The Importance of Keeping Your Word To Build Up Authority

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This post is part of a series on Time Management. It is the third one in this series. More are to follow and I recommend you read Part 1 and Part 2 also. To keep your self notified about updates, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed of this blog. Also, you can subscribe by email to receive new posts straight to your inbox. Enjoy the post!

You may be a little surprised by the title. What has keeping your promises to do with blogging? A lot. Surprised? I expected that.

NOTE: YOU HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE OF THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE. IT MAY SEEM IR-RELEVANT AT FIRST, BUT PLEASE READ IT TILL THE END!

Business and human relationships are based strongly on trust and trustworthiness. Keeping one’s word to others is extremely important as this defines the amount and level of trustworthiness in that person. Someone who is true to his word is always seen as a person who can be trusted upon and who is reliable. That person builds up integrity in the society. That same integrity is the key factor in determining his/her importance and authority in the society on a particular subject or topic. Underline that word ‘authority’. You wouldn’t believe or go for advice to a person who is a total liar, would you? On the contrary, you’ll go to a person who’s an authority on the subject. How did he or she become an authority on that subject? That’s what the point of this whole article is.

Becoming authoritative is a LONG process. It all depends on the trust and belief people have in you. They won’t go to any other place than yours. Why? You have authority, that’s why. Things like content don’t determine your authoritativeness. Everyone else has the same content as you. Maybe they can even write better than you. But what they don’t have and what’s the dividing line between you and them is the authority you have and the belief and trust people have in you.

All that trust builds up when you keep your word. This is important. When you promise something to someone, that someone becomes dependent on you to fulfill that promise. At that instant, a weak bond of trust is created between the two of you. When you break that promise, that weak bond of trust is broken, never to be repaired again. People become disillusioned of you, and will probably never believe you again. What a way to not build up trust and integrity! Just have a look at your own feelings when some one breaks a promise they made to you and you’ll understand the feeling.

On the contrary, if you keep that promise, you strengthen that weak bond of trust and that someone becomes a believer in what you have to say. After all, you kept your promise and proved your trustworthiness; why shouldn’t they trust you? Over time, this develops into even stronger trust bond between you and that somebody. Now imagine the effect of doing the same with many, possibly thousands of people. Congratulations! You’ve just boosted your authority!

How was the above lecture related to blogging?

Notice that in the beginning I asked you to read the whole article, even if it felt irrelevant to you at some times. How is all this related to blogging? Well it is.

You see, just like business and human relationships blogging is also based upon trust and integrity. I discussed earlier that the authority you have is the main thing. Just like you build up authority in real life and business by gaining the trust of people, you’ve got to do the same with blogging. Gain people’s trust. Fulfill any promises you make to your readers. For example, if you hold a blog contest, fulfill your promise and really give the winners what they have won. If you promise readers to publish an article on something soon, publish it soon. Don’t keep them waiting. They’re likely to go to other places if you don’t do so. So, the main thing is that you must do what you have said, or else be prepared to lose your readers.

Remember I told you I would post about keeping your word? There you go, I’ve fulfilled my promise!

How To Do That?

I know that question. How do you exactly do that? To help make it easier for you, here are some tips:

• Don’t make promises you can’t fulfill. Simple as that. If you cannot do something for somebody, simply just politely reject it. You can’t do anything more than this! For example, don’t set up a blog contest with a $2500 prize if you don’t have the money!
• Set up buffers. Suppose you promised someone a PlayStation 3 in a blog contest. Make the it clear in the terms of the contest that some unexpected thing could occur and in that case, the sending of the prize could be delayed or its type could be changed(to something similar), or anything. Make it clear in the terms, before holding the contest, not after it! This way, you can set up buffers to allow your self more choices and time in such cases.

Time Management and This? You’re Nuts!

That must have been your immediate reaction as soon as you started reading. How the heck does this relate to time management?

You see, time management isn’t just about managing/organizing your time. In fact, managing your time is just a part of the whole concept of time management. Time management is about doing things effectively. Well. With Confidence. And the list goes on. Time Management is about managing your life well and effectively. It’s about making your life (and everything you do) better. And about giving it a focus. And everything that brings a positive result to your life and blogging activities and everything you do can be considered as a part of time management. So, don’t you think that keeping your word to others is an important part of time management?

There are more long term effects than the short term effects of keeping your word. Slowly but gradually, you build up trust and integrity, and therefore authority. People will see you as a reliable source of information. They will come to you and will go nowhere. Remember, it can take years before you achieve this goal. Look at Darren at Problogger. He’s been blogging about blogging for about 4 years now. Now he’s an authority on the subject. IT TAKES TIME!

The short term effects might not be that pleasing to you. No one will immediately show appreciation towards you. It takes time. It’s a long-term thing. So, if you really want to make things better for your self and your blogging, I think keeping your promises is an important aspect of this.

Start today!

Thank You

for taking out the time to read this post. If you feel I missed something out or am wrong somewhere, please don’t hesitate to speak your mind!

This post is part of a series on Time Management. It was the third one in this series. More are to follow. I recommend you read Part 1 and Part 2 too. To keep yourself notified about updates, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed of this blog. Also, you can subscribe by email to receive new posts straight to your inbox. Hope you enjoyed this post!

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