06 February 2013 ~ 9 Comments

Top Posts Of The Month and Other Awesomeness

Random

I always love doing a run down of the month. I’m trying to mix it up by doing something a little different for this month’s review to make things interesting.

I’ll first start off by saying that this month brought a huge increase in email subscribers! It is always exciting to see new subscribers! At the beginning of this month, the site had around 38 subscribers. The email subscriber list is now up to 110! I was surprised to see how many actually subscribed this past month!

I think it’s important to point out that ALL of these new subscribers came directly from Twitter. I have tried being intentional about letting the majority of my followers know about my website this month. Quite a few of them actually subscribed…if you did from my Twitter messages, just know that you are AWESOME!

Top Posts This Month

Colossians 3:2

1. Developing A New Mindset While Living An Oxymoron- There are many things that try to steal our attention and focus away from God. One of the hardest battles to face as a Christian is the battle of the mind. I believe Satan can begin to infiltrate our minds if we do not have a defense system in place.

This post was all about developing a defense system for our minds. I titled it Developing A New Mindset While Living An Oxymoron because it says exactly what Christians live out. We live in the world, yet we are called not to be of the world. It is an oxymoron.

If you haven’t checked out this post, be sure to click here to read it! It was by far the most popular post this month!

 

Prayer

2.  Complicating Prayer- This was a post I wrote because I was inspired by several people. Over the past few weeks, I have talked with many people about prayer. I have many great conversations with people every day through Twitter about God. One common thing I have found with people is that they either don’t know how to pray, or they don’t believe in the power of prayer.

This post, was an encouragement to others about prayer. We often over-complicate prayer. Instead, it should be an authentic talk with God. There is a video by Elevation Church pastor, Steven Furtick, in this post that is amazing! Click here to see it!

 

whiteflag

3. A White Flag Surrender- This was a post I wrote a few months ago on surrender. It was inspired by the song “White Flag” by Chris Tomlin. For some reason, it continually stays at the top rankings every month. If you haven’t read this post yet, click here!

 

Awesome Things to Check Out

I have found some really cool things recently that I just have to share.

First is Colton Dixon’s new album, A Messenger. I bought the record the day it came out, and it is incredible! If you do not know who Colton is, he is an awesome guy who strives to “Amplify God’s Kingdom”. I doubt he will ever read this…but just in case…YOU’RE AWESOME, COLTON!

Here’s a sampler of the entire album:

 

And now….for the funny! I love watching prank videos. There’s a prank Youtube channel called JStuStudios. I love his stuff because it is clean, and he claims to be a follower of Christ. Below is the most recent prank:

 

 

Stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

How was your month? If you have anything cool to share, drop it in the comments!

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  • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

    Congrats on a great month and so many new subscribers! That’s really awesome! I need to be better at utilizing twitter. I feel pushy (which I shouldn’t) when I tell people about my blog or newsletter. How do you word your twitter invites to come to your blog? 

    • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

      It’s interesting because I have over 5,000 followers now…whenever I publish a tweet with a link to my blog, I don’t get much response. However, I have been telling people about it by messages directed at them. It’s more personal and invites the person to come check it out.
      I would say I get a subscriber in about every 10 I talk to. The first few days of doing it, I actually hit the tweet limit! It was worth it though.

      • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

        WOW. I didn’t even know there was a tweet limit!

        I’ve tried to personally invite people to my blog. I even make sure to visit there’s but so far it hasn’t helped me.
        I do this with new twitter followers. Are you initiating the twitter following too?

        • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

          What do you mean by Twitter following?

          I have found that following people helps you gain a wider audience. I try to follow as many people as I can around my age range or in my same interests. I obviously do not read every tweet because that would be impossible. However, I utilize the Twitter lists and put only the people I want to read every tweet from on there.

          • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

            When I first began twitter I tried to follow as many as I could that were similar to me but over time I simply follow back those who follow me. I still sometimes initiate the contact, but usually I just follow back. Guess I need to be more aggressive in seeking out people.

            I’ve never used the lists option. Guess I should check into that as well.
            Thanks for the tips. Any more you have is greatly appreciated.

          • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

            Yeah, I have found that initiating contacts is more useful. Even Michael Hyatt initially followed everyone. That’s mostly how he got a big following on Twitter.
            I think there is nothing wrong with following people first. In fact, I highly encourage it for someone who is seeking to build an audience.
            Being engaging is also important. I take time to respond to the tweets that need a response. I also favorite tweets from my followers. Doing this shows that you don’t just care about your own content, but you care about others. I have also found that the more links you post (blog links, subscribe links, etc) the more it takes away from your presence. People want you to be real…not just a “blogger”.
            I have found that the more personable I am, the better it is for everyone.
            Hope this helps!

          • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

            Thanks Brandon.
            I will try to engage more people an initiate contact/following.
            Just need to find the time :)

            Have a great weekend. God bless.

  • http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe

    January was an amazing month over at my blog.  My top post was thoughts following an auto accident that my wife had at the end of December.  http://www.jonstolpe.com/2013/01/02/crash-accidents-happen-and-god-still-shows-up/

    I’m excited for the year ahead.  I’m not sure that February will be able to match January as far as traffic goes, but I’m excited for new things to write about and new people who I have been meeting through the blog world.

    • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

      I remember that post! Although February is a shorter month, I think that you still might have a bigger month. As long as there is growth, you are doing something right. It doesn’t always have to be in terms of traffic.