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{Smaller Bloggers} – Embrace Your Influence

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 relevant_2011_0436Photo by Darcy

I fought with her for months–that Voice in my head that argues that I’m “too small to have an impact.”

I’d created a home management binder that was actually helping my crazy, driven personality to make progress on goals AND find space to breathe. Even my neighbor noticed, “You’ve changed–you’re more peaceful!” I wanted nothing more than to share what was working for me, but The Voice kept me quiet for months. “So many other bloggers have covered that topic”, she said. “Others with better graphics, more resources to offer, and a much bigger audience.” My readers didn’t need me to add to the slew of home management posts…or did they?

Then it hit me: each of us–you and me–are more likely to to listen to the advice of a friend than a stranger, right? We’ll stop to hear a story from someone we care about before reading the blog of someone we don’t even know. A candid photo in a friend’s post draws us in more than the flashiest stock photo.

The simple fact is, every blogger, big or small, has influence, and it has very little to do with numbers. Your influence is based on the relationship you have with your readers.  They have chosen to listen to you because of YOU–your voice, your perspective, you humor, you servant’s heart,your passion on that topic, or your experiences. They’ve connected with you, and they want (I may argue NEED) to hear what you have to say; and they want to hear it in your unique voice.

Do you believe that God made you unique, and that He’s pleased with you? He doesn’t look at you and say, “Woops, sure wish she had turned out more like so-and-so!” No, he looks at you and whispers, “Tell it, daughter–tell the story of how a personal God reached down and touched you.” And when you tell your story, your way, that’s when you have the most impact. The truth is, hearing it from you may finally move your readers to action or touch them deeper than anyone else.

Then The Voice cries, “But so few are listening! It’s a waste of your time!” Maybe you don’t doubt you have something to share, but you wonder if it’s worth the effort for such a small audience. But would you choose the way of a servant (the way of our Lord) and do the work for that one who needs to hear it? Even if they never respond? Even if it is simply a seed sown and someone else gets to reap the harvest? Are you willing? I pray that you are.

When I realized I needed to be willing to share my home management binder ideas with just one reader who might find them helpful, I finally sat down and started posting about it. The results were delightful–my relationship with a handful of my readers deepened and blossomed as I was willing to invest in them. My style of organization resonated with a few of them and they, too, were able to find some room to breathe. I found great joy and fulfillment in embracing the influence I did have.

How to Embrace the Influence God Has Given YOU:

  • Engage – be faithful to answer comments and to dialogue with your readers. If you’re on Blogger, install the new comment threading feature to facilitate conversation. If you’re on WordPress, consider this plug-in which allows your readers to be notified of follow up comments.
  • Serve – Look for ways you can serve your readers. Is there a post you’ve promised them, or a topic they’ve expressed interest in that you haven’t followed up on? Do the work and show them you care about them and not just SEO or more followers. Function as the part God has gifted you in. Are you good at giving directions? Share tutorials on how to do or make things.
  • Pray – For God’s vision for your blog–ask for clarity on what He wants you to blog about. For me, it was the inspiration He gave me for my home management binder. What is it for you?

If you have one reader, that’s one person who’s chosen to listen to the song you are singing because she happens to like your voice. What has God called you to say to that one?

Challenge: For this next week, take great care of the people God puts right in front of you. When someone asks a question, take the time to give a thoughtful answer. Reply to each comment left and/or visit the blog of those who comment and leave a comment. The challenge is to make the effort and set aside time specifically for connecting with the readers you have.

Comments

  4. Thank you for this post…and yes, I think by engaging and serving, we’re keeping it straight.  It truly is not about the numbers or being the ‘best’…but serving and GIVING….My focus is there…for a long time it was not, but God brought me back to his goals for me….thank you for this reminder!

    • Rebecca, you are so right – I’ve been on the same journey, and only recently viewed my blog as a way to serve, rather than a platform from which to receive attention and affirmation. Wow… typing that was convicting! 🙂

  10. Best encouragement I’ve heard all day!  There is such a temptation to believe small bloggers have no impact but the Lord uses everything as He pleases!  THank you for the reminder!

    ryandcar.blogspot.com

  11. Yes, love this and it is so true.  I love my little tribe, the way we support each other. And I hope to meet a few of them in real life tomrrow night when we hear Ann Voskamp speak in Charleston. It’ll be a first for me, something you have already experienced..

  12. YEs, yes, and yes. Whenever I start feeling “small” and “less than” I focus on the fact that I DO have some people, friends and others, who drop by my blog occasionally. I’m getting excited about returning to my blog in a few weeks and find more ways to connect with those people.

  15. Sincere thanks for this- I have been wanting for so long to figure out how to respond directly to my commenters!  So excited!!!!  Thank you!!!!

  16. I have a very small blog and was seriously thisclose to deleting it today – THANK YOU!  I didn’t want to give up blogging but seriously felt like I had lost my voice in the mix.  I feel encouraged and ready to find my voice and direction again. 

  17. Thank you for posting this!  I’ve often wondered these same things.  I am a smallish blog, I rarely get comments and I think why even do it.  But you’re right, Christ would never turn his back on that one who needed to hear my particular message.  Thank you for reminding me of this important principle.

    • Seconding Kris!

      Trina, your post made me think of The Influence Network. Their big idea is “you have influence right where you are.” I think that sentiment is echoed in your post. I’ve really been seeing that in my own blog recently. Good words!

  20. Thanks for the encouragement, Trina! I loved meeting you at Relevant in October. My blog is quite small, yet people all over the globe are reading…my favorite segment of audience are those people battling cancer who haven’t accepted Christ. The opportunity to live out my faith publicly to a group that normally wouldn’t listen to a word of my Christian faith is so precious to me. Yet The Voice shows up at least weekly…is it worth it for the 70 people who will read today? Are my words having an impact? 

    God confirms, again and again, that He is in this. I have a quote from Ann Voskamp’s first keynote at Relevant 2010 taped to my computer…”Jesus only had 12 followers.”

    •  And if you think about those numbers in terms of people, say filling a room, suddenly 70 people is really a LOT of people! I mean, I could see a large MOPS group or small women’s conference or retreat having that many people.
      And you’re the speaker, Genevieve. Every day; every week these women show up to “hear” YOU. Your words are precious to them, friend! (((Hugs)))

  23. This is so so so so encouraging!  In fact, I had let my posts slip in the last few months as our family is going through big changes and I just couldn’t write about “stuff” and not the real things on my heart.  Anyway, today I posted an honest post and almost immediately received great encouragement from a friend who reads.  It was such a hug from the Lord today.
    Also, thanks for the advice on the Blogger comment threading.  I changed that on my blog and hope to have some great conversations.
    God is good!

  25. This resonated with me so much today. I’ve been (to my shame) so worried lately about my numbers and growth and all of that… and I totally forget that last summer I had a few dozen readers but now I have over 200. I really need to stop and be appreciative for those that are already reading, and not focus on who isn’t. I’ve also been totally stressing about “my voice” lately – what should I write about? the whole niche thing, etc. It’s been stressing me out, and I need to refocus back to why I blog in the first place. There are several reasons, but the main one is to honour God with my love for the written word and sharing my heart in a real and honest way. 

    Thanks for this!

  26. HI Trina, this post was really well written and such an encouragement.  Since launching the New Leaving a Legacy site, I can’t help but get discouraged sometimes by the number of “likes”… I know I shouldn’t care, and I do only write for God, but every time I write it is a sacrifice of time from doing other things, I want my time to be spent wisely, not foolishly, I want the Lord to use me as His tool and allow Him to reach as many as possible for His Glory, not mine. 

    Thank you for your post, I really needed to hear that others struggle just as I do!  God Bless Sister!  Miss You!  Oh and guess, what I am going to Allume next fall as of today!  🙂

  27. I’ve been at this since 2001 and I’ve never been a “big” blogger, but I’ve really been trying to take this to heart since hearing it at Relevant and I know there are a couple that wait to hear what I have to say.  There are probably more that never comment that I don’t know about.  So as long as God keeps giving me something to say, I’ll keep saying it.

  28. I needed this so much. I am a brand new blogger, and part of me wonders if I have anything new to offer, and yet I know I do. My voice might resonate with someone differently. But what if it is just for one? Yes, I am willing. 

  29. Beautiful words of wisdom, for any blogger.  This is one of the things that kept me from pursuing blogger before I started.  The fact that there were already 100’s of blogs out there, by Christian women, for Christian women. I always felt I would get lost in a the sea.  But, once I began intentionally building a community through commenting and now opening up my blog for guest posting, I am finding my blog is growing!

  31. Thanks for your words~ I needed this today! Getting ready to transition from my family-ish blog after several years and move to a more formal blog… have been worried about losing readers, but you’re so right. I do this for God, and I’m doing what I believe He is calling me to do. Why worry beyond that~ my obedience is the only thing I can control!

  32. Thank-you for this post! God truly used you to encourage my heart. I’ve been thinking a lot of the things that you mentioned… is it really worth the time & energy!? And sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading, but how true that it is all for HIM, and it is so worth it if He is glorified through just one person being encouraged!
    Blessings,
    Jessica

  33. My blog is quite new and last night I allowed some self-doubts and second-guessing to creep into my head. I needed to read this; thank you!

  35. Thank you for this. 
    I just started a blog recently because I love writing and I love ministering and I love sharing God’s word and what He’s done in my life. But it is easy to get caught up looking at those numbers and hoping to touch a lot of people, when really if we just touch one life, bring one life closer to Jesus, then we will be able to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.”

    Thank you for the reminder. 

  36. This is awesome! Thanks!!!! “He doesn’t look at you and say, ‘Woops, sure wish she had turned out more like so-and-so!'” Love it!!!! Okay, and now I”m going to go check out your binder! (reposting this here, because apparently I replied on the wrong post earlier today. Oops!!!)

  37. Lisa Jo has had posts before about just writing for the folks who come to the table, even if it is just one person.  You encourage us to do the same. It is absolutely the right thing to do, but we let ourselves be so intimidated by the success of others, by the postcard we create of their tremendous success against our pale and tiny photo.

    When I started blogging 3 years ago, I didn’t have a real direction, but more importantly, I just wasn’t sure how much of my faith I was comfortable sharing. I gradually stopped blogging. Then, last March, I really started listening intently to God. REALLY paying attention and stepping out in big ways for me, and realizing that my faith was an integral part of what I was to share, especially as an invitation to those who don’t yet know Him.

    I left my day job several months ago and have some very exciting projects on the horizon, all because I was be true to Him first and myself as well.

    I agree wholeheartedly with you about engaging, serving and praying. I would add “listening and following” to that list as well, for those are the action steps that will come of your prayers.

    Thanks for the heads up on the WP widget for comments. I am definitely going to get that onto my blog.

  38. I think you wrote what all of us {small} bloggers feel at some point or another. Thank you for the encouragement to keep trucking.

  39. Thanks for this Trina. I actually had 4 people leave comments on my latest post, which was such a great encouragement (my blog is VERY small!) I followed your advice and made a point of checking out their websites, leaving comments etc, and now I’m excited just to get to know a handful of people better through my blog.

  40. I really appreciate this blog and was both convicted and encouraged. It is easy to let things like comments, likes, shares, and page counts sap the joy of ministry from my very bones. When the Lord speaks to my heart and gives me a message to share, it is for his glory not my own. My job is to share and let God do the rest. Stats are mans way of assuring himself he is doing good. Peace and joy in my hearts is God’s way!

  43. Thank you so, so much for encouraging this small blogger! The Voice is NOT my friend, but it certainly is there when I hold my breath and look at my stats or see that my new comment is just a spammer instead of someone who was actually encouraged by what I wrote.

    God has made it clear to me time and again as I pray for vision and guidance to keep persevering in spite of how small my audience may be, but reading this today I was yet again reminded that I’m not alone in this calling, and I’m so grateful.

    May God continue to bless your ministry! Oh, and Happy Easter! 🙂

  45. Wow. You have no idea how much I needed this post! Thank you so very much. I just found you from a link from a friend and will be reading more of what you have to say. What an incredible gift of encouragement you have 🙂

  47. Trina as I was reading, I was thinking about how God goes to look for the “one” lost sheep, that “one” lost coin. I really needed this encouragement today. I am a “small” blogger and have wondered the same things. You were anointed for this post. Many blessings on you and your ministry. Merry Christmas!

  48. So loved (and needed) this post Trina. Thank you for taking the time and care to write it so that we can be encouraged to keep going. This post reminded of these song lyrics by Disciple, “It’s worth it all if I can just see You, feel You. It’s worth it all if there’s just one that sees you, feels You.” If there is just one. Easy words to say, hard words to live. But isn’t that what Jesus did and lived? If there would have been just one of us on earth, stuck in sin, He still would have extravagantly loved and lived to save us; for just one.

    • Katie, I haven’t heard that song, but love the lyrics! Thanks for sharing. Important to remember that doing it for His joy is enough even if NO ONE sees or reads.

    • Thanks for sharing this post on Twitter this morning, Katie. That’s where I saw it. Turns out I needed to read it. 🙂

  49. Wonderful reminder! And YES! I’m willing for just the one. Thank you, Trina, for the encouragement.

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