Does blogging make your butt big?
You thought I was kidding when you read the title of this article, didn’t you? I’m not, really I’m not. Since I started blogging 2 years ago I find myself on the computer more than ever. I try to balance my family life as well as my blogging/computer time. It’s hard when you want to build and keep up with your blog. So, I often find myself sitting on my butt in front of my computer. (Which in turn makes my butt big!)
Did you know that there is a lot more to blogging than just sitting in front of the computer and typing up a quick entry? When I first started blogging I thought it was easy. There was nothing to it. It didn’t consume all of my time. That was before I started to grow my blog. Before I did the reviews and giveaways. Before I had a good amount of followers.
I have talked in the past about deciding what type of blogger you want to be. Deciding what direction you want your blog to go and what you want to do yourself as a blogger. When I first started I was simply a blogger telling funny stories and updating my daily life as the only female in a house full of males. When I saw others doing reviews and giveaways I was intrigued. I thought, I have a blog and I like to try new things and I definitely have a big enough mouth to spread the word about products…good or bad. I started contacting companies (on my own) asking them to send me products to review and give away. Believe it or not, a lot of them said YES. I was shocked and once I got started it was hard to quit. Every time I wanted something I found myself emailing the company first to see if we could review it before I actually went out and spent the money on it. Why not, everyone else was, right? I was told no from time to time, but we did get a good bit of free products. The company was getting their advertising (for super cheap might I add) and I was getting something free. Now that my blog has grown I don’t even have time to email companies asking for products. (I don’t lie.) I remember when I first started I was reading a blog and the lady stated that she needed helpers with reviewing products. The lady said that she receives so many emails every day from companies asking her to review products that she can’t even keep up. I thought, wow-that must be nice. I actually wished my blog was that well known and that popular that companies wanted to contact me to get their products seen on my page. So, what did I do?
I started advertising my blog more. I went to as many blogger sites and I signed up. I spent hours commenting on other blogs, blogging sites, and anyplace I could think of. I did spend a little money here and there when I thought it would pay off. (No more than $20 at a time, but usually less than that.) If I knew there was a promotion going and that my name was going to be at the top of the page, I would throw my $10-$20 in so that my blog would be listed. I know that it sounds silly, but it helps sometimes.
So where am I now?
Well, my butt definitely isn’t getting any smaller, but I have a schedule now and I work on my blog in between my family life. Family first-blog later. I often type up a bunch of posts in one day and schedule them to post over a week or so that way I don’t have to post every day (great idea, right? Try it!)
I love where my blog is and how it is growing. I am finally making money (here and there, nothing major) from advertisers, sponsored posts, and sometimes from blog tours and campaigns. The added income and free products have really helped my family and the blogging has given me the feeling of contributing to my family and having my own “job.” (Not that I needed another job because caring for 5 boys is definitely enough to keep anyone busy!)
So, has blogging made your butt bigger? (I kid! I really just want to know, where are you as a blogger? Do you like where your blog is going? Do you wish you would have chosen a different direction with your blog? Do you have any advice for those just getting started?)
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