On Blogging

photo via Tumblr.

I've been thinking about this for a little while now. Mikal made a comment once that was something like "Why are you paying to be in giveaways? Those people probably won't even read your blog, they just want the entries." I was instantly upset that he made that comment but it made me think. I was so consumed with NUMBERS, how many followers do I have? How many page views did I get today? Who doesn't love getting new readers?

Today I was going to post a call for sponsors since the end of the month is so close but I started thinking about the comment Mikal made. I have close to 800 people who follow my blog on Bloglovin' and nearly 400 on GFC but how many of them actually care about my content? How many of them are even real accounts? The reason I have the many followers is because I have paid into giveaways and people have followed me in hopes of winning a prize, not because they actually enjoy my blog. (More than likely) That isn't fair to the people who sponsor my blog either.

I know this might seem like I'm still bitching about numbers, but I'm not. I would rather have 2 readers who come here to read my content because they ENJOY it, not because they wanted win a prize. Like I said, I love giveaways and I really enjoy being a part of them. However, I don't want to keep pouring money into giveaways just to get readers and to up my numbers. I know bigger numbers attract sponsorships and companies to work with but honestly, what's more important to YOU and YOUR BLOG? I see so often people talk about how their favorite bloggers "sold out" and got way too consumed with having numbers, sponsorships and making lots of money off their blog. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome feeling when you get an email saying someone loves your blog + wants to send you a product or work with you. It's awesome getting some extra money here and there doing what I love doing.

My blog isn't something that I want JUST to make money with. This isn't why I started blogging and I seriously have put a lot of time and love into this little space and I feel like I'm failing you guys. I feel like I've been so worried about who's reading my blog and how many page views I got today then what my content actually is. I used to have a schedule where I had topics I posted about each week and I got so sick of sticking to a schedule. I felt like a robot and I wasn't happy blogging anymore. Then I decided to just write whenever I wanted and about what I wanted. I've been much happier this way. I feel like you're getting a raw cut of me and that's what I want for this blog more than anything. I know it's better to have a solid schedule for blogger, but I hate feeling like I HAVE to post about Music on Monday.
 

As a reader of this blog, what do you look for most in content of a blog you love? As a blogger, how do you feel about paying into giveaways for readers + bigger numbers? or sticking to a schedule?