The other week the marvellous Mummy in a Tutu and I set up the Instagram community #Lionessmama. To celebrate imperfection, bad days, scribbled on walls and our gorgeous, snot covered children. To acknowledge how, even on the crap days we kick ass as parents, as people. How we are proud, fierce and rocking motherhood. It is about finding positivity, recognizing that things may not be ‘perfect’ and that doesn’t have to be a negative.
I have been in a blogging slump lately.
Drowning in a cold ocean of work, parenting, illness, moving home, and everything that is life in-between. Writing and the blogging community has brought me some glittering highs but also, unexpectedly, at times makes me feel desperately low.
I know that for now, I can only be a partime blogger…if I want to go pro I am going to have to put in the time and tears and quit the day job. My family and I aren’t there yet.
Midway through writing this post, at just the right moment, I read this post by Single Mum speaks. She to me is the epitome of empowerment, and awesomeness. I want to be her when I grow up…well we are the same age and she’s a couple of dress sizes smaller than me but you get the metaphor. I respect her as a mother, and a writer.
Much more eloquently that I, she voiced all my grey feelings about being a blogger. And, in reading her words I felt reassured, that it was ok to feel like this. A failure. Like I might be a bit crap. Because all of us do, whether we have just started blogging and can’t work WordPress, or if we receive 1000 emails from PRs and get paid in solid gold bullion.
I can’t give 100% all the time, can’t finish my to do list, can’t lay golden eggs.
What I don’t need to do is beat myself up over it.
So if you’re feeling pants, join me for a moment and say it is ok not to be Stepford perfect all the time. Its actually good. And sane. And normal.
I am a crap blogger because…
- I don’t have a blogging schedule, or planner. You’re not a real blogger till you have a leather bound planner that smells of wisdom.
- PRs like to boost my confidence by telling me my stats, metrics, page views etc are not that great. I bust my balls ensuring I try and write great content, I will promote posts till my fingers bleed. Surely having 10,000+ social media followers is a reasonable achievement? They can’t all be my Nan. She thinks Twitter is the neighbor’s cat.
- My posts tend to make people cry more than laugh. What’s my niche? I make people blow their nose often. Maybe Andrex will sponsor me.
- I think my website design makes people feel nauseous. Blogs are meant to be all white and chic and minimalist.
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At 29 I have no clue what a semi colon is for. My SEO and readability are always angrily red. I used ‘crap’ as the SEO title for this post. What the crap is SEO anyway?
- As much as I desperately wish I could, I do not comment or retweet on all your kick ass posts as much as I would like. That is one thing I truly am sorry for.
- I can’t keep up with the 1000 hashtags on Instagram and I cannot, even if I had Jackson Pollock’s own platinum Nikon with x-ray vision, take photos that are half as beautiful as other peoples.
- My kid hates having his picture taken. He is a crap blogger child and I am a crap blogger. Also, and I say this with a mothers love, when he puts on a pretend smile he looks like he is pooing. All of my pictures involve me trying to distract him by pointing in the distance and shouting, ‘look Pikachu!’
- Linkys are awesome, I love them and have a list on my fridge. How many do I link up with a week…maybe one? I am not a linky multitasker.
- The idea of going to a blogging event makes me sweaty and nauseous. Getting drunk with a bunch of people that all have Facebook live on their phones is a risky business.
- I am not unsociable, but I am afraid of everyone. Social wimp. Creating a one line comment to the ‘pro’ bloggers takes an hour to phrase so I don’t sound like an idiot. Then I feel like a weird stalker. Like I am fangirling it up and they will think I am a tit. I may indeed be a tit.
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I don’t know how you pronounce vlog.
- Eight months I have been blogging and I still have not set up my email subscription. To the couple hundred awesome individuals who have signed up. You will be rewarded in the afterlife. It will be done by 2017.
- I used the word ‘anal’ in an email to a brand. And, I won’t tell you the context.
I have got an email signature though. Win.
Time and determination will see me work through these challenges, then new tasks will make me feel like tearing my hair out. It’s the circle of blogging.
Bury the blog angst. You are better than that. Work hard but for three minutes every day, don’t take yourself too seriously.
Go on, share, what makes you a crap blogger?
There is at least a 64% chance you will feel better for telling everyone…
P.s I put crap as a search term on Pixabay. You will be surprised how many pictured of poos there are on there.
58 comments
Thank you for sharing this. I am very new to blogging (less than 2 months) so to hear that someone with 10000+ followers still feels low sometimes is quite reassuring. I agree with Ellen though – you made me laugh out loud – a lot! So much so my friend asked me what I was reading!
Hey lovely, welcome to the blog world…two months in I was still trying to figure out how to log into to WordPress! Thank you for such a lovely comment, that makes the crappy low times worth it, so do the blogger buddies you make, that’s the real payment of doing this, if you ever feel low honey youe welcome to tweet me…I will probably be hiding in a cupboard somewhere with a snickers too xx
I love this! I truly thought that being on maternity leave would allow me to become that awesome blogger…I underestimated that we’d have two months of constant colds, a 4 year old who actually needs entertaining and just how difficult it is to type one handed!
Haha I started blogging when I had two weeks off sick leave..I thought Yep I have the time for this…then went back to work and was like oops…blogging I for between the hours of 9-10 pm….4 year old are a pain in that they need entertaining, I sometimes think I should have got a fish instead x
My name is Mum-Work-Repeat and I confess to being a completely crap blogger! Since starting to do the Joe Wicks 90 Day SSS Plan I have managed to write 2 posts in 3 months! Work has gone crazy too and my brain just feels completely fried, so on that rare moment I get some time in the evening, what do I do? Collapse on the sofa and zone out in front of some trash TV. Note to self, get my shit together in 2017!
Yes…I so do the same…after work and once the kid is in bed I am all motivated to write and then..NETFLIX happens…I will also sent a new years resolution to sort myself out for 2017. May have to leave job and give offspring for nanny for this to happen. Oh and cancel Netflix subscription. x
Oooh I love this, it sums me up perfectly, especially #11
I adore your blog theme, I’ve not visited you before and I was taken by the images and how ‘on brand’ everything is.
Mine is a mess right now and I can’t wait to get it changed, I feel like I can’t do anything until it’s sorted even though I know that’s utter crap.
I really like the way you write and pfftt, I didn’t cry, I giggled!
X X
Is on brand a good thing? Its not slang for…amateur and blurry? Thank you for visiting, I would hand out cake if I could. Or a glass of gin. I would be popular then. I am in the middle of playing with menus and thinking I should get someone to take some pictures of my kid and I when we are not pulling constipated faces…xx
Haha! All of these and more! You are doing better than me. I don’t have an email subscription and I’ve been going, um…..*twiddles thumbs* nearly four years. Thank you for my shout-out, especially on such a great post, and I am going to continue wallowing in the illusion that you and I are the same age!
Haha my email subscription is automatic, I think…if not I don’t have one either! Curses, foiled again. We are the same age, and your ass is smaller than mine. I am only a little bit envious. Glowers. You deserve lots of shout outs! And I loved your post. I sound a bit creepy stalkery, I think its the short sentences…xx
Hahah, yes! I’m a crap blogger too then, I guess. Looks like I’m in great company. You’ve got a new fan here! #fridayfrolics
Hey lovely, thank you for commenting, I am very happy to have a fan that isn’t my grandmother! 🙂 xx
1) I don’t post every week like some people do and have never appeared on TOTS (don’t care).
2) Eternal struggle with getting widgets to appear how and where I want them.
3) Hating being asked to make comments on linkys of other people’s blog posts on latest plastic toys, so i don’t anymore.
#FridayFrolics
Widgets are evil…they have a ploy to make me shout at my computer and eat cake. Getting things to align is an impossible task. I just checked and I don’t think I have any plastic toy reviews on the blog so I am safe 🙂 x
LOVE this! I always love your posts. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
You know those awkward fangirl moments that I described in the post when I get a bit silly talking with my favourite bloggers…well I just got a bit silly when I read your comment. Thank you so much that means a lot xx
This made me laugh lool I can’t totally relate to much of what you said. For now I am just going with the flow 🙂 #TheList
This made me laugh lool I can’t totally relate to much of what you said. For now I am just going with the flow 🙂 #TheList
Jade, I love this, I LOVE how your blog is looking and I love you too! Who says what a good blogger is or isn’t anyway? I thoroughly enjoy and get the feels from every post you write, which in my eyes, makes you a fan-fucking-tastic blogger.
I’m a bad blogger because I don’t tell you and all the other writers I read and run from nearly often enough, which is why I literally just did an apology post and have decided to make a distinct effort to comment on at least three of the posts I read each day for my own personal gratification. I love reading blogs and yours is one of my absolute faves. I’m sorry for not letting you know that more often!!
#myjoyproject
I saw your awesome new hashtag the other day after I wrote this and thought my god yes this is me, I want to get back to having the time to share the love (not in a syphilisy kind of way) and comment on all the amazing posts that my blogger buddies write. I miss doing it! …I just got a bit teary reading that comment, it just shows how a few lines can really make a difference to someone’s day…especially if they are having a shit one cause there 5 year old found his Christmas elf under mums bed and I had to explain why he wasn’t with Santa (fuckit)…I think I need you to loan me your little lad as he is a good blogger child in that he is beautiful in all of his pictures!Mine looks cross and constipates (gets this from his dad)…xxx
There are so many reasons why I am a crap blogger. 1) i apparently have all the tools i need to be a brilliant blogger. Get a plan, get organised, get the right plug ins, just write to any company, PR agency you like to work with. What are they gonna do, say no or say nothing at all?! All that is brilliant advice. If I had th time and energy to do all that. I’ve got a lovely wife, 2 adorable kids, 4 awesomely cute cats, a big house and two cars to look after. Not to forget the small issues that I battle with almost daily:self esteem & self loathing issues, easily distracted, forgetful, some days I just think: what is the bloody point? So yes do tell me I’m ranked 2547 on tots ? tell my stats aren’t good enough that the stuff I do write about isn’t what you are looking for.
There you go I am a crap blogger!
Yes, I’m a crap blogger! Particularly at the moment – personal life upheaval and a temporary move have left me without the time or the motivation to keep up with anything, even writing a post. Can’t get crapper than a blog who is not actually blogging!
Thanks so much for joining #FridayFrolics. Hope to see you next time.
I only set up my email subscription service this year and I have been blogging for 6 years. I’d say you are fine with 8 months 😉
Love this post, it made me smile
Haha thank you lovely this makes me feel better, its on my 2017 New Years resolution. That and stop drinking. I suspect neither will happen!xx
I’ve learnt to own my blogging crap ness, I don’t know how much is good stats, I don’t do instagram or FB, and blunder about on Twitter like a twatter but hey who really cares, I’m blogging and sometimes I even make my fan in the East Midlands laugh so it’s all good. Thanks for sharing your reassuring list, you honesty is totes refreshing #fridayfrolics
Love this. Think you’ve nailed it. I find blogging weird coz anyone can set up a blog and say “I’m a blogger”. There’s no job interview and then you are pronounced a blogger. Not that I’m aware of anyways.
I think my main failing is my sporadic efforts. There’s no pattern to my postings. It’s as and when I cams nd as and when I please. I know this makes me a crap blogger but I simply don’t care because I gave up my “job” to become a stay at home mummy and that I am. Blogging will always come second. My son is my success and that’s why I am frailty blasé about my blogger failings ☺️?
This post is me lol. I have no schedule, no idea about SEO and my views are very low. But I love it and still carry on lol.
I LOVE this!! I really needed to read this – and it sounds as though you are basically me – even down to the child who when they smile looks like they need a really big poo! Absolutely agree with everything you say – what a brilliant post! #thelistlinky
This post made me smile – I have been blogging for two years but only more consistent this last year. Everything you wrote sounds similar to how I am a crap blogger … i don’t have time to schedule posts, its an achievement to get posts out several days a week. A diary, planner… i wouldn’t know what to put in one! I am far from organised. For some reason Brands contact me to work with me.. I frequently ask myself why.
Because you are awesome, you can be awesome and crap at the same time lol. Its an art. I was thinking all of a sudden like 9 months I have been bogging has gone so quick…I am going to get a planner for my yea blogiversary. And drink Pimms…x
I too must be a crap blogger because I don’t have a schedule. It all takes time I guess !
Hahaha… I do feel better, thankyou! I always feel so miserable when I see “83% of your sentences have 20words or more.” on the readability thingy… ugh, I’m crap. #FridayFrolics
Haha thank you lovely. Its when it says 100% of this is in passive voice consider changing it…if I put the text in SHOUTY CAPITALS does that count as not passive..?x
Haha! I love this post. Being a blogger is bloody hard work and I often feel like I’m getting no where with it and then recently it’s all paid off! Nearly 5 years of blogging and now I’m getting somewhere haha! You should be proud of what you’ve achieved!
#TheList
Ah thank you lovely, I am proud in moments and frustrated and mopey in others. I still love blogging though, it has become a total addiction. Five years wow, I bet you know how to set up an email subscription! congratulations! xx
This is such a great post. I also feel like that sometimes (and I’m just starting out) ha ha. I go through all the trouble of setting up a schedule, and then I don’t stick to it… But I still carry on trying, and learning and I daresay improving. Thanks for making me feel like I’m not the only one who gets down on myself.
I think however long you have been blogging you can get down as there literally are always things you could be doing..writing, editing, photographing, reading…managing your expectations and eating snickers makes you feel better 🙂 xx
I love this, because I’m the epitome of a crap blogger. No posting schedule, not that bothered by stats, not particularly active on social media (not even on Instagram!), doesn’t comment/share other people’s posts enough, incredibly socially awkward both in real life and on the web. Oh, and I don’t know how to pronounce vlog either. 🙂 If it’s any consolation, I think your blog is fabulous.
And your one of my favourite bloggers even though you are crap…maybe crap is the new black. It is a lot of a consolation, thank you my lovely xx
And your one of my favourite bloggers even though you are crap…maybe crap is the new black. It is a lot of a consolation, thank you my lovely xx
Haha great fun to read and relate to. I’m also a social and wimp and have never been brave enough to attend d a blogging conference! I also realised my blog was never going to be stellar when baby no. 2 came along and what little time and organisation I had gradually escaped out the window. I’m definitely a crap blogger… But I do still enjoy it so am not ready to give it up either! #fridayfrolics
Oh crikey I can barely find the time to blog with one child…two…then I would have to stop blogging or perhaps pick a favourite child…I think as soon as you admit you are a crap blogger you relax and think yup this is for me…I felt so much better. Haha maybe one day we will brave a social bog event and hide under a table together…x
As well as all of this I guess for me it will be that my blog will always be about my 5th priority! I just can’t give it the time that other people can, and I don’t want it to become a chore so I am taking it easy and only working on it if and when I have the time and energy! Although to be fair I wouldn’t call you crap, I think you’re brilliant! #TheListLinky
Number 8! My kids fake smile is awful. I’m also so bad at remembering to take photos. I do something with the kids and afterwards think oops, didn’t take a single picture. That makes me a really bad blogger! I stick with the mantra now, that it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want. I no longer feel guilty for taking time off, or not plastering every moment of my life over social media! Thanks for linking up to #FridayFrolics
I like that someone else’s kid is not camera friendly, by best friends two year old smiles and looks gorgeous for her Instagram shots, my son scowls and says I can take a picture if I will give him a KitKat…Haha if your a bad blogger my love then I am happy to be one too!xx
I don’t see it as c**p, I see it as being selective about the things you can do and things you can’t. I’ve been going 4 years, I blog daily and my views are still shocking (unless I run competitions, and even then aren’t mega huge). But I don’t care, I know I do a good job, I enjoy what I do, and my social media stats are going in the right direction.
Oh, and it looks like I might not be as bad as I thought with my newsletter start up – I’ve only got about 20 subscribers to my new dance blog, and I’ve got a couple of months before I reach 8 months in needing to actually start a newsletter! I find it hard enough to remember to pause my main blog one after sending/rewriting the next one. Several times I’ve realised I’ve sent out the same newsletter twice a week. Oops #thelistlinky
Four years is amazing, I hope I can keep it up, finding that balance to hat you can do is important as otherwise you burn out, or forget to etc or something…Haha I definitely suck at newsletters, sending out the same newsletter twice is fine, your being courteous for people that might have not seen the email!x
I love your blog! My SEO thing is always red. I made a vlog and couldn’t say peonies and I have a love/hate relationship wth social media. At times I hate blogging, really hate it. It’s normally when I become distracted from the actual task of blogging by all the other rubbish that goes with it. I am really rubbish at promoting myself *cringe* #FridayFrolics
Hey lovely! If your SEO is in the red I am reassured as your writing is amazing! My infrequent blogs are only viewable as my five year old is adorable…if I tried to do one solo the world would end. There would be crying in the streets. Hehe that’s what business cards are for at events, just throw them like Frisbee’s at people and run!xx
Great post and sometimes i feel like that too! I’ve been blogging for just over a year and only now feel like I have a good routine and linky list. thanks for sharing and making me smile! #TheListLinky
That year flies by, I have blinked and gone from blogging a couple of weeks to months…where did that go?!I am so reassured by lots of other people saying there a bit disorganised too!x
YES!! I love this. Although you’re achieving WAY more than me being all self hosted and even having a notion of SEO and all that shiz. I am the crappest blogger and doing a post once a week is a stretch at the moment. Fuuuuck! But whatever, I always started this blog for me so who cares? It’s never going to win awards but it’s a nice thing for me to do.
ALSO you made me laugh a lot with this post so…yes you make people cry but also laugh. You’re an all-rounder! Don’t change love, because you and your blog are bloody wonderful.
Hello beautiful! Self hosted almost gave me an aneurysm, and I still haven’t got the design the way I want it but the tortoise wins the race right? I would vote for you in any award, actually I have so we will just post sporadically and bumble along together!xx
Lol my thoughts exactly…
And this business of affiliates programs and links and SEO are so confusing. So I wonder why I do it? And the answer is so that I can stay home with my child. Sometimes I just wish someone would knock on my door and offer a bag of cash for just being a good mom. Wait is there an affiliate program for that? If there’s one please let me know I’ll definitely sign in for that!
Haha *googles affiliates with bags of cash on offer* Its amazing that you get to stay at home with your little one nd you must be pretty successful if you are able to do that, I have dreams of it one day! Thank you for commenting lovely xx
My readability is always in the red, too. *eye roll* Yet, my professors give me As on my papers, so I just ignore that red and am proud of it.
Your posts are easy to tea, by the way! Don’t let that red get you down! ?
Red is the new black…or green lets go with that! I am a long sentence waffler, I have decided its ok because that’s my style! x
I am particularly bad at attempting to have a full time job, moonlighting as a mum on the odd occasion and then being a blogger! After 3 months back at work I’m on my second post in all of that time! Oh balls!