This is the overwhelming message I brought home from my weekend away. It wasn’t how to get the stats up on my blog or how to make my pictures more amazing. Though that was why I went. Those were the workshops I attended and whilst they were all brilliant they weren’t the main thing I learnt.
No, it was about being an honest blogger. Honest to who I am and honest in the reviews I write.
And how I wish more people would do the same. Time and time again I am reading reviews by people that are just been lifted off a website or come across as not being very genuine. It is clear they have been written simply because the blogger wanted the free “whatever” and doesn’t want to upset the PR by saying what they really think. Or the review is so glowing and disguised as an “oh I just found this” that it you begin to doubt anything they have ever written.
And whilst we are being honest, I have come close to doing the same. I have never lied in a review I have done but I have reviewed stuff that I wouldn’t have bought, or buy again. I simply put my hand up and said “oooh yes please, send it to me”.
Why? I can’t imagine for one minute you actually want to read that. And if I am perfectly honest I don’t actually want to write it. It is all watering down what MummyBarrow is about.
It is nice when a PR company says “would you like to write about this / have this / give this away” but at the end of the day it is just an advert for their client. Which is fine. It is absolutely fine but it isnt why I started blogging and yet it is taking over my life. They take a while to write, to insert pictures etc and I don’t want to bore you with them twice a week anymore.
I am going to be more honest with these offers and decline more than I accept. And more honest with myself about the kind of blogger I want to be. When SuperAmazingMum suggest to me I start blogging it was because she liked how I write. Not because she thought I would be any good at talking about a £3 thing.
So here we go, a little honesty plant being planted.
I would love to hear your views on bloggers being honest.
I have been criticised by writers for being honest in my reviews of books. I have been advised that if I didn’t like the book I should only write about what I did like. If there was nothing I liked, I shouldn’t write it at all.
I felt outraged and then betrayed and then suspicious. I don’t believe any book reviews any more. If authors are writing about other authors they only say nice things so that author will only say nice things about their books. Ick!
Then an author told me she didn’t want to hear anything negative about her book. I wanted to advise her to maybe consider a change in careers. But I bit my tongue fearful that if I ever finish my book she would rip it to shreds just for the sake of a bit of revenge.
I would prefer we all be more honest. If I don’t like your book, that shouldn’t matter. Others might. And if no one does then you need to change what and how you are writing.
I am boldly honest in my blog much to my peril. I have and will continue to pay the price. Bring it on.
I’m with you all the way… I look at bloggers picking up freebies all over the place, and the little green man on my shoulder starts making faces. But really and truly, I don’t want to be inundated with things I don’t need or really want.
My little green man still says a stand mixer from someone would be good though……