Back in 2012 I started a project on Craftbotic called 'Blog Angels', where people signed up to be secretly paired up with another blogger and become their guardian angel for a month, helping them out and spreading the blogging love. Promoting, matching, keeping up with it all became a bit too much, especially as the participants sometimes numbered 200 people. That's a lot of emails folks. It also meant I couldn't do as much of what I liked doing myself, which is using small gestures to spread the love in the blogosphere.
Now in 2015 in steps Jemma from www.dorkface.co.uk to start a fantastic new group of women bloggers who can join up to be part of her #girlgang. If you search this hashtag on Twitter, you will see the explosion of enthusiasm for this project, which is based around creating a positive blogging community and celebrating yourself as a woman.
All you have to do to be part of it is add her super-awesome, self-designed button to your site and follow the simple guidelines of generally being a decent person and you are in. It doesn't matter if your blog is gigantic or teeny tiny in this community - the badge and being part of the #girlgang is a symbol that you are a bit of a babe in blogland.
To that end, I thought I would share some easy ways you can make someone's day in blog world....without actually that much effort.
1. ENGAGE WITH THE BLOG RATHER THAN READING AND RUNNING.
Write a comment if you have time, and something a little more thoughtful than 'love it' is always nice. If you don't have time, but you liked the post, tweet about it, or share it on Facebook. Find them on Twitter or Instagram or whichever social media platform you prefer and follow them. If you genuinely like what they are doing, then this should be a natural way of engaging a bit better.
2. OFFER HELP WHEN IT IS NEEDED
So they haven't posted in ages, or have written their 25th tweet of the day staring catastrophe after catastrophe in the face. (I am slightly talking about me here, having spent the last two days twitter worrying - tworrying?- about my poorly daughter.) See if there is anything you can do, even if you can't personally identify with them. We are all women, and what the older ones are going through now, could well be your future; and what the younger ones are going through now, the older ones have probably bought and worn the T-shirt. Tweet a link to an uplifting blog post, picture or video - help them to find a reason to smile again. Or offer to write a post for them, without worrying about the effect on your readership figures.
3. BE PROUD OF YOUR BLOG AND BRAND.
You don't always have to be perfect, or pretend to be. Like this post won't have a super wonderful picture or graphic as I don't have time, for the perfectly legitimate reason that my daughter currently needs me, and that I am typing this up furiously as we speak, in the hope that I might hit the publish button this week, or even before she wakes up.
Offer to collaborate with other people, who want to. Ask to collaborate with amazing bloggers who you think are 'out of your league'; be audacious and you might just get that yes you were looking for. If you want to grow you blog and are a bit addicted to analytics, wear it proudly, but if you are really also writing just because it is your passion or an outlet (as I am at the moment), don't feel like your reasons for blogging aren't valid.
4. HELP TO STAMP OUT NEGATIVITY
Just avoid it completely. If there is always someone on your Twitter feed having a good old bitch about other bloggers, or making passive aggressive comments on people's Instagram (who even knew that was a thing?), either confront it politely or send a message with your feet, or 'unfollow' button. I would personally always challenge a view I didn't agree with, without being derogatory obviously. Sometimes people don't realise what they have written, or that they are being a bit of a tool until someone gently and privately points it out.
5. I DON'T HAVE A NUMBER 5!
But things look better with odd numbers, don't they?!?
So there you have it. I am part of a #girlgang, a brilliant subversion of a term that I used to despise at school for its exclusiveness. So thank you Jemma, for just being an absolute BABE and letting me, and anyone who reads this post join in for the ride. I salute you!
No comments
Post a Comment