How to reach thousands of those who have never heard about your community

Get free publicity on Catholic websites

How would you like to reach thousands of new people with a message about your religious community?

Sure, you make posts on your Facebook page, or write a newsletter for your own list. Your friends, benefactors, and those around you make up a special audience. But it’s probably too small. What if you could expand that audience much wider than you could imagine? If your community is living its mission and charism, others need to hear about you!

If you were to reach out to a wider audience, young persons would learn and become attracted to you, new friends would come knocking on your door, and other opportunities would come.

Why not publish an article on a popular Catholic blog or website? Or guest write a blog? Many Catholic blogs are very popular, and enjoy a much greater reach than your Facebook page or your newsletter list. Moreover, these blogs are read by faithful Catholics, some of whom are looking for their own vocations, or that of their children.

Furthermore, published articles on respected websites convey an authority about them, and an objectivity that your website doesn’t have. In other words, you aren’t just tooting your own horn. You are presenting some aspect of your charism, of consecrated life, or your mission to educate and inspire the reader, and someone else is lending their level of credibility, not you.

Five key points to writing for Catholic websites

Find a “news hook,” such as a relevant news item, such as the March for Life, a liturgical season such as Lent or Easter, or the need for the consecrated witness today, for example.

Build an audience. Submit articles on a regular basis – say, once a month – to the same website. Thus, you will be building your audience, and they will come to expect your familiar tone of voice and inspirational message.

Don’t self-promote in an obvious way. Talk about your subject matter, not about yourself. They’ll get the idea. Of course, make sure a link to your website appears at the end.

Become accepted at a website as a regular writer. You may have to go through a process to become accepted as a writer.

After your article is published, take advantage of your bragging rights. Link to it from your Facebook or Twitter page or other social media. Let others know through your emailed or printed newsletter.

Here at Vocation Promotion, we have identified more than twenty-five Catholic websites and blogs that are looking for new articles all the time. Or they want new guests on their shows. They are news, TV and radio stations, such as EWTN, LifeSiteNews, Relevant Radio, CatholicMom, and Catholic365. You don’t have to be a famous author to publish with them. That means anyone can write an article and submit it to them for publication. And to tell you the truth, I don’t see many vocation articles among them – and yet most would probably be pleased to carry an article on the joys of consecrated life.

Would you like your community to be featured on one of these websites? Lately I’ve been accepted as a regular columnist at Catholic365.com – read my articles. And I’ve been promised a spot on the editorial team of CatholicMom.com. (Moms are the most influential person when it comes to a young person’s life decisions, you know.)

Take a look at my recent article, “Alligators Aside, You Might See More of This “New But Old” Religious Order,” written for the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy. There are 66 Facebook shares, which means that many people have shared the article among friends. (Maybe they liked the picture of the alligator.)

To widen your community’s profile among Catholics throughout the country, call me at the number at the top of this page, or contact me.