The perils and plums of building a blog roll

Another mini-projet… building my blog roll.  Blog rolls have helped me discover what a blogger that I love, loves.  So it was important to me that I have a blog roll of my own.

But as I was reading my little fairy blog-mother, Tara Frey’s book Blogging for Bliss, I came across this bit of advice…  it is considered polite to send an email and ask a blogger for permission to add them to your blog roll.  Wow.  I never would have guessed.  But then, I’m not Emily Post.

So I felt I couldn’t just bolt out of the gate adding my favorites to a blogroll… I must ask for permission first.  And I was a little embarrassed to ask for permission when my blog was so green, so bare, so naked, so empty, so primitive.  So, a catch-22.  Do I wait to build my blogroll until after I’ve built a cozy blog?  But how can one have a cozy blog without a blogroll? C’est impossible!

Plus I had two fears:

I was nervous about approaching bloggers who are madly popular - because I know their inboxes are probably flush with email and  I was afraid I might be perceived as self-promoting, when I was really just trying to do what I was told I was “supposed” to do.

I also felt a general anxiety about contacting “strangers”.  A dirty little secret… in spite of being a self-proclaimed blog lover, I rarely left comments on the blogs that I loved.  I remained in the shadows.  And now I’m ready to come out, but I still feel a little shy.

HELLO - opportunity for growth.  Just something small, like emailing people (who are nice, welcoming people) is another chance for me to stretch the bounds of comfort that hem me in.

So I sent a few of my first emails and asked several bloggers, what they made of this “contact a blogger to ask for permission” rule.  I discovered that essentially, it is a nicety and a good way of making new friends - but it’s not really considered a necessity - especially with more popular blogs and bloggers who might be swamped in email.  Phew!  Thank goodness I found that out, I feel much more comfortable now with my approach.

So I’ll be growing my blogroll a little bit at a time, but now I’m not afraid to add people!

Now I'd really like to know, please leave a comment and help me learn! Have you heard of this rule?  Do you email bloggers to ask them for permission to add them to your blog roll?  Do they write back? 

p.s. I find the image above to be funny, well I'm laughing at myself, because sometimes this is how I feel meeting new people, and it's so ridiculous!