On Blogging

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If you blog, I’m sure you’ve gotten some form of negative feedback at one time or another. Whether it be from the jealous friend who blogs, but just can’t seem to get as many followers as you, or from the non-blogger, who can’t quite understand how you can be so self-centered that you expect people to care about what you have to say. I know that I’ve received plenty of negative comments, both anonymous and straight to my face, about my blog. But those are few in far between, and I know without a doubt that any negative perception about my blog, or blogging in general, is outweighed a thousand times over by the incredible experience that has been this blog.

Here are a few things that I’ve learned about blogging in this past year.

Number One

Blogging is more than just a platform for you to write.

It’s a community and a support system. It brings you out of your comfort zone, and dares you to face your dreams, while we are here to support you. It brings a personal aspect to the abstract concept of diversity, and forces us to confront the idea of hardship, even if we’ve never experienced it ourselves. It gives us the opportunity to develop everything from our fashion sense to our writing to our photography, and allows us to find motivation and strength from each other.

It changes you and challenges you and is so rewarding, beyond anything you’d ever thought it would be.

Number Two

Blogging is what you make of it.

People have made careers from blogging, or have found their dream careers because of their blogs. It does take effort, but if you’re willing the put the work in, you’ll find that you truly get more from blogging that you ever thought possible. And I’m not just talking about all of the free stuff, and the potential to make a bit of money. I’m talking about everything I mentioned in the first item on this list, and then some. But again, blogging is what you make of it. It can be for fun or for personal growth or for career advancement, but you have to put in the effort. Don’t expect people to just magically start following and commenting on your blog, if you aren’t willing to put yourself out there and follow and comment on other blogs. It’s necessary, and the right thing to do.

Number Three

Blog friends are the best.

Remember when Facebook first came out, and all we wanted was to get as many friends as possible? And then we grew up a little and realized that the number of friends you have on Facebook doesn’t really matter unless you know them in real life, and maybe Facebook in itself is kind of stupid? Well, blogging kind of screws up all the ideas you ever had about Facebook, because it shows you that you don’t really need to know someone in real life to know them.

I have “met” some amazing friends through blogging, even if I’ve only met a handful in real life. These are people that have a genuine interest in being my friend, and who are always there cheering me on through this crazy thing called life. They are some of the most sincere, honest, trustworthy, and caring people I’ve met. They are amazing, and I appreciate every. single. one of them.

Number Four

Blogging isn’t about the number of followers you have.

I firmly believe that it’s not the quantity of followers that you have that’s important, but the quality of the relationships that you have with them. We can get caught up in the number on the sidebar of our blogs, and checking our stats obsessively, but that’s not really the point. The point is that we can make connections, amazing connections, if we just stop caring about that number. I’ll admit, it’s taken me a while to get to the point where I don’t care about how many followers I have (and anybody saying that they’ve never cared about that is lying), but letting that go is just so freeing. It gives me the chance to post what I want to post, without caring about what will draw in more people. If readers like you, they’ll stay. You shouldn’t have to compromise who you are to make them happy.

Number Five

Sincerity wins. Always.

We’ve all seen them. The bloggers with the great job and the gorgeous husband and the perfect hair and the huge closet. They also seem to never have anything go wrong in their lives. Ever.

But let me tell you a secret: nobody’s perfect. Even the bloggers with their adorable babies and immaculate homes aren’t perfect. I’m not saying that they are lying to us, but that they aren’t telling us the whole truth. And I’m not saying that they should air all of their dirty laundry over the internet. But a little sincerity, and authenticity, never hurt anyone. We might like reading those blogs sometimes, but I can tell you without a doubt that my favorite blogs are the real ones, the ones that I can relate to. Because it’s these bloggers that I can learn from, and who can learn from me.

Number Six

Blog envy is real.

And it’s inevitable. We all experience it at some point, and we always will. There will always be a blogger who has more followers or a better design or a nicer camera to take pictures of their prettier clothes. I get envious all the time. But then I tell myself that they are just like me, and are probably envious of someone else.

I’ve realized that it’s these moments that I have the potential to learn the most, because they have something to teach me. Want to know how they got so popular? Ask them! Interested in getting some advice about sponsorship or photography or Twitter? Ask them! That’s what they {and in reality, we all} are here for: to network and create a dialogue. Blogging isn’t one sided. If it were, blogging would be obsolete and unnecessary.

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What are some things that you’ve learned from blogging?