This post is really just for me, you don’t even have to bother to read it.

I got an email this week asking me all sorts of questions on how to make a better blog with more traffic.

HEH.

After I got past the initial “yo, did you somehow manage to confuse me with the very blond, very tall, very caucasian Dooce or something? I’m no one’s blogging expert” of it all, I then wanted to say “hey, when you figure it out, shoot me a link so I can check it out too.”

Cause me?  Pretty clueless, just floating along here in River Blogiverse…trying not to drown or let anyone else steal my raft.

And that, people, is the full extent of my genius.  Very crappy analogies.  We all have a gift.

You can thank me later and all checks should be made out to Anissa Mayhew. That’s with one N and two S’s.

But then I also saw a KAPOW! contest through Mabel’s Labels (which are fabulous, that’s a review for another day) to win a full ride to the BlogHer conference in Chicago this summer…asking “what are the rewards and benefits of being a part of the blogging community”…and I said to myself, “Self? Think maybe we can pull something wise out of our…hat…in answer to that question and win us some free airfare?”

Self said, “Are you kidding? We loooves the blogging community, let’s do it!”

I said, “Go ahead, astound me with your wit and prose.”

Self said, “Oh. Crap. Totally thought you were going to lead the charge.”

So, here we go, people, my shameless attempt to win a free trip!  With my extra special blogger magic trick…watch carefully…Bulletpoints.

You learned it here.

Things that ROCK about being part of the blogging community

aka..getting free stuff and meeting ridiculously cool people online who won’t kill you

• Meeting ridiculously cool people, and no one’s tried to kill me yet, so I think I’m safe on the title.  Truly, though?  That’s completely for real.  I suppose if you’re not a blogger you’ve yet to experience that fascinating phenomenon when people tilt their head and just stare at you when you answer their “what do you do?” with “I’m a blogger”.  There’s something divinely wonderful about having a group of people who understand the need to write, even if it’s only read by twenty people and six of those share your last name.  They get that maybe not all great writers (and that’s NOT me puffing up under the category) are published in books…there is some captivating skill at play in the blogworld.
• I think it’s simply fun to be a part of a movement in corporate America that understands that moms talk to moms.  We talk about the things we like and the things we don’t and no commercial or print ad in the world can have as much impact as one other mom leaning over to another mom and saying, “hey, I use that and it’s a really great thing.” Getting into the review side of blogging has brought some great opportunities to share the information and products I’ve gotten with all of you…and free stuff!
• Twitter.  That’s it.  Twitter is endless amounts of amusement, and I would never have found it on my own or enjoyed it as much if it weren’t such a tool amongst bloggers to connect and socialize.
• The chance to really raise awareness of childhood cancer to such a wide flung group of people.  Although I’ve always said I wanted to use the blog as a way to raise awareness, I never really had a plan on how to do that.  Still don’t, but it’s happening.  Even if it’s one new person a week who happens to stumble across the site and spend two minutes there, you can’t ignore the message and I have been blown away by the fact that no one ever said, “Seriously? You blog about your kid with cancer? YOU are depressing, go away.”  Instead, so many have shared that it impacted them profoundly and that makes it all worth while.
• And lastly?  Nowhere else are you going to find a group of people so universally grounded in solidarity around the love for bacon, chocolate, and booze. I am home.