What can I say about this website and blog?

Found this set of 5 questions in my inbox from a new visitor to my website / blog.
via http://dimland.blogspot.com/2011/04/dimland-radio-4-16-11-show-notes.html

I have few questions that I would like to ask:
1. Who is your primary audience for the website?
2. What is the vision of the website?
3. What is the mission of the website?
4. Where do you want to take your audience to?
5. What would be the primary reason why your audience member should log on to this website at least once per week?

Good questions. Essential questions for an organization. Good questions for people who want to have a personal mission statement or life plan.

I honestly do not think in those categories for myself. So I don’t readily have answers to offer along those lines. Nothing to hide. No secret agenda.

What I can describe is why I put time and energy into a website and blog, when a majority of other people choose to not. I know there are other people who won’t start a website or blog without answers for these 5 questions, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Why do I blog? Because I can. This website and blog is an overflow of my being and a part of expressing who I am and what I think about.

I’m an ideas guy. I have lots of ideas, and they don’t do me much good if I just keep them to myself. So I share them freely. Bringing things to light. That’s what’s wonderful about the internet, people can share freely, and it can benefit 100s and 1000s.

I started blogging 12 years ago by sharing about my life. Back then it wasn’t called blogging, it was an online journal, a digital diary. My intent is to live my life as an open book with no pretense, and in so doing, my hope is that people can see how Christ has made a difference in and through my life, warts and all. I pace myself at 2 to 3 blog posts per week, and I don’t force it. If it doesn’t come, or if I don’t have the muse’s inspiration, I’ll miss a blog post or 2. (And that’s okay. Life is about grace, not performance, not a competition, not coercion.)

I share stuff on my website, lots of information and links. I post information that I’m interested in — things that don’t get enough attention and yet are important to me. There are plenty of websites and blogs for topics like news, tech, celebrity gossip, politics, business… and some of them make good money doing that, because lots of people are interested in those things. (So if you happen to be interested in a topic that lots of other people are interested in, you can make good money. If not, then, not so much.)

I’ll let you in on the back stories to why I built these destination web pages (in a barren land) and/or recurring themes of my blog:

multiethnic church – too many churches in America are unintentionally segregated. They’re stuck and they need help. Lots of help. This page has links that can help. There are other goodies out there now, good.

Asian American ministry – faith has to be contextualized and we’ve got too many issues in our next gen Asian American context that go unpublished, when the internet could be giving voice to our generation, empowering us, breaking stereotypes, giving grace and healing, connecting us for collaboration..

Tim Keller – before he became a popular author and conference speaker, he had pastored for years, and his sermons were a master mix of intelligence (not dumbed-down), culturally astute (not demonizing), and graciously kind (not belligerent).. I was introduced to him by a friend back in the early 2000s, and now that there are others pointing to his resources, I can move on to other topics..

Yogurtland – their website is built-in Flash. That makes them invisible to most search engines and to iPads and iPhones. I love their self-serve FroYo. They deserve to be visible and findable. People find my Yogurtland fan page, and I even get calls from people who want to open a franchise. I have not gotten any calls from headquarters, yet. (I could def kick up their social media strategy.)

These are some of those back stories. Any other ones you’d like to know?

So people find my website or my blog when they’re looking for an important topic that isn’t getting enough airplay on the web. Oh, and I should mention that I also love to experiment + discover new web apps that the average person could be using one day, and new ideas that can impact society and church. Could this be called thought leadership? Maybe. Maybe not.

I’d like to think people come back because they want to see what I’m thinking, what I’ve discovered, or what’s going on in my life. I know my Mom has my website as her home page. But other than that, I leave it up to the reader to choose their own reasons. I won’t impose or prescribe what people should do with all this info. I think my readers are smart enough to figure it out for their context.


Comments

7 responses to “What can I say about this website and blog?”

  1. DJ,

    Glad you’re you and glad you blog.

    Josh

  2. This is the digital white board/lab where you connect with potential collaborators as you seek to help make the world a better place in the areas you are passionate about.

  3. Josh, Scott: Thanks for your comments and kind words. i’m ever amazed how the web has connected so people near and far. I know my blog and twitter have connected me with good guys like you. Until the next tweetup, we’ll keep it real online

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