It seems these days the blogs I read are all covering these huge PR events the writers attend and I find myself wondering how important it is to be "out there". Are the bloggers invited because they are successful or are they successful because they go to every single event they're invited to? Being that I'm a Northern girl with a family and not able to zoom off to London at a moments notice I never go to anything I'm invited to and I think it has really slowed down the progress I'm making in the "beauty community". I know of MANY bloggers with a smaller fanbase that blog purely about launch parties and freebies so I can only assume that the social aspect of this industry has a huge impact on your potential for growth. If you're not putting yourself out there how will people every know about you? You're hoping new readers will stumble upon your blog or your site in cyber space but what if they don't? Sure there's twitter to connect with people and companies but is that enough? For those of us who put our heart and soul into our online persona but don't attend these exclusive events .. what will become of us? Are we destined to meander along doing as we do while to social butterflies soar past us?
We don't do it for the recognition, we do it for the thrill of publishing our word and knowing they'll be read but its still disappointing to know it could be so much more. Do you have to sellout to be successful as a blogger? And what is success anyway? Are we measuring it in popularity or how much free stuff we can pump out of cosmetic companies? How much money we can make for sponsorship? What's it all about?
If you don't blog because you love it then why do you blog? And for those that do.. will we ever reach the dizzy heights of those that live in the centre of it all?
Just something I've been thinking about recently. Do any of you bloggers like me feel the same or do you think there's a place for our anti-social lot along-side the YouTube socialites?
I don't think I follow any beauty blogs that blog about events and tbh I don't think I'd be very interested in them - they don't interest me as living in Scotland they're not what I'd be able to go to either.
ReplyDeleteJust be comfortable with what you're happy blogging about. I think it would just become more stressful and not what most are looking for?
With regards to freebies, if you're talking about companies giving free beauty stuff away to the public, you don't need to invited to link those. Plenty of sites link them e.g. http://www.frugallerforum.co.uk/health-beauty-fashion-free-stuff/
I'm sure your followers would be far more interested in stuff they can get themselves. That site is more just UK freebies but there are some that ship to other countries too.
I have been thinking about this recently too! I have just started blogging and just getting into it really so I have no expectations and doing it for a hobby... Its keeps me out of trouble lol.
ReplyDeleteI do live in London and all would be accessible but I couldnt drop everything etc - job and family.
Do what ya doing and keep enjoying it!! xxx
great post!! I totally agree with your points - I've been blogging for 10 months yet have never attended events nor received any freebies!! I too work and can't drop it like a hat; plus I don't do any social networking as I was addicted to it and now refuse to go on fb / twitter. it makes me wonder why so few people follow my blog....!!!
ReplyDeletejules @ a bit of jules
I agree 100% - there are certain bloggers who constanltly talk about going to events, and there are many groups of people who only talk to each other...it's a reason why I've stopped blogging...
ReplyDeleteit annoys me how much being in London affects your popularity and opportunites, i think more things should be done outside of london. it also annoys me when n event happens and then i have to read loads of posts all showing the same pictures. i think its really obvious when pr sent stuff out because it seems to do the rounds on blogs, even if people dont state it was sent to them :s
ReplyDeletewww.missmathful.blogspot.com
In a way, I think I LOVE your blogs, videos and you so much because you're different. Something about a lot of the bloggers who cover all these fancy events constantly, puts me off. It's almost a little fake, and ridiculous. You're SO real. I think people love you so much because you're such a normal, down to earth, wonderful person. It HAS to pay off for you in your own way! I do agree with you though about how it seems it is important to do those things, but maybe to attain that kind of success. It will pay off for you :)
ReplyDeleteFirstly I'd like to say I really love your blog.I agree that there are a lot of bloggers whose blogs centre around these glitzy events but I never feel like I can trust what they say about the product as they are possibly/probably influenced by the glamour of the party. I am very new to blogging, have 16 followers, less than four hundred views but I feel like I have won the lottery every time I get a new comment. Keep doing this for the reasons you began your blog, you have lots of fans!
ReplyDelete