It all started when I first started blogging, I was more of what you'd call a personal/journal type blogger at first. I mostly only wrote posts after each marathon so my friends and family no matter their location, could check out what I am up to and keep tabs on me and my goal progress.
Sure, I had this huge background in online advertising and marketing as well as website building. You would have thought that would also fall true into blogging. While some did, not everything I knew prepared me for what needed to be done to grow a blog.
Why? Well frankly I didn't know exactly how to go about finding other blogs out there that had similar interests. I also had this weird assumption that all bloggers were personal journal type bloggers.
I'll skip all the details of how I discovered other bloggers. But let's just say, once upon a time it started to happen.
A lot of how I built my blog was by trial and error. I always say if I started blogging now, I would do things SO much differently.
But I can't start over, at least not with this blog.
Through all that trial and error, I started realizing what worked and what didn't. I quickly discovered blogging alone, without any networking or blogging friends, was very boring. But with blogging friends, it really does become an incredible experience.
I also learned its not exactly possible to take a small blog and grow it without networking.
So I told myself if I ever built my blog up enough, I would share my knowledge and help others.
Clearly I don't have the biggest blog out there. I still have a long ways to go from where I have dreams to take it. But I do have a fairly decent combined reach of over 12K, which isn't too shabby. So the time came, I decided to give back a little and help others who may be like I was, when I was still trying to figure it all out.
I've met bloggers who have joined in these hops I host who've told me they'd been blogging for years, and never had any idea how to get anyone to read their blog.
After participating one of my hops, my hope is bloggers walk away from the experience with a little more knowledge on what they can do going forward to get people to come to their blogs. Not only that, but those who play by the rules of the hop walk away from it finding a few new relationships from it. If kept up they even can become long term followers.
I do not do these for financial gain.
Several bloggers have asked me why I do not charge a small fee to participate. I'll be honest, I have considered it in the past. Especially when it's pretty obvious a few bloggers who have joined were in it entirely for their own benefit, with no intention of playing by the rules and giving back to others with my (Comment for a Comment Rule System.) It's possible, charging may weed out a few of those. (Of course that is also the beauty of being the host. I can disapprove any of those types from joining in future hops.)
Additionally, I won't lie, these do take a considerable amount of my time. Which is why I only intend on ever hosting these twice a year in February & Oct/Nov. I do the Giveaway hops during other times of the year, because they take considerably less time to put together.
But honestly I do these to help bloggers as well as for the fun experience of it all. So no, I do not require or accept financial payment to host these.
Instead I enjoy hearing about other success, I enjoy hearing about the fun they have during them. I myself also always seem to find a few new awesome bloggers to follow with them too. Honestly, those reasons are payment enough!
If you're wondering why I picked today of all days to share this post. Well truth is, this evening will be my first Community Blogging Event or maybe it would be better put Beginners Blogging Class.
I've done presentations in small groups with people I know before. But this will be my first with mostly complete strangers in my community and I am a little excited about it. (I'm sure the nerves will kick in about 10 minutes before it's to start, ha ha.)
I look at it as another fun way for me to help others by sharing my online background and what I have learned as a blogger. It's a really fun hobby, I enjoy sharing that fun part with others.
Additionally, the February blog hops are starting soon, and I am excited to meet the new participants and get to know some awesome new bloggers.
If you have ever read my blogs mission statement (At the bottom of my About Me page.) Then this line from it will sound familiar. I believe not everything you do, should be about yourself.
That is exactly why, I host blog hops, and that is what I get out of them. I probably should have said that at the beginning and spared you all the reading, ha ha.