Wednesday, September 18, 2019

State o’ the Blog 2019

I was surprised to find that it’s only been about nine months since our last “State of the Blog” post. Seems like longer somehow. 2019 has been a busy year to date, with lots of changes in my own routine, and a few in IC’s as well.

It’s been a while since IC, Bernie and I could all be in the same room to chat about where we think we should be going with ComingUntrue. The most obvious issue that presents itself when we manage some phone time is that coming up on six years of daily blogging, we cannot help but notice our viewing stats are pretty flat over the last 12 months. Not tailing off, happily, but definitely not spiraling into the stratosphere either. Part of this may be down to my reluctance to pitch the blog on social media, part of it may be the esoteric nature of more than a few of our posts, and part of it may be — if we want to be honest with ourselves — stagnation.

Better to burn out than to fade away, said one of the prophets. Or maybe it was just Neil Young.

Anyway, none of us voted for working harder at stagnating, so that’s off the table.

Points to Ponder

Then we started to air our concerns. IC is feeling like he hasn’t got a lot to say these days. That’s too bad, because I really enjoy his solo posts ... maybe even more than our Friday tête-à-têtes, and it’s very clear from the numbers that our readers do too. But writing every day is not everyone’s cup of tea, and frankly, I’m feeling a bit burnt out too. There are more interruptions in my daily routine this year, and finding the necessary 3-5 hours a day to keep the blog from become an endless series of rehashes is getting progressively tougher. I’ve considered cutting back from daily to maybe three times a week, but I know myself pretty well and I can say with a fair bit of confidence that wouldn’t work. Publishing on Thursday would quickly become Friday, then Saturday, then next week. I need to work to regular deadlines or nothing consistent will happen. So that’s out for now.

Another concern is relevance. The big question there is relevance to whom? Despite having some pretty good tracking tools at our disposal and a fair bit of verbal and email feedback from readers, we’ve never been 100% sure who our core audience is and what you are most interested in reading about. Are we cutting ourselves off from a larger audience by not having a specific “mission” in view beyond thinking Christian-ly and growing in understanding what it means to live out faith in Christ? Maybe. That’s something to think seriously about.

Yet another concern is format. Online habits change with new technologies, and it’s possible the blog format is getting pretty close to tapped out. Blog readership is trending downward for almost everyone. One suggestion that has been floated is starting a weekly podcast to supplement our current daily offerings, one that might feature more of a round table approach. That’s only at the idea stage at the moment, so don’t expect audio anytime soon, but I throw it out there in hope of gauging reader interest in the idea.

Plenty of Plusses

On the positive side, preparing these daily posts is a great source of encouragement to me, and forces me into the scriptures in a way that has only been a net plus to my own understanding of the Bible, knowledge of God and appreciation of all the privileges we enjoy in Christ. I am always grateful for the opportunity the internet presents to reach out to and connect with our fellow believers. Your ongoing faithful support is exceedingly meaningful and much appreciated.

So I’m asking our readers for two things: prayer and feedback. You can comment on this post or reach us at mail@cominguntrue.com. If you prefer we not post your comments, just let us know.

In my own time before the Lord, I have not had any strong sense of direction about where we should be heading, and I don’t like to act unless it is under genuine conviction that this or that is the best possible move. Prayer for a clear sense of the Lord’s will for all of us would be much appreciated.

And the more feedback the better. Ideally, we would like to be responding to the real felt needs of our audience rather than winging it.

Thanks again for all your support, encouragement and prayer. We are grateful for every one of you.

On behalf of myself, Bernie and Immanuel Can, much love in Christ,

Tom


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Original image courtesy Andrea Barsanti [CC BY 2.0]

4 comments :

  1. I was wondering how long it would take for you to get to this point. After all, even under a microscope would the Bible be finite real estate and you pretty much did that. My suggestions are to summarize all this in a book, go more public in social media to liven things up with a much more belligerent audience (and who knows you may have a positive impact on many and shake the dust off your feet concerning everyone else). At least things will remain interesting to you (and others as well) and enable you to reach many more. Is that essential? You and I know it is. Have an acquaintance (friend of my son) who was on a downward spin, drinking, etc. who married the right girl. She is Protestant, active in church life, meetings, Bible class, communal activities, etc.. He learned, now goes to church, beliefs in Christ, stopped drinking, makes the right kind of friends and their marriage and life is on the up. She saved (is saving) him. Good thing is, my son, who is a good fellow but allergic to the demands imposed by a more religious outlook, is learning from him. It works, just got to keep it up or try to pass it on.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestions, Q. We'll take them under advisement. But no worries about running out of material ... just energy.

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    2. Lack of energy? I've got a fix for you. Just saw the documentary The Game Changers (see links below). I did not expect it but it is revolutionary and life changing and among other things addresses the lack of energy issue. Unfortunately, the documentary (like most truly valuable things in life) will only play in theaters for a short while but is worth getting a hold of if possible. We (all of my family) were already walking down that road based on expert advise and this documentary shows the astounding research that confirms the truth and value of where we are heading. Don't be turned off by references to body building and by Schwarzenegger, this time he and the many others got it right. The documentary in addition is extremely entertaining.

      Arnold Schwarzenegger Produces Vegan Documentary | REAL Game Changer!
      https://youtu.be/nPxiNbahZ94

      The Game Changers | Official Trailer - YouTube
      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iSpglxHTJVM&feature=youtu.be

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  2. And ... we have one thumbs-up for the podcast idea.

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