Are there creators you admire who create work you enjoy and appreciate? Do you encourage those creators by giving them feedback?
The answer for me is “Not as often as I would like”.
If that’s the way you feel too, I’d like to help.
In this post, I share some easy things I do regularly to encourage creators who help me through the things they produce.
And here’s the good news, these techniques don’t take much time at all. Yet they can have a powerful positive impact on the people who do creative work you love.
But, is taking time to encourage the creators who give us all sorts of amazing creations really that important?
Here’s a scenario to think about to help you answer that question for yourself.
But first, let me save you some time
If you don’t have time to read this full post, I understand. Your time is precious.
So, I summarized the message of this post in this graphic.
Now, back to that scenario to help us decide if encouraging creators is worth our time.
Here today. Gone tomorrow.
Has this ever happened to you?
You find a new restaurant and you absolutely love the food. The atmosphere is perfect too. This place is incredible.
So you go a few times. And each experience is amazing.
But, you don’t ever get around to giving them a review on social media. And you forget to tell your friends about this place even though it’s one of your favorites.
It’s one of your favorite restaurants, but you don’t really go there anymore. You want to. But you don’t.
Until one day you remember just how awesome this place is. So you go back.
Only to find them closed for business with a sad sign in the window telling the story.
Tragic, right?
Brick and mortar and online creators need our support
This sad story of your favorite restaurant that didn’t make it, could be replaced with a similar tale of your favorite creator.
The entrepreneur and chef who created those delicacies you enjoyed and dreamed of, but rarely bought. They were creators who needed more support from you and others to stay financially healthy.
And, while all creators don’t earn a living through their creative work, they all need support.
We interact with some creators through their physical stores and businesses. Some are on our teams and we work with them face-to-face or virtually every day. Others are people we know only through internet relationships.
This myriad of creators around us makes our lives better.
It is critically important for us to encourage the creators whose work benefits us by showing them our appreciation.
Thankfully, it’s super easy to get started.
Start with a Creator Appreciation Mindset to encourage creators
In the blog post, “How To Build A Creator Appreciation Mindset With 5 Simple Steps“, l outline five simple steps to build a Creator Appreciation Mindset.
If you read the previous section and thought, “I don’t know any ‘creators’. I don’t work with creative types.”, I encourage you to read that post. I’m confident you have countless creators in your life. And many on your current teams.
To summarize my earlier post, here are the five steps to get you started with the right mindset to appreciate and encourage creators.
5 simple steps to build a Creator Appreciation Mindset
1. Pay attention to things you admire
We are surrounded by obvious, and not so obvious, creations.
From beautiful paintings to perfectly crafted emails, we are positively impacted by the creative work of others.
2. Closely observe the creations you appreciate
Talented creators exist in every industry and area. And, they are on our teams. They are bringing new ideas, solutions, and tangible items into existence.
These creations have a richness and depth to them we notice only when we pause and take time to observe them closely.
3. Record creations as you encounter them
When we see a creation we admire, we need to record it so we don’t forget. Take a picture or a screen shot.
This step is critical and enables us to encourage the creators who serve us through their work.
4. Think about who might have contributed to the work
The most visible creators are supported by other less visible creators with their own unique skills and talents.
Each person is valuable. They deserve to have their creative contribution recognized too.
5. Identify the creators
The fifth step in building our Creator Appreciation Mindset is to identify the creators of the work we appreciate.
To encourage creators and show them we appreciate what they do, we have to know who they are.
Now that we’re equipped with our Creator Appreciation Mindset, let’s put it to use. Let’s make encouraging creators and showing them appreciation a normal part of our regular activities.
How we communicate appreciation
What makes you feel appreciated and encouraged? It’s different for everyone, but I believe this to be true for every creator.
Knowing your work has been seen and made a positive difference in someone’s life is an encouragement.
If you’ve invested time and energy into creating something, especially something you have created to help others, you are encouraged when you know someone has actually seen it. And, you are even more encouraged when you know someone has received benefit from what you’ve made.
That’s a pretty simple concept. And, it’s the foundation for this easy approach to encourage creators.
8 easy ways to encourage online creators
In this post, I’m going to use online creators as the example. However, we can apply these principles to encourage creators in every area of our lives. I’ll leave it to you and your own creativity to find ways to do that.
1. Consume their creation
This is the easiest way to encourage a creator. We consume what they have created.
Listening to a podcast. Reading a blog post. Watching a video. A creator has made these things and we have benefitted from them.
And, this encourages the creator. But, in a very impersonal and general way.
It assumes the creator is paying attention to metrics like downloads, impressions, and all the other statistics that tell online creators that someone, somewhere is consuming their creation.
Of course, it’s the starting point of encouraging a creator. You have to experience the creation before you know if you like it.
And, online creators are encouraged by positive metrics. So, by all means, keep consuming content from creators you appreciate.
But, while consuming does indirectly inform the creator that their work has been seen, it doesn’t communicate to them that they’ve made a positive difference in your life.
So, if you really want to encourage a creator, don’t stop there.
2. React
This next level action to encourage a creator really couldn’t be easier.
All the social media platforms and websites give us the tools to react to a creation we like with the touch of a thumb. Or, an index finger for old guys like me.
We have an ever increasing set of options to express how a creation makes us feel.
These are good. But, I think we would all admit to hitting the “Like” option after only briefly skimming some online content. We don’t really know what the article says, but the person is our friend and we want to support them.
We’ve done it. All creators have done it.
So, everybody knows the level of encouragement a reaction provides. Some, but not much.
Providing a reaction is good, but we can do better.
3. Make a personal comment
We all know how encouraging it is to receive a personal comment from someone about the work we’ve done.
Whether they are spoken or written. On a computer keyboard or with a pen. Personal comments are encouraging.
We can step up our level of encouragement for online (and in person) creators simply by making even a generic comment more personal.
Even the most basic words of encouragement are strengthened with a simple personal touch.
We can take our encouragement from good to better with something as basic as this.
Good
Nice post.
Better
Nice post, Lana. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Adding just a few more words and the creator’s name can make a big difference.
Maybe you actually took time to read the article. Maybe you didn’t. But either way, the creator, Lana in this case, knows you saw her create something. She recognizes you appreciate her courageous act to share her thoughts with others.
I have to expect Lana is encouraged.
Are you starting to see the pattern?
Let’s take it up another notch.
4. Make a personal comment with depth
Continuing with the example of Lana’s post on social media.
Let’s assume you did read her full post. And, what Lana had to say helped you.
How encouraged might Lana be with a comment like this?
Even Better
Nice post, Lana. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. Your last suggestion on how to support a struggling coworker was especially helpful. I plan to try that with one of my teammates later today. Thank you.
Lana now knows what she’s created may actually help someone, which was the reason she wrote the post in the first place.
In addition to accomplishing her goal of writing, you have now encouraged Lana to continue on to create even more useful content to help even more people.
5. Share the creator’s work
This step doesn’t take much time at all, but it does take a bit of courage.
To encourage an online creator, share their work.
Why does this take courage? Because by sharing, you are to some degree endorsing the creator’s work. You are attaching yourself to the message and communicating your values.
Even by sharing a video you think is funny, you are saying to those in your network that the content created and captured in the video is humorous to you .
Sharing what a creator has made is a powerful technique to encourage a creator.
By doing this you are communicating to them that you appreciate and agree with their creation so much you are willing to personally endorse it.
And, of course, social media platforms give us tools to share the creations of others in seconds.
If you’re following my pattern, and I’m sure you are, you know what I’m going to recommend. Don’t stop with sharing.
Take your encouragement to an even higher level.
6. Share the creator’s work with a personal comment
To boost the encouragement of a creator, add your personal comments describing why you are sharing what you’re sharing. And, tag the creator to ensure they hear the positive things you say about their work.
You can add a lot of input or just a few words. The positive impact to the creator comes because they know you’ve seen their work and have proof (your words) that they have made a positive difference in your life.
And, the impact they have had on you is so great that you want to share it with others.
7. Send a personal message to the creator
As I’ve already described in the previous steps, social media platforms provide powerful tools to enable us to encourage creators.
The internet gives us the ability to communicate directly (or through an assistant) with almost anyone. Including the creators we want to encourage.
Did you read a book you found helpful? You can likely find the author’s website with a way to send them a note there.
No way to contact them through their website?
Then, you can probably send them a direct message on Twitter.
Not on Twitter? Try LinkedIn.
Still no luck finding a way to send the creator a personal note of encouragement?
Leave them a review on Amazon. They will likely read it, especially if it’s positive and they are just getting started. Or a member of their staff will share it with them.
We all know how rare and precious positive comments can be compared to the constant flow of negative feedback.
By taking the time to send a positive note of encouragement to a creator, you will encourage them and give them the support they need to endure the onslaught of negative comments they are likely receiving.
8. Send a detailed personal message to the creator
I’m sure you guessed this one already.
When you send a personal note, make it detailed and meaningful.
The more thoughtful and specific the praise, the more encouraging it will be.
The same is true for critical comments. Creators are often encouraged even by negative feedback if it’s based on sound reasoning. To know someone examined your work enough to develop a contrary view, is an encouragement for serious creators committed to their work.
Get started and do what you can
You may be thinking to yourself that this all sounds great, but it is going to take a lot of time.
But, it doesn’t have to. Some of these techniques take more thought, effort, and time than others. But, they can all have a positive impact on the creators you want to encourage. You can decide how much time you have to invest and choose what works best for you.
The key is to just get started.
Here’s what I suggest.
Put these techniques into practice today – 10 minutes or less
Remember Step 3 of the 5 simple steps to build a Creator Appreciation Mindset earlier. Step 3 is “Record creations as you encounter them”.
If you’ve been doing this and the other four steps, you’ve identified at least a few creations that have impacted your life recently. And, you know the creators of those works.
So why not encourage them?
You’ve already consumed what they’ve created. Let them know that.
Pick just one of the techniques above and try it out. If you only have time to react to a social media post, do that. Are you available and ready to send a personal note of encouragement this afternoon? Go for it.
Limit yourself to investing 10 minutes to encourage a creator today and see what you can do.
My experience
In my experience, it’s easier than you think. And, it might be just as encouraging to you as it is to the creator you are seeking to encourage. Maybe even more.
I’ve been working to improve in this area. I’ve reached out to many creators and continue to do so. I have found the time to be a worthwhile investment. I trust I have encouraged some of the creators I admire. But I know I have been encouraged personally through the process.
I encourage you to give it a try and see if the same is true for you.
Creating and encouraging creators is personal
As I wrap up this post, I’d like you to notice how many times I used the word “personal” in explaining how to encourage creators.
That was intentional because the act of creating is personal.
Creators are sharing part of themselves when they share their work. This takes courage and vulnerability.
And, I’m not just talking about the musician on stage performing for their fans.
When someone shares their thoughts in a social media post or a blog article or even in an email, that person is creating and revealing something about who they are to their audience.
The act of creating and sharing our creations, regardless of the form, is deeply personal whether we realize it or not.
That’s why the most meaningful encouragement for creators is input that is personal. Authentic words from real people who benefit from their work.
By providing feedback that includes our own views and opinions, we are sharing part of ourselves with the other person. We are being vulnerable and courageous and demonstrating a level of trust of the creator we are seeking to encourage.
Creators get that. They understand because we are speaking their language.
We are sharing a common bond of “putting ourselves out there” to help someone else. To positively impact the life of someone else.
In fact, in providing our feedback to creators we are ourselves creating.
We are further demonstrating the reality that creators are all around us. And, in fact, we are revealing that we are creators ourselves. Simply by taking these simple steps to encourage other creators.
So, with this in mind, let’s continue to create and encourage the many creators in our lives.
A final note – Creators are worth investing in
I started this post, by comparing the support of creators with that of local businesses striving to keep their doors open. Whether the creators you want to encourage are in your local communities running businesses to feed themselves and their families or doing the same with their online platforms, they need our support.
If you have the means and opportunity to invest not just your words of encouragement but also your dollars with them, I encourage you to do so.
Most creators don’t do what they do for the money. But, all creators have expenses.
Help them, if you can, continue to do what they do so you and others can keep benefitting from their creations.
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence.
Greg
Discussion Questions
- If you are a creator, what encourages you the most?
- Which techniques will you try to encourage the creators you admire and appreciate?
I’m interested to know how you put this into practice in your life. Please share your experiences in the comments section so we can learn together.
