If You’re Blogging Like This, You’re Doing It Wrong

There is no right way to blog, but there is a successful way

Looking back, I can look at the exact things I did to grow my blog and business. I started my blogging journey in 2014 as a freelancer. At that time, I didn’t know how my business would succeed.

It’s only in hindsight that I realized there was one crucial thing I did that ultimately helped me get to where I am now — a six figure writer and blogger.

And it wasn’t affiliate marketing or paid ads or sponsored content.

It was something that many bloggers overlook…

The Unsexy Topic

Look –

The idea of networking — blogger outreach, connecting with others who do the same thing as you — isn’t the hottest topic around. Who cares about forming business relationships online? Where’s the money? Where are the leads?

As a blogger, you don’t see these as leading to the other. I never did until I landed a job with Optinmonster, which helped me land a job with Pagewiz, and that eventually lead to Smartblogger.

So, the idea of networking and forming relationships is critical to your success as a blogger.

But some bloggers want a shortcut, a hack, a 2 prong approach (not 3 prong approach).

They don’t want to put in the initial work (with ZERO expectation) with others as a means to get ahead.

Over the years, I’ve been able to connect with Julia McCoy, a prominent content marketer, and journalists from Buzz Feed and the Globe and Mail.

Writing on Medium has also opened the doors to collaborating with other Medium writers like Tom Kuegler, who hosted a Medium summit awhile back.

You’re Networking the Wrong Way

The other day, I received an email from a popular blogger. This blogger read some of my Medium posts, and found out I wrote for a client this blogger was interested in writing for.

The blogger asked who the contact person was, and if I would give that out.

I’m sorry, but there is so much wrong with this!

I politely gave the blogger the guest post form that all people go through because I didn’t owe this blogger anything.

Here’s what went wrong:

1. Your Flexing Doesn’t Excuse You

Just because you are a popular blogger doesn’t give you the right to assume I will help you. This is a slippery slope.

I know for me, over the years, I have built a small following and some consider me an influencer.

But, I don’t flaunt that around.

I started a niche site this year and one thing I’m trying to do is link building. This is new territory for me but it’s slowly paying off.

My outreach email (that I will share in another post), isn’t markety or fake or to the point even.

It’s authentic and real. And for one response I received this:

It’s very humbling to me when I “cold” email a person who has been following me. After this email we bounced back and forth on chit chat and pleasantries.

Why? Because this is the beginnings of networking.

I did not expect this response and many times I hear nothing back from my outreach emails.

2. Reading Some of My Posts Isn’t Enough

Part of blogger outreach is to demonstrate you took the time to look at the person’s blog or social media and things like that as a way to show you did, “the work.”

But that isn’t the work.

When I network, I go above and beyond. I feature them in a blog post, I comment on their Youtube video, I share their post on Twitter, I sign up to their email list and follow them on Instagram.

I watch their stories and I like their posts.

Essentially, I follow and get to know the person I want to network with. This can take up to a year of doing this before I ask my BIG ASK.

Here’s an example of networking the right way.

When I opened up my Twitter and found Kate’s tweet of her tagging me on her blog post I immediately clicked to see her post.

It was a lovely post featuring writers she admired. I was touched and honored that she mentioned little ol’ me.

Because of that one tag and feature, I now will follow her and get to know her more. Over time, if she reaches out to me and wants something from me, I will remember what she did.

3. The Email Was Completely Out of the Blue

While it was cool to see an email from someone I knew but hadn’t connected with yet, what was written just didn’t sit well with me.

I would’ve liked a bit more commitment from this person like following me or liking my content. It’s important to get on the radar of the person you want to network with.

If you avoid those three things and network the right way, you’ll open the doors to future collaborations, features and more. I love getting to know other writers and bloggers and I do my best to feature them on my blogs!

Let me know your thoughts on the idea of networking!

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