Hunting, Blogging, & Stages

**** this is just my opinion of blogging
in no way are my opinions supported by blog professionals
and they probably won't hold their own in a court of law
BUT I spent like FO EVA doing this tonight so I had to share...
but I do know 3 out of 3 Farleys like this post...
they had to or I wasn't going to cook their fave dinner***

let the post begin

I just realized I am maturing as a blogger
it just hit me TODAY
don't worry I am still going to bust out a ghetto-fabulous word now and then
BOO-YAH... see there 
and I still will ignore proper sentence structure but
I really feel like I am in a different stage of blogging.

when I was younger... high school
I took a hunters safety class
(don't ask why?) Ok I'll tell you
hubs and his fam were big hunters and I wanted to try it too
so in order to do that I had to take the course
there I was... future Farley and a bunch of bubbas...
it was a blast...

anywho
they explained that hunters go through stages
and today I thought about my stages of blogging and how it is similar to the hunting stages...
see what you think

 HUNTING STAGE ONE--- Shooting Stage

you shoot at whatever is legal
you do all you can do to get  as many shots out as possible
missing doesn't matter because you pulled the trigger and SHOT

BLOGGING STAGE ONE- Giving it a SHOT Stage
you might have read blogs but now starting a blog is a whole different story
you are going to give it a SHOT to see how it goes
it took you forever to come up with a good name... making sure that name wasn't taken
you haven't found your voice yet and it might take you a bit longer to hit PUBLISH because you are nervous
you squeal when you get a follower or 2 and pass out when you get your first comment
once you get the hang of it... you might post daily...the more posts  the better is your thinking
significant other ... is wishing you luck in this new adventure

HUNTING STAGE TWO- Limiting Out Stage

you still enjoy the shooting but now it is about limiting out... using all your tags
it is more about the kill now... you measure success by how many tags you filled
if you miss you are not too upset because you still enjoy the shooting BUT
you wanted to get the kill... the more the better

BLOGGING STAGE TWO- Blogging Out Stage
you are all about your numbers
you might be slightly obsessed about them (it's ok I was too)
you play the I follow you... you follow me game
you play the tag you're it game 
you get super excited to get your first award
you leave comments on other blogs about being their new follower and please come follow your new blog
you have contests to increase your followers
your blog roll is filled to the max with every blog out there
you join every linky party there is and enter every contest too
you do whatever it takes to get NuMbErS
in this stage you might also decide on a blog design
significant other... is annoyed about your obsession with numbers

HUNTING STAGE THREE- Trophy Stage

you are more selective
you might wait for the buck with the most points or just the green headed ducks
success is measured by getting the BIG one or the ONE
might travel long distances or wait for long periods of time for the right shot
shooting and limiting out are less important
hanging the mount of the BIG one in your study is important

Blogger Stage THREE- Awarding Stage
you are more selective in the contests you enter or the blogs you follow
your blog roll represents your personal faves
you have your awards displayed so others can see them
your give aways are from your store or even a bloggy friend's store
or they might be from a company that you contacted or that might have contacted you
you use pinterest as a reference of how followers liked your post pics
numbers are still important but not as much
your posts are planned and show off your teaching skillz 
significant other...has no clue if you are talking about peeps you have actually met or if they are bloggy friends

HUNTING STAGE FOUR- Method Stage

you study long and hard where to find the game
you have ALL the best tools
getting THE ONE is less important to HOW you got THE ONE
you know how to track, study the habitats, and signs of THE ONE
you still want a trophy  (THE ONE)

BLOGGING STAGE FOUR- Found Yourself Stage

you are really comfy in your blog
you have a good following
you've been tagged so much it hurts
you've received several awards some several times
you have your page organized to your liking and you get comments frequently
your blog is exactly the way you like it... you have all the tools
you've worked hard to get where you are in bloggyville
you study your numbers on the stats page
your blog posts are organized and full of helpful information / pics/ and maybe freebies...it has your voice
your give aways are from companies you have teamed up with
you enter linky parties that suit you and you enjoy
you gain followers through pins and word of mouth not so much contests or give aways
you get asked to guest post or donate
you get emails from followers more frequently
significant other... is completely familiar with your bloggy friends and can throw around bloggy vocab effortlessly... like followers, linky party, side bar, stats, stalking, etc..

HUNTING STAGE FIVE - Sportsman Stage

after many years the experience outweighs the shot or kill
spending time with family and friends is more important than getting a tag
watching THE ONE in its habitat is more rewarding than killing it
you are mellowed out and a mentor to the hunters in the early stages

BLOGGING STAGE FIVE-  (don't have a name for this yet... hmmmmm can you help me out?)

you are mellow about your blog, followers, pins, awards, posts, etc...
you care about them but are in NO way obsessed about them
communicating with fellow bloggers and sharing outweighs gaining a buck or follower
followers contact you for advice
numbers guide you but don't haunt you
posts are meaningful and well thought out
companies contact you for advertising and reviews
readers know exactly what to expect from you and you deliver it with ease
significant other.... enjoys spending more time with you because you aren't online 24/7

OK that is my interpretation of the stages... I think like the HUNTING stages...
not all bloggers will travel through all the stages...
and they might go through them in a different order...
and some might skip a stage all together
and you might be a little of this stage and a little of that stage


OF COURSE THIS IS JUST MY OPINION on blogging...
Some... OK MOST of this is from my experience
I was obsessed with numbers at one point
and I tried very hard to answer the TAG your ITs
I have stressed about my sentence structure
(obviously got over that :)
and I joined every contest and linky around
it consumed me... maybe even a little addiction
I still check my pins almost daily and I still fill in hubs about my follower count
I even spent one night commenting back on all of my comments and linky posts from CURRENTLY... ALL NIGHT
WOWZERS 


BY NO MEANS do I think I am at STAGE 5
but I am through with 1 and 2 for sure

If I had to give advice to blog beginners I would say
JUST BE YOU!!!
BE TRUE to YOURSELF
BE TRUE to YOUR TEACHING STYLE
that is what I started doing and it has helped me tremendously...
and remember it is ok to say NO THANKS
and Quality over Quantity is always good too when it comes to posting!!!
Yes it is OK to show off your store items but it shouldn't be every other post... that is not blogging that is advertising... jus saying... again MY OPINION :)
I like sharing pics from my real life too... but that is just me...
like I said be TRUE TO YOU and it will show!!!
*wink*

OK well I think that is it... I can end with a funny hunting story...

Hubs and his dad wanted to make sure I could shoot a gun...
so they set up a make-shift shooting range...
they had cans and phone books and other red neck items that I could shoot at...
well my first shot I was suppose to TRY to hit the center of the O on the Coors Beer can...
and so I lined up my scope... and had my finger on the trigger
hubs was standing right next to me
guiding me through my shot and i pulled the trigger
POW!!!
I hit it and BING
I hit my hubs too
it ricocheted off the can and ZOOMED right back at HUBS... it skimmed his chin and left a nice  burn line...
and THAT FOLKS is the FIRST AND LAST TIME I SHOT a gun!!!  

THE END!!!
and if you are wondering if I hit the O... YES I did!!! HOLLA

OK what do you think of my stages?
can you see yourself in one of them?
what should stage 5 be called?  Hubs said Blogaphoria... I like it!!!

TOODLES