What Do You Do With A Problem Like A Blogger?

Excuse the Sound of Music reference, but what exactly do you do with a blogger? Sure a doctor you can get, a reporter -well you may want to run the opposite direction, a teacher, a lawyer- but what do you do with a blogger?????? What do they do anyway?

If you happen to have a crazy friend or family member that is a blogger, you've probably had thought/said at least one of these...  ("Why are you so excited?", "Explain in a dummy version please!", "Why are you taking a picture of that?", "Ummm.... So?", "And that means what?", "You're doing what? I thought you were going to go do something, not stay home and work on your blog thingy", "Not everything has to be for a blog post", "Oh you're a "blogger..." - (brain quickly conjuring up person hunched over computer in parents basement in PJ's or worse yet underpants while typing furiously on the keyboard and grumbling something unintelligible. 'Kids, I'll stall them RUN!'), "What do you R-E-A-L-L-Y do" - (No over pronouncing it is not going to make us understand your question better. We are not "cavemen" and for the most part understand what you are saying). "You're a blogger- oh... well... that's cool", "there's such a thing as a blogger award?", "What's a blog?").

I have gotten a few crazy looks over the years while trying to explain to people that I am a blogger, what a blogger is and that no I am not crazy. Trust me! Blogging isn't as crazy as it sounds- or makes us sound so please put the phone down, no need to call the doctor. Just that we are rambling on and on about code, affiliates, sponsored posts, our newest blog post etc. does not mean we jumped on the bus to the 'funny farm' - fun maybe but not funny. I'll prove it.

• Not all blogs are gossip centers of nonsense.  

Lots and lots of us work hard to bring you topics that are near a dear to our hearts. Things we love, places we love, products we love and so many other things!

• For us, blogging is a "Real" job

For some, it is a second or third job and for others, it is our job period. We are writers, but unlike authors of books- our content (for the most part) is shorter and is published much more often than authors which means it has to be written spelled checked and ready to go much faster than a book.

• No, we do not all blog in our parent's basement

Well at least I don't, the internet doesn't work well down there (wink).

• We love what we do!

Though some days it may not seem like it- we LOVE blogging! Which is why we have a laptop attached to our fingertips- like it is part of our hands on a beautiful weekend when we could be doing whatever it is that you consider "fun".

• No, we are not rabid crazy creatures whose bite will turn you into one of us.

 I have met lots of bloggers over the years, and while I can't promise they won't bite if sorely provoked. We are not rabid- well... I never actually seen one on a full moon... hmm- I'm sure- Ahh might be best to avoid them when there is a full moon....

•  There are all kinds of bloggers- not just the ones in their parent's basement scarfing on junk food.

There are travel bloggers, food bloggers, fashion / beauty bloggers, mommy bloggers, daddy bloggers, farm & garden bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, pet bloggers, chicken bloggers and dozens of others (if I missed your niche please forgive me!)

So have you ever wondered how to support 'your' crazy blogger? Here some ideas that you have no idea how helpful they are -and don't worry it won't suck your brains out or turn you into a crazy blogger yourself (at least it shouldn't).

1. Comment on blog posts, comments are always encouraging, think of it as a birthday & Christmas present all rolled into one.
2. Share, pin, tweet, stumble, google+, Yummly & Reddit (or any other place you can think of!) the blog posts, especially if it is something you really liked .
3. Like and comment on our social media posts, this helps our post reach more people, which in turn gets us a bigger audience aka more readers.
4. Invite your friends to like our social media pages or check out our blogs
5. Give us feedback on our sites- but temper it with kindness! We put a lot of work into our posts- think of them as our babies. But if something doesn't look right, a link isn't working or it you have trouble finding things let us know.
6. If there is a certain recipe etc. that you would like and it fits with our niche send it to us! New ideas are always helpful!
7. Follow us on social media.
8. Use our Affiliate links while shopping- This is a great way to support your favorite blogger, and it doesn't cost you any extra money. (Say you are Christmas shopping online to avoid the crowds at the mall and click on the amazon affiliate link on my blog. If you buy things on Amazon it will pay me so much for you clicking on my link to their website. It costs you nothing extra but helps your friendly neighborhood blogger to pay for the blog. Make sense?)
9. Enter the giveaways we host and share the life out of them.
10. Tell us we're brilliant and bring us cookies. Just kidding!

Now go hug a blogger!