How to find a blogging tribe.

There has been a huge community over competition movement in the blogging world and I’ve been loving it. When I started blogging (and even up to a few months ago) I learned really quickly that I would need to navigate around the cattiness and competitiveness in the blogging world.

Don’t get me wrong, the blogosphere was full of great people back then, too, but things have been continually getting better and better and more people have seemed to realize the importance of building each other up to build the industry up as a whole.

Bloggers are sharing their tips and trick, cheering each other on, and coming up with amazing collaborations now more than ever, and it has been making my heart sing.

If you’re new to the blogging world (or an introvert like me!) it might seem tricky to break into the circle of bloggers who all seem to know each other.

I am lucky in that I am pretty ‘established’ as far as blogging goes and no longer really need to stretch to make blogging friends, but I definitely remember how hard it was to start making connections.

You independant folk might be thinking, ‘Hey, I’ve already got enough friends in the real world, I don’t see the need to making blogging friends.’ but trust me when I say that having connections in the blogging world is so important.

• Blogging friends get you. When you want to talk about bounce rate, Pinterest strategy, Instagram fame goals, or anything in between your blogging friends are the ones who are going to relate, offer advice, and cheer you on.
• Collabs, folks! Whether you’re exchanging guest posts, working on a series together, or creating a round up; your blogging friends will be the first ones you turn to.
• Cross promotion. The girls I’m friends with tend to naturally and organically link to me in their blog posts, and I do the same for them.
• Meetups. Until you meet another blogger in person you don’t understand the magic involved in that. Every blogger I’ve ever met has felt like a kindred spirit and it’s amazing.
• General support. Having a group you can turn to when your site goes down or you get a nasty comment is reassuring – they’ve been there, done that and they’re going to know exactly what to say.

If I have you convinced on the importance of finding your tribe – great! Now let me share a few tips on how you can find your blogging tribe.

• Join Facebook groups! If you didn’t already know this, there are a ton of great Facebook groups geared directly towards bloggers and online entrepreneurs! This was the first step I ever took to connect with other bloggers and it’s a game changer!
  • A few of my favorite groups are: Blog & Biz BFF’s, InfluenceHer Collective, and Millenial Blogger’s Mastermind.
• Be active on Twitter! Ok, so I sort of hate Twitter for it’s limiting 140 characters and fast paced nature, but it is a great way to make that initial contact with bloggers. Whether you’re retweeting a blogger you admire’s latest post or sending a quick little dm it’s a nice way to touch base and way less intimidating than sending an email.
• Comment on blog posts! I feel like the number one strategy for new bloggers to gain traction is to go and comment on other blogs (for good reason!) but once you start to grow it’s easy to push that task to the side and focus your energy elsewhere. By ignoring the importance of supporting other bloggers, you are taking yourself off of a lot of bloggers’ radars and losing out on potential connections! Try to comment on a few blog posts each week! (Be authentic and engaging! “Great post, thanks for sharing” isn’t going to stand out in a sea of awesome comments!
• Find bloggers in your area. Remember how I mentioned those Facebook groups? Well a lot of them have ‘file’ tabs where you can check where everyone in the group is from. Even if no one lives near you, if you plan on travelling you can check to see who lives near your destination and set up a coffee date or photoshoot during your trip!
• Put on your brave pants. Ok, sometimes it can be super scary to reach out, I get that. But with that said the worst that can happen is you’re ignored. On the other hand, I’ve met some of my blogging soul sisters because I was brave enough to hit ‘send’ on an email that basically said ‘you seem cool, be my friend?’

With that said, like any relationship in life, you really don’t want to force it. Some bloggers I have clicked with instantly and others I’ve talked to for weeks before taking a mutual step back and deciding that we might not have the most in common. That’s life!

Be authentic and engaging and your tribe will come! Don’t sit around passively waiting for people to find you (even though they very well might!) you’re much better off taking action!