Blog Retention

We've all seen it, I think. We find someone who is absolutely elect. They commit to baptism in the first lesson, and make every necessary change to repent and be baptized. Soon, they're the newest member in the church, excited to be going to the temple, get a calling, go home or visiting teaching... A few weeks later, they miss a couple Sundays here and there, and then stop coming altogether. What happened to that elect person with Christ's light shining in their eyes?

I'm noticing a trend amongst missionary blogs that makes me a bit concerned. A missionary gets an idea for a blog, and it's brilliant! So they write some posts, maybe even two in one week. They post regularly for a month or so, then they miss a week here and there, then the posts stop coming entirely, like the missionary has forgotten that they have a blog.

The problem in both cases is the same. Becoming an active member and creating a well-established blog is hard work, which sometimes isn't foreseen until the hard times come. The days get busy, the week rushes by, and before you know it, Sunday has come again and you have to make the decision again: Am I going to go to church today or not?

Not Fat Cyclist

I had the opportunity to meet a blogger called Fat Cyclist, whose blog makes him a bit of money and has given him some fame amongst the cycling world. He did not get to that point by casually posting entries here and there. It might have started out that way, but it took him a lot of work to get to the point where he is today. One of his keys to success is his schedule. He posts on certain days of the week when people are more likely to be reading his blog,and it is the same every single week. (I know it's not Friday or the weekend because fewer people are online at that time.) On top of that, he writes several posts in advance and keeps them in reserve for when he publishes them. He keeps a list of ideas and updates it frequently.  He spends a lot of time thinking about his blog.

Now, we're not trying to become Fat Cyclist. We've got other things to be thinking about as missionaries. But we have to set aside time to think about and write our blogs. The other week, I decided that my day to update my blogs would be Wednesdays, and I would spend the rest of the week writing the posts with Monday being my best day to do so. I missed my deadline last week due to unforeseen circumstances, but then I tried to make that happen as soon as possible.

The trick is to make the decision and schedule now. On Sundays, we go to church. On Mondays, I write my blog posts for the week. On Wednesdays, I proof-read and post them. This schedule should be made before you even put up your first blog post, and then everything else should fall into place. If you don't have one, I challenge you to make one. You don't have to post weekly, but you must post regularly. Make your blog an Active blog.