Why Should I Give a Damn About Your Blog

by: Carol Bryant

Seriously, did you ever ask yourself that as a reader and not a writer of a blog? “That” being  “why should I give a damn about your blog?”

If you are solely writing for you and about you and by you and because after all, you rock, I probably won’t give a damn about your blog.

If it’s all about you and you never give back, don’t reciprocate, engage with others both within your niche and outside it, I probably won’t give a damn about your blog.

There’s a time and a place to be who you are and yes, you should infuse your own uniqueness of voice into what you write, but not at the expense at boring the hell out of me, your reader.

It is great fun that your dog went shopping with you and that is perfect fodder for something like, say, Twitter. I mean, who the heck can make a dog shopping excursion into something shareable and with allure for the reader? Some of the more highly trafficked bloggers can. These are the pet bloggers who know that you need to add humor, meaning, relatability, and purpose to a post to make it noticeable.

The folks who ask for a LIKE, a FOLLOW, please VOTE for my pet because my pet needs to win….and that’s the only time you hear from them….well that drives me, and most of you reading this insane, right?

So don’t do. Because I won’t give a damn about your blog.

Want to be selected for BlogPaws paid $$ campaigns? We hear this over and over and over: I want to monetize and why am I not being selected for paid campaigns?

Here’s what to do:

Want brands to notice you? If you are blogging out of passion and purpose, i.e., to monetize, then chances are you want brands to notice you. Two to three things can make this happen right away, and these are the things I highly recommend you answer right now:

A) Did you attend the BlogPaws Conference in May?

B) If so, did you write about any of the brands you met, visited, saw, took a photo with, breezed past, engaged with, or otherwise at least knew was there?

C) If you didn’t attend the BlogPaws Conference in May, did you explore any of the brands who were present and blog about them?

If you aren’t on a brand’s radar, how do you expect to get noticed? No matter what tactics you use and where you are in your blog’s business plan (and you have one, right), getting into a relationship with a brand is like entering into a romantic relationship with someone. If it’s all one-sided, it gets old fast. If you complain because you want to be noticed but then fail to show up for dates, why should the relationship be expected to thrive?

It won’t, and the brands won’t give a damn about your blog.

Working With Brands Part Two

If you want a brand to perhaps sponsor you to attend a conference like BlogPaws, wouldn’t it make sense to get on their radar NOW? Want to impress a brand? Be social, be active, be engaging, come to a conference and while it’s fun to showcase all the fun you and your friends had: What do your readers really want to see?

Why should they give a damn to read about what you are writing?

• Did you discover a fab new cat litter that your readers would love to know about? Then write about it and show them photos.
• Did you find a new flea and tick repellant that your readers would fine useful? Then write about it and show them photos.
• Did you discover a new pet food brand that is something you would consider feeding your own pet? Say it with me now: Then write about it and show them photos.
• If you remove yourself from your blog and look at the content from a reader’s perspective, what is it they want to know?
• Are you solving a problem?
• Are you engaging them on some level with content they can apply to their own lives?
• Are you creating content that brands would find appealing?
• Is the content image heavy and SEO rich with no errors, run-on sentences and with advice or information that reaches today’s modern pet parent in some capacity?
• Again, ask yourself: Why should I give a damn about your blog?

As someone who works behind the green curtain but also blogs out loud in front of it, I can tell you: Pet parents are hungry for information, they want problems solved, and they want it from sources they can trust. Those sources are today’s savvy pet bloggers.

Brands want to care about what you have to say. They know that the right pet bloggers are the ones they want to work with: The ones who yes, have the numbers, but more so have the influence.

I am more likely to read a blog if I feel the person behind the keyboard is reputable, did his or her research, has a reputation to put on the line behind those words, and keeps current on trends, the industry, and their blog’s overall appearance. I am not alone in this.

I am more likely to want to work with you, if I am a brand, if you are blogging regularly. Not when the spirit moves you. Not once or twice a month. Not because you copied and pasted a press release. If you mean what you say and do so with regularity, I will start giving a damn.

There is a time and a place and a spot for blog posts that are fun, light, and solely about you. Pepper your blog with them. Spice the content up with variety.

How to Get Brands to Notice You via BlogPaws

There are a few things you can do for brands to give a damn about your blog.  If you follow this list and do so faithfully, chances are high you’ll be noticed:

Join the BlogPaws Community and interact with fellow bloggers;

Comment on other pet bloggers and bloggers outside your niche;

Come to the BlogPaws Twitter chats on Tuesday evenings from 8 to 10 pm and engage, interact, follow and be present: Be known without being self-promotional;

Be seen at the BlogPaws Conference;

Take content inventory of your blog and determine if you are writing for folks to give a damn;

Visit the BlogPaws website daily and read the posts we put up (we post twice a day most days) – sometimes more;

Join the BlogPaws Pet Blogger Influencer Group and take part in the monthly challenges where we help you grow your social media numbers with a purpose and a plan;

Reply to paid blogger campaign call outs when they arrive in a timely fashion. Don’t wait until the last minute.  Be thorough and pay close attention to the box asking “Please share any information with us that you feel is relative to your participation in this campaign.” – This is super important. What you say, how you say it and what you showcase here is pivotal;

Did you know BlogPaws does not pick the bloggers for the campaigns, but the brands do? It’s true. We give them a list of the applicants, but the brands select the bloggers they want based on the answers from the call-out form. They are coming to your blog and looking at your social media pages. Want to impress a brand and make them give a damn? Be creative, be visual, show links to videos you have done, similar posts, and tell us why you would rock this campaign. Make the brand give a damn about your blog. If you want to be paid, then you have to put the content and the commitment out there. Oh, and it’s a whole ton of fun, too: I know, I do it all the time. I have been where you are and continue to implement my strategy to move forward and be a resource for today’s modern pet parent.

Get those numbers in social media up. Gone are the days of  “but I can’t build my numbers” or “I just can’t get the hang of Pinterest” or “I can never get noticed because I am: New, small, not influential, not worthy, blah blah blah” – No way! Come to the pet blogger influencer group and take part in our monthly challenges. Going back to the dating metaphor, if you don’t want to get noticed then you don’t answer the phone and you don’t engage with people, right? You’ll stay single, and if that’s not what you want: then engage! We even show you how. It’s a win win. It takes one thing on your part: Commitment by giving a damn about your goals.

Is all of this hard work? Yes. Is it time consuming? Yes. Do many of you have full-time jobs, lives, volunteer efforts, family things, medical issues, and more to deal with outside of blogging? Of course: Many if not all of us do, too.

If you want something enough, you work for it, and you need to give a damn about your blog as much as the readers and brands you want to notice your mad skills in the first place.

So write something, be thoughtful about it, and give a damn.

We give a damn about our community and members, so help us help you rock that blog and achieve your goals. And when you are feeling down or having a crappy day and need a boost, how about bookmarking this post and reminding yourself that you do give a damn, do have an influence to pet parents somewhere, and that you owe it to yourself to be the best possible pet blogger you can be.

We’ll be running a month-long series on writing a business plan here on the BlogPaws site to help you get that accomplished.

What are you doing to help others give a damn about your blog?