Guess I gotta walk my talk, right?
I made the bold move of filming a Facebook Live Broadcast in the middle of Bangkok, Thailand this morning.
The guy who preaches moving out of your comfort zone regularly definitely exited his comfort zone doing a live video in a bustling place filled with curious Thai folks, wondering what this farang was up to.
The internet connection gets spotty sometimes. Video quality may suffer because of that.
But I dive into a key topic for new and struggling bloggers.
Watch the video if you want to see me delving into the topic in Bangkok, Thailand:
Many bloggers struggle because they see themselves as frauds.
Like liars who have no tangible results reflecting success back to them.
How can they teach people how to succeed if they get 4 visitors a day to their blogs?
Clinging to this fear destroys their blog, creating a vicious cycle of making excuses, dissolving your cred, not publishing posts, all leading to blogging oblivion.
Not a good look.
I know one way to get around the feeling of being a blogging fraud.
Link to trusted sources.
Link to new blogging buddies.
Link to old blogging buddies.
This ain’t about you gaining cred as much as it’s about getting clearer on value you bring to the table.
Example; new bloggers with little traffic and zero profits results-wise may feel like frauds. Or not the best teachers.
Linking to 1, 2 or 3 trusted blogging sources – being established pros in their niches – can help you get clear on the value you bring to the blogging table. Maybe you haven’t retired to a life of island hopping through blogging but Ryan Biddulph has. Even if he blogs in 3rd person sometimes it helps to reference his blog if you write about how to retire to a life of travel through blogging.
Pick established pros related to the topic you cover. Linking to their blog helps you feel credible and capable because these bloggers know specifically what it takes to succeed. Power of association.
Google also loves blog posts linked to authority, related sites. Builds serious link juice. This is an added benefit of linking to trusted sites.
But make it about feeling confident and clear on your blogging message because you’re referencing top bloggers who successfully put these concepts into action for years.
Dissolving the Fraud Feeling Leads to Greatness
Fabulously successful bloggers are human. Said humans may doubt themselves – however rarely – because we all have fears.
The top bloggers doubt themselves rarely though. They could never succeed wildly if they saw themselves as frauds because the fear-energy behind feeling you’re a fraud tells readers to stay away from you.
Dissolving this fraud energy became easy for me when I focused on having fun blogging and helping folks. Linking to successful bloggers persistently became easier when I wasn’t concerned with proving myself or my blog worthy and focused mainly on shouting out other bloggers.
Following the Golden Rule of blogging – promoting successful bloggers as much as you promote yourself – leads to an avalanche of blogging benefits. Dissolving the fraud fear is one of many sweet results of linking to top bloggers throughout your blog posts.
Be Transparent
Are you struggling with your blog?
Share your struggles. Don’t bemoan your blogging failures. But do share how you are learning how to blog successfully to feel clear, transparent and authentic in all you do.
Never, ever, ever fake it until you make it because this vibe reeks of inauthentic energies.
Focus instead of sharing your story and add links to pro bloggers bolstering the points made in the blog post.
Explain how you’re learning from these blogging big dawgs to feel good about teaching folks.
Example; if you’re sharing how to build a rocking blog, consider linking to blogging pros like my friend Matthew Loomis at Build Your Own Blog. Seeing how he succeeded by sticking the fundamentals you’re sharing helps you feel like a pro even before you see pro results, and your readers will feel your clear, confident vibe.
Your Turn
Do you ever feel like a blogging fraud?
What have you done to address this issue?
How are you getting clear on your blogging value so you feel credible and trustworthy?
Have you looked past this strategy of promoting top bloggers on your blog?