More Changes

Ok.

 I know some of you are probably sick of reading my writings about being dissatisfied with my blogging and making changes. 

 But....I need to write it out. It helps me get my thoughts together and it helps me stay accountable to what I want to do.

My #1 goal for my 13 in '13 goals was to make my blogging more about me. I've already made some changes and I'm feeling better already. 

I also revamped my "About Me" page and added a page telling my blog's mission. I'd love for you to check them out. 

After this, I think I should have things the way I want them for a while. Since I've been on break, I've had a lot of time to think about blog things and I've decided to make one more change.

The last change I want to make is to sponsorship.

I wrestled with the decision to start sponsorship and I've wrestled with it ever since. I've always wanted to treat sponsors the way I want to be treated. I've tried to do things that I wish people would have done for me. I've tried to think of new and better ways to incorporate and promote my sponsors.

It's been a LOT of work.

I think sponsors may be one reason I've been so dissatisfied. If I didn't have a full time job outside of the home, having sponsors might be easier for me. How things are now, though, I feel pressure to be sure and give my sponsors what I promised them. I usually also feel like I'm not doing enough. 

Another problem has been that some people are HARD to promote. I don't want to sound cruel and I've only had very sweet people sponsor me. {BUT...Here's a blogging tip for you:} YOU have to promote yourself as well. A person you sponsor is not a miracle worker. It's so much easier to promote people who post regularly and post good, quality posts. That being said, I've also had some wonderful bloggers sponsor me who've been very easy and fun to promote.

After a lot of thought, I've decided to do away with paid sponsorships (at least for now). 

The main reason I decided to go ahead and take sponsors in the first place was to try and earn some money so that I would have money to sponsor other blogs. I'm a little sad that I won't be able to do that. Instead I'm going to try and focus on promoting my blog in other ways. I also want to focus on writing good, quality posts that make other people want to spread the word about my blog posts.

I always viewed taking on sponsors as a way to help others. I don't want to stop doing that. 

So...what am I going to do?

I will continue to offer button swaps. When I first started blogging, button swapping was my advertisement of choice. I don't care what size your blog is, I will swap with you. 

Other than that, I want to start promoting blogs that I enjoy. Blogs that I truly think are worth reading. These blogs could range from blogs that have 10 followers to blogs that have over 1000 followers. These may be bloggers who don't even follow me. Some blogs may show up over and over again because they're everyday reads for me. 

I want to choose blogs to put on my sidebar every month that I want to try and promote because I enjoy them. I want to tweet, post on Facebook, or pin blog posts that I think are worth reading. I want to ask people to guest post on my blog simply because I think they have something worthwhile to share. 

I also want to use my sidebar to promote causes I believe in. I also hope to continue to use my sidebar and posts to help families who are trying to adopt.

The best part about all of this is that it will be flexible. There will be no timeline that I have to follow. If someone stay on my sidebar for more than a month, it will be ok. If I forget to tweet about a blog I love, it will be ok. I really need that flexibility right now. 

I will finish out sponsorships with the people who are already in my queue and then I will put these changes into place. 

Thanks to those of you who read through this and who have been supportive of the changes I'm making. I honestly have felt so much better about blogging recently and I know it's because I'm getting back to doing things I enjoy not things I feel like I need to do.

Have a great day!