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Changing a Life With a Link

Changing a Life With a Link

I’ve talked about the power of the link before, mostly in line with Google Page Rank and search engine optimization, but once in a while I like to remember the real power in putting a link on your blog.

Trolling the web for WordPress Wednesday news for the Blog Herald, I stumbled across an interesting series on WordPress for Churches. It’s an interesting niche so I put a link in the WordPress News article for this week.

This small linking act resulted in:

I think … blogging MUST be like farming. You work and work and work that old brown soil … then months later stuff starts popping up.

Today … well, I had a watershed moment.

Yeah, Lorelle of Lorelle of WordPress fame, who writes for the renown Blog Herald linked to Church Communications Pro.

I have no idea who might actually want to click on a “church” blog like mine from her post. But all I know is … a bunch of those nights where I had “idea insomnia” paid off in part today.

To be linked from someone like Lorelle, who is a WordPress guru, is like being validated in some way … it’s like being told, “You actually exist on the blogosphere … and you have interesting, useful content.”

These downpours after the drought are confirmations that somehow, in some way, you’re doing something worthy of being read.

From The Droughts and Downpours of Blogging from Church Communications Pro

Honestly, linkbaiting and link juice mean little to me. You can push and shove all the linking energy you want around on your blog, but there is something to be said about the old fashioned, humbling appreciation you get from making a tiny difference in someone’s life just by linking to them.

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Your link validates them. It recognizes their hard work and effort. It supports them. It reminds them they are read. It motivates them to do even better because someone is paying attention.

Next time you link, think of your link as a gift. A present. A tiny “thank you note” on the web for good work. A recommendation or review. Or maybe it’s a type of award. An honor you pay to recognize someone’s effort to share their knowledge and skill.

Like smiling at a stranger, it’s just a little link, but it can change a life.

Has your life been changed just because of a single link?


Lorelle VanFossen blogs about blogging and WordPress on .

View Comments (10)
  • Lorelle, well, obviously, mine will be today, yet again, thanks to this article!

    Your comments here and on my blog have served to remind me of why I do what i do.

    What I love about your work, and your philosophy, and the whole WordPress community is the fact that most (not all) are contributing to something bigger than themselves … for the greater good of each other.

    And just when I was beginning to get a little worn out from blogging as much as I have (around 450 posts since July 2006) … your encouragement was a much needed “shot in the arm!”

    Blessings to you and the WordPress community, whom I’ve so greatly benefited from … and am now eagerly trying to pass it on to others.

  • Well said Lorelle. I always go in the direction that if someone has said it better than you can ever explain it on your own, then they deserve a link. It’s important for myself and my readers that my blog does not become an island…

  • I have to say that I’ve never had a truly life changing experience because of a link, but I have felt very good about many links I’ve received, and given. It does give you a sense of accomplishment when someone links your site. Well said indeed.

  • I can relate very well to that feeling of validation especially after being linked to by the likes of Robert Scoble. Even more important sometimes is when one of the “high and mighty” of the blogosphere take a moment and actually join in on the comment trail of a post. It may not mean all that much to them but to up and comming bloggers of all stripes it means a lot.

  • I’ve said getting a comment is like getting a $5 bill handed to you. Getting linked to by one of the big bloggers is like getting handed a $100 bill.

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