Something really horrible happened today – I discovered that my blog isn’t good enough.
I think us bloggers go through the mill a bit; in these days of social media listeners who appear to be able to hear nothing and the general re-shuffle of who is brand appropriate and who isn’t there’s a legion of bloggers wondering, after supporting brands wholeheartedly for years, what the heck is going on.
More worryingly, the ‘listeners’ who are quite deaf really, don’t quite have the public relations skills to deal with fall-out of what they create. Brands are looking to them as experts, but tell me someone more expert in blogging than a blogger?
So going back to my opener, I am absolutely sure I am not the only blogger to take a massive knock-back but my goodness when it comes, it hurts. I work in a pro-blogger way with brands and agencies, who to be fair are utterly overwhelmed, on how to work in a good way with bloggers. There aren’t samples for everyone any more, there aren’t enough hours in the day to respond to every email and request from bloggers – that is just how the landscape lies. So, it makes sense for brands to hand over the blogger arm to someone more experienced. But this only works if that someone (and yes, they really are called ‘listeners’) is actually experienced. When I’m talking to brands about working positively with bloggers, it’s often the case that they just need to have permission to say no to the multitude of requests. PRs are trained to be the person that makes it happen, so saying no isn’t a natural thing and feels all wrong at their end. However, the fact remains that there literally is not enough time or enough sample availability for everyone to have a slice. So, no it has to be. I totally get it from both sides of the fence and at the moment it isn’t easy on either side.
But what I don’t expect, really, is to be insulted which is exactly what’s happened. And without going into specifics (all I can say is that me and my little blog weren’t deemed ‘cool enough’ or ‘influential enough’ or ‘good enough’ or ‘worthy enough’ or any of the enoughs that ‘listeners’ apply) because that’s of no use to anyone, I will say that the consequences are devastating.
What’s got forgotten, and what was there at the beginning and is lost now, is that behind the general ‘blogger’ umbrella are people who just love beauty. While my site is monetized and it is now a fully-fledged pro-blog, I couldn’t write about beauty day in and day out without loving it to the core. Some brands genuinely hold a place in my heart, for being part of my past, my present and my future and I think a lot of us feel this way. I don’t love beauty any the less because it’s now my job and not my hobby any more. I’m beyond upset at the thoughtlessness I’ve been shown and as I pretty much share the ups and downs on my blog, I thought I’d just be open about this one, too. You’re never too big to be taken down. You’re never too successful to feel an inch high and for some you’re never quite good enough. And, Jesus, it’s not a nice feeling.
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