- I don't post every day. I post 3-5 times a week. Sometimes I just don't have anything to write about, and other weeks I have more material than I know what to do with.
- I don't share each post on every social media outlet. I do share posts on at least one site daily, but I see others share on every site. I rarely remember to post on Facebook, and I don't pin my own pictures. Maybe I should look in to this Hootsuite that people keep talking about?
- I don't photograph every day events, that I later post about. I am usually so caught up in the moment that when I sit down to write, I kick myself because I don't have any photos of said event.
- Speaking of photographs, I don't own a nice camera. I would love one - not just for the blog, but for family photos as well - but I just can't bring myself to spend the money..... yet.
- When I do take photos, they aren't perfectly staged or have the correct lighting. I don't have any "go-to" props and the photos are usually taken with my iPhone.
- I refer to my children as their first initials, and don't share any photos of them. I briefly touched on this subject before, but whenever I read a post with pictures of children (and I know their names) I feel like I connect more. I wonder if my readers get annoyed when I share stories of my girls, yet they don't really "know" them.
- I don't have a clue about HTML code. I've picked up a few things here and there, usually on accident, but I have no idea how to make a button, create a design, or anything else HTML-related.
When I look back on this list, I have to remind myself that doing or not doing certain things is what makes this blog mine. My wish for today is to remember why I started blogging, especially when I start to feel bad for doing or not doing certain things related to this blog.
As I keep writing, I will probably get better at some of the above. But if I don't? Oh well. That's me! And you all can pretend to love my blurry iPhone pictures.
Well, then all of this makes me a bad blogger too. I definitely don't post daily and I definitely don't pin my pictures. I'll pin other people's pictures, but not mine. oops. Most of my pictures are from my windows phone. #noshame there.
ReplyDeleteI don't use pinterest at all because it makes me irrationally angry and I keep all my blog stuff off of facebook so I'm awful! I completely respect when bloggers don't share much about their kids - especially if you blog more about YOU and less about mom-life. I think it's neat when moms use their blogs as an outlet for their non-mom parts of themselves and I think keeping your readers away from your kids makes that easier. I mean obviously your children are a huge part of your life but online, they maybe don't have to be? Just a non-moms two cents and way to say that there's nothing wrong with what you're doing!
ReplyDeleteI think you wrote this post about me! Haha! My blog has a long ways to go, but it's mine and it's documenting our lives...and that's what is important to me right now. I love your blog and think it's great as it is!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all about the photos. I dont take photos all day long and even though blogging has made me want a nice camera, I still havent purchased one lol Im a baby blogger like you though so we'll see. As to the kids thing, thats a personal choice and I dont think it takes away from your blog in any way. You're doing a fantastic job!!
ReplyDeleteIt's alright not to show photos of your children. I struggled with it for awhile before I even had a blog about putting my son on Facebook. I never even mentioned I was pregnant one time. It just was not important for all of those people that I do not talk to to be informed on my life. I'm a bit more relaxed now but I still don't feel too comfortable when people put up naked pics of their children.. to each his own I guess.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know I'm not the only one who takes pictures with their iPhone, doesn't have a nice camera, doesn't know html, and doesn't post everyday! :) I refer to my little guy by his initials too, but I do post pictures of him...I can definitely understand why you choose not too though. It's just one of those things that is a personal decision I think. Thanks for sharing this post!
ReplyDeleteI'm the same in many ways. I don't post every day. I know nothing about design or HTML. I don't have a nice camera. I don't stage my photos with perfect backgrounds. I just do my best at the time. I don't think this makes us "bad" bloggers, it just means we're rule breakers, haha. Once you get too worried about the rules, blogging becomes less fun, I think, so I have to remember to sit back and, like you said, remember why I do this.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, Hootsuite is one of my favorite things EVER. I use it daily, and it really makes things SO much easier for me. I cannot recommend it enough. Oh, and pinning my own photos (not all, just the good ones I want shared) has been a really easy and very beneficial thing too. Pinterest has now surpassed Twitter as my No. 1 referrer!
I'm learning more and more that there's no one set way to blog. I do love seeing pictures of peoples lives and families and homes, just because it makes me feel like I really know them, but then it also seems creepy sometimes a little, I guess. I'm finding more and more though that this blogging world is just whatever you want it to be. There doesn't seem to be any real right or wrong thing to do, and I think that's what makes me love other blogs so much. They're all just uniquely whoever's writing them, and that's supposed to be what it's all about, right?
ReplyDeleteBad blogger? Pshhhhh...Never. Whoever said that you need to do all those things to be a"good" blogger? We are all learning here, every day. I think you are a real and genuine blogger and I'll take that over a "good" blogger any day.
ReplyDeleteAll my pictures are taken with my iPhone. And they still come out pretty good most of the time. And Hootsuite is my social media savior.
ReplyDeleteBad blogger? No such thing! I've been blogging for years and I still do some of the things you have listed as "no-no's". I think it's all about doing what you feel comfortable doing and people will connect with you even if you don't have all that fancy-schmancy stuff. :)
ReplyDeleteAh those all apply to me too....! I am still learning, so some of that may improve with time, but I think we are all different and unique - just like what we write about will be different, so will our styles of using pictures, or coding our own pages (or not!), or how we talk about our children (balancing with keeping them safe). It's all down to who you are and how you want to use your blog. People will connect with your writing, as long as they feel like they 'hear' YOU behind it!
ReplyDeleteI do use Hootsuite now and it's only a few weeks into it but it does help manage all that social media stuff. That being said I never remember to pin my own stuff and I don't do much with my FB page...if I can remember to tweet more than once a day I feel pretty accomplished =)
I LOVE YOUR BLURRY IPHONE PICTURES!!! ;) No but seriously- I love your blog just the way it is! There is room for improvement for all of us, but I don't think that always means "doing what everyone else is doing" - you have to do what works for you. Even though you don't post pictures of your babes or use their real names- I totally still feel like I can connect to your stories, etc! I still can't believe you've only been at this for 4 months - girl you are rockin' it!
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