Just Ask with Courtnaye Richard (Re-Air)

In this episode, you’ll also hear:

• Why Courtnaye says this generation is one of the busiest of all time, and her advice on being still 
• How Courtnaye started a successful blog with no prior knowledge — and how she’s maintained it for ten years 
• The difference between marketing and self-promotion 
• Tips on how to break into writing online 
• Courtnaye’s advice on conquering the fear of putting yourself out there 

Time for God with a Busy Schedule

Between writing, blogging, speaking engagements, family, ministry, and more, Courtnaye Richard is a woman who wears many hats — or, as she describes it, “My life is on wheels.” 

But Courtnaye also understands the importance of prioritizing her relationship with God. That was the inspiration for writing her 52-week devotional Inside Out with Courtnaye: to help other women like herself who needed a reminder — and perhaps even a little guidance — to set aside time to study God’s word. 

“When we're sitting with Jesus, we're sitting with Him and allowing Him to teach us,” Courtnaye explains, “but we have to be still. We have to pause.” With that in mind, Courtnaye designed her devotional to include both Scripture and reflection questions in each section, inviting her readers to pause, reflect, and learn from what they read. 

However, since she wrote the book for women who lead busy lives, she kept each section short enough to be completed on a single day out of the week. “I didn't want them to have any excuse not to get into the Word of God — including myself,” she says. 

A Blog that Opens Doors

Although Courtnaye has been writing since she was a child, it was blogging that opened doors for her professionally. In fact, her very first speaking engagement came about because someone read a blog post she’d written and asked her to speak about it at an upcoming women’s conference. 

But Courtanye admits that when she first decided to start a blogging, she had no idea what it was or how to do it. She only knew that she wanted to reach women far beyond her circle of acquaintance — and blogging was a great way to do that. 

Over the course of ten years, Courtnaye has grown her blog and audience through:

• Research: Before Courtnaye started, she researched how to run a blog and even watched a movie about a food blogger for inspiration. 
• Quality: Courtnaye chose to write about topics that would truly help her audience in their everyday lives.
• Consistency: Instead of blogging whenever she felt like it, Courtnaye “trained her audience” to anticipate her blogs by posting at the same time on the same day each week. 

As Courtnaye’s experience shows, a blog can be an incredible platform and a gateway for many opportunities. But it takes hard work, dedication, and intentionality to do it successfully. 

A Biblical Perspective on Promotion & Sales

Courtnaye self-published her devotional book, and she did so on a very tight schedule. With only three months to edit, proofread, take photos, design the cover, and more, she reached a point where she was afraid she couldn’t get it all done in time. But with encouragement from God and her husband, she kept at it and ultimately succeeded. 

Despite juggling so many other tasks, however, Courtnaye knew that marketing and promoting her book couldn’t wait until after it was finished. “If you have a product or service, you need to let people know about it,” she explains. “How are you going to make a sale if nobody knows about it?”

Even though many aspiring authors understand that marketing is an essential part of publishing, many still hesitate to promote themselves or to focus on making sales. But Courtnaye believes we shouldn’t be afraid of putting ourselves out there. 

“It’s not about you; it’s about the message” she says. You are the messenger. You’re the vessel that God is going to use.” <