Hey you! Support your local Girl Gang!
24.10.16How to pay it forward within our community.
One of the greatest things to have come out of blogging has got to be the people. Almost seven years into writing Daisybutter and I can count several fellow bloggers as bona fide friends and that’s never been a secret on here. Daisybutter is, in short, the better version of Tinder! Or something like that ;)
Today I wanted to pen a post that encouraged positivity and a real community feel amongst the blogosphere or, at least, Daisybutter Land. I might even bring back those ‘Food for Thought’ posts where we chat about our weeks and answer a handful of questions to get to know one another more! I mean, almost seven years on and one of my favorite things about blogging is still the whole feeling included by my peers, a.k.a. you.
So! How can we show our appreciation to fellow bloggers and online influencers?
’Loving’ their posts on Bloglovin’
If you’re not familiar with Bloglovin’ then I totally recommend you go and check it out, sign up and love it yourself. It’s a website where you can follow your favorite blogs and in turn the site brings up all of their newest posts in one, easy-to-use (sometimes) feed. And if you write a blog yourself, you can set-up a profile for yourself and assign your blog to it and keep track of your followers there! Moreover, you can ‘Love’ and/or ‘Save’ posts on there and I find that a real mood-booster and daily encouragement is seeing people hit the ‘Love’ and/or ‘Save’ button for my posts. I used to skip past this all the time, simply reading and moving on to the next (fast media alert!) but a simple ‘Love’ can go a long way.Retweeting Tweets promoting their posts
Twitter might possibly be the one place I spend the most time on each day. I just love it, from all of the live Tweeting of shows that goes on to the excellent choice in GIFs from the likes of Corrie, Aysh and Rebecca, to simply keeping track on everyday goings-on from your favorite bloggers. I actually read plenty of blogs through Twitter and am trying to make a conscious effort to retweet the Tweets that promote others’ posts, if that makes sense. It’s always good to share!Leave them a comment
Now, I bloody love a good blog comment. This probably stems from me being a kid of the MySpace, Bebo, Xanga and LiveJournal days, but I try to leave blog comments wherever I can, and I don’t mean a ‘good post!!1!’ one. Some bloggers keep track of their numbers for whatever reason and perhaps your extra comment (or ‘Love’ or ‘Save’ or retweet!) can boost those KPIs for them. It’s a great way to get involved in a chat and share your own opinions on things, opening up a conversation. Which leads me to…Strike up a conversation!
True, that is often easier said than done, but I credit several of my friendships via blogging to simply getting ballsy and having a chat. I am the shyest humanoid ever and I couldn’t even look sales cashiers in the eye until a few years ago but the Internet provides a lovely window of opportunity. A delayed response kinda thing, you know? I fondly remember chatting to Milly on Twitter when I hadn’t even reached 50 followers yet in the same fond manner that I remember receiving lovely comments (and an email!) from Lauren just a few months ago. I see both of these wonderful ladies as great Internet pals today. This is a tough one nowadays as 2016 is oh so saturated compared to 2008 but I never say no to a good ol’ natter!Clicking affiliate links
Hear me out on this one because I know earning from blogging can be a tricky subject.As somebody that has blogged for several years (hi I'm a blogging dinosaur) and earned a respectable sum through my blog, I’m a total advocate for earning money from blogs. Affiliate links work in that the blogger will earn a small amount of money from purchases made through a link they provide. Some links generate money whether or not you purchase and others make money solely on commission. Some cache your visit and will allow the blogger to earn up to 30 days from your visit. Regardless of this, the blogger is not ‘taking your money’ and nor will you part with any more cash than needed. Plenty of bloggers make all of their money from affiliate links; I personally would say affiliate links make up about 5-7% of my overall income and about 20% of my blog income.
How do you fly the flag for your favorite bloggers?
Don’t forget to join ‘the’ Girl Gang right here!