Yakezie.com

I have a confession to make: I have not been the greatest blogging community member since creating Frugal Confessions in March 2009. I have managed to go through substantial periods of time without commenting on other blogs, I have not “followed” all of the people following me on Twitter, there are missed emails sporadically lost in my inbox, and I’ve probably alienated more than a few commenters. Aside from not being a socialite to begin with, I think the main reason is how I approached my blog from the beginning.

After not being able to break into the columnist world in 2008, I approached my blog as someone would approach a column. Being a writer was always a dream of mine and the various columnists I read in the newspaper each week were my superstars. As a young girl I envisioned my adult life as being holed up in my office brainstorming article ideas, clicking and clacking away at my computer and ending each week by sending off one beautifully finished product to my editor.

I could practically see my own name in the byline of a 1.5” by 3” section of a paper; I even daydreamed about discretely purchasing a newspaper from a newspaper stand to read my own words in print. “Liking” someone, reading tweets, and engaging in social dialogue with other bloggers…this was just not what I had envisioned. Not only had I not included all of this socializing into my daydreams, but I also felt that helping others through social media was like helping a colleague get a promotion over me. Why would anyone want to do that?

What I failed to see in my first year and a half of blogging was that it’s not every man or woman for themselves in the blogging world; it’s every blog for each other. Another blog’s Alexa ranking, page rank, or other metric increasing is not something that threatens my blog. You do not have to be chosen for one of the coveted blogging positions like you do for the dwindling columnist positions still available because there is enough room for a limitless number of blogs.

With that being said, I wanted to share with you what I have learned through the Yakezie and other bloggers on how to become a better blogging community member.

Introduce Yourself to New Bloggers Read More