The Importance of Blogging Friends & How to Find Them

So today is the *unofficial* blogger appreciation day linkup hosted by the lovely girls at NC Prepsters. I've had the idea for this post in my blogging ideas notebooks  for the longest time... Like probably for about as long as I've been blogging (a year plus). SO IT'S HIGH TIME I SIT DOWN AND WRITE THIS POST! 

Like I said just a few sentences ago-- I've been blogging for a year plus.. It was one year January 5th actually! Blogging has been a freaking incredible experience so far... *side note I'm not planning on quitting any time soon* But I'm serious y'all, it's been just so great. One HUGE reason my journey has been as great as it has been so far is because of my super special people in my life. Especially those that are bloggers themselves. In one day I might small talk, chat, rant, tweet, comment, reply, ect. ect. ect. to any number of bloggers from 5-35! But I have my go-to girls that I come to with any questions that I might have, blogging related or life related.. I honestly have to scroll sometimes through my messages to find some of my friends that I actually see in person on a daily basis to see where they are or ask for homework help. THAT'S how much I talk to these girls. Sometimes your friends that you've had for life just won't get this other side of you. They'll try, and be supportive, but they just don't really get it. Some bloggers try to bring their real life friends into their online world. It usually doesn't end well... Jealousy.. competition.. lacking motivation... But what I'm trying to say is that things like SEO, comments, retweets, follows, emails.... MEAN SO MUCH TO US BLOGGERS Am I right?? But your real life friends just can't support your online/blogger/social media savvy self. Aside from being some of the bestest friends you will ever have, it's imperative to have friends in the online blogging world as a blogger.
#instaworthy or nah? My blogging friends will tell ya.. I ask for approval on a couple instagram photos before posting. Sometimes it's good just to get someone else's eyes on it before it goes live! Or to have a little help with a caption.. or editing.. y'know!

Talk traffic to me....

For a blogger, a huge spike in traffic (page views) is so exciting! Tracking links that lead up to your blog, finding out how people are getting to your site, counting re-pins and reblogs and screaming about how they link back up to your site! When I hit 100,000 views, my Instagram post had a good amount of comments from bloggers who were so excited and supportive. Thanks y'all :) That's what you need in blogging friends! People that you can get excited over for their accomplishments, and people that will get excited over your accomplishments.

What do bloggers do on Friday nights? 

Ice cream and musicals (hey Kath.. What' up?) pizza (because it's so good) and planning future posts... Sometimes your other friends just don't get it, and you need a blogger bestie to chat with. Also live texting while watching a favorite movie at the same time as your friend is SO MUCH FUN.

Social Media Presences...

A social media presence is crucial for any blogger wanting to grow their audience. Having these online friends can really help your social media following and engagement with followers. A simple little tag or retweet or reblog or facebook share or any sort of share honestly can really help. Also, it's a lot of fun to shoutout your favs on social media... Or at least I think it's a bunch of fun! And it comes back around to benefit you and your blog most of the time too.

Keeping an Eye Out...

You always have someone looking out for you online! I remember back in January I had to deal with something where a site was using my content in German?? I never would have noticed except Jamie tweeted at me and made sure I was aware of what was going on. She stuck by me and checked in to make sure that things were taken care of. That's what a good blogging friend does!!

Get Yourself Some #bbfs and #bestbloggerbuddies

Even if you don't have a specific person or people that are your #bestbloggerbuddy and you have cute little hashtags and nicknames and inside jokes.... you still need to have those bloggers that you do a daily run through of their social media and blog and make sure you are up to date. You repin their content, retweet it, and like their latest instagrams. There are tons of people that I don't text or email or connect with on a daily basis but I check in with their social accounts. Little nicknames aside, make sure you have some blogger friends to check in on and to check in on you throughout the week.

Creativity

Sometimes you just go blank. You need motivation. Your real life friends won't be able to motivate you to blog or make YouTube videos (Heyyyyy Ash) like your online friends will. Even if you have ideas, you might need help with a caption or post title or anything! Use their creativity, and help them when they need your creativity.

Comfort

Blogging gets rough sometimes.. You get tough criticism, rude comments, other people you gotta deal with, unsupportive real life friends.... Your blogging friends get it. They'll keep you sane. You NEED them. And they'll be there for you when you need them. You have to make sure that you're there for them when they need you too!

So I have my girls... Who are your blogging friends? Want to find some BBF (best blogging friends)? Here's some tips and ways to find your BEST blogging friends!

Open up your eyes

Are you on Instagram (if not what the heck are you doing with your life make one right now)? Take a look at those people with similar blogging niches as you, that like your posts, follow you, leave comments on your posts... ect. Once you open up your eyes and look around there are SO many girls that are blogging now. ALL ages too! Most of my friends are seniors in high school, college students, honestly it doesn't matter. Also check Twitter! Twitter is an amazing way to connect with great people and get to know them even better. Make sure you are staying present on all social media accounts and you update them on a daily basis. That makes you look like a person open to connect with anyone and everyone that wants to chat online!

Don't be scared

Think someone's interesting? Stalk their blog! Stalk their social media! *Don't really stalk them* Just do your homework basically.. Find out more about them, and then start up a chat! You just gotta be bold and jump on out there haha! Trust me, it's worth it!

Start sharing

Share other bloggers' recent posts, posts you love, helpful posts... ect. Twitter is a great way to do this! Use hootsuite to schedule a few of your favs, and make sure you tag their Twitter account too! You can go on a pinning rampage (I wouldn't know anything about this.... #soguilty hahahaha). Totally stalk their blog, instagram, everything and just pin it all!!! Facebook can also be used to share all of your favorite posts, and leave some comments! It's good to connect and do them a favor by sharing their content.

Blogging Networks

Join a couple big sites that you can mix and mingle and chat with new people and bloggers. You'll learn a few things.. or more.. and meet so many great people. After you are exposed to a great many bloggers, think email chains in this as well, you might even want to add a few people as facebook friends! But blogging networking sites are so great for getting to know some amazing people.

Suggest a Collaboration

I get a ton of emails in a month for collabs, linkups, guest posting.... most of which I never end up participating in... life gets in the way I guess... but that's how I got to know my good friend, Kathleen! We have the same name, share a love for Disney, Sofia the First, and Lilly Pulitzer. She's so much fun to chat with and I reached out to her suggesting a collab... I knew immediately from her reply that we were gonna be great friends! You can't be scared to reach out.. Just go for it!

Instagram Giveaways

When you get invited to participate in a loop giveaway on Instagram, there's a ton of other girls involved too! HERE'S YOUR CHANCE!!!! Follow all the girls, comment on their posts, comment on their blogs, follow across social accounts... Just go for it! Engage in conversation! Ask questions! Just go chat and mingle with some new people.. You can't be scared y'all just go for it.

Don't wait

Trust me, it'll only hurt you in the long run. It's so much easier when you're growing amidst a group of your friends to grow and help them to grow then it is just to get yourself up in the world. Don't wait for your blog to be 100% perfect, trust me it will never be. Don't wait for the hundreds of thousands of followers you dream of. Just start finding some friends RIGHT NOW. Like stop reading. Go find some BBF's.