Blog Madness & Viral Promotion

This is the third year I’ve run “blog madness” competitions in March, and they are still amazing.

• SBC Voices blog madness
• Ministry To Children blog madness

Both generate excitement and attention in the blog niche they serve. Plus they push solid traffic back to the blogs that participate. It’s a win-win.

The competition on SBC Voices is a little tired because that blog has declined over the last year. But the Ministry To Children version has surprised me, especially the level of traffic coming from Facebook.

On the technical side, I’m running one from a Poll Daddy plugin and the other from WP-polls. They both work well, but I  went with Poll Daddy because I didn’t want the extra tables on my Ministry To Children database.

In other news, the seasonal traffic for Easter Sunday School ideas is big as always. I just hope the fresh links will help the Bible Trivia and Coloring Pages sections to gain some ground.

While I’m throwing out links, I always wanted to mention the Christian Ad Network I’ve joined called “Beacon Ads.” I’m really pleased with their server speed and client base. It helps to have an extra income stream.

On the video front, my channel on YouTube has done well. I’m up to 50 videos and most are being discovered. The best part is the added connection with readers. Here is the most popular one about children’s ministry.

Giveaway From Christian Book Notes

Terry Delaney is offering a great giveaway on his Christian Book review blog. You can win an autographed copy of Russell Moore’s new book Adopted For Life, all you have to do is leave a comment and say you want it.

Click here for details and to enter the contest.

On the marketing side, this will be a real breakout for Christian Book Notes. Terry has been writing some great content and the challenge is getting noticed in the increasingly crowded blogoshpere. We are planning several “giveaway” promotions to build momentum.

The Power of “Friends”

Over on My Christian Blogs, I’ve been testing a promotion idea that I am calling the “Friends program.” Basically, I’m giving regular bloggers a chance to be listed along side all the best Christian bloggers.

The response has been very strong. So far, 65 bloggers have been approved. This is well beyond my initial goal.

When I think it over, it makes sense. What is one thing I can give away that can’t be bought? Targeted exposure for their blogs. As My Christian Blogs becomes a major website (hitting 400+ pageviews already & aiming much higher) it will send waves of traffic to the blogs I’m listing.

It’s a win-win situation.

In case you were wondering, I’m running the whole thing through a Google Reader shared clip right now. It’s easy to administer and doesn’t add any stress to my website load times.

Free Bible Devotions + Free Books

To promote one of my new websites, I’m giving away $400 in WTSbooks gift cards.

Check out Devotional Christian, a new website that features all the best daily Bible devotions in one place.

Why such a big giveaway? This promotion is something of a calculated risk. I want to spread the word quickly about the site and pay it forward. I’ll be detailing the strategy behind this promotion in my newsletter for Christian bloggers.