How Much Influence Do Bloggers REALLY have?

After the phenomenal success of Zoella's book Girl Online, the fastest selling debut novel since records began, it got the question of how much influence bloggers really have on my mind. 

Of course Zoella is a blogging and vlogging giant, so I'm not surprised she has so much influence. But what about the smaller bloggers, the ones who don't have thousands of followers flocking to read their posts or watch their videos? How much influence do they really have?

In one sense, a smaller blogger's influence is priceless. The reason? Honesty. If I think back to products that I've bought because someone has recommended them, the majority have been things I've seen on relatively small blogs. An example is me buying a facial scrub, when I saw it on a blog with only a dozen followers, and it turned out to be amazing. However when it comes to the bigger bloggers, I find myself second guessing it, searching to see if a PR company has sent them the item or if they have any other agenda. Whilst I myself have worked with PR companies, and done completely honest reviews, when you see an asterisk next to a product it does make you wonder just how honest that blogger is really being with you. 


At the same time, as a smaller blogger myself, I would be really surprised if anyone bought something I recommended or I subtly influenced a purchase. When a PR company wants to work with me, I'm taken aback, I almost feel like they picked the wrong person, why would they think I have any influence at all? The idea that someone would buy a product because I'd recommended it on my blog seems completely alien to me. 

The truth is, we probably all underestimate our influence as bloggers, or at least our ability to influence. And by this I mean more than just products. Even if you only have a few followers, you might just influence someone, even in the most subtle ways. When someone's having a bad day, they might just read one of your posts, and it might just make their day a little bit better. You never know the way that your blog might help someone, so don't be disheartened if you feel like a forgotten corner of the internet, because chances are there's probably someone out there who's been affected by one of your posts in some way. Even if your readership might be relatively small, chances are you have or will influence someone with your blog in the future. Maybe you secretly have someone who loves your blog, and you don't even know it. Who knows? But my real point is, even if you don't have thousands of followers, don't underestimate the power you have as a blogger. 

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