Local Resolutions Part 13 of 29

This is the thirteenth in a series of 29 ways to help your local community online in 2010. If you missed it, you may wish to read the introductory post.

In this guest post from my friend and podcast co-host David Moulton, he suggests that writing guest posts for local bloggers and appearing as a guest on local podcasts are great ways to help others by participating online. This series has included recent posts about bookmarking others’ content, cataloging your community on FourSquare, and following local Amber Alerts on Twitter.

Guest Blog Postings

Lots of people blog and, more importantly, lots of local people blog.

It’s more than likely that you are going to find a local blog that inspires you to be vocal about their topic at hand or to get up and express yourself regarding something you are passionate about. This is a good thing. Actually, it’s a great thing. It means the blogger has done their job. Not only did they get and keep your attention, but they were able to keep you thinking about what they’ve said to the point where thier thoughts are influencing yours.

So now what? Well, you could start your own blog or leave a comment on the blog you’ve read. Both of those are good ideas, but if you’re like me you don’t have time to maintain a blog and your blog wouldn’t reach your target audience right away. And a comment isn’t enough space and it doesn’t warrant the attention your opinion needs.

I suggest you write to the blogger who inspired you and share your idea with them. If there is one fact that you can count on, it’s that bloggers love hearing about how you liked what they wrote. Ask them if they’d like or be willing to let you write a guest post, like the one I’m doing right now. Guest blogging is a super way to express your ideas. You get a chance to reach an already-established audiance and you can walk away when you are done without feeling the pressure of having to write a new post in a few days.

Appear on a Podcast

Another great way to tell people about your ideas is to make an appearence on a podcast. As a co-host of The Lancast Lancaster podcast I always enjoy getting e-mails from people about new and interesting things they’d like to talk about on the show. Maybe you don’t think your subject is profound enough to fill up the whole running time of a podcast. I have news for you: there is most definitely another topic that you have a unique opinion on that other people would be interested in hearing.

The bottom line is that you should resolve to get out there and share your ideas with other people. The venues to express those ideas will come a lot easier than you think.