Blog Exercises: Expanding Your Social Web Connections

“I’m following you because you are a Doctor Who fan.”

I was stunned at those words. Yes, I’m a Doctor Who fan. I’m a fan of science fiction in general, but this year is an exceptional one for Doctor Who fans. It’s the 50th Anniversary of the first episode, a legendary event in television history.

How did I reach a Doctor Who fan? By publicly participating in the Doctor Who mania sweeping the world this year, my little blog and blogging reached a new audience.

SEO “experts” preach about how to expand your audience reach, forcing your way into online and in person social groups, but I like the organic approach. I like it when like minds discover each other and find commonality where you might not expect any.

You can do the same.

Look at your hobbies, the things you love to do in your free time. Have you connected with others talking about these things online? Find groups who enjoy doing what you love, and connect.

Don’t start pushing your credentials at them immediately. Follow the example of The Doctor and flash some psychic paper identification their way and then become immediately interested in everything they are doing. It isn’t about you. It’s about them. You want to know them. You want to learn from them. You want to join them.

As you both come to trust each other, your professional experience will become of interest to them, and possibly the group.

I down play my work as much as possible when I’m involved in non-blogging activities. I like getting my fingers dirty, volunteering for the jobs no one else wants, helping out as much as possible. Too soon someone gets curious and googles me. It is then that I get asked to teach them how to blog and connect on the web. I do what I can, like a doctor, to help without an office visit. They become fans and what I do doesn’t get in the way of the hobby and the reason that brought us together, and we all win.

Your blog exercise is to expand your hobby online activities to connect with a wider audience.

Keep it personal and fun. It can be like my enthusiasm with Doctor Who, sharing it with the great masses of fellow enthusiasts, or more personal. My husband is an aerospace engineer specializing in commercial airplanes, but he’s a woodworker, too. He loves the online chat groups and forums discussing serious wood and woodworking tools. He loves going to the meetings and learning from other woodworkers. As they get to know him, they will come to him and ask structural or electrical questions. They’ve learned to trust his skills and knowledge, too.

I’ve found that a healthy hobby life creates a healthy blogger. It opens you up to new possibilities and ideas, not just new friends and relationships.

Blog about this topic? Please remember to include a hat tip link back to this post to create a trackback, or leave a properly formed link in the comments so participants can check out your blog exercise task.

You can find more Blog Exercises on Lorelle on WordPress. This is a year-long challenge to help you flex your blogging muscles.

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen.