Five Lies About Lifestyle Blogging Debunked

My blogger life was quite eventful this week. I joined some new Pinterest groups, received some unexpected shout-outs on Twitter, created my first media kit, and contracted out my first sponsored post. While I was elated at all these happy events, I also had some rather interesting conversations that made me realize not everyone finds lifestyle blogging tasteful. It put a bit of a damper on things; however, it also made me re-evaluate why I spend countless hours a week to hit publish on a post.

To be honest, I didn’t realize how much stigma there was directed at lifestyle bloggers. This week, I came across tons of genre specific bloggers (writers, social media marketers, foodies, travel bloggers, and entrepreneurs alike) who carried the opinion that lifestyle blogging is inferior. While I didn’t respond to them directly, I did consider many of their main points and decided that I wanted to write a post to share my thoughts.

1. Lifestyle bloggers are shallow. Apparently there’s an idea that because we write about our lives, we’re egotistical and only surface deep. Yet, lifestyle bloggers are extremely passionate about a great many things– most of all, we’re passionate about life. We love sharing our experiences with other people with a hope that our words will inspire and encourage other people to live deeper and more meaningful lives.

Need some inspiring lifestyle posts? Checkout Samanthability–one of my personal favorites. 

2. It’s all about the freebies. Sure, getting free stuff to review can be fun. It’s still a ton of work, and many of the so-called “freebies” are often sponsored posts–the way bloggers make money. While there are the occasional “freebie hog” bloggers who go a bit overboard, most lifestyle bloggers do a great job of maintaining balance between creative content and sponsored posts.

3. You can’t be your own brand. All the big-name people talk about branding, and there’s a reason for it– branding is a huge part of running a successful blog. What some people fail to realize is that lifestyle blogging creates a brand of its own with a little work. Encouragement, inspiration and motivation

Take As We Stumble Along for example! Courtney’s lovely blog has created a wonderful community for college women. 

4. Professional blogging shouldn’t be personal. But, isn’t blogging supposed to be personal? This is even the case for business blogs–it’s an innovative way to connect with readers and consumers. In the sphere of lifestyle blogging, there are so many individuals who have created impressive careers and communities based on their love for lifestyle blogging. Yes, it’s a mix of professional and personal, and that can be a fantastic thing!

5. Everything is about appearances. While this can be true for any blogger no matter the niche, it isn’t something that unifies lifestyle bloggers. Yes, running a successful blog means having the right aesthetics, but it doesn’t have to cost you your realness. Writing about life means that you highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly–that’s something that many lifestyle bloggers don’t shy away from. Life is far from perfect, and that’s the simple beauty of it all.

Read my letter called Dear Anxiety where I get real about my battle with anxiety, depression, and self-harm. 

How do you overcome the supposed limitations of lifestyle blogging?