Growing Your Blog FAST

There are blogging conferences I want to go to, and blogging meetups I want to be a part of, and blogging happy hours I want to order a drink for, and blogging tutorials (hi, I already do those!) and there are blogging bloggings blog bloggings blogging. The ultimate destination is to arrive at a successful blog that grows FAST. 

Now, I'm not an expert, there is no such thing as a blogging expert. Even cupcakes and cashmere isn't a blogging expert. An expert is someone that has a comprehensive knowledge in their skill or field. To be a blogging expert you would need to have full knowledge on literally everything from design, to coding, to the entire adobe creative suite, to editing video (don't forget about vlogging), to style, to DIY, to cooking... and so on and so forth. I'm not sure but if I had to guess, Cupcakes and Cashmere didn't even code her own blog. I'm just speculating, of course. You can't major in blogging at any universities, so until you can, I'll continue to stand by my thought that no one is an expert. 

On an unrelated note, I made this background in 5 minutes and I'm actually quite proud of it! Proof that overthinking ruins things!  

This whole ramble is just to say that there isn't any mathematical formula or simple one-step secret for growing quickly. There just isn't. 

Think of blogging like a Rachel Ray recipe. Unlike most chefs, she doesn't use measuring cups. She just eyeballs it and throws it in the pot. If it works, she keeps it that way, if it doesn't she adds a bit more, or tries something else to cover the initial mistake. 

For example: Guess what, there are tons of bloggers out there that have 2,000+ followers on Bloglovin, but if you saw their page views per day, your jaw would drop. As in they entered a million giveaways and paid for all of their followers, but no one reads the blog daily. 

On the opposite side of things: there are fashion bloggers out there that have wayyyy less followers than I do, but have probably a thousand more daily page views each day than I do. People follow them via Pinterest and Instagram. 

Not even the most incredible content on the web can get you off the ground. Ok, so you have the best blog content ever, bustling with style and creativity, but you don't spend a dime on advertising. Do you really think blog readers will just stumble on your blog via google? Sure you can pin your pins, but if you don't have a Pinterest following, what good will that do you? You've got to advertise. 

My point is that no one can say, "Sarah... do this and this and this and this, and you'll grow to be big and strong." I don't know what the answer is. I spend an enormous amount of time on my blog. More than I really should admit, but it is fun for me. Maybe that is why I was able to grow, I don't know. On the flip side, maybe people don't read my blog because they think I try too hard. And they would be right! I do try really really hard. But I've got a lot of shit going on in my life and blogging is a major source and outlet of happiness for me. 

I'm rambling, but you could do everything by the book, do the giveaways, spend a lot of time, pimp your posts out via social media until you are blue in the face... it doesn't mean you'll be successful.

Or.... you could do none of that and be viral overnight. Who knows? Blogging is just weird.