Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Are you a friend or a follower?


I don't think of my blog readers as 'followers' I see them as friends , and I hope that when they click that little box saying 'follow' they see it as making a friend. Because when ever I see a new follower I dont think - Yay! Another one for the stats , I think - Yay! Somebody wants to be my friend.

I wanted to write this post as I often read or get told ' I dont have many followers' - This is not a bad thing! I started out over a year ago and for the first 6 month's I didn't have any followers and I didn't get any comments on any of my posts. This was because I never put my blog 'out there' I didn't put it in the eyes of anybody else.

And then somehow I discovered other Mummy Bloggers (and even daddy bloggers!) , I'm still racking my brains to this day about how I found these wonderful people and these people that blog about exactly the same thing I did!!
Joining British Mummy Bloggers extended my network even more , I made followers friends by visiting there blogs , getting to know the blogger (often by reading a 'about me' section) , finding out what kind of things they wrote about and then either following/subscribing to there blog.

These blogging relationships took time to grow , as did my blog . It's only since the beginning of this year that my blog has started to blossom.

You see other bloggers/blogs getting these wonderful items to review and you wonder when/if your get this chance - You will , but for now - concentrate on your blog and these friendships that you making.

And please dont worry if you only have 10 or even 0 followers/friends .. this will grow and develop into so much more.


My tips into getting out there & getting noticed!

British Mummy Bloggers - BMB is the ultimate place to meet other bloggers. There are groups which you can get involved in as well as forums , there is also a section where you can add your own blog posts.


- Your see that on most blogs there are little 'follow me on twitter' buttons - follow them and say hi! Your gradually gain followers on here or as like I see them - friends!
Feel free to twit me - , I would be happy to point you in the direction of some more wonderful twitters/bloggers!


- Did you know you can make a fan page for your blog? Or what about creating your own facebook for your blog? Because my blog is a secret from my friends & family , I had to make a new facebook profile so that I could have another way to keep in contact and share my blog with my blogging friends - and do you know what , I actually prefer my blogging facebook profile to my personal profile!!

There's also a application called which allows you to sync your blog with facebook , letting your facebook readers know whenever you've published a new post!


Fuel My Blog - Another community like BMB but this just isn't for Parenting bloggers , this is for bloggers of all kinds! Got a hobby/interest? See if someone likes to blog about it. For example , I adore CSI and am currently following one or two csi blogs as I just cant enough csi gossip! ;)

Once your a member of fuel my blog , you can gain access to new readers, fresh conversation, fun, help, advice and the chance to test products (great if your looking for stuff to review) and win prizes.


CyberMummy 2010 - Cybermummy is a UK conference bringin together all Mummy & Daddy bloggers under one roof. Great if you've either just started your blog , want to take it to the next level, just want to improve the quality of your blog and many other things!
I'm hoping to be there if I can find a sponsor to pay my wine costs ;)


The SITS - Which stands for The Secret Is In The Sauce , If you love getting receiving and giving comments then this is the place for you , I found many British and especially wonderful American blogs (Mommy Blogging is HUGE in the US) this way , one of those blogs being the amazing S Club 4 .


Guest Posts - I'm yet to do this myself but swapping blog space with someone else for the day may bring you a whole new group of readers! If you would like to guest post on my blog - please feel free!!

There's bloggers who host weekly or monthly workshops , these are a great way to gain new friends/followers and also great fun to take part in!

The Writing Workshop - Josie over at Sleep Is For The Weak hosts a weekly writing workshop , On the Monday she provides a few writing prompts where you can then go off and write a post of your own using this prompt - always great if your struggling with a post for that day/week.


Secret Post Club - Heather over at Notes From Lapland also hosts The Secret Post Club - On the 1st of each month Heather sends out a blogger and there address and then you have to send them something . It's always exciting to receive something in the post!


The Technophobes Training Club - Want to learn how to add badges to your blog , add pictures, links, learn about your stats, get buttons that you can click on to go places, go vlogging and even how to become self hosted? - Then The Technophobes Training Club over at Muddling Along Mummy is the place you need to be!