Guest Post- The Importance of Relationships in Blogging- By Abby!

Hello, readers of The Busy Budgeting Mama!! I know what you’re thinking: “Hey! You’re not Natalie! What are you doing here?!” It’s true. I’m not Natalie. I’m Abby from over at Just a Girl and Her Blog, and I am SO thankful to my dear friend for letting me borrow her blog space today! So why have I hijacked {in the most peaceful way possible, I promise ;) } The Busy Budgeting Mama? Well, today is kind of a big day at my house. Not only is it my second 29th birthday (okay, YES, I’m 30!), but I am also releasing my very first eBook today! Eeeeek! My book Building a Framework: Everything I Learned My First Year of Blogging tells my whole blogging story– from how I set up my blog initially and managed to get those first few readers to my site to how I worked with major brands like IKEA and Behr and am currently making more money through my blog than I did at my previous part time job! Yes, it was quite a year!

Since Natalie played such a major role in my blogging journey, I thought it would only be appropriate to share a bit on the importance of relationships in blogging today. I believe that relationships are absolutely crucial to building a successful blog, and how awesome is that?! You get to meet and {sometimes virtually} hang out with fantastic people while helping each other grow your businesses at the same time! The blogging community is truly the best out there. I thought I’d use Natalie and my story to illustrate the importance of building blogging relationships and pull out some key points along the way.

 

Lesson 1- Interact with bloggers you admire by leaving comments on their blogs and following them on social media.

Natalie and I actually have Mandy to thank for our friendship. House of Rose was one of the first blogs I began following when I started my blog; I love Mandy’s awesome style and sweet personality and quickly became a dedicated reader. I would leave comments on her posts, and I followed her and interacted on social media. Then one day on Instagram, she said she was coming to Pittsburgh to visit her friend Natalie. I commented telling her how thrilled I was that she was coming to my city, and she asked if I wanted to meet up. Well, duh! Of course I would love to! Our three families ended up meeting at the zoo and hanging out– it was a little wild with 8 kids amongst us, but we had a blast.

{We may or may not have gotten some weird looks from strangers because we were getting pictures of the mamas, and not of the children! :-D }

I hadn’t been familiar with Natalie or her blog before that meet-up {I know! How was that possible? I was a fairly new blogger at the time, forgive me.} but we hit it off right away, and since we lived pretty close to one another, we continued to hang out after our initial meet-up.

If I hadn’t been following Mandy’s blog and social media already, she wouldn’t have had a clue who I was, and we probably all wouldn’t have gotten together that day. Even if it doesn’t end in an “in-person” meet up, I have built great friendships with several bloggers that I’ve never actually met in real life because I took the time to consistently comment on their blogs and on their social media platforms. Not only do I have the benefit of getting to know some wonderful people, but I have learned something {often many things} about blogging from each and every one of them too.

Lesson 2- Relationships with bloggers can be a natural gateway to relationships with brands.

The very first blogging event I ever attended was a meet up that Natalie had planned at IKEA Pittsburgh. It was a fun night meeting local bloggers, playing silly games, eating good food, and just getting to know one another. {You can check out Natalie’s recap of the event here.} Before the meet up, Natalie and I had talked about how she got to work with IKEA on her girls’ room, and how she loved every minute of it! At the IKEA event, I got to meet Natalie’s contact that she had worked with on the room. Later that fall, when my husband and I decided that we were going to move our two sons into the same room and everything I was picking out was from IKEA, I was able to contact the person I had networked with at the blogging event and pitch my idea to her. They said “Yes!” and we ended up collaborating on a really fun room!

If it weren’t for conversations I had with Natalie about her experience working with IKEA, I may never have mustered up the courage to approach them about my project, and I really would have missed out! Also, attending a local blogging event gave me the opportunity to not only meet other bloggers in the area, but also to connect with a brand that was on my “dream list” and start a relationship with them.

I am also part of a “mastermind group” of bloggers that formed when I had been blogging for about six months. There are only 10 of us and they are my go-to girls any time I have a question or idea to share. This group has also been beneficial in helping each other make brand connections. We have all had opportunities with different brands, so for example, when I was looking to work with a paint company, I asked if anyone had any connections and within two minutes I had a few different names and email addresses of people to contact. I ended up pitching to Behr, and not only did they say “Yes!” but they asked me to be one of their DIY Experts and work with them on a more consistent basis. This connection never would have happened if it were not for my relationships with other bloggers!

 

Lesson 3- Bloggers help each other out.

Along with the blogging event at IKEA, I also helped Natalie promote Happy Mommy Box at IKEA’s “Bring Your Own Friend” event. Sadly, we had to do this without Natalie because it was during the time she was in the hospital, but fortunately, since we had been working with her to help pack the Happy Mommy Boxes for months, we knew enough about the company to be able to go forward with the event and spread the word. We were also able to get started packing boxes while Natalie was in the hospital so she could focus on recovering and know things were still happening behind the scenes.

{Spreading the word about Happy Mommy Box to IKEA Pittsburgh shoppers with Alison from Just Add Confetti (who created the cover for my eBook!) and Angelique from Where the Piggy Toes Go}

I may not even have a blog today if it weren’t for other bloggers like Natalie who have taken me under their wing and been willing to share their wisdom with me. When I started talking about launching my eBook, for example, Natalie was one of my biggest cheerleaders and graciously let me take over her blog today to spread the word. There were about 15 other bloggers who were willing to read the book, give me feedback, and help me get the word out as well, allowing me to reach way more people than I would alone. Even with smaller projects and individual blog posts, I am involved in a few close-knit Facebook groups of bloggers that help each other promote. Some of my posts that have really taken off have only done so because other bloggers were willing to help me promote them.

 

The bottom line is: blogging is best done in community! Most of the opportunities I’ve gotten as a blogger only happened because of my relationships with other bloggers– everything from connections with brands to collaborations and tour events that brought in a lot of traffic to giveaways that helped to build up my social media numbers. {And more importantly, I wouldn’t have so many of the awesome friendships that I have today if I hadn’t reached out through blogging!} If you are a blogger, have ever thought about starting a blog, or are interested in what all goes into blogs, check out my book! I go into so much more detail about different ideas and strategies that have worked for me. I also talk a lot more about working with brands, building my blog’s following, and the thing everyone always wants to know about: making money! To see a full table of contents, read what bloggers who have read the book are saying about Building a Framework, and even get a sneak peek at a sample chapter, head over to the blog! Hope to see you there!

Thank you again to Natalie for letting me invade her blog today, and thank YOU for reading! Have a wonderful week!