I speak later in the afternoon, but some of the speakers ahead of me are entertaining some great questions from the audience about how to get their organization focused on the right site visitors and how to select the best Content Management System. My hope is to be able to address some of these kinds of questions in the Q&A time after my presentation.

There is a matrix that has been around for a long time that allows you to select the Content Management Systems you have heard about and compare them functionally. Check out CMSMatrix.org to do that comparison. [Update] John mentioned that http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/show.php?catid=1&cat=CMS%20/%20Portals is a good option for actually test driving the CMS you are interested in checking out. [/Update]

I’ll include my presentation slides in this post after I speak this afternoon. If anyone has any followup questions on my presentation, post them in the comments to this post.

Tell Repeatable Stories
People love to listen to and retell compelling stories. Share yours in a way that is meaningful and easily remembered. Provide facts and others tidbits that are reusable in blogs and conversations.

Remember the Audience
Readers are from everywhere, but our target audience is local. As you write, think about their context and their needs. They are hurting and hungry, and only some are Christ-followers.

Extend the Relationship in Every Post
Start conversations. Realize we are on a journey together, and people want to see and be a part of it. Come alongside those who will allow it and encourage them to join in with us.

Write About What You Know and Love
Write things that are important to you. Communicate with passion and then your love for the topic will be contagious. Share your heart’s cry so others may echo it back to us and others.

Ask “How Does This Post Help the Reader”?
Resist the urge to be the “subject matter expert”. Provide growth opportunities through interesting and useful posts. Value readers time and attention by trying to inspire and engage.

Be Honest and Show Candor
If we mess up, admit to it and share a plan for how we intend to fix it. Show humility and transparency at every turn. Cultivate the grapevine rather than be overrun by it.

Be Authentic and Real
Value Authenticity over having it all together and being polished. This isn’t a seminary paper. Include the details of what prodded you to write. Show personality and preference.

Write Like You Would in an Email to a Friend
Blogging is conversational and first-person. Like emailing a friend, the approach is intentional and thoughtful, but not constrained by format, language, or protocol. Express yourself properly.

A few disclaimers before I begin this Blogging Guidelines for Pastors series.

1. These guidelines weren’t meant to be policies or rules to give the blogger a code of conduct or a set of boundaries. Kem Meyer covers that as well as I have seen it. Instead, these were all written to be encouraging pieces of wisdom and best practice. In fact, the document was originally titled “Audience Guidelines” since they focus so much on the reader.

2. I am not saying I have done all of these successfully. Have I done any of these successful? Oh, just do what I say and not what I do. I am sure they would work if I blogged often enough to try them out.

3. I *could* be infringing on the copyright of fine books such as The Blogging Church by Terry Storch, Robert Scoble’s book Naked Conversations, and any number of posts by Copyblogger and Darren Rowse over at Problogger. I say COULD because I simply don’t remember how much of these ideas were mine and how much I retrieved. Around 24-36 months ago I was fascinated by enterprise blogging and the prospects of ministry blogging, so I read everything I could. I imagine now that I regurgitated these guidelines from what I was consumed with then. Apologies in advance for any infringement and please ask me to remove egregious portions.

Legalities out of the way, here is how this will work. I will post a short guideline every business day for the next two weeks for us to ponder. If there are actually any readers out there, please comment on the impact of these for pastors and ministries so we can all learn together. Most of these you might say “duh” to because you are saturated in this stuff, but remember these are for pastors who may just be getting started with blogging or who may need a reminder about what their audience needs. Maybe I didn’t cover the whole story. Please jump in and add your bits of wisdom.

1. Blogging Guideline: Write Like You Would in an Email to a Friend
2. Blogging Guideline: Be Authentic and Real
3. Blogging Guideline: Be Honest and Show Candor
4. Blogging Guideline: Ask “How Does This Post Help the Reader?”
5. Blogging Guideline: Write About What You Know and Love
6. Blogging Guideline: Extend the Relationship in Every Post
7. Blogging Guideline: Remember the Audience
8. Blogging Guideline: Tell Repeatable Stories