HELP OR JUST A HUSTLE?

 Okay so this post comes with a little bit of frustration, because I was done hours ago with the whole thing and then I accidentally deleted 3/4 of it.  So here I go again

Everyone is definately now tucked into bed and Im going to speak on something that has been bothering me awhile now.

NOTE:  THIS IS NOT FOR THE LOVERS OF DRAMA AND NOT MEANT TO INSTIGATE DRAMA. THIS IS MY OPINION AND IM INVITING YOU TO SHARE YOURS.  THIS IS A DRAMA FREE BLOG SO PLEASE PLAY NICE AND KEEP IN CLEAN.

I started my first post on 6/7/10 so almost 3 months and I have met some great people and love some of their blogs.  I have also just found some great blogs........thats all.  

Back in August I signed up for a webinar that was being held I believe through Where Women Create.  Unfortunately the evening of the webinar my 5 month old had other plans for me.  So I missed out, but thats okay.  Im a mother first......all else comes 2nd,3rd and so one.     However I was really intrigued to find out what information was given and disappointed that I missed this chance to go deeper into the blogging world.  I emailed  Jo to see if I could get some of the information from the webinar.   I researched this blog heavily and something happened.

There is a saying....If God wants you to know something he will bring it to light.    That is so true, I really believe that.  In my searching I came across the work of Elizabeth Maxson and you all know that I already did a post of her here.   But I just shot her an email and she replied and we went back and forth for maybe 2 days and one night for about an hour.  This is a woman who's work has been published in magazines and has been featured so many places.  She wears many hats but I must say that she is best at being a REAL person.  Just from reading my email which basically explained to her my dreams of owning my own shoppe and selling my homemade items and re-finished furniture and re-purposed accessories.

I got into the whole blog protocol or if there was such a thing.  The competitiveness....the giveaways...the amount of followers.  I explained to her Ive never been one to follow the pack, that is not to say that Im a natural born leader either.  I choose to do what speaks to me and makes me happy.  It may not be for everyone but that's okay.  I live for me....God has a plan for all of us and if you follow the signs it will lead you to where you need to be.  Elizabeth told me she had similar thoughts and that she thought that I was on the right path.  Her advice was direct and out-of-the-box and I loved it.  We had similar ideas when discussing displays and that just inspired me to continue doing what I'm doing.  Whether its been done or Im the first....it doesn't matter.    As long as I do it and I do it to the best of my ability and my way, then Im good.

Okay, that being said.   When blogs are offering help, workshops,consultations.   Should there be a charge? What information merits this charge?  Are you the writer of this blog in a position to which you feel you can charge for your opinion?  If so....why?  Are we here to share information or is it a competition?   Who has the most stocked Etsy shoppe maybe......half of the items on Etsy and duplicated by hundreds.   So can you charge for a tutorial?  Should you charge to tell someone how you started a business?  Is having items on your blog really a business?  Etsy and Ebay are totally different Im talking about your blog itself.

These questions are all things I wonder about when Im clicking around blogland.  I have my favorites that I visit and comment on almost daily or whenever time allows.   But what do you think of the blogs that are always putting info out there and sometimes in a self-praising way?   Do they ever visit your blog and comment?  Do they ever respond to you after you comment on their blog?

Im sure I have missed 1 or 2 people in these 3 months but Ive come up with a system, when I get the email notification I read and hit publish.  Then I automatically go to that persons page to thank them for their comment and to check out their blog if I havent seen it before.  Its just common courtesy I think....what do you say?

Now Im not interested in negativity or starting a blog war.  I just want to know if there is anyone out there who has seen some of these things on blogs and what they think.   Is it HELP or is it a HUSTLE?

Im a Jersey girl so Im putting it out there the way we say it here.   I dont know any other word that fits what Im saying than hustle.   Actually my husband said it best when I was venting to him earlier, he said "You cant hate the hustle".   Is that it?  Am I hating?  But what would I be hating on.....someone charging more money for the same item that I make?  Why would I?  Am I hating that some people praise themselves and rarely do you see them join any parties or comment in some of the regular circles?   I dont think so.    I think I just really want to know when is it HELP and when is it just a plain old HUSTLE.

Here are definitions from Dictionary.com........you tell me

HELP


–verb (used with object)

1.

to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task orsatisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; renderassistance to; 

cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: Heplanned to help me with my work. Let me help you withthose packages.

2.

to save; rescue; succor: Help me, I'm falling!

3.

to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate: Theexercise of restraint is certain to help the achievement ofpeace.

4.

to be useful or profitable to: Her quick mind helped hercareer.

5.

to refrain from; avoid (usually prec. by can  or cannot ): Hecan't help doing it.

6.

to relieve or break the uniformity of: Small patches of brightcolor can help an otherwise dull interior.

7.

to relieve (someone) in need, sickness, pain, or distress.

8.

to remedy, stop, or prevent: Nothing will help my headache.

9.

to serve food to at table (usually fol. by to ): Help her tosalad.

10.

to serve or wait on (a customer), as in a store.

HUSTLE

–verb (used with object)

6.

to convey or cause to move, esp. to leave, roughly orhurriedly: They hustled him out of the bar.

7.

to pressure or coerce (a person) to buy or do something: tohustle the customers into buying more drinks.

8.

to urge, prod, or speed up: Hustle your work along.

9.

to obtain by aggressive or illicit means: He could alwayshustle a buck or two from some sucker.

10.

to beg; solicit.

11.

to sell in or work (an area), esp. by high-pressure tactics:The souvenir venders began hustling the town at dawn.

12.

to sell aggressively: to hustle souvenirs.

13.

to jostle, push, or shove roughly.

14.

Slang . to induce (someone) to gamble or to promote (agambling game) when the odds of winning are overwhelminglyin one's own favor.

15.

Slang . to cheat; swindle: They hustled him out of his savings.

16.

Slang .

a.

(of a prostitute) to solicit (someone).

b.

to attempt to persuade (someone) to have sexualrelations.

c.

to promote or publicize in a lively, vigorous, or aggressivemanner: an author hustling her new book on the TV talkshows.

What do you say?