Don't Let The B**tards Grind You Down

There is nothing I love more than to sit at my laptop when I feel I have something to say. Today I'm not quite sure what that is but as with most posts of this kind I'm sure I'll find my point. I just read an article on making a living via an online blog.. not unlike this one you're reading right now. I am under no illusion that just anyone can start a blog and quit there day job but said article advised that very few people had the talent, the reach or the stamina to achieve such a feat. Rather than motivating me it left a defeated feeling in this otherwise positive person. 

When I started blogging I like to think I started for 'the right reasons' I wasn't aware of the potential earnings, I wasn't even aware of how huge the blogging community was or how much competition there was out there so I blogged for fun. It wasn't until about a year in that I realised there was money to be made and given my impending maternity leave I took steps to take advantage of that. I saw that there was an opportunity to apply myself and see what I could do, I did and I have been pleasantly surprised. Obviously I wont talk numbers - nobody ever does, isn't that annoying? - but I will say that I am not yet earning the kind of money that will allow me to extend my maternity leave.. though I'd very much like to be. I only need part time earnings, if that, It can't be so hard, can it? Apparently so. The aforementioned article tells me I'll never make it as a pro blogger and that I may as well give up now! Of course that will never happen, regardless of money I will continue to blog for the same reasons I ever did, for the pure enjoyment.

I rarely wax lyrical about this kind of thing here on what should be my beauty blog but I know there are a lot of start ups out there with questions. I get them all the time, how can I be more successful? how can I make money? how can I get free stuff? I can't answer those questions, I'm not sure anyone can. I would doubt anyone that started blogging for the money ever got it. There's an impatience that goes hand in hand with hefty goals like that and impatience is effectively an expiration date on your blog. You will only be willing to wait so long before people read/you see the fruits of your labours. My blog turns 2 this month and I am immensely proud of it and me because I am very much a quitter. 

I'm the one that has lots of ideas but no follow through and as a result nobody takes me seriously. When I first told my Mum I had started making videos online she thought I'd finally crossed over to crazy town but she's now one of my biggest supporters. If you want to do something and you think people wont understand.. don't tell them! My blog/YouTube channel remain a pretty secret part of my life, I don't broadcast my internet dealings on my 'real' facebook page and I don't think I'll ever want to. It's my little escape from every day life. Most bloggers - beauty bloggers anyway - keep themselves private and blog about their chosen topic, not me, number 1 oversharer right here! I tell me modest following everything about myself and I've been chastised for doing that, I've had my share of people who disagree with me and my life choices and yes that's hard to deal with but I have. 

As I said at the start of this post I don't really know what I want to say but I guess in a nutshell I'm saying don't let the bastards grind you down! There are plenty of people out there that say you can't do something but who are they? No matter what it is don't allow them to tell you you can't do what ever it is you want to do because you can! If you want something enough and you think you can do it you can do it, just don't give up. In the case of blogging or - worse still - YouTubing there are definitely times you want to pack up and go home but put it in perspective and the good far outweighs the bad.

When I had questions I never felt like there was anyone I could ask, everyone is so vague because you are their competition. No matter how modest your following there will be few bloggers who really want to help you but I'd like to be one. So if any of you are starting out or just have questions that you think I could answer send them my way and I'd be more than happy to help in any way I can. The article I read made some very good points but it also hit home that the 'community' is not quite as community minded as it should be, I'd like to change that!

Khila

The Importance Of Being Out There

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?