“My family won’t read my blog!”
One of the worst feelings in the world is the feeling that no one cares. And it is even worse when that feeling comes from family and friends not caring. No matter what we do or attempt in life, we naturally seek encouragement and support from our family and friends. And we when don’t get it, it is like a stab in the heart!
As a Christian blogger, the struggle to get support from family and friends is REAL!!
So how exactly do you get your family and friends to read (or at least share) your blog?
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The Hard Truth About Blogging and Family/Friends
You work so hard on creating your blog and attempting to fulfill the calling God has put on your heart. You publish your post and share it on Facebook.
Then – nothing. Not a single family member or close friend even “liked” it much less shared it.
Later on, in casual conversation (maybe at church or elsewhere) you ask a close friend if they read the post you published this week and she looks at you like “What? You have a blog?” even though you mention it every time you see her.
So how exactly do you get your family and friends to acknowledge your efforts or at least engage with it by liking or sharing it on Facebook?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the truth is that YOU CAN’T!
The hard truth is that, for the most part, your family and friends do not care the least bit about your desire to be a blogger- and that is completely OK!
Your Family and Friends Aren’t Your Target Audience
As a Christian blogger, you are called to share a very specific and targeted message to a very specific person out there on the Internet. Your message isn’t for everyone! And 99.9% of the time, your family and friends are absolutely NOT your target audience.
Yes, you may get one here or there that enjoys what you write, but the rest don’t care because your message isn’t speaking to them.
Think about it. Let’s say you are a young mother of toddlers with a Christian mom blog to help encourage other young Christian mothers through this season. The family that you are complaining about are likely your own mother, aunts (who obviously are much older than you and don’t have toddlers), or maybe some of them (friend or family) aren’t even as far along (or at all) in their relationship with God.
What you are writing about doesn’t spark interest in them in the least. But you know what? Your actual target audience – that young Christian mom with toddlers – she is out there just waiting to come across your encouraging message!
Instead of fretting over why your family won’t support your blog, start being concerned with finding your target audience so your message reaches the person it was intended for!
Instead of focusing on who isn’t reading/engaging with your blog, focus on who IS!
When you have a clear idea of who your target audience is and you are writing directly to them through your blog posts (which are optimized for search engines) your target audience will come in waves!!
Related:
- The Importance of Defining Your Target Audience
- The Importance of SEO for Christian Bloggers to Reach Their Target Audience
People Prioritize What is Important to Them
The truth is that blogging is important to YOU. And yes, there are plenty of people out there on the Internet who are going to be so excited to read what you have put your heart and soul into writing. But your family and friends have other things that are important to them.
In business, this is no different. When someone starts a new business, they get the least support and encouragement from family and friends. Yeah, they might have one or two that stick by them, but the rest of the family couldn’t care less.
I have quite a few friends that are on the “keto” train right now. They all share keto-recipes pretty regularly on their Facebook. And you know what? I don’t like/comment/share a single one of them! Because I don’t do keto. But also because I scroll Facebook on my phone (like the majority of the population) and am often in a hurry. Keto recipes aren’t something that triggers my brain to say “oh I need to share that!”. Yes, I know there are others in my feed that might like it but the whole “keto” thing just isn’t something that triggers my brain to act.
[bctt tweet=”The hard truth is that, for the most part, your family and friends do not care the least bit about your desire to be a blogger- and that is completely OK!” username=”kingdomblogger1″]
Now, if you shared a cute video of dogs doing silly things or even a particular Jesus message that really spoke to me in that moment – my brain is triggered and I’ll gladly (and naturally) like it and share it (I rarely comment on anything).
Think about your own Facebook feed (before you were a blogger). Did you like/share every single thing in your feed (which are things your family/friends originally shared)? Most likely you did not because whatever it was – didn’t appeal to you. (And I mentioned “before you were a blogger” because now you are possibly more aware of the need to support others because you are seeking that support now. But before in your “pre-blogger” Facebook scrolling, you didn’t have that same perspective.)
So, if you didn’t like/share their stuff every time, why would you expect them to do it for you? It isn’t that they are being mean or anything like that – it just simply doesn’t appeal to them.
Don’t take it personally!
The Enemy Wants You To Fail
Satan doesn’t want you to be a Christian blogger and he will use every trick up his creative little sleeve!
It is normal human behavior for us to seek approval from our family and closest friends and when we don’t get it, it leaves us feeling incompetent. It causes us to doubt our abilities and not do what God has called us to do.
This is EXACTLY what the enemy wants!
- He knows your message is powerful!
- He knows that your message will bring more people to knowing Christ.
- He knows that YOU have the power to shut him down!
So, of course, he doesn’t want you to feel like an accomplishment. He uses your family and friends (not supporting you) as a way to distract you from doing God’s work through your blog.
Don’t let him win!
Focus on writing to and serving your target audience and put on blinders to everyone else. Put on the blinders to anything that distracts you from writing!
Focus on the Mission – Not Your Family and Friends
As frustrating as it can be when family and friends don’t support your blogging efforts (or even acknowledge it as a real thing), it is important that you keep your eyes focused on the mission – reaching more people for the Kingdom. Don’t change the mission to “getting my family to read my blog” because that mission will almost always be a failure and your message (your blog posts) will never reach the eyes of the person that needed to read it.
The enemy wants you to feel like a failure so you’ll give up the idea of being a Christian blogger. He does this in so many areas of our lives.
But rest assured, if God put the idea of being a Christian blogger on your heart and gave you a message to share – He will surely help you to make that mission a success! But you have to stay focused on what matters. And when it comes to blogging, the hard truth is that family and friends (or at least their approval, support, or encouragement) doesn’t matter in the least!
