THE VALUE OF BLOGGER FRIENDSHIPS AS A BLOGGER
Yesterday was a very special day for me as I met for the first time a few very special bloggers I connected with when I first started my blog. Saving Joyfully first began February 8, 2018 (exactly 5 months today) and was created as an outlet to share resources and tips with you on how I save money and make money to stretch my budget. Along the way I have met and connected with many amazing bloggers who have helped to inspire me further. The couple I met with today, has been there on the journey with me since close to the very beginning of Saving Joyfully.
My first blogger meetup
I just wanted to share a quick post about my experience meeting them and a few photos as well as why friendships and connections with other bloggers are so important. My husband and I went to Springfield Missouri just this past week to visit family and I reached out to Joel and Emily who live near St Louis Missouri about connecting. I have worked with Joel and Emily frequently over the past few months, as I have with many other amazing bloggers I connected with along the way.
How we have supported and encouraged each other
We have shared our blogging challenges and struggles as well as our blogging success stories on many occasions. We follow and support each other in so many ways. I have known since I started that Joel and Emily were just a message away if I needed anything, and I hope they have always felt the same. We made an arrangement and met for lunch on our way back to Toledo from Springfield and lunch was so refreshing. This couple is just as pleasant and inspiring in person as they are on their website. Do you know what the best things is about blogger friendships though? They can relate on so many struggles and challenges that I as a blogger deal with all the time.
Why blogger friendships are important
If you are a blogger and you are struggling, I want to encourage you to reach out and develop some blogger friendships. I cannot guarantee the success of your blog through it, but I can guarantee this the connections you make, will make blogging a much more positive experience. People want to connect on a personal level and want to feel like they matter and in lending a helping hand or reaching out in friendship to another blogger you will find that others may be needing some of the same support as you.
Be real with others and share their joys and struggles
If you are a blogger let me encourage you that real engagement and real connections are much more important than the numbers. It can be the difference between a blogger continuing to blog and giving up entirely. Blogging is not always easy, especially when you are putting yourself out there all of the time for everyone to critique. Keep in mind other bloggers know the same challenges frequently and they are not competition necessarily. I believe there is a whole internet for all of us out there and we are each developing our own unique websites. Be real and develop relationships and you may just end up building some great connections and priceless friendships along the way.
Beyond and Budget and SavingJoyfully are pictured here
The photos I included are from our lunch with Joel and Emily and let me just say if we lived in the same city I think I would have found some new best buds. Joel and Emily are not the only bloggers I have connected with along the way that have truly impacted my life. I have been blessed to connect with way more than I can ever mention and some on a more personal level than others. I am honored to have many of these bloggers who shoot me messages frequently and challenge me to do new things with my blog and even ask for my advice which is very flattering. For the bloggers that have invested so much in me since I began Saving Joyfully, I can never thank you enough.You can check out Joel and Emily's website here at beyondabudget.comBeyondabudget.com no longer exists. Sadly this lovely couple Joel and Emily stopped blogging sometime within the next year. It was still an awesome experience to meet and connect with others who shared my passion for blogging.
