This is my 100^th blog!  I wouldn’t know this except for the fact that WordPress is meticulous in its statistical analysis of how well my blog does or how well my blog doesn’t.  I began blogging a year ago and have averaged two blog posts per week.  That was my goal when I began and I intend to maintain that pace, perhaps occasionally adding a third “bonus” blog in there from time to time.  As I’ve blogged, here are some things I’ve noticed and learned, or even observed about blogging.

• All the experts I’ve read on it say that a perfect blog is about 500 words.  They are right.  Less than 500 words seems weak, more than 500 words becomes an essay.  I am guilty of writing essays; so this is something I need to work on as I move forward.  {this blog has 488 words}

• Funny blogs do better than serious blogs in terms of re-postings and comments.  I don’t intentionally work to be funny, but my personality is sarcastic and humor comes somewhat natural to me.  Perhaps if I worked at it more I might get more views.

•  It surprises me which old blog posts still get hits.  One of my early blogs was an analysis of the movie Megamind.  I get hits on that one almost every week.  Why?

• As a writer I like to write about things that matter to me, like church, theology, preaching and such.  However, the posts that receive the most hits are those that are about current events.  Examples of this are posts I wrote about the killing of Bin Laden, Harold Camping, or Facebook.  In fact, these get ‘hit’ far more than others so much that at times I consider changing the blog to a current events blog.

• I actually thought I would use my blog to communicate to my church, however, that has not really happened.  Only in times of crisis has my blog been helpful at disseminating information.

• Bullets, numbering, and listing is better for blogging than paragraphs.  Reading on a computer screen is very difficult for many people (me included) therefore people can grab the information better if it is a list format.

•  I’ve yet to find a layout for my blog that I like.  I do not know if this reflects my own predilection for content over style but the layouts offered by WordPress always leave me nonplussed.

• I enjoy writing blogs about politics (like the debates etc…) but these are not very popular.  I am non-partisan and I think that most people only read political information that buttresses their own political views instead of challenges them.  I don’t think I will do that much more on the Pastor Greenbean Blog.

If you’re interested, here are my top five favorite posts.  Enjoy

PREACHING WITH THE AMAZON KINDLE

THE PERFECT GRILLED CHEESE

LNI SAFETY PLAN

FACEBOOK RULES I NEED TO REMEMBER

CADILLACS, BEEF, AND LIGHT BULBS