The Secret Life Of A Blogger...

Originally published by 'Arc Social' www.acrsocial.com.au

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​There’s no singular reason way a person will wake up on any given day and decide, “I’m going to start a blog”.  The reasons are as varied as the blogs out there in the blogosphere to read. Some start as a way to connect to others, some start as a way to (attempt to) catapult themselves into the limelight, others might have a grand plan, and the blog is their stepping stone… and others might simply become a blogger by accident. The one thing connecting each and every one of us, are the misconceptions clouding the blog world. The “appearance vs. reality” type scenarios that each and every one of us have, and have discovered along the way. The deeper we delve, and the longer we hang on, the more we discover.

For many, there’s a misconception that becoming a blogger is a quick and easy road to fame, or popularity. While yes, for some, their rise is swift, and before they know it, they’re rubbing shoulders with the biggest and best. For most of us though, it’s a long slow burn. Hours and hours of unpaid and unnoticed work, that often gets completely missed by the masses anyway.
 
It’s also a lonely world at times. Those in our ‘real lives’ don’t really understand the ‘why’ behind the choice to blog. They don’t understand why we choose to let it all hang out this way. In my so far, short, blogging career, I’ve learned that most of my greatest supporters are those that have never met me before. They’ve connected with me through a story, or a picture, something that hit close to home for them. Often our ‘real lifers’ find out what’s going on in our lives by what we post about, or they see us going in a different direction, and connections are lost. In saying that, I’ve had long lost friends discover me through my blog, and come back into my world. We’ve realised that after all these years, we have so much more in common than we had ever realised.
 
I think for many people outside the blogging world, or even just starting out, they see images from their favourite bloggers and see it all as ‘easy work’ or a really cool way to get their hands on some free stuff. What they don’t see are the hours spent behind the scenes, perfecting that one photo, or writing the review, making sure that it’s worded just right to give the business they’re working with the best that they can. They don’t see the late nights, hunched over a computer writing that blog that you’ve been swirling around in your head for goodness knows how long. The blog that you simply don’t have the time to, “get down on paper”, because you’re busy tending to the every whim of your children. They don’t see how every single gut-wrenching, heart-pouring piece of writing that you put out there has a tiny piece of your heart and soul in it. After all, it’s about you, and your life, your family, your struggles, triumphs and sometimes failures.
 
For many of us, especially those delving deep into the depths of ourselves, each and every piece leaves us incredibly open to criticism and ridicule. Especially from those that are closest to us. There are things that, in the past, I’ve written in my blogs that my nearest and dearest were yet to discover about me, leaving some wondering why. For some reason, I can more easily put my deepest and darkest feelings into words. I can find the emotion needed to convey the message through words, or a story,  more easily than I can when I have to sit in front of someone and tell them. Writing this way, means I can handle criticism from those that don’t know me, but when it comes from someone that knows me personally, it can be incredibly torturous. Mentally, and emotionally. It’s not all the glitz and glamour that it appears to be. So much more goes into it than pretty pictures on an instagram page.
 
After all this, I can only imagine that many people are still wondering why? Why open ourselves up to this kind of life? Or the potential for ridicule? For me… I write for myself, for my healing process, for the person I once was, who was silently searching for something like what I write now. Someone that could stop and tell her that she’s doing ok. I write for the love of writing. For the love of connecting, for the love of the healing process that has come with me expressing my inner most demons and fears… and that’s the only reason I would ever recommend to someone to start on the long and lonely road that blogging can be.
 
You do it for the love.
 
The love is the reason why. The love is the reason you’ll be able to keep going, to be able to get through the long slow burn that it is to grow your name, your following and your engagement with the likeminded people that connect with you. If you’re writing and sharing from the heart, if you’re genuine and loving what you’re doing, then it’s worth it. 

​Arc Social delivers creative and effective strategies to market your business using social media.  We understand that your business is unique and we provide a personalised approach to social media management (from a campaign basis to complete profile management). It is our aim to grow your online presence and increase brand awareness while you focus on the day to day running of your business. 
Arc Social was created by Canberra based mum of two and social media lover, Amanda Caskie.
Social Media is an avenue which Amanda has always found fascinating and a great way to engage, she felt there was a requirement from small businesses and bloggers for someone to plan, create and manage social media content and strategy, with an understanding of how to best utilise the available social media tools and platforms in today's world.  
Coming from an IT Account Management background, Amanda has a solid foundation in customer service and sales, and has since expanded this into digital marketing by studying a Diploma in Social Media Marketing.
Since becoming a mum, Amanda wanted a career that she could balance with "mumlife", and be able to share her knowledge in an area she is passionate about. 


If you wish to find out more about Arc Social you can find them here,

Website- www.arcsocial.com.au
Email- amanda@arcsocial.com.au
Instagram- @arc_social 
Facebook- ARC SOCIAL