Recently Joe Carter of the Evangelical Outpost gave some great blogging advice I'd like to share with fellow bloggers who might not read EO.
"Unfortunately, we bloggers rarely appreciate the power we possess. Instead of being constantly amazed at the potential influence we wield, we carp and whine (if only to ourselves) that we don't have the links of Glenn Reynolds or the site hits of Daily Kos. We believe that since thousands of people could be reading our blogs that we should have thousands of readers. If we don't then we judge ourselves to be inadequate."
….
"If you have a blog that is read by more than a few dozen readers then you are making a bigger impact than you probably realize. If you have 50 people reading your blog then you have more people in your 'classroom' than most professors at Harvard. If you have 90 readers then you have more people in your 'pews' than most pastors have in their churches every Sunday. And if you have more than 1000 readers a month you have a larger 'circulation' than most poetry and short story magazines."
"But having a larger audience doesn't necessarily translate into having more influence. As Malcolm Gladwell argues in his book The Tipping Point, the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship is about 150….Now consider what would happen if each of these 150 readers read and thought about what you wrote on your blog for five minutes every day. Five minutes may seem insignificant but it has an exponential effect: with only 5 minutes every day, six days a week, every month, you will have the reader's attention for more than one entire day ' 26 hours ' every year. With only 150 consistent readers you will have gained the equivalent 'mindspace' of one person for one entire day for almost five straight months. This is what I call the '5/150 Principle': capturing the mindspace of 150 people for 5 minutes can create an astounding opportunity for influence."
I don't know if I have 150 readers, but appreciate the ones I have. If you've been reading my blog and just lurking, please consider delurking and saying hi. You don't have to offer any controversial opinions on anything. Just say hi and be friendly. 
Funky Dung
Comments 3
I, for one, have felt extremely fortunate (and a little awestruck, to be honest) from the first time I realized I had one or two steady visitors. Actually, the mere possibility that thousands could be reading is monstrous enough to give me a slight case of pagefright.
I can't imagine how it must feel to know thousands are tuning in, and I can't recall ever really feeling indignant that my audience hasn't yet reached the level of, say, an Ales Rarus. I'm sure the scope of your influence exceeds that which you are aware — most of us (even those who exist only offline) tend to underestimate the effects of our ripples.
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Posted 22 Sep 2005 at 9:14 am ¶It is good to keep things in perspective and to bear in mind that most of the biggest either have an unfair advantage or tend to just spout the sorts of things a certain group likes to hear in a more readable manner.
dlw
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 at 1:07 am ¶Thanks for the words of encouragement. My interests are multiple and my viewpoints somewhat out of the mainstream. The thought that even a few readers can make a difference is encouraging and motivation to write a little more carefully - and prayerfully.
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Posted 29 Sep 2005 at 11:07 pm ¶Post a Comment