I read this post by the secret blogger last week: I feel like an invisible blogger.
Don't we all? Seriously, I don't mean that in a condescending way. I think 99% of bloggers have felt invisible at some point or another, some maybe just for a day, others maybe for weeks or months.
I wanted to write this post to address the secret blogger, but also just to address anyone that feels like an invisible blogger.
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Blogging
Starting a blog is hard. Maybe years ago it wasn't hard... there were much fewer blogs, less choice for readers = more views, comments, subscribers etc. My blog is a month old, so no comparison really... however I've discovered a similar phenomenon with pinterest. When I first joined there weren't a lot of members on pinterest, every day I'd get new followers on my boards, comments, repins. Even though my 'pinning' hasn't really changed the more people that have joined pinterest and pinned the same stuff as me the less interactions I got. Even more so when all the big blogs joined.
This may sound harsh - but we have to suck it up. The internet is a huge place, there are millions of blogs. Thousands of parent bloggers. And it's just going to get bigger. This isn't field of dreams, there's no 'build it and he will come' ... it's more like 'build it, and then promote it, social media it, comment it, link it up...' and even that doesn't always get you all that far :)
Social media
I only joined twitter last month, after starting this blog. The secret blogger mentioned that it sometimes feels like you're on the outskirts when on twitter, watching all these crazy conversations that you are not a part of and don't understand. I have to say, I completely agree. I skim past most of the stuff I don't really 'get' or the bits I'm not interested in. But if a conversation looks interesting I'll butt in... I take it that if someone didn't want anyone else to comment, they'd start a private conversation - not a public one.
Most people on twitter have been very welcoming and reply when I join in their conversations. I haven't had the nerve to actually tweet someone directly, but as I said I haven't been there long so I don't feel like I know anyone well enough.
I follow a lot of people on twitter - blogs I like, organisations I like, company's I like... I'll follow anyone I'm interested in and if I decide I don't like their tweets, or they're not the kind of person I thought they were I just unfollow, simples. I think with twitter you just gotta be in it to win it you know!?
Blog comments
I love blog comments. I don't care how many pageviews I get, if I get some comments I'll be a happy bunny.
I love commenting on other blog posts. I comment on a lot of posts. If I have an evening free, or I'm procrastinating from uni work I may comment on 30 posts. What I will say is I only comment on posts when I have something to say - if I enjoyed the post, liked the photos etc. I have never and will never comment on a post for the sake of commenting.
Blog parties / linkys for example... there have been occasions where I've looked at 100 blog posts from a linky. And commented on 3 of them. And other occasions where I've looked at 20 posts, and commented on 17 of them.
Commenting is a nice way to get comments back but don't do it for that reason, it's just a happy bonus if you get comments in return.
Political posts
You know, the posts where someone is outraged over something a company has done, or angry at a government proposal, or upset by a news article.
I have written a grand total of two of these kind of posts. And even they weren't that political.
You definitely don't need to write these posts if they aren't you thing. They're generally not my kind of thing either, but a couple of things recently got me thinking.. and then I wanted to post about it.
I have found as a new, 'invisible' blogger, that these posts can be a bit frustrating. Both posts I've written recently I tweeted to everyone I could think of that would actually care. Both times nobody responded, fine, they are busy - maybe they don't care about this topic as much as I thought? But then a while later bigger, better, more well known blogs would post about the subject... get commented and tweeted all over the place and then the posts put on the front page of websites. Now I read these posts. On the first subject I think my post was better (and no, I don't think I'm a great writer) yet theirs got publicity. On the 2nd subject there were many posts... most were better than mine... some were not that great at all (to be completely honest) yet again, they were the ones tweeted and promoted.
Like I said at the start of the post, we have to suck it up. Luckily I'm not all that bothered because I don't blog to be a well known blogger, and I don't post to get publicity. However, it would be nice to get recognition sometimes.
Sponsored posts / reviews / trips to Africa
I don't do sponsored posts, reviews and the like. I wouldn't even know how to! Lot's of bloggers do, and lot's of people blog as a job. I don't, I have a job and I really don't need another at the moment. I blog for my kids mainly, to have a record of their childhood, to inspire myself when I feel like a crap mum who is never there because of said job.
If you want your blog to earn some moolah I assume you really need to get yourself out there. It is hard when we are invisible but if you want to start doing reviews, or be invited to Africa or whatever else then you can't stay invisible. You have to join networks, social media sites, comment, tweet, interact... and maybe some other stuff that I don't know about. All I know is you have to be out there. Contact companies, the worst they can say is no. Enter competitions to be a blog ambassador for brands. Review stuff you already use, and tweet or contact the companies - maybe they'll like it and want you to do more, or share your review?!
The blogging police
I assume by this the secret blogger means the posts out there telling you how to make a better blog, how to get more views, comments, that sort of thing.
There is a lot of conflicting advice out there... for example many people say 'you have to be self hosted!' whereas some of the most popular blogs I follow, and some of the best blogs I follow aren't self hosted, they don't even have their own domain name.
All I can say is read the advice they give, but only take what you want / need from it. Maybe just make a list of all the recommendations - and then look through and think about which ones are actually feasible and appealing for you. Then cross the others off. For example you may have been told join twitter, facebook, g+, klout, instagram, bloglovin etc etc... but if you think you would only really be active on twitter then forget the rest, there's no point trying to do things just because someone out there thinks it might help your blog. If you don't really want to do it you'll just get disheartened and burnt out trying to do it.
Who're you blogging for anyway?
I'm blogging for me and my boys. So as much as invisibility sucks, it's not a great issue for me. It's still nice to interact with other bloggers, use twitter and comment on posts. It's lovely to get comments and it makes me smile. I also love the fact that I get to reply to all of the comments on my blog, the tweets I get etc. If I were getting 50 replies to my blog post there is no way I'd find the time to reply to everyone, and check out their blogs in return.
If you want to blog to earn money then you really need to focus on that. Go to a workshop, go to blogging events, make contacts, reach out to brands, interact with other bloggers.... probably get advice from someone who knows more than me about it, but either way know why you're blogging and who you're blogging for and then you can start moving forward in the right direction.
And Secret blogger, if you ever read this... feel free to tweet, pm or comment me... I'd love to check out your blog :)
xxx
Don't we all? Seriously, I don't mean that in a condescending way. I think 99% of bloggers have felt invisible at some point or another, some maybe just for a day, others maybe for weeks or months.
I wanted to write this post to address the secret blogger, but also just to address anyone that feels like an invisible blogger.
Blogging
Starting a blog is hard. Maybe years ago it wasn't hard... there were much fewer blogs, less choice for readers = more views, comments, subscribers etc. My blog is a month old, so no comparison really... however I've discovered a similar phenomenon with pinterest. When I first joined there weren't a lot of members on pinterest, every day I'd get new followers on my boards, comments, repins. Even though my 'pinning' hasn't really changed the more people that have joined pinterest and pinned the same stuff as me the less interactions I got. Even more so when all the big blogs joined.
This may sound harsh - but we have to suck it up. The internet is a huge place, there are millions of blogs. Thousands of parent bloggers. And it's just going to get bigger. This isn't field of dreams, there's no 'build it and he will come' ... it's more like 'build it, and then promote it, social media it, comment it, link it up...' and even that doesn't always get you all that far :)
Social media
I only joined twitter last month, after starting this blog. The secret blogger mentioned that it sometimes feels like you're on the outskirts when on twitter, watching all these crazy conversations that you are not a part of and don't understand. I have to say, I completely agree. I skim past most of the stuff I don't really 'get' or the bits I'm not interested in. But if a conversation looks interesting I'll butt in... I take it that if someone didn't want anyone else to comment, they'd start a private conversation - not a public one.
Most people on twitter have been very welcoming and reply when I join in their conversations. I haven't had the nerve to actually tweet someone directly, but as I said I haven't been there long so I don't feel like I know anyone well enough.
I follow a lot of people on twitter - blogs I like, organisations I like, company's I like... I'll follow anyone I'm interested in and if I decide I don't like their tweets, or they're not the kind of person I thought they were I just unfollow, simples. I think with twitter you just gotta be in it to win it you know!?
Blog comments
I love blog comments. I don't care how many pageviews I get, if I get some comments I'll be a happy bunny.
I love commenting on other blog posts. I comment on a lot of posts. If I have an evening free, or I'm procrastinating from uni work I may comment on 30 posts. What I will say is I only comment on posts when I have something to say - if I enjoyed the post, liked the photos etc. I have never and will never comment on a post for the sake of commenting.
Blog parties / linkys for example... there have been occasions where I've looked at 100 blog posts from a linky. And commented on 3 of them. And other occasions where I've looked at 20 posts, and commented on 17 of them.
Commenting is a nice way to get comments back but don't do it for that reason, it's just a happy bonus if you get comments in return.
Political posts
You know, the posts where someone is outraged over something a company has done, or angry at a government proposal, or upset by a news article.
I have written a grand total of two of these kind of posts. And even they weren't that political.
You definitely don't need to write these posts if they aren't you thing. They're generally not my kind of thing either, but a couple of things recently got me thinking.. and then I wanted to post about it.
I have found as a new, 'invisible' blogger, that these posts can be a bit frustrating. Both posts I've written recently I tweeted to everyone I could think of that would actually care. Both times nobody responded, fine, they are busy - maybe they don't care about this topic as much as I thought? But then a while later bigger, better, more well known blogs would post about the subject... get commented and tweeted all over the place and then the posts put on the front page of websites. Now I read these posts. On the first subject I think my post was better (and no, I don't think I'm a great writer) yet theirs got publicity. On the 2nd subject there were many posts... most were better than mine... some were not that great at all (to be completely honest) yet again, they were the ones tweeted and promoted.
Like I said at the start of the post, we have to suck it up. Luckily I'm not all that bothered because I don't blog to be a well known blogger, and I don't post to get publicity. However, it would be nice to get recognition sometimes.
Sponsored posts / reviews / trips to Africa
I don't do sponsored posts, reviews and the like. I wouldn't even know how to! Lot's of bloggers do, and lot's of people blog as a job. I don't, I have a job and I really don't need another at the moment. I blog for my kids mainly, to have a record of their childhood, to inspire myself when I feel like a crap mum who is never there because of said job.
If you want your blog to earn some moolah I assume you really need to get yourself out there. It is hard when we are invisible but if you want to start doing reviews, or be invited to Africa or whatever else then you can't stay invisible. You have to join networks, social media sites, comment, tweet, interact... and maybe some other stuff that I don't know about. All I know is you have to be out there. Contact companies, the worst they can say is no. Enter competitions to be a blog ambassador for brands. Review stuff you already use, and tweet or contact the companies - maybe they'll like it and want you to do more, or share your review?!
The blogging police
I assume by this the secret blogger means the posts out there telling you how to make a better blog, how to get more views, comments, that sort of thing.
There is a lot of conflicting advice out there... for example many people say 'you have to be self hosted!' whereas some of the most popular blogs I follow, and some of the best blogs I follow aren't self hosted, they don't even have their own domain name.
All I can say is read the advice they give, but only take what you want / need from it. Maybe just make a list of all the recommendations - and then look through and think about which ones are actually feasible and appealing for you. Then cross the others off. For example you may have been told join twitter, facebook, g+, klout, instagram, bloglovin etc etc... but if you think you would only really be active on twitter then forget the rest, there's no point trying to do things just because someone out there thinks it might help your blog. If you don't really want to do it you'll just get disheartened and burnt out trying to do it.
Who're you blogging for anyway?
I'm blogging for me and my boys. So as much as invisibility sucks, it's not a great issue for me. It's still nice to interact with other bloggers, use twitter and comment on posts. It's lovely to get comments and it makes me smile. I also love the fact that I get to reply to all of the comments on my blog, the tweets I get etc. If I were getting 50 replies to my blog post there is no way I'd find the time to reply to everyone, and check out their blogs in return.
If you want to blog to earn money then you really need to focus on that. Go to a workshop, go to blogging events, make contacts, reach out to brands, interact with other bloggers.... probably get advice from someone who knows more than me about it, but either way know why you're blogging and who you're blogging for and then you can start moving forward in the right direction.
And Secret blogger, if you ever read this... feel free to tweet, pm or comment me... I'd love to check out your blog :)
xxx