Rules, Schmules...

In every part of your life there are rules. Some rules are small and rarely followed, like speed limits and eating dessert before dinner - oh wait, just me? And some are big, like no stealing and you can't kill people. So maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but you get the picture.
There are rules in blog land that fall between speed limits and stealing. Nothing in a law book, but just some tid-bits, if you will, that it would be nice if people at least pretended to follow, know, accept... you get the picture.
Now don't get all "Who does this girl think she is?" on me. I'm not trying to be a bitch by any means. However, there are some things I've seen around lately that I felt like putting out there. Its time to stop the vague tweets (I'm guilty of this too) and lay everything out on the table. 
1. What you give is what you get. If you want to blog for you, that's fine. If you want to blog to make money, that's fine too. If you want to do a little of both, that's fine as well. You see, you can really do whatever you want when it comes to YOUR blog. However, don't blog for one reason and expect the other outcome. I am in no way a blogging pro and some of you may think I'm even crazy for writing this post, but just stay with me....
2. Link-ups. Everyone does them. They are fun and quite frankly give you something to talk about if you are having a little writer's block. Oh and you can make new friends. However, link ups are NOT used to link up a totally random post that has NO relevance to the said link-up so that more people see your post. It isn't for you to link up a giveaway you are hosting so that you get more entries. And it's not for you to link up posts where you don't either mention the blogger(s) that are hosting the link up, or include their button. Which brings me to my next point...
3. Buttons. Particularly in link-ups. I know when I first started blogging I had no idea how to get the button in my post correctly. Thanks to a few more experienced bloggers, they showed me the way (see: #1), and I haven't looked back since. It's simple really. Below a button, you will see a text box that has some funky HTML code in it. All you have to do is copy that code and then post in the HTML portion of your blog post (switch over from compose, which is the default), switch back and you are good to go. Now when you publish your post and you or someone clicks on that button, it will take you back to the blog that is hosting the link-up. So therefore, you cannot just save the picture and upload it into your post, it doesn't work that way.
4. Giveaways. Oh giveaways. Some people love you and some people hate you. Everyone has their opinions, like everything else in life. Sometimes you have very few entries to complete and sometimes you have a long spelling bee list of things to do to gain entries. The best part is that if a blogger uses Rafflecopter, they can make some or all of their entries mandatory. This simply means that to get to the non mandatory entries, you have to enter those first. 
I will be the first to admit that sometimes I come across a giveaway I really want to win, but don't have the time or energy to follow 1500 blogs just to get thru the mandatory entries. So what do you do I ask? I simply complete the entries for things I'm already doing and stop. I don't complete all the entries and lie about completing them.

5. Relationships don't happen overnight. I have a few bloggers that I talk to every single day. It isn't because I'm rude and don't want to talk to other bloggers, its just that we click. If you don't blog you have no idea what it is like to be so close with someone who probably lives thousands and thousands of miles away, that you've never met. However, through blogging I have met some girls that way. We just click. We have the same interests, our lives are moving along a the same pace, and we have things in common. Let's take Brin or Brinn (because apparently she actually has TWO n's in her name) for example. If you've been here any amount of time, you've heard me mention her. Heck, I co-host a link up with her every Friday. Brin and I click. We talk every single day. Whether its through text, G-Chat, or FaceTime, we talk. I know the good and the bad that happens in her life. I know when her son gets a Buzz Light Year for his birthday and is ecstatic. She's one of the first people I call after a date. I know what the inside of her house looks like and she knows what mine looks like, because we FaceTime while sitting in bed. Her husband refers to me as his Sister Wife (jokingly of course, that shits weird).We have built a friendship. It takes time and it takes effort. It isn't something that just happens overnight. So if you are ever feeling lonely or left out, don't be. Talk to people. Build those relationships.
6. No one is better than anyone else. As in, just because you have 9 million GFC followers, that doesn't make you any better than the girl who has 9. You started there too. Sure it may have been a few years ago, but you once had 9 followers and someone with more followers took you under their wing and showed you the ropes, if you will. Don't let that number go to your head. No one likes the "big bloggers" that do that, so if you think they do, joke is on you suckaaaaa!
Let me finish by saying, I'm not a pro. I've not been at this long. Some of you will agree with me and some of you won't. And that's okay. Everyone has their opinions and I just decided to share my not so wonderful ones today.