June 7, 2012

Thursday's Dirty Little Secret #21

My favorite meme of the week! Dirty Little Secret is hosted by the lovely ladies of Under the Covers. This awesome meme challenges book bloggers to share a new dirty little secret each week.


To participate in the meme all you need to do is:


1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions.
3. Answer the question we propose! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
4. Then add your link at Under the Covers


Non-bloggers, leave your answer in the comments! 


This week's question is:

Share your experiences with blogging! 
List TWO "Don't" and one "Do" when it comes to blogging and reviewing.

DON'T: get discouraged! If you are just starting out, it can be easy to feel like no one is reading. I know when I first started I had many blogs that I looked up to and felt like I would never get to where they are. While I'm still not quite there, I have grown so much since I started a year and a half ago. Give yourself a chance to grow and don't give up!

DON'T: be afraid to be different! There are so many types of book blogs that focus on different genres and even mix it up with movie and product reviews. Each one is awesome so don't be afraid to be yourself and do what's right for you. Romance, paranormal, and YA book blogs seem to be the most popular, but if that's not what you're really into, then don't conform just to get followers. I do a little bit of everything here, but I used to be afraid to post certain reviews because I felt like my readers wouldn't be interested in them. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of them either also loved those kinds of books or found a new genre to love! 

DO: network with your fellow bloggers! It's important to make friends with other bloggers, reviewers, and readers in order to develop your skill and make connections. I stayed fairly shy for the first year of my blog and stuck to posting my reviews. I ended my first year with only 45 followers. I was pretty bummed, but it taught me a lesson and pushed me to pull my head out of the sand and meet new people! I'm so glad I did as there is a crazy amount of sweet, honest, and bad-ass bloggers out there. Literally within  just a few months after I made the plunge, my number of followers exploded to about 5 times the previous amount. As you can see, not only do you get the benefit of making new friends and connections, but also you learn about events within the book blogging community. Blog hops/giveaways, weekly memes, and read-a-thons are excellent ways to meet MORE people and expand your readership.  So get out there and have fun!
  
So, what's your dirty little secret?

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Brilliant advice!!
Really good points here :-)

Here's my DLS for this week: http://ttoria.blogspot.com

Vix

Carmen Shaw said...

I second that! Hehe! Especially the first one! I really felt like that when I first started out and thought ,"What's the point of blogging when no one's reading anyway?" That feeling sucks but those strong enough to persevere definitely see the results :)

Shae @ Understanding Shae's Story

Unknown said...

I agree and can relate to everything you said here. It was frustrating at first and mind boggling how everyone else got solid followings and we didn't! Networking with other bloggers really helped.

Talk Supe DLS

Unknown said...

Great advice!

I need to take more time and be more active on commenting on blogs, I think.

Ann

C.S. Maxwell said...

Great Advice...it's so easy to get caught up in the numbers game of how many followers you have. After I joined a few different memes and blog hops, my numbers increased. And now I realize it's not about the numbers, but just enjoying what you do, and having a great time with those that are following you.
Here is my DLS:

http://csmaxwell.blogspot.com/2012/06/dirty-little-secret.html

Kristin (Book Sniffers Anonymous) said...

Great advice! I didn't network for a while at the beginning. Yeah, I'd partake in meme's but that was about it. Then I started my twitter account and I love it! I get to talk with other bloggers and authors in a way that I normally wouldn't of had the chance to.
Book Sniffers Anonysmous

Bark At The Ghouls said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bark At The Ghouls said...

Fabulous advice. Sometimes I feel like I'm in own little world, playing on my blog and tweaking silly little things. That time will be better spent reading and commenting on other blogs.

Ning said...

Great answer! I need to find more time to reach out. It just seems a lot of people hang around Twitter and I can never figure out how people get reading done and be on Twitter at the same time?

Ning @ Reading by Kindle Fire

JoLee @ Wickedly Delicious Book Blog said...

Great answers. Have a nice week.

Unknown said...

Great DLS! Love your Do & Don'ts! I agree about not being afraid to be different. I too cover different genre's on my blog but hey, if I like it, I'll post it. lol. *hopes I'm bad ass* lol. Great Do! Networking I believe is the key to a successful blog :)

Ana♥

Unknown said...

<a href="http://beachbumreads.blogspot.com/2012/06/dirty-little-secret-4.html> My DLS @ Beach Bum Reads </a>