Monday, July 25, 2016

My Blogging Story

I think there are a lot of preconceived notions when it comes to blogging and bloggers so I thought I would give you a little insight to my blogging story in case you haven't heard it before.


I started my blog back in December of 2006 (holy crap, we are coming up on 10 YEARS of blogging... how did that happen?!). I originally started blogging because I had recently moved from Michigan to Southern California and I thought it would be easier to have my friends and family back home read about my adventures in one spot rather than having to email everyone individually (so I guess you can say my blog beginnings were really out of a desire to be lazy).

If you ever go back and look at the archives, you can tell I had no idea what I was doing (shoot, you may even still feel that way). Some posts were all of like 25 words (telling people I was busy and would get back to blogging soon), while others were just articles that I thought were interesting and wanted to share.

Obviously once I got into running a few years back (the Disneyland Half Marathon coming up in a few weeks will mark my FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY of half marathon races - man, how time flies!) my blog started to transition into being more about running/ training/ racing since that was what was going on in my life.


Now, some folks out there may think that I make money at this whole blogging thing... HA, I WISH! Sure, there are a few campaigns I may work on every so often that will compensate me $25 or $50 for my time, but for the most part - this is a very non-paid gig.

The majority of the products I review or post about are ones I either buy myself or actually contacted the brand about (Dear Brand, I think you are pretty awesome. I love your products and would be super stoked to try out your newest _______. I have a blog and am active on social media. If you'd like to team up, I would love to review the item with my followers and hopefully get you some new orders and lifelong customers. XOXO, Carlee). Many of my emails go unanswered (whomp whomp) - but that doesn't stop me from sending them... What's the worst someone could say?!

I know there are some bloggers out there that are making money on their posts (or on advertising that they have on their blog), but I am not one of those. I literally am doing it just because I enjoy it. Oh yeah, and also because my Fibro Fog causes me to have TERRIBLE memory, so if I don't write it down or record it somehow I will completely forget about it within a couple weeks. Because it is something I enjoy, I worry that if it turned into a legit job I might not love it as much (and would feel more pressure to put out content that I might not be completely happy with).


PS I am in no way saying that making money from your blog is wrong or selling out (shoot, if I could do it, I probably would), it just isn't where I'm at. I would love to find someone to pay me to run, post pictures and blog about my life (actually, truth be told, I would much rather that person come find ME, because going out on my own to find that is not only scary and intimidating, it's filled with a lot of rejection and I am not super stoked on that)... but I know that isn't a reality for 99.9% of us out here in the 'real world'.

And even though I don't get paid for blogging, it takes up a large chunk of time. I'd say most posts take me at least an hour to write (then I go back and reread them like 19 times and have to add pictures and images as to not overwhelm readers with all my babbling) - and some of my more in-depth recaps could take upwards of four or five hours.

Currently, this is an outlet for me - to share my feelings, record my training, write about my daily going's-on's, etc. #RealTalk - If you know someone who would like to pay me to do that, PLEASE feel free to pass along my contact info, but otherwise I will continue chugging along, posting about things that interest me and the adventures of the McDots.

Did you think I got paid to blog?

9 comments:

Sally @ Sweat Out the Small Stuff said...

I am pretty much the same type blogger. I don't get paid. It's something I love to do. And it's hard because I am a freelancer so when I am writing a post I feel like it's an hour I could be spending working on stuff that I actually do get paid for. Thanks for sharing your story.

Unknown said...

I think that's why people will continue to read blogs like ours, we do it because we genuinely want to tell our story. I don't get paid to blog, and when I actually get an email from a brand I get really excited!

Anonymous said...

Have you ever thought about blogging for sites like PopSugar or Women's Running magazine? I think you'd be a shoo-in!

Unknown said...

I definitely assumed you got paid - but like you, I blog because I love it. When I get paid, GREAT, it's a bonus, but that's not why I do it. And it's not like every post is paid - just a few each month and it's not always consistent. If someone DID want to pay me to blog full time, heck yeah I'd do it! How great would that be?! I haven't been blogging a decade, but 6 years or so. YIKES! Time flies.

Unknown said...

Well THIS BRAND. Is super happy she returned your email 😘

Unknown said...

I definitely do not get paid for blogging either. It's amazing how much time I spend on something that I do for free. But like you, it's my outlet and I love it. And I do want to keep it that way. Not something I have to do for money.

Elizabeth said...

I'm really glad you posted this because it's been something I have been meaning to ask you about. When I discovered your blog, I realized that it went back a long time. Mine goes back to 2007, and I thought THAT was a long time. Whoa. And then I realized that you were blogging a lot. Like almost every day! And I thought it was so cool that you have a living history of your life. Do you like going back to old posts, or do you cringe at your former self? I had a MySpace blog from 2005-2007 that I wrote in about as much as you do and it was some running, but mostly other stuff. I downloaded the archive and I cringe at some of the stuff I wrote. LOL. Anyway, it was cool for me to go back and look at your older posts and see how you've changed over the years. Blogging for the sake of loving it is awesome. I don't make any money on my blog either! Keep it up, I'm enjoying following you.

Nancy O said...

I DID assume that you get paid to blog--it's such a commitment that to do it for long unpaid is a huge deal. Good for you--I love to read your blog and I follow you on a number of different social channels. I love your positive attitude and your transparency!

San said...

You're so active on social media that it wouldn't have surprised me if you got paid for blogging/posting running pictures... but I am kinda glad (for me, not for you) that it's not the case and that you're just blogging for fun like the rest of us ;)