There are people waiting to read what you have to say. You might doubt that, but it’s true.
With over 7 billion people in the world, there will be a segment of the population who will really connect with your words and your worldview.
But, before you can offer them anything, you must find them. And before you can do that, you must create a place where they can gather around you. If you never build that place, they’ll never even know you exist.
So how do you grow meaningful online relationships as a writer?
Build Connections That Last
As a writer, you have a personal brand. And because it’s a personal brand, it’s based on connection and relationships with people on a personal level.
Social media urges us to grow the largest followings, but building a writing business that lasts, isn’t about rounding up the most people. It’s about connecting and building relationships.
As you find and start to connect with contacts, it takes your acquaintance to a new level. You go from simply being a name on a friends social media following or email list, to a real relationship. It’s when you grow that relationship that makes things really happen. When you have a good relationship with someone, it means you help them and when you need help, they help you too. They’ll even do favors for you and who knows, you might even develop a partnership or collaboration on some writing projects.
For authors, it also means that you can help each other as your promote new books or other products.
For content producers – bloggers, freelance writers, podcasters, vloggers, etc. – these relationships can help you grow your business. It means your efforts are boosted because it means you can ask for the support of others who also want you to succeed.
3 Tips On How to Grow Meaningful Online Relationships
1. Be You. It sounds really simple, but I’ve learned that somedays its hard to do. I think most of us have days when we’d rather hide who we really are; maybe to blend in or so we don’t make anyone around us mad. But staying hidden in our own invisible cave, won’t help your message and the value you bring to others to stand out.
So It’s important you are real. Show your true colors. Be your wonderful self in blog posts, social media updates and other places where you hang out. It doesn’t mean you have to tell all the embarrassing things you’ve done in your lifetime, but it does mean you speak from your authentic voice in whatever way you communicate.
As you begin to speak from your heart and let people see the real you, your voice will resonate with your connections and they will start to remember you. The people who really identify with what you’re saying, your story and the way you tell it, will connect deeper with you. They’ll begin to do stuff like retweet and like your posts, visit your blog and reply to your emails.
They will start to look for you wherever you are, because your voice resonates with something inside of them.
2. Share Your Story. Take a deeper look at your own story and see how it can connect you to your readers – and to your bigger audience. Did you decide to start writing because of a past experience? Do you write certain types of books because of something that happened to you in the past? What have you learned about what you went through that can help others?
When you share you authentic self and your story with others, it’s really about sharing your heart – your hopes and dreams – in relation to you as a writer and your message. There’s many different ways and mediums to get this message across. You can share your story through blog posts, speaking on podcasts, videos, periscope or even through quote graphics you create(one of my favourite things:).
When you share your compelling story, there will be people who identify with your words. Its those shared experiences that is where your relationship with people begins. Sometimes, people who read your blogposts or listen to your podcasts can connect with you in such a powerful way that they will start to promote you and your message because they believe so strongly in your work and message. That’s pretty powerful.
3. Start By Being Helpful to Others First. If you see someone on Facebook or Twitter or wherever else you hangout that has a question you can answer, respond. If authors around you on social media are working hard to promote their books, offer to help out. Retweet the link to your followers and share in your other social media feeds.
I’ve made a lot of friends this way, and it’s kind of cool because they offer to help me out too, when I have something new going on. I love that as writers, we can help each other out.
Sometimes, one writer might connect with another and they might decide to write a book together. It’s great when you turn a person from a contact into a connection and develop a relationship as you grow to trust each other more.
I hope these tips help you as you grow your audience and turn connections into meaningful online relationships.
What has helped you the most to grow meaningful relationships with others online? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
