Today, I’m sharing a collaborative post – an idea I love and don’t get much time to pursue. I couldn’t pass this opportunity up because it’s such an important topic, and quite frankly, I am seeking some quality feedback from you – I could really use your help.

About a week ago, I engaged in a thoughtful dialogue with Gigi from Kludgy Mom. The more we chatted at length, the more we discovered that we’re both in the same place. A good place – full of blessings in many ways, but a place that also has some serious tradeoffs.

We both have been so very, very fortunate in the last year to build out a great freelance writing, social media and marketing career. We’ve each gotten the opportunity to write for some great online publications, work for fun companies, make money, and build up both our resumes and self-confidence.

None of it – NONE of it – would have been possible without our blogs. It has been a wellspring of opportunity, our virtual resume, an online training ground for a return to the workforce.

How did our blogs lead us to these opportunities? Well, we’ve worked extremely hard, every single day, since Day One – like many of you do. We learned about the technical aspects of blogging. We learned about social media. We learned about writing.

Like many of you do.

All of that is fantastic knowledge. But the key is having an audience. We both worked hard to build that, too. We’ve read and commented on dozens of blogs. We interacted on Twitter. We made our blogs a resource for bloggers who were looking to learn. We shared information constantly. We poured out every inch of self into building our tribes, a larger community, and ultimately, a strong readership.

Like many of you do.

————————————————————————————————-

{Heather’s Perspective}: Blogging has literally changed my life. I always knew I had a voice and I wanted that voice to be heard – once I hit publish on that very first post, my blog was born. Little did I know back then that my blog would eventually turn out to be the true beginning of a journey that would lead to some life changing opportunities down the line.

Blogging became a source of my refuge and sanity – an outlet from the daily grind of motherhood.

I reignited a passion for writing.

I engaged in an important dialogue with other mothers.

I suddenly made connections with women from all over the world.

I felt as though I was breaking the silence; that my writing mattered, that I was adhering to a call to action – that I was making a difference.

I was sharing my story and other bloggers were each sharing theirs – and when I met some of these amazing women in real life, it completely solidified the fact that the relationships I was making in the blogosphere were indeed REAL.

Very real.

During this amazing journey, I read tons upon tons of blogs. I met new bloggers daily. I commented on blogs. I had time to email and exchange full length conversations. I tweeted until late in the night…but once my own blog quickly took off, the time that was once dedicated to forming and maintaining these relationships were suddenly replaced with some part-time gigs. With the addition of each new gig, this took some time away from the commenting and the true “core” blogging – the VERY blogging that brought me to this space.

I began to miss my bloggy friends. I missed knowing what was going on in their everyday lives.

I missed my tribe.

I began to feel out of the loop, not able to comment and commit to the kind of blogging upkeep that I once pursued. Yet, at the same time, I was building a new career for myself, one that took precedent over anything else because these were the kind of gigs that put food on the table.

———————————————————————————————-

{Gigi’s Perspective}: We put Herculean effort toward making our blogs a fantastic showcase of what we can do professionally and how much influence and reach we have. And one day, opportunity knocks: a writing gig, a social media job, a marketing contract. One job leads to two leads to four and suddenly, you’re a working blogger.

That same Herculean effort that once got poured into your blog then gets poured into your work. The fantastic writing is now on someone else’s website. Your amazing Twitter engagement is now being done under a company persona. The ideas you had to grow your blog into a business are replaced by ideas for making someone else’s business shine.

Slowly, your personal blog, and everything you’ve built it to be, gets eclipsed because something has to give. You start posting less, or with less quality. You stop responding to comments as much, or at all.

I can take most of the tradeoffs in stride. It’s important to my family financially right now that I work. But there are some things I really miss. I miss my circle of blogging friends – diverse, dynamic, funny and supportive, they have helped contribute to my well-being and success, and I, theirs.

——————————————————————————————–

So, both of us are left wondering – how do we bridge the gap between maintaining our successful blogs and the amazing relationships with the tribes we’ve cultivated while still hanging onto the ability to freelance and work as professional bloggers? If you are a working blogger, how do you find the time to manage it all? How do you keep those relationships within your tribe going? Once we reach a certain point in blogging, can we really have it both ways?