Blogging for Change (6) – Fear to Commitment

This is the last installment of a 6 part series on blogging that brings about lasting change. Before reading on you might like to Read the introduction here.

Stage 5 – Fear to Commitment

Depending upon the gravity of the topic you’re talking about, fear can play a part in asking people to take some action to bring about lasting change. Real and sustained change can be a scary thing for many people.

I even found when I invited people to engage in blogger idol (not really that scary a thing) that a few people emailed me to say that they’d like to participate, but they were worried about implications of doing so.

Your last task in bringing about lasting change is to help your reader move from fear of the change to commitment to it. It is time to ‘seal the deal’.

Towards the end of your post you might want to reinforce the positives of what you’re asking people to consider. Give them a picture of what ‘might be’ if they take your words seriously. Reinforce the steps people can to follow to do what you’re asking, keep any processes as simple as possible and give people options to opt in a little bit or a lot. Give them a tangible way to respond – don’t just ask for change without giving a way forward.

When people do respond – follow them up with some encouraging words and support – keep them accountable to their decision but do so in a gracious and supportive way. If someone leaves a comment on your site for the first time or shoots you an email in response to a post, try to acknowledge them in some way – even if it is small acknowledgement. It is amazing how just a small acknowledgement of a first time reader can make them into a committed regular reader.

Concluding Words – So there you have it. Five tasks that bloggers might face if they desire to see their blogging bring about lasting change in their readers. As I said at the beginning of the series – this is a process I was taught as a public speaker. I’ve seen it’s effectiveness in that medium but I guess the jury is still out when it comes to blogging. I’m interested in your thoughts, comments, feedback and ideas. I’d like to adapt this if it needs it.

The steps in this process are:
1. Rejection to Attention
2. Indifference to Interest
3. Skepticism to Conviction
4. Procrastination to Desire
5. Fear to Commitment