I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it). My family and I had a wonderful few days of love and celebration.
The last few weeks have been full of festivities and prep and all of the wonderful things that the season brings, and in turn, I have been blogging a little less than my typical routine. I have missed some of the regular parts of my blog, but not as much as I would have expected.... I love my blog. I love that it is something that is "just for me"... it's not for my kids, or my husband, or an obligation I have. And I do get excited when I get new readers/followers, or a post that gets an exceptional amount of page views... because that means people like what they see. How flattering!
I never expect to become a "big blogger", so I kind of go back and forth on what I want to do here... Any blogger can tell you that it's a numbers game. How many page views, how many views per post, how many followers, how many comments, and shares and pins. It can cause high's of excitement and lows of disappointment. I don't want my hobby to ever disappoint me, yet sometimes, it does. (comparatively though, I guess a lot of hobbies can cause disappointment... sports comes to mind.)
An example of me feeling let down is when your number of followers goes down. No blogger wants to lose followers. I've lost a handful of followers over the last few weeks, and I try to tell myself that it's not that my content is poor, but perhaps some of the people that only followed due to a giveaway and then unfollowed later. Sad, but I know that people do that.
I was also hoping to see more response in the blogger community to my December Kindness Challenge. I'm surprised to not have seen more people getting involved. So then it makes me feel like I'm not "in with the cool kids". It's no secret that the blogging community has cliques.
In any case, I'm just rambling here. I'll just keep blogging as my creative outlet, and hope for more fun than discouragement with it.
If you're a fellow blogger, have you dealt with these types of feelings? How did you move past it?
you're in my clique!!! :) I'm just an MIA blogger lately...
ReplyDeleteBahahahahaaaa! We'll make our own clique ;)
DeleteI'm a new follower. Saw you on facebook.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I totally understand what you mean! There are def. cliques in the blog world. Even when I have bought & paid top dollar for ad space, I feel like I get neglected because I'm not a top-dollar site. They tend to advertise more for their friends or something it seems. I have also felt that way when I have done giveaways. Like a take & run situation.
There was one girl who won ad space from me a few months back. She had over 1000 followers. At the time I had 100. At first she asked for info and seemed excited about the guest post & such. Then never got back with me. Hurt my feelings pretty bad because I guess I wasn't "worth" it in a way.
But I'm making goals for the new year. Hopefully I will see some results!
Hope you have a great New Year girl and know you aren't the only one :) I get a high of new followers & comments too! Probably the main reason why I do it!
Thanks so much Stacey, for your kind words :) Glad to know that you can relate. I'm glad to have you here!
DeleteWhenever I see someone unsubscribe from my email, I just think 1) good...I don't want you taking up my emails...I only have a limited number of those till I have to start paying, and 2) If they don't want to read my stuff then I am better off without them! The people that stick around are the people that want to read your stuff, the people that leave don't matter in the long run!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas! :)
Thanks Britney, you're so sweet :)
DeleteI'm totally there with you on the Challenge. I really thought that we would have more bloggers linking up. It's a great challenge. I've had personal friends tell me they are participating, but they don't comment.
ReplyDeleteYour content is very good and you have a lot to offer. Don't give up. Don't do it. I've lost followers too. I really don't know why people unfollow blogs.
Keep up the good work. I spoke on the phone a few weeks ago with a "big" blogger. You know what it took for her? One pin. That was it. Now she has 6,500 pageviews a day and growing every month. I hope you know that I value your words, your thoughts, your feelings.
Growing together in the new year,
Danette
You are such a blessing to me Danette! You always know what to say <3
DeleteAnd, I didn't do the challenge to gain followers or anything. But it was something I was totally excited about because it seems so simply like something that people should want to do, know what I mean? I thought it would be such a fabulous way to bring people together over a common goal.
But, you're right. I wont give up. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing here, and be glad to have followers like you!!
I love how authentic you are. I also blog for me and use it as my creative outlet. Everyone loses followers and I used to care but why waste energy on it? Keep up your lovely voice! Try forgetting about your stats for a few weeks and just be happy with what you've created. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Rachel, you're totally right :)
DeleteMy blog is very small but I hate losing followers! And I once tried a link up and no one linked up! OUCH! I noticed that when I started responding to comments via email instead of on the blog here, I got more followers and I had more personal interaction.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the words of support and advice!
DeleteI lost a follower in the last few days and it to ally bummed me out. I don't consider myself a big blog by any means, I have grown but I have been thinking about how big I really want to grow. My family is my top priority and sometimes I feel like when I am really trying to gain more of a following or doing a giveaway I lose sight of that. I don't know, I am all over the place with my feelings lately.
ReplyDeleteI have loved your kindness challenge and I think it has been fantastic. :) No matter how big or small I have found myself recognizing my acts of kindness and I think that is so important.
I have literally been thinking about this blogpost since I first read it yesterday. I love that you talk about blogging as "for you". It reminds me of the priorities in this crazy online community we are all a part of. Thank you for writing about a difficult subject that was in your heart! You are always loved and have something important to say/write, no matter what the numbers are!
ReplyDeleteWell said. I feel the same way about losing numbers and some posts not being as active as others. Sometimes writing just to write can be such a therapeutic outlet without us even realizing it...whether people see it, read it, or respond. I encourage you to keep on doing what you're doing! :)
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