Encouragement…

As I wrote last week, it can be pretty lonely out here on the net. And so when I came across Lori and the blog post she had written, I was just so encouraged!

I have asked Lori permission to share some of that post here. You can read the whole blog here, and please, I encourage you to do it. But the bit I wanted to share is this:

7 tips on how to love your Blogger.

1.) Subscribe to receive your blogger’s posts delivered to your inbox.

If you read nearly every post your blogger writes, subscribe to her blog via email. If you’re going to read her words anyway, make a commitment to her community by subscribing. Your subscription is the best way to communicate to your blogger that her words meet a need in your life. Think of it as a quiet affirmation of God’s call on her life. {and it’s free!}

And publishing companies want to know who is reading and how many are reading.

2.) Like her Facebook author page and engage the community that meets there.

Community is built when we show up, over and over again, and engage in meaningful conversations with one another. This happens in Facebook Land. Years ago, before folks starting reading blogs on their phones, they would enter into a relationship with one another in the comment section. This rarely happens anymore. Community is happening on Facebook pages.

This community is important to your blogger. She desires to know you and hear what you’re thinking.

And I hate to say it, but this community is also important to publishing companies.

3.) Subscribe to your blogger’s newsletter.

Most bloggers who are aspiring to write a book, write a newsletter every few months. This newsletter often includes family updates, book happenings, personal prayer needs, and sometimes freebies. The newsletter is only published and emailed to the select few who subscribe. If you love your blogger, subscribe. She’ll love you back and who knows? You may get invited to something spectacular, like a book launch party. {a girl can dream, right?}

Publishing companies want to know who will market and sell your blogger’s book.

These newsletter subscribers?

They are The People. {Three cheers for you guys!!}

4.) Share your blogger’s blog posts.

If you Twitter, follow her and retweet her posts. If you Instagram, follow your blogger and get to know the other side or her. Include a link to a post that resonated with you in your own Instagram profile and write a little blurb about what she said under a picture of your feet. If you Pinterest, pin her posts. If you Facebook, like and share her words. If you Periscope, I don’t know…maybe open a dialog about a blog post. If you blog, include links to your favorite posts in a weekend round-up.

Sharing is caring.

And publishing companies care about sharing. A whole heckuva lot.

5.) Leave a comment on the blog.

If you have a thought to write, leave it on the blog. Leaving a comment opens the door for others to do likewise and it also encourages community and healthy processing. It’s also nice.

6.) Invite your blogger to speak at your ____________.

If your favorite blogger writes on something you feel your people need to hear about, invite her to share about whatever it is at your next women’s thing, church event, small group, etc. If I could get my friendBecca and her hubby Adam to fly to Rocky Mount and share about how they love the youth in their neighborhood so well, I’d do it. And I’d do it because I see God bringing His kingdom in Atlanta and I would love for their story to inspire my people to live differently.

Bloggers with a story are compelled to tell it to anyone who will listen.

7.) Encourage the heart of your blogger.

Pray for her. Voxer her a passage of scripture. Send a love note in the mail. Mail her Starbucks gift cards. {wink, wink} Give her a call and high five her for writing hard truths and for taking the high road. If you see a nasty comment on her social media accounts, publicly call that out and then speak the truth in its place.

So there it is! Lori gets what I go through each week and I love her advice!
So please, reach out! A click, a like, a comment, or even subscribe. I know this is what God has called me to do but some weeks it can be a bit lonely, and let’s be honest, everyone needs a bit of encouragement every now and then!