It's one thing to write an impactful article that communicates for change, but it's another thing to get a Christian entrepreneur to read it and for Google to rank it -- which is where nailing the title comes in. Titles are what sell the Christian reader on wanting to read your article. Titles represent your content on search engines, in email, and on social media. It's no surprise, then, that some of the most common questions we get concern crafting titles. - How long should my blog title be? - What words should I use? - What words should I avoid? - Should I optimize it for search or for social? Or both? Luckily, we've come up with a simple formula for writing catchy blog titles that you can reference from here on out. So let's dive right in. How to Write Catchy Titles Christian Readers Respond To 1) Start with a working title. Before you get into the nitty-gritty of coming up with a perfect title, start with a rough draft: your working title. What is that, exactly? A lot of people confuse working titles with topics. Let's clear that up: Topics are very general and could yield several different blog posts. Think "God's timing" or "finding your calling." A writer might look at either of those topics and choose to take them in very, very different directions. On the other hand, a working title is particular and guides creating a single blog post. For example, from the topic "God's timing," you could derive the following working titles: Why God Made ‘Timing’ to be the Most Important Factor in Ensuring Your Christian Business’s Success 7 Bible-Based Principles of ‘Timing’ to Ensure Your Business’s Success Timing is Everything in Business - What Does God Have to Say About It? If Timing is Everything in Business, then What does God Have to Say About it? See how different and specific each of those is? That's what makes them working titles, instead of overarching topics. It's also worth noting that none of those titles are perfect -- they should be specific enough to guide your blog post. (We'll worry about making it clickable and search-friendly later.) 2) Stay accurate. Accuracy is critical when trying to finesse a title because it sets clear expectations for your readers. While I'm sure lots of people would love to click on a post that said "7 Bible-Based Principles of Timing That Will Make You One Million Dollars Tomorrow" ... it's a little bombastic. Don't you think? Unless, of course, you truly did find the key for making millions of dollars overnight, and in that case, send me a direct email and LET'S TALK! First and foremost, your title needs to reflect the content that follows accurately. One way to ensure accuracy? Add bracketed clarification to your headline, as we did here. 7 Bible-Based Principles of ‘Timing’ to Ensure Your Business’s Success [CHECKLIST] In a study of over 3.3 million paid link headlines, it was found that headlines with this type of clarification -- [Interview], [Podcast], [Infographic], etc. -- performed 38% better than headlines without clarification. Again, it's all about setting clear expectations. Thanks to the brackets, these readers knew exactly what they were getting themselves into before they even clicked. So if you remember nothing else from this blog post, let it be this: The most important rule of titles is to respect the reader experience. If you set high expectations in your title that you can't fulfill in the content, you'll lose readers' trust. Accuracy encompasses more than just hyperbole, though. With the example working title above, you'd also want to confirm all of the examples are, indeed, Bible-based. Or even that they're all principles of God's timing -- instead of, say, random thoughts of your own that leave readers confused. See what I mean? 3) Make it catchy. Just because you have to be accurate doesn't mean you can't find ways to make your title pop. There are a lot of ways to make a title catchier. Of course, all of this hinges on understanding Christian entrepreneurs. You need to find a language that resonates with them and know what they find valuable. Once you're armed with the knowledge of the Christian entrepreneur's preferred style, try testing out some of these tips for making your headlines a little catchier: Have some fun with alliteration. The title and header in this blog post, for instance, play with alliteration: Catchy, Christian, Can't. It's a device that makes something a little lovelier to read, and that can have a subtle but strong impact on your reader. Use strong language. Strong phrases (and, frankly, often negative ones) like "Cant' Resist" or "Best Authors" pack quite a punch. However, these must be used in moderation. If everything is bold, nothing is bold. Make the value clear. As we mentioned above, presenting the format and/or contents to Christian readers will help your writing captivate your audience. According to our research, templates tend to be particularly powerful for CTR: We found that adding "[Checklist]" to our titles got many views of all bracketed terms. Make it visual. Is there an opportunity to include visuals within your post? Make that clear in the title. Our research revealed that headlines featuring the word "photo(s)" performed 37% better than headlines without this word. Focus on the "whos," not the "whys." Want to intrigue Christian entrepreneurs? Focus on the "who": Headlines including the word "who" generated a 22% higher CTR than headlines without it. For example, let's say you're writing a post titled, "15 of Our Favorite Christian Entrepreneurs on Twitter." How might we punch up our accurate-but-boring working title? Here are some options: 15 Amazing Christians Who Are Crushing It on Twitter Twitter Success: 15 Inspiring Christians Who Just Get It 15 Must-Follow Christians That Are Seeing Twitter Success 4) Keep it short. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how long or short your title should be. It depends on what your goals are and where your headline will appear. Do you want this post to rank really well in search? Focus on keeping the title under 70 characters, so it doesn't get cut off in search engine results. Are you trying to optimize your title for social sharing? According to research, headlines between 8–12 words in length got the most Twitter shares on average. As for Facebook, headlines with either 12 or 14 words received the most likes. Additionally, according to research, blog titles with eight words had a 21% higher clickthrough rate than the average title. The lesson? It's always a good idea to run a few tests to see what works best for Christian entrepreneurs. Let's say I was writing this blog post: "Think Social Media Is Just for Influencers? Here Are 10 Statistics Guaranteed to Prove You Wrong." To shorten it, I would try to rephrase it and cut out extraneous words. For instance, I might do something like this: Before: Think Social Media Is Just for Influencers? Here Are 10 Statistics Guaranteed to Prove You Wrong After: 10 Stats That Prove Social Media Isn't Just for Influencers See? It's that easy. Try sounding out the title in your head to make sure it's easily digestible for your Christian readers—the less of a mouthful you can make your titles, the better. 5) Try to optimize for search and social. I say "try" because, sometimes, trying too hard to optimize for these things can make your title sound strange. Remember: You want to optimize your title for Christian entrepreneurs above all else, but if you can optimize for both search and social, that's great. The secret to thinking about all three at once? Focus on keywords that you know Christian entrepreneurs are already searching for, and then look into the search volume. Once you have a keyword in mind, you'll want to be sure to place it as closely as possible to the beginning of your headline to catch your reader's attention. (Again, you should keep your headline under 70 characters, so it doesn't get cut off in search engine results.) Another important consideration? Make sure your headlines are tweetable. The 120-130-character range is the sweet spot for a high clickthrough rate, according to an analysis of 200,000 tweets with links. This leaves enough space for people to include a short comment if they manually retweet and cite you. Here's an example: Let's say I'm writing a post titled, "7 Bible-Based Principles of ‘Timing’ to Ensure Your Business’s Success." It looks like there's some wiggle room to optimize it without compromising clarity, right? If the goal is to rank for the term "God's Timing," I'd recommend something like this: "Struggling with God's Timing In Your Business? Here Are 7 Principles To Help You Overcome." This new title works for a few reasons: It's 89 characters long. This means that it's short enough not to be cut off in search engines, and it's short enough to be retweeted. The keyword is in the beginning. By moving "God's Timing" to the beginning of the title, we're ultimately increasing the odds that we'll grab our Christian entrepreneur audience's attention. It's human. I wasn't kidding when I said you should focus on optimizing for your Christian audience first. This title presents both a pain point and a solution all wrapped up in one. 6) Brainstorm with a Christian entrepreneur. Once you've refined your title using the tips above, it's time to come up for air and connect with someone from church or a close Christian entrepreneur friend. Title brainstorming is an essential part of the process. Here at Daily Godpreneur, we spend a decent amount of time and brainpower coming up with our titles. Before scheduling a blog post, the final step is pulling another member of our team into a back-and-forth title brainstorm in a chat room. One member of the duo will post the title they recommend into the chat pane window. The other person will then refine that title even further or suggest other angles. After several back-and-forths, the duo will agree on the accurate, catchy, concise, and SEO-friendly title. Only when both parties agree on a title, do we schedule our post for publishing -- which can take as little as five seconds and as long as ten or so minutes. While that seems like a long time, it's essential to put our best feet forward with each post we publish. What's your process for crafting blog titles? Let us know in the comments. To read more articles about blogging, click here. #ChristianBloggers

We follow brands for many different reasons. We share their values, we like their products, we find their content helpful, etc. One huge reason is that we resonate with the story behind the brand. As part of your Christian personal branding, you need to craft and tell your testimony. If you look at the companies you love, you’ll discover that each one has a powerful story behind it that resonates with you and your values. Why Storytelling Works Testimonies are powerful because: They put a human face on your business People naturally love and are engaged by stories A good story offers one more way to communicate your values Stories engender trust because they explain “why” People relate to stories, especially when they see themselves in them Your Founding Story An essential story that you absolutely must tell is how your brand came to be. Most of these stories have a similar plot arc: You suffered from some seemingly insurmountable problem (which is the same problem or one problem that your audience faces) You went through all sorts of frustrations, just as your audience is now You came upon a simple idea and decided to give it a try The idea worked and got results, and now you’re here to teach others how to do it Of course, this isn’t the only good founding story. But the above story is powerful because it says: “I overcame your problem and I can help you overcome it too.” Other Ideas for Personal Branding Stories At the very least, you should develop a story that tells about the founding of your brand, but there are many other ways you can use storytelling as well: When you talk about your life and especially your business, what do people find most interesting about your journey? This is a story that needs to be told. Explain how you came up with an idea for a certain product. Pick your best product or the one you most want to see increase in sales. Think of specific challenges you faced along the way or major milestones you met and turn each into a piece of content you can share. Tell the story of a customer or client that you helped. Even better, have them tell the story. You can use this as a piece of social proof. There are stories everywhere waiting to be told. It’s just a matter of finding them. Where to Share Your Stories You can use storytelling in blog posts, YouTube videos, the “About” page of your website, social media, and anywhere else you publish content. You don’t have to be a master storyteller. Just get out there and explain to people why you do what you do, and it’ll have the desired effect. If you want to know about more ways to develop a powerful God-first personal brand, then head over to my program, Build Your Unique Christian Personal Brand. In this course, you’ll learn how to create a compelling identity that attracts a value-aligned audience and increases your influence and sales. Check it out here - Build Your Christian Personal Brand | Godpreneur Academy #ShareYourTestimony #PersonalBranding

have the power to change: Desperate business situations Hopeless career conditions Financial problems Marketplace obstacles Employee and partner issues The mindset of people Entrepreneurial defeats into victories Our marketplace In fact, prayer has the power to change the entire marketplace.

Entrepreneurship is recognizing there's a problem in the market and taking a risk to solve it with a This is our opportunity to do God's work in the LinkedIn marketplace. Christian entrepreneurs will make the most impact on LinkedIn when we see the social media network as a marketplace

My mom is my biggest fan on social media. She likes shares and comments on all my posts. Although I know she's my mom, and she had biased towards me, it still encourages me to keep inspiring others through my posts. My mom's not on LinkedIn, but there are a few connections I have that encourage me and keep me focused on producing great content and continuing to engage on LinkedIn. Our best qualities as Christian entrepreneurs will surface in the presence of good, godly connections. When you are around other Godpreneurs who are industrious and focused, don’t you find yourself more inclined to work hard for the Kingdom? It’s easy to get excited about an upcoming product launch when you mastermind with a God-First creative group and can visualize where you are going. Connections on LinkedIn can bring you up or take you down, so surround yourself with other Christians who push you to be better. The Bible says "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25) When you purpose to connect with other Christians on LinkedIn, you'll be building relationships with business people who recognize your true capabilities and believe in you. So, value the relationships that generate God-inspired energy and enthusiasm towards your entrepreneurial dreams and goals. Good, godly entrepreneurs are not easy to find on LinkedIn, especially ones who are active on the platform. We have to seek it out and become part of the few so that together, we can make an impact. I formed a Christian Entrepreneur's group (Godpreneur group) on LinkedIn. Come on in and develop business relationships that encourage you, that motivates you and that celebrate you – it's a group I pray will be truly rich in business wisdom for you! To read more articles on LinkedIn, click here. #AttractingRightClients

I graduated from Cornell University in 2003. I'm lucky to be part of the generation that embraced social media because I can stay connected to friends that I had many great memories with. What's amazing is that now we're older, wiser, and thriving (hopefully) in our careers. Things would be different now if we connected on a professional level. Enter: LinkedIn The reality is that relationships die through neglect. If someone isn't living or working with us, communication isn't happening so the connections break. LinkedIn gives us the opportunity to restore once-thriving relationships through a relatively easy communication platform. God designed us to communicate with each other. God himself is a communicator, talking to us through the Bible, Jesus, and other Christians in our lives. This communication is what builds our relationship with God. This example God gives us is to show us that restoring a relationship starts with restoring communication. The Bible says "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."(Hebrews 4:12) You can use LinkedIn to restore business relationships you haven't done business with in years. Look up some old clients and talk over situations, discuss industry thoughts, and open up a dialogue about anything. This is part of the business relationship dynamic. We shouldn't expect others to reach out to us; we have to be the ones to do it first because God has CALLED us to do it. Loving others is part of our greatest commandment. We Godpreneurs have to be the ones to bring relationships with past clients into right standing again, and LinkedIn is a great place to start! To read more articles on LinkedIn, click here. #AttractingRightClients

Some of my most successful clients had a terrible LinkedIn presence when I first started working with them. I wouldn't have known that their company was ultra-successful because their LinkedIn made it seem like they weren't worth trying to get in touch with. We can't judge someone on LinkedIn solely on their profile (or lack of profile) because we might be missing a great opportunity! As Christian entrepreneurs, we're called to show love and respect for all and not judging people our businesses come in contact with. The Bible says "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:24) When you're tempted to look at someone's profile only from the lens of what you "expect" a successful connection to look like, remember that they might not consider LinkedIn as important as you do, you can't make an informed decision about someone without personally connecting with them, and don't penalize someone for not having their LinkedIn skills altogether. Great relationships develop on LinkedIn when choosing to approach the community with love and grace (like Jesus would). To read more articles on LinkedIn, click here. #AttractingRightClients #RelationshipBuilding

A perfect stranger reached out to me on LinkedIn because she Googled something about Christian entrepreneurship, and I came up at the top of the results. She asked me for some advice on a virtual conference she was speaking at. I could hear her heart to want to serve at the highest level. At the end of our conversation, I congratulated her on having the desire to serve her audience with the best possible information. Our level of effectiveness on LinkedIn (and in any business relationship) is directly proportional to the amount of care and concern we have for our followers. Only when we acknowledge people and add value to them will we have the potential for a rewarding connection. The Bible says "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." (Hebrews 13:16) Everyone seeks to know and be known. As you navigate LinkedIn and interact with those around you, remind yourself that each person you meet has challenges they need to overcome in their business lives. As a Christian entrepreneur who's gracefully been redeemed and changed, you've been equipped to change your network's outlook and demeanor with your words of wisdom and subject matter expertise. Your advice and encouragement can be the catalyst for lasting change in a contact's business life and the inspiration that makes them flourish. To read more articles on LinkedIn, click here. #AttractingRightClients

Marketers are obsessed with the extraordinary. Marketers have ROI in their eyes. This is going to be a hit launch. We need some marketing magic, something new and huge and… amazing. No marketing. Just the plain little authentic review from a fan. Authentic fans will blow marketers away.

For years, I couldn't crack the code on keeping my personal stuff on Facebook separate from my business and personal brand. I would always worry that I'm bugging my friends on my personal page with things I don't need them to see, but I did want them to see some stuff. And then I couldn't control people that read my blogs sending me friend requests. It was all a mess. Until I finally cracked the code! In this post, I'm going to solve ONCE AND FOR ALL the formula that all Christian entrepreneurs building a personal brand should be using on Facebook to manage their personal accounts, business accounts, and fan pages for optimal efficiency and authentic growth. How I manage My Facebook world: My Personal Profile: This is my personal profile. I have my settings on public, but I only accept friend requests from people I know. I share my personal life here with my friends and family. My Personal Brand Profile (fan page): I set up a page called Alex Miranda - Entrepreneur. Anyone can follow me here. This is where I share anything and everything related to my professional vocational life. If my friends and family want to follow me here, too, then great! On this page, it's ok for me to promote my business, courses, and all my thoughts on Christian entrepreneurship. To learn about setting up your page, click here. My Blog Profile: This is like a company page, but only for my blog. My various companies have their own Facebook company page, and my blog also has a company page. This is where I share all the blog posts, any offers, events, etc. I treat my blog as a business, so anything a business does on their Facebook page, I do here. My Private Facebook Group: From my blog page, I created a "private" Facebook group. This is a group of people that feel the same way I do about growing their businesses, God's way. It's a community of people I grab from the mani blog page that wants to engage more. IMPORTANT: I interact as my personal brand profile on the private group page. This is key! If you interact as your personal profile, then people will start sending you friend requests. However, if you interact as your personal brand (which is your name, still) then people will follow your personal brand profile page too. IMPORTANT: Also, it's important you start this private group either from your personal brand page or your blog page. You can actually tie BOTH of those to your private Facebook group. This way your personal brand page and your blog page can be admins on the private page. My Company Pages: These are pages I set up for my companies. Everyone already knows about these, I don't need to go into detail. I wish I had this article from when I first started my personal brand and private Facebook pages. Let me know your thoughts below if this has helped you. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand. Check it out: 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand This business Bible study will help you launch a God-first personal brand that will help you strategically, financially, and personally. Developing your personal brand starts with launching something new and completely different from what you already have. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #SocialMediaMarketing #PersonalBranding #BuildMyPersonalBrand

There are certain people I don't want to be associated with on LinkedIn. I either ignore their connection or block their accounts from seeing mine. There are four kinds of business connections on our entrepreneurial journey: those who multiply those who divide those who add those who subtract We know the relationships that add to our work life, and the connections that multiply our joy for business are easy to identify (hopefully me → Daily Godpreneur on LinkedIn). This network of people makes us better. However, the Bible teaches us to guard our hearts and be very cautious of the bad apples in the business world that diminish us and cause us harm. We literally have to RUN away from them. The Bible says "Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) Your connection to abusive and angry business people will put you in peril, and you will become less than who you should be. Networking with these people lessens your feelings of self-worth, subtracts from the happiness of being in your calling, and divides the effectiveness of your purpose-focused approach to LinkedIn. Simply put: be careful who you're connected to and what groups you spend your time in. Those who do not increase your calling inevitably will decrease your purpose. To read more articles on LinkedIn, click here. #AttractingRightClients

Sometimes someone will reach out to me on LinkedIn because I announce that I'm available for discovery calls or I'm giving away access to one of my products. Whatever I'm promising, I need to make sure to deliver the goods if I don't, I've lost my integrity with a potential relationship. Integrity is so critical for us that I did entire teaching called "Conquering Integrity in Business". I dive deep into the subject of keeping our word in business because it's something I personally struggled with. Integrity in business means being truthful. It's doing what we say we're going to do. And for Christian entrepreneurs, it's especially important because our testimony is completely based on what we do. The Bible says "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12)" God sees integrity as being upstanding and honorable in all business interactions. He wants the right thing to be done every time. He demands it from ourselves and all the relationships we form. Great relationships on LinkedIn have integrity. It means you do exactly what you say you're going to do. If you make an offer or make yourself available for advice, you have to come through. Your conditions may change, a situation may arise, or circumstances may no longer be beneficial, however, you must keep your word. We can't compromise our Christian principles for convenience or advantage. Integrity in our business friendships on LinkedIn is critical because it is the foundation upon which we build trust that leads to the more that God has for that relationship. To read more articles on LinkedIn, click here. #AttractingRightClients

Everything changed when I saw Twitter as a platform for spreading God's word to the business marketplace And signaling the strength of video content marketing, this medium is six times more likely to be shared Considering how commonplace Twitter is for marketers in general, there’s no shame in plastering your

natural talents and a heart that has been shaped with a unique passion to solve a specific problem in the marketplace