5 Things That Probably P*ss Non-Bloggers Off

20th January 2016

Even though bloggers seem to be everywhere these days, it still seems likes it is one of those things that people find hard to understand or take seriously, which I can kind of understand. Sometimes it does seem weird that we share so much of our lives online with potentially the world (ha ha, if only!).

things that annoy non bloggers

Revealing lots of stuff about our personal lives, photos of ourselves and our family, and sometimes even our darkest, deepest issues, is a bit strange when you think about it. But then, we share so much on social media anyway for anyone to access and, I also think it’s great that we can talk openly and honestly if we want to about things such as depression, infertility or whatever we feel like, and that then has the potential to help someone reading it, as well as us, by writing it.

However much a non-blogger can respect what we do and be interested in it, there still seems to be certain things that people believe about bloggers and blogging that aren’t exactly true. Understandably of course; they don’t have the experience of it, so they just see it from one side – the pretty pictures of fun days out and all the *freebies*.

So here are five things that probably piss non-bloggers off about us bloggers….

All the *free* stuff

Yes, as bloggers we are often given some amazing things or experiences to review, and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful things I, and Ava have received. But a lot of work (for most of us anyway 😉 goes into those posts reviewing a product or service. We receive the product, spend lots of time trying to take good photos of it, edit the photos, use it enough to be able to have a proper opinion on it, research the company and product, and then spend time writing the post, then promoting it all over everywhere so some people see our post and hopefully make the company or PR happy. It’s not a horrible thing to do, and we do choose whether we want to receive these things and do all that it involves, but it is generally not a quick and easy thing to do.

So, I know you’ll probably keep calling them this just to spite us, but they’re not freebies 🙂

We get to go to lots of lovely events and drink Prosecco all day

Yes. Sometimes we do, and it is very nice. If you have read my blog over the last couple of months then you will see that I went to three blogger events, two involved a lot of Prosecco and one involved a lot of chocolate. They were brill; I got to meet blogging friends for the first time and who can deny that having your glass topped up with Prosecco all flaming night long whilst hanging out with some nice bloggers isn’t pretty wonderful? Yep, you’re right, it was. I’m not suggesting otherwise. This blogging lark can be gooood!

But.

Those events were the first one’s I had ever been to, and I have blogging for bloody years. Last year I stepped up my blogging game, worked bloody hard and it has started to pay off. For months now I have stayed up every night working on my blog rather than relaxing in front of the tv. And also, it was Christmas – I probably won’t get invited to another event for the rest of the year now (I hope I do though!).

At all of these events I have spent time trying to get some good photographs that I can put into a post about the event that I will write after, when really I just wanted to be relaxing and enjoying myself with my new drunk friends. I’m not complaining in the slightest, but it’s not just a normal fun night out, and they don’t (unfortunately) happen all the time.

We talk about blogging. A lot.

Yes. Yes we do. Sorry. Our blogs are generally about our lives, and so we can’t switch off from that. It often has to fit in around everything else, and so there is no 9-5 and switching off straight after. Sometimes we wish there was. Blogging often becomes a part of everything we do, and if our child says something funny we try to remember it ‘for the blog’. It can be hard going for a nice family day out without making sure you have got some decent photos ‘for the blog’. It’s a bit sad, I know. We’d like to be able to switch off and forget about it sometimes, really we would.

But we just can’t. It’s intertwined with our lives. Soz.

We have friends online that can’t be real friends because they’re online

It’s getting less weird I think, as the years go by for people to class friends they have *on the internetz* as real friends. Some people still think it’s weird, I’m sure, or that they’re not real friends, but they really really are, or can be at least.

In the last few months I have made some wonderful, wonderful new blogging friends (have I talked about them enough yet….? yawwwwn) who I really feel have got my back. I haven’t met all of them, but I still think of them as friends for realz. Yes, sometimes it seems a little strange when you feel like you are friends with someone you have met online, when you’ve never actually met them in real life, and they could be flipping awful, or actually an 80 year old man from Poughkeepsie (although that’s a whole other issue). But generally I think if you have become good friends with someone online and get on brilliantly, then you probably will in real life too. And that’s ok.

We get to stay at home all day and “work” in our pyjamas. Although it’s not really “work” is it.

Yes, if we want to (and I often do) we can stay in our pyjamas all day, work in bed, eat toast and marmite all day and drink all the tea. And I feel very lucky that I can do that sometimes. Most days though I am getting up early with Ava getting her to nursery, rushing back, grabbing some breakfast and then getting on with as much blogging work as possible, washing the pots, putting the washing on, and trying to ignore all of the other house stuff that needs doing, and then rushing to pick Ava back up.

The days she isn’t at nursery are similar but I just have way less time to blog, so I’ll work even harder in the evening once she is in bed. It may not be a real ‘job’ in terms of going out to work for a set amount of hours, but we still work very hard at it.

Of course, not everyone does it to make a living from, but a blog is still a lot of hard work if you want it to do well.

 

I am extremely grateful for all of the opportunities that blogging brings me, and for the amazing people I have met. I work bloody hard at it, and I work more hours than I ever have. It is a juggle fitting it around everything else, staying motivated, ignoring the distractions of housework and the full fridge. But I am also very lucky in that I love it. Since I have put more time and energy into it I have started to love it even more and I am very excited to see where it goes this year.

Some bloggers are idiots; they do get products to review and just copy and paste the press release, and they do whinge and moan about every little thing. And there are some blaggers who use #prrequest to get lots of free stuff. But we’re not all like that. Promise.

 

15 responses to “5 Things That Probably P*ss Non-Bloggers Off”

  1. I love this Louise! You sum up the misconceptions perfectly. I think it will be a long while before blogging is properly recognised by the majority as anything more than a hobby, but i guess the more we chip away at that notion the better. I really laughed at the 80 year old man from Poughkeepsie too! 🙂 xx

  2. Tim says:

    All so very true. And, of course, not all bloggers are the same. I don’t really get involved with the reviews/events side of things, largely because I choose not to – so when people ask me about all the freebies I get, well, I don’t.

    And blogging is definitely hard work, whether you’re doing it full-time or in an hour here and there. I have a busy full-time job and, until recently, ran or contributed to four blogs in my spare time (now two). To keep all that going, I write until 2am a couple of times a week and squeeze in 20 minutes here and there where I can – at least 15 hours a week in all. So if any non-blogger thinks it’s all laughs, pyjamas and prosecco, they’re welcome to try!

    The thing about online friends is interesting. I’ve always been comfortable with the concept. I’ve met so many people online over the years via forums and blogs. Some I’ve gone on to meet in real life, others remain online friends. I set up one blog with six other people, all of whom I knew only through Twitter and other blogs. Four years later we’re still going and only one of us (not me!) has met each of the other six face-to-face. It’s a different type of friendship but it’s friendship nonetheless.

  3. Rita Macedo says:

    Loved this post! Sometimes people will never understand certain things because they don’t live it! There was things I didn’t understand until I started my own blog and I can honestly say that I think blogging isn’t for everyone! You need to love it a lot to stick to it because it’s bloody hard to able to do everything (blogging, school, taking cars of the house/family)! There are a fee nights that I could just sit in the couch after uni, as you said, but I don’t and go do stuff for the blog! However, I’m not complaining because I could just give up if I wanted as blogging is not my job but I love it too much! I’m just sorry that the fact that we’re so open about things such as “freebies” is calling people into this world that shouldn’t be in it! I’ve seen several times people on social media saying “I’ve just started a blog how can I get free products?” and it makes me kind of sad to read that!

  4. So true! Love this, I for one had totally underestimated how long writing just one post takes,before I started my blog last year. I think that when you do something well, you make it look easy, which is obviously what you’re doing xx

  5. Ha ha it drives me nuts to hear people refer to “freebies” (yes, my family does that too…). It is not a damn freebie if you are providing a ready-made marketing platform, and write and take pictures and use my own time to provide a decent piece of marketing material. Companies aren’t stupid, it is not a freebie for them, and it is not a freebie to me either. Time is money!

    I have a busy job, and blogging on top is hard – it does feel like work sometimes, but very enjoyable work. So I don’t mind. But I most definitely am not getting any freebies 😀

  6. Tots2travel says:

    I suspect the inevitable element of self promotion must also be pretty galling.

  7. Louise I love, love, love this my friends roll their eyes when I talk about blogging so I try not too, people don’t always get the whole thing at all do they. I love working from home but I do work as there is so much to do behind the scenes that people never see, and I never ever shut off, but I suppose that is because I love it x

  8. Louise says:

    So true. If I hear the term free stuff once more I may explode! And why they think everyone online is odd is beyond me. Like any job there are lovely people and blaggers. I do sometimes feel embarrassed telling people I am a blogger due to the negative conatations associates with it

  9. This is brilliant, all so true! I hate it when friends and family refer to things as ‘freebies’. If they knew how long it took to do the posts (especially if it involves taking pictures of uncooperative children haha) xx

  10. Suzanne says:

    I’ve given up trying to explain to non bloggers why I blog. My friends don’t really get it and generally don’t read it! I don’t push it but rather segregate both lives. This has a knock on effect of me being fairly unable to attend most of those Prosecco-fuelled events that you speak of! I usually get to one or two a year but that’s it. Good post though. Agree with all your points.

  11. Fantastic post!
    I feel very self conscious if I say I’ve been working on the blog because I know people think ‘pffft working!’.

  12. Donna says:

    I love this post – I was nodding along throughout! I think it comes down to the fact that non-bloggers just don’t get it! x

  13. Zoe Stewart says:

    So so true, I’ve been blogging nearly 4 years, I’ve only been to 1 event and this is the first year I’m sort of being ‘noticed’ and it’s all down to hard work. Those that don’t blog will never get it. It’s wonderful connecting with so many others that face the same daily struggles 💕

  14. Great post and all so very true! I totally count my online friends as friends, they probably give me more help and support than some people on ‘the outside’!

  15. Cat says:

    I’m definitely on board with the online friends. It’s so much am easier to find like minded people… Imagine if real life had #’s, would make things much simpler!
    I’m looking forward to getting ‘freebies’ to review… Maybe the novelty will wear off after the first few goes! Xx

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