I don’t know if this is a good idea or bad idea. What do you think?

After getting approved to write for The Examiner, I started looking for other similar websites. In the process of searching I found several sites that I could not only write for, but could also simply repost my blog content on their site… and get paid for it. Oh sure, I might only make few bucks a year off it, but a side benefit is that posting my content on other sites might also help boost my readership here.

In the last week, I have received two emails from people who have found my content on these other sites, and have started reading my blog here as a result. It’s only two, but it is two people that went to the trouble of sending me an email…which means there might be lots more.

Anyway, I’ll let you know later how it is going, but if you want to sign up and start writing for these other sites, here they are.

• Yahoo Associated Content
• Bukisa.com
• Xomba.com – UPDATE: This site does not allow duplicate content that has already been published, even if it was by you…which means I will no longer be using them.
• Triond.com – UPDATE: This site does not allow duplicate content that has already been published, even if it was by you…which means I will no longer be using them.
• Squidoo.com (This one takes some time to understand and set up.)

If you go to these sites, you see that all I really do is take an old blog post, edit and rework it a bit, and then post it on these other sites. It takes about 10 minutes. Do you know any other sites like this? What do you think of doing this? Is it a good or bad idea? If you join one or more of these sites, let me know, and we can “friend” each other.

Following the lead of Alan Knox, I was recently approved to write for Examiner.com. My page is here. I learned today that Dan Allen has also started writing.

If you are a blogger, I encourage you to apply also. I don’t know how many applicants they turn down, but one thing I do know. As I was writing my application piece and waiting for it to be read and approved, I watched several of the short videos in their “Examiner University” section which contain tips for writing good articles.

I’ve taken several writing classes, but have never taken a journalism class, and the information in this section of Examiner.com was extremely useful. Even if you are not immediately approved, you can still watch the videos and become a better writer and blogger.

If you do apply to write, please enter my name – Jeremy Myers – in the referral section (or Alan Knox or Dan Allen if you know them better),  and when you get approved, make sure you let me know what your page is so I can link to it.

My only problem now is figuring out how to find time to write articles for both my blog and for Examiner.com. Any ideas?

I’ll be participating in February’s Synchroblog. The theme is Creativity and Christianity. Here are the instructions from Kathy:

The February synchroblog theme is “Creativity and Christianity” – Wednesday February 9th, 2011

It’s wide open but here are some questions to get the creative juices flowing: Is there a connection between art/creativity and Christianity? Is creativity spiritual in nature? Is there such a thing as “Christian Art”? Does creativity have anything to do with spiritual formation? What is needed for art to qualify as Christian? Is our theology shaped or influenced by creativity/art? Is creativity/art vital to our faith? How does creativity/art impact Christian thought and/or Christian praxis? Is there a particular form of art that has impacted your spiritual journey? Should there be a distinction between sacred and secular art? Is Christianity experiencing a “creative crisis”? Is creativity and our knowledge of God connected?

Please plan to submit your name, name of blog, title of post and link in the comment section of this post on 2/8/2011 if you would like to be included in this synchroblog. The list of participants will be compiled and posted on 2/9/2011.

I already have several ideas on what I might write about.

If you are going to participate, I’ll see you there! (Also, do you know of any other blogs that do this?)

Thanks to Tommy over at Christ en vous l’espérance de la gloire I learned that I can read blogs in other languages. He showed me that Google translates webpages! How did I not know that? So here is his page translated into English: Christ in You the Hope of Glory.

He was speaking in tongues, and Google was my interpreter. Pentecost has come again!

I was also able to add his blog to another favorite thing of mine, Google Reader. If you don’t use a reader to read blogs, you really should start. You don’t have to remember which blogs you read, or keep checking to see if new entries are posted. For a while, I was using the built-in Internet Explorer reader. But it stayed on my home computer, and I couldn’t access it anywhere else. So by switching to Google Reader, I can read the blogs I subscribe to anywhere I go. And as with all things Google, it’s free and easy.

And if you want to subscribe to my blogs, here are the feeds:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/tillhecomes
http://feeds.feedburner.com/gracecommentary

To Subscribe, either copy and paste the two links above into your Blog Reader, OR click on each link, and subscribe from the choices at the top.

Are there any other aspects of Google you highly recommend?

Can I rant a bit? One of the bloggers I read, who is a published author and a key leader of the house church movement, does some strange things on his blog (And no, he is not listed in my blogroll, so don’t try to guess who it is).

His posts are ridiculously long, and most often, they are about himself, his books, all the famous people he knows, and how he’s running a sale right now on the recording of his most recent seminar session. His blog is one long commercial. I guess that’s all okay. I can understand that. Especially since I think his only income is from his book sales and speaking fees.

My real pet peeve is how he treats his readers.

First, I have noticed that he moderates his comments, and rarely allows a critical or questioning comment through. I know because I have tried…several times. He seems to block all negative or questioning comments. Why would he do this? Does he want to give the impression that everybody agrees with him? If you want to disagree with me, want to challenge my thinking, or even want to call me a heretic, go right ahead. I will not block it. Even use profanity if you must. I welcome all verbal abuse.

Second, this other blogger has a big copyright warning on the bottom of all his posts. You cannot repost any of his posts in part or in whole. Really? Why? Is he afraid people will steal his ideas and pass them around? Maybe so. I, however, give you permission to steal from me. It would be nice and ethical if you cite where you got your ideas and want to link back here, but if you don’t, I (probably) won’t sue.

And finally, this other blogger blocks most trackbacks and rarely allows links to be posted in the comments. He apparently doesn’t want other bloggers to use his blog to advertise their blog. Again, this is just bad blog behavior. I welcome trackbacks to me, as well as people who put links to their blog in the comments. Even if you just post a comment to get some of my readers to possibly read your blog, feel free! That’s how it works. It is also how I have found most of the people on my blogroll. So comment away!

The only comments I block are the spammer comments talking about male enhancement, discount prescription drugs, and porn sites. To prove how much I encourage you to put links to your blog, I turned off the “nofollow” code on my comments so that even the comments get indexed by Google and other search engines.

Well, sorry for the rant. Do you have any blogging pet peeves? Or do you want to criticize my criticism? Go ahead, post a comment below.