Op-Ed: Blogging Intervention

**PLEASE NOTE: Statements made are all opinion and personal research-based**

Happy Wednesday loves!

As my birthday month approaches #leoseason, I’ve been finding myself doing a lot of deep thinking. Not sure exactly why but I decided to roll with it. Most of the deep thought has been about blogging. And, before you start thinking it, no, CCB Diaries isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Believe it or not, I read a lot of blog posts from other bloggers. Not because I’m doing recon or anything like that, but because I love to learn and love to read. One blog post that I read this past week really struck a nerve with me. My girl, Denisse, wrote a brutally honest blog post about loop giveaways and how it’s essentially buying followers on the DL. And that got me thinking about something else that keeps appearing in my Instagram feed that’s been showing up more and more: shopping links.

You want to make money from blogging. I get it. However, I don’t understand why every single one of your Instagram posts has to talk about how much your top was or that it’s been restocked or that it comes in 25 colors. I follow you because I like your content. And if I want to buy something you’re wearing, I’ll ask where you got that piece or go to your blog site to try to find it. But the point is, though, you don’t ALWAYS have to be trying to sell me something.

Yes, the blogger industry is over saturated and you need to come up with ways to stand out. But selling the same top as 50 other bloggers isn’t really going to help. And when all of a sudden did fashion bloggers start selling beauty products?? And cars?? You should probably just call yourself a digital marketer at that point. It seems like overnight blogging has become a competition for how many sponsorships you can get, even if they have NOTHING to do with your niche. And if I, a fellow blogger, can see it, you know the “outsiders” can. I don’t care if you repeat outfits, or eat avocado toast, or have an obsession with peonies to the point where you carry them around wherever you go. JUST BE REAL.

Whatever happened to blogging because you LOVE fashion? I personally started my blog because I love styling outfits and writing, not to make money or for the “free” products. Do I get emails from brands who want to send me free products in exchange for Instagram or blog posts? Yes. But if they have nothing to do with my niche or I genuinely don’t think I’d like or use the products, I turn them down. And there’s nothing wrong with saying no. In fact, I’m sure your followers will appreciate you more for it.

Some of y’all may read this and think I’m just jealous or bitter. No, not at all. Do you and get your coin. If you don’t like what I have to say, that’s fine. We don’t always have to agree. But it’s high time that we bloggers got back to the basics and stopped being so thirsty. Then maybe we would get the respect we deserve from the fashion industry.

I love y’all.  And when you know better, you do better.

xoxo, CCB