Can you change one person’s perspective about giving back?
Recently I had the privilege of speaking to a local bloggers group in Sacramento. The topic? “Using Your Online Influence To Create Change And Impact Your Local Community”. I won’t go into a ton of detail because the session was 2 hours long. However, I was impacted by what one of the bloggers said after I was done speaking.
She said, “After listening to you today, I realize that I really don’t give back to anyone in my local community. I don’t do it through my blog, or even in person in my community and I am going to change that.” That statement impacted me because I know for sure that I impacted at least one person in that room. She will now go back (we gave her a ton of ideas on how to give) to her community and create a ripple effect that will change and improve the quality of life for people right in the place she lives. Just one person now has a goal and a new vision to use her blog to help others.
Initially many bloggers come together to network and find ways to increase the traffic to their blog.
I get it. They work a ton of time on their content and want the remuneration or compensation for that effort. That by itself is not wrong. I believe that you should be paid according to your effort, but what I talked to this group about was going one step further – Take the influence you have and connect with local groups in your community to help them with a meaningful cause. Use your free tickets and raffle them off to benefit a non-profit. Talk about going on a date night on your blog and document you and your husband going to a local shelter to serve a meal as your date night instead of promoting another restaurant for a free meal. These are small things that can be done with minimal effort or cost.
Change the world by changing your neighborhood.
I believe that it’s great to have and help followers of your social media all over the world. However, my ultimate call to action to this group of influencers was this: at the end of your blog post what is your call to action to your readers that will move them to make a difference right where they live? I truly believe that the more they do this, the remunerations and compensation come organically and with even less effort. Encourage those you know to try it, because it is a fact, anytime you help others, you are automatically helping yourself.