Something I put a lot of effort towards in my life is surrounding myself with positive people. I have also been putting a lot of thought for the past year into how to mix friendships with my blogging business in a positive, uplifting, and collaborative way that will also mesh well with my blogging. Having blogging friends in this world just makes my job 10 times better and overall easier. I don’t want this to come off the wrong way. Before I say anything else you should know that I do not hang out with anyone strictly to get something out of it. I am way too sensitive of a person to be able to hang out with someone I don’t really like even for a little. Part of me wishes I could care less and maybe I would be further ahead in my career, but the other part of me says, “f*ck that, horrible people suck” and I refuse to promote that in my life. It’s been a journey for me and a mission to find friends that really inspire me, that I also feel uplifted by. I think if we surround ourselves with high vibrating energies everything around will flourish even more (sorry for sounding so cheesy!). Having people who just “get it” is pretty priceless. Not only will we grow as humans but as a blogger, this can only affect your business/career in a positive way!

Here are 5 reasons why having friends in the blogging community is so important.

1. Familiar faces: Sometimes as an influencer/blogger you get invited to really cool events (dinners, parties and even trips). It can be a great experience, but also intimidating and sometimes even a bit lonely! We work all day on our computers and phone staring at screens then when we go out for events almost everyone is also staring at their screens or already “competing” with their guard up. I’m not saying it’s always this way, but there are definitely people like that and events where this happens. Many events are in the middle of the week, which means my non blogging friends and husband are most likely working. After a few years of being in this industry, I have made some good blogging friends along the way. I love that now I have friends that I see randomly when I go to these events. It’s nice to see familiar faces and be able to hang with people that are also on your team. It also makes my job a lot easier when I have someone that can help take a boomerang or a couple photos of me at the event. Having a helping hand is definitely always a plus! It really makes this blogging world ( a solitary role for the most part) a thousand times better.
2. Insider Information: Blogging is definitely about the content you produce, but another, even more important part is who and what you know. The type of information you can’t just google or find out without being and working in the industry. Getting someone’s PR info or personal email can be hard, but if you know someone that has it, it can make your job a lot easier! Only taking the info and not reciprocating will definitely backfire, though. Help a sister out! Another thing I love about having friends in this world is that we can share with each other how contracts or negotiations were handled. Making sure you aren’t pricing too high or too low can be helpful for sure (again, you can’t google this kind of info!) I love going on little coffee dates with some of my friends to see what they are currently working on, if that brand is great or bad to work with, if they pay on time, any changes in the algorithm of Instagram, youtube etc or maybe a secret hack or tactic that has been working lately for them. Sharing the fun, happy, or crazy stories we’ve experienced is also great to be able to do! Who else are you going to share this stuff with and who else will appreciate it as much as you blogging friends? Also, I feel like I have to say, a lot of this “sharing” of info and trade secret only happens after a while of cultivating a relationship. Don’t expect to just go on a coffee date with someone new and be able to get all the info. If someone does end up confiding in you and feeling like they trust you, Make sure you also are willing to share some info so you can both help each other out! No one likes a moocher because we all work hard to gain experience in the first place!
3. Expand your reach: While I love that having blogging friends both gives me great company and insider info, another great aspect is being able to help each other out by cross promoting. When I travel with other bloggers I love it because we get to have a good, memorable time hanging out and also help cross-promote each other at the same time by tagging each other in insta stories, blogs or Instagram photos. It’s a win/win! Doing this kind of collaborating with other influencers/bloggers can be very helpful. If other brands that don’t follow you see you on their page, they will most likely find your profile way quicker than they would have otherwise and see that you also fit their brand. Basically collaborating with like-minded bloggers helps expand your reach and target brands that you would fit great with. Plus hanging out with like-minded friends is amazing because who else is going to understand you need 1,000 photos of you at the hotel pool with your morning coffee?
4. Stay Inspired: There are two types of people in the influencer world. The type that wants to compete and does anything to “make it” and the type that wants to create content they absolutely love and make the community a better place. I love to surround myself with the latter. Having positive people around you is SO important. – example: Last month I went on a fun trip with Audrie ((@Audriestorme) to Cabo (check out the post here). I came back feeling so inspired by her creativity and it made me want to be a better blogger, work harder and push my creative limits. I came back feeling energized and ready to work more. Another example was recently hanging out with these beauties (in the photos above) Kacey (@Officiallyquigley) and Emily (@EmilyVartanian ). We collaborated on a shoot in LA, and spent the day together shooting, editing and hanging out. We talked about the industry, what we liked about it and how to improve it. It was very inspiring. After hanging out with these three girls I felt like my energy had been charged and I feel even more inspired to keep on hustling, growing and hanging out with like-minded girls. The main thing I noticed about being around these girls is that they are here to make us all better as a whole. On the other spectrum, I had gone on a trip with a couple other bloggers in the past and I came back feeling tired, emotionally drained and just uninspired with the industry as a whole. I needed to take a long break from my job after that because I hated the trip so much and felt disappointed in what the community had become (or what I thought it had become). There is room for all of us and I think all we need to do is help each other grow and become stronger. Hanging out with the right people should make you feel empowered, inspired and even more in love with what you are doing.
5. They “get it”: It’s pretty awesome to have friends that are doing the same thing you are doing. This business is a unique one that I don’t think many people understand. It can look absolutely absurd from the outside (I know) but from the inside, this is all totally normal. I absolutely love my job so much that all I want to do is create content and share it with you guys (all day long). From the outside, this can look very self-involved and addictive. The truth of the matter is I feel more like myself and at peace when I am creating content. I love to connect with you guys and talk about fashion, photography and social media all day long. There are just certain things (ok a lot of things) that people who don’t work in this world just won’t understand. While I am so thankful for my amazing supportive friends, a husband and family, they have no idea what it’s like to work from home as a blogger, to be interacting with people every day that you don’t get to connect with in real life. They don’t know what it’s like when you lose creativity, but still, have to keep producing content on the daily. __Example, when I’m shooting at home I try to bounce ideas off of my husband or a friend that might be with me and they mostly just agree with me. It’s frustrating, uninspiring and leaves no room for growth. I don’t think they are lying to me or trying to not help, I just think they don’t particularly have the same passion. I love when I get some constructive criticism back. My husband, for example, will always think I look great in a photo (that’s why I married him haha) while a good blogging friend might say something like, “oh wait, why does it look like you have no arm tho?”. Slight exaggeration but another content creator will just see things differently. I like to surround myself with people who will challenge me and try to help me always be better. Basically, someone who understands the daily struggle of producing new instagam captions haha.

So moral of my whole post here is: surround yourself with awesome people who will make your days better, your future brighter and give more motivation and meaning to your life. We are in this blogging game because we love it right?? So surround yourself with good energy whenever you can and don’t forget to also give back that great energy. Having inspiring people around helps us feel happy with our lives. In turn, keeps the creative juices flowing and the world goes round and round a little smoother. Ok cheesy rant done.

** If you guys have a chance also check out Emilys post about “How to be Collaborative, not competitive” , Her post helped inspire this post! I wanted to give my own take and spin on it, but hers is a great read so check it out! ***

Thanks Dani (@DaniDazey) for the amazing photos and for helping collaborate for this shoot.

xx F