will be in prayer – to find out specifically what the Lord wants you to do; and them making a conscious investment of time and commitment to get those things done.
People of God, DO NOT DESPISE SMALL BEGINNINGS. Just learning to move and navigate through services like these help build your understanding, and when you’re ready for the giant steps you’ll have some foundational knowledge and understanding to fall back on. Some people may already have the resources they need to make those giant financial steps of letting someone else handle this process for them. This is good, but that route also comes with its own set of concerns and challenges. In mentoring others, I often encourage every soul to seek to become an expert in everything that concerns them and their ministries. In doing so, it leaves very little room for future error and give you value when helping others fulfill the vision on the inside of them.
2. You can be found. People don’t thumb through phone books anymore — at least not like they used to. They would rather pick up their mobile device, laptop or sit before their computer screen and type in your name, ministry name or even the title of your book before ever considering looking you up through the yellow pages! As with all things, use wisdom concerning what you share and how you share it. Building the right web presence for your specific assignments, places you in the search-engine pool where you can easily be located. The more times your name, your book or the subject matter of your writing surfaces in a web-search – the more likely someone is to click that link and be directed to your contact page.
In addition to blogging and building websites, there is also the option of participating in social networks like Ning, FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, FriendFeed and a host of others. The key here is that you are limited in the type of content you can post, how you post it and you don’t always have full control on how that content is used or organized. On the flip-side, your ability to connect with others – whom you might not ever meet otherwise – is unlimited as long as you are committed to regularly participating in these forums. These types of settings aren’t for everyone, but they do offer an excellent avenue of raising awareness about your scribal projects. Just like blogging and website development, these social outlets allow you to learn just a little bit more about the power of the web.
For those who have a fear of the web or who are new to technology, you can take a more controlled approach to blogging like joining an interest-specific blogging community. For example, as prophetic writers we must be cautious of where we post our writing and mindful of who has access to it. By joining a trusted network of scribes – like The Scribal Anointing ning network which has an online presence as well as a tangible foundation – you can reach a specific audience, control who does and does not have access to your writings and get relevant feedback as you grow and get strengthened in the midst of your ministry.
I would be remiss not to say this one more time: Don’t allow slothfulness, procrastination AND inconsistency to keep you from moving forward. At the end of the day, I’ve found that these are the blockages that prevent most scribes from moving to a place of wider recognition. They lack the conscious efforts of being CONSISTENT with their blogs or websites. People of God, if we can make time for the things that interest our souls how much more time should we give to what is required of us by God.
Many times, the hidden treasure is tucked away inside that thing that YOU REFUSE to do.
