How to Succeed as an Influencer Without Really Trying

Last updated on: August 16, 2022 at 7:46 pm by Jennifer Woodruff Tait

How to Succeed as an Influencer Without Really Trying 2022-08-16T19:46:04-05:00 Jennifer Woodruff Tait

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Recently I had someone ask me how an academic could get started writing for a popular audience. This is something I have backed into doing by accident over the past 20 years. (Imagine how much further ahead of me any of you will be if you do it on purpose!) Here’s an edited version of some pointers I gave them:

The best way to get known for blogging and to get good at it is to actually blog. There are all sorts of resources out there which allow you to set up a website in a sort of “plug and play” fashion at various price points.
You’ll want to think a little bit about design and branding, but you can overdo that pretty quickly. I’ve maybe thought about branding for an hour in my entire life. Pick something that’s clean and readable and allows room for a little bit about you and a place to put up blog posts, and then go to it.
You’ll get stuck on what to write about pretty quickly. Book reviews are always good. Series are a good way to not have to have a new idea for a while. (Blog through each clause of the Nicene Creed, for instance. Come to think of it, I should do that sometime.) Top ten lists will work if you feel really stuck. (ahem…clears throat…) You can Google lists of writing prompts pretty easily.
Frequent and short is better than incredibly well-crafted but once every six months. Years ago when I was in a blogger bootcamp for Patheos I was told 600 words was a good length to aim for.
Use images, but don’t ever use any that aren’t public domain or creative commons or your own, and credit everything. Lawyers’ bots trawl the web looking for people to sue that are using unauthorized images. Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, and Flickr are all good sources.
Social media is a mixed bag in terms of publicizing your writing. It can be a huge time suck. If you want to use social media to promote yourself as a writer, find some form of social media that you will actually update in your own authentic voice, and post about what you’re doing there, and don’t worry about it otherwise. (Don’t pay to boost posts on social media – it’s a tremendous crock.)
In my experience, no one ever got a book published by sending it in over the transom. So, meet people and get known so that someday they will invite you to submit a book proposal. 🙂 Go to conferences in your field (I know this costs money, so be as strategic as you can), visit the exhibits, and talk to the booksellers. Get a few business cards made so you have them if people ask. Submit papers and get on panels (a moderate amount – it is possible to overdo this and find yourself writing a lot of uncompensated words). Go to receptions and introduce yourself to people. Go to the business meeting. My plan for world domination is to always go to the business meeting. 🙂
If out of all of this someone offers you a chance to write something for money and it doesn’t violate your ethics or upset your work-life balance, TAKE IT. Then keep to the deadline and allow yourself to be edited without complaining.

(Okay, at least it was a top-eight list instead of a top-ten list this time…)

Image: Unsplash. (Look, Ma, a credited image!)

General Christian

Religious Art

Entrepreneurship

Faith and the Marketplace

publishing

writing

Previous Post

April 6, 2022

For Southerners, To Explain Why

Next Post

July 16, 2022 Not Made for the Harbo(u)r

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Audio posts Bible and Work Book Review Books Budgeting Calling Common Good Community Development Conferences Discipleship Economics Entrepreneurship Ethics Faith and Family Faith and the Marketplace Faith and the Workplace faith and work History of Work and Vocation Leadership Local Church Meaning New Blogger News Prayer Relationships Seminaries Theology of Work Uncategorized Video posts Vocation Worship Resources

Select a Month April 2026 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 April 2025 January 2025 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 July 2023 April 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: 1 Peter teaches that Christians should submit to every human authority for the Lord's sake.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE