Dear Bloggers Who Have Been Around for 2 Months and Already Have 1000+ Followers,
WTF, dude?
Love,
Me
> > >
I'll be honest, I am a jealous, jealous person sometimes. It is not my most flattering quality, but admitting my problem is the first step, right? I am so resentful of successful bloggers.
Not all of them. I can't even imagine how much time and energy is spent by some of my favorite "big bloggers." Drafting quality posts five times a week, organizing monthly giveaways and link-ups, answering all those e-mails. It's exhausting just thinking about it!
My beef is with the girls who have created their "brand" and have developed a following, but have nothing to say. The girls who are in the business of sales and have no interest in the writing aspect.
Like I said, my jealousy is an ugly, embarrassing quality, but it remains just the same.
I think I figured out my problem, though. These girls that have me green with envy are successful because they know how to sell.
How to sell the Army wife life.
How to sell cloth-diapering, baby-wearing, homemade baby food-making Mommyhood.
How to sell being a DIY, thrifting genius.
Which brings me to a sad realization: I have nothing to sell.
I will never have a wildly successful blog with followers in the thousands.
But you know what? I think I'm okay with it.
I am in the kitchen far less than I would like to admit, I don't recycle on the regular, and my outfits will never be "OOTD" worthy.
But there are fundamental things I do know about myself:
I love my husband more than I ever thought I could love a person.
I strive to love like Jesus.
I want to leave this world a better place.
I love cutoff jeans and sundresses.
I believe in counting my blessings, always.
I love to write, and I love to blog.
This is my brand.
And for the 300+ of you who like it, thank you.
You do have something to sell... it's called honesty. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd if it makes you feel any better I've been blogging for about eight years and you have twice as many followers as I do. :)
I would rather read something real than have something sold to me!
ReplyDeleteeveryone has something to sell ... some just sell it louder.
ReplyDeletei'm following because you've sold me!
I loved this. You sell your blog with honesty. Also I'm right there with you, but I don't even have 300 readers...could it be because I'm not cool? As in, I don't know what OOTD even means? Gotta look that one up :)
ReplyDeleteUM... I fereakin love reading your blog! In the two (maybe?) weeks that I have been following you, you have quickly become my favorite. I think you are my favorite because you are just you with no weekly "DIY Wednesday" or things to sell. I enjoy reading your real life. If we lived closer I would so hang out with you in real life (if that makes me a creeper so be it!)
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel better, I'm jealous of YOU! You have 10 times more followers than I do! I guess we all have to start somewhere, right? I happen to LOVE your blog though, seriously!! You don't need to "sell" anything, we all love your blog for exactly what it is. :)
ReplyDeleteOh and one more thing, are you wearing a grill? Hahahaa.
DeleteGirl i get a little jealous with that kind of stuff too, and i think that is natural! No worries, your blog rocks!
ReplyDeleteThat makes two of us. Unless sarcasm has monetary value that I'm not aware of... I got nuthin. And I'm okay with it too. The blogs you're talking about have zero interest for me. I like these kind. That actually give me a voyeuristic glimpse into the life of someone with something to say.
ReplyDelete300? I'd be quite happy at 300. But I know what you mean. I've seen blogs grow so fast I have no idea how that was done.
ReplyDeleteYou have plenty to sell. Honesty. Authenticity. I do like some of the big blogs that I learn stuffs from, but some commercially type blogs are so fake it's sickening. Don't be fake. Be you.
ReplyDeletebut you can sell YOU and no other blogger can sell you. i know it's stupid and cliched but it's so true. and who's to say you wont get to thousands of followers one day? or maybe you don't even want to. as long as you're writing how you feel and what you want, that's what matters. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how I found your blog, but I always enjoy reading your posts. I think your blog is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love this post, because I was having this same exact thought today. I feel like my blog is just average, and I don't have anything to "sell" either. But I think that makes it less pressure-filled. Our blogs aren't filled with certain expectations that other girls blogs may have, but like you said, that's okay!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog and the things that you write. I hope you have a great day!
This is so so so much better. I would rather read about you then about a brand. or a type of you that just looks good on a blog!
ReplyDeleteI love how honest you are. I've started to notice that a lot of those blogger who have blogged for 2 months and have 1000 followers never write anything worth reading. They just throw huge giveaways (WIN an ipad mini! Win $100! etc.), host blog hops, and link ups. I've been guilty of some of these things and that's how I've gained most of the followers I have. However, I'm wanting to get away from that and just write about the things I love. If people love those things too, I hope they'll follow me, but more importantly I hope they'll read what I say.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post. And I completely understand. A friend and I started our blogs around the same time. About a year later, I have 200 followers and they have over 3,000. I am totally happy for her, but it is hard to swallow sometimes. Good luck to ya though, and I'll be following you from now on.
ReplyDeleteJillian - http://epic-thread.blogspot.com
Thanks for the honesty, I can totally understand where you're coming from, I've felt exactly the same things! And I'm no salesman either....oh well, I'll just have fun with the whole writing part, and at least those of us who appreciate real content can all appreciate each other! :)
ReplyDelete