In this post, I would like to cover some of the shit bloggers have to go through and the unwritten goals I have and hopefully many of you will instill. In my last post, I touched on the subject of staying true to yourself when blogging. I know this balance is very hard, especially if you walk the fine line between you and recognition. Eugenia from Ommorphia Beauty Bar commented on this very fact.
First, I would like to say I am not picking on Eugenia for I know she is a beautiful woman of my generation, and for us to be swimming in a vast sea of younger bloggers makes me and, she will probably agree, feel like we are back in some high school-ish nightmare.
The Perception — “people (as in non-bloggers) see my posts on social media or read my blog-posts, and assume I flit around from one lavish event to another, enjoying cartloads of products being sent to me on a daily basis.”
That is the naive perception many have. Also, I find the naiveté to think the recognition can also lead to major money as in rolling in it! If this were the case, I think Warren Buffet would have started created blogging stocks just to invest in it!!! Recognition ≠ $$$
The Work — ”What they don't see, are the HOURS of work that goes into each post - from taking hundreds of photographs per product, to editing each photo painstakingly by hand…to finding the creativity to write an engaging and informative article, to the constant hustling to make sure said brands/agencies don't forget about me.”
Paid or not paid, what you don't see is the hours behind the post. The hours which in the past would have been referred to as "wasting hours" but now have become the norm for these modern times to participate in what is now a virtual community.
The Goal — ”I have grown my blog and my work to the point where what I do is recognized by many - and not because I have bent over backwards kissing behinds to get there or because I've changed who I am.”
I know many envision a goal which can be achieved honestly through hard work which I always thought to be the norm. However, there are many who seem to envision popularity and sponsorship without any consideration of others. (More on this later.)
The Reality — ”…sadly, I no longer have the luxury of time to be able to connect with some people as frequently as I did when I first began blogging. Not snobbery or elitism, but fact. Add to the mix my life at home and my duties here (which are my priority above all else) as mom, wife, cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, and what precious little time is left over, I greedily hoard for some me time - or the alternative is to go nuts.”
I can relate to this even though I blog as a hobby. The time to write and how and what to write does take up a lot of space in the brain. It takes up the space where between time to look and time to read other stuff on the internet. Therefore, personal life becomes sacrificed for time!
The Shit — ”…as my blog and recognition grew, I found that some people started to become rather negative around me…”
One word: JEALOUSY. We are human, therefore we have the ability to conjure up negative emotions when we should really look behind the curtain and admire instead. The surface is what we tend to judge which is easier to comment. What is the fun of admiring someone's hard work? Right?!!!
The Pissing Shit
What Eugenia said is so true.
I know you are sick of hearing about the incident and I don't blame you, but it is one of the best examples I have to the evolution of blogging and the internet. You didn't see what happened behind my curtain.
Many thoughts swirled in my brain. I worked hard on the post but maybe it wasn't anything special since I had no sponsorship or a big following. Maybe, I wasn't good at what I did, therefore, what I had written was really nothing and allowed to be uncredited. Or maybe, my memory was playing tricks on me and I plagiarized the post!
Then, the confrontation (which is her unedited comment) hit me in the gut; How could a person think I would be so evil to threaten an unborn?
I kept a strong face on the internet but in my real life, I broke down. Eugenia, you were right in saying not to let it get to me but sometimes it is hard to let go! So, why was I still blogging?
The Unwritten Goals of Blogging
I realized my goals (and I hope it will be some of yours too) were unwrittten!
Respect -- People may have wondered why I didn't pursue the incident further via tweeting to her many followers and such. I didn't because she works as hard as everyone else who blogs. You may say I respect her. No, it is more in the sense that I respect the OTHER bloggers who work as hard as her who do it HONESTLY. I don't want to be seen as some blogger who upsets the blogging world via a disrespecting tweet. I only tweeted my post for those who wanted to read it.
Morals -- I want to blog with some morals as my guideline. Learning to blog with morals can be hard especially since everyone appears to be wanting more out of blogging and are willing to take more than give. I am surprised that brands don't have a morality clause when it comes to sponsorship. Then again, Charlie Sheen is still allowed to act!
Recognition as a Good Blogger -- Funny there still isn't a decent niche for just being a good blogger and staying with it for a long time.
Appreciate Your Readers -- Your blog is NOTHING without them! They are the people who WANT to read what you write. They contribute to the personality and atmosphere of your blog. People will know if you don't care. If you just see them as numbers just to get sponsors, then they will see you as just another blogger with great giveaways! Your readers are the people who get you onto the search engines. Sure, it may be some SEO stuff but mostly if you aren't writing what is good to read, your only audience will be a web crawler for your blog!
Karma -- As a woman coming into her wisdom, I know things in the past can creep up and affect the future. Whether it is good or bad really depends on the ultimate goal. I know there are secrets and won't say a thing about them because they deserve their own journey in this universe.
All these unwritten rules are really basics, but are lost in the Wild West of the internet. However, if more people stick to these goals, then don't you think the internet can change a bit too?
Olivia
