It has come to my attention that sometimes the blogging world doesn’t stay true to its word, only recently have I seen posts talking about the ‘real things’ bloggers do that we may sometimes think as ourselves couldn’t ever do. From an outsiders perspective it seems a very glamorous life, which is very much so is. But sometimes I cannot help but look through someones blog and think how things really are behind the camera.
SUCCESS
I have met a lot of new bloggers who expected to become successful overnight and with the likes of sneaky sites that buy up Bloglovin followers I don’t blame them that they find it tough maintaining numbers and a readership, as it seems the rich blogs get richer and the poor get poorer. People just starting out are not given the chance to have their time in the spotlight when shadowed by blogs that bought their way into the industry. I recently logged into Bloglovin and the top 20 results of the popular page was littered see here!
Success to some bloggers is the parties, events, free goodie bags and a large following. I said here after hitting 6 months that success is not defined by your follow count and that it takes time to become well established, some quicker than others. Patience and good writing is key to success.
BRANDS
The things we are sent are highly worked for, yes on the odd day things are gifted out of the kindness of brands hearts and sometimes do not want a review or feature in return, only a present! But these items most of the time are requested after lengthly emails, and this is one point I had to make very clear to a reader of mine that asked why she wasn’t getting contacted or sent things, although they are gifted you have to work for them like an every day job.
I always say content is king and the best content gets noticed more. I told that girl to work her butt off and I look at her blog now with brand names attached just how she wanted, she called me a role model (wow!). She was my example of someone who turned around everything on command to help herself for the better and I’m so proud and know she will message me tonight with a big thank you!
UN-PERFECT HOMES
Go to any well established blogger and their houses are covered in white walls, fairy lights and everything looks heavenly. I ask myself who’s house actually looks like that all the time, even my own office gets so messy from deliveries, not that I am a messy person but us as human beings natural build up clutter. I was watching Zoe London’s newest vlogs today and she states she doesn’t live in a perfect Pinterest-able house, which brought some realism, some dignified truth into a world that can seem lived through rose tinted spectacles. We pivot our clutter around the room so blogging backgrounds look heavenly, not because they always actually are.
LENGTHLY HOURS
I also think a lot of people forget the long hours spent putting time into a blog is seriously overlooked, I’ve been asked ‘How hard can it be to maintain a website, all you do is post pretty pictures and write a short paragraph?’ to which I hold my head in my hands, because they just don’t understand.
I’ll explain this in a form you all understand, my day is spent writing actual posts for an hour (usually first thing in the morning) taking photographs can take an hour or two, editing them can take several, plugging the posts into social media, answering emails can take up a large chunk of my day, contacting new business and researching for new brand content. All these things find my day being eaten up and before I’ve blinked it’s time for bed. Over the summer I’ve considered myself a full time blogger, something I’ve never seen before, someone who started out full time, but now I’m drawn into my first week back at university, you in turn will accept the content will not be so regular. So the next time you’re frowned upon for doing something ‘that doesn’t take very long’ send them to me for a good metaphorical booting.
A long with many others like wearing pyjama pants all day, screaming my music around the house, and occasionally getting bloggers block, blogging is a medium of expression that you can choose to interpret in any way you would like, this post is not aimed at particular people, but as a collective, I would hate people to be disappointed by the endless responsibilities and hard work that gets put into maintaining a successful site knowing they cannot handle or understand the pressure when starting out. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
What did you expect as a blogger?
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Any items marked with a * have been gifted or sent to me to review, please see my pr/disclosure
