Blogger/influencer envy is something I’ve dealt with a lot in the past.
Now, before I start, I need to make this clear: I’m not talking about being envious of someone’s life. Like, if you see an influencer on Instagram and you wish you could look like them, be like them, or have their life, that’s not what this post is about – that’s a whole different topic for another time. I’m talking about actual content.
My definition of “blogger envy” is when you look at the work of other bloggers, social media users, online influencers, etc and feel envious of their blog, their work, or anything else they’re doing. Maybe you think they’re doing things better than you. Maybe you worry you can’t compete with them. Maybe they have a large following for doing essentially the same as what you’re doing, but you’re struggling to find your big break.
Now, in 2019, there are thousands of bloggers out there – and that might just be in your niche. Trying to compete with hundreds of others can seem like an impossible task. You might want to give up. If someone else is doing better than you, or you look at someone and think, “I’ll never do as well as them,” then what’s the point, right?
I feel you. I’ve felt these things many times. I’ve been blogging for four years now, and the number of times I’ve wondered why I bother is almost impossible to count. But I’m still here. I stuck through it, and I really love what I do. And you can too.
There’s one trick that I’ve realised, from experience, is the best way to combat blogger envy, and it might be simpler than you think:
See what people are doing, and start doing those things too.
Sounds pretty self-explanatory, right, like I’m stating the obvious? That’s because it is! It’s just a simple mindset shift. Try thinking about it this way: instead of envying someone for their work, be inspired by them to follow in their footsteps and do the same thing.
Note that there is an important distinction between being inspired by someone and outright copying them. You don’t want to do that. I know people say imitation is a form of flattery, but don’t take it so far that you literally become the other person. But you can, however, look at what they’re doing, make a note of exactly what you love about it, and try out some of those things yourself.
Here are a couple of examples (I’ll preface this by saying that all of these are things I’ve dealt with in the past, so you’re not alone!)…
1. Someone in my niche on Instagram has a ton of followers and a stunning feed. I don’t like mine and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
Instagram is a tough platform to master, because it’s so full of people posting the same content as you are. It can be disheartening to see people within your niche who have thousands, even tens of thousands of followers, while you have a few hundred. Again, I’ve been there. (I still am there.)
Here’s what to do:
- Look at their feed. What do you like about it? Do they have a theme that they stick to? What do you love about their feed that you might be able to replicate on your own, or put your own stamp on it to make it unique?
- Look at some other people’s feeds, particularly those you also enjoy. Can you spot things that all of these popular accounts do to make it big? Do you see any common themes running through their content that seem to attract more followers?
- Take screenshots of all of your favourite accounts to create a kind of moodboard for how you’d love your feed to look. Have a look at colours, composition of their photos, what they actually take photos of, etc. This will give you a great idea of what you can focus your content on.
- Engagement is key. You can post stunning photos, have a beautiful theme, but people won’t come to your feed if you don’t engage. That could be anything from liking a lot of posts in the same niche as your own, commenting on other people’s pictures, following people, and replying to their stories. Get your name out there and soon, when people see you being active in the community, they’ll come and check out your feed.
Rather than sitting there being sad that your feed is not gaining any momentum, be active and figure out why that is. If you work out what it is that other accounts do to attract a larger following, use them to be inspired to work on your own. It takes time, but you’ll get there!
2. I look at other bloggers and I adore their content or how their site looks. Mine could never be that good.
Yes, it can. These people didn’t magically wake up with a beautiful blog or entertaining content. They worked hard on it, had a vision for the kind of content they wanted to create, and got to work creating it. That’s exactly what you can do, too.
Here’s what to do:
- Take a good look at their blog and note down what you love about it. This is pretty much the same process as above, but for blogs instead. Spend some time having a really good look at some of the sites you love. What do you like about them? Is it their style? Their writing? The way they structure their posts? The way that their personality really shines through? Their images or graphics? Whatever it may be, make a note of it (either a mental note or literally take notes). You’ll start to build yourself a little list of things you can try out yourself.
- Don’t be afraid to ask. If someone is doing something you love and you’d love to know how they did it, or if they have illustrations on their blog that you adore, just ask them. Ask them how they did something or who did their artwork. Most bloggers are lovely and will be very happy to share some tips with you.
- TIP: Don’t be too broad – don’t say, “I love your blog, can you give me some tips?” because questions like that might not even be met with an answer. Be specific – ask things like “I love how [this specific element] of your blog looks. How did you do that?” or “I love how you’ve structured your book reviews. Would you mind if I structure mine in a similar way?”
- Get to work! Try out some of the things you’ve realised you love about other sites. You might find that some don’t work for you or you don’t enjoy doing them, and that’s okay. It’s all about trying to find a good balance between being inspired by others, and putting your own stamp on it. You don’t want to completely imitate someone else (please don’t make your site completely identical because they won’t be happy), but doing little things you’ve spotted on other sites won’t hurt.
3. This person’s social media accounts are so entertaining. Mine are so boring!
We’ve all been there: we stumble across a Twitter account that is just amazing. They’re so entertaining or inspiring and you wish you could be more like them. Yours is boring and it’s hard to gain many followers.
Here’s what to do:
- Follow the same first step as the examples above. Do a quick audit of some other people’s accounts. What do you like so much about what they post? Do they post funny jokes or anecdotes? Shareable images? Inspirational advice? Whatever it may be, get a handle of what makes these accounts great ones to follow.
- Accept who you are and what makes your account unique to you. Accept that you might not be able to be as hilariously funny, as effortlessly inspiring, etc. It’s okay. Not everyone can be a viral sensation because of their wit or great advice. But you might be. Try it. Share things that make you laugh. If you’ve got a good piece of advice that gets you through the day, share it. Just be yourself and see what happens.
- Try and vary your content. If you’re only posting links to your own articles and nothing else, it’s not going to attract a ton of followers. (Unless, perhaps, you’re already famous for something else. Like, if Beyonce just tweeted out links to her own stuff, millions of people would still follow her. But, sadly, most of us aren’t Beyonce.) You can still tweet links to your blog posts, but don’t just tweet the name of the article with the link – share something insightful to go with it and attach a nice image. It’s little things like that that make all the difference.
- Engage, engage, engage. Similar to the Instagram example above, engagement is always key. If people see that you’re active in the community, they’ll come and check you out. Obviously, do this within reason – don’t spam everyone, and never blatantly ask people to follow you. That’s not great. But like people’s tweets, reply to them, retweet them, and people will start to see your name more often.
4. I want to do this idea but it’s already been done before. I’m so annoyed I didn’t get there first, because now I can’t do it!
It can feel gutting when you have a great idea for a content piece, a blog post, a video, or whatever – just to see that someone else, or multiple people, have already done it before you. But does this mean you shouldn’t do it? No! Of course not. Do that thing!
A good example is BookTube (or any kind of YouTube community for that matter). You’ll see tons of the same sort of content posted by different people. Like, if someone creates a tag, a hundred people might do that same tag. Or if someone reviews a book or posts a video talking about a particular discussion topic, it has most likely been done before several times. But this absolutely does not mean you should never do it because they’ve done it already.
What you create, even if it’s the same idea as someone else’s, will still be unique because it’s your own. Maybe find ways to put your own unique stamp on it, whether it’s a fun format, writing style, editing style, or talking about things the other people haven’t mentioned.
Don’t be put off by the fact that others have done the thing before you. You can still go out, hold your head high, and do the thing.
So now it’s over to you. What can you do to make yourself feel better about your content? I hope this has given you a few ideas and shown you that being envious of other people is definitely not the best way to go, and it’s totally not necessary.
I know we’ll all still feel envious of people at some point, and that’s completely natural. But instead of wallowing in your misery, go out there and do something about it. Be inspired by other people. When you simply change your mindset to go from being envious of someone’s content to seeing it as a new flash of inspiration for what you could be doing with yours, everything seems a lot brighter, and a heck of a lot more creative.
Don’t be sad that someone else is doing something you wish you could do. Start being excited and inspired by it instead!
What do you think about this? Have you experienced blogger/influencer envy? What have you done to combat it? Share your own stories and advice in the comments!
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