Well, with the 2010 Life Above the Negativity Campaign in full swing, my blogging at RevTrev.com is amply satisfied, so I’ve had some time to work on other projects, such as the transformation of ExpectancyMinistries.com

The site is now presentable, and over time it will be a wealth of information on topics I know much about from my work with Ask and Imagine - our story-telling company. This includes:

• Writing Advice
• Blogging and Wordpress
• Book Marketing Ideas
• Publishing Insights
• Video Marketing and Ministry, and
• Social Networking

In fact, I’m working on an eBook that will share all my secrets for getting so many followers and influence on Twitter and will make it available to everyone subscribed to our newsletter.

Why am I doing this? Part of the purpose of Expectancy Ministries is to be a mid-wife for other ministries. We have dreams about what that will look like in the future. For now we need to take what we have and pour it out in faith. What I have is knowledge that is not easy to come by and a passion for excellence as we extend the Kingdom with honor.

BTW, I’m testing a new email delivery system so I’m not sure how this is going to look when we get it in our inbox. Love to hear what God is doing for you. Let’s keep in touch.

@RevTrev Retweet rank: 973 - approx 99.92 percentile

Every day I get hundreds of retweets on Twitter. I like knowing I’ve made someone smile or be encouraged or even just made them think. It’s a great way to meet people and an even better way to understand how people think.

I don’t know so many people on twitter who are there simply to gain influence. Sure, the twitterverse is loaded with them, but they are the ones you get to know. Still for some of us it’s better to have influence than be ignored. So here’s how you can gain a following…

Be retweetable!

Here are 8 things to consider if you want to be retweetable.

1. Leave 18-20 characters available in your tweet… allows enough room for your name @ sign and RT…. or at least make sure there are words in it that can be shortened – to be kind do it yourself.
2. Tweet content that provides value to a broad audience… quote, humor, questions, compelling thought, breaking news, tips… search “One liners” or “One line humor” or “proverbs” you’ll get a lot. Make sure it makes sense to you and feel free to edit it if needed. Write down your deep thoughts and craft them into 120 characters. I call mine “trevorism”.
3. Tweet content that your followers are interested in… use www.twittersheep.com to see what they might be interested in.
4. Make sure your tweets are consistent… like a newspaper subscription, followers learn to trust and grow to expect a particular type of content.
5. Don’t consistently ask your tweeps to Re-Tweet your stuff… every once and awhile is okay, if you ask to often it will fall on deaf ears.
6. Re-tweet other’s tweets if you find their information of value…when people see you RT’ ing others, they’re more apt to RT something you write.
7. Thank people who RT you…. when people know you appreciate it, they are more willing to do it again. When you Thank them, mention something of the tweet, so they have a clue about what you’re talking about.
8. Become worthy of being Re-Tweeted…some twitterati have earned the right for their content to be Re-Tweeted, no matter if the content is good, bad or ugly. I’m amazed at what people RT of mine.

Right now I’m working on a series of posts call “Tweetable Truth” that I’m organizing into categories. Once I post them here, it will take the work out be being retweeted for you. The more people who comment that they want it, the fast I’ll be sure to post it.

I’m on Twitter to encourage, advise and pray. The Kingdom of God is extended through technology, and we need to be excellent in everything we do. That’s why I love helping people expand their influence on Twitter.

I like to say “my passion is for fiction”, but I’ve written so many non-fiction books and booklets I think non-fiction comes more naturally to me. My training and experience is as a pastor, so I suppose that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Pastors have all the tools to write powerful books. We know how to research, how to pray through, and tend to risk our personalities every time we’re in a pulpit. If you’re a pastor and have studied and taught a 7-week series, you have enough material for a 180-page book.

Most pastors I talk to simply don’t know where to start.  Let me help you.

These tips aren’t just for pastors. Anyone with a message to share that doesn’t want to take 36 months to get it done can follow these tips and have the first draft done in less than a month.

I use these tips regularly. There is no reason why I don’t share them with you.

8 Tips to Writing Good Non-Fiction Fast

1. Use your own voice. There is no reason to utilize multi-syllabic words when diminutive ones will suffice. How I should have written that, except for the sake of humor, is: there is no need to use big words when small ones say enough. People are drawn to you and editors will help polish what you say.
2. Write first, then edit. One of the most daunting problems with writing is that we edit as we write. Doing so slows down our creative process, disrupts the flow and looses us so much time. Write what you know and make notes to research what you don’t. When you’re writing fiction this is easier to do. When your writing non-fiction, make sure you know enough about your subject matter to write without having to check your facts for every paragraph. Have you’re quotations ready to cite. Do enough research before hand to make your writing time productive.
3. Organize, so that you can flow. Spontaneity runs on the rails of preparedness; creativity flows when plans are organized. Plan out your book before you begin writing it. Brainstorm everything you want to say about a topic. Take 15 minutes of uninterrupted time and don’t criticize or edit your list. Ask your friends for suggestions. Search the web for ideas for the topic. Write down all the thoughts you want to get across. Organize the quotations you want to include.
4. Outline, so you can fill in. How long do you want your book to be? Ten pages is a reasonable length for most genres of books. With about 320 words on both a double-spaced manuscript format (Times New Roman 12pt, 1” surrounding border) and in a published book, it means chapters are about 3200 words long. Divide the number of pages you have as a goal by 10. That’s how many chapters you need.

Look over the key topics you’ve brainstormed. Group similar ones together and then order them in a logical sequence. What are the key points you need to get across?

Those are your chapter headings.

Now outline the chapters. Think of eighteen topics you want to cover under your chapter headings and write them down in any order. Many of these you will have already  brainstormed. Go through the list and get rid of the three most boring. This makes your writing tighter. Then arrange the fifteen remaining topics into the most logical order.

Turn each of those topics into a question your reader would like to be answered.

Use who, what, when, where, why and how – ask yourself: WHO will be doing this, WHAT will they do, WHERE will they do it, WHEN will they do it, HOW will they do it, and WHY?

Choose the question that makes the most sense to you. Use the words you and your in the questions to make sure the book remains focused on the interests of the readers.

Then go through and write three words or phrases that answer the questions. They should be as specific as possible, but don’t spend a lot of time agonizing. Write down the words that pop into your head. Do this for each chapter and then all that is left is for you to write your book. I will share two tricks with you that will make sense of all the organizing you are just deciding whether or not you want to undertake.

First, commit to writing 15 minutes a day. Second, write in 5-minute intervals.
5. Commit to write. First, commit to writing 15 minutes a day. If you stick to this commitment, you’ll be tricking yourself into doing more. The biggest distraction to writing is sitting down to do it. Every excuse not to do it will come into play. But if you commit yourself to it, it will get done. Have someone hold you accountable to writing 15 minutes a day. Be answerable to yourself and someone else. Once you start writing, if you’ve taken the time to plan, you will always write more… and those times you don’t, as long as you’ve written for 15 minutes, you’ll know you’ve accomplished you’re goal for the day.

If you can commit to an hour, even better, it is amazing how much you can get done when you don’t leave yourself time for distraction.

6. Write in 5-Minute intervals. You are most creative in the first 5 minutes of writing. Most people can write two-thirds of a page in that time. Since you’ve planned out you’re chapter into fifteen topics, writing two-thirds of a page on each one will give you a ten page chapter. That’s 15 five-minute sessions to write a chapter… and once you start you’re going to do more.

Try doing the original copy long hand. Sure, you may not be able to read your writing, but it gives you an extra step in editing and frees you from thinking too much about things that can slow down the creative process.

7. Remember to Edit. I am not an editor, but have found three steps I need to do before I send a book to an editor:
a. Edit for facts… have you checked the facts you let slide as you free wrote?
b. Edit for content… while writing, did a more logical progression appear?
c. Edit for style… editors do this well, but if you want to better your writing, follow a style guide (I’ll be posting a style guide here sometime. Leave a comment if you’d like to see one sooner rather than later).

The value of having another set of eyes look over your work is immeasurable. The editing services we provide at AskandImagine.com are well worth the price and time to consider. You want to put your best thoughts forward, so consider your options for editing whether you are self-publishing or submitting your manuscript to traditional publishers. And no, you don’t need to publish through us to use our editing services.

8. Finally, make writing a worship experience. The value of being a follower of Christ is being able to hear His voice. When He’s given you the dream to write a book, following that dream is a worship experience. You can feel His pleasure for you as you write. You will experience His creativity as ideas erupted upon your imagination. Commit your ways (writing) to God and He will give you the desires of your heart.

I look forward to congratulating you on your book. It is a wonderful experience to hold your book in your hands and an even better experience to have someone tell you how it affected their life. May your book accomplish immeasurably more than you could ask and imagine.

If you want more information on how to write quickly, check out Nick Daws book “How to Write any Book in 28 Days”.

Recently we’ve been encouraged to not see our business as a support to this ministry, rather it’s to be the platform. We’re still working out what that means, but much of what we’ve learned in the writing, publishing, book marketing, web design, web marketing, social networking business we’ve been doing will be shared on this blog to help businesses and ministries expand the Kingdom.

Over lent every year we get a number of people join us for a fast from negativity. But every day of the year it has a number of tools to help people live to of their God-ordained identities.

Currently it’s my personal blog. It covers topics that I find appealing. Everything from theology to politics – seriousness to humor. I’ve had a number of devotionals on it lately and have a back log of posts that will take me well into summer.

I love the comments people leave and enjoy the interaction with people around the world. There’s always something special going on at RevTrev – if you have a topic you’d like to blog about, I’m happy to consider guest bloggers anytime.

Oh yah, forgot. It has our bookstore for Expectancy Press there as well.

Treasure Hunting is seeking the treasure God has hidden for you to find in the life of another. It is using supernatural gifts to connect power with the Good News. It’s showing people Jesus, in ways they don’t expect… but these ways are in agreement with how God has revealed himself in Scripture

What Happens in a Treasure Hunt?

Ask God for words of Knowledge. Use these words of knowledge as clues to find the Treasure (Divine Appointments). When we find the Treasure, we use gifts of Healing or Prophecy or Wisdom or Knowledge and the gift of Faith to show people God sees them as His Treasure.

When Can We Hunt for Treasure?

Our next Treasure Hunting experience happens Saturday February 27 and starts with a breakfast at Highway Christian Centre at 9:00. We’ll be done by Noon.

Soaking is the other half of the conversation, relaxing in His presence, a quiet time, a time of dedication, a time of invitation, a time of Expectation, a time for rest and restoration, and a working out of abiding in the vine.

How Do we Soak?

Find a comfortable place.  Listen to music that leads you to worship. Allow the busyness of your thoughts to quiet down and don’t fight them.  Invite the Holy Spirit to soak you in His presence.  Pray and surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit…mind, body and soul. Focus on the Lord’s presence within you. Rest in Faith, believing He’s working in you.  Take as much time as you can. Try to give yourself at least 20 minutes to start to relax and receive.

When and Where Can We Do it Together?

The next soaking service is Sunday February 28th, 6:00 PM at Highway Christian Centre. We’ll have a time of personal prophecy, prayer for healing, and possibly impartation. Come expecting. Come believing. Come ready to receive and ready to share.

This year we have relaunched LifeAbovetheNegativity.com and added a number of tools for people to know who they are in Christ and experience His love for them.

Every day until Easter I’m blogging about living Life Above the Negativity at RevTrev.com

It’s never too late to start to change your attitude and reactions. The Father wants to make you more and more into the image of His Son, who was the exact representation of the Father, and He’s given you the Holy Spirit to prove it.

The 15th Annual Edmonton Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast takes place Wednesday April 7, 2010 from 7:30 – 9:00 AM at the Shaw Conference Centre. The Guest of Honour is our Mayor Stephen Mandel and the Guest Speaker is Murray Soroka of the Jasper Place Health and Wellness Centre.

Expectancy Ministries is supporting this event as we’ve created an updated version of MayorsPrayerBreakfast.ca through our company -  AskandImagine.com Trevor also began sitting on the board in 2010.