Many bloggers focus on the numbers when evaluating the impact of their blog, in particular the numbers of visitors and subscribers. However, smart ministry bloggers know that the quality of their relationships with readers is just as important. If you are blogging to share your faith with others or bring them into your congregation, focus on depth as well as breadth in your interactions with readers.

Skellie at ProBlogger recently posted on "How to Transform Readers into Raving Fans." ProBlogger is aimed at a wide range of professional bloggers, hence the "raving fans" metaphor that doesn't quite fit the minister-reader relationship. But title aside, Skellie offers insights that are quite relevant to blogging in a ministry context.

Skellie observes that the principles of relating to people in-person also apply to relating to people through blogging. He writes:

We can spend a lot of time with someone but feel very little
closeness to them if they make us feel a bit stupid, or boring, or as
if our views aren’t important. On the other hand, we can feel quite
close to someone very quickly if they give us their undivided
attention, entertain us and seem to enjoy what we have to say.

Another key in building relationships of any kind is sharing our
experiences and personality: probably because both these things are
completely unique to us.

Readers have positive feelings towards you as a blogger if you are present in your writing, and take the time to respond to reader concerns. And as Skellie notes, these positive feelings make readers more likely to "treat with you with respect," "speak highly of you to others," and "trust your recommendations." If you are blogging in a ministry context, cultivating such relationships with readers is essential.

Another key point about connecting with readers is that it can help you to grow in your spiritual journey and professional capacities. On a practical level, listening to readers allows you to better understand their spiritual needs. In addition, readers too have valuable spiritual insights to share that can inspire other readers, and you!

Swerve, the blog of LifeChurch.tv pastors Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald, is in the midst of "Blogging Week." They are giving a how-to in blogging for ministers, and they explain why blogging is an important part of their own ministry. The posts are brief and cover some of the basics of blogging for ministry; this series is probably most relevant to newer clergy bloggers.

Key posts include "Why Consider Blogging?" which describes the multiple purposes for which ministers can use blogs, and "Blogging Tips," which offers a short list of stylistic consdierations. The comments on "Blogging Tips" are also useful, and go into a little more depth about what attracts and keeps readers to a blog.

This week's Monday Morning Insights features Willow Creek Association's "15 Innovations the Church Should Embrace Now."

(Thanks to Church Marketing Sucks for highlighting this article). Willow Creek Association is a multi-denominational network of churches that conducts research on congregational life and then shares its findings and recommendations with church leaders.

The "15 Innovations the Church Should Embrace Now" list is primarily focused on strategies for internet ministry. Here are some selections:

1. Podcasting - circuit riding at the speed of light

In addition to your weekly messages, how about spicing it up with
special editions? Try doing interviews with church neighbors, the
mayor, volunteers, staff intros., etc. If it’s worth preaching it’s
worth podcasting. Any church of any size can exponentially increase its
impact via MP3 technology.

7. Web Site - your church portal

Guests can watch a Webcast, read your history, and get as much
information on your church as they want. And they can do it from the
comfortable confines of their computer. Most people will visit your Web
site long before they visit a service. Your Web site is your first
impression.

WCA also recommends blogging, RSS feeds and online videos to enhance your internet ministry.

In USA Today's article "Some Search for Church by Way of the Web," Jeffrey MacDonald explores the impact of congregational websites on potential visitors.

Church shoppers "used to have to go to the service, sit in the back row and watch," says Tom Bandy, president of EasumBandy & Associates, a church consultancy. "The website has just replaced that. The color schemes, the formatting, the language, the music — those things powerfully reveal who they (in the church) want to come there and who's going to be accepted there."

Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the link.