Oct

3

Atlanta Bloggers Meetup Next Week

Post Category: Blog Posts, Blogging, Conferences 

I’m so excited about meeting so many of you at the Atlanta Bloggers Meetup next week! Between going to Catalyst and hanging out with other bloggers, it’s going to be like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.

I also found out earlier this week that the Dealy Viper Shin-Dig will be taking place later that evening at the same location as the Blogger Meetup so if you hang around you’ll get a chance to meet Mike Foster, Jud Wilhite and the rest of the Deadly Viper crew. The one-and-only Anne Jackson will also be on hand capturing all the juicy details for CatalystBackstage and I’ll finally get to meet one of my favorite bloggers, Jon Acuff (StuffChristiansLike). We may even have a surprise visitor stop by!

Many of you have been asking who all is going to be at the meetup. Here’s the list of everyone who has registered so far. If you have some time before the conference check out some of these amazing bloggers:

Remember, Twitter will be abuzz with activity during the conference as well (#catalyst08 is the hash tag to use and follow). I’m looking forward to meeting and hanging with all of you! See you next week in Atlanta!

Oct

2

5 Tips for Becoming A Social Network Butterfly

Post Category: Blog Posts, Blogging, Culture, Technology 

Becoming A Social Network Butterfly

The Internet is changing daily. In the last few years we’ve seen the rise of sites like Facebook and Twitter as millions have joined the social networking trend. But social networking isn’t just for business professionals trying to find new sales leads or socially inept computer nerds trying to retreat from the real world.

No matter what your level of experience is with blogging or social media you can expand your circle of friends and meet some amazing new people.

5 Tips To Becoming A Social Network Butterfly
Let me start by pointing out that the goal isn’t to meet so many new people that you develop a large group of shallow relationships. The key to social networking is meeting enough people so that you can cultivate deeper relationships with those you click with. Here are 5 tips for becoming a social  network butterfly everyone wants to meet.

1. Make Yourself Easy To Find
Perhaps the simplest and most obvious way to get connected online is to get yourself out there! There are a host of popular SN sites that make it easy to meet new people. Some of the more popular ones include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, StubleUpon, YouTube, Vimeo and LinkedIn (we won’t mention MySpace, I’m still trying to pretend it doesn’t exist).

However, one of the biggest mistakes I see people making on their blogs is failing to provide easy links to all their social network profiles. If you’re going to capitalize on networked relationships then make it easy for visitors to your blog to find where else you are online. Popular social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk does a great job of this on his blog. Make the most out of your online presence by making yourself easy to find.

2. Cultivate Shared Interests
As you begin to develop your online relationships you’ll find you related to some people better than others. The beauty of social networking is that it allows you to connect with people that have similar likes and interests as you no matter where in the world they live. There are several new sites and tools that help facilitate meeting people with shared interests.

Meetup is one of the largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group around an interest or activity. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities.

Roov is a new online community launched earlier this summer that “connects like-minded individuals around their shared experiences and passions within their church and city.” It was designed to help facilitate new relationships and build community within the church.

There are a variety of other social networking tools that allow you meet new people that share your interest, hobby, affinity or passion.

3. Discover New Connections
Just meeting and associating with people online who have the same tastes and style would greatly limit you. There are certain online “circles” you may feel more comfortable hanging in but why not leverage the power of social networking tools to broaden your interests and meet new people.

Most of the people you interact with online probably became your “friend” through another online friend or a link off of their site. The old adage, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is just as true on the web. The most successful social networkers have expanded their social circles to include thousands or tens of thousands.

One good way to make new connections online is to harness the power of Google Alerts. Simply type in the search term of your choice, such as the name of your favorite author or an area of social need you’re passionate about. Select “Blogs” in the search type to limit the alerts to just blogs that mention those keywords you chose. Choose how often you’d like to receive notifications, type in your email address and click the ‘create alert’ button.

You can create as many of these alerts as like and manage them from your Google account. You’ll be amazed as the new connections start showing up in your inbox.

You can also use Twitter’s Search functionality to perform real-time searches of what people are saying on Twitter. This is another great way to meet new people on Twitter who are already talking about the things you’re interested in but may not run in your social networking circles.

4. Go Deeper With Key Relationships
Sure, you may have 535 friends on Facebook and follow 796 people on Twitter but what fun is that? The ultimate goal here isn’t to see how many people you can follow on Twitter (even though some people take that approach) but to find new people that you can get to know better.

Most social network or blogging relationships start with the “comment exchange” - I leave a comment on your blog, you leave a comment on mine. Don’t just limit yourself to “comment relationships” though. If you’re clicking with someone then shoot them an email, forward them a link you think they would enjoy reading. You may even chat with Skype or AIM.

You’re going to develop lots of relationships online but you won’t necessarily get to know everyone on the same level. Take the time to go deeper with people you really like.

5. Meet In Person
The ultimate goal of social networking isn’t to be stuck behind the computer all day hanging out with our “virtual friends.” In spite of all the great networking tools that about on the Internet today, nothing beats good old-fashioned face-to-face.

Be sure to check out local social networking sites in your area to see if there are any opportunities for connecting over shared interests. Meetup.com is a great resource for this but in my area there’s also sites like Smaller Indiana that help facilitate meetups.

I’ve been blogging for 9 months and I already have a network of people that I can hook up with for coffee or lunch in nearly every major metropolitan hub in the country. You just can’t develop a network of relationships like that anywhere else.

Next week I’ll be hooking up with 60+ bloggers at the Bloggers08 Atlanta Meetup, many of whom I’ll be meeting for the first time.  I’ve also had the chance to meet some amazing people in person that I would have never been able to meet were it not for my social network.

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Good luck on using these 5 tips to expand your online circle of friends. Social Networking isn’t just a trend or buzz-word, its a chance for you to make and develop new relationships with people you would otherwise never had the opportunity to meet. I’d love to hear more ideas and tools you use for your social networking.

My Social Networking Hangouts:

Sep

24

Atlanta Bloggers Meetup - October 9

Post Category: Blogging, Conferences 

Will you be in Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference October 8-10? If so you won’t want to miss the Atlanta Bloggers Meetup on Thursday night.

WHEN: Thursday, October 9
TIME: 6:30 PM
WHERE: Loafing Leprechaun (map)
RSVP at Bloggers08.com

This is going to be an amazing time to hang with some of the coolest bloggers from across the country. Spots for this meetup are limited to the first 60 people who RSVP so sign up today!

Aug

5

3 Stories That Have Touched My Heart

Post Category: Authenticity, Blog Posts, Blogging 

Since I’ve been blogging there have been several people whose story Lisa and I have really connected with.

CJ & Andrea Mills
The first was CJ and Andrea Mills. CJ is a special blog buddy because he happened to be my 100th blog subscriber. Back in May while on vacation in South Carolina Andrea went into labor two months early and had little baby Asher who only weighed 4 pounds 9.7 ounces.

Our family checked their blog daily and prayed for Asher who struggled with health problems associated with being born so soon. My daughters knew CJ, Andrea, Jadyn and Asher all on a first-name basis as they were all in our prayers so often

I’m excited to say that God did an amazing miracle in Asher and he is now healthy, strong and growing. Our family still looks forward to the first time we get to meet this little guy we spent so much time praying for.

Adam & Karen Owens
The second family Lisa and I have spent a lot of time praying for is Adam & Karen Owens. Their little boy Gavin was born with a host of health problems including Mitochondrial disease and is TPN dependent which means he receives all his nutrition intravenously via a feeding tube.

Adam and Karen live a life that I can’t even begin to imagine. It’s not unusual for Lisa and I to wake up in the morning and read Adam or Karen’s post and find that Gavin spiked a fever overnight and had to be taken to the hospital which means living in the Ronald McDonald house for several days or longer.

Just yesterday Karen took Gavin at 12:30 am and didn’t get checked into their room until 4 am. Karen wrote on her blog, “I didn’t even bother going to sleep, instead I’ve been sitting here just wondering how much longer we can do this. I try to stay positive but on a day like today I just have to question…What in the heck is He trying to do to us?”

Honestly, I don’t even know what to say to someone who is going through something like that. The most I can do is continue to pray for them and encourage you to do the same. Add them to your blog reader, leave a comment and let them know you’re praying for them.

Matt, Liz & Madeline
Matt’s blog is one that Lisa really connected with. He shares the story of Madeline’s birth in March of this year. Shortly after her birth his wife Liz was getting up from her bed to hold their daughter for the first time when she passed out. A pulmonary embolism took her life leaving Matt to raise their first and only daughter on his own.

It’s a girtty, honest, painful look at the struggles of day-to-day life raising a child on your own while trying to make sense of the tragedy of losing the love of your life. I’ve seen Lisa read his blog many times with tears running down her cheek.

I try to put myself in his shoes but I can’t even imagine going through what he’s been through. To experience the happiest and most hearbreaking moments in your life, all within 24 hours?

These are just a few of the stories that have touched my heart and driven me to my knees in prayer.

Jul

23

10 Blogging Terms You Should Know and Use

Post Category: Blog Posts, Blogging, Culture 

If you’re new to blogging or have been around the block a few times you may have seen a few words thrown casually around on blogs that you haven’t heard before. You desperately want to fit in so you try dropping them into your posts, emails or conversations with your co-workers.

“Man, I’ve been getting some strong trackbacks on my RSS ping server for my post.”

Their laughter caused you to hang your head in shame vowing you would never again try to fit in with the cool blogger crowd. You thought you would be destined to count the cobwebs on your blog posts while all the big bloggers had fun.

Don’t worry, help is on the way. Here are 10 blogging terms explained for you so you can sound smart and be a better blogger (courtesy of blogossary.com).

Ten points for every word you can use in your comment.

HT - Hat Tip
A hat tip is an acknowledgment to someone (or a website) for bringing something to the blogger’s attention. Hat tip is also, sometimes, abbreviated as h/t or HT. (ht: transitionpete for this definition)

Blogosphere
The blogosphere is the entirety of the blogging community and it’s one of my favorite blogging words. It encompasses all blogs, personal, business, private, and otherwise.The blogosphere can also be used when talking about all the people who blog or manage a blog.

Blog Hop or Blog Hopping
Blog hop, also known as blog hopping, is to jumping quickly from one blog to another to skim the entries or to leave comments. I’ve done this many time. On a side note, if you are going to “blog hop” be sure to read enough of the post before leaving a comment or you could wind up commenting out of context (you know who you are). ;-)

Trackback
A trackback is a way for one blog to notify another that it is linking to one of its entries. An excerpt with a link to the linking blog usually appears on the referenced blog.

Link Love
Link love is posting a link to sites or blogs, usually unsolicited, that you enjoy, admire, or find useful. (example: if you like BradRuggles.com, consider spreading some link love!) On the other hand…

Link Whore
A link whore is someone who solicits links to their blog regularly or seems/is desperate to receive links to their blog. Some people think it leads to link abuse while others use links to build genuine community among their readers. I don’t know exactly where the line is between spreading “link love” and becoming a “link whore” but usually people are quick to point out when you cross it.

Permalink
A permalink is the contraction of permanent link and is the URL for an individual blog entry. If you ever want to link to a certain post rather than the entire blog, you would link to the permalink. The easiest way to do this is to click on an individual post title to go to that posts’ page and then copy the address from the address bar of your browser (example: the permalink for this blog post is: http://www.bradruggles.com/2008/07/23/10-blogging-terms )

Troll
Someone who leaves comments on a post solely to antagonize the author. Trolls thrive on attention so the best way to get rid of them is not to give them any. I’ve also found that they really don’t like marshmallows so keep a handly supply close to you when you blog.

Comment Spam
A comment left on a blog entry for the sole purpose of promoting a product, usually pharmaceuticals, gambling, or porn, and gaining links. It’s bad enough that we’ve had to deal with regular spam in our email, now we’ve got comment spam? (hint: if you have a WP blog, the Akismet plugin works wonders!)

Dooced
To lose one’s job due to entries published on a blog. The term was coined when Heather B. Armstrong lost her job due to entries published on her blog about co-workers. She now has one of the most successful blogs the the blogosphere so apparently getting ‘dooced’ pays off.

Jul

20

40 Day Fast: Putting Shoes on Jesus’ Feet

Post Category: Authenticity, Blog Posts, Blogging, Makes You Think, Social Justice 

Today’s my day to blog and fast for the 40 Day Fast and I’m fasting all day from…my shoes.

As I’m sure you figured out from Friday’s post, I had an ulterior motive for asking how many shoes you own. The average American owns at least 10 pair of shoes. The key words there are ‘at least’. Many of us own way more.

Last year alone over 14.8 billion pairs of shoes were produced to be sold to consumers who are only too happy to purchase them. That equals out to over 2 pair of shoes for every man, woman and child on the planet.

Unfortunately, while millions of Americans wake up each morning and choose what shoes they’ll wear based on their outfit and activity, there are still 300 million children around the world whose tiny little feet are left unprotected.

TOMS ShoesThat’s why I’m excited to tell you about an organization with you called TOMS Shoes - shoes for tomorrow. It was founded by Blake Mycoskie on a question. What if there was a company that gave away one pair of brand new shoes for every pair purchased? Since 2006 that is exactly what TOMS has done.

To date they has given away 10,000 pair of shoes to needy children in Argentina and 50,000 in South Africa. They’re already on track for giving away 200,000 shoes this year alone!

In Matthew 25 we’re told that when Jesus returns some will be honored for attending to his physical hunger and needs. They ask “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you?” To which Jesus replied, “In as much as you have done for the least of these, you have done it unto me.”

Somewhere around the world Jesus is walking barefoot across the hot, rocky ground longing for something to protect his feet. When we give to organizations like TOMS we’re doing so much more than just buying a pair of shoes. We’re putting shoes on the feet of Jesus.

Today’s post is part of the 40 Day Fast, a collection of 80 bloggers joining together to shed light on needs around the world and the people who are making a difference. Joining me today is Shawn blogging about child trafficking in America.

Jul

13

Haven’t Posted On My Blog

Post Category: Blogging 


(ht: kfailor)

Jul

10

Pete the Rockstar Pastor

Post Category: Blogging, Completely Crazy 

I’ve officially given up on trying to be as cool as Pete Wilson. There is no way I can top today’s post.

I’ve jokingly called him a “rockstar Pastor” - not to be derogatory but because he’s just such an awesome guy (and he does have a little bit of a tame rockstar look going on). Well, on Tuesday he gave the term “rockstar Pastor” a whole new meaning.

Pete, Derek Bruner and Brian Alexander had the opportunity to hang out backstage with C.C. DeVille, the lead guitarist for Poison, after their concert in Nashville. CC recently came to faith in Christ and had lots of questions.

Check out Pete, Derek and Brian’s blog posts to read the whole amazing story. Pete also has a great video of their conversation.

Jul

1

Get Your Grav On

Post Category: Blog Posts, Blogging, Technology 

I just added a feature to my blog that I should have added a LONG time ago. This new feature is called Gravatars, which stand for “Globally Recognized Avatars.” Pull that one out at your next dinner party if you want to impress the socks off someone (or let them know how big of a geek your really are).

In simple terms, Gravatar allows you to associate a small photo of yourself so when you comment on a blog your avatar appears. It’s simple and can be set up in less than 2 minutes.

So what are you waiting for? Go get your Gravatar on! Then come back and leave a comment so we can put a face with a name!

Jun

26

It’s Official - My Wife is Now A Blogger!

Post Category: Blog Posts, Blogging, Family 

I’m excited to announce something that I’ve been waiting a long time to say:

MY WIFE HAS A BLOG!!!

That’s right - the love of my life, my baby’s momma - has now joined the blogosphere! If you want to get inside the mind of the only woman in the world crazy enough to marry me, here’s your chance.

When you visit make sure you read the post “Why do boys pee standing up?“ (for the record, I have great aim!

So give her a grand welcome - subscribe, leave a comment, twitter. I love her and I’m pretty sure you will too!

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