"Haven't you written anything about what you actually do for living?"

That question floored me. It shouldn't have, but it did.

I mean, I was in Google.

Only problem was, I was in Google for articles such as, Examining the "Golden Age of Islamic Civilization" and The End of Christianity in Iraq . My writing had been picked up and re-printed on sites like Christianity Today, Lew Rockwell, Orthodoxy Today, Orthodox News, and a host of others. I was quoted several times in The American Conservative's online edition as an authoritative source on the Assyrians in Iraq.

There was just one big problem with all that. I don't actually make a living working with Christian victims of Muslim persecution. I don't make a living as a political commentator, or even as a professional journalist.

I design and build Web systems in my personal company, and in my day job I design large-scale mainframe banking software that runs multi-national banks.

Problem is, I had been neglecting to write about the many things I knew related to what I actually do for a living. Instead of sharing that knowledge and gaining name recognition, I had been writing material related only to my passion - the status of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Having a customer actually point that out to me was an epiphany of the first order. I needed to write about my actual field of professional expertise. I needed to write about software, projects, the Web, Internet marketing, and all the other things I actually did professionally.

I needed to write articles about what I actually do, not just what I'm interested in. Both to actually help people (as we are called to do), but also to build up my own personal brand as a knowledgable resource. The go-to guy if you will. I also needed more content on the Internet with my name attached to help my placement in search engine queries. If they can't find you, how can they hire you or buy what you are selling?

But, the problem comes from figuring out where to publish. Starting a blog on one of the major blog sites didn't make sense. I could start the blog, and then I would spend tons of time promoting it to get readership. In addition, I would find myself on the same blogging platform with not only people blogging about their day, but also blogging about all kinds of other topics that I didn't want to be associated with.

I also looked at just attaching a blog to one of my corporate Websites. The problem with that approach is that attracting attention to it would be tough. I'd be the only draw to the site, and that would mean giving over even more of my time to writing than I already was.

So - what to do?

Well, it was also about this time that I was developing the idea of Orthodox Biz with some other Orthodox Christians. What we decided to do was marry these two ideas together. Not only would Orthodox Biz be a listing of Orthodox businesses, but it would also feature Blogging for Business.

How is this different than blogging elsewhere?

First of all, what we are looking for primarily is for Orthodox professionals to write about what they know. Not only do most blog sites end up with a lot of personalized blogs, but many are also stuffed full of politics.

That's not a problem, really, as those sites are needed. But for my part, I'm much more interested in an Orthodox mental health professional giving me tips on getting mentally ready for a big presentation, than I am in that same person explaining to me why he or she is voting for Mike Huckabee.

Additionally, editorially speaking, we are going to keep things within Orthodox boundaries on this site. Now, that doesn't mean we need to shy away from controversy. In addition to being a technologist and former campaign co-ordinator, I do have an MBA in Finance.

I'll be writing about some legal and financial topics that others might not agree with. Ditto for some other writers who will be stopping by to discuss their own ministries and businesses which may have controversial tinges to them.

But those will be acceptable controversy from an Orthodox perspective. The topics covered will be areas in which Orthodox Christians can disagree and have a good time discussing their differences.

What you will not see here are things that blatantly question, challenge, or otherwise impugn the teachings or character of the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, or which provide offense to commonly accepted standards of Orthodox ethics.

That is a far cry from what most other blogging outlets offer, where your blog on caring for the wounded spirit through Orthodox prayer ends up next to an Ode to the god Thor or an advertisement for Planned Parenthood.

Finally, Orthodox Biz is committed to promoting our site, and its members. Every blog will be indexed to all the search engines. We notify them immediately as soon as material is published. We are in the process of getting linked to all of the major Orthodox sites as well.

If you take the time and effort to write here, you will get noticed. We guarantee it.