Now that just sounds plain weird.
I know, I know. How can anything good come out of disappointment? I'll tell you. Actually, I'll tell you that... and a lot of other things. If you get bored, just skip around the rest of my blog and don't pay attention to this post about changes (though I'd appreciate it if you'd read this all! I'll try to add some interesting stuff for those who are like me and are disinterested by just plain writing about a topic that is only semi-related to dolls). It's a semi-pictureless post (the few pictures below are probably just random ones that I've found with a small explanation caption below in tinier print just so that you can actually read all of this without falling asleep!) about a whole bunch of different things!
Okay, first of all: what the title said.
I have a hard time sticking to the theme depicted in the title. Has anyone else noticed that? I figured I might as well start there. Another thing I forgot to mention is that I have a tendency to get frustrated easily (which I'm working on not getting frustrated as often- really, I am!), but lately I'm trying to work it to my advantage rather than sulking around all day (my sister would quickly agree on that point)!
Totally unrelated, and that's not the sister mentioned above, but I figured that I might as well capture your attention with my cute baby sister (and yes, I would argue that she's the most adorable, sweetest little sister!) finding Katie and playing with her!
Why I get frustrated:
Sometimes I'm disappointed in myself, and frustrated at why I can't figure stuff out. I'll go to other doll blogs (almost every day!) and see their posts about reaching 50 followers in a year, or 100 in less than a year. I ask myself, "Why can't I do that? Is my blog not good enough? Am I not as good?" That used to happen quite frequently. Now, though, I try to look at the blog, the design, the quality, the pictures, the writing, so on and so forth (I hope you get the point, 'cause I'm not going any further!) and try to reflect upon my own. That's how I'm improving by getting frustrated (nice try, I know- my family would beg to differ!)! Sometimes, I feel I can't find anything, and then I realize that I'm being prideful, and I try to lower myself and look harder. It's one thing if they deserve the followers, it's another if everything is really hard to navigate (like mine sometimes) or the pictures aren't very good (like mine when I started! See how this is working now?!).When I find something, I work on that point. When I don't find something, I work on something else that I think of!
How I'm inspired:
I'm ready to move up in the doll blogging world. I also, ahem, need to learn to be more content. I
have come a long way from an average 0 vpd (views per day) to around thirty or forty on good days- it's a consolation for when I'm down. :) But really, I want to do better, be better... which is why I'm changing. I can't afford even a super cheap domain, but I remember something my sister said when she showed me her blog. "You can make it look like it's not a blog." <or something like that, that's in my words from what I remember!
The first time I realized the amazingness of outside photography - I still know the date: April 25th, 2016. A breakthrough for Dolls N' All!
So I'm going to revamp, change, redesign, reflect, improve, rewrite, update, refine, revise, and just
renew Dolls N' All. I'm not moving, I'm not deleting a whole bunch of stuff (just the space-taking gadgets and messed up posts or pages), just adding and changing it up a little! I've got to say that I was a bit inspired by Madi, who so dedicatedly working through the night to get her blog updated so it could be re-released on her blogeversary. I thought about waiting that long, but I figured that was waaaaay too long- I wanna do it now! Then I thought about starting the new year new, (and I still may!) but even that was too far. So, gradually, I'll be changing! I am VERY open to critic (if I'm offended, I'll get over it- promise. It happens all the time with siblings! Though... you might have to time my getting over it with a calendar. Just kidding!) - the constructive kind. I promise I'm not asking for mean comments or anything of the like, just ideas and suggestions to make it better! I just scrolled up and I can't believe I've typed this much while cooling off without actually getting mad (did I mention I sometimes have a quick temper?)! Anyways, on to the next point (I feel like I'm giving a seminar or something- three points and so on!)
Another first, one of the first REAL photoshoots I did!
How I'm changing:
Imagine this: new header (color coordinated!), new background, new pages, changed pages, new format/design/arrangement, better pictures and posts, a
possible giveaway (but not as big as Madi's, which I'll be posting about in a few minutes), easier following instructions (though that would probably benefit me more, right?!), a WAAAY better 'about me' page or Blogger profile, an actual color theme, easier to read font, and just so much more that I can't type out! Don't worry (that statement was actually more to calm me than you)- Dolls N' All won't completely change. I don't like complete change anyways! I'll actually be testing all of this out on a blog/project that will be released on December 1 (I'm praying about it A LOT!) before doing it here (I don't want to lose all the progress I've already made!). It'll most likely be minor at first... a couple new pages, a new header... a different background... a simpler, easier to navigate format.. stuff like that.
This isn't a first, but I just thought this picture was really pretty. A little dark on the right, but still- I like it!
Alright, alright. You're probably sick of parentheses that are hard to understand because they don't relate to what I was talking about, run on sentences, and lots of other grammatical mistakes that I mistakenly made. :) So, I'm done. For now, at least!
I'm off to make another post about a giveaway (an amazing one!), and add some pictures to this thing. If you ACTUALLY read all of that, kudos. Thank you. Congratulations for surviving one of my longest written posts!
Until next post,
~ Light4theLord
Edit: You guys are amazing! I opened up blogger to Dolls N' All overview and had to take a second glance: 155 pageviews in one day?!?! And the day isn't even over yet! If you see this, maybe it'll reach 200!
I can relate to this SO much, L4TL! I would look at other popular bloggers (who in my opinion, their posts weren't even that great) get tons of followers in half of the time I had been blogging, and it made me upset and jealous. (You're not the only one who may occasionally have a quick temper sometimes. ;) ) I would say to myself, "That blogger is prideful and her posts aren't even that great, so why does she have so many followers?!" (Which was wrong of me to say. I should've just assumed the best. ;))
ReplyDeleteI totally understand. And in a way, I was inspired by disappointment, too. But I was inspired by frustration! XD I got mad enough about how my blog had been sitting around forever and never really began to have ultra success, that instead of sitting around myself with a grudge toward other popular bloggers with (IMO) lame posts, I'd work on my own blog and what I could do to improve. And just forgive and forget bloggers who had commented on my blog while it was more popular than theirs and then stopped once they had more followers.
That's why I began taking my blog to the next level (at least, I hope that's what it's coming to be XD) in picture quality, blog design, etc. I'm super excited about making my blog the best that it can be, all for the glory of God and to help fund world missions!
Ahem. Long comment. Eh, that's nothing new with us by now. ;) XD If you read all that rant and ramble about how I can relate... congrats! XD Anyway, I'm SUPER excited to see the changes coming to Dolls N'All! I know it will turn out absolutely great, and your blog is only going to grow from where it is now! If you ever need any tips on audience build, I'm by no means a professional blogger (yet ;)) but I might have some ideas that could help you and we could grow our blogs together!
Once again, I'm super excited about the changes coming to Dolls N' All! They are going to be GREAT! Your blog is spectacular, Light4theLord. And it's only gonna get bigger and better than ever before!!
•Madison•
P.S. YOUR BABY SISTER IS ADORABLE. :D
That is EXACTLY how I feel! If nothing else, we're totally pros at long comments, right! I would LOVE your ideas! Thank you so much for EVERYTHING!!! Your ideas, your encouragement- everything! Sometimes it comes at just the right time (I think God must plan that!)- right when I start getting discouraged or frustrated. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who gets easily aggravated! :) I can't wait to see what else you have in store for your blog, and how far I can go with mine! I totally agree- she's ADORABLE!!!
Delete~ Light4theLord
LOL, yes! Pros! XD Okay! Here's what I do for my audience build...
Delete•Send in pictures for From a Friend Friday at AmericanGirlFan.com (I make sure they're super good pictures to represent my blog). It would also be super cool to send in a craft of photostory - Nobody has done that in a while, and people love it. A lot of readers come to blog from American Girl Fan, and it's also super fun to send in pictures others can see!
•Comment on others' blogs. I see you do this one a lot! You've got it down to a science! Maybe an idea would be to create a WordPress account so your profile picture shows up when you comment on WP blogs. Your profile pic looks like the profile pic of someone who has an epic blog, which people wanna check out!
•Build a relationship with other bloggers. It doesn't really matter if they are popular or not quite popular yet. Mega popular bloggers often times don't have time to build a relationship with their followers and commenters (Not me! When my blog grows, I'm not going to become mean/prideful at all, 'cause I know how it feels!)(Not saying that all popular bloggers are like that, of course. Liz/Jessica from American Girl Fan is SUPER nice, for example! And there are many others). So bloggers with good blogs but that aren't mega popular, and are super friendly, are perfect to start building a friendship with. When you're close (with a popular blogger or a not-yet-popular blogger) and when one of you becomes popular, y'all can help each other grow, give each other shoutouts, interview each other, etc. Relationships are important! :D
•Think of things nobody has done before, and do them! Then shout them out on From a Friend Friday, send it in for something like Sunday Showcase/Tell Us Tuesday/What's Up Wednesday/Stuff like that and whatnot, wherever you can, and get the word out there! People will go, "Wow! I've never seen that before, and it looks so cool! I wanna go check it out!"
•Create cool graphics for your post. Make it the first thing people see. It should spark their interest and be nicely done. I'm still working on that part, with trying out all my new photo editors. LOL! XD The graphic will draw your reader into the post, as will the first few intriguing sentences. New people coming to your blog will be instantly drawn in! It's fun for me as a writer to try and think of the first few words that catch people's attention, but sometimes I forget. ;P
•Reward your followers. You're already doing that! (A BIG Thank You to My Email Subscribers post) I'm doing that by my giveaway (anyone who becomes a follower can enter).
Whew! Okay! Long comment, again. XD That's all my tips for audience build. Like I said, I'm definitely no professional (yet! hehe), but that's what I do. I hope maybe it gave you some ideas! I can't wait to see where our blogs will go! :D
Aw, you're so very welcome!! Thank YOU for your ideas and encouragement, too! I always love getting your comments on my blog! They make my day and I'm so blessed to call you my friend! (Oh, one of your comments that you commented on November the 3rd was lost due to the backup we had to restore from. So sorry!! :'()
Thank you so much! <3 Yeah, you're not the only one, hehe. ;) And aw, thank you!! I can't wait to see how much Dolls N' All is going to grow and how for it will go! It will be AWESOME.
And yes!! LOL!! :D :D
•Madison•
Those are amazing ideas- thanks for sharing! I've had/am having lots of fun chatting on your DWOD chat page (and can't wait till December!)I read most of the From a Friend Fridays, but I never seriously thought about sending stuff in! I'm definitely going to do that for next week, if I have time! I LOVE commenting, reading other blogs and all! It's not very fun when people are snobby just because they've got their own domain, or post so often and have a certain amount of followers. At first, before I got to 'know' you, I was afraid you'd be another one, but you aren't!!! In fact, that might be one of my favorite parts about your blog! You never are too busy to reply to people and leave kind comments on their blog to encourage them! Not many other doll bloggers do that. I'm sure some don't try to snub people, I could see how trying to reply to 114 comments (like the giveaway post!) could be time-consuming! I'm working on replying to my comments, but sometimes I'm just like, "Thanks for commenting, glad you like it!" but I'm afraid that's not enough, so I'm working on it! Hmmm... things never done before- great idea! Like... the doll shoebox- I should really post that here... I am definitely going to be thinking up stuff! Brainstorming right now! I'm working on doing better pictures, too, and writing more interestingly. It's kinda cool seeing how I've changed parts of my style (in a good way, I hope!) by reading others like your and other Christian doll blogs and all, and trying to improve my writing! It's really cool how many doll bloggers love writing- I do too! I've written two books by myself, and three with a girl from my church. Ever since the beginning of this summer, when I really started pouring into this, I've come to really enjoy blogging and writing, and photography! It's so cool that I have a 'family' of doll bloggers! Especially when you reminded me that even though there aren't a whole bunch of doll lovers where I live, I've got a whole family of them in the blogging community! You're one of them! I definitely consider you a friend! I'm so excited I can hardly wait for December, not only for when my big debut is released (where God showed me how I can use my love for dolls, blogging and serving for him!), but also for our collab, and for the next edition of the magazine! I'm not worried about any comments that were lost, I'm just sorry that you had to go through that! I hope to be on board with DWOD as far as it goes! My mom gave me permission to post pictures of my little sister (maybe me one day!) playing with my dolls- I have TONS of them! Yes, I mean tons- she loves pulling on their braids, or studying their eyes and poking their mouths. It's so funny! My bedroom door doesn't close by itself, so you can just push it open and I have my doll stuff NORMALLY neatly arranged (or neatly messy, where I can find stuff, but other people can't- that's the way it goes, right?) and so she knows how to push it open and she goes straight across the bedroom floor, squeezes between the desk and chair and sits between the dolls and plays with them. Super cute, unless you're trying to take pictures! :) My little brother was trying to help by cleaning the floors in my room, so at dinner he said, "I cleaned the baseboards in your room for you." And of course, I just thought, okay, that's nice. and then I'm like, "Did you wipe under the bed?" and he said no. So I thought it was funny and was like, "I hope you didn't go behind my desk!" but of course, he was like, "I did wipe behind your desk. It was already messy, so I just pushed everything out of the way." And me, being me, exclaimed, "What?!?!? It was messily organized! It was neatly messy!" Just some funny things that happen with siblings and dolls. Thankfully, I have no pets except a 2-year-old fish!
ReplyDelete~ Light4theLord
~
Wow. That has to be a recordly long comment. Oh well! If you actually read it all, Madi, yay for you!
DeleteIt was 712 words! I think that's a record! *high five* LOL!
DeleteYou're very welcome! And me too! (And me neither!) Yeah, From a Friend Friday is super awesome!
And yes!! Commenting is so fun! And I know right?! I get so annoyed at snobby bloggers. I try not to be, but I am. :P Aw, thank you SO much!! That's one of the things I wanted to be different about DWOD. Nobody should EVER feel like their comment was ignored. They did, after all, take time out of their day to sit down and type out a message to share their thoughts on your post (when I say you I just mean bloggers in general, not you in particular LOL). A lot of popular bloggers don't even acknowledge that they got a comment or questions at all! The only thing they acknowledge is announcing they have a lot of followers. I didn't want to be a snobby blogger at all, because I know how it feels to look up to somebody who used to comment on your blog and now doesn't 'cause they're more popular, and completely ignore you when you comment on theirs. Whoops, there I go ranting again. XD Anyways, that's why I don't want to be a snobby blogger, even when my blog gets popular. And even if a blogger is INCREDIBLY busy, they should at least "like" each comment if they just don't have time to reply to each one. And if someone comments with a question, they reply just whenever they approve the comment and add a quick note to thank everyone who has commented (like Liz/Jessica from American Girl Fan will do sometimes).
Okay! Rant over. XD LOL.
You do an awesome job of replying to comments!
And I know, isn't that cool? I had no idea so many doll bloggers loved writing!! And that's true, it's like a family of doll bloggers! LOL! Aw, yeah! :D I'm so honored to call you my friend, L4TL!
Ooh!! I'm excited for your debut in December, too! Oh, and I still haven't chosen the things for our collab. Ugh, so sorry! Working on that ASAP. Thank you! I wish I could retrieve the lost comments, but, oh well. Aw, I'm so glad!! I hope so, too! <3 LOLOL! Your baby sister sounds so funny! XD
And LOLOL! That's hilarious about your brother! "It was messily organized! It was neatly messy!" XD! Same, if I had pets like a dog or a cat my dolls would be running for their life from them. XD
•Madison•
Did you seriously count all of those?!?!?! Exactly! Commenters should be appreciated... hmmmm... now I have to think of a way for them to be acknowledged! Okay, forgive my naiveness, but I'm confused (I've been that way for a little while!)- is Liz Jessica or Jessica Liz's sister or friend or what?! Ha- I took forever to reply to this one, because I was trying to remember what I was planning on saying. :D It's almost like loving writing comes with loving dolls and blogging! :)It's fine- I've only chosen one! :) I have a neatly messy system of finding things! (it's called dig until you find it) I guess that was Chloe's method too, right? I named all your dolls last night! Molly, Josefina, Cecile, Ivy, Chloe, Emile (I can't remember which spelling you chose), Jasmine! And do not ask me about your mini dolls- how many do you have?! At least having pets would be an interesting blog post: Escape from the Wildcat... or Doll Danger: Dog!
DeleteSorry, that published before I was ready. I am SUPER happy with Elizabeth's b-day photoshoot! I can't wait to redo the meet the dolls page (that's what is next, after the post I'm currently working on!)!
Delete~ Light4theLord
She looks cute ! I like this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you enjoy reading my posts!
DeleteHi! These photos are really nice.
ReplyDeleteAt one time I was eager to have lots and lots of followers. That is a really cool thing about blogging. I do love seeing comments.
Two things to remember: 1) design your blog to make you happy, 2) be supportive of those who comment who also have blogs.
The first one is really important because if you don't like what you see and how it works, others will not either. It is okay to have pride in your hard work. It takes time to get photos just right and the text to match.
Being supportive is easy. Give your followers a shout out. Comment on their posts and follow them. Don't overwhelm yourself though, too much in the inbox can be daunting and take up time that should be spent on homework, family, or your own blog.
Overall, be true to you and have fun!
~Xyra
Xyra, that's wonderful advice! Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I will try to remember that. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed trying to remember everything that I needed to comment on! I love finding new ways to improve my blog and share my love for dolls with others!
Delete~ Light4theLord
Glad I could help.
Delete<3
~Xyra
I was making use of a lazy Sunday afternoon to look through all the posts you've done (if you get, like, 300 views today, you know who to congratulate...) And I read this one, and even though it's long into the past, I couldn't help but comment, because I got so sympathetic! I can't really relate right now because I just started my blog and don't really care about followers right now, but I can definitely understand how you feel. But your blog has come such a long way from the time you wrote this post; I think your current photography and writing are amazing! (I can't wait for the next part of Save Our Shelter...) Ever since your blog design changed, I can safely say that there's literally not a single problem I can spot about Dolls N' All! Your dolls are cute, you're doing an amazing job and I really wish you had more traffic. But followers and views aren't everything! As long as you're enjoying yourself, doll blogging is ultimately worth it! I personally dislike snobby bloggers as well--you are definitely not one! And whether you get 500 followers before this month ends or stay at twenty-one for the rest of your blogging years, know that one person's always reading and enjoying every post you do. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I guess you want a tip. I think it would be fun if you started making videos, like stop motions of your dollies! That might attract more people...and I can just imagine how cute the dolls would look in a stop motion!
Ack! Such a long comment!
I hope I don't sound snobby...
~Rebekah~
I do that too! Oh, wow! Thank you so much for reading all of those! I'm sure you found several cringe-worthy ones.... :) Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate your encouragement and the fact that you took the time to write such an amazing comment! :) I'm so glad you're looking forward to SOS - I need to finish the next part this week, don't I?! Seriously? Wow! Thank you so much! I love blogging, and I hope I never stop! I hope I'm never, ever, ever a snobby blogger - though I have to admit I sometimes miss a comment or two and/or forget to reply and I feel so awful! Thank you so much for being such an amazing follower! I am SO thankful for you! :D
DeleteThat's a great idea! I've always thought it'd be fun to try my hand at stopmotion, but it probably won't be for a little while since I don't currently have a camera that would be good for it (I'm pretty sure my family would go nuts if they found 400 pictures of my dolls and couldn't find but a slight difference between each one.... :D ) I do want to try it one day soon though!
You never sound snobby - and I read your blog! :D
~ Light4thelord
You're welcome! Hmm...I rarely cringe at things unless they're mine XD. SOS was amazing!!!!! And no, you're not a snobby blogger at all!!! Thank you for all your sweet words!
DeleteYup, sometimes all my stop motion pictures do drive my sister nuts when she tries to import photos from the camera...;)
Aw, thank you so much for checking out my blog! I'm glad I don't sound condescending (though I might sound cringeworthy)...
~Rebekah~
:) I cringe all the time at my old posts!! :D Thank you! :)
DeleteHaha, that's funny! When I took 300+ pics for Elly's birthday, everyone was really annoyed. :D
Your blog is absolutely adorable! your photography is better than some bloggers I've seen that have been blogging 5x longer than you!! :D
~ Light4thELord
Oh wait...scratch what I said about the AGSMs.
DeleteI'm sure you have wayyy more WordPress followers than you're aware of! It's funny, because usually the majority of followers on a WordPress site is through WP reader, not email. Right now, I only have 1 email follower, but I have 23 WP followers. I know of people who have hundreds of followers, only a few of which are by email! It's really, really strange! So you actually probably have more followers than you know. :D
Whoops! I was sleepy last night and published that comment without saying all I wanted to! I cringe a lot at some of my older posts, too. XD. That's really funny! (I tend to take so many more pictures than I need...)
DeleteAnd thank you so much! I really hope my indoor photography gets better...mine always have yellow lighting or red edges...yours looks so nice and clean!
~Rebekah~