Blogging for Bucks or Cash Rules Everything Around Me

Blogging for Bucks or Cash Rules Everything Around Me

Yesterday I hosted a linky party.  Check it out when you have a chance!  I didn't get the turn out I hoped for...HOWEVER, I had a chance to "meet" some really awesome bloggers.  I mean REALLY awesome.

1) Polish Me Glam  I admit, I have "known" Polish Me Glam for a while now, her and I are in a few of the same blogging groups...and I blog stalk her.  No worries, she is cool with cool with my cyber stalking.  Make sure you check out her blog and follow her! I promise you will want to stalk her too.

2) A New York Foodie  She was the first to participate and OMG, her recipes and creations look heavenly!

3) If You Give A Girl A Cookie On her twitter page she said she just wants to travel the world and drink good coffee. You have to love that!

4) Style Stamped Really I have no idea how Yana B from Style Stamped is so stylish and so gorgeous...at the same time!  I mean, really Yana, you're making me look bad here (smile).

5) Fashion.Art.Crafts-Etc She does all these awesome crafts (mainly jewelry) AND her hair is amazing!

6) Eklektic Funk This girl has me addicted to her Tumblr page! Her tag line is "The funk in your right eye"!  I mean, what else can be said?

One of the great things about the linky party is I had a chance to read some amazing blogs, get some awesome recipe ideas and see amazingly stylish fashionistas.  Seeing these amazing bloggers and reading their blogs made me think of my own blog and where it's going...

I enjoy blogging.  I have to enjoy it. When I first published this blog and had absolutely no readers...I kept going...kept stroking.  Why?  Because I liked it.  Even though I am not the best writer, I enjoy telling a story.  I enjoy sharing my opinion, much to everyone's chagrin. (smile)

Now, however, I am at a crossroads.  While I love it, it is not necessarily paying my bills...furthermore I love my blog but...do you? That is the most important question and let's be honest, my dear friends, most bloggers want to be liked...and paid!  So what exactly am I doing and what exactly am I doing wrong?  How can I create engaging and authentic content while simultaneously getting paid for doing something I love?

From what I can gather, a large majority of the people who are earning a living from blogging are the ones telling other people how to make money from blogging. The rest, whom are well paid and followed, in my blog category, are professional writers, editors, stylists and/or uber chic and glamorous.  Unfortunately, I don't think those are my niches either.

Furthermore, I can not fit myself into a "niche".  I'm a mommy and as much as I love my children, I do not want to blog about being a mommy.  All the time.  Everyday.  I blog to escape from the daily mundane tasks of being a mother.  (And if I speak in baby talk any more than I already do...well I may lose all grasp of the English language)

Also, while I simply adore fashion...the fashion blog niche is quite full...QUITE FULL!  AND it is saturated with awesome fashionistas like:

1) The Stranger
2) Nia Fashionista
3) Wilde + Free
4) Style Rookie
   -and ofcourse-
5) Fashion Toast

With the exception of Style Rookie (who is just a freak of nature who was born with immaculate style)  most of these bloggers are fashion/art students, style editors, and stylists.  With two kids and a gut how can I honestly compete with that?  Furthermore, (just to keep it real) I am not doing all of that posing and photoshopping...sorry there is just not enough time in the day nor energy to spare.

From http://originaleegggoo.blogspot.com

Plus I've heard that the days of personal style blogs are becoming obsolete...ponder on that a minute...anywhoo...

The same thing with beauty blogs..the market is saturated...I am not a MUA and I learned how to apply make up from Youtube...so again, while I love makeup...I am not going to crank out a tutorial every two days...and could you imagine what my tutorial would look like?!  Every two minutes I'd be interrupted by perpetually hungry son and my baby girl would inevitably try to find ways to chew and drool on the camera, the makeup brushes, the lipsticks...and pretty much anything she could get her hands on. Take my word for it, it wouldn't be a good look.

So what do I do?  Every blogging book, guru, and "monetize your blog" blogger says, find a niche.  Being in enterprise sales for years I understand this concept intimately for business...but for my blog?  Blogging about one thing all the time, bores me.  Bores me to tears!  I simply don't have the stomach for it.  I guess the concept I am not grasping is blogging is business, so with the exception of a few extremely lucky, gifted and talented folks, simply blogging about the things you like is hardly a career move.

My Manolos I before
Sex and the City
was syndicated

However, what kind of box can I fit myself neatly into?  My very existence is a contradiction!  I am so hip hop...but scroll through my ipod and you will find the Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, and Madonna.  I am so suburban yet so hood.  I love my Gucci tops and Manolo Blahniks, as much as I love a fresh pair of Dunks and a Yankee fitted.  I love gossiping about celebrities but I can also discuss politics and philosophy in depth. On my bookshelf you will find a Midsummer Nights Dream right next to Face Forward by Kevyn Aucoin. Is there anyone else like me?! Anyone?

Just incase you didn't believe your girl had Gucci :)

However, I will stop complaining.  I will do some things according to the "blogging rules"  You may not have noticed, but I revamped my site.  Do you like?  I will also take more pictures and do a couple of video tutorials...Here and there. 

What I won't do is, dumb it down, put myself in one category, nor water down this personality that took decades to create.  My SEO is already screwed anyway. (smile)