Writing is necessary to writers, but having people read what you write makes it a lot more fun. Bloggers seem ubiquitous these days, and if you want to be read, you have to do more than publish posts, no matter how good they are.
Social media is crucial to any publicity strategy of course, and sharing your work on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest is a start. But Facebook’s fickle algorithms reward bloggers who already have higher engagement with more exposure, making it hard to gain traction if your readership is low or disinclined to comment on your posts.
I had built my Facebook following up to over 2,000 fans, but it’s debatable whether many of them were reading what I wrote. They certainly weren’t commenting, liking, or sharing much. And I want people to read what I write, not just for feedback, and praise, but because I hope I have something to contribute to the conversation.
Over the past year, my involvement with Catholics Online has been life-changing for me and my blog. My Facebook page views have soared thanks to the regular engagement threads in the group. What’s best about this is that the engagement is genuine, because Catholics Online is a true community. I’ve made many new friends, grown in my faith, refocused my blogging, and been offered exciting opportunities thanks to my involvement.
Catholics Online is a community of Catholics who have joined together to support one another, to amplify one another’s reach, and to provide a directory of quality Catholic artisans, authors, speakers, businesses, and charities & non-profit organizations. In April some of us will have the opportunity to meet in person for the first time at a retreat in Wrentham, Massachusetts. It’s happening on my birthday weekend so I knew I was meant to go.
If you are a Catholic who fits the profile above, please consider joining us! If you are looking for Catholic influencers to work with, contact us here (and be sure to tell them I sent you!). If you are a reader of Catholic content or a potential consumer of Catholic goods, please visit us on Facebook. We are also on Twitter and Pinterest.
