This is the time of year when voting opens for the prestigious Mummy and Daddy Blog Awards, the Mads, and as I see MAD Award fever fill my timeline with people asking for your vote I’m left feeling somewhat ‘Hmmmm’ about it all.
I work really hard on my blog. Every single day. I’m a pro blogger and it’s my business so it’s how I make my money but… I also love it and try my darndest to make it the best it can be. I spend a long time writing posts which I think, although it’s all down to personal perspective of course, are well written, sometimes funny and hopefully interesting too. I really do care about what I do and I really do try very hard at it.
Sometimes I feel prouder of one post than others like this one here about being The Only City Girl In The Village. I think it’s funny but then again, it’s an objective type of thing and another blogger recently told me he thought I was no good at funny at all so I’m prepared to believe it’s not. Still and however, I’m proud of it all the same. I enjoyed writing it, have been given great feedback and really and truly this is the sort of post I like to write.
I write all sorts of posts from fairly controversial ones like my article on vaccinations to family life tales, reviews of varying things, topical stories and whatever takes my fancy really… When I’m asked what my blog is about I say it’s really just about everything with a few running themes. I bandy about the ‘Family Lifestyle’ badge and that generally seems to cover it.
I get good stats, well I’m happy with them, and as a result I’m offered decent work with a good rate of pay. I’m also invited to attend events which kind of would have been beyond my wildest expectations when I started it some 5 years ago. In recognition of my blogging work I have also been offered regular media management work with brands who’ve found me through Rocknrollerbaby. I’ve been employed as an industry expert for events and have even started doing a bit of blogger outreach and PR work. This tells me I’m doing well. I’m being noted for my hard work and it’s very pleasing I can tell you.
But, when it comes to blogging awards I won’t win one. I’d like to but… I won’t.
You see, it’s all a bit of a popularity contest really with bloggers needing to promote the voting on their social channels and ask their followers to cast crosses in their direction. IF you have the ability to ask this of your friends, family, followers and fellow bloggers (YES, alliteration, I do like to high five myself when this occurs.) and can bug the bobbins out of them then you will do better. IF everyone in the blogging community loves you, which they will if you have… now how did one blogger put it recently? A vanilla voice, yes that’s it! Then you will do better. IF you are prepared to go all out and ask for votes right, left and centre, then you’ll be nominated fo sho, but… I’m not. I’m just not prepared to do that.
I’m very happy to vote for other people who are asking. Why not?! I’m very happy for those people to win. why not?! It’s that sort of contest and we all know it but it definitely ain’t (sic) a contest for me. Although I would like to be nominated and I would like to win, I won’t be pushing this. I won’t be flooding my social feed with begging pitches, I won’t be carrying an advertising badge, I won’t be sending notes on my personal Facebook page, asking for everyone from my postman to my Mum to give me a click and I won’t participating in the ‘share a vote’ threads I’ve seen on line.
Why?
Well, number one it wouldn’t work even if I wanted it to. I’m not loved by everyone in the blogging community for a start. Some yes, but definitely not all… Probably because my voice is a very dark shade of whisky away from vanilla. I’m prepared to say it if I think it, back it up and give it some welly if necessary and this can get people’s backs up. So, simple matter from the start is that it doesn’t really matter how well I write in order to win this prestigious blogging award; I’m not liked enough. It doesn’t matter that my content, grammar and spelling are intelligently produced. I’m simply not popular enough. And this, my friend, is absolutely a popularity contest.
But, I said number one didn’t I? So that means my reasons are twofold doesn’t it?!
And the second reason I won’t be asking for votes is that I don’t want to win an award that way. It would be shallow and not really anything to be proud of. For me anyway.
I’d know in my heart it was only ’cause ‘me and me mum and me dad and me gran’ had banged the hell out of asking everyone we brush shoulders with if they could take a little minute! I’d frankly rather go down to Waterloo and have a bucket of Vindaloo than win a match by promotion rather than excellent lyric skills.
I want to win. You know that, I’ve made it clear. But I only want to win if it’s because people have voted for me when they think I deserve it and because they think I’m good at what I do. Not by virtue of me being sickly sweet to them and offering to repay the nomination favour.
I’ve been asked lots recently ‘What category do you want me to nominate you for?’ And, well, I dunno because I don’t know what category YOU think I should be nominated for. Basically, I don’t want you to nominate me for a favour so maybe don’t nominate me at all?
And this is why I won’t be asking for votes. Or taking any of it seriously. And while I’ll be very happy to see the happy faces of the winners no matter how they’ve done it (if they’re happy, they’re happy), I’ll only be truly air fist pumping (Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman style) when someone gets voted a winner with absolutely no campaigning from their end at all.
Let’s face it, we didn’t see Leo spamming the hell out of Twitter for his little golden statue (how inelegant would that have been?!) and it was MUCH more worthy when his hands finally clasped his golden friend don’t you think?
So for me, these prestigious blogging award nominations just leave me feeling that little bit ‘Hmmm’…
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A massive part of blogging is building a community, it’s what differentiates it from traditional journalism in my opinion; so I don’t much mind if people win for being ‘popular’ or drumming up votes, you certainly can’t make that happen without work. I would like to see a little more diversity in the awards. I think the panel could build an independet shortlist too.
Like I said, I don’t mind if others want to do it but I’d personally prefer people to win because their writing and content is excellent than how many pals they have… I wouldn’t want to win through a campaign but would LOVE to win because people vited my work, and it is work, the best! Independent lists all the way for me! 🙂
Love this! It’s the first time I’ve really been aware that there are such things as awards for basically writing down the contents of your brain on the Internet, and the more I realise that everyone is doing it, the more I’m with you.
I also want to win something, but ideally because everyone spontaneously thinks I’m brilliant. Especially people I’ve never met too, that would count double. Will be nominating you anyway, great post!
I love this reply and yes! Spontaneous votes from people we’ve never met, THAT’S what would make it amazing. THAT’S what would make a win victorious! I’m all for awards for blogging and for recognising the enormity of work that goes into them, OF COURSE. But… I want to see people win because they write well! There’s so many blogs out there who aren’t that well known and often the content, well, it’s magnificent. http://www.workitmamma.com for an example, doesn’t mass promote her blog and does it rather quietly yet her writing is some of the best I’ve ever read. She writes a slimmingworld diary which literally has me crying. Will she get many votes without campaigning? It would be nice to see it but I don’t think so. 🙁
I am three months into this blogging lark and I do feel the same way as you, though I must admit I have got somewhat carried away this week with the hype around the awards (it seems like EVERYONE has gone MAD (stroke BiBs)) and have definitely joined in with the slightly ‘begging’ side of it (see my pinned tweet as key evidence :)). This post has put things back into perspective, so thank you. I started blogging at rightroyalmother.com in late Dec last year as a means of purely saving the moments that happened at home, but with a humorous slant (- and nod to the Duchess of Cambridge, with whom I’m sort of weirdly fascinated with because she MUST get baby sick on her hair sometimes). I also want to see people win because they write well. I hope you do. x
What a really excellent reply, so thank you for taking the time. We all want to win and there’s absolutekly nothig to be ashamed of there. I just think the asking is a bit off. If they were showcasing their work more than usual or getting themselves out and about and noticed more than usual in the hope their blog would be read more and thus voted for I’d back tht all the way but I just can’t get on board with all this ‘I’ll vote for you if you vote for me’ voting exchanges or indeed the vote for me begging posts. I’ve even seen SPONSORED Facebook links where bloggers have paid for their ads linking to their begging posts to be promoted… How embarrassing is that?!
I did however, have a really interesting comment on this post from Sally Whittle where she made a good point against my view. Not a massive point I don’t think but it was worth thinking about and then I stupidly, in a hung over state of ridiculousness, deleted it permanently along with about 5 other comments on this post, rather than accepting them. I’m an eejit!
I’ll go and take a look at your blog now. I’m also a bit fascinated by Kate, wouldn’t it be nice to see her up Asda (Asif more like) pulling out her perfect hair because George won’t stop bashing Charlotte with his golden spoon and Charlotte crying so hard she’s making the old ladies wince! 😉
Hi brilliant post you have probably not heard of my blog diydaddyblog but l have just written a very similar post about these awards I find it all very irritating my post goes out tomorrow so it will be interesting to see the reaction if any from bloggers especially dadbloggers.
I loved a particular reaction by a certain person comparing it to dicaprio Oscar win my goodness probably the best actor at the moment in the world and these are not the oscars very funny
Well done on your post really excellent
Hi Nige, Yes of course I’ve heard of it. You wrote a really intersting piece about IVF from a male perspective after vasectomy the other day and I thought it was really interesting. I’ll take a look at your awards post and thanks for the compliment. To be fair, in my post I do mention the Carprio so I think the comparison only came from that! It is very interesting to see how other people feel about it all though. I mean, I want to win an award but I only want to win one because other people think I’m worthy and not because I’ve begged them for the votes. Also, have you seen that some bloggers are now paying, PAYING, for sponsored links to their begging for votes posts… HOW cringe! 🙂
Hi brilliant post you have probably not heard of my blog diydaddyblog,but I have just written a post all about these awards as I find it very irritating it will be interesting to see the reaction if any from bloggers especially dadbloggers I get.
I really enjoyed a certain persons comparison to recent Oscar winners.
Well done for writing this highlighting the total joke that these awards are