About large group giveaways and losing the personal blogging feel
This is something I seriously struggle with!! I don’t have the time to go through 20 people’s blogs and see if I want to follow them, but to win these giveaways I have too. And the majority of the time these giveaways are AWESOME! So what’s a girl to do? Do I go through and follow regardless of whether or not I’ll read or like their blog? Don’t participate because I feel like blogging starts to lose a personal feel when you have to be bribed into liking someone else’s blog? Or do I change my perspective?
I started this post a while ago and never finished it, since then, I have started to appreciate and enter large group giveaways more frequently because heck, who wouldn’t want a massive load of cash or that amazing kitchen-aid stand mixer that I’ve literally had my eye on for YEARS and cannot for the life of me afford right now! Now, the way I choose to do things may not work for everyone, but I’ve figured out how to make everyone happy! Yes, it takes a lot of time, so sometimes I have to wait until the weekend or I’ll skip the giveaways that I really don’t care that much too win (hey, if someone else really wants it more than I, why should I stand in their way?) So this is how I choose to enter those large giveaways that at times (in my personal opinion, please don’t get mad about it!) are impersonal:
1. I will follow anyone on twitter and I will like anyone’s facebook page
2. I never follow someone on instagram unless I really like them and feel that we are already IRL friends, instagram is more personal for me and I only want to see pictures from people I feel close too and who post interesting things.
3. I go through and follow everyone via GFC, I think people enjoy seeing their numbers creep up, but let’s be honest, who has time to read 400+ actual blogs? So I use bloglovin for the blogs I actually intend to read, and if I run across a blog that looks like I actually want to take the time to keep up with it, I’ll also add it to my bloglovin page.
This may seem shallow to you, but it’s the best way that works for me!
How do you manage group giveaways and whose blogs you read?
A blogger wedding
Is it weird that I want to invite some bloggers to my future wedding one day because I feel we’d have a blast? Forget that we’ve never actually met. Or that this person beyond the computer screen may not even be a real human being. We’ve formed some kind of crazy bond and when I actually contemplate that in the future, my friends and family are probably going to think I’m NUTS, because hey, i don’ti really know these people, and hey, that’s $25 extra dollars per person, are you sure you want to do that? Chances are, yes! Because despite how crazy it seems, you really do build relationships with people when you authentically blog!
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| Why don’t I just make y’all my bridesmaids? |
A blogger life
So I don’t know about you, but when I picture all of you fabulous people blogging out there, I imagine you’re sitting at a cute desk or lounging on the couch with a warm cup of coffee. Yeah, not everyone drinks coffee, but it seems that they should in order to be able to blog and have great ideas. I don’t actually believe that all of you sit their with your coffee in hand, but I like to pretend because that’s usually what I’m doing, and hey, we obviously have SO much in common! I even have this lamp on in the corner of the room, feels legit!
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| This is how I roll |
You find out who you are
I truly believe that some of us never really knew who we were until we started blogging. Blogging identifies us in a whole new way. Those who don’t blog could never understand it. As you start thinking up blog post ideas and jotting down notes while you’re in the car so you don’t forget, you start to form who you really want to be. I believe that you should always try to keep it authentic, be who you really are and not what other bloggers want you to be. I do believe though that as you read other bloggers and you build these relationships, you start to notice things about yourself that you hadn’t before. You may have not thought you were a DIYer, but heck, you’ve seen so many pinterest projects up on blogs, you sure do want to become one, so you start too and it begins to define who you are now. You may not be a runner, but you follow running blogs and it may push you just enough to start. And who in their right mind goes out in public to do a personal photo shoot? Oh wait, that’s us! Through this process, I’ve found little pieces of me along the way, pieces that I didn’t know existed, and it’s all thanks to this blog!
I encourage each of you, to keep it authentic! Don’t be in blogging just for the prizes and the giveaways, actually try to build relationships, get to know the people you blog with and share interests with. Keep your blog authentic because those are the blogs I enjoy reading and those are the blogs that end up on my bloglovin feed and that I try to comment on frequently! I don’t consider myself an expert on the topic, but I’m learning as I’m sure you are too!
Are you an authentic blogger? What tips do you have for me? How do you stay true to yourself?
This is a fabulous post, Heather! I wrote about something similar yesterday – giveaways are great and all, but that is why there are strictly giveaway bloggers! I love blogging because of the community and I’m on a mission to find similar bloggers who feel the same as me so that we can creating lasting friendships 🙂
I love that you said that about the wedding. I’ve already had a few girls who say they are coming to my wedding in October so I don’t think it’s weird 😉
i can relate to alot of what youre saying, but i have found that some of the giveaways and blogs to follow have actually introduced me to some pretty awesome people that i may not have ever come across otherwise. i definitly take the time to check out their blog and see if what they have to say interests me or not.
and no its not weird about wanting to invite your blog frands to your wedding, i talk about my blog buds to my boyfriend like they are my real life friends!!! i would love to invite every one of them to mine one day!!!
I don’t bother with give-aways, swaps, and sponsoring – you’d be surprised at how many blogs I stumble across where 9 out of 10 entries are about those things. No actual writing about the person’s life, on a blog that it supposedly about their life! I found your blog from Ashley’s (Cup of Ash Tea) and I think you are both great examples of genuine bloggers. 🙂
This is a great post, Heather! I couldn’t have said is any better if I tried. I totally agree with blogging making you realize who you are and who you want to be. Blogging has allowed me to really express my creative side and share my passion for writing and photography. I just love it!
And regarding Bloglovin, I have an account but never used it. Does it work like Dashboard? How do you like it?
Oh my goodness, I thought I was following you before but I must not have been so I really apologize for that!! This post…wow…I love everything you said and agree with you 100%!!! I wish more people would realize some of these things, especially the giveaways and how many hoops you have to jump through sometimes. I follow through GFC but I’m getting annoyed with the dashboard and how I have to go through there all the time and it doesn’t always update so I’m going to have to look at bloglovin. Do you like it?
Seriously…I could have written this post, it is so awesome!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
I think I need to really use Bloglovin. I feel so overwhelmed by my blogger feed and end up just not always reading, because I can’t sort it all out. But, I will probably still follow on GFC, because to be honest, people do look at that follower number, myself included.
I don’t always enter the large giveaways. Depends on what they are giving away haha.
Great post! I agree that people who don’t blog, don’t understand. I feel like a lot of my conversations start with “this person whose blog I read…” but I really do feel like I know some of the bloggers I follow!
Interesting perspective on giveaways. I honestly hardly ever enter them because I don’t want to follow blogs I’m not interested in reading. I also know that from giveaways I’ve done, I have WAY more followers than readers and I don’t like that. I am working on getting back to my authentic self on my blog. I want people to WANT to read what I write and follow me for that reason. However, you do have to do things to get your name out there. It’s a constant dilema. 🙂
I feel like I should check out Bloglovin’. So many people seem to like it.
I totally agree with the giveaways, its kinda like link ups. You stumble across blogs and you may want to follow, you may not. Sometimes I’ll follow via GFC but put the ones I really like on my main page. Just depends.
I really like the idea of following the blogs you really want to read on bloglovin and then using GFC for giveaways, etc. That’s smart.
Great post Lady Love! You can find me at my desk or couch each morning with a huge cup of coffee blogging,usually with a kid or dog in my lap all so. As far as huge GIVEAWAYs go, I only follow who I like and have found some really inspiring blogger ladies over the year from giveaways.
the big group giveaways are really hard! the prizes are always great, but it is hard to follow a million people on gfc. i think your method sounds pretty reasonable.
— jackiejade.blogspot.com
I absolutely love this post!!! I have participated in 2 group giveaways (as a co-host) because I loved the host, and even then I can honestly say I didn’t follow each of my fellow co-hosts because I just didn’t see myself reading their blogs. I have entered a bunch of sweet giveaways, but tend to scroll through the hosts and enter with just the ones I already follow if I don’t have time to check out each blog. (Hey, if it’s meant to be I’ll win right?? …yeah, maybe not but oh well. Blogging is more about enjoyment than stuff for me.) I use GFC more than Bloglovin, and I like scrolling through and seeing subjects/authors I actually want to read.
As for the wedding thing, I COMPLETELY AGREE. When I had like 30 followers, I always thought I would put out a general invitation to all of my followers, knowing if any of them came, it would be AWESOME. Now with over 100, it could get out of hand (I doubt it, but still)… but I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who has thought that lol.
I have to admit I was having similar feelings for a recent giveaway that had a group of 30+… I had started to check out each one’s blog but then it got overwhelming.
Sometimes I’ll be blogging with a cup of tea and it varies if I’m on the couch or at my desk. 🙂 Great post!
I mostly don’t enter the big group giveaways for the types of reasons you stated. Plus I feel like the odds are better for winning in little giveaways. 😛 If I do follow someone for a giveaway, I always try to go over and comment on something they’ve written–I don’t think it’s any fun to get a whole lot of new followers from a giveaway and not have any of them actually read your posts.