( Follow my blog on Bloglovin, BTW. I finally joined after 3.5 years of blogging.. lol! )
People ask me this question a lot, and honestly my answer is all over the board. Yes, majorly & no, not at all — depending on the sitch.
The truth is, it really depends on the person. It also depends on the type of blog, whether the person blogs for a living or just for fun, and what their intentions were when starting their blog.
But as usual: it MAINLY comes down to the personality of the blogger.
Here is my super blunt opinion: If the person is blogging for the right reasons, then they are probably not competitive. They know their subject, they have passion for what they’re doing and they own it. They don’t waste their time trying to compete with other bloggers.
This panel of ladies yesterday at GirlTalkLA couldn’t possibly have been more inspiring & SUPPORTIVE.
If they are not blogging for the right reasons, then they are probably highly competitive… because they aren’t being very true to themselves and they don’t have the passion or chops to back up their blog.
I blog for a living, but it certainly didn’t start that way. I started blogging because I was beyond obsessed with wellness & writing and then fell in love with connecting with my audience. I tried to force myself to stay in grad school but all I cared about was blogging… so I left to do it full-time. The passion is still real, 3.5 years later.
Most of the OG bloggers who are in it for the right reasons blog because they LOVE it, regardless of the monetization they’ve been able to put into place.
With my bb’s & some of my biggest supports and fellow entrepreneurs / honorary bloggers… Kelly & J. 🙂
It’s sort of the same as any other profession, right? If someone decides to go to law school because they are SUPER PASSIONATE about the law, then they probably are going to focus on their own shit and not let their fellow aspiring lawyers get in their way.
But if they’re going to law school because they feel like they “should” or because their parents forced them to… they probably look at their peers all the time and compare themselves, feel insecure, and/or try to bring others down because they aren’t making passionate, intentional choices. (MAYBE. Not all people do this just because they aren’t totally passionate about their career, obvi).
Here’s the dealio: the most successful bloggers that I know are the most humble, passionate and the most willing to be friends & help others find success. When you are confident with your own blog & brand, there is no need to feel like there isn’t room for all of us.
A few of the super inspiring & successful bloggers I’m referring to are Lauryn of The Skinny Confidential, Geri of Because I’m Addicted, Katie of Chocolate Covered Katie, Sophie of Philosophie Mama, Tara & Jesse of How You Glow, Whitney of Eco Vegan Gal, Remi of Rrayyme, Rachel of Rachlmansfield, Courtney of Realfoodology, and the epic Kathryn Budig to just name a few.
And there are SO many more bloggers who I love and am friends with — I’m not trying to choose favorites here, I’m just naming some women who have been extra supportive & collaborative with me (and all of them have become close friends) because I think it’s something YOU guys as readers should be aware of because they are all freaking awesome as people.
Chillin’ with my blogger babes at an event a few months ago!
These ladies are always nothing but supportive, open to collaboration and willing to share the deets of their own success.
For instance — Katie & Kathryn are two of the busiest badasses I know. I emailed them questions for my upcoming Business of Blogging eBook Q&A, and they both got their answers back to me within 24 hours. Lauryn — who no doubt gets 500+ emails a day — subscribes to my newsletter & is always the first to respond to it and congratulate me on little successes.
Remi & I text all of the time about partnership opps we are both a part of and give each other all sorts of advice & support when making blog-related decisions.
Courtney and Rachel have become fast close friends of mine, especially because we have SO MUCH IN COMMON — there is no need to compete because of that, there is enough room for everyone’s successes.
All of the people I mentioned I have a special relationship with and I would not know them if it weren’t for the fact that we ALL have the same profession! And guess what? Zero competition there. I love ALL of their blogs, no matter how similar or different their content is to mine.
That one time K. Budig & I ran into each other in the Hearst Building when we were both promoting our books!
It got me thinking… the number one most successful bloggers in my book are always interactive with their fellow bloggers as well as their readers. It just comes with the territory, and I think people who shy away from that sort of thing are missing out on a big, positive opportunity.
Also, the Instagram wellness community BLOWS me away with the openness, support, collaboration, friendship & authenticity. There are probably 50+ girls who I communicate with on a daily basis through Instagram — we all support each other’s photos, like & comment, and have developed genuine friendships based off of awesome likeminded interests.
Danika Brysha, model & founder of Model Meals (and influencer) is one of the RADDEST, COOLEST, MOST AWESOME chicks that I know. No competition here, ever. Just tons of collaborative ideas and creative juices flowin’ every time I’m with this babe.
No one who is confident in their own brand and as their own person acts “above” anyone else… We are all in the same boat & trying to make this rad alternative career work and be as longterm sustainable as possible!
Sophie & Whitney supporting at my app launch event in November 2014! Cannot BELIEVE it’s been two years.
The way I feel about it is, the more of us that are doing this for a living — the better for ALL of us (and our readers).
I think it’s so cool to see blogging as a business turn into such a lucrative and attainable career path. A few years ago, it simply wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t really a form of marketing and people who were doing it were doing it JUST because they love it. (Like Geri, who has been blogging since 2005!)
When I refer to bloggers who aren’t in it for the right reasons, I am talking about a few types of people:
- people who think that starting a blog will make them famous and/or super-well known and desirable for that reason… because then their blog becomes all about them (#selfies galore) and doesn’t have a key passion or definitive subject behind it
- people who think that their modeling shots on Instagram make them a blogger, but have no interest in writing or providing quality content to back it up. (Nothing wrong with model pics… but those people are not bloggers by my standards.)
- people who try to start blogging full-time way before they are ready to take the leap, so they end up cramming their blog and/or social media with ads and paid posts because of the $$. Trust me, I get it. We have all gone through an “ad happy” phase… but if you lose your passion or stray from your readers’ expectations because of it, you will lose quality and readership quite quickly
- people who are using blogging as a stepping stone for social climbing, networking, or other job opps. It’s true that blogging CAN be a great stepping stone toward other awesome things… like writing books, hosting TV shows, growing a Youtube channel, etc. There is a way to be authentic, genuine and open about what your ultimate goals are without sacrificing the quality of your blog or coming off as in-genuine to other bloggers
- simply, mean / catty girls who have no interest in supporting other bloggers or forming any type of community
Basically, I would be nowhere if I didn’t read other bloggers’ stuff. I think it’s important to support other people in the industry because these are our contemporaries… people who we can go to with questions, support at events and have them support at ours, and people who we can collab & bounce ideas off of.
The beautiful Rachel Mansfield supporting me at my Breaking Vegan book signing in NYC this summer!
I mean — we are all in this biz for a reason! Not to walk all over each other and vie for opportunities, but to reach our audiences and provide them with quality content. AND to live our happiest lives by doing something we absolutely love for a living.
I hope this sums it all up without being too all over the place! Yes — many bloggers are competitive. I can spot them from a mile away. I do not get along with those people. At all.
But many, many are not. You will find these genuine bloggers all over the Internet — supporting other bloggers, attending events, speaking on panels, posting from the heart content about things that inspire them, new wellness methods / etc. and not solely sponsored posts or solely super glossy, done up images from events that make them appear super high-profile (even if they are!).
Some of the most badass ladies I know. Kirbie is a POPSUGAR TV host, Maile founded & runs BeGlammed (such a #boss), and Sarah founded GirlTalkLA. Their inspiration & tips have been so meaningful to me — we all have so much to learn from each other.
Overall — support other people! It makes a huge diff. And this space is a GREAT way to make friends with likeminded interests. People who are doing seriously awesome & inspirational things.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Do share? X
Collaborating with my boo Aerial in our Adidas a few weekends ago!
