It’s hard to believe we have actually completed the first quarter of this year 2018! Time is moving fast. In this update we’ll bring you up to speed on the latest developments and projects.
Appointed Time Press, LLC
Appointed Time Press, LLC was officially established on January 8th and I’m happy to report that things are moving along on schedule. The most fundamental and necessary changes have been completed for the founding of the company. Our policies and terms have been completed to reflect those official changes.
For those of you who may be wondering, Appointed Time Press, LLC is our official label under which Appointed Time Ministries (the official website) is now published. As a publishing company we offer services to the public, which are also now listed on our Services page. Some of those services are business related and incur a fee. Others are ministry related and have no associated fee at all. We are excited about these services we are providing and I’m a firm believer they will meet the needs of many, many people who desire to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Making that possible as a publishing company is central.
Check out our services page. We think you’ll love it.
Subscriptions & Newsletters
The Wordsmith Blog continues to be a central place where teaching goes forth. The community is steadily growing and very soon we will be incorporating a more versatile email client that will host all our emails. If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve opened the link via your email. The means by which we currently send emails is through an email client that is limited strictly to our blog. Our needs at this time have grown far beyond that capability, especially with the founding of our publishing company. We need a more versatile means to communicate with our users and visitors on many levels and for diverse purposes.
This new email client will be a third party company, and we are therefore carefully exploring all our options. We are carefully looking for a company that will not only offer what we need, but who implements a business model based upon consistent integrity within the industry. That is paramount. Our concern is not only for our company, but our visitors. Emails are very sensitive PII (Personal Identifiable Information). The laws on the books are very strict regarding PII, and we understand the dire necessity of securing and protecting your information. We want to do business with companies who embrace that same model we do, who genuinely care about their own clientele as well as their clients end users. Your security, privacy and trust are of utmost importance to us. We endeavor to serve you with impeccable integrity, and therefore, we endeavor to find a company who has that same consistent reputation, business model, and mission toward all those they serve. We are currently investigating and researching several companies.
There are many email clients available today and the market it competitive. Some of the most famous are Mail Chimp and Constant Contact. Yet there are many more. Through this client we will be sending a monthly newsletter, necessary legal notifications of policy and terms updates, and other downloadable material to our visitors and users. If you are currently on our email list, you will be grandfathered into this new client to receive emails in the future. You will also be afforded greater options as well in choosing which emails you want to receive from us. As always, there will be an option to unsubscribe in every email.
This will be considered the official notification for all our users and current subscribers of the changes being made regarding the employment and implementation of a new email client. We trust that you will be pleased with those changes, finding them more versatile and better suited for your needs as well. The first email you will receive using our new email client will speak exclusively to these changes, introducing you to this new email client (company) and providing you options.
The Wordsmith Blog
Current Content
I try to be very sensitive to what He’s wanting to communicate to His Body. That is what the blog is about. It’s tagline, “Where Life in Christ is Articulated” speaks true to its purpose.
Writing content for the Wordsmith Blog continues to be focused upon the Church in this season. So, get ready. You’re going to see a lot of meaty heavy-weight spiritual material in the coming weeks and months. As you may have noticed, most of the posts since January are focused in this area. This is where God is setting up camp right now as far as content. I’ve been praying about the material and subject matter and I have a list longer than my arm on things He’s calling me to write. However, much of that material is very sensitive in nature, and the manner in which it is written requires a lot of preparation in prayer and research, both biblically and in documentary findings. So these are not easy posts to turn out. They’re not quick and easy. One post can take days and even weeks to complete. Therefore, trying to set a publication date or time for posts is becoming a challenge. I never know when they will be “finished” until it passes inspection by the Lord. Moving forward, I’d like to ask for your patience as this material is written and published. And as always, please be in prayer for me as I write and seek God on these topics, which are so dire for this time.
In light of these changes, I have removed the publication calendar for the Blog.
“The Gospel Diaries” Series
Last year we began the series, “The Gospel Diaries” during Passover with the intention that it would mirror a three-year discipleship journey. Well… (I’m laughing) God has a fun sense of humor. We have completed our first year and we’re only on Matthew chapter 10! Needless to say, this journey is not going to be completed in three years. It may be more like… ten. Who knows. I cannot put a cap on this one. So moving forward, we are going to let the Lord determine that end date as we follow Him. That is the purpose of discipleship, right? With that said, please do not be concerned about the Gospel Diaries series. Again, some of this is really deep stuff. It takes a lot of time to write. I have an obligation to you and the public to produce quality content that is scripturally and theologically sound. That is not always a quick process. Therefore, an entry in this series may not always be weekly. We’re moving forward, but not in the paced manner I had anticipated. The end goal is always quality content.
I want all of you to know I will never compromise quality content on the blog or in any publication for the sake of meeting a deadline or keeping a schedule. The standard will always be to produce excellent quality content that honors God and His Word, and sometimes (unfortunately) that means patiently waiting.
Website Optimization Projects
Website optimization is all about our global reach for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without it — that’s not going to happen. Therefore, we have made optimization a necessary focus toward that central goal by initiating several key projects which began last year in 2017. These are not quick projects. They are long-term, and we’re still plugging along. In previous reports all of you were notified about the different internal projects regarding optimization, security, and SEO. The internet world is constantly changing… and so are we. Here’s the update:
Security
For reasons related directly to our former hosting company’s security, the quality of their service, and the ethical integrity of their affiliates, the security project required a complete transfer of this website to a new hosting company. That project was completed last August 2017 and with great success. We are now hosted in Europe by the company SiteGround, which is the leader in the industry. They are, hands down, the best hosting company available today. However, being hosted in Europe means EU compliance, which brings me to our next point…
The EU Cookie Law
We desire a worldwide reach. Therefore, being hosted in Europe is not a bad thing. In fact, I find it advantageous. Some of the best cutting edge technology in the internet/website/tech industry is not here — it’s overseas. Yet because we are hosted in Europe, despite the fact that we are based in the USA, certain privacy and security laws apply. We are fully compliant, and those are noted in our privacy policy. Most of those changes are internal and do not directly affect our end users/visitors. The one major change that does affect our visitors/users is the EU Cookie Law. Our site is fully compliant. We have installed a banner on this site that notifies each user or visitor straight away. It’s installed in the footer with a link to our policy. Every website uses cookies. Cookies are small files downloaded to your hard drive when you visit a particular site. Therefore, as an end user or visitor, you have complete control over how cookies (files) are handled on your devices. Every browser affords you that option in their “Settings”.
With that said, this site does use cookies. In fact, it uses a lot of them. Those cookies are necessary for an optimal experience. You have the right to disable, block, or remove all cookies using your browser settings. All browsers offer options in handling cookies. Please see your browser settings for more information.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is perhaps the most critical component to our website if we are going to reach people for the Lord. SEO accounts for the largest portion of visitors and users to our site. It is the tool affording all search engines the information they need to index our site and our content accurately so people all over the world can find us.
The Optimization Project was launched in June 2017 with the announcement of Phase One: The Blog Restructure. We knew the optimization project would take an extraordinary amount of time. We have completed Phase One, and Phase Two: the website restructure. We are now currently entering Phase Three: The indexing of all media and meta data.
We have a target completion date of December 2018.
Publications
Podcasting and Video Media
As the year progresses I endeavor to do more interviews with key people, including laymen, authors, bible teachers, and ministry leaders in the Body of Christ. The manner in which those interviews will be performed will begin to include pod casting and video segments. That is an exciting change that will soon manifest in the weeks and months to come. We will have more in the next update as this develops.
Books & Bible Study
I still intend to publish anniversary editions of my current works. Those will include necessary changes to the copy and content of those works. They will be published under our label, Appointed Time Press, LLC with Ingram.
Plans for my first children’s book is still in the wings. I had planned for a release in the Fall of 2018. That publication date may change.
Plans for my next bible study is also contingent upon timing. The next study due to be published will be on the seven churches in Revelation. It will be a significant and powerful study. This material is requiring an enormous amount of prayer and research. I knew it would be a huge project when the Lord gave me the assignment in 2015. But it’s actually much larger than I even realized. So I do not see that being turned out this year. I believe it will be slated for release in 2019. Get ready, because when it does release you will want this hot copy in your hands. It’s going to be a truly life-changing phenomenal study. I’m very excited. But again — no compromises on quality for the sake of keeping schedule.
Affiliations & Memberships
Society of Professional Journalists
Very soon we will be members of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). We have always abided by the SPJ Code of Ethics. Yet God is calling us higher. Being a registered member of this organization is going to be important as we move forward in representing others and doing more research based work.
Christian Small Publisher’s Association
Very soon I anticipate becoming affiliated with Christian Small Publisher’s Association. This is a prestigious publishing organization within the Christian niche of the industry. I’m very excited!
Once these are official, you will see their emblems on this site.
Affiliate Marketing
I have been endorsing products, books, and companies on this site since its inception. Pages such as our Toolbox, Help, and Recommended Reading all include products, companies, and services I endorse. With that said, we are going to begin affiliate marketing in the coming months. Chances are, you have already seen or been introduced to affiliate marketing if you have browsed the web, visited another site, own a company, or run a website of your own.
We have been carefully researching affiliate marketing across the board. The findings are extraordinary. This is a new wave that is changing the face of how companies do business. Affiliate marketing is one of the key ways most businesses and websites now earn income. End products are no longer the sole source of income. Companies all over the world offer affiliate marketing to website owners who are willing to endorse their product. This is what drives much of the internet activity today, and is responsible for how companies are making themselves known among an otherwise unreached population.
This is one of the biggest changes yet. Affiliate marketing will soon be implemented through Amazon on this website. Amazon is a key company for any successful author. Moving forward we are going to begin implementing links to key books and other Christian products that I endorse. That means when a user or visitor clicks on a link, or purchases a product, Amazon shares a portion of the sale with us. Essentially, they are paying us for promoting that product on their site. This business model is not only successful, but it makes it easy for visitors and users to access products easily.
In addition to Amazon, there will also be other companies and products I endorse who may offer the opportunity for affiliate marketing. Therefore, please understand that this will not be limited to Amazon alone.
Products and companies I already have been endorsing will soon be linked. I will only endorse books, products, and companies that I can stand behind 100%, believing them to be beneficial to those we serve (so you’re not going to see clothing and kitchen ware here). Once this change is implemented, our policies and terms will be updated accordingly to reflect those changes as well.
This concludes our update! We are excited about all that God is doing to grow and expand our reach. Please be in prayer for me as I continue to write. The material coming is going to be deep, rich, and yes… dire.
Cheers & Shalom,
Image Credit: © Appointed Time Press, LLC
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