I Am A Blogger

I am home from the 2014 ProBlogger Conference. I am in my own bed. And I know I am a blogger. Which probably sounds a bit silly. I have a blog and have been to a blogging conference two years in a row. You’d think that I know I am a blogger! It seems that I have had an identity crisis about being a blogger and didn’t even know about it.

I AM a blogger

 

But what I hadn’t thought about is how much of a blogger I am. In his opening keynote, Darren (Mr ProBlogger) was talking about blogging and how it’s the thing he has stuck with the most. Brainwave.

 

 

I really hadn’t realised this! I may have only had this blog since February 2012, but I’ve been writing online in one way or another (fan fics, “hand”-coded html freebie websites) since around 2003. I don’t even know how I found blogging. It’s just what I came across and have been doing ever since.

personal super blogger

 

I am also happy being a personal blogger. I don’t have a niche. I doubt I will ever have a niche. Sometimes I am an “influencer”. Sometimes I am a follower. I’ve always been this way. I am an introvert in that I recharge alone, but I’m pretty happy to meet new people. I don’t like small talk with people,  but I love it when I’m into a topic of conversation that both people love (or love/hate, if it’s a debate). I am a walking contradiction. And I’m happy that way. Since I am a personal blogger, my blog will also be a walking contradiction. And that’s cool with me.

 

As you can see from the photo above, we had niche stickers for our conference lanyards this year. I grabbed personal blogger first thing. Then I went back the next day and stuck super blogger on. There’s no definition of any of these. I think I’m super and therefore the super blogger sticker applied. If they have the same stickers next year, I would encourage more people to grab a super blogger sticker, because all of the bloggers I have ever met are super people and should recognise that about themselves.

 

I should close this post out before it becomes a love letter to blogging. I’m going to take the advice that was given at the conference:

 

 

So What Is My Next Step?

 

My eBook. The one I started writing and then got sick and stopped writing! It needs writing, editing and prettying up (technical term, guys) but it will happen and well before the end of this year, too.

 

After that, I really need to get my shit together. There are so many little things I want to improve/do/grow and most of that can be achieved if I plan ahead a little with writing.

 

Do you ever struggle with your identity as a blogger? What will you be doing next?

 

I would love for you to sign up to my newsletter – stay up to date on the blog, receive news on my book and I may have a freebie in the works too.

 

21 Replies to “I Am A Blogger”

  1. I think this is why I really don’t relate to ProBlogger… I read a lot of blogs, and I have my own blog – but I know I don’t “identify” as a blogger as much as other people do…

    …nothing wrong with that, of course — but I’m not passionate about blogging as I am about my creative writing…

    Glad you’ve found that passion, though! 🙂

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      And it’s equally great that you are working so hard on your writing!

  2. I am so glad you had a big lightbulb moment at the conference! If there is something that you do a lot, and love doing it, why not describe yourself as a doer of that thing? Girls who shop a lot call themselves fashionistas, people who eat out at fancy restaurants call themselves foodies, you write on the internet – call yourself a blogger! 🙂
    I realised something this weekend while writing posts – blogging is just a new name for what I’ve always been doing since I was a teen – blathering on about things I love. It used to be Legolas fanfiction, now it’s op shopping and fighting food waste and various other diversions!
    Looking forward to the e-book!

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      It really was a moment where I didn’t realise that I had done this more consistently than anything else?

  3. I do struggle to call myself a blogger and I have no idea what I am doing now, let alone next year!! Haha… Looking forward to following your journey further!

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      Lol trust me, I have no idea what I will be doing next year, but hopefully income related to blogging 🙂 I do random stuff for day jobs sometimes. It pays the bills but it’s not my passion.

  4. I always seem to have an epiphany during Problogger conferences, and it’s great to hear I’m not alone. Wishing you all the best with your plans.

    (And let me know if you’d like a hand editing your ebook. *grin*)

    Bill.

    1. Such an inspiring place that it’s hard not to! Right now I’m all “my book is terrible” haha.

  5. Blogger is currently my listed job at littlelioness.net on my LinkIn because I’m between trained jobs….

    1. I added blogging to my LinkedIn profile so now my “who to add” list is a bizarre mix of bloggers and mining industry people!

  6. I’d definitely say you’re a super blogger! I’ve come back absolutely spent after ALL the learning. I need a holiday to recover 😉

    1. Naw, thank you!! And yes, a holiday to recover would be wonderful. I can understand why some people stayed an extra day to write and relax.

  7. I am with you here. I am a blogger and it is something I have stuck with for a long time. Growing and evolving at each stage. V x

    1. It’s so nice to have something that can grow with you.

  8. I’m a fellow contradiction – I think it’s time they invented a new ‘category’ for us. Neither intro nor extro but somewhere, rather pleasantly, in between.

    A super blogger, yes. I think that moment when you gave yourself permission to go back and slap on the ‘super blogger’ sticker was a defining one. Me, I chose to be a fashion / beauty blogger during the event. We are whatever we choose to be.

    x

    1. Somehow functional, perhaps! 🙂

  9. I can relate to this so much. I always sound a bit sheepish when I tell people I’m a blogger. I don’t know why. It’s bullshit. We should be proud of this, proud of what we have created. I keep reminding myself of a genius quote I saw somewhere: “The worst thing you wrote is better than the best thing you didn’t”. We are putting ourselves out there, creating a body of work. That’s pretty bloody cool. I think I’ve internalised this “just a blog” bullshit myself, which is why I didn’t go to Problogger. Stuff that, I’m going next year!

    1. I love those quotes – anything really is better than nothing. The worst blogger in the world is still better than someone who only thinks about blogging. You’d better be there *waves fist*

  10. Ohhhhh, I feel you Vanessa!

    I wrote a similar post on ProBlogger-Eve { Turning ProBlogger: The Story So Far! http://bit.ly/1let6Jy } and I found the don’t-exactly-have-a-niche thing quite confronting while I was there. But I also recognise the need to gain clarity – for myself sure, but more importantly for my readers and future-advertisers etc. Maybe the new saying should be ‘Clarity is Queen!’ 😉 And, that clarity can be as simple as ‘Personal Blogger’ as your described. Hmmmm. Great food for thought… 🙂

    Amber at Adventures of a Rainbow Mama x

    1. The not-a-niche thing is confronting when a lot of advice comes your way to be niche or get lost in the crowd. And perhaps I am more lost in the crowd than some, but I feel pretty happy about how I reach people, so I guess this is my way of doing so.

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