All My Blog Posts Were Collabs For A Month And This Is What Happened

Categories Blogging Tips, Misc., , , , 43 Comments on All My Blog Posts Were Collabs For A Month And This Is What Happened

Spoiler alert: I am fucking tired.

Hello, blog friends – how’s it going? Sit down, tell me about your day. I’m now (mercifully) free of April and (less positively) back from Italy, so I have time.

Are you done yabbering on yet? Well, strap in for me to tell you about something. Don’t look so confused – this is my blog after all. If I weren’t talking, what would we even do? Stare at a blank page? Yeah, because that sounds like everyone’s idea of a good time.

If you guys have been following me for . . . well, I mean any amount of time at all, you will know that in April I embarked on a sacred blogging quest of truth and knowledge. Or, more accurately, I decided to challenge myself to post nothing but collab posts for a whole month.

Why? Mainly because sometimes I get ideas and, for better or worse, I decide to give them a go. Also, I’m pretty sure I just wrote my wedding vows. Here’s what I posted:

  1. A Simple Smart OOTD ft Absolutely Olivia
  2. RECIPE: Making Leftover Easter Chocolate Healthy ft. JustHannahHere
  3. Spring Fashion Edit ft. Zehumara
  4. (Failed) Spring Fairy Makeup ft. Mademoiselle O’Lantern
  5.  10 Things You Need To Do Before Your Blog Turns 1 ft. Vintage Tea Rose
  6. How To Tidy Your Room ft. Bayance
  7. 6 Perfect Spring Cocktails ft. DivaNamedDom
  8. DIY: How To Make Resin Crystals With Dried Flowers ft. Bayance
  9. 10 Spring Rituals To Reset and Refresh ft. AlysJournals
  10. Spring Aesthetics (Sneak Preview At Italy!) ft. QuestionsFromATeenager
  11. Pack With Me! City Break Essentials ft. Au Chat Bleu
  12. The DON’Ts Of Blog Branding ft. Style Of Laura Jane

Looking back on it, I’m actually super freaking proud. All these collabs were organised and created in April – and I even got some videos in there too! (Finally.) However, that’s not why you’re here. No, you don’t want to know about what I made . . . you want to know what happened.

So here are my findings. (And we’re using infused water instead of tea because it’s sunny in Britain and I’m celebrating!)

(Pin this for me lovelies!)

1. It was difficult.

Oh my God, was it hard work. Emailing, deadlines, scheduling conflicts . . . Organising collab posts, especially if you’re on strict posting schedule, is damn hard.

One of the best things about blogging (in my opinion at least) is the ability to write around things that happen in my life. I don’t know about you guys, but I tend to write a lot of complete posts that just need photographs. And then my plans fall through, or the weather doesn’t co-operate, or (and this is what usually happens) I forget to take said photos.

When that happens . . . I blog about something else that happens instead. If a plan falls through, I can write a blogging tips post whilst consoling myself with ice cream. If the weather sucks, I can do a face mask and review it.

Collab posts are pre-organised and other people are relying on you, so there’s a lot less flexibility.

Life inevitably happens – you get tired, you have work, you go out all weekend and forget to check your emails. And that’s on your side; the person you’re collabing with naturally has all these issues too. Collabs mean that you have none of the flexibility blogging usually affords you . . . and I missed it.

2. It was really inspiring

Honestly, I was so impressed (that feels like it sounds patronising; I don’t know what the right word is here) with everyone’s collab ideas. Mine were pretty boring, but people shared some absolutely fantastic post ideas. It was really fun to get a glimpse under the hood at other bloggers’ inspirations.

3. I enjoyed working with other bloggers

Now, this was easily the biggest benefit to collab month: I really enjoyed working with other bloggers. I feel like it strengthened a lot of our inter-blogger bonds (they’re a thing, fucking fight me on it) and I’m genuinely really excited to work together with people in the future. Before, I was a bit apprehensive about randomly hitting people up like “let’s make content together!”, but this challenge has definitely given me the confidence to.

4. It didn’t rocket up views, engagement or follows

In terms of stats, mine grew a little bit in April, but that’s because a. I posted more and b. my follower count grows month-on-month, which means every month more people see the content I post. Collabing with people didn’t really help my engagement or my follow count, but I collabed with people within my community and with smaller followings. If you were to collab with bigger bloggers or those from outside your circle, this would likely change.

5. I think it boosted my SEO

If you remember my post about on-page SEO for bloggers, you may remember me talking about backlinks. Backlinks are essentially whenever another website points to your domain – and they are fantastic for SEO. They essentially tell Google “this content is high quality enough for me to recommend it”.

The more (quality) backlinks you have, the better your overall website ranks. This means when you write new posts they rank quicker!

Collabing with people all month meant that my site was getting new backlinks – and I saw an overall little boost in my SEO views.

6. It really helped me create content consistently

While it may have been more difficult, having other people relying on me and inspiring me was a great kick up the ass and I managed to get content out way more consistently. A win? I think so.

7. My audience enjoyed it!

If I’m being completely honest, I was really worried people might not enjoy reading my collab month posts or they’d lose interest – but you guys really enjoyed it! I was so happy with all the lovely comments I got at the end of the month and I’m glad I got to share some cool creators with you all.

All in all, I genuinely really enjoyed this challenge – and it was a pleasure to work with you all. I’ll definitely be collabing with people in the future; there are already some cool projects in the works! I’d really recommend giving this challenge a go. If you do attempt it . . . well, good luck firstly, but let me know so I can take a peek at your posts!

What did you think of my collab month? Did you enjoy it? What were your favourite posts? Would you try running a collab month? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,

Instagram // Twitter // Bloglovin’ // Youtube

Published by crystalsandcurls

I'm going through a bit of an existential crisis right now, I'll tell you about myself when I figure out if I'm real or not.

43 thoughts on “All My Blog Posts Were Collabs For A Month And This Is What Happened”

  1. I really enjoyed your collaboration month and I am happy that I was part of it!! My blog views did increase when I collaborated with you btw :p so thanks xx

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  2. I don’t strap in for nobody…. Sometimes I have to continue the pursuit on foot 😉
    All of the writers treat me like a whole train. Insane. Don’t believe da hype…
    About to see Avengers in 19 minutes 😗🤠

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      1. Wasn’t bad. New day now. Yesterday’s history. Meditation, pool… coffee on a stick dangled in front of me beyond that…
        Oh… how could I forget… in 15 years this cat has never missed a breakfast. You wouldn’t know it though from her performance each morning. Alarm clock of the Egyptian gods.

      2. Definitely see it. Thanos is good. I want to see the Han Solo film with the Bard when it comes out but will be on the highway going interstate that night.
        Best way to get some of my best high quality thinking done 🤔🤠

  3. Girlll I loved collab month and I loved being part of it (twice!). It must have been so much hard work but like you said, it improved inter-blogger bonds (I guess that’s a word? xD) I loved the Fairy Makeup and The Spring Cleaning Tips posts! I think I could do collab week but not collab month – I feel like I’d fail miserably. 😂

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    1. Thank you for being a part of it lovely! And yep, it was pretty stressful at times, but worth it 🙂 OMG GIVE COLLAB WEEK A GO! I’d love to read that xx

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  4. I loved your collab month! Very creative and a great way to get to know other bloggers, you worked so hard!! Use this bank holiday to have a drink girl!! xxx

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    1. Thank you so much lovely girl! We still need to do a collab at some point 🙂 And dont you worry I most definitely have had some drinks over the weekend – I’m celebrating a challenge complete after all 😉 xx

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  8. I really loved all these posts so much ❤ They were beautiful and so inspiring. I also loved to know other bloggers. You did such an amazing job! 👏

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  11. I like collab posts because I can get easily find other bloggers to follow. I kinda wanna do it but I’m not mentally ready lol
    Also, # 12 on the list links back to #11 Just letting ya know!

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  12. I loved your collab posts – they were very thoughtful and fun to read. Seriously, props to you for organizing so many as I can only imagine how difficult it was. Maybe I will give it a go one day 😉

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    1. Why thank you so much! Honestly, I’m so glad everyone enjoyed my collab month as much as I did! I highly recommend it, girl – when you get the time, go for it!x

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  13. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again: what a brilliant fucking idea. I love collaborations because they push you to work with someone and bring along challenges. Blogging can be very egocentric at times, so I find collaborating with others a refreshing way to change things up. That being said, blogging is definitely easier when done alone. Coordinating with people is EXHAUSTING, there’s so much to plan and to take into consideration before you can even get started. Having worked with many people in the past (if it’s collabs, interviews or features for a project of mine) I know how much work it all is which makes me admire you SO MUCH for the constant effort you put into these. All of them turned out great, even when you had difficulties with your laptop. I’m so proud of you for doing this girl, I loved working on something with you! xxx

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    1. THANK YOU SO MUCH, FIONA! Your comment means so much to me because I put a lot of hard work into this collab month so it’s so nice to see people enjoyed it too! <3 I absolutely agree with you on everything you said – it was really nice to get out of MY blogging bubble a bit and work with others (although the logistics of it all…not so nice LOL. I have a massive admiration for all the projects you work on! It's hard work) Thank you again lovely; I really enjoyed working with you too! <3

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  14. It sounds like you went through a lot of work but it was so fun to follow along and read all your collabs! You did amazing, Mia! ♡

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  16. I’ve been considering doing collaborations for a while (if I can find anyone interested of course) but this has made me even keener! I’m excited for the inspiration and fresh ideas for my blog. Thanks for this post Char // https://lunarchar.com/ xx

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  17. I loved your collab month Mia! Not only did I consistently get amazing content from you throughout April, but it genuinely introduced me to a whole new range of bloggers who I’ve followed and invested some time in thanks to you! So keen for some festival looks and tunes soon xx

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  18. Enjoyed your collaborations last month, it was really fun to read and it’s definitely different to usual posts. Organizing collaborations is definitely hard, been there, it takes such a long time. xx

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  21. I’ve really enjoyed your collab posts this month, definitely wouldn’t complain if you did more in the future haha 🙂 Collabs really are hard work, as you said, the emailing and scheduling can be a bit of a nightmare! You’ve managed it all really well though, I’m impressed! I also really enjoyed doing our collab! xx

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  22. I am basically gonna ditto all the wise and wonderful people that came before me, but it was interesting, fun and gave us an opportunity to check out some new blogs! I know that took a tremendous amount of effort on your behalf but now you know if you can do that, you can do ANYTHING! Can’t wait to see what new shit you have up your sleeve for May!

    Dom | http://www.DivaNamedDom.com

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  24. I’m so glad I got to be part of your collaboration month! I really loved reading your other collab posts as well. It was so interesting to see your reflection on the month.

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  25. This is such a good idea – I really want to do something similar in the summer when my exams are over because I’m aware of how much time it takes to organise and create. I think you absolutely killed it though and I genuinely enjoyed every single post. xx

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