Why I'm Different from Other Bloggers + A Promise To My Readers

Monday, February 19, 2018




This post has been a long time coming and I finally was able to put it all into words.  Now don't panic - because nothing bad is happening with my blog. I'm not quitting or slowing down and I'm certainly not here to give you any bad news.


Today I wanted to take the time to speak to you guys, my readers, directly whether you're a fellow blogger or just an avid reader. I love being a blogger and I love being honest, realistic, and down to earth because that's just my personality.  I make sure to keep that strong with my blog content and social media posts but let me tell you it is hard.


One of the things that we as human beings do is compare ourselves.  We compare ourselves to other people, other colleagues at work, celebrities, and who knows who else.  It's just part of our nature I guess but as a blogger it's definitely something that haunts me.  I LOVE reading other blogs, some below to bloggers that have a smaller following than I do and some belong to bloggers that make a doctor's salary each year.  I love different blogs for different reasons and I consciously make an effort to not compare myself to them.  And while I appreciate other blogs I wanted to make a post about what makes me different.  Remember, I am in no way bashing or degrading anyone else.  I'm just trying to think of the unique things that set me apart from others.  And at the end of each topic I'll make a promise to you to continue to be my authentic blogging self.


So here's a few ways that I'm different from some of the bloggers I idolize.


Advertising

Okay, so I know it's the way some bloggers make their main income but for me blogging is a second job/hobby.  I have a full time job and use whatever income I do happen to make from blogging as supplemental to pay off debts or build up my savings.  Honestly, I mostly use it to save up for Rocky's heart doctor appointments which occur twice a year and run about $1,000 each time.  So yeah, thank you guys for buying my books and clicking my Amazon links because that small income helps my doggos. 


However, sometimes when I visit a blog I get pop ups immediately asking me to subscribe to a newsletter or sign up for a freebie.  I totally understand and respect the reasons they may do that but I get so aggravated with pop ups.  So I make sure to not have any kind of pop ups on my site.  If you want to subscribe to my newsletter you can do so in the sidebar to the right of my blog.  If there's any freebies I'm offering you'll find them right in my blog post.  I try to do what I know I would like as a reader so that's why my blog is set up the way it is.  Could I make more money from advertising if I did it different? Maybe, but I'd rather stay true to myself.  


When it comes to sponsorships and the types of products you see on my page or my social media channels, if it's cheap and boring, I won't promote it. If a company contacts me asking me to do an entire blog post about a bottle of soap, you will not find me doing a boring review of soap.  If you get a product and you just right blah blah blah about it, and copy and paste the stats about it from the website, your post isn't going to do well.   And your blog won't grow.  So instead, I organically weave those products into regular posts.  For instance, I may do a post about staying healthy during flu season and one of the things I do is wash my hands more often with a soap.  That's when I introduce the soap, talk a bit about it, and then move on to something else.  Great, now you know my secret.  But seriously, in the beginning every product I received had a boring review.  Even a silly bag of chips.  I noticed people despised those posts so I decided to do it differently. 


For advertising I promise... to never get in your face with pop ups on my blog and to only promote products or services in an organic way that is interesting and relevant to my blog and my readers. 
Are you impressed by my tiny bathroom décor? LOL


Home Décor

So this is where I struggle a lot and I'm always playing the comparison game.  I am obsessed with beautifully clean and organized homes especially on Instagram but unfortunately when I obsess over them I begin to aspire to have a home more like theirs and that's just not realistic.  Some people have big houses with enormously spacious rooms that they can fill with unique and expensive décor.  Nope, not me.  Our "master" bathroom is smaller than my office cubicle.  And that's all fine with me.  Our ranch home is only 1,100 square feet so instead of trying to fake it and re-decorate each room for a new post to make it look bigger, I'm just going to be true to myself (and my home) and I'll show you how to make the most of minimal space. 


My home does not have tons of natural light because of the way it's positioned.  So when I take photos of my rooms, they may not be the most crisp, but hey I'm workin' with what I got!   My home does not have tons of storage space and room for excessive décor so I will not make posts that differ from my realistic situation.  Also, most bloggers don't have a squeaky clean spotless home.  They prepare those rooms in advance for the photos they take.  I don't mean to brag but I really do have a clutter free minimalistic spotless home.  That's probably because we don't have kids and I'm UBER OCD but hey, I'm proud of it!


For home décor I promise... to always show you what my home REALLY looks like. And to show you how I live like more of a minimalist even if it means I have less fancy décor. 
Trying my best to use the good lighting from the porch.



Photograph Quality

Alright, I try my darn hardest to take high quality photos with my DSLR camera but I'm not an expert at it and I work a full time job.  So by the time I get home, the lighting coming in the windows is no longer ideal because it's at the back of the house and only in the porch.  So I'm not standing in the cold porch to stage photos.  Sorry! I can use other lights inside but the photos won't look as amazing.  I will still try my best but I can only do what I have time and energy for.  If I didn't have a full time job I could do so many more amazing things but life didn't go that direction for me, lol! 


Also some bloggers are blessed with having a spouse that can operate a DSLR and take great photos of them.  Mine doesn't get it and really has no interest in it by the time he gets home from a long day of work.  So I use a tripod and a remote and I try my damnedest but I know it won't be as good as some of the talented bloggers I so adore.  But you know what, that's okay. 


For photography I promise... to try my best and keep getting better with the resources I already have available to me.



This is as good as it gets for outfit photos after a long day of work.


My Outfits

Okay, so while I love following other bloggers and seeing the amazing pieces they have in their wardrobe, I can't afford 99% of them.  I don't get the opportunities to visit random shops just to try on their clothes and take AMAZING photos of them.  So I work with the small wardrobe I have.  A wardrobe that definitely doesn't have anything that costs over $50 in it (aside from purses).  I have 1 Louis Vuitton purse that I got at a thrift store for a great deal but still a lot of money.  I can not afford Gucci, Louis, or Chanel bags besides the one LV I own.  But I also know that the majority of my readers can't either.  So I want to stick with clothing that my readers can afford. 


For outfits I promise... to wear and share things that my readers can afford and continue to encourage them to shop at affordable stores. 


Affiliate Links

Ah affiliate links...the bane of my existence.  The second a company asks me to be an affiliate I decline because I do not do well with those.  I never click those fashion affiliate links myself because first of all I can't afford most of the clothing they link but I also am a firm believer in searching for what I want at various places on the internet.  So I can not in good conscience ask my readers to purchase a brand item directly from the brand through MY link if they can find it at a discount store for even cheaper.  The only affiliate links I use are Amazon ones because I love Amazon, they always have great deals on things, and I feel like if you don't want to purchase it directly through them that's okay but you can at least view the product without having to sign up for anything. 


For affiliate marketing I promise... to always tell you straight up where my products come from without making you sign up to see them and I will always encourage you to shop around for the best deal.




So there you have it.  These are the things that make me different from many bloggers but these are the things it seems you guys as readers love about me.  What works great for other bloggers doesn't always work great for me.  I don't have the same following as other bloggers so there's no reason to want to be more like them if I'm already doing great as it is. 



2 comments:

  1. I love that you a real and true blogging. That we all can relate to.

    http://www.amysfashionblog.com/blog-home/

    ReplyDelete

I love reading and responding to comments but in order to get my reply you must ensure you are NOT a no-reply blogger. If you are, here are some quick steps to change that!

1. Go to the home page of your Blogger account.
2. Select the drop down beside your name on the top right corner and choose Blogger Profile.
3. Select Edit Profile at the top right.
4. Select the Show My Email Address box.
5. Hit Save Profile.