A couple of weeks ago, I was looking to sign up to be a host on a blog tour. In the sign up process, they asked me the following questions:
· How many blog followers do you have?
· How many views does your blog get per day?
· How many Twitter Followers do I have?
· How many Facebook Friends do I have?
I felt kind of defeated because I didn’t want the worthiness of my blog to be based on the amount of people who actually saw it every day. I mean I put a lot of work into this thing. Doesn’t that count.
Well, unfortunately, for some, it doesn’t. For some, a successful blog is a blog with a 10,000 hits per day and 10,000 new followers every month.
I figured I didn’t have enough of any of them to be included on the blog tour or be a marketing benefit for any new book release. So, I shut down the questionnaire and went to check out what was happening on Twitter.
I am not in the habit of comparing myself to others. I like to think of myself as an individual, but not in a cooler then others kind of way. But, when asked to give my numbers my insecurities got the best of me, no way would I measure up.
Now, before you fill up the comments with encouragement and motivation, no worries I get it now. My thought process was ridiculous and way off.
There are millions of blogs on the web (not sure if that’s accurate, but I am trying to make a point here). In terms of views and followers, my blog has started slow, but my followers increase every week. My post schedule is consistent and I have a few weekly features people seem to like.
My twitter following is good and was built with persistence. I reluctantly created a Facebook profile, which I now love (FB Group are the best) and a Pinterest account. I don’t understand the purpose for that one, but am having a blast utilizing it for my own entertainment. BTW, if you want to comment on something, feel free to comment on the point of Pinterest.
My twitter following is good and was built with persistence. I reluctantly created a Facebook profile, which I now love (FB Group are the best) and a Pinterest account. I don’t understand the purpose for that one, but am having a blast utilizing it for my own entertainment. BTW, if you want to comment on something, feel free to comment on the point of Pinterest.
The time and work I put into my online profile is worth the effort and I am proud of it.
But, most importantly, I ‘ve met some great people since starting my blog. Real people (not little computer friends as my boss calls them) who read my posts religiously. Or at least skim my post religiously. They read my rants, raves and reviews and agree and/or disagree, but, always with an encouraging tone. At least that’s how I read it.
No matter the numbers, I am a successful blogger.
So, I decided not worry about keeping track of how I’m doing compare to others. I’ll continue on in my blog journey with my blog friends and the rest will take care of itself.
I went back and completed the blog tour host questionnaire and my numbers were more than adequate. I liked to give credit to my quality content and not because they didn’t have enough people signed up in the first place.
How do you define a successful blog? How do you measure up?
Blog: sydneyaaliyah.wordpress.com
Twitter: @sydliyah
Facebook: Sydney Aaliyah
Pinterest: Sydney Aaliyah
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Happiness, Passion, Love & Faith
But, most importantly, I ‘ve met some great people since starting my blog. Real people (not little computer friends as my boss calls them) who read my posts religiously. Or at least skim my post religiously. They read my rants, raves and reviews and agree and/or disagree, but, always with an encouraging tone. At least that’s how I read it.
No matter the numbers, I am a successful blogger.
So, I decided not worry about keeping track of how I’m doing compare to others. I’ll continue on in my blog journey with my blog friends and the rest will take care of itself.
I went back and completed the blog tour host questionnaire and my numbers were more than adequate. I liked to give credit to my quality content and not because they didn’t have enough people signed up in the first place.
How do you define a successful blog? How do you measure up?
Blog: sydneyaaliyah.wordpress.com
Twitter: @sydliyah
Facebook: Sydney Aaliyah
Pinterest: Sydney Aaliyah
Happiness, Passion, Love & Faith
When I see the mind boggling number of followers few bloggers have, I am kind of stunned. I try to avoid getting into the numbers game as I think it will just unnecessarily stress me out.
ReplyDeleteMy blog is successful even if just only person comments and makes a connection.
ReplyDeleteit's not in the numbers. Even with the following I have, it's the friends that I've made that matter more. Helping others makes me feel like a success.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the numbers that count. It's that you're having fun doing it that matters. I mean, seriously, it's not hard to get the numbers up, but high follower numbers don't mean much if people aren't actually reading your posts. What counts are the friends you make because of social networking. I couldn't imagine life with out them. :)
ReplyDeleteSome people are so hung up on numbers. Who cares if you get 5000 hits a day on your blog if only 5 people comment? Interaction is more important.
ReplyDeleteThe interaction with other writers makes us all a success, the way we learn from each other and help each other.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the comments. It appears we all agree, its the interaction with other writers that determines the success of our blog.
ReplyDeleteRachna - your right and who needs the stress.
Em-Musing - I love celebrating the small victories, like my first view, my first comment, my first disagreement (that was fun over a movie), but most of all, just happy to be interacting.
Stina - I do have a blast doing it.
L. Diane - Great point.
M Pax - I have learned so much over the 10 months of blogging, its amazing. And, still learning every day.
And, thank you Misha. I enjoyed writing this post. Got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Connecting with others is a far more meaningful measure of success.
ReplyDeleteI focus on content and let the numbers take care of themselves. I've noticed I get a lot more daily hits than number of followers can account for. I think it's because I have a history blog and a lot of people find it through Google searches or a twitter hashtag, read one article, and leave. That's fine.
ReplyDeleteI've been through the same thing, wondering whether the numbers were good enough. I was included in a blog tour because one of the writers is a follower of mine (and I of her blog) and she put in a good word with her publisher. My blog is less than a year old and it's growing fairly steadily, but not nearly as quickly as some. I try not to let the numbers bother me, just do the best I know how and hope for the best. :)
ReplyDelete