How I finally learned to be as sociable online as I am off

If you’re an artist or indie writer or photographer who’s new to creating online content and hoping it gets noticed, or if you’re a pro who’s publishing prolifically and yearning to be “discovered,” I’ll share what I’ve learned by starting out large, and forgetting where my roots are.

You won’t be noticed, much less discovered—there is too much competition from the entire global community for your one little drop in the big web bucket to get found.

Before you reject my premise, let me offer some hope. You can be a rock star in your own community but you have to believe in a few simple concepts:

All news is local. 

• Find your community in your own backyard, where you live, work, play. Then pay attention to what they have to say. Isn’t discovery its own reward? Why not enhance your own natural curiosity?

Praise is your secret ingredient.

• Sprinkle praise liberally and frequently on anything that’s praiseworthy in your local community. Who doesn’t like to be praised? Who doesn’t feel good praising?

Sharing shows caring.

• Share what you’ve learned from your community by responding to what you find meaningful, and by passing it along. Who benefits more when you share others’ ideas—you, or them?

Engaging with your own local community by praising and sharing is a win-win. You feel good, they feel great. You’ll learn a lot. You can branch out from there, just as any good student does once she’s learned and practiced the basics.

To make this really succeed, you need to really believe in it. Paying it forward in life has its apostles mainly because it’s right living. But don’t worry if you start out praising and sharing as a tactic. Just keep doing it. Act as if. Sooner or later, the positive feedback will find its groove in your synapses and you’ll just want to do it.

And that’s when the happy magic will start to happen. ♣

Where can I find you on social media?

See my photography and paintings here, and connect with me on Twitter, my favorite form of social media, here.