I have a confession. One that might not make me look very good. But I am always honest here so, here we go. I was kind of obsessed with the number of followers I have. About the time I hit 500 followers I knew this blog was changing from a hobby into a business/hobby. I checked my stats and my Google Friend Connect followers multiple times a day. I would get upset every time I lost a follower. Really upset. For a long stretch of time my bloggy self worth hinged on how many followers I had.
It is easy to get caught up in it. Companies always want to know about your numbers. Advertisers want to know too. And that was really the only way for me to measure how I was doing.
I have learned a powerful lesson in the last 6 months. I realized it doesn't matter. Really. In fact, at this point I am kind of scared to grow bigger. For the same reason I don't want a bigger house. I am afraid if I get a bigger house, the FEELING in my home will change. My home is small but is very cozy and I feel close to my children. There is a lot of togetherness in our home. I don't want anything to change that. I realize that is a silly and probably unrealistic fear, but I think it. My blog is the same. I feel good when I am here. I feel good when I read your emails and comments. And I worry the bigger this blog gets that I will lose the relationships I have formed with so many of you. Some of you don't even know that I recognize you. "Oh, hon! _______ just commented again. Her comments are always so kind." OR "So-and-so linked up another great project, come see!" Yeah, my husband knows some of you too :)
I have learned that the connection you have with the followers you DO have, is what matters. Not the amount of followers. And I mean that 100%. I also believe I have the best, most dedicated followers in all of blogland. You support in good times and in bad. You make me laugh. You share you talents here each week and amaze me with your skills. And I am constantly telling my husband that I wish I could do more for you. I love giveaways, but there is only one winner. I wish I could do something for all of you.
All this being said, I had another follower freak out recently. While I am scared for my blog to get bigger, I don't want to get smaller either. I found out that as of March 1st the Google Friend Connect gadget will no longer work on WordPress Blogs like mine. The thought of losing followers had me in a state of panic. I know a good chunk of you follow me that way and I would feel like I was losing friends. I have heard 2 different things about it. 1. I won't lose the GFC followers but the gadget won't work anymore so I won't be able to get new followers that way. 2. I will lose the Google friend connect followers
I am going to tell you what I am going to do because the way I read/follow blogs is through GFC. I am going through all my favorite blogs and making sure I follow them through twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and RSS feed. I am also going to try and add a blog roll to my sidebar so that it shows their most recent post (I still need to figure it out with WP)It may be a little over kill, but that is how I am choosing to handle it. I am NOT going to stop following them through GFC because I am hoping that scenario #1 is true and that I can still follow that way. But just in case I will have my bases covered :)
I hope that if you are on twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or if you follow blogs through RSS feed, that you will follow my blog there as well. I hope this will be a smooth transition and that I don't lose any of you. AND if any of you have any thoughts, info, or suggestions I would love to hear. This will affect so many of us. I hope that we ALL have an easy time with it.
Follow me :
RSS Feed
Facebook
Pinterest
twitter
I would love feedback on this. Also, what are your thoughts on Google+ ??? I have a page but honestly I don't know how to work it. I kind of dragging my feet because I don't need ONE MORE thing, you know? But I keep hearing how important it is. Hmmmm.......
Thanks for everything you guys!!!
I agree with you over the Google+. I started a page there, but I find it so confusing I rarely use it. Wish there was a good tutorial or something on it.
Thanks for this encouraging post. For someone who's blog is still small, it's good to hear. Thanks.
Stacey - have you thought of changing to Blogger in place of Word Press?
At 4156 followers - I am only on 73, so it looks to me like you have one almighty following. I seriously wouldn't worry about losing one or two - or even ten :)
But I know what you mean - followers seem to make all the efforts of posting worthwhile - if I got no comments I would probably have given up ages ago. Sharing is caring is my motto - and I care enough to share if I have something worthwhile to write about. Knowing, from the responses, that others enjoy what I have written is all the reward I need for the time I spend on my blog.
I don't get it with Google + ! I need someone to walk me through it step by step! Great post - I sure hope I don't loose the blogs I'm reading through my Google Reader - I'll be lost!
I have a google + page as well and can't figure it out for the life of me. I can't tell when someone posts something new or what happens when i add them to my "following" circle. What the heck is a circle anyway?
Well I'd already followed you on most of those other places as well as GFC, so I'll be here after the transition!
I follow several WordPress blogs and hope this change doesn't disrupt my daily blog habit. Many have made the switch over to WP in just the last few months. How scary to not know how it'll all suss out.
I haven't started a Google + page, because I have no online presence under my actual name, and I read somewhere that they were only accepting real names not pseudonyms. I've always been laxsupermom online.
Wanted to say I love your blog and the link parties that you do!! I have found great ideas through your blog and look forward to your future blogs. Thanks for posting and being open on your blog :)
I totally know what you mean. I've been through that whole cycle as well. I still do check my numbers regularly but I'm luckily in a place now where I'm comfortable with blog direction for ME and the rest is just a bonus.
I really don't understand why they are getting rid of GFC. If I'm honest I totally can't be bothered learning google +. My system now was working so why mess with it Google LOL
I will like you on FB and try and figure out to RSS feed you then :)
xx
I'm now following you on Pinterest! I hope Google doesn;t make it too difficult to follow along.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I've recently just started blogging, so I'm in the new growing newbie stage, so I don't think I can help out too much. But just know that we'll all come find your blog if something goes wrong. : )
I agree with Jen we will find you no matter what. I follow on Facebook more than a few blogs that way. I am always on Facebook. I do not check my Google plus page but I do have a Google plus account also.
-KAT-
I agree that growing a blog is a tricky thing. As much as we all want to grow, there is a danger. It becomes much more difficult to maintain those personal connections we love so much. We've all seen blogs that get so big that their charm and personality is gone. They are just not fun anymore. It's just something that I try to keep in perspective!
I agree with the others - no matter what changes you have to make, I will find you and still follow you. I do not blog, so I am in awe of what y'all do on a daily basis to share with your followers.
This was good for us to hear at Twenty Something Mamma, It is very important to stay humble and remember the ones we want to reach will be there. Thanks for the reminder, its hard not to get wrapped up in the numbers sometimes!
Hi...this is my first time commenting on your blog. I am in the process of making the move to WordPress from Blogger. It makes me a little nervous to think I will lose those little faces on my sidebar. My blog is at the point where I think non-bloggers read it but don't comment yet. Most of my comments are from other bloggers...who most likely follow my blog from their own blog rolls. Lately I have been looking at my Feedburner number. It is growing much faster than my followers number. Your Feedburner number is way more than your Follower number which is a very good thing! Bloggers will follow you from their blogrolls and everyone else will follow some other way. Don't worry...your blog is here to stay. People will find you one way or another!
I follow you on Blogger. Any idea if that will be affected? I can't lose you!
I updated the RSS link to follow you since I have been following you through GFC. I agree with your statement about losing the personal touch of blogging when the blog gets too big. However, you have over 4,000 followers so I can't imagine how you keep up now! That would be a full time job for me! In the beginning I was definitely caught up in the follower numbers and took it personally when I lost one. Once I went to back to work outside the home and dealing with my mom's illness, I had to cut back on blogging. After that, I realized that the numbers aren't important. It is the special group of followers that still checked on me when I wasn't blogging. So now, that has given me contentment.
I guess what I am saying is that I enjoy your blog and others will also and that the numbers will still be there, just in a different format. Keep up the good work!!
I hate that we really don't know what will happen when GFC goes away. I only have a very few followers, but if I lose them it will be like losing friends. I'd also hate to lose track of the blogs I love to follow. I'm hoping someone comes up with a solution or substitute soon!
I'm glad I saw this...I immediately clicked on your FB link and am following you there ;) I love you and your projects too much to risk missing them!
I have you in my Google reader so hopefully that won't be affected. I can't even begin to imagine having 500 followers! I need to go and like your FB page now and find you on that time suck that is Pintrest as well.
I just moved from Blogger to WordPress and somehow lost all of my subscribers. I have no idea how. I managed to maintain my GFC and now it looks as I will lose those. I kind of want to cry. I felt like I was making progress and had readers and now I feel like am starting all over again, which is beyond daunting. Just trying to maintain hope that people will re-subscribe.
Stacy, great post and we will follow to ends of the earth ;-).
Megan, you likely didn't loose your subscribers, you just need to put your new url into your feed program (i.e. Feedburner).
Twitter is my lifeline. I used to find blogs through other blogs (still do) and then bookmark them in a folder. Then I would go through them daily. Then I discovered Twitter. All of my favorite bloggers post a link to their newest post in Twitter so I visit that way. I also feel like I can get to know the bloggers better through Twitter because it is instant.
Now I do follow those blogs through Facebook and Google too so they can get their numbers and so they know that I am following them. But honestly, I hardly ever log into my dashboard so I never view blogs that way. I also have Google+ and I just don't get it, so I don't use it either.
Just my two cents. You'll still have a follower in me! :)
I follow you on Facebook. Once I see that a post has been written, that is when I access your web page to read more. You may have a larger following than you know.
As far as Google+, unless they do something to make is more user friendly...FORGET IT!
Word press and my computer don't get along - it is hard to leave a comment. I don't tweet and I don't do facebook. I am afraid to folllow any link because I have caught a virus twice! I love blogging but when people ruin it with viruses it is so annoying.
I use Google Plus but don't really like it. And it is confusing. I wouldn't bother!
I follow most blogs by RSS with Google Reader. I've been happy with it for a long time. I do follow some blogs with Google Friend Connect (because I know people enjoy seeing who follow them, as I do), but usually I use the RSS feed because it's easier to unsubscribe from (I often find I'm following too many blogs, and I need to cut down every few months!).
I use Google Reader as well and Love it for following all the blogs including this one. It's definitely easy to use.
I am pretty new to the blogging thing I found blogs about 8 months ago and really enjoy reading them. I Use the google thing I think becuse you need to do that to enter contest most of the time :) but I have no idea what it really is. I have about 10 blogs I look at every day ish I just have them bookmarked on my computer that is how i get to them. recently I started doing the facebook following so I now see when they have a new post. I relize the numbers are important to thoes who blog. I have no idea what the RSS thing is I should look in to that perhaps. I would really like to blog myself but have no idea how to get started but I would love to share the things I make but it seems like it would take all the time that I have I have no idea how you do it with 3 kids I have two and I only get an hour or two a day to do my "thing"
Love your blog bty even though I started reading blogs for sewing ideas
Have you thought of Bloglovin'? I've found out that this is the best way to follow blogs! It's very easy to add the relevant button and even if you don't, anyone can follow all your posts from there! This is how I follow you too! Check this out! It's really worth adding it! (www.bloglovin.com).
Love, Olga
Personally I don'tcare for Google+ nor do I care for some of the changes at Blogger - like my name rather than my blog title appears when I make comments on some blogs. It's all about adaptation I suppose.
Love your blog and have you in my RSS feed right at the top of the page!
I read all of my favorite blogs via Google Reader and have always steered away from the Google Friend Connect.
Followers are important, because if you write it and they don't come, then what's the point?
Great post! I think GFC is a great way to connect. It is ashame that you will no longer be able to use it on WordPress, especially since you have as many followers as you do. In an effort to keep up with social media, I just figured out Google+ last night and connected it to my blog. Not like I need another social media outlet to keep up with but it is part of Blogging. Take Care:)
Just like Olga in an earlier comment mentioned, I follow you on BlogLovin' - if that is any help: Thanks too for being honest - I think we all just want to know that what we do and care about is appreciated! Love your blog!
Cheers!
I'm not a blogger, but enjoy reading and following blogs. It's harder for me to understand when people get upset when someone unsubscribes, but I know this: sometimes I have to unsubscribe because I can't keep up. When I do that, I make a note to just check that blog once in a while instead of receiving each new update. It is nothing personal, just a lack of time on my part. You do a great job, and I appreciate it!
I don't blog or any of the other things. I only know how to e-mail, even though sometimes I get them late but I sure have gotten a lot of ideas, so please don't discontinue e-mail. Love your blog and keep up the good work. I have back problems and a senior so if I can't visit on the computer I would be lost. Some sites don't allow me to comment or at least I don't know how.
Hi Stacy! You don't need to worry about your followers! =) We will be loyal!
I'm following by GFC, but I'm also email suscribed. Actually, it's easier for me to get the updates on email, than login Google Reader and read you. I had a wrong idea about the followers... I was first worried too that I didn't have many followers, but then I realized I had more people suscribed to get emails, because it's easier for them. If they don't have a blogger account, they can't follow you. Even if they have a gmail account. And sometimes people don't know that or they don't know what GFC is or they don't know how to use it. And if you receive an email, you just click the link.
About Google+, I guess it's important as they say. It's like a Facebook mixed with FB timeline. Right now, many people don't use it because you need an invitations (as when Pinterest started) and also because not many people use it. But I think it's faster than Facebook and also, Facebook it's becoming too commercial, a lots of ads, and stuff. And I guess sooner or later, G+ will be stronger and I guess it's better if you are familiar with how it works than not when that happens.
At first I was a little sad because I only had 6 followers (mom, 2 sisters, and 1 friend from the office and my best friend, and 1 real follower). And now I have 8! Lol... But then I figured... and then? It's my project. I enjoy doing stuff, cooking and it's there for sharing. There are a lot of people that enter the page. They just don't suscribe via email or GFC or RSS..
I hope this helps! Thanks for sharing Stacy =) Have a nice wknd :)
Thanks for explaining how GFC works (or doesn't!). I keep signing up for it because bloggers ask for that when they have giveaways, but I never understood how it works. Duh. I really only want to gets emails from bloggers. That, to me, is simplicity.
just found your site from the Rooster and the Hen! Now following you on Facebook. I do slipcovers professionally and wanted to know if you'd be interested in hosting a giveaway for my "how to slipcover" dvd? Feel free to check out my site and let me know. Love your site and the title for your blog! I am a mom of 3 boys and work from home 2-3 days a week. I have been slipcovering professionally for 11 years...ever since my first baby was born and I needed to find something I could do at home, so I could quit my full time job managing a Bath and Body Works store.
I am new to this whole thing but I do appreciate it anytime someone is sharing from honesty! I am a new follower of yours. I found you when I entered your 2011 competition. I am the "under the stairs playhouse builder" and have been checking out your website. Very very interesting.
Hugs,
bj
Hi Stacy!
My first time commenting, and I haven't even been a reader that long, but I thought I'd come out of the shadows and say that I totally get a) the followers obsession and b) the fear of growth.
I WANT to grow, but I feel like, with homeschooling 3 kids under 6, teaching fitness classes, trying not to let the house fall apart, being active on my church's worship team, etc., etc., etc., I barely have time to respond how I'd like to to all my sweet readers' interactions right now. I like the cozy feel too! But at the same time, I'm a competitive, goal-setting sort (aren't most of us blogger-typers? : )), so it's very rewarding to see that number continue to grow!
ANYhoo, that's a lot of rambling for a first comment, but I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your honesty and your perspective from the "other side" (I've only been blogging for 7 months).
I use Blogger, but I hope you get the WordPress situation figured out to your satisfaction.
As far as Google+, I refuse to respond to someone telling me that something is important just because it is. I think it's more important to truly invest yourself in the things you really understand and like rather than add "one more thing" just because someone else says you can't successfully network without it.
But that's just my take. : )
I'd love to have you stop by my blog for a visit if you get a second out of your busy day!
God bless!
~Abbie (www.fivedaysfiveways.com)
I'm not sure how long I've been following you but I always love your honestly in your posts. I only have 28 follows and the 18 came from all the linking I was doing. It's discouraging at times when I see how many followers some people have when they just started blogging a year ago or less and well, I'm just coming up on my 1 year mark. But then I realized that this is more of an outlet for me. Heck, my mom "follows" but never gets on and reads my blog, yet she is always asking me "what should I make for dinner". I'm glad that you "pros" have your weak moments too and it helps the newbies not feel so little. Sounds like email/RSS are the popular following techniques but I always say someone post the blogs they follow on Pinterest. That might be another idea. Keep your head up. This post allows your reads to find other ways to follow you before they realize that they can't find you. This may sound cliche but those you really care about you will make the time to find other ways to follow you! Thanks for being and inspiration and example for all of us!
Megan
I love your blog! I'm so NOT technical, I'm not even sure how it is that I follow you! I get email updates...Anyhow, I can't wait to try the scrap lamp, although I'm thinking of using old books instead of scrap wood. Whatever you do, please keep blogging!
I hate when they change things. I love your blog and will keep following you however I have to do it. Right now I have you on my sidebar as one that I follow - will you be disappearing from that? I am sure once the whole change takes place there will be lots of talk about it so hopefully there will be a simple solution! Take care and have a nice weekend!
Really nice blog, found it when a fellow writer Tweeted about it. I would like to point out something tho--something that detracts from your writing. You use the word "loose" when you mean lose, and "loosing" when you mean losing. Once is a typo but consistently it looks like you don't know any better...as a writer I feel the need to help others to realize and don't mean to be offensive. :) I look forward to reading more of your blog and being inspired by your projects!
No offense taken at all! I mention all the time that I am a horrible speller :P I write most of my posts very late at night and forget to back through sometimes. It doesn't bother me but I forget that it does bother some people. I fixed them :)
OH NO!!!! I follow on GFC and I don't have any of that other stuff! Why do people have to mess with stuff that works?! I guess I'm in the minority without facebook and all those other things. I'm not always a commenter but I really love your blog and truly hope all this doesn't mean I can't come see what's up anymore.........insert sad face here.......
I've been reading your blog forever, but seldom comment (I'm trying to learn to be more cyber-social as I grow my own new blog ;) Do you mind if I ask a few things?
I read all my blogs through Google Reader-that is totally different than GFC, right? If someone reads you through G.Reader, there is no benefit to the blogger in terms of being counted among their readers, correct? In other words, you could have thousands of people who read you in GR, but you would have no way of knowing? Does that make sense? I'm trying to figure all of these other things out and see if there is something better I should be doing as an ahem*obsessive*ahem blog reader, that would be easy for me and would "count" for the blogger.
ANYWAY, I love your blog. Out of the dozens I read, your updates are always among my favorites!
My blog is wordpress and it was when I tried to do GFC and got nowhere I dug and found there was no connection for wordpress so I'm surprised you had one. Add it to the list of things that confuse me. I get your blog by email daily and enjoy it. I was so glad we were able to help the Dilleys. Having been in a w/c I really feel for those kids. Just going anywhere is such as issue. Now we've got to line up a van conversion company for them! I've seen your blog grow and grow and worried, honestly, you were becoming too much a traditional business, less of a blogger. Glad you won't let that happen. Keep those good ideas coming. I love seeing the wood scrap lamps, they are so cool. Thanks for sharing.
This is my first time commenting although I follow your blog. I'm new to blogging and I'm just starting to put myself out there. I have to say I love how honest you are! It's refreshing.
I am not a fan of Google+. I just don't get it. It took me years to finally give Facebook a try and when I did, I found it so easy to use! Google+ confuses me. Don't worry about a thing. Just keep blogging. We're all here!
Nancy
http://alifedesigned.blogspot.com/
So i will not see your new post thru the dashboard??? sorry i may sound so stupid but im kind of new with this ...Good thing i have you on fb and i just liked u on pinterest too :) but im so obsessed with the follower thingie thx God im normal and im not the only who is keep on checking her iphone to know if i have a new follower lol I get so much pageviews but no follower !!!! :(
I follow you on Twitter and Facebook, so I'll still be able to follow your fabulous blog!! :)
I follow via email and love getting your posts...Having read this email, I have popped over to pinterest to follow you and also facebook! Just wanna be safe even though I don't understand the limitations with google! :) thanks for this update. I do not have a blog, it is a wish of mine, but life and work do not allow it at this time! love to follow my favorites and you are one of them. :)
I really like GFC #1because I can see faces #2 because I can leave comments through it (It's a pain to use a reader and leave a comment) and #3 I don't like change and have primarily used GFC for 3 or 4 years now. That being said, I am glad I read this because I realized I wasn't following you on pinterest or facebook. (What the heck!?) I don't know how to use google+ either. :(
I hope you don't mind one more follower! I just found you, through those super-cool shelves featured on Where Women Create, and I am so glad I did. I have had so much fun this week looking at your projects and some of the things your amazing readers have done in your Best DIY of 2011contest. Wow!!! I have never seen so much turquoise furniture in my life - it's fantastic! It revs up my creativity just being here. I am just starting out in Blogland and you are an inspiration to me. Thank you and lots of glitter-covered DIY love to you!
I had to giggle at this because I often "follow" my favorite blogs on googleconnect but I have no idea what that means! I actually stalk between twenty and thirty blogs a day and a few (like yours) I have emails sent so I don't miss anything. The ONLY reason that I will 'follow" a blog on googleconnect is so the blog mediator can "see" the amount of fans they have. There are plenty of blogs that I didn't have the option to follow that way and I still stalk them everyday. I really have no idea how to see the pages I have followed through google and I really don't care that much, I just think it's a nice thing on the bloggers end to see that I am visiting their site on a regular basis. After all, you girls are such an inspiration to me that I feel you deserve some sort of credit even if it's only a little click of the mouse!
I read all of your posts through RSS feed - I'd clicked the GFC but NEVER knew what it did. So it's interesting to learn that I could have been reading all this time through something else, but really, I wonder if you have more followers than you knew - those of us on RSS feeds don't always show up! I only ever clicked the GFC so my following would show up somewhere.... You are an inspiration no matter how I read your blog. Looking forward to a great, and more organized year in my home, much of which will be credited to you!
I already follow you on Twitter & FB. Good stuff! I am still trying how to figure out the growing part...never used Google Friend. I am just using FB and Twitter. Any advice? HAPPY NEW YEAR!
http://www.thingsIfancy.com
I don't know what I would do without my RSS feed via live bookmarks on my Firefox toolbar. Love it!
Stacy! I sooooo appreciate this post. I am a blog less than 3 months old and read all of the "growing your blog" series, etc and it's easy to make that the focus. When, I started the blog because I love to do different projects and I wanted to explore the idea of writing about it. Thanks for the insight!
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog
I really feel like a dinosaur now, sitting off to the side and watching the techno frenzy unfold around me. I really like reading your blog posts, and those of many other bloggers, but I want to be reminded to read them via email. Good, old-fashioned emails. I don't really understand what an RSS feed is, though I asked my son to explain it to me. I signed up for a Facebook account for the sole purpose of entering giveaways, but I never read any of my messages there. For all I know, somebody could have announced I won something there and I never saw it. Likewise, Google Friend Connect. I've been avoiding Pinterest like the plague because I know if I so much as peek at it I'll spend the ENTIRE day there and I already spend way, way too much time online. And, believe it or not, I don't own a cell phone, so that little blue bird never tells me anything. I really, really don't want to share more of myself with the world on Google+, let alone even take the time to read what it is and how it works. I just want to stay on your email list. Is that still possible these days? I think it would be nice if bloggers just posted once a week, so we could all get our lives back and stop staring at these screens. My new mantra is, less is more.
I am finding this post and these comments fascinating!! I use WP for my blog, but have never been able to use Google Friend on it. I have a list of blogs I must read on my sidebar connected with the RSS feed (it is super easy to set up). I still don't have Feedburner, but I need to get on that soon. WP has a pretty good stats counter in the dashboard, and my blog is tiny, so I haven't really felt the need to get too into the numbers....yet. I do get Bloglovin' emailed to me daily as well, in case new posts have gone up when I'm not on the computer. This also works really well. I love WP, but am finding it a bit difficult to use for growing the blog in terms of issues like these as well as for advertising...
Good luck with your followers!!
I love the way you wrote this Stacy- that it's like your house and you don't want it to get bigger because of the feeling. I've never looked at it that way.
I just took GFC down because I don't want more people to subscribe that way. I want them to be able to read via RSS or some other way. It's such a bummer that Google is taking it away. It especially seems to affect creative and DIY blogs. :(
I usually prefer RSS to GFC because Chrome has a really nice RSS gadget with a much friendlier interface.
For you Chrome users, allow me to recommend RSS Feed Reader by Erik Andersson available for free from the Chrome web store.
It's like you read my mind for the day! We all get that way and it's so exhausting worrying about stats. But you're doing fantastic! I love your blog, just gained a new follower for being you! Love it.