Dear Fellow Bloggers...
Hi Everyone,
I felt compelled to write this for a while as I have noticed a lot of shaming going on in the blogger community, especially within the "Latina Blogger Community". I have been blogging on and off since 2012 as most of you that follow me know. You guys have seen me get married, go through pregnancies, births and now motherhood. I have grown from RavenFashion to LiiRaven and was at a great pace of growth, and then good old Instagram changed the way my lovely followers could see my feed. I saw my steady growth fizzle out and have been working hard to try to find ways to continue to share great content with my followers/fans and grow. I work my butt off to give you guys great content , work a full time job as a Patient Advocate for Cancer patients and be the best mommy/wife I can be.
With that said, it makes me laugh that there are some bloggers out there that want to shame other bloggers because of strategies they use to grow and state they don't work hard. I didn't realize you wakeup with me everyday to see how hard I work. As most of you know, you have seen that I have participated in loop giveaways. If you don't know what they are, let me explain. A loop giveaway is a giveaway in which bloggers/shops come together with THEIR own hard earned money to purchase a fun prize for anyone that participates. Now here is the thing, for a long time I didn't participate when I was contacted by other bloggers because I didn't know how I felt about it. Recently though I’ve tried it and guess what it not only has rewarded my followers, but it has allowed me to tap into other countries around the world that never even saw my blog before. I’ve also receive numerous messages from new followers saying they found my blog via a loop, love the content, and are inspired! That feedback means the world to me and it’s coming from a new audience I’ve gain because of my participation in loop giveaways. What will always be my number one goal is to inspire all of you who are just like me.
You might be asking why I am writing about this and what does this have to do with me? Let me explain. Over the past few months I have noticed my fellow bloggers writing posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about how annoyed they are about other bloggers participating in these giveaways and outright shaming others for what they do with their own money. What’s even more laughable is that these same bloggers have friends who do the same and they also have participated in these loops. If that’s not being a hypocrite I don't know what is. What does it do for you as a human being to shame someone on how they grow their business and who are you to say how hard I or any other person works. Is it because they didn't follow the same formula you did to grow or is it that you are fearful that those numbers will allow them to work with the same brands you work with? My point is how does what others do on their own dedicated platforms affect your day to day life? These are the same females that preach that we need to stick together and preach women empowerment to their followers, but are turning around and shaming others because they are not following the same path to success. I don’t know about you guys, but I never been one to follow someone’s path, but my own.
I can give two shits about what another blogger thinks of me, maybe that’s why I talk to few or trust few because they all talk shit about each other anyway. I am an observer and I can spill some tea on many, but at the end of the day I don’t care and it won’t do anything for me. What’s even more laughable is that huge bloggers that I love and follow are doing loops with each other because guess what their numbers are big and they don't have to do it with 20 other smaller accounts. Do you think they are doing it just to give a prize away, no they are doing it for growth and revenue. The reality is brands care about numbers and that our fan engagement is authentic. That’s the goal so what’s the problem? If followers don't like the content and don’t want stay they have every right to unfollow and disengage. My question to you the blogger who is so hurt by this is, what was your point? How does it affect you? Is it hurting you? Is it going to hurt how you live? I can answer that for you, no it will not!
My perspective is this, you are fearful that these people that are growing are taking your opportunities away, but if you truly cared about your loyal followers and believed in your brand you would not be so concerned with what the next person is doing. I am writing this to you my fellow bloggers. If you don't like what another blogger is doing and it annoys you so much than simply click that lovely unfollow button. Maybe you should to take a look at yourself and reevaluate your life, because I can assure you I am happy and working hard everyday to make sure I document and create the best possible content for my followers. There are plenty of more pressing matters happening in our world today than loops giveaways that deserve our attention and rants. I’ll leave you with this quote “when someone judges you, it’s not about you it’s about them and their own insecurities, limitations and needs”.
Peace & Love
Lissette