Image Map

Friday, March 28, 2014

Movin' On Up...



My brain is overflowing with ideas and I can barely contain myself. I am working on a lot of new projects that I cannot wait to share. A lot of them semi-revolve me having a successful blog.

Not too long ago, I was expressing my frustration with getting a bigger following but I have been working my booty off and have been noticing a difference.  I am getting more daily views and more comments. I am super excited but I work really hard each day for these little accomplishments.

What am I doing differently? I am making an honest effort to read and thoughtfully comment on as many blogs as possible. Not everyone returns the love but many do and it's worth it. I am now forming blogging relationships and getting some "regulars."

I am also constantly on the lookout for good blogs to sponsor. This has been tricky but advantageous when I find the right one. It's a tough decision between sponsoring a "big" blogger or a smaller blogger. The big blogs are often expensive to sponsor and they don't usually give as much love as some smaller blogs. I think some take on more sponsors than they can handle a month.  Granted they get more traffic but I have felt like I paid a ton of money and never got an email or learn they don't even follow me on my social media platforms. Smaller bloggers may not get the fabulous traffic but I am constantly feeling loved on social media and it drives more people to me. If you guys know some great blogs to sponsor (large or small), let me know!!

I am also participating in group giveaways again. This is another tricky one because there is a fine balance between having a lot of good giveaways for your fans and giveaways becoming most of your content. My tip for this is to constantly change who you do giveaways with and choose carefully. Say you want to build your twitter following and do a giveaway with the same blog every month. By month three a lot of the people entering that giveaway probably follow you already from the prior giveaways so either change up your giveaway option or jump in to a different giveaway with totally different bloggers.  Just my thoughts.

Lastly, it comes down to good content regularly. I am trying to write 5 days a week and about things I would want to read about. I find myself scrolling down my Bloglovin' feed and skip 80% of the posts. I then ask myself what makes me stop and read the other 20%? I then try to incorporate those factors in my posts. This will be different for everyone but that's what helps you find your niche.

Is my blog where I want it to be yet? No, not at all but I am getting steady growth and am on my way. I just have to stick with what I mentioned above and I have a feeling I will be there before I know it! I am also open to your advice, what helped your blog grow?! xoxo

7 comments:

  1. I just launched my blog a little over a month ago and I try not to focus on the numbers but rather on the community - but goodness the numbers are tempting! I'm glad to find that I have a few people who are regular commenters though - I love their interaction and I feel like I'm making friends with them! Disqus has really helped me become better at replying to comments too - I can't say enough good about it! I'd highly recommend checking it out! I, too, try to think about what I would want to read - and I've given myself three days "off" blogging - Saturday, Sunday, and Thursday - so I don't get burned out! I feel like I should jump on the giveaway band wagon but I'm broke lol so I don't want to spend anymore money on blogging than I need too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good job on your progress!! I'm glad that you feel like you are moving in the direction that you want to go. : ) 5 days a week is still something I probably won't ever do-but I commend those who can and do. Very impressive!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think your progress is great! I think that leaving great comments on the blogs of others is the best kind of advertisement that you can have for your blog as it's more likely to get you readers that are interested in your content instead of followers who never engage with your blog at all. x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've heard that Helene in Between is a GREAT blog to sponsor... honestly, nothing but positive feedback from people when I've asked around about who to get sponsorships from. I've also had great experiences with Always Ashten and Life After Athens!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dangit, I meant to add Life According to Steph and Not Entirely Perfect, too!!!!!!

      Delete
  5. I came across this post from Anne at Love the Here and Now. I am pretty new to the blogging world and appreciate hearing from others about what works for them. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete