The last few weeks have been weird here on the blog. Can you feel it? I know I can. I've been out of town a good bit and I've had more guest posts than normal. I've scheduled all my posts ahead of time. I've been so busy with school that all the little details that come with blogging have fallen by the wayside. I've hardly been on Twitter, much less have I been sharing my own posts and much much less have I been sharing others posts--something that I love to do. I've been scanning through my blog feed on my phone, only reading the posts with really good titles/pictures. And when I find a good post, I never comment.
As a result, I've been feeling a little bit sad about this blog. (I'm not going anywhere--exhale!) I've come to the conclusion that I can't put in half the time that I used to into this relationship (because this is sort of like my weird relationship with the people of the internet) and expect all of the same results. I've been spreading myself too thin.
So this is my one goal for the week: get involved in the blog community again. I'm on vacation for a week, and for me, that means way more blogging. I'm really excited to start my new mission to 'revive my blog lovelife' and I hope it's not too late to build all my relationships back up with my blog and blog-reading friends. So I thought I'd lay out my step-by-step plan to squish myself back into this circle of friends and invite you to come along with me! If you're not feeling fulfilled by blogging lately, try one of these things!
Sponsoring. I used to think it was like paying for friends (which, incidentally, is also how I felt about sororities), but it's really not. It's visually (and financially) supporting the blogs you love. For me, the views and followers I get from sponsoring other blogs are minimal, I'm more interested in making a connection with another blogger.
Sharing other blogger's posts. I love doing this because it helps me connect with both other bloggers and my followers. Every blogger loves to see someone love on a post that they spent time on and you're helping provide your followers with even more quality content to read!
Comment on the blogs you read. I find it especially inconvenient to comment on other blogs because I read 90% of my Bloglovin' feed from my phone. But I know how disappointed I feel when I spend hours on a post that I think will be a smash hit, only to watch it go without comments. Think about it this way: pretend you had some really great news and had lunch with your best friend to tell her your exciting news. But when you tell her, she just sits and looks at you. How sad would that be?! That's how blogging without comments feels. I know I'm bad at responding to comments, but I read every single one (and even save screenshots on my phone of many!).
Respond to comments left on your own blog (if you have one). This goes hand-in-hand with the last one, but I just have to mention it since I'm kinda-sorta terrible at it. I will respond to 90% of comments left here over time, but it may be 2-3 weeks before I get to it. I want to be better about responding promptly. How can I build a conversation with you lovely people if I wait two weeks to reply?!
Send an email! I've only done this a few times but I'd like to do it more. It seems like a somewhat revolutionary idea, to email a blogger instead of just commenting. But if you read a post that really, really clicks with you or helps you in a new way, I promise that you can make any blogger's day with a two-sentence email that tells them that.
So all of these collective steps make up my goal for the week. Now I need you to help me. Leave a comment with a favorite blog, a favorite post (yours or someone else's!), an idea on how to get involved in the blog community or just any thoughts on this post. And I promise, I will respond.
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