As you may already know, I'm a huge fan of blogs and am subscribed to hundreds of them, I also have a rather large amount of subscriptions on YouTube. Over the past couple of weeks I've been noticing a lot of things that I personally don't like on blogs and videos, not to say that there is anything wrong with any of them, they're just not my cup of tea. They've made me think about a few blog related things and have helped me come up with a little list of things that I promise you won't ever see from me.
I will never start a YouTube channel
This is a very easy promise for me to keep, I have zero interest in being on camera. If you click on my YouTube link in Google+ it will take you to a channel that Google set up for me just so I can comment on others videos, but it will never have a video on it. I will never, ever, film myself for the internet or ask you to subscribe to it.
I will never post a tutorial
I watch a lot of tutorials on YouTube, but never read tutorials on blogs. Seeing one in print form just doesn't have the same impact for me, it's not something I enjoy reading so will never post one myself. Besides, with all of the amazing make-up artists out there already doing them, what could you possibly learn from me that you couldn't from someone vastly more experienced and talented?
I will never disappear without warning
A couple of my long term blog subscriptions have just vanished lately without warning or explanation, and that really bothers me. To me it feels as if they don't appreciate or value their readers, if they did they could have posted a few lines just to explain that they were giving up blogging. That I would have understood and respected. Of course there may have been unforeseen circumstances around them, but if they just quit, I think it's pretty poor matters to not sign off properly.
I will always be honest with you
In my reviews I am always 100% honest about my opinions, whether that's good or bad. If I love something I can't wait to share it with you, but if I try something that I really don't get on with I feel as if I need to tell you, that way you could save your money and buy something worth it. No matter if I pay for a product myself or if I am sent a PR sample, my opinions will always be mine.
I will reply to as many comments as I possibly can
It's a huge pet peeve of mine that some bloggers don't reply to comments, it's just rude. I really do love hearing your opinions on what I talk about, especially if they're different to mine. I appreciate every single person who takes the time out of their day to read this blog, and will always strive to make that known.
I will never censor you
As I said above, I love hearing from you when you disagree with me. This isn't because I want to argue, far from it, I just like hearing from a different point of view, so I will always respect that. I have my comments set that I have to check each comment before it's published, so have the option of not allowing some to be published, but unless you massively cross the line I'll let you say pretty much anything. The only reason I have my comments set like that is to stop spam being posted. My basic rule is; be polite, don't call others names and I'll let you say whatever you like.
I will never accept PR samples that I wouldn't buy with my own money
It's very easy as a blogger to accept every opportunity that comes your way, even if it doesn't fit with your blog, but I think it's really important to remember who your audience is. I'm not saying that I will only accept beauty products, I would be happy to talk about electronic products, lifestyle bits, pretty much anything that I am interested in. In fact I bought something last week that has nothing to do with beauty but I'm writing a review anyway, because it's something I would like to read and therefore I think you might too. I've turned down far more opportunities and samples than I've accepted, and it's something that I'm happy to keep doing as long as they're not the right fit for this blog.
I will, to the best of my knowledge, only ever feature vegan products
Occasionally I may make a mistake, like I did with the Batiste dry shampoo, but as soon as I am made aware of my mistake I will rectify it. Every single thing on The Vegan Taff, whether it's a review, a recipe or simply something in the background of a photo, will be vegan. I don't ever want to mislead you or feature something that doesn't fit with my ethics.
If you have a blog or YouTube channel and you do something that I just promised not to do, or you totally disagree with something I've said here please don't take it personally. I'm not saying that any of these are wrong, I'm simply saying that they're wrong for me.
Is there anything that you wish I would or wouldn't do? Please feel free to let me know in the comments.
