I came across a well-known digital nomad blogger on Twitter a few moments ago.
She shared a video of herself chatting at a conference.
I instantly reminded myself of her strategy which is genuinely one of the easier ways to gain blogging credibility. In truth, most of the ways to gain cred can be uncomfortable at times and in moments quite challenging or flat out difficult. But when you have an easy way to gain some cred you may as well take advantage of it.
What did she do to become more believable as a blogger?
She literally showed her face.
Seeing her chatting on video reminded me not only of her humanity, but all the times we chatted through the comment section on her blog, through Twitter or a few times on Facebook too. This instant recognition made me think of our discussions fondly which inspired me to retweet and like her video tweet.
Whether it's on video, or via a selfie, showing your face makes you human in explicit fashion. Being human instantly disarms some readers and boosts your credibility in their mind because they immediately connect with a fellow human being.
That connection is all about knowing how a blogger feels fear, faces obstacles and goes through all the stuff that human you seems to be going through. The flat out easiest part of the strategy is that it just requires a selfie or recording yourself chatting on video.
I do understand how self-conscious individuals may find this practice uncomfortable but if you have the chance to gain some cred by spending a few seconds snapping a selfie it makes sense to get through the discomfort and to earn trust via simple method.
Recording yourself for video or broadcasting live may feel like a quantum leap yet you talk to people on a daily basis, in most cases at least. Recording yourself talking solo is just doing what you're doing with other folks except in this case you don't have to actually speak to a human being in person. That sounds easier for someone who appears to be self-conscious and feels awkward chatting with someone live and in the flesh.
Anyway, this simple selfie method gives you serious bang for the buck of spending a few seconds snapping a photo of your face.
Do you know how many bloggers never snap selfies? Do you realize how quickly you leapfrog these folks, even if they can write fairly skillfully?
Especially in this age of AI bloggers, being human and proving it with a selfie helps you tap into a powerful form of gaining trust. Being human is highly in demand these days in a world of bloggers who try to fool others with AI programs.
This is why including selfies on your blog, through your social media and through forums immediately gives you a leg up on bloggers who hide away and prevent the readers from verifying that a human in fact writes and publishes the posts on their blog.
Of course you will need to gain credibility by practicing your writing, improving your content and building strong relationships with your readers and fellow bloggers in your niche. These are the ultimate forms of blogging work you need to put in for a while to be trusted.
But why not gain an instant credibility boost by snapping and sharing more selfies on your blog and through social media to prove that you are human who listens to your readers empathetically, compassionately and mindfully?
In the blogging game, you're either trusted or not. Gaining trust positions you to succeed and losing trust or never gaining trust leads to endless failure.
Use all possible tools in your trust building arsenal.
Snap and share more selfies to form stronger bonds with your readers which accelerates your blogging success.
