I’ll admit it. I can get envious from time to time. I hate to admit, but I can let other people’s success get to me. I don’t know why.
I mean I’m having a really good year right now. I’m working as a community manager for one company, a social media manager for another, and I have a couple of sites that I write for. I’m bringing in money for my family. I paid for math tutoring this year for instance.
But, I can get rattled when I hear of a blogger talking about a campaign or a sponsored post or even a BlogHer party invite that I didn’t get. As much as I try to suppress it, I can help keeping up with the Jones’ of blogging.
From time to time, I get the teensiest tiniest bit of jealousy, which I usually keep buried about bloggers who seem to have limitless funds to do blogging right. Their blogs look gorgeous, they look gorgeous, they have plenty of childcare. They are the ones who can hire a designer to revamp their blog instead of begging a friend or doing a half-baked DIY redesign job.
The “green with envy” piece kicks in when I think about those who can purchase multiple conference passes/flights/hotels without scrambling for sponsorships like I have done in the past. Speaking of sponsorships and blogging and connecting with brands and bloggers, I’m looking for a sponsor for BlogHer 11. Contact me at momontherun96@gmail.com for my sponsorship engagement ideas for your brand.
Do you get envious of bloggers? How do you deal with it?
I don’t really get envious of anything. For me, blogging is a hobby. I don’t do it for income (we were living on a single income for 9 months before we had a child) or celebrity, although the attention is nice. I just need an outlet to keep me from feeling like I’m losing brain cells each time I read Goodnight Moon.
I am hiring a designer to update the look of my blog, but she’s not expensive & you don’t have to buy some huge redesign package. A lot of her services are a la carte, so you can determine how much the redesign is going to cost. Hosting through blogger is only $10/yr.
(your blog looks great, btw)
I know that a lot of times it LOOKS like it’s effortless for bloggers and writers. It’s not. what it IS.. is a matter of getting out there and being visible…. Having a reputation… Getting on the right lists. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. I remember sitting back last year, hearing about all the people who were going to be at Blogher and being a bit green over the whole ordeal. So I started toying with the idea that this year it was going to happen. And I made it happen.
Oh it would be nice to have a sponsor for the weekend… but I don’t. Yet I know that because of what I’m putting out this year, which is myself.. wholly and completely… it will all come back to me in the long run.
I’m not scrambling for sponsorships because I view them as gravy. If someone likes what I’m doing and they want to hire me? That’s icing on my cake. It’s not WHY or HOW I’m going to get there. I’m getting there for my own business, and I’m prepared to work my butt off to get myself to my goal.
Things aren’t always super easy for people, even though they’re great at making it seem that way!
Don’t worry! It all comes with time.
This particular time of year can be challenging for all bloggers: the big, the small and those of us in the middle. (I am a small time blogger.) My husband reminded me recently that if there are 2000 people attending a conference, 1800 of them are not going to the private parties.
Having tagged along with someone who was included in one of the private parties last year (I was not directly invited) I noted that the SAME bloggers seem to be at these parties. Companies tend to target those folks with a large following or the potential for a large party. I am not a marketer’s dream blogger. My voice is not that loud and that is okay.
Yeah, it’s exciting to be invited to anything that is considered to be “exclusive” but, if the same people are going to all of the private parties, aren’t they missing the point of going to the conference: to meet other people? Swag is fun–no argument there. But at the end of the day, the friends and acquaintances that I have made are really what matter to me.
Yes, I get envious–very envious. And sometimes I even get bitter. But, once I am at the conference and people are going in all sorts of different directions, the private parties seem less relevant. I get more interested in learning about other folks blogs and their successes and challenges. Whether this is accomplished at a private party or in the middle of the Expo floor really doesn’t matter. It’s all about the relationships. Just my 2 cents….
Well, first off I think you are doing an amazing job! It amazes me how much you are able to do when sometimes I feel over-whelmed with one blog and 3 kids. I think working at home is tough though. We are spreading ourselves thin trying to keep balance between work & family. Anyways, just keep doing what you are doing and realize that we all have our moments of envy. I am looking forward to meeting you at Blogher!