Given the opportunity, most folks would jump at the chance to pay it forward or help those who might be less fortunate or who might just need a little helping hand. As a blogger, you’re in a unique position to help in many ways.
Who can you help? Anyone who wants to get the word out about their organization. From Scout troops or animal shelters to churches, your local library, local civic organizations, local political organizations, and any of the many national and international charitable organizations.
How can you help? As a blogger you already understand what it takes to make yourself heard on the Internet. You understand how to use social networks, how keywords and organic search work, and you probably already have traffic on at least one of your blogs that can help give any campaign a good jump start.
Blog about your cause
Your readers faithfully follow your blog because they like your content and they like you. Chances are, you have something in common with most of your followers on a personal level. So your readers aren’t going to mind if you dedicate one blog post a month to your cause. In fact, they may even welcome it. And if the project you’re supporting happens to blend well with your niche you might even find yourself dedicating an entire section of your blog on a regular basis.
Donate a blog
Many local organizations would benefit from having their own blog but they don’t make enough money to hire a designer or take blogging lessons. Volunteer your services to help set up a blog for your church, or your child’s Scout troop, or the local business association. Most of the time all they’ll need is a simple blog set-up, using a free WordPress theme and a basic hosting plan.
Teach others how to blog
Contact your local library, your Chamber of Commerce and your local civic organizations and offer to give a few seminars to show people how to set up their own basic blogs. With two or three seminars everyone who’s interested could have their own blog. As a bonus, you’ll probably even get some side business from those companies or organizations who want to hire you to handle it for them.
If you’re an experienced blogger then the mechanics of setting up a blog and optimizing it for the search engines are second nature to you. You can set up a simple site with a contact form and a donate button in an afternoon without even breaking a sweat.
You or your family members are probably also members of some type of organization that would benefit from a blog. So why not put your skills to work and and do a good deed to help support a worthy cause.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!