A week ago I was flying home after a weekend in the Twin Cities where I was speaking at a Catholic women’s blogging conference.
I’m not sure why I use jazz hands when I’m speaking but there you are.
A lovely venue (there are some seriously gorgeous Victorian homes in St. Paul!), thoughtful workshops, good food, great swag bags, and beautiful fellow speakers Nell and Laura really made it an incredible weekend.
But the best part of this sort of gathering is fellowship and community. It’s invigorating and inspiring to see beloved friends, meet online friends in real life, and meet new friends who love the written word and love sharing their story with the world. It confirmed something I’d harped on in my talk: the importance of community for bloggers/writers.
I don’t share a lot of blogging advice here at Carrots and it’s not just because most of my readers aren’t bloggers and would think, “yeah, okay, Haley, let’s get back to the usual programming.” I rarely share about blogging because there’s so many different ways to blog successfully and it all depends on the unique voice, niche, and goals of each blogger. There’s so many variables that the question of how to blog well does not have a one-size-fits-all answer. But the one piece of advice that is always true is that a successful blogger always has a strong community.
Blogging can feel really lonely if you don’t have a community. The internet is a big space and it’s hard if you don’t feel like you have little piece of the web to call home. When I first started blogging I was reading a lot of Catholic homeschooling mom blogs written by women a couple of decades older than myself. I saw this niche as THE Catholic bloggers. I, a new mom just starting RCIA, commented on posts and even emailed some of these bloggers. “This is going to be my community!” I thought. But it wasn’t. My comments sat there without responses. My emails, save one, were not replied to. I felt like I was on the outside looking in at a club I wished I could be in.
The exclusivity was likely not at all intentional. I’m sure these are lovely women who are just very busy and already have an established community. But I was honestly discouraged. “I’m not (fill in the blank–Catholic, mature, seasoned, knowledgeable, good) enough to be included!” I thought. When I wrote my posts, these women had been my desired audience. But when it became clear that their niche wasn’t where my voice would fit in the internet, I realized there might be room for something else out there. And there was.
So I didn’t give up on writing. I kept going and started writing for someone more like me. A couple of years later, I decided to create my own little community–I decided to make a mastermind group.
What’s a mastermind group? It’s a virtual (or real life) community of a handful of other bloggers/influencers–often in the same niche. About three years ago I reached out to 8 other women and asked if they’d join a secret Facebook group to talk about Catholic blogging. A space for answering each other’s questions, exchanging ideas, nurturing community/fellowship, collaborating, and sharing each other’s content. None of us had met in real life, we barely knew each other at all.
After three years these women are some of my dearest friends in the world. I’ve met most of them in person, talked to them on the phone, done video chats, prayed for them, laughed with them, and cried with them. The little community of my mastermind group has been huge for not just my blogging life but my personal life. If I’m struggling, these are the women I ask to pray for me. If I need ideas for post titles, these are the women I ask for suggestions. If I have a tech problem, these are the women I go to for help. If I need backup for dealing tactfully with trolls in the comments, these women are my tribe. Creating a thriving mastermind group has been absolutely invaluable.
So here’s some advice for how to create one:
- Decide on your goal. I wanted to have a community of Catholic bloggers in my niche who were in a similar place in their blogging journey. What do you hope to get out of your mastermind group? Networking? Technical support? Encouragement?
- Choose your members. I’ve been a part of multiple mastermind groups. The one that really stuck was the one I created from fellow Catholic bloggers that I really wanted to get to know. There’s about 10 of us, so it’s small enough to be intimate and big enough to have some good diversity of style, opinion, etc. Do you want to invite folks that are all in the same niche? This is what has worked best for me. However, I know of groups that have folks from many different niches. Some groups are more personal, some are more professional.
- Choose your venue. The mastermind groups I’m a part of all meet in secret groups on Facebook. But that’s not the only app you can use. I know of groups on Voxer, the voice recording app, or on Slack which is a simple and wonderful app that works more like a big group chat.
- Invite your members. If you know everyone pretty well already, then just go ahead and start inviting. Otherwise, I would invite folks you do know well first and once they sign on, share the guest list with folks you don’t know personally. That way that potential fellow-masterminder can see what other members are joining in and can get a better feel for whether it’s a good fit for him/her.
- Get started brainstorming, sharing, and supporting!
If I could encourage new bloggers to do one thing it would be to form a mastermind group. Community really can’t be beat. And I’d also say that you don’t need anyone’s permission to call yourself a blogger. If you blog, you’re a blogger. You don’t need a certain number of followers or an ok from more established bloggers to own that title. The internet is a big place. There’s room for your voice.
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This came at exactly the right time for me! On the outside looking into a club is how I feel so, so often, but it’s encouraging to know that other, successful bloggers have felt like this. And a mastermind group is genius! <3
I’m so glad!
You and Christy had Kendra Tierney a while ago on for one of your podcasts talking about a variety of things but you touched on blogging and I liked what one of you said (can’t remember who said it ?) but the advice was write for you and write what you want to write about. Such good advice.. I don’t have much ambition beyond writing because I enjoy it. When I do freelance writing, I have to speak with a certain voice… But I like blogoing because I say things exactly how I want to say it.. I am thinking about some kind of east coast blogging conference. Not sure how I would go about even doing that but I’ve seen various things in Texas and the Midwest.. because I think blogging is better when real connections can be made! Great post and thanks for the encouragement. Sorry for the long comment!
Kathleen, I don’t know where you are on the East Coast, but we have a Mid-Atlantic group (similar to the Midwest group Haley spoke to) who have held two conferences so far. We’ve held them in Maryland and Virginia, with attendees coming from NJ/PA/DE/MD/WV/DC/VA/NC. Look us up on FB (“CWBN Mid-Atlantic Conference”) if you’d like to join in.
Awesome!! I’m D.C. Area! I will look it up!
I’m in the D.C. Area, too! I am definitely looking this up. 🙂
Get connected with Julie, Kathleen! I haven’t been able to attend one, but everyone who went to the mid-atlantic gathering loved it.
Is there a group for someone who lives in FL? Southern, maybe? I’m just getting started with my blog and could use a good support network.
This is such a good reminder that community, whether in person or online, takes time and intention to foster. After moving this past year, building community has been on the forefront of my mind, but I hadn’t considered it in terms of blogging. I love the idea of a mastermind group!
It really does take time!
Your advice echoes what I’ve heard from many others with regard to creating a fruitful online presence: find your niche and your community. Kind of like you, the blogs I read are mostly those of people who are in very different places in their lives and online careers. I mostly read the blogs/writing of Catholic stay at home or work from home women who homeschool, and I’m a Catholic young professional who’s unwed and without kids and likes intellectual and emotional perspectives on topics of faith and culture . It’s a bit of funny match, but I wouldn’t change it because I love the blogs I read.
Nonetheless, I think that slight mismatch has something to do with my difficulties in finding my niche, at least in terms of audience. I’m going to keep working on it, though. For every writer there’s got to be an audience/niche out there 🙂
Absolutely! <3
Hi Michelle, you’re not alone! I am also a young professional who loves reading Catholic bloggers and the intersection between faith and culture. I have also recently started a blog documenting my conversion from Protestantism into Catholicism, and I’ve been struggling to find my niche. Yet I’ve been sensing that God wants us to just write the story He has called us to live, and He will provide the rest ~
I hope you have blessed day!
Hi Ting! It’s so good to hear from other young professional Catholics! Your blog and the conversion story behind it sound really rich and interesting; I will definitely check it out soon. I hope you have a good day and week ahead!
P.S. Like I told Laura below, please feel free to reach out if you’re ever interested in a kind of “mastermind group” or any sort of network building among us young, Catholic folk!
Hey Michelle, sorry for the late reply! Yes, a network would be awesome 😀 This blog-o-sphere can definitely get overwhelming. Let me know if you’re still interested in starting a group or something! My email is catholicinshanghai@gmail.com
Hello, I am just looking at carrotsformichaelmas for the first time. I am in the very beginning phase of starting a blog. Do you have your group set up? Could I join?
YES! I’m a single, young, Catholic as well and have struggled with my “niche”. It feels like all the blogs are mom blogs. And while those are awesome and I do follow some, I have SO been wanting to find people like me in the same chapter of life. Because that’s who I can write to. Love seeing that they actually exist! 🙂
Hi Laura! You and I are the in the exact same boat. I, too, am happy to know that there are others out there in a similar season of life. I will check out your blog soon! Feel free to reach out if you’d be interested a kind of “mastermind group” like the one Haley describes in this post or anything up that alley. Hope you have a good day!
Ours is mostly marriage, but…also mom. We saw a TON of mom blogs and even some engagement and wedding planning blogs, but not any supporting newlyweds and young families specifically, so my bestie and I just went for it! Best of luck to you, Laura!
Laura, I am right there with you. I know there is room for the Catholic and Single niche, so much so that I went ahead and started my own blog. But starting a Mastermind Group to be able to sound board ideas and the like is definitely something I would be interested in! http://www.catechistcallie.com
Me too! I am just about to start a blog and I would love to be a part of a mastermind group
Thanks for this! It’s nice just to hear that there is still room for us new kids. 🙂
There definitely is 🙂
Thank you for this encouragement! I’m not really close with another blogger, so if anyone in Texas, or anywhere for that matter, is interested in started one of these… I’m in!!
Haley, you and Nell have been really encouraging about becoming a new blogger. Thank you so much. This came at the perfect time for me. Well, it would have been even more perfect if I could have gone to that blogging conference, but maybe next time. 🙂 Anyway, thanks for this encouragement and these blogging suggestions!
So, I saw this post a while back, just when the itch of starting a new blog was starting in my heart. I didn’t read it at the time, but made a mental note to come back here should I ever get up the gumption to dive in. And here I am! I just did launch my blog yesterday and, while it’s been received really well by my friends, I’d love to see where and how it could grow. I’d love to have a community to talk to, bounce ideas off of, ask for technical help…Gen X here, not a millenial! 🙂 …
And I really have to say that following you, Haley, along with Kathryn Whitaker and Nell O’Leary and Bonnie Engstrom…well, it’s what really made me see that maybe there is a place for my voice on the internet. So, thanks!!
I’ve been reading your blog since 2013, and this post is exactly what I needed to read. I’m transitioning to freelance writing/staying home (not entirely sure what that’s going to look like yet) from a full-time marketing position. I started up blogging, too, and there’s a lot of telling myself, “Psh… everyone blogs! Why does your voice matter?”
So, I had a question for you: What helped you overcome your discouragement when the initial community didn’t work out?
Hmmm. Good question. Stubbornness, maybe? 🙂 I suppose since I really enjoyed blogging, I wasn’t going to let that discouragement keep me from doing something I loved. I thought that if I was meant to do it, I would find my niche and readers would find me. Good luck! <3
I have wanted to blog for a long time. I don’t have a lot of people in this area and my old friends have a major problem with my faith. I’ve lost dear friends because I chose Jesus over earthly “happiness.” That being said, I am drawn to Haley’s blog and podcast. Kristi and Haley started me on a BBC binge for like a month! I look forward to Wednesday mornings so I can listen to Claire Swinarksi.
I want to give someone else this feeling. I just am so unsure where to start. My ego isn’t so big as to think I would be super popular, but I just want to find a community. Having friendships in which I have to hide my faith is so difficult.
If anyone has guidance for where to begin…..
Really helpful post, Haley! I would love to create a mastermind for bloggers at the same level as me with similar goals (been blogging a while, ready to make real money), just for encouragement, support, and overall camaraderie. I think that counts for a lot. I live abroad and don’t have a big social network locally. If anyone reading is the expat/lifestyle/travel niche and would be interested in a blogging mastermind, get in touch!