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!

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!

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 the home page for bloglovin

As you can see, on the left hand side is a list of the blogs I follow.  I have a tab for my Daily Reads which is great because even when I don’t have time to catch up on EVERY blog I would ideally be able to read on a daily basis, I can catch up on the blogs that I love or the ladies I feel like I know on a more personal level.  Then I categorize my other blogs into mommy blogs and newlywed blogs and running blogs and crafting blogs.  The list is endless as to how you can categorize your blogs.

Now here’s my favorite part!  When you go in to read a blog, you’ll have a few things I want to make sure you notice!
1. You have a pull down tab with all the blog posts and how many blogs need to be read so you can choose certain sections to read from.  As you can see, my “All unread posts” is selected and I am on 1/2 of those posts.
2. Once I finish that post, i click the “Older” button to scroll to the next blog that I need to read.
3. THE BEST PART: If there is a post I love, a recipe I want to check out later, or just some really great advice I want to make sure to remember, I can click that little heart at the top and it saves it in my favorite file and I can go back at anytime!

Bloglovin has really changed the way I blog and comment and it’s made me a better blogger!  I feel like I’m connecting with my readers more and the blogs that I follow, I also feel like I’ve been able to keep up with everyone’s lives and comment more frequently!  I strongly suggest using Bloglovin to keep up with your favorite blogs!

Have a great Tuesday sweet friends, hope this was helpful!