Day: June 7, 2005

A Quick Question (or Two) for Readers

Standard

Many of you have blogs and have experienced the highs and lows of administrating them.

I’m at a serious crossroads in that I recognize that some of my directory choices for this blog have made it nearly impossible to search by either Technorati or Blogger. Asking questionsBecause of how I structured the blog a few years ago, those search engines are not tracking the blog correctly, failing to find older entries once Blogger has archived them.

What this means is that I’m considering putting the entire blog into one directory within my larger Web site. While this would fix the ability of some searches to find things on the blog, it would break every link ever made here, something I’m loathe to do. It would also displace the main page for the blog, fouling up blogrolls everywhere. More than 180 blogs link here and this would confuse people, even if I do a redirect.

Has anyone moved an established blog along these same lines? What has been your experience? I really don’t want to lose readers, but in the same regard, the blog as it stands isn’t optimally set up. I feel like I’m trying to change my college major with only a semester left till graduation, if you know what I mean. Any advice I could get would be greatly appreciated.

If I do make the move, I’m also thinking about shifting to different blog software, killing two birds with one stone. Since I already have my own Web space/domain and have not been using Blogspot, Blogger has some limitations I’d love to jettison. As a result, I’ve considered graduating to WordPress, but have been stymied by their supposed “Legendary 5 Minute Installation.” (I can tell you one thing, the folks behind WordPress should talk to Apple about ease-of-use issues because they have a ton of them regarding getting started!) Any comments on the use of WordPress would also be helpful.

Thanks!

The Christian & the Business World #1: My Qualifications for the Series

Standard

Before I start a series on Christians and the business world, I think it’s fair to let you know what my qualifications to speak on this topic are:

Zero.

Well, that’s not exactly true. What I mean is that I don’t have any unusual background that would make me an authority on the subject. That said, I’ve worked in numerous industries and ministries over the years. My list of past work experience paints me as a jack-of-all-trades, but unlike the typical jack, I have a strong tendency to become expert in what I do. Such is my personality that I can’t stand not mastering what I attempt. What this has given me is a strong eye and a discerning mind; I see what other people don’t. That has served me well over the years, but has also been a source of friction from people who don’t understand.

Over the years, I have worked for large companies like Apple Computer, small start-ups like Synchrony Communications, and contracted work within NASA, Procter & Gamble, and others. I’ve worked in every level of Christian camping ministry, from lowly counselor up to camp manager. I’ve worked in Training, Sales, Marketing, IT, the housing industry, the Christian bookstore industry, and more. I’ve seen a lot of sides of a lot of disparate organizations. If I’d been smart (and this will be the topic of one post, certainly), I would’ve been the proud owner of three or more large Rolodexes filled with a wide assortment of business contacts from all my many wanderings. Notice the “would’ve been”—very important here.

Anyway, after a number of roles that called on my writing skills, I took the plunge and went into business for myself as a freelance writer. I write everything from tech manuals to marketing copy to fiction. Again with the Jack-of-all-trades thing, even within the writing biz.

It’s my hope that this series will utilize my skills as a “j-o-a-t” to their best advantage. But most of all, I hope you all are blessed by what I have to say, even if that blessing seems discouraging at first. I’ll be the first to admit that I think that the current state of business today is at complete odds with most of the Gospel, no matter what the Christian captains of industry say. Still, the intersection of godliness and good business may be small, but it is there. Staying within that overlap in the Venn diagram is far more difficult than Christians understand, but I hope we can figure it out together and see how we Christians can weather future storms in the economy and in work, bring our salt and light to the world of business.

Next post in the series: The Christian & the Business World #2: Economic Systems