“First I’d like to thank my mother, for inspiring my many complaints about her, and for having the good grace to recognise that I am usually joking.
Secondly, I would like to thank my friends, for believing in me, and for giving me the likes on Facebook that give my life meaning and validation.
Thirdly, I would like to thank the blogging Tribe, the ladies of (HASHTAG ALERT) #Tribalchat, for listening to my pleas and tolerating my lack of confidence in my blogging abilities, which frequently result in tedious extended Twitter rants, and for voting for me in an actual award (more on this later).
Finally, I would like to thank God. I’m not sure I believe in You, but it seems to be the done thing in these sorts of situations. Sort of like a Pascal’s Wager where the pay-off might be a friendly ear in Heaven and a few more awards. Cheers God. Worship you forever, yeah?”
A few weeks ago, I sat down to write a blog post. It was an angry post, about all the awards I hadn’t yet won, and all the unfairness that little old me had yet again been sidelined in favour of some faceless other people, some of whom I greatly respect, some of whom are hugely talented, and most of whom I hadn’t heard of, and ergo, they must be rubbish and WHY NOT ME WHY NOT ME.
I have been blogging for a long time.
Sometimes I feel like I should be collecting some sort of blogging gold watch. Because you get those for like, six months in Cyber-World, right? And yet, according to Angry Me, I don’t get the gold watch. I don’t get the platitudes, the followers, the likes, the shares, the awards. Certainly not the awards.
And every day I see new people popping up in the blogosphere. People who are talented, and funny, and poignant and poor old me, for I had lost my mojo. Yes, that one, the infamous blogging mojo. The spark of inspiration that waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon, and whose fallow periods can often feel like a life sentence of bad writing and zero ideas.
Or maybe I just don’t promote myself enough? Maybe my terribly British sense of modesty and restraint prevents me from being the best I can be, simply by making it a matter of pearl-clutching horror to even contemplate asking for a retweet on my latest post.
Is this what one does? I ask myself, fumbling for the smelling salts I have handily deposited on the boudoir dresser nearby. When one wishes for others to know who I am, to know my work, my name, I must ASK FOR A RETWEET?
Because that’s the Thing now. Social media reigns omnipotent. One must constantly push one’s brand. I’m a brand. You’re a brand. We’re all a great big, self-publicising corporate machine, ergo, a brand. We were all sat there chuckling when That Buffoon Off The Apprentice A Few Years Back sat in his interview braying “I’m a brand! I’m a brand!” across the table at Sir Alan and Karen and the old bloke with the glasses as they sat there stony-faced, trying to look inscrutable and yet incredulous enough for a clever bit of editing to make their feelings clear, and now we’re all at it. We’re all brands now. Spreading our on-brand message across social media. Vote for me! Read my latest post? Have you read my latest post? You might also like to read this one! Would you be so kind as to pause for a moment on your journey through cyberspace as I give you my tips on what to pack in your hospital bag?
It’s not that I mind. I don’t. I don’t mind if other people want to be a brand, albeit one that looks uncannily like a human person. I don’t mind if other people want to plug their latest posts. That’s what social media is for, after all. I’m not the sort of serious-faced purist who gets all high and mighty about how Twitter was better in the olden days of yestermonth, when it was all about the interaction, dahling, and these terrible self-publicists have just gone and hijacked all our cosy conversations over tea and screen fatigue. But I just can’t do it myself. I can’t be that one shouting the loudest, that one who can always make their voice heard. I just don’t have the (whispers as if admitting some shameful secret) self-confidence.
And I admit, I don’t want to read anyone’s “what’s in my hospital bag” plug. Not unless what’s in your hospital bag is a tankard of real ale to toast the birth, and a set of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the new arrival.
Oh wait, that’s just what was in MY hospital bag.
But anyway, again I digress.
Sometimes the ol’ blogging game gets me down, and then I remember why I started. Was it to win awards? Clearly not, because I had no idea awards existed. Was it to have legions of adoring fans across the scaly tentacles of the internet? Well, yes obviously. And that’s why it feels so satisfying to have finally won an award. A virtual award, but an award nonetheless, an accolade voted for by my peers in the parent blogging community. It might not have the hype of the Oscars, the Grammys, or even the Mumsnet Blogging Awards, but it’s an award. I, my friends, am an award winning blogger, and I will darn well not be letting anyone forget it. Especially not me.
Too late now, I’ve added it to my Twitter bio. That’s it, I am now officially one great big, self-promoting corporate BRAND.
I can totally relate to this! The whole feeling of having to be a brand, having to promote ourselves just for people to read the words we put so much effort into. Great post and huge congrats on your well-deserved award! #KCACOLS
Thank you. Yes, it’s a nightmare isn’t it!
Congratulations! More to the point – why haven’t you won an award before? Reading this post I’m just sat here thinking: this blogger is fantastic and you also voice a lot of my own thoughts. I hate self-publicising, which is why I don’t have lots of followers on Twitter. It’s just not ‘me’ and I don’t know how to make it me…or whether I want to. So thank you for sharing your thoughts – I’m a fan 🙂 Alison x #KCACOLS
Thank you! Yes I find self publicising to be awks to the nth degree. It’s totally out of my comfort zone. Looks like I’m going to have to try though!
Congratulations! I voted for you.
It’s true though, it’s about 1% what you write and 99% how you promote. How effing depressing. Forget the irony that is my CommetLuv post please. Love your blog Min, keep on trucking, you’re a superstar.
#KCACOLS
Thank you. Ooh I haven’t read your MADS post yet so will have to have a look!
I am a HUGE fan (I may go all fangirl on you if and when we meet – you have been forewarned!) and I think that you don’t realise just how good you actually are! Maybe I will have to take it upon myself to promote you, because I think it’s easier to promote others than it is yourself. it’s ok to say ‘read this she’s fab’ where if you say ‘read this I’m fab’ it all gets a bit self indulgent and egotistical- oh how uncouth and not very British !!! #britishproblems !!! BTW I won an award to – but shhhhhhh don’t tell anyone I’m terribly shy about the whole thing ?
#triballove
Thank you! And yes, it seems so much more genteel to just sit back and hope that one day everyone will discover you like a lost gem from the attic. BTW EVERYONE SPARKLY BECKY WON THE CHATTERBOX AWARD!!!!!!
I love your writing and I voted for you too! I find myself hating so many aspects of blogging at the moment that I don’t know what to do! I am rubbish at the promoting of posts and frequently forget to share new posts apart from when they have gone out on that evergreen thingy. I have award-winning in my twitter bio and I hate myself for it. I have becoming a blogging d$ck. I never ask someone I don’t know, or even that I do know actually, to RT. I have just joined Facebook and I hate that too. I falling out of love with instagram. I am fast realising that perhaps social media isn’t for me. As for winning the award at the BiBs, I don’t even know how that happened. What has changed as a result of it? Nothing! No book deal for me *sobs into twitter*
Thank you. I think we all feel like that sometimes. I seem to go through a lot of peaks and troughs. I never schedule any promotion of posts apart from what goes out automatically via Evergreen and the automatic shares to FB and Twitter when first published. You won the award because you are brilliant, and deserved it. There will be more peaks and more success I am sure.
Forgot to put #KCACOLS
Mm it’s a strange world blogging isn’t it ? When I started a few months ago did anyone at all read my blog i was delighted – now I’m disappointed if I don’t get thousands of views a month. It can become a race to the highest numbers ..anyway that’s my ramble.. well done on your tribal chat award ! #kcacols
Thank you. It sounds as though you have done fabulously well, and I love your blog!
Be proud for everything that you do! Plus us #tribalchat lot love you xxxx #KCACOLS
Thank you!
Back from #marvmondays too
Can I have your autograph??! A well deserved win my sweet and I’m sure there’ll be more to come if you want them
#tribalchat
Haha, thank you! I hope so. I’m going to campaign hard! Thanks for setting up the awards. x
Greatly deserved win. I feel the same as you sometimes. I have been blogging for 18 months and find it hard to keep up with it all and get my blog out there. I have yet to win any kind of award but I know I do my best even if it’s not good enough for anyone else. xx
#triballove
That’s just it, isn’t it? All the endless promotion. I feel we just get lost in the sea of blogs sometimes, but I guess it must be this way for everyone. Thanks for commenting.
I haven’t been blogging for long, so I am not even thinking about awards. But sometimes it does feel weird having to put yourself out there for people to see your blog. It is weird, but a necessity.
#KCACOLS
Yes. I guess when I started I had no idea that this parent blogging world was even a thing. I just enjoyed writing. Now I seem to be caught up in a whirlwind of social media and trying to promote myself!
I can totally relate to this – I feel really awkward about promoting myself and can’t quite imagine asking people for retweets or awards votes. I know ‘branding’ is all part of the blogging game these days, but I’d rather just focus on writing part – which is a pretty small part of the whole thing, when you think about it. Oh, how things have changed since I had my first blog 10 years ago.
Anyway, congrats on your award – it was well deserved. 🙂 #EatSleepBlogRT
Thank you. I know what you mean. I had several blogs before this one too and it was nothing like this back in the day!
From memory, I don’t think it ended too well for that ‘Baggs the brand’ guy from the apprentice :/
Anyway, you’re awesome! I love your blog! So good for you with your shiny award. 🙂
x Alice
#kcacols
Thank you! No, thinking about it now I don’t think it ended well at all. Seems as though that’s not put anyone off though, as everyone seems to be trying to be a brand these days though!
hahaa, loved this.
I have reconciled myself with the fact that I will never win an award. I will never be a brand. I will only ever be my own therapist on my blog and that, my friend, is good enough for me. Pen x #KCACOLS
Well I think you should win an award! I love reading your posts so I think it’s probably therapy for others too! x
Love this. Witty and to the point too. Congrats on your very well deserved award. I am totally shocked you haven’t won one before – I for one love the blog. #eatsleepblogRT x
Thank you! And thanks for commenting.x
Absolutely deserved my love and maybe being recognised by your peers is better than being recognised by a snooty awards panel of judges. Although I wouldn’t sniff at that either.
Thank you! Ha, me neither!
Firstly congratulations! I can relate to this, I find self promotion difficult at the best of times, and often blog posts just sit quietly on my blog. Maybe I need to promote my brand more! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again on Sunday 2nd Oct x
Yep that’s very much like me. Thanks for hosting and commenting.
I’m sure I commented on this! Where did I go?! I would prefer to be voted for by my friends that people just randomly ticking boxes in categories in which they cannot vote for themselves any day! <3 Thanks so much for linking up with #chucklemums 😀
I just fished you out of the spam! Thanks for hosting and commenting.
Ah Min I love you and your blog, you are a brilliant writer and I have no doubt that your time will come.
I know what you mean re promotion – i often wonder if I would be doing better if I had the time and inclination to promote and push my blog more. But I don’t, so I guess I’ll just have to wait for an award to drop into my lap! 😉
I must get around to putting my #tribalchat badge on my blog, though!
#chucklemums
Yes that pretty much sums up my situation too. You are fab too and I’m sure you will be successful-you certainly deserve it! x
This made me laugh out loud as sat in the hairdresser’s – getting some very strange looks. Oh I can’t do the self-promotion either and also get a little irritated when I receive blog posts from other bloggers tagging me when I’ve never had any engagement with them – I can just imagine who they were at school – oo I can feel a post coming on – who the bloggers would have been at school! But, seriously well done one your award – well deserved and look at your readership – you are one loved writer #ablogginggoodtime
Thank you, and yay! So glad it made you laugh. I would love to read your who the bloggers would have been at school post!
I hate self-promoting! It just feels so big-headed and “look at me”. Somebody tweeted me directly to read one of their posts the other day. I was horrified! I couldn’t believe that people actually do that (unless there’s a particular reason for sending it to someone). But then maybe that’s what I should be doing too? I just can’t bring myself to do it though so I will just keep plodding along at my own pace. And congratulations on your award. #ablogginggoodtime
Thank you. Yes, that has happened to me a few times too, although generally from people I have previously had engagement with though so it didn’t feel quite so direct. I feel the same way though-is that what I should be doing, at the risk of alienating everyone?
I loved this post – it really resonated with me and made me chuckle all the way through. I think it can be so easy to compare with others and to wonder how on earth they get the awards – actually, if someone could fill me in on this I’d much appreciate it! #ablogginggoodtime
Haha, me too! Thanks for commenting.
Maybe I should be a bit more of a brand and beg for some votes on these things . But in all honesty I don’t want to keep chasing people and asking them to like me!! Well done for your award Hun – very much deserved. Love your blog and your writing xx #eatsleepblogrt
Thank you. I know what you mean. I worry that I would look desperate. Maybe I’m imagining it though. Either that or the pay off when I win would be worth it!
Just popping back again. I love your blog, I love your writing and you award is very well deserved 🙂 #FridayFrolics
Thank you!
It’s silly how much pressure we put on ourselves. I was shortlisted for a BiB, which was totally unexpected. Up until that point I was really happy with how things were going. Then I didn’t make the final cut and I was gutted. I was suddenly full of self doubt. I’m thrilled for you and your award. Coming from other bloggers it always means more. Thanks for linking up to #FridayFrolics
Thanks for hosting and commenting. It’s crazy isn’t it, how we start comparing ourselves to others frantically at the mere mention of awards.
I really hate comparing myself to others but it happens so easily. I don’t really want to be a brand, I just want to be me.
I know what you mean. Thanks for commenting.
Firstly – congratulations! Well done you! Secondly, feel the same about self-promotion. I feel embarrassed and like I am getting on everyone’s nerves. I have only been blogging for a few months but that is definitely the hardest part! #MarvMondays
That’s the thing isn’t it, the worry that we’ll just annoy everyone! Thanks for commenting.
Congratulations! I too hate pushing my stuff. I think it could be our Britishness, mixed in with “Am I any good” self-doubt. It also take such a bloody long time, of which I rarely have! Well done you though!! #MarvMondays
Yep, my reasons are much the same as yours! Thank you and thanks for commenting.
Can so relate to this! Well done on your award! I haven’t won any awards. Pity party for one over here! Oh well. 😀
Thanks so much for joining us on #FridayFrolics.
Thanks for hosting and commenting, and you should totally win an award!
Congratulations and Mazel Tov to be honored by your fellow peers! Its a mitzvah indeed, and a well earned one at that. You my dear, are not only a brand, but you are now branded. Keep on keeping on and doing what you do best! You are wonderful! #FabFridayPost
Oh, thank you! WHat a lovely comment!
Congrats girls:) I’m so happy because of you 🙂
#FabFridayPost
Fab post, I must admit, the social media promoting constantly is so exhausting! #fabfridaypost
Thanks. It’s a nightmare, isn’t it!
What a brilliant post. I get this, I really do, I feel myself in your words. Does that sound crazy? I have won awards, I’m proud of my blog and I do post branded tweets, yet I STILL feel I’m in your shoes. It makes no sense but perhaps winning the awards doesn’t give you the self confidence after all. Keep blogging and sharing great stuff with or without the awards you deserve. #FabFridayPost
Thank you! I think we all feel it to some extent. Blogging is fab and has brought new friends and a sense of community as well as people to read my ramblings, but we can’t help but feel as though we still aren’t quite “there” yet. I guess that’s a good sign though, as it shows we want our blogs to be the best they can be. And I love your blog!
Ah no awards here 🙁 boo…. I can totally relate to the brand thing, I sometimes hate that my blog baby has turned into that. Oh and by the way the “Not unless what’s in your hospital bag is a tankard of real ale to toast the birth” made me chuckle 🙂 xxx #fabfridaypost
Thanks, haha. I am so bored of “what’s in my hospital bag” type posts, especially if they involve flat lays of what’s in the bag. NO ONE CARES!
Congrats! Even though I think its fair to say most of us started blogging for ourselves, and/or to record our families as they grow, it is nice occassionally to be recognised for your blogging. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog over the past few years and especially the posts you’ve linked up to #MarvMondays like this one so thank you! 🙂 Emily
Thank you. I’m glad you know who I am to be honest. Sometimes I think we all feel as though we’re just shouting into the abyss!
This was a lovely post to read! Sometimes we should remind ourselves of why we started blogging in the first place! #FabFridays
Thank you!
Seriously congratulations well done! I’m a complete minnow it the fish pond of blogging, just getting the hang of blogging, self promotion, the read me, read me! I’m in it for the writing, and you’re is fab. #FabFridayPost
Thank you. I feel like I’m still getting the hang of it to be honest, and I’ve been doing it for ages!
Congratulations Min! You know I am a HUGE fan of yours. That is one of your many qualities that I have asked you to co-host #FabFridayPost with me. I like your writing style and your intellect engagement with others. Branding is not everything- without great writing style there would be no brand. Please carry on your passion for writing! Xxx
Thank you. I will do-you’re totally right; without great writing it’s all pointless.
Love this! And now frantically going to search for your earlier award rant post…sounds juicy! Went through exactly the same thought process after the recent MADS nominees were announced, only to realise that I didn’t even fit the criteria for entry (having only been blogging for 2 months before the voting began)! Love your writing…if I ever start an awards programme, I’ll give you one. #FabFridayPost
Thank you! It seems there is a new batch of awards to get excited about every 5 minutes in blogging. We love to pat ourselves on the back, so it seems. Basically it just ends up being a constant cycle of getting hopes up, only for them to be dashed down!