I can not stress how important it is to have this intangible as a blogger: moral support. I looked it up on Wikipedia (because we all know they are the experts, right–jkjk!) and found this: Moral support is a way of giving support to a person or cause, or to one side in a conflict, without making any contribution beyond the emotional or psychological value of the encouragement.
Jo, Bethany and Marie: random meeting in Philadelphia
You can’t get any less tangible than that: emotional and psychological value. People who give moral support to bloggers are essentially the cheerleaders in our life.
I hope you have a cheerleader.
And I hope you are a cheerleader for someone else.
What I Learned on the Street Corner
When I attended Bloggy Bootcamp in Philadelphia this past weekend, I experienced moral support from a surprising source: the street corner.
No, no, no, I wasn’t standing on the street corner. I went outside my hotel and ending up talking to four people who were staying at the same hotel. They noticed my Bloggy Bootcamp name tag and asked me about it. I ended up talking with them probably about an hour and a half. These people were from just outside Philadelphia and were staying at the hotel for the weekend to attend a festival. I was so honored that they would talk to me about what I was doing, and essentially befriend me for that short time I was there. It’s likely I will never see them again, but their interest in blogging and their assurance that they would check out my blog was definitely moral support for me, and it meant the world to me.
This picture shows Jo on my left, Marie on my right and in the background is Jo’s husband. Look at those big smiles! These are happy, friendly people, and I was blessed to meet them! And even just looking at this picture for the first time since the weekend, it brought back the memory and made me smile. Who knew such wonderful moral support could be found on the street corner of a city in which you are a stranger?
My point here is, we bloggers (and anybody really) need to find our moral support where ever we go. We need to seek it out, and although I hope, I hope you get some moral support at home, if you don’t, this is even more important for you: seek out the moral support you need as a blogger. What does this mean?
Expand Beyond Your Blog
If you are waiting for your audience to come to you, give you glorious comments and accolades for your writing, good luck. Seriously.
There are so many blogs out there, that the world is not going to find you if you don’t go out to them. This goes back to a point I made in a post called Reaching Out Meangs Going In. You’ve got to go out to the blog world, find like minds, and invest in their blog. I’m not just talking about a simple comment. I’m talking about really reading these people’s stories and information and reading post after post from the same blogger until you get to know that blogger. And yes, comment on their blogs, because now you care about THEM. They will see that in the comments you give them. If they have a FaceBook fan page, “like” it. But don’t stop there. Interact on their Facebook page too. Be the moral support to them that you would want as a blogger.
Now, we both know that not everyone will return your moral support. And that’s ok. But as you do this, and do it regularly, you will develop a group of bloggers who will be the moral support you need. But don’t stop at the blogging world. Expand further. Look to your local community, LinkedIn, your church, your athletic groups. Let these people know that you are blogging. Some will be interested, other’s won’t. The ones who are interested will ask you about it the next time they see you. Even just the asking is encouragement. Every little bit helps.
- Just me and my keyboard
Because a Hard Worker Needs Moral Support
If you want to take your blog further than where it is now, and build your audience so that eventually maybe you can monetize it, then you want a successful blog. And that takes work. Hard work. Time. And you will spend so much time in front of your computer, relatively alone, that there are just gonna be those times you really need to know that you have that moral support. Throughout the day, I get moral support in the form of comments. I love any comment, but there are certain bloggers I have connected with, who read my blog at least most of the time, and when they comment, they always say something encouraging. That’s moral support. And when those comments come in as I sit alone in front of my computer, I feel a little less alone. And this is why I am a blogger, and not just a writer. Because blogging brings the community into writing.
Have you got a circle of supportive people around you? Do you have any “regular” commenters that you love to hear from? Where else, beyond the blogging community, do you get your moral support?
