It’s the fourth quarter—also known as crunch time for your favorite online personalities.
And I promise you, I’m not lying. We are trying to put out some great content, while paying bills and running households. Staging shots, while making time to cuddle with little ones, or furry ones, or with ourselves. And while it’s often the very last thing we want to admit, we need the help of others.My husband and I have been repeating something to our oldest child for several years now: “No person is an island”. No matter how fabulous our Pinterest-specific photos are, or how we weave in a fantastic story to share the latest product from our favorite brand, we can’t do it alone.
In the blogging world, we need each other, my friends. We need our colleagues and friends to actually click over and maybe read our words every now and again. You know, like we did when blogging wasn’t a career for us, but just a love. Now it’s a career that we love, but it’s also paying for tuition for our children, and allowing us to to experience things that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Essentially, our jobs are fantastic, but because they aren’t always considered mainstream jobs, no one gives us what we REALLY need.
Here are some ways you can help your friends, and other bloggers be their best, and continue to bring you the content, and giveaways, and background information that you love.
Share Their Work
Nine times out of ten, if you love something, your friends will probably love it too. If you read a recipe that you love, or see a write up on a place that you’d love to visit – share it! I mean, you’re already online. It’s a simple click, and it costs nothing, but listen to Amber: sharing the work we work so hard on makes a world of difference to the author behind the blog. Friends like Keyonda at A Real Urban Mom are generous and consistent sharers, and it is so appreciated. And you know what they say: the good you do comes back to you.
Use Their Affiliate Links
When we love a product, we share it. It’s even better when we can partner with a brand to make a tiny commission off of sharing our love so that our readers can love it too. It’s not always big bucks, but maybe a few quarters on the purchase that can help with our blog upkeep, or that 7th cup of coffee we’re chugging to make sure our readers are up to date on the latest technological trends. Also, more often than not, if you are a blogger, you can’t use your own affiliate link to make a purchase (because everyone would do it) and that “what goes around comes around” adage is pretty sweet in this regard. If you need to get up to speed, check out a post like Melissa’s at Blog Clarity that breaks down affiliate links.
Know of an opportunity that a fellow influencer would be perfect for? Share them! If there’s a campaign that you know you don’t fit but they would, let the pr firm or the campaign leader know. It doesn’t hurt you and it provides a great virtual pat on the back when you know someone thought about you—both personally and in a way that’s going to help your bottom line grow. Brandi Riley, the founder of the Courage to Earn Facebook group (and also the Mom2.com Career Editor), is very generous in this way, and it makes a difference.
Send Love Notes
I’m not talking about intrusive messages for no reason. Send tweets or retweets about or of your peers’ work, or comments on their blogs, or FB page posts telling them how awesome you think their content is, and how much you appreciate it. Clarissa at Clarissa Explains it All is wonderful at boosting the signal of tweets and Facebook posts. So appreciated. This can often be a lonely job, despite how it may seem online. Prioritizing time, content, and outreach is often a one person show, and knowing that people “see” what’s going on is sometimes the second wind that we need to keep going.
Purchase Their Goods
Listen. This is important. If you know a blogger who makes a product and it is GOOD—and it would be good for YOU—purchase it. That means anything like coaching, or SEO help, or “under the hood” blog clean-up. If they make a tangible product like a planner, worksheets, stickers, buttons, logos, blog design, or awesome t-shirts like Michelle’s at Divatude—support them. They are a small business just like you, and they need as much help in that arena as you do. If you know that you aren’t amazing with photography and your bloggy friend is, offer to pay them for their services to help you rise to the next level. And if you can’t use the items that they sell, but know someone who can—well, see the “recommend them” suggestion above.