Just recently I came across an article on SandraRose.com that showcased a video on former Hollywood Gossip Blogger Necole Bitchie. Many here probably already knows who she is and if you don’t you may have heard her name.
The fascination with Necole Bitchie was how fast she rose in the blogging world to make lots of money, find lots of success as well as meeting a ton of celebrities that she probably may not have had the opportunity to meet if she wasn’t doing what it was that she thought she loved to do.
You see, from 2007 when she launched her former blog, NecoleBitchie.com, she was shortly after considered to be the number one Black blog hands down and lived a life that other Black Bloggers couldn’t have even imagined happening for them.
While I admit that I did not watch the entire video of her sharing her experiences while at the pinnacle of her chosen are of expertise, I’ll have to admit that I already knew where the story was heading as I viewed the parts that I did.
What so many fans of Necole’s work didn’t understand is that she gained traction by “poaching” the flow of others and by also strategically engaging in conversations in the comment areas of those other blogs simply to “snatch” the attention of a ready made audience for her own benefit.
poaching
1. the illegal practice of trespassing on another’s property to hunt or steal game without the landowner’s permission.
2. any encroachment on another’s property, rights, ideas, or the like.
Yes, this can be quite hard to prove but when you see it you KNOW exactly what it is. You can’t really stop it so you trust enough that your brand will stand strong in the midst of the foolery, hustling and downright audacity of one who thinks that true success in cyberspace is simply about having a bigger audience…….but to what end?
Well, as the video progressed after several long minutes of Necole reliving the high points of her young life, she revealed the low points of her crash from fame and fortune. After stating that she was moving on with her life and in yet another direction in the blogging world onto a different platform, she quickly found herself broke and homeless.
Does this really surprise me? I can’t really say that it does.
What I’ve always known is that you can’t believe the illusion that you’ve created in cyberspace if in fact you want to appear larger than life because if you do you’ll be more of a target for negativity to come along and bite you in the backside.
I’m only stating this not because I’m deriving any joy at her (temporary?) fall from grace because the direction that she is now taking with a new website – xonecole.com -and audience just may be what the doctor ordered and become something that is even more formidable than her first cyber manifestation.
But what one does on the way up will definitely be brought up while you find yourself down.
Now I wasn’t there and I really don’t have the time to speak on her alleged “poaching” practices but I will say this; TOO MANY people on so many blogs are saying the same thing about her so I will consider the allegations to have some measure of validity.
Maybe more, maybe less.
I couldn’t tell you a percentage and that’s not my job. All I have to say is that when you stay original and stay in your own lane as one who has a platform in cyberspace, it will be hard to take a fall because the foundation is built on who YOU are and not off of the personality of a another blogger or projecting to be someone who you are not.
Many do not realize it, but when they take that first innocent step into the world of blogging – especially as a Black Blogger who will almost always be criticized harshly by your peers – you’ve taken a step into a world that there is really no preparation for if you appear to be a threat to those who’ve deemed themselves to be the accomplished experts and veterans of the game.
I mean, what happened to simply love doing what it is that you like to do while reaching out to the billions of people on the internet who just might like you before sifting down to the core group who become the hardcore followers of your expressions?
Such are the trials that one must endure when displaying a modicum of talent in the blogosphere. You are the new kid on the block. You are a very tangible target even more so when you move independently to get better in your imagery with each passing year. You have to possess thick skin in these seemingly tranquil waters that hide the deadly predators, sharks, naysayers and leeches that salivate at your naiveté.
As many upstarts and veterans alike have discovered, you will be scrutinized for every decision that you make regarding your blogging life. At first these attacks may not be very public, but they will be levied toward you in the comment sections, inboxes and anonymous posts made on your platform and others who await your destruction. These aggressions will be sent out to the world in your name directly in proportion to the amount of “success” that those negative entities feel that you’re enjoying because of your Internet brand.
I try to impart to all that I cross paths with is that the “top” of any chosen industry doesn’t exist, it’s all about living up to and enjoying the manifestation of your own personal set of standards and never straying away from the direction that your heart guides you to take.
So regardless as to the alleged “poaching” actions of Necole Bitchie, which if true, may have stemmed from a deep need to dance to the tune of an external drummer, hopefully her new blog might saturate her soul with the deep sense of satisfaction that she may have been seeking all along even if she accrues less funds and celebrity attention like she did on NecoleBitchie.com.
I truly believe that this is the case because at the end of the day she had to learn first hand for herself that after countless celebrity interviews, trips around the world with people who were in it all for themselves and the brightest Colgate smiles that most of it was smoke and mirrors at best!
Who was there for her when she fell into financial ruin?
What well paid celebrity called her up to tell her that they had an extra room in their mansion when her dwelling prospects dwindled and the possibility of being homeless was quickly becoming the only option?
I can go on and on with theoreticals but I’m quite sure we’ve all been there at one point or another in this tragically delicious game of life.
There’s absolutely no need to “poach” from anyone else what flows so freely from one’s heart in abundance and when you find yourself in that place of creative liberation, there is no better feeling in the world because you’ve defined what success is to YOU and not fallen victim to jumping through those never ending hoops thrown at you by people who never really loved you in the first place.
This is what’s kept me afloat on LanceScurv.com over the years as I’ve never fallen victim to the intoxicant of the public even with the few bouts that I’ve enjoyed in being highly visible.
I’m still the same guy that has to take the garbage out and mow the lawn. My success has come from staying grounded and knowing WHO I am, what I want to do from within and never getting caught up in what others may say about me.
I’ve been told what I couldn’t do, what I’ll never be and am STILL here wondering WHERE these naysayers are who spent their time and energy to someone who will still be around after they are long gone.
So hopefully Necole Bitchie will learn to approach her new blogging life the same way because even if she is guilty of anything foul, she too deserves a second chance to exude the light that shines from within!
Peace, Righteous Love & Revolution Always,
LanceScurv
407.924.8793
