photo by Laughing Squid | via PhotoRee |
I didn’t go to CyberMummy11, purely because when all the bookings were being made I just didn’t feel I could leave my youngest that long yet (coming from North Yorkshire it would have been a very full weekend). That’s not to say I didn’t WANT to go and I enjoyed it by proxy via the wonder that is Twitter Hashtag! I found myself scribbling away snippets about vlogs, niches and the like and was mentally putting it all into play on here and then I thought…”STOP!”. I don’t need to do it all tomorrow, I don’t need to do it all, at all!
Initially I decided to start blogging to house guest-posts and the like for freelance writing projects. Yeah ok. My blogging is completely separate to my work and I love it this way! Yes Curly & Candid earns me bits and pieces and I am immensely proud of the fact that I have a regular readership and yes, have done well in ratings so far – but C&C is more than a tool. It’s mine,and as much as I like seeing the extra readers / points and badges – I have realised that I have to stick true to what I want for C&C.
Hearing a lot of great things about vlogging for a second I thought – “Oh I must try this then and…” but stopped. WHY must I try it – I bloody hate being on video. I’m the queen of “Urrmm” and it just doesn’t ring my bell. So why on earth would I do it? I can’t imagine my reaching out to “readers” if I can barely look at the camera.
It’s very easy to get carried away with what we “should” be doing and I’ll hold my hand up and admit that sometimes I feel myself moving with the tide rather than standing my ground and enjoying the view! I’m not CM-bashing, far from it, I will be there next year with bells on. This is just me reminding myself that Curly&Candid is what I make it. It’s not a factory bought and published website, it’s individual and it’s ok for me to not do what others are doing or to try something completely different. Nothing I do on C&C is wrong, because it’s mine. I must try not to forget that!
Totally agree. I have the same thoughts as you on vlogging and I was thinking the same as you as I listening in at the sessions. You do what you need to for you.
I actually have nothing against vlogging, I’m in awe for anyone who has the presence and confidence to vlog. It’s just not for me. The post isn’t just about vlogging but about myself and my attitude towards my own blog.
Hear, hear! ALWAYS do what YOU want! x
Thank you Paul!
Quite right – not sure I could vlog with a gun t my head! I like to do things that appeal to me and that so does not!!
For me it’s about remembering that I don’t need to do what others do, it’s my blog and if something doesn’t appeal, I don’t “need” to do it.
Had the ssame thoughts. 1. Maybe I should vlog. 2. No, I hate myself on camera. I like to write. Well said.
It’s easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm isn’t it!
It’s funny isn’t it? I was following the hashtags and felt quite lonely, until I realised that I do this for me. I don’t need to feel the pressure of “having” to do something. I suppose that’s why I’m not getting anywhere fast, but hey ho…I’m not that ambitious!!
If you do it for you, you don’t need to worry about being ambitious or “getting there”. It sounds like you enjoy just blogging, which lets face it, is more than half the battle 🙂
Prolly one of the best points to take away from Cybermummy, honestly. For me, I had to keep reminding myself (whilst chatting with sponsors) that my blog is MINE and I don’t really want to turn it into an infomercial (no offended intended to the bloggers who do product reviews all the time – that’s their gig, and obviously, they ate good at it!!! If I do an occasional review, peachy…)
With so many vendors offering products, it was a reminder that for them, it’s all about marketing and reaching an audience Brit me, I just want to make my “audience” laugh. Or sigh. Or think.
Stay true to you.
Don’t get me wrong, I do sponsored posts, I advertise, review and what not but for me the point is – what I do, I do because I want to, not because I feel I should. It’s so easy to see what everyone is doing and feel you have to do it too. The silly thing is, no-one else pressures you to do everything, it’s ourselves that do that.
Well said. I didn’t go because I am a) pregnant B) would have cost near on £500 to attend and c) I kinda like what I’m doing.
Yeah I could hone my technical skills, and yes I would have loved to met all the other bloggers but I couldn’t justify the expense nor the fact that I would have to be teetotal!
I’m enjoying reading the posts, but I’m still not sure what I would personally have got out of it.
How did I not realise you were pregnant? *Removes head from urm, a dark place*.
Expensive isn’t it? I will go next year but will need a sponsor if I do as I can’t justify that expense for one weekend. I’d love to meet everyone in person, or those I’d get time to, and some of the workshops sounded fantastic!
I was once told, by a lovely twitter friend, when a friend said that my posts were making him almost uncomfortable as he thought they were sharing too much of what was in my head, and I lost the motivation to write anything, that it is Your Blog Your Rules. I truly believe it. Do whatever makes you happy and in your heart you know what that is.
Lovely comment, and I’m very glad you found your motivation again!
Well said.. I always feel there is a bit of pressure to do the latest thing, which at the moment is vlogging.. (and i only been blogging for 4 months) Which i have no intention of doing… If we all followed each other and the latest trends than the blogging world would be a very boring place, diversity is what makes it a good thing to do and interesting place to visit….
i didn’t go. I thought I was the only one! I agree with you completely. xx
Thanks so much for posting this! I really needed the reminder today 🙂 I wanted to go to CM this weekend too…in fact, I had a bit of a blogging-tantrum this weekend. (Check out Tangerine Turtle to see what how I handled it…) Thanks again!
Great post, well said.
I recently read a great book called “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuck (I highly recommend it) all about creating your own personal brand on the Internet, and one of the first things he says is choose the medium that suits you. If you like writing, have a blog, if you like talking have a podcast and if you like being on video then do vlogging.
If writing is your format, you shouldn’t feel pressured to change that. For me, video is a format that suits me, so I use it 🙂 but I completely agree, the point of having your own blog is to have your own rules 🙂
You go girl, totally agree with you and I don’t think anybody would tell you that you have to use a certain medium on your blog. There is certainly no right or wrong way, only your way. That’s my opinion anyway xx
Can’t imagine for one minute why any sane person would film themselves wearing pink spotty knickers and a slendertone belt ……
MWAH !
Your blog is just that! Would have been lovely to meet you though x
I did go to Cybermummy and one of the big lessons for me was the enormous range of reasons why mums blog. Some wanted to get a novel published, others wanted to make friends, promote a cause or charity, get freebies from big brands or even get through a hard time in their lives (e.g. like post natal depression). It’s easy to get started with one aim but then get sucked into something else, such as the next big thing (video blogging) or what everyone else is doing (working with brands, apparently?)
I think you need to stay clear about why you’re blogging and then make sure that’s what you do. If it’s for fun, make sure it really is fun and not just some virtual ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ thing. If you want to make a living from it, don’t get sucked in by all the freebies from PR companies when you need to be working on making real money.
PS I’ve made a few videos and yes, they do make me cringe. I think vlogging is a commitment – it’s a whole new set of skills to learn (editing as well as speaking to camera) and you really have to want to do it. I’m going to keep going with video because my aim is to make a full-time income online and I’m told video is a great way to get traffic to your site. But if I was blogging for fun I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t bother because it’s too much work.
PPS Actually, ‘talking head’ videos can be a lot of work, but I think it’s much easier (and less cringeworthy) to make videos using your photos (Animoto) or screen capture (I’ve used Screencast-o-matic which is good and also free).
It’s OK. I’m going to leave you alone now!