Confessions of a blogger

This is a watercolour image made by myself, please don't copy/save!

I have been a blogger since 2012, at the time I didn't know how much it would affect my life, what it would lead to or what it would entail but I am so glad I have stuck with it for over four years and I am so grateful to be part of this amazing, supportive online community. However, among the countless positives to blogging, there are some drawbacks and unusual things related to being a blogger...here are my blogger confessions. 

1. I don't own a marble table, faux marble table cover or a marble pot...I don't own anything made from genuine marble *hangs head in shame*

2. I can't use any product until I have taken 100 photos of it.

3. Blogger enabled or blog related purchases are not good for my bank balance and happen often. 

4. Comparing my blog to other blogs is torture!

5. Spam emails. So much spam. 

6. Hoarding empty products, keeping products in various boxes to photograph or review and having blog photo props are all 'normal'...

7. Non-bloggers(aka. muggles) who don't understand what blogging is or just how much time/work it takes. Just no. 

8. DA. PA. Bloglovin followers. Twitter analytics. Bounce rate. GFC followers. ALL THE NUMBERS. 

9. The horror of ugly packaging or bad lighting ruining photos! Damn you English weather. 

10. Having ten or more lipsticks which are almost identical but I find reasons to keep them all..one has slight shimmer, one could be good for dupe post, one smells nice and so on. 

11. "You're chatting on Twitter with other people you've met online"...I know it sounds dubious but it's just a blogger chat on twitter - that explanation is usually met with confused looks. 

12. All the neutral eyeshadows palettes shall be mine. My precious. 

13. Going for a day out somewhere just to take pretty OOTD photos. 

14. Wanting to buy all the stationery, homeware from H&M and rose gold everything. "It's for my blog". Justified. 

15. Worrying about someone stealing my photos which has happened once before - my lips were on a sellers listing on Portuguese eBay! 

Leave your 'blogger confessions' in the comments below!

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Blogger Problems

Being a blogger can be, among other things, an amazing creative outlet, a fun and engaging hobby, a way of meeting new and like-minded people and it can also open so many doors, not only because of working with brands/PRs, reviewing products, receiving products before they are even available to buy *this is one of my favourite things and makes me feel so special!* and opportunities to write for brands/PRs or it could open new career options. However, as with many things in life, the positives come with negatives. Here are my #BloggerProblems:

1. So many photos: I mean this in terms of space on my iMac and also because I feel the need to take at least one hundred photographs of whatever it is and then I only use a couple of them. Hence the photographs above, including the ever present bloopers.

2. Spam emails: This is a big problem that I think most people face, if you have an email address that is. I don't know if the people/companies that send spam emails know how incredibly annoying and frustrating they can be. Example: "I've noticed you have a few spelling mistakes *quote/link from a post I wrote three years ago*, pay me X and I'll point out the mistakes"....delete.

3. Rude PR's: Now, I have to start by saying that 98% of the PRs that have contacted me or that I've worked with have been so incredibly kind, friendly and generally just so pleasant but there are a very small number of PRs that are so rude, expecting posts/links/advertising for nothing at all - it doesn't work that way, the relationship between brands/PR's and bloggers or freelancers should be an equal one.

4. Too much to write about and not enough time: Increasingly I have noticed more 'blogging tips' and 'blog post ideas' posts going around which I personally hate! But I don't understand the 'blog post ideas' posts as I am never without blog post ideas. I have so many post ideas, the thing I lack is the time and energy to write them all.

5. Making yourself heard: I started my blog back in 2012 when, to me at least, there were hardly any bloggers out there and bloggers very rarely worked with brands but now that is definitely a thing of the past. There are more and more bloggers every day, it seems, which is a good thing but it also dilutes the opportunities available and it makes it SO difficult to make your blog seen in a sea of other blogs. I think the popularity of blogging is a double edged sword as it is great that it is being noticed as a genuine and very popular form of information, advertising and advice but it is also making it harder for bloggers to be new, different and simply to be recognised.

There are just a few of the #BloggerProblems out there! Let me know in the comments below, what are the blogger problems you face? If you want other one of these posts, let me know and I'll write it as soon as I can! 

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