5 Ways to Support Your Favorite Blogs

Fellow blogger, Kim Sorgius from Not Consumed, is starting something, something good, and she’s inspired me. Did you know that a majority of blogs are abandoned within the first two years? In fact, 60-80% of new blogs are abandoned within the first two months! At least sixty percent of active bloggers have been blogging for more than 2 years but ONLY TWENTY PERCENT for more than six!

You know what that makes me? An old geezer in the blogging world.

I’ll be honest, it hasn’t be easy every step of the way, either. (There’s a lot that goes into it!) There have been a couple of times that I almost let it go — and none of those reasons included “I don’t have the time,” or “I’m bored with it.” While these may be true for some abandoned blogs, many other blogs are abandoned by people who really had an interest but became overwhelmed and burned out by the lack of return, reward, significance and participation. Most bloggers aren’t interested in simply blogging into a void. They want to be heard. They want to make a difference. Ya feel me?

Here’s what it boils down to: the biggest factor in whether or not a blog “survives” is YOU. The reader. Yes, a blog needs to put out good content. That’s a given. (That’s something I hope I have improved over the last few months.) But that content is nothing without you. We don’t talk about this a lot; we’re not trying to hide it; we just don’t like to talk about the behind the scenes work. And that’s why I’m taking the time to tell you–not just for myself but for ALL the blogs you love. You can help those blogs succeed!

5 Things YOU Can Do To Support Your Favorite Bloggers

1.) Comment! – This is by far the easiest thing you can do. You’re already on your favorite blog, reading a great post.. you will bless your favorite blogger tremendously by taking the time to leave a comment — any comment, even a “thank you” or a “yes!” I’ll let you in on a not-so-secret “secret:” BLOGGERS LOVE COMMENTS. For some reason, as people become increasingly pressed for time or accustomed to moving from one thing to the next in their constant stream of information overload, comments are becoming almost like a thing of the past. (It’s true!) Don’t let comments die.

2.) Subscribe – This is the second easiest thing you can do, it only takes a few clicks and then you never have to lift another finger! Unfortunately, even if a blogger doesn’t put a lot of stock in their numbers (I don’t,) potential sponsors do! (I’ll talk more about sponsors in a minute.) Subscribing is good for you, too, though. If you have a blog you really like to keep up with, signing up for a free subscription delivers new blog posts directly to you so you don’t have to go find them. If you don’t understand subscribing, what RSS is, why you should, etc, I’ve explained that a little more on my Subscribe Page.

3.) Follow! – This is also easy peasy and only not *quite* as easy because you do have to go to each different site and click “follow.” Yeah, it’s still really, really easy. One click and you’re set up. All of these follower “numbers” are included in that group of “numbers we try really hard to not to worry about but are helpful when talking to sponsors.”

Follow Classic Housewife on Facebook – all of my blog posts publish on Facebook, but with the new algorithms, they may not all come through your news feed. This is very sad for us bloggers. =( Some people choose to follow blogs by following on Facebook instead of subscribing. That’s okay, in theory, but with Facebook changes it’s become an unreliable source for accurate “subscribing.” I have decided to keep using Facebook anyway, because it’s a very easy way to share additional links and start conversations with my “peeps.”

Follow Classic Housewife on Twitter – some people prefer Facebook, some people prefer Twitter. They both have their advantages. Twitter’s 140 character limit limits conversation but it’s an incredibly easy way to share links to new posts and other interesting articles I come across throughout the day. My Facebook statuses also post to Twitter so if you prefer Twitter, you can still catch some of my conversation starters that I post on Facebook.

Follow Classic Housewife on Pinterest – Pinterest is the fastest growing method of following and sharing because of its amazing visual appeal. No conversation here, but creating growing collections of good links here is easy peasy. Not only do I have pin boards for recipes and homeschooling in general but I also have boards for specific subjects! I’m always adding to them.

Follow Classic Housewife on Google+ – I’m new to Google Plus. VERY. I’m still learning how to use it and I’m not sure I can speak to its benefits yet, but if you’d like to connect here (and maybe help me learn how to use it,) I’m game!

4.) Share – Sharing is HUGE. Nothing travels like word of mouth! If you like a post, the best thing you can do for that post (after commenting of course!) is to share it. I have a handy dandy sharing tool at the bottom of each post that makes sharing from the page super easy. It really doesn’t matter where you share, but remember what I said about Pinterest? Some people don’t like it, but I love it. Another way to share your favorite blogs, is to make use of blog buttons (add them to blog rolls, pin the blog to Pinterest using their blog buttons, etc.)

5.) Support – Ahhhh. This is where people usually stop talking for fear that if they do, they will lose readers if they come across the wrong way. (We’re always at risk for losing readers anyway.) Everybody has different opinions on making money from blogging and whether or not they should talk about it and how. Let me be honest:

Blogging well is hard work and time consuming.

I’ve been able to tell when I stopped putting in as much time and effort that I wasn’t blogging as well, either. I’m sure my readers also noticed. It’s not a good thing. And if you do want to try to make an income to support or contribute to your family or your homeschool, it’s going to take even more time. It might as well be a job. There are a few different ways to make money and none of them are going to make a blogger rich quick. The key thing you need to know here is that trustworthy bloggers choose affiliate links and sponsors very carefully, they consider the things they link to as personal endorsements, and they aren’t out to dupe you with bad recommendations just to make a buck. They don’t expect you to click on something just to provide them a paycheck either. (I want you to feel safe enough to choose to follow whichever links interest you and free enough to ignore whichever links don’t.)

Some bloggers have abused this sense of trust, I know. But partnering with companies (sponsors) can be a very good thing, too — it can help bridge the gap between the products and the people and it’s a win win for all involved when it’s done right. You might wonder how  you can tell whether or not a blogger IS trustworthy, but if you read a blog for any length of time… you can tell. When you find bloggers you trust, you can feel comfortable and not afraid to click on links they recommend. When that sense of trust is established, clicking through to affiliates and sponsors and any resulting sales are a very big help to your favorite blogs. And if your favorite bloggers make their own products (ebooks and printables, etc,) you can directly impact the success of their products by trying them out yourself (if you’re interested) and sharing them with others if you like them. You have more influence than you know!

 Easy as pie, right? If you have any questions I really do want you to ask in the comments or via email because I really do want to answer them.

Some “professional bloggers” blog for numbers and statistics and paychecks. Some of them blog for the people — and pay attention to the numbers and statistics when they need to, and welcome the paychecks when they happen. My mission here is to blog about being the best wife, mother, and homeschooler that I can be — and encouraging you to be your best also. And everything that I share here at Classic Housewife is for that purpose. I truly hope that stands out above all of the blogging business that goes on in the background to keep this blog alive and growing.

{For more about me and my blogging philosophy: About Me | About the Blog | About Reviews}

Thank you, all, for coming back and reading each week. You bless me.

Image Credit: Some rights reserved by Jamiesrabbits