Making Friends with Your Competition | Word to the Newbies | Week 6
Hey Friends! You’re joining us for week 6 of Word to the Newbies – a guest series full of best advice, from bloggers, to bloggers. Today’s guest is Faith from Life of Faith, and her word to the newbies is about competition and online friendships.
Hey there! I am excited to be sharing with you what I wish I knew when I first started blogging. I began The Life of Faith as more of a personal journal until I realized how much I enjoyed writing and sharing what was on my heart! I absolutely loved knowing that what I was writing actually meant something to someone else.
When I started to monetize my blog, my perspective began to change and I saw blogging as more of a job rather than something I did simply because I enjoyed it! As that mindset took over, I began to view other bloggers as competition.
These are just a few of the ways this affected me:
- I rarely visited or commented on other blogs
- I never shared other blogger’s posts (even if I liked them!)
- I did no networking whatsoever
- I didn’t make friends with fellow bloggers who reached out to me
- I felt jealous if I saw another blogger getting more “likes” or getting more subscribers than me
I soon realized that this mindset was not only harming my blog, but it was harmful to me as well! I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing and I was missing out on so many opportunities!
No one understands you like another blogger.
We are a special brand of humans who get enjoyment from countless hours of writing, designing, editing and staring glassy-eyed at a computer screen. When you cut yourself off from that connection, you are not only missing out on great support but also amazing friendships! After becoming a member of an online blogging community, I met some amazing Christian bloggers (Christine being one of them!) who changed my life. Not only did we help each other out with sharing posts and troubleshooting site issues, but we were also there for each other emotionally and spiritually to offer advice and lift each other up in prayer. After being part of that group, I realized that I needed to change my blogging perspective and align it with Philippians 2:3-4,
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
For me, that meant reaching out to other bloggers, not as a competitor but as a friend! I started “liking” other blogger’s posts, sharing them, commenting on them, and linking up with them at link parties. I stopped looking at the numbers and started to blog not for my own success, but rather to be a blessing to others! The reward from viewing my fellow bloggers as friends rather than competitors has been so rewarding! Not only has my blog grown, but I have made amazing friendships with moms who are in the same stage of life as I am and share many of the same values. In fact, I’ve even had the chance to meet up with some local bloggers over the past couple of years and it has been so fun being able to share my life with these amazing women!
If you are starting out, my number one word of advice to you would be to make friends, get to know your fellow bloggers, and network, network, network! Even if your blog never ends up being the next big thing, at the very least you will have made some great connections and hopefully even life-long friends!
I would love to be your friend and encourage you as you begin this blogging journey!
About the Author
Faith is a daughter of God, wife, and mama to a sweet little girl. She is a part-time nanny of three, employee at AllieRuth Design, a personal Etsy shop owner, and author at Life of Faith. When she has a spare moment, she loves healthy cooking, crafting of any sort, organic gardening, camping with her family, and relaxing with a good cup of cream and coffee!